The velocity potential (ϕ) is a scalar function used to describe the flow of an irrotational, incompressible fluid. It is a fundamental concept in potential flow theory, which simplifies fluid flow analysis by assuming the absence of vorticity (no swirling or rotational motion) and incompressibility, and neglects viscosity effects.
- ϕ is the velocity potential due to the three-dimensional source.
- C is a constant representing the source strength (source/sink strength).
- r is the distance from the source point to the observation point