CVE 303 Fluid Mechanics (Lecture 1)

Goals
The goal is that you will:
1. Have fundamental knowledge of fluids:
 compressible and incompressible;
 their properties, basic dimensions and units;
2. Know the fundamental laws of mechanics as applied to fluids.
3. Understand the limitations of theoretical analysis and the determination of correction factors,
friction factors, etc from experiments.
4. Be capable of applying the relevant theory to solve problems.

Course contents

Basics:
• Definition of a fluid: concept of ideal and real fluids, both compressible and incompressible.
• Properties of fluids and their variation with temperature and pressure and the dimensions of
these properties.
Hydrostatics:
• The variation of pressure with depth of liquid.
• The measurement of pressure and forces on immersed surfaces.
Hydrodynamics:
• Description of various types of fluid flow; laminar and turbulent flow; Reynolds’s number,
critical Reynolds’s number for pipe flow.
• Conservation of energy and Bernoulli’s theorem. Simple applications of the continuity and
momentum equations.
• Flow measurement e.g. Venturi meter, orifice plate, Pitot tube, notches and weirs.
• Hagen-Poiseuille equation: its use and application.
• Concept of major and minor losses in pipe flow, shear stress, friction factor, and friction head
loss in pipe flow.
• Darcy-Weisbach equation, hydraulic gradient and total energy lines. Series and parallel pipe
flow.
• Flow under varying head.
• Chezy equation (theoretical and empirical) for flow in an open channel.
• Practical application of fluid mechanics in civil engineering.

Introduction to Fluids
Background and Definition
Background
• There are three states of matter: solids, liquids and gases.
• Both liquids and gases are classified as fluids.
• Fluids do not resist a change in shape. Therefore, fluids assume the shape of the
container they occupy.
• Liquids may be considered to have a fixed volume and therefore can have a
free surface. Liquids are almost incompressible.
• Conversely, gases are easily compressed and will expand to fill a container
they occupy.
• We will usually be interested in liquids, either at rest or in motion.

Definition
A fluid is a substance which deforms continuously under the action of shearing forces.
To understand this, remind ourselves of what a shear force is:

Definition Applied to Static Fluids

According to this definition, if we apply a shear force to a fluid it will deform and take up a state
in which no shear force exists. Therefore, we can say:
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 in which they act.
Note here that we specify that the fluid must be at rest. This is because, it is found
experimentally that fluids in motion can have slight resistance to shear force. This is the source
of viscosity.
Definition Applied to Fluids in Motion
Although 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 so that they have
different velocities, causing the original shape of the fluid to become distorted. If, on the other
hand, the velocity of the fluid is the same at every point, no shear stresses will be produced, since
the fluid particles are at rest relative to each other. Usually, we are concerned with flow past a
solid boundary. The fluid in contact with the boundary adheres to it and will, therefore, have the
same velocity as the boundary. Considering successive layers parallel to the boundary, the
velocity of the fluid will vary from layer to layer as y increases.

FIG 1.2
If ABCD represents an element in a fluid with thickness s perpendicular to the diagram, then the
force F will act over an area A equal to BC * s. The force per unit area (F/A) is the shear stress
(τ) and the deformation, measured by the angle ϕ (the shear strain) will be proportional to the
shear stress.

FIG 1.3
In a solid, ϕ will be a fixed quantity for a given value of τ, since a solid can resist shear stress
permanently. In a fluid, the shear strain will continue to increase with time and the fluid will
flow. It is found experimentally that, in a true fluid, the rate of shear strain (or shear strain per
unit time) is directly proportional to the shear stress.
Shear stress αRate of shear strain
Shear stress= Constant* Rate of shear strain
Suppose that in time t a particle at E (Fig. 1.1) moves through a distance x. If E is a distance y
from AD then, for small angles,

Where u = x/t is the velocity of the particle at E. Assuming the experimental result that shear
stress is proportional to shear strain, then
τ = constant * u/y
The term u/y is the change of velocity with y and may be written in the differential form du/dy.
The constant of proportionality is known as the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.
This constant is a property of the fluid called its dynamic viscosity (dynamic because the fluid is
in motion, and viscosity because it is resisting shear stress). It is denoted μ which then gives us:
du
τ=μ*
dy
which is Newton’s law of viscosity. The value of μ depends upon the fluid under consideration.

NEWTONIAN AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Even among substances commonly accepted as fluids, there is a wide variation in behaviour
under stress. Fluids obeying Newton’s law of viscosity and for which μ has a constant value are
known as Newtonian fluids. Most common fluids fall into this category, for which shear stress is
linearly related to velocity gradient (Fig. 1.4). Fluids which do not obey Newton’s law of
viscosity are known as non-Newtonian and fall into one of the following groups:
 FIG 1.4
I. Plastic: for which the shear stress must reach a certain minimum value before flow
commences. Thereafter, shear stress increases with the rate of shear according to the
relationship.

