UNIT 1

Properties of Fluid

R L Sharma, PhD
 Introduction

Contents
• Introduction
• Fluid
• Continuum
• Properties of fluid
 Introduction - Fluids
• Fluid is a substance which has no definite shape and will
continuously deform or flow whenever an external force is
applied to it e.g. water, milk, steam, gas, etc.

• A fluid cannot preserve its shape unless it is restricted

into a particular form depending upon the shape of its
surroundings.
 Introduction - Fluids
• A solid can resist an applied shear by deforming its
shape whereas a fluid deforms continuously under
the influence of shear stress, no matter how small
is its shape.

• In solids, stress is proportional to strain, but in

fluids, stress is proportional to ‘strain rate.
 Introduction-Fluids
Fluid Mechanics:
• Study of fluids either in motion (fluid
dynamics/kinematics) or at rest (fluid statics).
• Gases and liquids (e.g. air, water) all come under the
category of fluid.  
• Computational Fluid Mechanics deals with numerical
solutions using computers.
• Fluid mechanics comprises of the following subjects:
 Introduction
Why we study Fluid Mechanics ?
• Fluid mechanics is one of the basic courses in Engineering.
• It is a bridge course between what you have already
studied in physics and core B. Tech courses which you
study after 1st year of your degree program.
• The knowledge of fluid mechanics is needed in the design
of:
 Water supply and treatment system
 Pumps used for handling of different fluids
 Ships, Submarines, Aeroplanes, Automobiles
 Storage tanks (milk silo, tankers, feed tanks, etc.)
 Piping systems for various utilities, pipefitting & valves, flow
meters etc.
 Measuring instrument
 Units & Dimensions
• Solution to numerical and engineering problems becomes
meaningless without units. 
• The different systems of unit are:
1. SI system: International System of Units (abbreviated
SI)
2. CGS system: Based on centimetre as the unit of length,
gram as a unit of mass, and second as a unit of time.
3. MKS system: Metric system of units based on meter as
the unit of length, kilogram as a unit of mass, and
second as a unit of time.
4. FPS system The foot-pound-second system or FPS
system - built on the three fundamental units foot for
length, pound for either mass or force and second for
time.
Units & Dimensions
Properties of
Fluids
 Fluid Properties

• Mass Density
• Specific Weight
• Specific Volume
• Specific Gravity
• Pressure • Pressure
• Vapor Pressure • Vapor Pressure
• Cohesion, • Cohesion, adhesion
adhesion & & compressibility
compressibility • Specific Volume
• Specific Gravity
 Fluid Properties

Mass Density/ Density ρ

• Density is the mass per unit volume of a fluid.

In other words, it is the ratio between mass
(m) and volume (V) of a fluid.

• Density is denoted by the symbol ‘ρ’. Its unit is

kg/m3. If m denoted the mass and V the
volume of certain mass of fluid, then

• Density, ρ = m / V kg/m^3
 Specific Weight
Specific weight, w
• Specific weight is the weight possessed by unit volume of
a fluid.
• It is denoted by ‘w’. Its unit is N/m3.
• Since, weight, W = mg, therefore, specific weight varies
from place to place due to the change of acceleration due
to gravity (g).

• Specific weight, w = 1/ ρ = Weight / Volume kg/m^3

 Specific Volume
Specific volume, v
• Specific volume is the volume of a fluid (V)
occupied per unit mass (m). It is the reciprocal
of density.
• Specific volume is denoted by the symbol ‘v’.
Its unit is m3/kg.

• Specific volume, v = V / m m^3/kg

 Specific Gravity
Specific gravity, S
 • Specific gravity is the ratio of specific weight of the given
fluid to the specific weight of standard fluid.
• It is denoted by the letter ‘S’ and has no unit.

Specific gravity, S =

• Specific gravity may also be defined as the ratio between

density of the given fluid to the density of standard fluid,
i.e.
S =
• The standard density of water and air are 1000kg/m3 and
1.2 kg/m3, respectively.
 Pressure
Pressure, p
• Pressure of a fluid is the force per unit area of
the fluid.
• In other words, it is the ratio of force on a fluid to the
area of the fluid held perpendicular to the direction of
the force. 
• Pressure is denoted by the letter 'P'. Its unit is N/m2.
 Vapor Pressure
Vapor Pressure, e
• Liquid exhibits a tendency to vaporise or evaporate. This
process takes place at free surface of liquid where liquid
molecules continuously escape to atmosphere.
• The liquid molecules which escape from free surface of
liquid are in gaseous state, exert their own partial pressure
on surface of the liquid.
• This pressure produced by the molecules ejected is known
as the vapor pressure. Higher the vapor pressure of free
liquid surface, higher will be the rate at which molecules
will escape into the atmosphere.
 Cohesion, Adhesion &
Compressibility
• Cohesion: It is intermolecular force of attraction between
similar types of molecules.

