EMM 3305: Fluid Mechanics

Fundamental of Fluid & Flow

Properties
Courtesy of:
Dr. Cüneyt Sert
Mechanical Engineering Department
Middle East Technical University
[email protected]
Fluid
 What is fluid?
 What are some of the differences between solid & fluid?
Branches of Science that Study
Fluids
• Mechanics deals with both stationary and moving bodies under the influence of
forces.
• Statics is the branch of mechanics that deals with bodies at rest.
• Dynamics is the branch of mechanics that deals with bodies in motion.

• Fluid mechanics deals with the behavior of fluids at rest (fluid statics) and in
motion (fluid dynamics).
• Hydrodynamics studies liquids (incompressible flow) in motion.
• Hydraulics studies liquids flowing in pipes, ducts and open channels.
• Gas dynamics studies compressible flow of gases with high density changes.
• Aerodynamics is similar to gas dynamics, but also covers low speed flows. It focuses on air flow
Application Areas of Fluid
Mechanics
• Too many to list all of them. Some examples are
• Household appliances : refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, dish washer, washing machine, water meter,
natural gas meter, air conditioner, radiator, etc.
• Turbomachines : pump, turbine, fan, blower, propeller, etc.
• Military : Missile, aircraft, ship, underwater vehicle, dispersion of chemical agents, etc.
• Automobile : IC engine, air conditioning, fuel flow, external aerodynamics, etc.
• Medicine : Heart assist device, artificial heart valve, Lab-on-a-Chip device, glucose monitor, controlled
drug delivery, etc.
• Electronics : Convective cooling of generated heat.
• Energy : Combuster, burner, boiler, gas, hydro and wind turbine, etc.
• Oil and Gas : Pipeline, pump, valve, offshore rig, oil spill cleanup, etc.

• Almost everything in our world is either in contact with a fluid or is itself a fluid
Fluid/Flow/Object size

Fluid speed

Fluid pressure

Fig 1.1
Fluid properties:
The Concept of Continuum
 At the microscopic scale, fluids are composed of molecules.

 Question : Is it possible to keep track of all these molecules ?

 Answer : Practically impossible and not necessary for most engineering problems.
 Rather, we study most engineering problems at the macroscopic scale.
 That is we treat fluids as continuum and do not concern with the behavior of individual molecules.
Continuum (cont’d)
 Microscopic level: Each fluid molecule shown below moves at a different speed in a different
direction.
 Macroscopic level: The speed at point A is 60 km/hr. The direction of air flow at point A is as
shown below.

 60 km/hr is the average speed of molecules in the small volume surrounding point A. Hence, we
can say that the fluid particle located at point A is moving with a speed of 60 km/hr.
Continuum (cont’d)
 Continuum assumes that fluid and flow properties, such as density, velocity, pressure, temperature, etc. vary
continuously throughout the fluid.
 In continuum, the smallest element of a fluid is NOT a fluid molecule, but rather a fluid particle, which
contains enough number of molecules to make meaningful statistical averages.

 Question: Is continuum a reasonable assumption?

 Practical answer: Yes, in many engineering problems.
 Detailed answer: Depends on the Knudsen number.

 Continuum is known to be valid for �� < 0.01.

 In this course we will always treat fluids as continuum.
Continuum (cont’d)
 Exercise : Is it easier to break the continuum assumption for a gas or a liquid?
 Exercise : Air at standard atmospheric conditions has a mean free path of 8 x 10 – 8 m. What
will be the limiting characteristic length that will break the validity of the continuum
assumption for an application using standard atmospheric air ? Search on the web for micro
and nano scale flows to see if there are applications at such small scales. ( Ans : 8 microns )
 Exercise : How much the mean free path of air should be increased so that we can start
questioning the validity of continuum for flow around a missile with a characteristic length
of 10 m ? Is it possible to have such high mean free path values at the outermost regions of
the atmosphere ? ( Ans : 0.1 m )
 Exercise : Do a research on ‘‘rarefied gas dynamics’’. Give examples of applications where
it is encountered.
 Exercise : Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) is a numerical method that can be used
to study high �� flows. Do a research on general Monte Carlo methods and DSMC is specific.
Properties of the Continuum
 It is common to use � and � to fix the thermodynamic state. Then all other
properties can be expressed as a function of these two:
� = �(�, �) , ℎ = ℎ(�, �) , � = �(�, �) , etc.
Dimensions and Units
 Any physical quantity can be characterized by dimensions.
 The magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are called units.
 Primary dimensions: mass m, length L, time t, temperature T
 Secondary dimensions: velocity V, energy E, volume V
 All equations must be dimensionally homogeneous i.e. apple ≠ orange
Fluid properties:
Density
 � [ kg/m3 ]
 Mass contained in a unit volume of a fluid. � = �/V
 Density determines the inertia of a unit volume of fluid, hence its acceleration when
subjected to a given force. Gases are easier to accelerate than liquids.
 Density also determines the amount of gravitational force (weight) acting on a fluid
body. Weight of gases are neglected more often than that of liquids.
 Fluids have a very wide range of density.

