Hyphenating a compound noun in conjunction with '-related'
This is a bit of a conundrum, if you ask me. The compound noun in my title, 'Fluid Flow' does not require hyphenation. On the other hand, this is then followed by '-Related'. If I were to put: "Fluid Flow-Related..." then it would look like 'related' only relates to the second noun, i.e. 'fluid'. So I am inclined to put "Fluid-Flow-Related..." Yet this arguably looks a little odd, and over-fussy - especially in a title.
If anyone can shed any light on this head-scratcher, I would be most grateful!
(NB: regarding the link to a possible duplicate thread - the solution which I am specifically seeking to avoid [in the question I have put forward] is the very solution which is suggested in the other thread; in effect I am actually asking how to avoid a two-hyphen solution.)
Solution 1:
If you want to avoid the double hyphen, recast the phrase. As a bonus, you will avoid the ugliness of long adjectival words. For fluid(-)flow-related is ugly regardless of hyphenation. Avoid this whenever possible, just like compounds with -based and -like. There is almost always a far less ugly alternative.
Example: *fluid-flow-related (problems/study/research) →
problems involving the flow of fluids
study on the flowing of fluids
research into the flow of fluids