Part 1-3: Modeling Fluid and Thermal

Systems
• Pressurized fluids (liquids and gases) are used by
mechanical engineers in the design of devices that deliver
forces and torques to mechanical loads
– Hydraulic systems use a liquid as the working fluid
– Pneumatic systems use air or other gases

• Like electromechanical systems, fluid systems convert

energy from a power source (pressurized fluid) to mechanical
energy

• Thermal systems involve the transfer of heat energy, and

temperature is typically the dynamic variable of interest
 Hydraulic Systems
A hydraulic fluid system is composed of a pump that provides high-
pressure fluid, a fluid capacitance (reservoir) that stores energy due to
pressure, and hoses/valves that connect the various elements
 Hydraulic Systems

•The fundamental variables are pressure P (Pa or bar), mass-flow rate

w (kg/s), and volumetric flow rate Q (m3/s).

•The fluid-bulk modulus b measures the fluid’s resistance to

compressibility:

dP
b = r0
dr

Typical hydraulic fluid: b = 109 Pa = 1 GPa and r0 = 860 kg/m3

Therefore for large fluid pressures (dP = 20 MPa) fluid density only
Changes by about 2% (hydraulic fluids are very “stiff”)
 Fluid Resistance: Laminar Flow
• For laminar pipe flow, the pipe flow is “smooth” and “streamlined”

• Consider a long capillary flow tube with low volumetric flow rate (Q) or low
pressure drop (P1 – P2) so that the flow is dominated by viscous forces

DP = RL Q RL = “laminar fluid resistance” (Pa-s/m3)

• Laminar flow: linear relationship between the pressure drop DP = P1 – P2 and

the volumetric flow rate Q
This relation is analogous to Ohm’s law (e = RI) where e (voltage) is
“pressure” and I (current) is “flow.”

Laminar flow exists when the Reynolds number Re < 2300

[Re is nondimensional and is the ratio of inertial to viscosity forces in the fluid]
Laminar/Turbulent Flow: Reynolds Number
 Fluid Resistance: Turbulent Flow
• Liquid flowing through valves, orifices, and certain pipes is usually
turbulent

• For turbulent flow (rule of thumb: Re > 2300), the flow is “rough”
and no longer smooth but “swirls”

• The fluid resistance relation for turbulent flow is nonlinear:

DP = RT Q 2 DP
or, Q= = K T DP
RT
RT = “turbulent fluid resistance”

Components such as valves, elbow bends, and couplings resist flow and
usually induce turbulent flow at nominal pressures

In most cases, turbulent fluid resistance RT (or KT) must be determined

experimentally.
 Fluid Resistance: Orifice Flow
• An orifice is an opening through which fluid can flow (e.g.,
hole in a tank, a valve opening, etc). The figure below shows
fluid flow through a sharp-edged orifice:

• The classical orifice flow equation can be derived using

Bernoulli’s equation (see textbook):
Cd = “discharge coefficient” = 0.62
2DP 2(P1 - P2 )
Q = A0Cd = A0Cd (for sharp-edged orifice)
r r
A0 = orifice area
“orifice flow equation”
r = fluid density, kg/m3
 Fluid Resistance: Valve Flow
• A 5-way spool valve is shown below:

Valve position y
alters orifice area Av
and hence meters
flows Q1 and Q2

• The generic symbol for fluid resistance is shown below:

 Fluid Capacitance
• Fluid capacitance C is ability to store energy due to pressure

dV Fluid mass:
C= units: m3/Pa
dP m = rV

Hydrostatic P = rgh + Patm

pressure:

Capacitance of tank (A = constant):

dV Adh A
C= = =
dP rgdh rg

CdP = dV Divide by dt to get CP! = V! = Q similar to electric

capacitor!
 Conservation of Mass
• Fluid system models are obtained by applying the conservation of
mass to a control volume (CV)

• If we consider a fixed control volume (CV) as shown below, fluid

mass may be entering the CV, leaving the CV, or accumulating in
the CV

Control
volume Mass leaves CV
(CV)
Mass enters CV

From the conservation of mass, we can compute the net or accumulated

mass flow rate by assigning a sign convention dm/dt > 0 for mass entering
CV, and dm/dt < 0 for mass for mass leaving CV

Therefore, conservation of mass yields: m! CV = å m! in - å m! out

If mass does not accumulate in the CV (i.e., steady flow through CV), then
! CV = 0
the net mass-flow rate in the CV is zero, or m
 Modeling a Hydraulic Tank:
Example
• Consider a storage tank containing a liquid, with in-flow Qin and
laminar out-flow through the valve

Pressure at base (hydrostatic Eq): P = rgh + Patm

Laminar out-flow through valve:

DP P - Patm
Qout = =
RL RL

A
• Apply conservation of mass: CP! = Qin - Qout recall C=
rg
• Substitute for volumetric out-flow, Qout
! P - Patm
CP = Qin - Tank
RL RL CP! + P = RL Qin + Patm model

