For a triangular-profile line plume with centreline density , speed , half-width , ambient density , and inward relative edge speed , volume, mass and momentum conservation giveSubtracting mass conservation from times volume conservation also gives buoyancy conservation. Batchelor entrainment supplies a closure for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 74 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
At a fixed height, first determine the stored quantities per unit vertical height and per unit length along the line source. With , the triangular-profile line plume has the useful profile integralThe geometric volume is ; the mass is . The upward momentum is , while the buoyancy force is . ThusHere positive buoyancy corresponds to a rising light plume. If instead buoyancy is defined kinematically, divide by ; the density-weighted convention here is the one matching the printed equations.
Multiply each local density by the vertical velocity to obtain the fluxes through a horizontal section, still per unit source length:In particular, the stored momentum equals the mass flux , and the buoyancy flux is . The different triangular-profile factors in storage and flux must not be replaced by top-hat coefficients.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 74 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Apply volume conservation, mass conservation and vertical momentum flux balance to a slice of the triangular-profile line plume. Ambient ingestion contributes of volume and of mass per unit height and source length. The ambient is quiescent, so it supplies no leading vertical momentum. The integrated driving force is the stored buoyancy . Using the quantities from part (a), the non-Boussinesq triangular-profile line-plume balances areTogether with Batchelor entrainment, these are three equations for . They neglect viscous boundary stresses and streamwise pressure-force corrections within the integral-plume approximation.
Multiplying volume conservation by and subtracting times mass conservation cancels the ambient sources exactly, givingThis is buoyancy conservation in the homogeneous ambient; it is a consequence of the first two balances, not an additional independent equation.
Now take the Boussinesq approximation in inertia and entrainment, retaining the small density deficit in buoyancy. Then , and . ConsequentlyThe mass source is . Substitution into the mass conservation, momentum and buoyancy balances gives the unsteady Boussinesq triangular-profile line-plume balancesThese use density-weighted mass and momentum fluxes. Removing from some flux definitions while retaining it in the source would mix incompatible conventions.