Compressible fluids

Abstract

In further chapters we will study machines that function with compressible fluids, first steam turbines (Chap. 6), then gas turbines and compressors (Chaps. 11–15). For analysis of these machines, knowledge of fundamentals of compressible fluid flow is a necessity. We study compressible fluid flow fundamentals in the present chapter, for one-dimensional steady flows. This term refers to a flow whose properties change in one single spatial direction, namely an average streamline, and that is uniform in the spatial directions perpendicular to this streamline and constant in time. The streamline need not be straight. The discussion is limited to what is strictly necessary for the fundamental analysis of turbomachines. We refer to books on fluid mechanics for a more in-depth study.