Note: we could re-derive tank model in terms of height h

 Modeling Hydromechanical Systems

Fluid mass:
m = rV

• Fluid volumetric flow-rate Q is entering the CV from the left, and

no flow is leaving the CV. The piston moves (due to pressure),
and therefore the size of the CV is not fixed but rather varies
with time

• Applying conservation of mass to the CV:

0
wCV = m! CV = r!V + rV! = win - wout = rQin
 Modeling Hydromechanical Systems (2)

Fluid mass:
m = rV

dr dP r !
• The time-rate of fluid density is r! = = P
dP dt b
• Substituting this expression into the previous mass-continuity
(CV) equation and rearranging we obtain

b
P! = (Qin - V! ) Fundamental pressure-rate ODE for
V hydraulic cylinder with compressible fluid
 Hydromechanical Actuator:
Example
• Derive the mathematical model of the hydraulic actuator

• Start with the pressure-rate equation for the cylinder chamber:

b
P = (Qin - V! )
! where volume is V = V0 + Ax
V
b
à The fluid model is P! = (Qin - Ax! ) Nonlinear!
V0 + Ax
 Hydromechanical Actuator:
Example (2)

• Next, use the FBD of the mechanical subsystem:

+ ® å F = PA - Patm A - kx - bx! - FL = m!x!

Rearranging we obtain the mechanical model:

m!x! + bx! + kx = (P - Patm )A - FL (linear)

 Hydromechanical Actuator:
Example (3)

b
Fluid ODE: P! = (Qin - Ax! ) System model
3rd-order nonlinear
V0 + Ax
system

Mechanical ODE: m!x! + bx! + kx = (P - Patm )A - FL

 Pneumatic Systems
• Pneumatic systems involve compressible fluids (gas) such as air,
where density is not constant

• Analysis of pneumatic systems is complex due to thermodynamic

effects and the fact that gas flow is more complicated that liquid flow
– Compressibility effects may cause oscillations in the system response
– Flow can become “choked” at the throat (sonic conditions, or Mach 1) of a
valve or orifice, resulting in highly a nonlinear relationship between
pressure and flow rate

• For compressible fluids, mass-flow rate (w) and volume-flow rate (Q)
are not readily interchangeable since density can change significantly

d
m = rV m! = (rV ) = r!V + rV!
dt
Mass of gas in volume V
Mass-flow rate (w)
 Pneumatic Systems (2)
• We must include thermodynamic effects when modeling
pneumatic systems

• Pneumatic systems exhibit a functional relationship between

pressure, density, and temperature:

P = rRT Perfect gas law

R = gas constant T = absolute temperature in kelvin (K)

 Resistance of Pneumatic Systems

• In rare cases the flow in pneumatic systems is incompressible

(low-speed flow)

• In these rare cases we may model resistance using either the

laminar or turbulent models and obtain the corresponding
coefficients RL or RT via experimental data, such as mass-flow
rate w vs DP
DP
w= Laminar flow (linear)
RL

DP
w= Turbulent flow (nonlinear)
RT

Note that resistance coefficients RL and RT have different units for pneumatic
systems since we are using mass-flow rate (w) instead of Q
 Pneumatic Capacitance
dm
• Pneumatic fluid capacitance is defined as C=
dP
• Since mass is m = rV, for gases filling a constant-volume (rigid)
vessel we have
dr
dm = d ( rV ) = Vdr è C =V
dP
• Next, apply thermodynamics concepts: assume gas undergoes a polytropic
expansion:

P
= a = constant, or P = ar n
rn

where n = 1 for an isothermal process; and n = g = c p / cv

for an adiabatic process (no heat transfer).

 Pneumatic Capacitance (2)
• Take differentials of both sides of the polytropic process

dP = anr n -1
dr dr r 1-n rr - n
à = =
dP an an
• Substitute for a using a = Pr - n and substitute for P using the perfect
gas law P = rRT to obtain

dr 1
=
dP nRT
dr
• Sub the above expression into the capacitance equation C = V
dP
V
Capacitance C= Pneumatic capacitance of a fixed vessel can
for fixed nRT vary depending on the gas temperature, type
volume of gas, and thermodynamic process (n)
 Modeling Pneumatic Systems
• Pneumatic system models are based on conservation of mass:

m! CV = wCV = å win - å wout

Time-rate of mass in CV: wCV = m! CV = r!V + rV!

• Compute the time-rate of density r by taking the time derivative of

the polytropic expansion process:
n
P! = anr n-1 r! = ar n r!
r
Sub the polytropic process equation ar = P and solve for dr/dt
n
•
r !
r! = P
nP
 Modeling Pneumatic Systems (2)
• Substitute the previous equation for dr/dt and the perfect gas law for
density r into the mass-conservation equation:

V ! P !
wCV = P+ V = å win - å wout = wnet
nRT RT

r!V rV!

