ETB/ETE/ETM/ETA/ETP/ETG 2102: Fluid Mechanics

Content
1. Introduction to Fluids
2. Fluid Statistics
3. The Bernoulli's Equation
4. Fluid Kinematics
5. Application of Conservation Laws in Fluids

1. Introduction to Fluids

 Fundamental States of Matter:

Matter

Solid Fluid

Liquid Gas

1
 1.1. Fluids

Fluid is defined as a substance that deforms continuously when acted on by a shearing stress of
any magnitude.

A shearing stress (force per unit area) is created whenever a tangential force acts on a surface.

• When common solids such as steel or other metals are acted on by a shearing stress, they
will initially deform (usually a very small deformation), but they will not continuously
deform (flow).
• However, common fluids such as water, oil, and air satisfy the definition of a fluid (they
will flow when acted on by a shearing stress).
• Some materials, such as slurries, tar, putty, toothpaste, and so on, are not easily classified
since they will behave as a solid if the applied shearing stress is small, but if the stress
exceeds some critical value, the substance will flow. The study of such materials is called
rheology and does not fall within the province of classical fluid mechanics.
• Thus, all the fluids that will be concerned in this module will conform to the “definition of
a fluid” given previously.

1.2. Fluid Mechanics

2
1.3. Measurements of Fluid Mass and Weight

1.3.1. Fluid Density

 The density of a fluid, designated by the Greek symbol ρ (rho), is defined as its mass
per unit volume.
 Density is typically used to characterize the mass of a fluid system.

1.3.2. Fluid Specific Weight

 The specific weight of a fluid, designated by the Greek symbol ϒ (gamma), is defined
as its weight per unit volume.

1.3.3. Fluid Specific Gravity

 The specific gravity (SG) of a fluid, is defined as the ratio of the density of the fluid
to the density of water at some specified temperature.

 Usually, the specified temperature is taken as 4𝑜𝐶 and at this temperature the density
of water 1000 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 .

1.4. How Fluid Behave?

1.4.1. Ideal Gas Law

 Gases are highly compressible in comparison to liquids, with changes in gas density
directly related to changes in pressure and temperature through the equation,

3
 This equation commonly termed the ideal or perfect gas law, or the equation of state for an
ideal gas.
 It is known to closely approximate the behavior of real gases under normal conditions when
the gases are not approaching liquefaction.
 Pressure in a fluid at rest is defined as the normal force per unit area exerted on a plane
surface (real or imaginary) immersed in a fluid and is created by the bombardment of the
surface with the fluid molecules.
 The pressure in the ideal gas law must be expressed as an absolute pressure (abs), which
means that it is measured relative to absolute zero pressure (a pressure that would only
occur in a perfect vacuum).
 Standard sea-level atmospheric pressure (by international agreement) is 14.696 psi (abs) or
101.33 kPa (abs).
 In engineering it is common practice to measure pressure relative to the local atmospheric
pressure, and when measured in this fashion it is called gage pressure.
 Thus, the absolute pressure can be obtained from the gage pressure by adding the value of
the atmospheric pressure.

1.4.2. Viscosity

 The properties of density and specific weight are measures of the “heaviness” of a fluid.
 It is clear, however, that these properties are not sufficient to uniquely characterize how
fluids behave since two fluids (such as water and oil) can have approximately the same
value of density but behave quite differently when flowing.
 Apparently, some additional property is needed to describe the “fluidity” of the fluid.
 To determine this additional property, consider a hypothetical experiment in which a
material is placed between two very wide parallel plates.

4
• When the force P is applied to the upper plate, it will move continuously with a
velocity, U (after the initial transient motion has died out).
• This behavior is consistent with the definition of a fluid—that is, if a shearing stress is
applied to a fluid it will deform continuously.
• A closer inspection of the fluid motion between the two plates would reveal that the
fluid in contact with the upper plate moves with the plate velocity, U, and the fluid in
contact with the bottom fixed plate has a zero velocity.
• The fluid between the two plates moves with velocity 𝑢 = 𝑢(𝑦) that would be found
to vary linearly,

𝑑𝑢
• Thus, a velocity gradient, is developed in the fluid between the plates.
𝑑𝑦

• In this particular case the velocity gradient is a constant since;

• In a small time increment, 𝛿𝑡, an imaginary vertical line AB in the fluid would rotate
through an angle 𝛿𝛽, so that;

