2nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University FLUID MECHANICS LECTURE NOTES For Second-year Chemical, Civil and Mechanical Engineering (Units: Fluid Mechanics ChE 221, Water Engineering 261 & 262 and Fluid Mechanies 231 & 232) CHAPTER 1: THE CHARACTERISATION OF FLUID FLOWS ‘The essential difference between Fluids and Solid Mechanies is that a fluid at rest cannot support a shear force. Moreover, it cannot support a direct stress (a pressure in fluid mechanics) unless the direct. stress is exactly balanced by gravitational forces - as occurs in Hydrostatics (see Chapter 2)). If'a shear and/or a direct stress is applied to a ‘lump’ of fluid it will deform by flowing. To complicate matters, the stresses in a fluid are determined by the fluid flow. It is this inter relation between stress (force) and flow that makes Fluid Mechanics (or Dynamics) particularly challenging. ‘At the heart of this unit is the inter-relation between forces and fluids; how forces cause fluids to move (and how such forces are created by, for example pumps) and what are the forces exerted by moving fluids. This understanding provides the foundation for engineers to use these effects in wide range of applications such a8 aircraft flight, the pipe-work system in a oil-processing plant or the design of buildings able to withstand hurricane-force winds, to name but a few examples. ‘The approach to this study generally follows that adopted in Solid Mechanics - con- sideration of stresses, free bodies (isolating a part of the continuous structure/flow- field) which are here called control volumes coupled to dynamics (Newton's laws, conservation principles, relative motion etc). ‘This chapter serves to generate a basic awareness of the different types of fluid flow in preparation for more detailed coverage in later chapters. The special case Chapter 1 ~ Page 12nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University of fluid mechanics when there is no flow - called Hydrostatics - is addressed in Chapter 2. 1.1 Flow fields A flow field describes the motion of fluid in a given region. The general character of the motion is illustrated by streamlines which are lines along which an imaginary particle (eg, a cork or a drop of coloured ink) would move. The simplest flow field is that of uniform flow seen in Fig 1.1, occurring in an infinite region, ie > —____ Ve > oo a a a ee es x FIGURE 1.1: Unbounded uniform flow ‘To mathematically describe the flow anywhere in a region, we list the flow prop- erties at each point in the region. At present we shall focus on the velocity, v (a vector), of the fluid at any location in the flow field. Of course, other properties (eg. density, pressure, temperature) may vary in the region of flow. Writing the flow velocity in component form, then: v(2,y) = ul, wit ve w)i (1.1) where u and v are the flow speeds in the c- and y-directions. For uniform flow Chapter I - Page 22nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University (Fig 1.1), u=Usy (constant) and v = 0; hence the name... no variation with x or ¥. Now place an object: (a cylinder) in the uniform flow. For low U.c, the flow field would look like Fig 1.2. FIGURE 1.2: Low-speed flow round a cylinder in the absence of frietion (viscosity) The flow velocity at a point is tangential to the streamline which passes through that point: spatial dependence (ie. onc and y) is now evident. Note that both the flow velocity, v, and the flow speed (|v| = Vu? + v?) can change along a streamline. The equation for a streamline can be found by considering the motion of an imaginary particle along a streamline as shown in Fig 1.3. Chapter 1 - Page 32nd-Your Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University FIGURE 1.3: Particle motion along a streamline Evidently: bn ubt by & vit Dividing and taking limits gives: dou ‘The flow pattern seen in Fig 1.2 is two-dimensional and steady. Steady means that the pattern does not change as time passes (ie, constant with respect to time). Real flows are three-dimensional and can be unsteady (the photograph of the flow pattern would depend upon when you took it). In general then the flow velocity at point (2, y,2) is: v(0,y, 2.0) u(x, y, 2, tit v(a,y, 2,4) + w(2 U5 2 t)k (1.3) However, to make