Topic summary
Steady flow
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Fluid dynamics.
Steady versus unsteady flow
A flow that is not a function of time is called steady flow/laminar flow. Steady-state flow refers to the condition where the fluid properties at a point in the system do not change over time. Time dependent flow is known as unsteady (also called transient). Whether a particular flow is steady or unsteady, can depend on the chosen frame of reference. For instance, laminar flow over a sphere is steady in the frame of reference that is stationary with respect to the sphere. In a frame of reference that is stationary with respect to a background flow, the flow is unsteady.