• Since, 𝛿𝑎 = 𝑈 𝛿𝑡, it follows that,

5
 • In this case, 𝛿𝛽 is a function not only of the force P (which governs U) but also of time.
Consider the rate at which 𝛿𝛽 is changing and define the rate of shearing strain, 𝛾̇ , as

• Which in this instance is equal to,

• A continuation of this experiment would reveal that as the shearing stress, is increased
𝑃
by increasing 𝑃 (recall that 𝜏 = 𝐴), the rate of shearing strain is increased in direct

proportion—that is,

• This result indicates that for common fluids such as water, oil, gasoline, and air the
shearing stress and rate of shearing strain (velocity gradient) can be related with a
relationship of the form,

𝑑𝑢
• In accordance with this equation, plots 𝜏 of versus should be linear with the slope
𝑑𝑦

equal to the viscosity.

1.4.2.1. Newtonian fluids

• Fluids for which the shearing stress is linearly related to the rate of shearing strain (also
referred to as rate of angular deformation) are designated as Newtonian fluids.

6
1.4.2.2. Non-Newtonian fluids

• Fluids for which the shearing stress is not linearly related to the rate of shearing strain are
designated as non-Newtonian fluids.

7
 • Shear Thinning Fluids: The apparent viscosity decreases with increasing shear rate—
the harder the fluid is sheared, the less viscous it becomes.

e.g., colloidal suspensions and polymer solutions

(Latex paint does not drip from the brush because the shear rate is small and the
apparent viscosity is large. However, it flows smoothly onto the wall because the thin
layer of paint between the wall and the brush causes a large shear rate and a small
apparent viscosity).

• Shear Thickening Fluids: The apparent viscosity increases with increasing shear
rate—the harder the fluid is sheared, the more viscous it becomes.

• e.g., water–corn starch mixture and water–sand mixture (quicksand)

(The difficulty in removing an object from quicksand increases dramatically as the

speed of removal increases).

• Bingham Plastic: Neither a fluid nor a solid. Such material can withstand a finite,
nonzero shear stress (yield stress), without motion (therefore, it is not a fluid), but once
the yield stress is exceeded it flows like a fluid (hence, it is not a solid).

e.g., Toothpaste and Mayonnaise

(Mayonnaise can sit in a pile on a slice of bread (the shear stress less than the yield
stress), but it flows smoothly into a thin layer when the knife increases the stress above
the yield stress)

1.4.2.3. Kinematic viscosity

• The viscosity appears in fluid flow problems combined with the density in the form
Kinematic viscosity (𝑣),
𝜇
𝑣=
𝜌
• Kinematic viscosity: The ratio of the absolute viscosity to the fluid density.

1.4.2.4. Viscosity variation

 The viscosity of liquids decreases with temperature, whereas the viscosity of gases
increases with temperature.
 This is because in a liquid the molecules possess more energy at higher temperatures, and
they can oppose the large cohesive intermolecular forces more strongly. As a result, the
energized liquid molecules can move more freely.

8
 In a gas, on the other hand, the intermolecular forces are negligible, and the gas molecules
at high temperatures move randomly at higher velocities. This results in more molecular
collisions per unit volume per unit time and therefore in greater resistance to flow.

1.4.2.5. Calculate viscosity

Viscosity of Liquids:

NOTE:

• For water, the values of these constants are 𝑎 = 2.414 × 10−5 𝑁. 𝑠⁄𝑚2 𝑏 = 248.7 𝐾 and
𝑐 = 140 𝐾 in the temperature range of 0°𝐶 to 370°𝐶 (less than 2.5 percent error).

Viscosity of Gases:

NOTE:
• Measuring viscosities at two different temperatures is sufficient to determine 𝑎 and 𝑏
constants.
𝑘𝑔
• For air, the values of these constants are 𝑎 = 1.458 × 10−6 1 and 𝑏 = 110.4 𝐾 at
𝑚. 𝑠. 𝐾2
atmospheric conditions.

1.4.3. Drag
 In discussing viscosity, the interpretation is from fluid-centered view—that is, asking what
is the effect on a fluid if a force were applied to it from the outside.
 Considering a solid-centered view and asking which forces act on solids when fluids move
around them is the other point of view.

e.g.,

 The force transferred from a fluid to a solid opposing the object’s motion is called drag.
 Therefore, in many applications, effort is made to minimize drag.

