[Math] Finding Stagnation Points

fluid dynamics

I am trying to find the stagnation point of a fluid flow from a complex potential. The complex potential is given by: $\Omega(z) = Uz + \cfrac{m}{2\pi}\ln z$. From this I found the streamfunction to be $\psi=Ur\sin\theta + \cfrac{m}{2\pi}\theta$ and the velocity potential to be $\phi=Ur\cos\theta + \cfrac{m}{2\pi}\ln r$.

I think the stagnation points occur when $u=v=0$, where $u = \cfrac{\partial \phi}{\partial x}$ and $v = \cfrac{\partial \psi}{\partial y}$. If so, would I have to convert back into Cartesian coords? Any help appreciated, thanks!

Best Answer

Yes you could do that, but it's probably easier to use the expression of the gradient in polar coordinates:

$$ u_r =\frac{\partial\phi}{\partial r} =\frac{1}{r}\frac{\partial\psi_z}{\partial \theta} , u_\theta=\frac{1}{r}\frac{\partial\phi}{\partial \theta}=-\frac{\partial \psi_z}{\partial r} $$

Both $u_r$ and $u_\theta$ should be zero.

As you probably recognized, this is the potential flow of a source/sink at the origin and a free stream parallel to $x$.

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