at standard conditions
Density (cont’d)
 Density in general is a function of � and �, i.e. � = � (�, �)
 If a fluid’s density is a function of pressure only (not temperature) it is called a
barotropic fluid.
 The following processes demonstrate how the density of an ideal gas (� = ���)
changes with temperature and pressure
 ideal gas equation: � = ��� or �v = �� where v = 1/� (specific volume ie volume per
unit mass)
 Ideal gas assumption is not valid for gases in near saturation state
Density of water changes little with temperature and pressure
Density (cont’d)
 Changes in � and � results in changes in �, which can be formulated as

 Divide both sides by �

 Ev – how compressible is a fluid. Large E v: a fluid is incompressible

 Large β = large change in density with T
Density (cont’d)
 Water (and in general all liquids) compress a little, but in many engineering
problems the changes in their density can be neglected.
 Incompressible fluid is an idealization used mostly for liquids that have a constant
density over the range of working conditions.
 In this course we’ll consider all liquids to be incompressible (constant density)
unless otherwise mentioned.
 In this course, we’ll take ������ = 1000 kg/m3 (constant) unless otherwise mentioned.

Incompressible fluid:
a large pressure change is needed to create a small
change in volume
Density (cont’d)
 Exercise : Although the density changes in liquid flows are small, they may result in an
interesting phenomena called water hammer. Do a research on this subject. What is it? When does
it happen?
 Exercise : Gases are much more compressible than liquids. First show that, for an ideal gas, its
bulk modulus of elasticity is equal to the pressure of the gas. Compare the bulk modulus of air with
that of water found previously ( Ans: Air is about 20000 times more compressible than water).
 Although gases are much more compressible than liquids, they can also be safely treated as
incompressible (constant density) in many engineering applications.
 In this course we’ll take ���� = 1.2 kg/m3 unless otherwise mentioned.

 Mach number (��) is the nondimensional parameter that can be used to check the importance of
compressibility in gas flows. It is the ratio of fluid speed to the speed of sound.
 Flows with �� < 0.3 can safely be studied as incompressible.
Density (cont’d)
 Hydrometer is a device used to measure density of a fluid based on Archimedes’
principle. It’s working principle will be studied in ‘‘Fluid Statics’’ chapter.

 Specific gravity (Relative density): � [ unitless ]

 Ratio of density of a substance to the reference density of water at 4 oC.

 Specific weight: � [ N/m3 ]

 Weight per unit volume of a substance.
Types of fluid flow
Viscous vs Inviscid Regions of Flow
Viscous flows: Flows in which the frictional effects are significant.
Inviscid flow regions: In many flows of practical interest, there are regions
(typically regions not close to solid surfaces) where viscous forces are
negligibly small compared to inertial or pressure forces.

