Some aeroacoustic and aerodynamic applications of the theory of nonequilibrium thermodynamics

An exact equation is derived for the dissipation function of a homogeneous, isotropic, Newtonian fluid, with terms associated with irreversible compression or expansion, wave radiation, and the square of the vorticity. This and other forms of the dissipation function are used to identify simple flows, such as incompressible channel flow, the potential vortex with rotational core, and incompressible, irrotational flow as minimally dissipative distributions. A comparison of the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic stability characteristics of a parallel shear flow suggests that an association exists between flow stability and the variation of net dissipation with disturbance amplitude, and that nonlinear effects, such as bounded disturbance amplitude, may be examined from a thermodynamic basis.