In this chapter we show how to obtain the

velocity profiles for laminar flows of fluids in

simple flow systems.
These derivations make use of the definition
of viscosity, the expressions for the
molecular and convective momentum fluxes,
and the concept of a momentum balance.
Once the velocity profiles have been
obtained, we can then get other quantities
such as the maximum velocity, the average
velocity, or the shear stress at a surface.

Apply only to steady flow - the pressure,

density, and velocity components at each
point in the stream do not change with time

keep in mind that the molecular momentum

flux includes both the pressure and the
viscous contributions

The procedure in this chapter for setting up and

solving viscous flow problems is as follows:
i) Identify the nonvanishing velocity component
and the spatial variable on which it depends.
ii) Write a momentum balance of the form of Eq.
2.1-1 over a thin shell perpendicular to the
relevant spatial variable.
iii)Let the thickness of the shell approach zero and
make use of the definition of the first derivative
to obtain the corresponding differential equation
for the momentum flux.
iv) Integrate this equation to get the momentumflux distribution

v)
vi)
vii)

Insert Newton's law of viscosity and obtain

a differential equation for the velocity
Integrate this equation to get the velocity
distribution
Use the velocity distribution to get other
quantities, such as the maximum velocity,
average velocity, or force on solid surfaces

i)

Boundary conditions (statements about the

velocity or stress at the boundaries of the
system) are as follows:
At solid-fluid interfaces, the fluid velocity
equals the velocity with which the solid
surface is moving; this statement is applied
to both the tangential and the normal
component of the velocity vector. The
equality of the tangential components is
referred to as the "no-slip condition.'

ii)

iii)

At a liquid-liquid interfacial plane of constant

x, the tangential velocity components vy and vz
are continuous through the interface (the "noslip condition") as are also the molecular
stress-tensor components p + xx, xy, and xz.
At a liquid-gas interfacial plane of constant x,
the stress-tensor components xy and xz are
taken to be zero, provided that the gas-side
velocity gradient is not too large. This is
reasonable, since the viscosities of gases are
much less than those of liquids.

Assumption: no adsorption, absorption,

dissolution, evaporation, melting, or
chemical reaction at the surface between
the two phases

The flow of a liquid down an inclined flat

plate of length L and width W, as shown in
Fig. 2.2-

Such films have been studied in connection with

wetted-wall towers, evaporation and gasabsorption experiments, and applications of
coatings.
We consider the viscosity and density of the fluid
to be constant.
For small flow rates we expect that the viscous
forces will prevent continued acceleration of the
liquid down the wall, so that vz will become
independent of z in a short distance down the
plate. Therefore it seems reasonable to
postulate that vz = vz(x), vx = 0, and vy = 0, and
further that p = p(x).

we set up a z-momentum balance over this

shell, which is a region of thickness x,
bounded by the planes z = 0 and z = L, and
extending a distance W in the y direction

We can include all the possible mechanisms

for momentum transport at once:

Shell of thickness x over which a z-momentum balance is made. Arrows show the
momentum fluxes associated with the surfaces of the shell. Since vx and vy are both
zero, vxvz and vyvz are zero. Since vz does not depend on y and z, it follows from
Table B.1 that yz = 0 and zz = 0. Therefore, the dashed-underlined fluxes do not
need to be considered. Both p and vzvz are the same at z = 0 and z = L, and
therefore do not appear in the final equation for the balance of z-momentum, eq
2.2-10

equation is divided by L W x, and the limit taken as

x approaches zero, we get

eq 2.2-7

The first term on the left side is exactly the definition

of the derivative of xz with respect to x. Therefore
Eq. 2.2-7 becomes

eq 2.2-8

In accordance with the postulates that vz = vz(x), vx = 0,

vy = 0, and p = p(x), we see that (i) since vx = 0, the
vxvz term in Eq. 2.2-9a is zero;
(ii) since vz= vz (x), the term -2(dvz/dz) in Eq. 2.2-9b is
zero;
(iii) since vz= vz (x), the term vzvz is the same at z = 0
and z = L; and
(iv) since p = p(x), the contribution p is the same at z =
0 and z = L. Hence xz depends only on x, and Eq. 2.2-8
simplifies to

integrate the equation:

The constant of integration may be evaluated

by using the boundary condition at the gasliquid interface:
B.C

Substitution of this boundary condition get C1=0.

Therefore the momentum-flux distribution is:

Next we substitute Newton's law of viscosity

Substitute in the following equation,

Then, get this equation:

(differential equation
for velocity distribution)

Integrate the equation:

The constant of integration is evaluated by

using the no-slip boundary condition at the
solid surface:
B.C

Get C2:
Finally, we get velocity distribution as follow:

Then, we can calculate:

The mass rate of flow:

Film thickness:

For falling films the Reynolds number is defined

by Re = 4<vz>/. The three flow regime are
then:

We consider then the steady-state, laminar flow of a

fluid of constant density and viscosity in a
vertical tube of length L and radius R.
The liquid flows downward under the influence of a
pressure difference and gravity; the coordinate system
is that shown in Fig. 2.3-1.
We specify that the tube length be very large with
respect to the tube radius, so that "end effects" will be
unimportant throughout most of the tube; that is, we
can ignore the fact that at the tube entrance and exit
the flow will not necessarily be parallel to the tube
wall.

We postulate that vz = vz(r), vr = 0, v = 0, and p =

p(z). With these postulates it may be seen from
Table B.l that the only nonvanishing components
of are rz = zr = -(dvz/dr).

We select as our system a cylindrical shell of

thickness r and length L and we begin by
listing the various contributions to the zmomentum balance:

add up the contributions to the momentum

balance

Divide by 2Lr and take the limit as r 0,

we get

rrz with respect to r:

evaluate the components rz and zz from Eq.

1.7-1 and Appendix B.1.

Integration:

B.C

C1 must be zero, for otherwise the momentum flux

would be infinite at the axis of the tube:

Substitute Newtons law of viscosity:

Integration:

 B.C

Finally, we get velocity profile/distribution:

From velocity profile, we can obtained:

Hagen-Poiseuille equation