• Adhesion: It is the force of attraction between molecules

of:
a) Two different liquids which do not mix or
b) Between liquids and solid.

• Compressibility:
 Compressible fluids: The fluids which undergoes a
change in volume or density when pressure is applied.
 Incompressible fluids: The fluid which does not show a
change in volume or density when pressure is applied.
 Compressibility
Compressibility:
 Compressibility is the reciprocal of bulk modulus of
elasticity.
 Viscosity µ

• Viscosity is the resistance of a fluid to flow.

 Viscosity
• Viscosity is a property that represents the internal
resistance of a fluid to motion.

 Ethanol
 Water
 Honey
 Sludge
 Slurry
 Pastes
Viscosity

Velocity Gradient = shear strain rate = du/dy

 Viscosity µ

• Experimentally, the shear stress is found to be propositional to

rate of change of velocity, i.e. du/dy

or

In this equation, µ is called the coefficient of dynamic viscosity and du/dy represent
the rate of shear strain.
• Using this equation, the coefficient of viscosity can written as

• And, when du/dy = unity, µ =

• Therefore, viscosity is defined as shear stress required to produce a unit rate of
shear strain.
Units of Viscosity
 Newtons Law of Viscosity
• The shear stress is then expressed as,

where, du/dy is the shear strain rate and μ is the dynamic (or
absolute) viscosity of the fluid.

• The above equation is referred as Newtons Law of viscosity.

• The fluids which obey this law are known as Newtonian fluids and
which do not are known as non-Newtonian fluids.
 Variation of Viscosity with Temperature
& Pressure
• Viscosity of Newtonian fluids depends only on
temperature and pressure.
• Viscosity of liquids decrease with increase in temperature,
while viscosity of gases increase with temperature.
• This is because cohesive forces predominate molecular
momentum transfer in liquids due to closely packed
molecules.
• In case of gases, molecular momentum transfer
predominate the cohesive forces.
Variation of Viscosity with Temperature
& Pressure

• Viscosity will also change with pressure -but under normal

conditions this change is negligible in gasses
• High pressure can also change the viscosity of a liquid. As
pressure increases the relative movement of molecules

requires more energy hence viscosity increases.

Kinematic Viscosity of Water
Types
of
Fluid
 Types of Fluid
Types of fluids based on viscosity:
 Ideal fluid.
 Real fluid.
 Newtonian fluid.
 Non-Newtonian fluid.
 Ideal plastic fluid.
 Types of Fluid
• Ideal fluid: A fluid is said to be ideal when it cannot be
compressed and the viscosity is zero. It is an imaginary fluid
which doesn’t exist in reality.

• Real fluid: All the fluids are real as all they possess viscosity.

• Newtonian fluid: When the fluid obeys Newton’s law of

viscosity, it is known as a Newtonian fluid.

• Non-Newtonian fluid: When the fluid doesn’t obey

Newton’s law of viscosity, it is known as Non-Newtonian
fluid.
 Types of Fluids
• Incompressible fluid: When
the density of the fluid
doesn’t change with the
application of external
force, it  is known as an
incompressible fluid.

• Compressible fluid: When
the density of the fluid
changes with the
application of external
force, it is known as
compressible fluid.
Relation Between Shear stress &
Shear Strain

Variation of Strain rate with Stress

 Kinematic Viscosity
• The ratio µ / ρ appears in many equations.
• Kinematic viscosity ν (pronounced: new) is
represented as

 Gases: Viscosity increases with increasing

temperature, why?
 Liquids: Viscosity decreases with increasing
temperature, why?

 Units: IS System - m2/s,

FPS - Stokes or centi-Stoke
 Example -1

Find the kinematic viscosity of an oil having

density 981 kg/m3. The shear stress at a point is
0,2452 N/m2 and du/dy = 0.2 per sec.
Answer: 1.25 x 10 -3 m2/s
 Example -2

A plate 0.025 mm apart from a fixed plate moves

at 60 cm/s and requires a force of 2.0 N/m2 to
maintain the speed.
Determine the fluid viscosity between the plates.
Answer: 8.33 x10 -5 Pa.s
 Example -3

A flat plate of area 1.5 x 106 mm2 is pulled with the speed of
0.4 m/s relative to another plate located at a distance 0.15
mm apart from it.
Find the force and power required to maintain the speed, if
the fluid separating them having viscosity as 1 Pa.s.
(Hint: Power = F.u)
Answer: F = 4000 N and Power = 1600 Watts
 Example -4

The dynamic viscosity of an oil, used

for lubrication of a shaft 0.4 m
diameter rotating at 190 rpm is 6
poise. The thickness of oil film is 1.5
mm as shown.
Calculate the shear force on the shaft
& power lost in the bearing for a
sleeve length of 90 mm.
Answer: 180.05 N, 716.48 Watts