Incompressible flow

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In fluid mechanics, or more generally continuum mechanics, incompressible flow (isochoric flow) refers to a flow in which the material density of each fluid parcel — an infinitesimal volume that moves with the flow velocity — is time-invariant. An equivalent statement that implies incompressible flow is that the divergence of the flow velocity is zero (see the derivation below, which illustrates why these conditions are equivalent).

Incompressible flow does not imply that the fluid itself is incompressible. It is shown in the derivation below that under the right conditions even the flow of compressible fluids can, to a good approximation, be modelled as incompressible flow.