( )
n
du
τ =A + B
dy
where A, B and n are constants. If n = 1, the material is known as a Bingham plastic (e.g.
sewage sludge).
II. Pseudo-plastic: for which dynamic viscosity decreases as the rate of shear increases (e.g.
colloidal solutions, clay, milk, cement).
III. Dilatant substances: in which dynamic viscosity increases as the rate of shear increases
(e.g. quicksand).
IV. Thixotropic substances: for which the dynamic viscosity decreases with the time for
which shearing forces are applied (e.g. thixotropic jelly paints).
V. Rheopectic materials, for which the dynamic viscosity increases with the time for which
shearing forces are applied.
VI. Viscoelastic materials, which behave in a manner similar to Newtonian fluids under time-
invariant conditions but, if the shear stress changes suddenly, behave as if plastic.

The above is a classification of actual fluids. In analyzing some of the problems arising in fluid
mechanics we shall have cause to consider the behaviour of an ideal fluid, which is assumed to
have no viscosity. Theoretical solutions obtained for such a fluid often give valuable insight into
the problems involved, and can, where necessary, be related to real conditions by experimental
investigation.

Units
Fluid mechanics deals with the measurement of many variables of many different types of units.
Hence, we need to be very careful to be consistent.
Dimensions and Base Units
The dimension of a measure is independent of any particular system of units. For example,
velocity may be in metres per second or miles per hour, but dimensionally, it is always length per
time, or L/T = LT−1 . The dimensions of the relevant base units of the Système International (SI)
system are:

Properties of Fluids

The following properties of fluids are of general importance to the study of fluid mechanics.

Mass Density
The mass per unit volume of a substance, usually denoted as ρ . Typical values are:
• Water: 1000 kg/m3;
• Mercury: 13546 kg/m3;
• Air: 1.23 kg/m3;
• Paraffin: 800 kg/m3.
Units: kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m3).
Dimensions: ML3.
Specific Weight
The weight of a unit volume a substance, usually denoted as γ. Essentially density times the
acceleration due to gravity:
Weight per unit volume = Mass per unit volume × g
γ = ρg.
Units: newtons per cubic metre (N m−3).
Dimensions: work it out
Typical values: water, 9.81 × 103 N m−3; air, 12.07 N m−3.
γ=ρg

Relative Density (Specific Gravity)

Relative density (or specific gravity) σ is defined as the ratio of the mass density of a substance
to some standard mass density. For solids and liquids, the standard mass density chosen is the
maximum density of water (which occurs at 4 °C at atmospheric pressure):
σ = ρsubstance / ρH2O at 4 °C.
Units: since relative density is a ratio of two quantities of the same kind, it is a pure number
having no units.
Dimensions: as a pure number, its dimensions are M0L0T0 = 1.
Typical values: water, 1.0; oil, 0.9.
VISCOSITY
A fluid at rest cannot resist shearing forces, and, if such forces act on a fluid which is in contact
with a solid boundary, the fluid will flow over the boundary in such a way that the particles
immediately in contact with the boundary have the same velocity as the boundary, while
successive layers of fluid parallel to the boundary move with increasing velocities. Shear stresses
opposing the relative motion of these layers are set up, their magnitude depending on the velocity
gradient from layer to layer.
 Coefficient of dynamic viscosity
The coefficient of dynamic viscosity μ can be defined as the shear force per unit area (or shear
stress τ) required to drag one layer of fluid with unit velocity past another layer a unit distance
away from it in the fluid. Rearranging equation,
μ = τ/(du/dy)
Units: work it out
Dimensions: work it out

 Kinematic viscosity
The kinematic viscosity ν is defined as the ratio of dynamic viscosity to mass density:
ν = μ/ρ.
Units: square metres per second (m2 s−1). (But note that kinematic viscosity is often measured in
stokes (St); 104 St = 1 m2 s−1.)
Dimensions: L2T−1.

Bulk Modulus
In analogy with solids, the bulk modulus is the modulus of elasticity for a fluid. It is the ratio of
the change in unit pressure to the corresponding volume change per unit volume, expressed as:
Change in Volume/ Original Volume = Chnage in pressure / Bulk Modulus

Problems - Properties
1. If 6 m3 of oil weighs 47 kN, find its specific weight, density, and relative density.
2. At a certain depth in the ocean, the pressure is 80 MPa. Assume that the specific
weight at the surface is 10 kN/m3 and the average bulk modulus is 2.340 GPa.
Find:
a) the change in specific volume between the surface and the large depth;
b) the specific volume at the depth, and;
c) the specific weight at the depth.
3. A 100 mm deep stream of water is flowing over a boundary. It is considered to have zero
velocity at the boundary and 1.5 m/s at the free surface. Assuming a linear velocity profile, what
is the shear stress in the water?