9
e.g.,

 Drag Coefficient 𝐶𝐷 ;

𝐹𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑔 - Drag
𝜌 - Density of the fluid
𝑣 - Average velocity of the object /or the velocity of the fluid
𝐴𝑃 - Reference area for drag coefficient (often the area presented by the object to the
oncoming flow stream)

1.4.4. Boundary Layers

 Drag is a straightforward consequence of bodies moving through viscous fluids and,

because all fluids have viscosity, drag is always present.
 In many flows, however, there are locations in the flow where drag is negligible.
 In boundary-layer analysis, use the knowledge of how viscous effects are distributed
throughout a flow.
 Because relative speeds in flows can be enormous (e.g., airplanes, bullets, and spacecraft),
the viscous drag on surfaces touched by rapid flow can be significant.
 When large forces are generated in a flow, the flow around an obstacle rearranges to
localize the effect of viscosity.
 In 1904, Ludwig Prandtl identified two distinct regions in rapid flow. They are,

10
 1. A narrow layer near the surfaces in which the fluid’s viscosity dictates the flow
pattern and stresses
2. A region away from the surfaces in which viscous effects are negligible.
 The thin layer in which viscosity is important is called the boundary layer.
 Outside of the boundary layer, the fluid (often air or water) behaves as if it had zero
viscosity.

1.4.5. Compressibility
 The compressibility of a particular fluid is how easily can the volume (and thus the density)
of a given mass of the fluid be changed when there is a change in pressure.
 A property that is commonly used to characterize compressibility is the coefficient of
compressibility, 𝑘.

∆𝑝 - differential change in pressure

∆𝑉 - differential change in volume

 A large value of 𝑘 indicates that a large change in pressure is needed to cause a small
fractional change in volume, and thus a fluid with a large 𝑘 is essentially incompressible.
 This is typical for liquids, and explains why liquids are usually considered to be
incompressible.

11
1.4.6. Vapor Pressure

 The liquids such as water and gasoline will evaporate if they are simply placed in a
container open to the atmosphere.
 Evaporation takes place because some liquid molecules at the surface have sufficient
momentum to overcome the inter-molecular cohesive forces and escape into the
atmosphere.
 If the container is closed with a small air space left above the surface, a pressure will
develop in the space as a result of the vapor that is formed by the escaping molecules.
 When an equilibrium condition is reached so that the number of molecules leaving the
surface is equal to the number entering, the vapor is said to be saturated and the pressure
that the vapor exerts on the liquid surface is termed the vapor pressure, 𝑃𝑣 .
 Vapor pressure can be defined as, the pressure exerted by its vapor in phase equilibrium
with its liquid at a given temperature.

1.4.6.1. Causes of Vapor Pressure:

 In flowing fluids it is possible to develop very low pressure due to the fluid motion, and if
the pressure is lowered to the vapor pressure, boiling will occur.
 For example, this phenomenon may occur in flow through the irregular, narrowed passages
of a valve or pump.
 When vapor bubbles are formed in a flowing fluid, they are swept along into regions of
higher pressure where they suddenly collapse with sufficient intensity to actually cause
structural damage.
 The formation and subsequent collapse of vapor bubbles in a flowing fluid, called
cavitation, which is a common cause for drop in performance and even the erosion of
impeller blades.
 Cavitation must be avoided (or at least minimized) in flow systems since it reduces
performance, generates annoying vibrations and noise, and causes damage to equipment.

12
1.4.7. Surface Tension

 At the interface between a liquid and a gas, or between two immiscible liquids, forces
develop in the liquid surface that cause the surface to behave as if it were a “skin” or
“membrane” stretched over the fluid mass.
e.g.,
1. A steel needle or a razor blade will float on water if placed gently on the surface
because the tension developed in the hypothetical skin supports it.
2. Small droplets of mercury will form into spheres when placed on a smooth surface
because the cohesive forces in the surface tend to hold all the molecules together in
a compact shape.
3. Discrete bubbles will form in a liquid.
 The pulling force that causes this tension acts parallel to the surface and is due to the
attractive forces between the molecules of the liquid.
 The magnitude of this force per unit length is called surface tension (𝜎_𝑠) and is usually
expressed in the unit N/m.
 This effect is also called surface energy and is expressed in the equivalent unit of N.m/m 2.
 In this case, 𝜎𝑠 represents the stretching work that needs to be done to increase the surface
area of the liquid by a unit amount.