life simple, we will generally consider only two-dimensional steady flows with velocity defined by Eqn. 1.1 Chapter 1 - Page 42nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University 1.2 The effect of viscosity Vis ity can be thought of as producing friction (or shear stress) between ‘lumps’ of fluid as they pass by each other. Perhaps more importantly, viscosity makes the fluid ‘cling’ to a rigid boundary in the flow field. The ideal flow pattern seen in Fig. 1.2 takes no account of viscosity - a reasonable assumption only when we are sufficiently far away from the cylinder wall - and allows the fluid to pass freely over the surface of the cylinder. This is unrealistic because friction between the wall and the adjoining flow would retard the fluid in the vicinity of the wall. ‘Taking viscosity into account allows a shear layer to be formed which has a velocity profile. Consider the (viscous) flow between a stationary flat plate and a moving flat plate as shown in Fig. 1.4 TAS VEWCITY PROFILE FINED PLATE FIGURE 1.4: Plane Couette flow Friction between the fluid and the plates means that there is no relative motion. ‘This is called the no-slip condition. Note that it is the fluid viscosity which generates this flow: a thin layer of fluid near the upper plate moves with the ed, Uy, of the wall; fr spet on between this layer and an adjoining layer of fluid c ses the adjoining layer to flow. This, in turn, pulls the next layer and so on. Thus, a velocity profile is set up. What is the velocity in this flow field? The Chapter 1 - Page 52nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University no-slip condition together with the condition of no flow through the plates gives that at lower plate u(x,0) = 0 u(e,0) =0 at upper plate u(t, D) = Uw v(e,D) =0 These are used as boundary conditions when solving the equation of motion (see later) to give the velocity of the flow as: v(x,y) = > vi +05 Note that the velocity profile is linear (in y) and is independent: of xr (so anywhere along the channel you would find the same velocity profile) Evidently there are shear forces in the flow. How do we determine them? The corresponding concept to the linear elastic solid (ie. a material that obeys Hooke’s law) in fluid mechanics is the Newtonian fluid. Consider the fluid element below, somewhere in the flow of Fig. 14. ' Ur ow ew tse ——_» FIGURE L.5: A fluid element deforming... in one direction (only) For the flow of a Newtonian fluid*, then: SHEAR STRESS (r) x RATE OF STRAIN (¥) ‘ote that there also exist non-Newtonian fluids that do not obey the law below. Examples are slurries - mixtures of liquid and solid matter - toothpaste, viscoleastie fluids ete, A different constitutive law has to be formulated for these. This more not covered in this unit. advanced topie of non-Newtonian fluids is Chapter 1 - Page 62nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University In time 6¢, thestrain Spy is: (u+ dyoy -u) bt Fey ~ wy Cancelling, re-arranging and taking the limit, 6¢ + 0, gives that: dey _ du dt dy ‘Thus we have: (14) ‘This is known as Newton’s law of viscosity. The constant of proportionality, 1, is the dynamic viscosity. Its units are the POISEUILLE (PI) = Ns/m?. (Note that it is more useful to use the second, SI, units.) Often, use is made of the kinematic viscosity, v, which is defined by: va xe (p is the fluid density, kg/m*) Its units are m?/s. Note that the above analysis can be generalised for deformation in both directions au, av ap (24 1s H ( byt s) (1s) 1.3 Laminar/Turbulent flows - Reynolds number to give: 1.3.1 (Internal) Pipe Flow Consider a flow in a circular pipe for two different volumetric flow rates, Qy and Qo and where Q2 > Qi, (Q =Mean Flow Speed in pipe x Cross-sectional Area) If Q; is sulficiently low then the velocity profile seen in Fig 1.6a results whilst at the higher flow rate the pattern in Fig 1.6b is found. Chapter 1 - Page 72nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University FIGURE 1.6: (a) Laminar and (b) Turbulent flow in a pipe Laminar Flow: The flow is well-ordered and stratified with a quadratic (in y) velocity profile. Note that the flow is also steady (time-independent). It is the viscosity which ens that the flow is well-ordered with its effect