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Mechanics of Fluids

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524 Compressible flow <strong>of</strong> gases<br />

Critical pressure ratio<br />

By means <strong>of</strong> eqn 11.57, the critical pressure pc found at the throat may be<br />

expressed by the critical pressure ratio<br />

pc<br />

= 2<br />

� �<br />

ρc<br />

=<br />

γ + 1<br />

2<br />

� �1/γ pc<br />

γ + 1<br />

whence<br />

pc<br />

p0<br />

p0<br />

=<br />

ρ0<br />

�<br />

2<br />

γ + 1<br />

�γ /(γ −1)<br />

p0<br />

I, PG, SF (11.58)<br />

For air (γ = 1.4) this critical pressure ratio is 0.528, whereas for superheated<br />

steam (γ ≏ 1.3) pc/p0 ≏ 0.546. Besides applying to perfect gases, eqn 11.58<br />

also applies to gases which satisfy Boyle’s Law. Although superheated steam<br />

does not behave as a perfect gas (p/ρT is not independent <strong>of</strong> temperature)<br />

it does obey Boyle’s Law fairly well over moderate ranges <strong>of</strong> pressure. If the<br />

pressure <strong>of</strong> a vapour such as steam falls below the saturation pressure, however,<br />

liquid droplets may condense from it. When the drop in pressure occurs<br />

rapidly the vapour may expand beyond the saturation pressure as a supersaturated<br />

vapour before condensing. Nevertheless, if condensation does occur<br />

the vapour ceases to obey Boyle’s Law and γ also changes. Equation 11.58<br />

is then no longer valid.<br />

In the diverging part <strong>of</strong> the de Laval nozzle the velocity, now supersonic,<br />

continues to increase and the pressure therefore drops further below the<br />

critical value pc.<br />

For a nozzle <strong>of</strong> given throat area At (or for any duct with minimum crosssectional<br />

area At) the mass rate <strong>of</strong> flow ρAu is a maximum when ρu at the<br />

throat is a maximum, that is, when<br />

d(ρu)<br />

dp<br />

du<br />

= udρ + ρ = 0<br />

dp dp<br />

that is, when<br />

dp<br />

dρ =−u<br />

dp<br />

ρ du<br />

From Euler’s equation (11.52), however, dp/du =−ρuand so the maximum<br />

flow occurs when dp/dρ = u2 ; that is, for the assumed isentropic conditions,<br />

when u = a. By means <strong>of</strong> eqns 11.5, 11.19 and 11.58, this maximum mass<br />

flow rate may be written<br />

� � � �<br />

(γ +1)/(γ −1) 1/2<br />

2<br />

mmax = At p0ρ0γ<br />

I, PG, SF (11.59)<br />

γ + 1<br />

11.9.2 Flow regimes in a convergent-divergent nozzle<br />

Equation 11.59 shows that the maximum mass flow rate through a nozzle<br />

is a function only <strong>of</strong> the stagnation conditions and the minimum crosssectional<br />

area At. No matter how much the pressure p2 at the downstream<br />

end is reduced, or how the shape <strong>of</strong> the duct may be changed upstream or

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