Fluid Mechanics

Chapter 1
Fluids and their Properties
Faculty of Engineering & Technology
INTI University College

EGR 224 Fluid Mechanics

Basic Text:

Fluid Mechanics by J. F. Douglas, J. M. Gasiorek and J. A. Swaffield

5th edition, 4th edition, or 3rd edition

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8,10,14,15 + Handouts

References:

J.F. Douglas and R.D. Mathews Solving Problems in Fluid Mechanics

Volume 1 and Volume 2

Other text books on Fluid Mechanics

Introduction

Fluid Mechanics is that branch of applied mechanics that

is concerned with the statics and dynamics of liquids and
gases

Fluid Statics: which treats fluids in the equilibrium state

of no shear stress

Fluid Dynamics: which treats when portions of fluid are

in motion relative to other parts

Fluids

In everyday life, we recognize three states of matter:

solid, liquid and gas

Liquids and gases have a common characteristic in

which they differ from solids

They are fluids, lacking the ability of solids to offer a

permanent resistance to a deforming force

Definition of Fluids

A fluid is a substance which deforms continuously

under the action of shearing forces, however small
they may be.

If a fluid is at rest, there can be no shearing forces

acting and, therefore, all forces in the fluid must be
perpendicular to the planes upon which they act.

Deformation of fluids

Fluids flow under the action of a force, deforming continuously for

as long as the force is applied
Deformation is caused by shearing forces such as F (Fig. 1.1) and
cause the material originally occupying the space ABCD to deform
to ABCD

Fig. 1.1 Deformation caused by shearing forces

Shear stress in a moving fluid

There can be no shear stress in a fluid at rest

Shear stresses are developed when the fluid is in motion
If the particles of the fluid move relative to each other, they will have
different velocities, causing the original shape of the fluid to become
distorted
Considering successive layers parallel to the boundary (Fig 1.2), the
velocity of the fluid will vary from layer to layer as y increases

Fig. 1.2. Variation of velocity with distance from a solid boundary

Newtons Law of Viscosity

For a small angle, x = .y

shear strain, = x/y
rate of shear strain = (x/y).(1/t)
= (x/t).(1/y)
= u/y
where u = velocity of the particle at E
y = distance from AD.

From experimental result, shear stress is proportional to rate of shear strain,

then
shear stress, = constant . (u/y)
where (u/y) = change of velocity with the distance y.

du
is known as Newtons
dy law of viscosity

where is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.

Shear stress in a moving fluid

Consider a lubricating oil of viscosity undergoes steady shear between a

fixed lower plate and an upper plate moving at a certain speed V

y
moving plate
u=V

u=0
fixed plate

u
velocity profile

Newtons law of viscosity

du

dy
where = shear stress,
= dynamic viscosity and
du/dy = velocity gradient (or) rate of shear strain

Differences between Solids and Fluids

For a solid, the strain is a function of the applied stress,

providing that the elastic limit is not exceeded

For a fluid, the rate of strain is proportional to the applied

stress

The strain in a solid is independent of the time over which

the force is applied, and, if the elastic limit is not exceeded,
the deformation disappears when the force is removed

A fluid continues to flow as long as the force is applied and

will not recover its original form when the force is removed

Newtonian Fluids

Fluids obeying the Newton's law of viscosity and for which

has a constant value are called Newtonian fluids

Newton's law of viscosity is given by

= (du/dy)
where = shear stress
= viscosity of fluid
du/dy = shear rate (or) rate of shear strain (or) velocity
gradient

Non-Newtonian Fluids

Fluids which do not obey the Newtons law of viscosity are

known as non-Newtonian fluids

Bingham Plastic, for which the shear stress must reach a certain
minimum value before flow commences (e.g. tooth paste, jellies,
sewage sludge, etc.)

Pseudo-plastic, for which dynamic viscosity decreases as the rate of

shear increases (e.g. polymer solutions, blood, clay, milk, cement, etc.)

Dilatant fluids, in which viscosity increases with increasing velocity

gradient (e.g. quicksand)

Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluids

Fig. 1.3: Variation of shear stress with velocity gradient

Liquids and Gases

Although liquids and gases both share the common characteristics of

fluids, they have many distinctive characteristics of their own.
A liquid is difficult to compress and, for many purposes, may be
regarded as incompressible.
A given mass of liquid occupies a fixed volume, and a free surface is
formed.
A gas is comparatively easy to compress
A given mass of gas has no fixed volume and will expand continuously.
The gas will completely fill any vessel in which it is placed and therefore,
does not form a free surface.
Free surface
liquid

gas

System International (SI units)

Fundamental units:
Mass: kilogramme (kg)
Length: metre (m)
Time: second (s)

Derived units:
All other units are derived from these fundamental units.
For example,
Force = mass.acceleration
= kg.m/s2 = kgm/s2 = Newton (N)

SI units: Examples

Length: metre (m)

Area: square metre (m2)
Volume: cubic metre (m3)
Volume rate of flow: cubic metres per second (m 3/s)
Volume rate of discharge: cubic metres per second (m 3/s)
Flow rate: (m3/s)
Discharge: (m3/s)
Velocity: metre per second (m/s)
Acceleration: metre per square second (m/s2 )

