Flow of Water Past a Flexible Rubber Membrane
In this case we imagine a rubber membrane that is deflected by water flowing through a gap in the membrane. We follow the flow of the water. In the diagrams, the flow direction is upward. The arrows in the left hand picture below show the velocity of the fluid. The colour contours on the right show streamlines. It can be seen from the figure below left that the flow recirculates downstream of the membranes.
(Click on each picture to show full size)
In addition to flow analysis, we can also follow the deflection of the membrane, and work out how the increasing deflection affects the flow. The diagram below shows colour contours of stress in the deflected membrane. We can similarly follow moving pistons and vanes in valves and pumps; and show how fluid flow and pressure affect the design of the product.
