Froude number

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The Froude number is a dimensionless number defined as the ratio of a characteristic velocity to a gravitational wave velocity. It may equivalently be defined as the ratio of a body s inertia to gravitational forces. In fluid mechanics! the Froude number is used to determine the resistance of an ob"ect moving through water! and permits the comparison of ob"ects of different si#es. $amed after William %roude! the %roude number is based on the speed/length ratio as defined by him. The Froude number is defined as&

where V is a characteristic velocity ! and c is a characteristic water wave propagation velocity. The %roude number is thus analogous to the 'ach number. The greater the %roude number! the greater the resistance.

Contents

( )rigins * +efinitions of the %roude number in different applications o *.( Ship hydrodynamics o *.* Shallow water waves o *., Stirred tanks o *.- +ensimetric %roude number o *.. Walking %roude number , /ses - $otes . 0eferences 1 23ternal links

Origins
In open channel flows! 45langer 6(7*7 8(9: introduced first the ratio of the flow velocity to the square root of the gravity acceleration times the flow depth. When the ratio was less than unity! the flow behaved like a fluvial motion 6i.e. subcritical flow:! and like a torrential flow motion when the ratio was greater than unity 6Chanson *;;< 8*9 :.
Quantifying resistance of floating objects is generally credited to William Froude, who used a series of scale models to measure the

resistance each model offered when towed at a given speed. Froude's observations led him to derive the Wave-Line heory which first described the resistance of a shape as being a function of the waves caused by varying pressures around the hull as it moves through the water. he naval constructor Ferdinand !eech had put forward the concept in "#$% but had not demonstrated how it could be applied to practical problems in ship resistance. &peed'length ratio was originally defined by Froude in his Law of Comparison in "#(# in dimensional terms as)

where& v = speed in knots >W> = length of waterline in feet The term was converted into non?dimensional terms and was given %roude s name in recognition of the work he did. In %rance! it is sometimes called ReechFroude number after %erdinand 0eech.8,9

Definitions of the Froude number in different applications

Ship hydrodynamics
%or a ship! the %roude number is defined as&8-9

where V is the velocity of the ship! g is the acceleration due to gravity! and L is the length of the ship at the water line level! or Lwl in some notations. It is an important parameter with respect to the ship s drag! or resistance! including the wave making resistance.

Shallow water waves

%or shallow water waves! like for instance tidal waves and the hydraulic "ump! the characteristic velocity V is the average flow velocity! averaged over the cross?section perpendicular to the flow direction. The wave velocity! c! is equal to the square root of gravitational acceleration g! times cross?sectional area A! divided by free?surface width B&

so the %roude number in shallow water is&

%or rectangular cross?sections with uniform depth d! the %roude number can be simplified to&

%or Fr < 1 the flow is called a subcritical flow! further for Fr > 1 the flow is characterised as supercritical flow. When Fr 1 the flow is denoted as critical flow. @n alternate definition used in fluid mechanics is

where each of the terms on the right have been squared.8.9 This form is the reciprocal of the 0ichardson number.

Stirred tanks
In the study of stirred tanks! the %roude number governs the formation of surface vortices. Since the impeller tip velocity is proportional to Nd! where N is the impeller speed 6revAs: and d is the impeller diameter! the %roude number then takes the following form&

Densimetric Froude number

When used in the conte3t of the 4oussinesq appro3imation the densimetric Froude number is defined as

where g is the reduced gravity&

The densimetric %roude number is usually preferred by modellers who wish to nondimensionali#e a speed preference to the 0ichardson number which is more commonly encountered when considering stratified shear layers. %or e3ample! the leading edge of a gravity current moves with a front %roude number of about unity.

Walking Froude number

In studying the dynamics of bipedal walking! walking is modeled as an inverted pendulum! where the center of mass goes through a circular arc centered at the foot.819 The %roude number is the ratio of the centripetal force around the center of motion! the foot! and the weight of the person walking.

where m is the mass! l is the leg length! g is the acceleration due to gravity and V is the velocity. The theoretical ma3imum speed of walking is with Fr=1 since any higher value would result in take?off and the foot missing the ground. The typical transition speed from running to walking occurs with .

Uses
The %roude number is used to compare the wave making resistance between bodies of various si#es and shapes. In free?surface flow! the nature of the flow 6supercritical or subcritical: depends upon whether the %roude number is greater than or less than unity.

Notes
(. B 45langer! Cean?4aptiste 6(7*7:. Essai sur la Solution Numrique de quelques Pro l!mes "elati#s au $ou%ement Permanent des Eau& 'ourantes. Paris! %rance! ,7 pages D . tables& Carilian?Eoeury. *. B Chanson! Fubert 6*;;<:. (e%elo)ment o# t*e Blanger Equation and Bac+,ater Equation - .ean/Ba)tiste Blanger 011213. Gol. (,.! $o. ,! pp. (.<?(1, 6+)I& (;.(;1(A6@SC2:;H,,?<-*<6*;;<:(,.&,6(.<::& Cl of Fyd. 2ngrg! @SC2. ,. B Chanson 6*;;-:! p. 33vii. -. B $ewman! Cohn $icholas 6(<HH:. $arine *-drod-namics. Cambridge! 'assachusetts& 'IT Press. IS4$ ;?*1*?(-;*1?7.! p. *7. .. B %rank '. White! %luid 'echanics! -th edition! 'cEraw?Fill 6(<<<:! *<-. 1. B Gaughan! C. >.I )'alley! '. C. 6*;;.:. J%roude and the contribution of naval architecture to our understanding of bipedal locomotionJ. 4ait 5 Posture 21 6,:& ,.;K,1*. doi&(;.(;(1A".gaitpost.*;;-.;(.;((. P'I+ (.H1;H.*.

eferences

Chanson! Fubert 6*;;-:. 6-draulics o# 7)en '*annel Flo,8 An 9ntroduction 6*nd ed.:. 4utterworthKFeinemann. IS4$ ;H.;1.<H7..! 1.; pp.

!"ternal links

http&AAwww.qub.ac.ukAwavesAfastferryAreferenceA'C@-.H.pdf