Potential Flow Theory

A class of inviscid, irrotational flow models in which the velocity field is expressed as the gradient of a scalar potential that satisfies Laplace-type equations; pressure follows from Bernoulli-type relations. The theory neglects viscous effects and vorticity except possibly on boundaries.

A mathematical model of fluid motion that assumes the flow is inviscid, incompressible and irrotational so that the velocity field is the gradient of a scalar potential satisfying Laplace’s equation; it predicts pressure and velocity distributions for attached, non‑viscous flows but excludes viscous boundary layers, separation, and vorticity generation mechanisms.