Hi, I have one query. Why do we treat incompressible flow for Mach less than 0.3 Is there any reason??

Thanks all for your time

for mach 0.3 the variation in density is so less that it is essentially constant so that u can treat it as nearly incompressible flow

It was explained to me years ago that

"compressibility goes like Mach Number squared. 0.3^2 = 0.09, or about 10%. Since most engineering calculations have 10% error anyway, M < 0.03 can be treated as incompressible."

You have to decide for yourself if this statement is in fact true. Then you decide if you can accept a 10% error in your calculations.

The payoff for accepting the error is of course that the energy conservation equation uncouples from the NS equations.

hi the density change associated with increase in mach number gets underestimated largely above m=0.3.typically if u take the isentropic eqn for density and plot it wrt mach no,u will get an increase in density ratio ( i.e total/static)of 4.5% for m=0.3 which is 1 for incompressible flows(contant density).also the rate of decrease in static density wrt to mach number follows a parabolic curve such that at higher mach numbers the variations becomes much larger.as otd said this error on density is not very significant for practical purposes till m=0.3 and the flow can be assumed incompressible provoided this is the max mach number encountered in your flow domain.

Simple rule for subsonic compressible flows says that you can scale forces according to the factor ((1/(1-M^2))^0.5. At M=0.3, this compressibility factor = 1.048, i.e. just about 105%. 5% change in force is an arbitrary, but convenient, threshold value of "significant" compressible effects. M=0.3 is also close to 100 m/s, or close to 200 knots (at sealevel), which also makes it a convenient cut-off point for low-speed aerodynamics.

Thanks all

... And there is another point. Most compressible solvers will have convergence difficulties as M approaches 0, unless special techniques are used. This gives the motivation (besides what was also said before) to assume incompressibility for M<0.3.

I wonder that Mach number is the value at certain point or averaged or the lowest or the highest value within a domain. Could you advice me how to determine the stage that compressible solvers may be troublesome? I am really curious about the moment when we can consider a stage as to be incompressible. Thanks in advance!