[Engineering use of English] transition/changeover/passing/transformation

[mech-eng]

I would like to ask you about engineering use of English, and comparison of some words with respect to their nuances. I would like to completely understand the nuances between words, especially with respect to engineering use.

Would you please explain the difference between "transition", "changeover", "passing" and "transformation" for the following sentences. 1 is the original from "Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer" by Bergman\Lavine\Incropera\Dewitt.

Especially the option 3 seems to me to be correct. But are the other options wrong? They all seems to me to be possible.

1. The transition from laminar to turbulent flow is ultimately due to triggering mechanisms, such as the interaction of unsteady flow structures that develop naturally within the fluid or small disturbances that exist within many typical boundary layers.

2. The changeover from laminar to turbulent flow is ultimately due to triggering mechanisms, such as the interaction of unsteady flow structures that develop naturally within the fluid or small disturbances that exist within many typical boundary layers.

3. The passing from laminar to turbulent flow is ultimately due to triggering mechanisms, such as the interaction of unsteady flow structures that develop naturally within the fluid or small disturbances that exist within many typical boundary layers.

4. The transformation from laminar to turbulent flow is ultimately due to triggering mechanisms, such as the interaction of unsteady flow structures that develop naturally within the fluid or small disturbances that exist within many typical boundary layers.

https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=YBaNaLurTD4C&pg=RA1-PA384&dq=The+transition+from+laminar+to+turbulent+flow+is+ultimately+due+to&hl=tr&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The transition from laminar to turbulent flow is ultimately due to&f=false

Thank you.

 

[berkeman]

I like #1 the best, and don't like #3 but I'm not an ME. Paging @boneh3ad and @cjl to see what the technical nuances are between those terms in this context.

 

[256bits]

They all seems to me to be possible.

Linguistically maybe not as written.

I added in bold italics what I think is meaning of "transition" in sentence example 1,
and how to make example 4 more or less in tune with the useage of the word "transformation,"
Transition is a process.
Transformation is an act.

Example 2 would be more like 4, since change is usually a reference to a binary act.

Not sure about example 3, and if it does or does not make any sense.1. The [ process ] [of change of state ] from laminar to turbulent flow is ultimately due to triggering mechanisms, such as the interaction of unsteady flow structures that develop naturally within the fluid or small disturbances that exist within many typical boundary layers.

4. The transformation from laminar to turbulent flow is [ a result of a transition ] ultimately due to triggering mechanisms, such as the interaction of unsteady flow structures that develop naturally within the fluid or small disturbances that exist within many typical boundary layers.

 

[symbolipoint]

I am not an engineer; but all four examples strike me as meaning the same, although I do not know this to be fully true. I do like the choice of the word, "transition".

 

[boneh3ad]

They are all grammatically correct but only #1 is technically correct. Any of the other options would have people scratching their heads as a curious word choice.

 

[cjl]

As @boneh3ad said, fluid dynamicists would almost always use the terminology "flow transition" or "turbulent transition" for this. The rest are all understandable, but 1 is by far the dominant terminology.

 

[Rive]

I would like to ask you about engineering use of English...

I'm no native speaker so I might be (very) wrong but apart from the scientific/engineering literature voting on the first one, I think: changeover is about governments, passing is about time, and transformation is about ... ugly ducklings and swans, maybe

For me it's often helps to look for the usage examples of the suspected alternatives. Many dictionary works with phrases included by default: while online translation usually oes not ha this feature an just goes with a probable translation based on general usage.