 The attractive forces applied on the interior molecule by the surrounding molecules balance
each other because of symmetry.
 But the attractive forces acting on the surface molecule are not symmetric, and the
attractive forces applied by the gas molecules above are usually very small.
 Therefore, there is a net attractive force acting on the molecule at the surface of the liquid,
which tends to pull the molecules on the surface toward the interior of the liquid.
 This force is balanced by the repulsive forces from the molecules below the surface that
are being compressed.
 The resulting compression effect causes the liquid to minimize its surface area.
 This is the reason for the tendency of the liquid droplets to attain a spherical shape, which
has the minimum surface area for a given volume.

13
 A curved interface indicates a pressure difference (pressure jump) across the interface with
pressure being higher on the concave side.
 The excess pressure ∆𝑃 inside a droplet or bubble above the atmospheric pressure, can be
determined by considering the free-body diagram of half a droplet or bubble.
 Noting that surface tension acts along the circumference and the pressure acts on the area,
horizontal force balances for the droplet and the bubble following equations can be write.

Droplet:

Bubble:

𝑃𝑖 , 𝑃𝑜 - The pressures inside and outside the

droplet or bubble

1.4.7.1. Capillary Effect by Surface Tension

 It is commonly observed that water in a glass container curves up slightly at the edges
where it touches the glass surface; but the opposite occurs for mercury: it curves down
at the edges
 This effect is usually expressed by saying that water wets the glass (by sticking to it)
while mercury does not.
 The strength of the capillary effect is quantified by the contact (or wetting) angle f,
defined as the angle that the tangent to the liquid surface makes with the solid surface
at the point of contact.
 The surface tension force acts along this tangent line toward the solid surface.
 A liquid is said to wet the surface when 𝜙 < 90° and not to wet the surface when 𝜙 >
90° .
 In atmospheric air, the contact angle of water (and most other organic liquids) with
glass is nearly zero, 𝜙 ≈ 0°. Therefore, the surface tension force acts upward on water
in a glass tube along the circumference, tending to pull the water up. As a result, water
rises in the tube until the weight of the liquid in the tube above the liquid level of the
reservoir balances the surface tension force.

14
  The contact angle is 130° for mercury–glass and 26° for kerosene–glass in air.
 Note that the contact angle, in general, is different in different environments (such as
another gas or liquid in place of air).

 The phenomenon of capillary effect can be explained microscopically by considering

cohesive forces (the forces between like molecules, such as water and water) and adhesive
forces (the forces between unlike molecules, such as water and glass).

 The liquid molecules at the solid–liquid interface are subjected to both cohesive forces by
other liquid molecules and adhesive forces by the molecules of the solid.
 The relative magnitudes of these forces determine whether a liquid wets a solid surface or
not.
 Obviously, the water molecules are more strongly attracted to the glass molecules than they
are to other water molecules, and thus water tends to rise along the glass surface.
 The opposite occurs for mercury, which causes the liquid surface near the glass wall to be
suppressed.

15
 The magnitude of the capillary rise in a circular tube can be determined from a force
balance on the cylindrical liquid column of height ℎ in the tube.
 The bottom of the liquid column is at the same level as the free surface of the reservoir,
and thus the pressure there must be atmospheric pressure.
 This balances the atmospheric pressure acting at the top surface, and thus these two effects
cancel each other. The weight of the liquid column is approximately,

 Equating the vertical component of the surface tension force to the weight gives,

 Solving for ℎ gives the capillary rise to be,

 This equation derived for only constant-diameter tubes and should not be used for tubes of
variable cross sections.
 This relation is also valid for non-wetting liquids (such as mercury in glass) and gives the
capillary drop.
 In this case 𝜙 > 90° and thus cos 𝜙 < 1, which makes ℎ negative. Therefore, a negative
value of capillary rise corresponds to a capillary drop.
 Note that the capillary rise is inversely proportional to the radius of the tube.
 Therefore, the thinner the tube is, the greater the rise (or fall) of the liquid in the tube.
 In practice, the capillary effect is usually negligible in tubes whose diameter is greater
than 1 𝑐𝑚.

16
 When pressure measurements are made using manometers and barometers, it is important
to use sufficiently large tubes to minimize the capillary effect.
 The capillary rise is also inversely proportional to the density of the liquid, as expected.
Therefore, lighter liquids experience greater capillary rises.

