Chapter 4:

CONCEPT OF FLUID
FLOW AND ITS
MEASUREMENT
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this week students will

be able to :

Understand the concept and

application of continuity and energy
equation in fluid and real fluid flow
4.1 CONCEPT OF FLUID FLOW

Fluid Mechanics can be divided into

3 branches:
• Fluid static – study of mechanics of fluid at rest
• Kinematics – deal with velocity and streamlines
without considering forces or energy
• Fluid dynamics – concern with the relations
between velocities and accelerations and the forces
exerted by or upon fluids in motion
4.2 TYPES OF FLOW

Flow of fluid can be classified based on:

• One dimensional, two dimensional or three
dimensional
• Real fluid flow or ideal fluid flow
• Incompressible fluid flow or compressible fluid flow
• Steady or unsteady fluid flow
• Uniform flow or non-uniform flow
• Laminar flow or turbulent flow
- One dimensional, two dimensional
or three dimensional

Fluid flow can be classified according to

their direction of motion with respect to the
three mutually perpendicular axes
- One dimensional flow - Two dimensional flow

- Three dimensional flow

- Real fluid flow or ideal fluid flow
Real fluids have viscosity, therefore flow of real fluids
will result in shear stresses and energy losses due to
friction

Ideal fluid does not have viscosity. Hence, there will

be no energy losses in ideal fluid

* Ideal fluid does not exist, but we can assume that

the flow is ideal before doing the analysis. The results
are then corrected by applying appropriate correction
factors
- Incompressible fluid flow or
compressible fluid flow
Flow can also be classified by its compressibility

• all fluids are compressible

• density of fluid tend to increase when subjected to
an increase in pressure
• But, the changes of density due to an increase of
pressure is very small therefore for most practical
purposes, liquids are considered incompressible
• Gasses are highly compressible
- Steady or unsteady fluid flow
Flow of fluids can be classified based on the average
value of flow parameter such as velocity and
pressure

• Flow in which the parameters remain constant over

a specified time interval at a point in the flow system
is classified as steady flow
• Flow in which the parameters vary with time is
known as unsteady flow
- Uniform or non-uniform fluid flow
Flow of fluids can be classified based on the average
value of flow parameter such as velocity and
pressure

• Flow in which the parameters remain constant with

respect to space at any point in the flow system is
classified as uniform flow
• Flow in which the parameters change with respect
to space is known as non-uniform flow
- Laminar flow or turbulent flow
Flow of fluids can also be classified based on the
motion of the fluid particles

• fluid motion which is in orderly movement of fluid

particles (in well defined path) is called laminar flow
• fluid motion which is characterized by the random
and irregular movement of fluid particles is called
turbulent flow
- Laminar flow or turbulent flow
(continue…)

Reynolds Number is a dimensionless parameter used to

define types of flow (laminar or turbulent)

Re < 2000 – laminar flow

vd
2000 < Re < 2300 – transition flow Re 
Re > 2300 – turbulent flow

4.3 FLOW RATE (DISCHARGE)
Flow rate is defined as the quantity of
fluid flowing per unit time across any
section.
It also can be expressed in term of:

• Volume flow rate (m3/s) =Q

• Mass flow rate (kg/s) = ρQ
• Weight flow rate (N/s) = Q
 Q = Av
Where:

Q = flow rate / rate of flow / discharge (m3/s)

A = area of fluid flowing (m2)
v = velocity of the flow (m/s)
4.4 VELOCITY

Parameter which tells us how fast and

in what direction the fluid flows
4.5 PRINCIPLE OF CONSERVATION OF MASS
For a steady flow, the mass of flow entering the
segment must be equal to the mass of flow leaving
the segment.
ρ1A1v1 = ρ2A2v2
but ρ1 = ρ2

Therefore, Q1 = Q2 (Continuity Eq.)

A1v1 = A2v2
Q
Section 1 Section 2
Example 1:

Water flows through a pipe 25 mm in diameter at a velocity

of 6 m/s. Calculate the Reynolds Number, if the dynamic
viscosity and density of water are 1.30 x 10-3 Pa.s and
1000 kg/m3 respectively. Is the flow laminar or turbulent?
Example 2:

Water flows in the pipe system as shown in Figure Q3. The

diameters of the pipe at points 1, 2 and 4 are 45 mm, 60
mm and 25 mm respectively. The velocity at points 2 and 3
are 2.5 m/s and 2.0 m/s respectively. If flow rate at point 3
is twice that at point 4, determine :

Flow rates at points 1, 2, 3 and 4

Velocities at points 1 and 4
Diameter of pipe at point 3
 3

Datum 1 2

4
4.6 ENERGY EQUATION

Fluid in motion posses energy

3 forms of energy that must be

considered:
potential energy
kinetic energy
pressure energy
potential energy  PE = Wz
kinetic energy  KE = Wv2 / 2g
pressure energy  FE = PW / g

Total energy, E is the summations of

those 3 energies

E = PE + KE + FE
= Wz + Wv2 / 2g + PW / g
 E = Wz + Wv2 / 2g + PW / g
E / W = z + v2 / 2g + P / g
But E / W can be expressed as head, H
Therefore:
H = z + v2 / 2g + P / g
Where H = total head
z = elevation head
v2 / 2g = velocity head
P / g = pressure head
3.7 BERNOULLI’s EQUATION

A few assumptions have been adopted in

deriving Bernoulli’s Eq.
-velocity on flow cross sectional is uniform
and average velocity is used
-No losses of energy due to friction
-Energy of flow is not converted into any
other form apart from kinetic, potential and
pressure energies
4.7 ENERGY LOSS AND GAIN

In practice, real fluid has viscosity.

Friction will cause energy loss
Pipe fittings also cause energy loss

But :
Usage of pump will increase the
energy in fluid
 Example:
Water flows from section 1 to section 2 in the pipe shown in figure below.
a) Neglect losses, determine the velocity of flow and the pressure at section 2 .
b) What is the pressure at section 2 if losses from 1 – 2 is 2.00m

Section 1
Section 2
Pressure = 150 kPa
Diameter = 50 mm Diameter = 45 mm
Velocity = 5 m/s

5m 3.5m

DATUM