Question

Describe the concept of potential flow used in fluid dynamics.

Answer 1

potential flow , in fluid dynamics, refers to the flow outside the boundary layer that obeys the laws of potential flow like electric and magnetic fields. This is sometimes called the inviscid flow region meaning that transverse velocity gradients (aka shear) are minimal and viscous effects are small to none.

potential flow represents the velocity field as the gradient of a scalar function: the velocity potential. As a result, a potential flow is characterized by an irrotational velocity field, which is a valid approximation for several applications.