influencing all of the flow from the wall to the centre-line. ‘Turbulent Flow: The laminar flow has broken down to give random fluctuations in the core region of the flow. This is an unsteady flow (time-dependent) although. the random behaviour of the fluid allows us to use time-averaged values ~ the ve- locity profile shown is a time-averaged characterisation. At the higher flow speeds associated with turbulent flow in pipes, the effect of viscosity only pene! small region close to the wall. Note that viscosity plays a dual role in the flow stability. If v scosity were absent, then there would be no velocity profile (s = 0) to break down at higher flow i is the v rates. But when a velocity profile exis iscosity which tries to keep it Chapter 1 - Page 82nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University well-ordered. ~~ 1.3.2 (External) Uniform flow over a flat plate ‘The effect of viscosity (through surface friction) is to set up a shear layer in the region close to the plate. As seen in Fig. 1.7, this shear layer (or boundary layer) is laminar close to the leading edge of the plate. At some point downstream the laminar boundary layer breaks down to give way to a turbulent boundary layer LAMAR, TuReuENT itn BL. BL. SO es y= Se) — 7 x FIGURE 1.7: Laminar and turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate 1.3.3 Reynolds number Where (or when) does the change from laminar to turbulent take place? It evi- dently has something to do with the influence of viscosity: its size and its ability maintain influence away from the wall/surface in the flow... this latter considera- tion suggests the importance of a length (distance) scale and a typical flow speed. ‘These factors are incorporated in the Reynolds number, Re, which is defined length as) Dynamic viscosity of the fui For pipe flow and flow over a flat plate (see Figs. 1.6 and 1.7), respectively, the Reynolds number would be defined as _ PUmD JmD i a (1.70) Re Chapter 1 - Page 92nd-Year Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University je Oh _ acd B BM (1.76) where: (i) Pipe Flow (see Fig. 16a): Usp mean velocity of flow (Q/A), D = pipe lynamic viscosity of fluid (v = j4/p = kinematic viscosity diameter and of fluid). (ii) Flow over a flat plate (see Fig, 1.7): Use = velocity of undisturbed flow infinitely far upstream, 6 = boundary-layer thickness (sometimes distance along the plate is used instead) and : = dynamic viscosity of uid (v = x/p = kinematic viscosity of fluid) As examples of transitional (from laminar to turbulent) Reynolds numbers: in pipe flow it is + 2 x 10° and for external boundary layers it is © 1 x 10° based upon plate length. It should now be apparent that the Reynolds number is a measure of the im- portance of viscosity in the flow. When the Reynolds number is very large, the flow can be regarded as inviscid (viscous effects are negligible). In external flows (eg Fig. 1.7 and flows round working acrofoils.... ie. the air speed is high and the viscosity of air is small), the viscous effects are confined to a small layer at and close to the solid surface. This thin layer is called the boundary layer and the shear stress is only significant within this layer and at the surface. Beyond the boundary layer the flow is essentially inviscid and simple flow solutions are available to determine the flow pattern. 1.3.4 Other examples of laminar/turbulent flow. ‘The above examples of turbulent flow occur naturally. Turbulent flow can easily created as seen in the following examples. Chapter 1 - Page 102nd-Year Pluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Curtin University PIGURE 1.8: Flow along a duet driven by a fan ne flow upstream of the fan is well-ordered, the fan ‘mixes it up’ to give a region of turbulent (or swirling) flow and downstream of the fan viscosity may ‘smooth’ the flow to make it, well-ordered once again. FIGURE 1.9: Wind flow past a building In fact, it is all too easy to cr a turbulent fow: in many instan (eg. in aircraft design) we want to avoid it - this can be done by not using sharp edges etc. In other cases, for example in mixing and heat transfer, turbulent flow is encouraged. Thus, the job of an engineer is to manipulate fluid flow to suit a particular purpose. Chapter 1 - Page 11