SI units: Examples

Mass: (kg)

Mass density: kilogrammes per cubic metre (kg/m 3)

Weight: Newton (N)

Force: Newton (N)

Pressure = Force/Area (N/m2)

Work, Energy = Force x Distance (Nm) = (J)

Power = Work/time (J/s) = (W)

Properties of Fluids

Density
Mass density is defined as the mass of the substance
per unit volume (mass/volume)
Units: kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3)
water, 1000 kg/m3
air, 1.23 kg/m3

Specific weight
Specific weight w is defined as the weight per unit volume
w = g
Units: Newtons per cubic meter (N/m3)

Properties of Fluids

Relative density
Relative density (or) specific gravity is the ratio of
density of a substance to density of water

= substance / water
No units: (dimensionless)

Specific volume
Specific volume is defined as the reciprocal of mass
density (m3/kg)

Properties of Fluids

Viscosity
Coefficient of dynamic viscosity can be defined as the
shear force per unit area (or shear stress) required to drag
one layer of fluid with unit velocity past another layer a unit
distance away from it in the fluid

= /(du/dy)
Units: Newton seconds per square meter (Ns/m2) or (Nsm-2)
For water, 1.14x10-3 Ns/m2 or (kg/ms)
For air, 1.78x10-5 Ns/m2 or (kg/ms)

Properties of Fluids

Kinematic viscosity is defined as the ratio of

dynamic viscosity to mass density
= /
Units: square meters per second (m2/s)
For water, 1.14x10-6 m2/s
For air, 1.46x10-5 m2/s

Surface tension

Surface tension

A molecule (I) within the body of the liquid is attracted equally in all
directions by the other molecules surrounding it

But at the surface between liquid and air, the upward and downward
attractions are unbalanced, the surface molecules (S) being pulled
inward towards the bulk of the liquid

This effect causes the liquid surface to behave as if it were an

elastic membrane under tension

Surface tension

Surface tension of a liquid is measured as the force acting across

the unit length of a line drawn in the surface (N/m)
It acts in the plane of the surface, normal to any line in the surface,
and is the same at all points

Surface tension

Surface tension causes drops of liquid to tend to take a spherical

shape

Surface tension

Surface tension causes drops of liquid to tend to take a spherical

shape

Surface tension

2
d
4

Pressure force inside the droplet = p

Surface tension force around the circumference = d

2
p
d d
Under equilibrium condition the two forces will be equal and opposite,
4
i.e.,

4
d

Surface tension

Surface tension causes the liquid to rise in a fine tube when its
lower end is inverted in a liquid which wets the tube see Figure
(a)

If the liquid does not wet the tube, it will be depressed in the fine
tube below the surface outside see Figure (b)

Surface tension

If = angle of contact between liquid and solid, = density of liquid,

d = diameter of tube, h = height of liquid raised and = surface tension (N/m)

Upward pull due to surface tension = d cos

Weight of liquid raised = g(/4) d2 h
So that

d cos = g(/4) d2 h

4 cos
gd

Capillary action is the source of error in reading gauge glasses

Surface tension

Surface tension

Capillarity

Rise or fall of a liquid in a capillary tube is caused by surface tension

Rise or fall depends on the relative magnitude of cohesion of the liquid

and the adhesion of the liquid to the walls of the containing vessel

Cohesion intermolecular attraction between molecules of the same liquid

Adhesion attraction between molecules of a liquid and molecules of solid
surface in contact with the liquid

Capillarity

Liquids rise in tubes if they wet (adhesion > cohesion)

Liquids fall in tubes that do not wet (cohesion > adhesion)

adhesion > cohesion

cohesion > adhesion

Vapour Pressure

A liquid in a closed container is subjected to partial vapour pressure

due to the escaping molecules from the surface

It reaches a stage of equilibrium when this pressure reaches saturated

vapour pressure

Since this depends upon molecular activity, the vapour pressure of a

fluid depends upon its temperature and increases with it

Boiling will occur when the vapour pressure is equal to the pressure
above the liquid.
Free surface

liquid

Vapour Pressure

Cavitation

Under certain conditions, areas of low pressure can occur locally in a

flowing fluid

If the pressure in such areas falls below the vapour pressure, there
will be local boiling and a cloud of vapour bubbles will form

This phenomenon is known as cavitation and can cause serious

problems since the flow of liquid can sweep the cloud of bubbles into
an area of high pressure where the bubbles will collapse suddenly

Serious damage can result due to the very large force with which the
liquid hits the surface

Cavitation can affect the performance of pumps and turbines

Cavitation cause by collapse of vapour bubbles

Effect of Cavitation in Pumps

Effect of Cavitation in Turbines

Cavitation damage in Francis Turbine

Compressibility and Bulk Modulus

All fluids are compressible under the application of an

external force and when the force is removed they expand
back to their original volume exhibiting the property that
stress is proportional to volumetric strain

Bulk modulus K = pressure change/volumetric strain

= -dp/(dV/V)
For water, K = 2.05 x 109 N/m2
For oil, K = 1.62 x 109 N/m2

The End