Choked flow

Choked flow is a compressible flow effect. The parameter that becomes "choked" or "limited" is the fluid velocity.

Choked flow is a fluid dynamic condition associated with the Venturi effect. When a flowing fluid at a given pressure and temperature passes through a restriction (such as the throat of a convergent-divergent nozzle or a valve in a pipe) into a lower pressure environment the fluid velocity increases. At initially subsonic upstream conditions, the conservation of mass principle requires the fluid velocity to increase as it flows through the smaller cross-sectional area of the restriction. At the same time, the Venturi effect causes the static pressure, and therefore the density, to decrease downstream beyond the restriction. Choked flow is a limiting condition where the mass flow will not increase with a further decrease in the downstream pressure environment while upstream pressure is fixed. Note that the limited parameter is velocity, and thus mass flow can be increased with increased upstream pressure (increased fluid density).