1.4.8. Reynolds’ Number

 The flow classification, based on the relative magnitudes of flow velocity or inertia and
viscous shear characterize the Laminar, Transition and Turbulent flows.
 Non-dimensional number that relates the inertia force with the viscous force is known as
Reynolds number (𝑅𝑒),

 Laminar flow is the most ordered flow and is achieved when fluid is flowing at low
velocities. In such a case, the flow may be perceived as a movement of laminar (thin
planes), one over another. The effect of viscous forces is predominant over inertia forces
and as such the value of Reynolds number is small.
 Turbulent flow, on the other hand, is a chaotic type of flow where it is difficult to predict
the motion of individual fluid particles. The motion is purely random as the effect of inertia
forces is predominant.
 The value of Reynolds number at which the flow transition from laminar to turbulent takes
place is known as critical Reynolds number.

17
 The velocity profile in turbulent flow is much fuller than that in laminar flow, with a sharp
drop near the surface.
 The turbulent boundary layer can be considered to consist of four regions, characterized by
the distance from the wall.
 The very thin layer next to the wall where viscous effects are dominant is the viscous
sublayer. The velocity profile in this layer is very nearly linear, and the flow is
streamlined.
 Next to the viscous sublayer is the buffer layer, in which turbulent effects are becoming
significant, but the flow is still dominated by viscous effects.
 Above the buffer layer is the overlap layer, in which the turbulent effects are much more
significant, but still not dominant.
 Above that is the turbulent layer in which turbulent effects dominate over viscous effects.
 (Note that the turbulent boundary layer profile on a flat plate closely resembles the
boundary layer profile in fully developed turbulent pipe flow).
 The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the surface geometry, surface
roughness, upstream velocity, surface temperature, and the type of fluid, among other
things, and is best characterized by the Reynolds number.

Re Flow Type
Re< 2000 Laminar Flow
2000< Re< 4000 Transition Flow
Re > 4000 Turbulent Flow

18
1.4.9. Aerodynamic Lift

 Drag is significance on viscosity, which measure the ability of a fluid to transfer stress.
Drag force acts counter to the principal flow direction.
 Lift is another component of force created when objects move through fluids.
 Lift tends to move objects in a direction perpendicular to the main flow direction.
e.g., Lift is the force that gets an airplane off the ground.
 Anisotropic bodies experience lift when placed at an inclined angle relative to a uniform
flow field.

 A body placed at an inclined angle relative to a uniform upstream flow field splits the flow,
 Pushing part of the fluid down and pass the object
 Part of the fluid up and over the object
 One part of lift is caused by the force that the object uses to push down the portion of the
stream that flows down the underside of the object.

19
 Lift due to the upward component of force on the bottom of an object in a stream is not the
only contribution to total lift, and there is a component of lift from the fluid that pours over
the top of the object.
 The angle that the object makes with the oncoming fluid-velocity direction is called the
angle of attack.
 For a uncertain angle of attack, the air flowing over the top of the object does not simply
in a straight line; rather, it turns and flows down the surface.
 The component of lift from the fluid that pours over the top of the object is particularly
pronounced if the top surface of the object is smoothly curved (e.g., an airplane wing).
 The smoothly varying surface of an airplane wing is designed to prevent boundary-layer
detachment, thereby enhancing the tendency of the flow to cling to the wing.
 The tendency of a fluid jet in some geometries to attach to a nearby surface is called the
Coanda effect, which is caused by the inertia of the uniform outer flow.
 Thus, the lift experienced by the object is the equal and opposite reaction force generated
by the downward-forced airstreams passing under and over the object.
 The lift coefficient is defined as,

 The lift coefficient, like the drag coefficient, is a function of the Reynolds number.
 For Reynolds numbers associated with airplane flight, the lift coefficient of an airfoil is
primarily a function of the angle of attack.

20
1.4.10. Supersonic Flow

 When fluids move extremely rapidly, the flow can become so fast that its fundamental
nature changes.
e.g., 1. When a gas flows through a relief valve on an over-pressurized tank
2. When air passes through a jet engine

 These high-speed flows are called supersonic because the speed of sound is the critical
speed that marks when the change in physics occurs.
 Sound is the result of forces on a gas, liquid, or solid causing a disturbance that then
propagates through the matter as a longitudinal compressive wave.
 When a fluid is moving rapidly or when an object moves rapidly through a fluid, the speed
of the fluid and the speed of the information waves may be similar.
 This is the regime of supersonic or near-supersonic flows.
 A parameter called the Mach number (𝑀𝑎) defines whether a flow is below, near, or above
the speed of sound, which is the speed of information:

 An object traveling at the speed of sound is traveling at Mach 1.

 Supersonic flows are important in space travel and ballistics.
 In process engineering, supersonic flows occur in relief valves and, in this application, it is
critical that their special physics be considered when analyzing the valves.

21