• Because we want a dynamic equation for gas pressure, we solve the

above expression for dP/dt

Fundamental modeling
! nRT æ P !ö equation for a pneumatic
P= ç wnet - V÷ capacitance with pressure P
V è RT ø

Note: for a fixed volume, we get CP! = wnet

 Thermal Systems
• Conservation of energy is used to model thermal systems;
thermal systems involve the storage and flow of heat energy

“Open” thermal system:

1) Boundary (insulation) encloses thermal capacitance C
2) Heat energy can enter/leave system (heat flow rate q)
3) Heat energy can enter/leave system due to mass transfer (e.g., fluid flow)
 Thermal Systems (2)
• Applying the conservation of energy to the thermal boundary (1st
Law of Thermodynamics expressed as time derivatives)

x!h = å h!in - å h!out + å qin - å qout Units: J/s or watts (W)

Net rate of heat Time-rate of enthalpy Heat flow rates

energy stored due to mass transfer across boundary
across boundary
 Thermal Systems (3)

• In general, thermal systems are distributed systems

(temperatures are distributed throughout a body), and thus
they are modeled by partial differential equations (PDEs)
instead of ODEs.

• We will use a simplified lumped model approximation,

which means that we assume that all points in a body have
a single (average) temperature.

• For our lumped approximation, thermal systems can be

characterized by two passive thermal elements: thermal
resistance (R) and thermal capacitance (C)
 Thermal Resistance
• Heat can be transferred in three ways:
– Conduction (diffusion through a substance)
– Convection (fluid transport)
– Radiation (infrared waves like solar energy)

• We will only consider conduction and convection.

• For either conduction or convection heat transfer, the linear

model for heat flow rate is
DT = temperature difference, deg K
Heat flow rate, 1
J/s or W q = DT R = thermal resistance, deg K-s/J
R

For R ® ¥ , we have a perfect insulator (no heat transfer, q = 0)

 Thermal Resistance (2)
• Conduction:
x x = thickness of material, A = area
R= k = thermal conductivity coefficient
kA
For example, copper has thermal conductivity k that is 18x greater
than k for stainless steel (copper is a good conductor and poor insulator)

• Convection:
1 H = convection coefficient, A = area
R=
HA
For example, H for water is 50-100x greater than H for air (air is a
much better insulator than water)
 Thermal Capacitance
• Thermal capacitance C is a measure of a body’s ability to
store heat due to its mass and thermal properties

• Capacitance is the product of specific heat cp (at constant

pressure) and mass m :

Thermal capacitance
J/deg K
C = mc p

For example, 1 kg of water has more than 4x the thermal

capacitance of 1 kg of air
 Modeling Thermal Systems
• Lumped thermal models are based on the following heat
balance equation (i.e., energy balance):

heat stored in a body = net heat transfer to a body

h! dt + q dt
CdT net net

incremental heat stored by incremental net incremental heat transferred in

temperature increase incremental time

è CdT = h!net dt + qnet dt where h! = m! c pT

Divide by dt and
CT! = å m! in c pTin - å m! out c pTout + å qin - å qout
write as an ODE:
Basic thermal modeling Eq.
 Modeling Thermal Systems: Example
Double-pipe heat exchanger: transfer heat from “hot” fluid in tube to “cold” shell
COLD
flow

HOT
flow

Steady flow: in and out mass-flow rates are equal for both tube and shell
Tube: output temp T1,out = T1
Shell: output temp T2,out = T2
 Thermal Systems: Example (2)

Thermal
boundaries:

Note we have two thermal capacitances and thus two temperatures

Plus, we have two heat-flow rates: q1 from “hot” tube to “cold” shell
and q2 from shell to ambient surroundings

Because we have an open system with mass-flow rate we include the

time-rates of enthalpy
 Thermal Systems: Example (3)

Tube: C1T!1 = h!in,1 - h!out,1 - q1

Shell: C2T!2 = h!in, 2 - h!out, 2 + q1 - q2

T1 - T2 T2 - Ta
Next, sub for heat flow q1 = q2 = h! = m! c pT
and enthalpy rates: R1 R2
 Thermal Systems: Example (4)
T - T2
Tube: C1T!1 = m! 1c p ,1Tin,1 - m! 1c p ,1T1 - 1
R1

! T1 - T2 T2 - Ta
Shell: C 2T2 = m2 c p , 2Tin, 2 - m2 c p , 2T2 +
! ! -
R1 R2

We may need two distinct values of cp if a chemical solution flows thru the tube
and water flows thru the shell

We can move all dynamic variables (T1 and T2) to the left-hand sides and
all input variables (Tin,1 , Tin,2 , and Ta ) to the right-hand sides (see textbook)

Mass-flow rates may also be considered as input variables or as constant

parameters.