| Issue |
La Houille Blanche
Number 5, Octobre 2007
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 127 - 131 | |
| Section | Mécanique des fluides : Potentiels de vitesses | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/lhb:2007072 | |
| Published online | 31 October 2007 | |
Le Potentiel de vitesse pour les écoulements de fluides réels : la contribution de Joseph-Louis Lagrange
Velocity Potential in Real Fluid Flows : Joseph-Louis Lagrange’s Contribution
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australie
Auteur de correspondance : h.chanson@uq.edu.au
Abstract
Today the concept of “potential flow” is too often associated, wrongly, with the notion of ideal, hence inviscid fluid. Herein the original development of Joseph-Louis LAGRANGE is presented. He introduced the velocity potential for real fluid flows, provided that the resultant of the forces derives from a potential. In the same article, LAGRANGE also presented the concept of stream function and the equation of the celerity of a small disturbance in shallow-water. LAGRANGE made an outstanding contribution in 1781 and he was truly ahead of his time.
Key words: Velocity potential / Irrotational flow motion / Real fluids / Joseph-Louis LAGRANGE / Stream function / Wave celerity.
© Société Hydrotechnique de France, 2007