The flow of an originally

uniform fluid stream
over a flat plate, and
the regions of viscous
flow (next to the plate
on both sides) and
inviscid flow (away from
the plate).
Internal versus External Flow
External flow: The flow of an unbounded fluid over a surface such as a plate,
a wire, or a pipe.
Internal flow: The flow in a pipe or duct if the fluid is completely bounded by
solid surfaces.
• Water flow in a pipe is internal flow, and airflow over a ball is external flow .
• The flow of liquids in a duct is called open-channel flow if the duct is only partially
filled with the liquid and there is a free surface.
External flow over a tennis ball
Compressible versus Incompressible Flow
Incompressible flow: If the density of flowing fluid remains nearly constant
throughout (e.g., liquid flow).
Compressible flow: If the density of fluid changes during flow (e.g., high-
speed gas flow)
Laminar versus Turbulent Flow
Laminar flow: The highly ordered
fluid motion characterized by
smooth layers of fluid. The flow of
high-viscosity fluids such as oils at
low velocities is typically laminar.
Turbulent flow: The highly disordered
fluid motion that typically occurs at
high velocities and is characterized
by velocity fluctuations. The flow of
low-viscosity fluids such as air at
high velocities is typically turbulent.
Transitional flow: A flow that
alternates between being laminar Flows over a flat plate.
and turbulent.
Natural (or Unforced) versus Forced Flow
Forced flow: A fluid is forced to flow over a surface or in a pipe by external
means such as a pump or a fan.
Natural flow: Fluid motion is due to natural means such as the buoyancy
effect, which manifests itself as the rise of warmer (and thus lighter) fluid and
the fall of cooler (and thus denser) fluid.
Steady versus Unsteady Flow
• The term steady implies no change (in
properties, velocity, temperature etc) with
time.
• The opposite of steady is unsteady.
• The term uniform implies no change with
location over a specified region.
• The term periodic refers to the kind of
unsteady flow in which the flow oscillates
about a steady mean.
• Many devices such as turbines, compressors,
boilers, condensers, and heat exchangers
operate for long periods of time under the
same conditions, and they are classified as
steady-flow devices.
Unsteady flow: (a) instantaneous snapshot and (b)
long exposure picture of the same flow.
 One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional
•Flows
A flow field is best characterized by its
velocity distribution.
• A flow is said to be one-, two-, or
three-dimensional if the flow velocity
varies in one, two, or three
dimensions, respectively.
Flow over a car antenna is
• However, the variation of velocity in approximately two-
certain directions can be small dimensional except near the
relative to the variation in other top and bottom of the
directions and can be ignored. antenna.

The development of the velocity profile in a circular pipe. V = V(r, z)

and thus the flow is two-dimensional in the entrance region, and
becomes one-dimensional downstream when the velocity profile fully
develops and remains unchanged in the flow direction, V = V(r).
25
 Velocity Field
 Fluid velocity:

 In different coordinate systems velocity vector components are

 Cartesian :

 Cylindrical :

A flow is said to be one-, two-, or

three-dimensional if the flow
velocity varies in one, two, or
three dimensions, respectively
No-slip condition
 There are also simpler flows with easy-to-express velocity fields.
 The following profile is the velocity profile at a cross section of a fully developed,
laminar, steady, uni-directional pipe flow.
The development of
a velocity profile due
to the no-slip
condition as a fluid
flows over a blunt
nose.

 No-slip boundary condition is an important feature of fluid flow that affects the
velocity field. It is an experimental observation that says “A fluid in contact with a
solid surface does not slip – it has the same velocity as the surface”.
 If the solid surface is not moving, than the velocity of fluid particles adjacent to the surface are zero.
 No temperature jump boundary condition is similar to no-slip BC. It says that
“Temperature of fluid particles adjacent to a solid wall is the same as the
Force Acting on a Fluid Body
 Two types: body & surface forces
 Force:

 Body forces are distributed over the volume of a fluid

 They result when a fluid is placed in a gravitational, magnetic, electrostatic or
electromagnetic force field. In this course we’ll consider only gravitational force. 
weight of fluid body
 Gravitational body force per unit mass is the gravitational acceleration
Force Acting on a Fluid Body
(cont’d)
 Surface forces act on the boundaries of a fluid body by the surroundings through
direct contact. Fluids also apply a surface force to their surroundings.
 A surface force can be decomposed into a normal force acting perpendicular to the
surface and tangential (shear) force acting parallel to the surface.
 Three types of stress

Stress Acting on Fluid Body

Figure 9.2

Three types of stress Figure 9.2

Three types
Stress: is the force acting of stress Figure 9.2
Unstressed
on a surface, per unit Stress: is the cube
forceof rock
acting Unstressed
area – may be Stress:
greaterisinthe on
force acting
a surface, per unit Unstressed cube of rock
certain directions.
on a surface, area
per unit
– may be greater in cube of rock
 Normal areastress (tension/compression)
– may becertain
greater in
directions. at point P :
certain directions.
 Shear stress at point P :

TENSIONAL COMPRESSIONAL SHEAR

STRESS TENSIONAL COMPRESSIONAL
STRESSCOMPRESSIONAL
TENSIONAL STRESS SHEAR SHEAR
© 2008, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
STRESS STRESS
STRESS STRESS
STRESS STRESS
© 2008, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
© 2008, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

 Stress field at a point is a tensor quantity. Its complete definition requires 9

components.

 Cartesian stress tensor :

Pressure
 � [ Pa = N/m2 ]
 It is the normal component of the force acting on an area divided by that area, p =
F/A
 Pressure always acts as a compressive force perpendicular to the surface.
 For a fluid at rest, pressure at a point is independent of direction. This will be
explained in ‘‘Fluid Statics’’ chapter.
 Atmospheric pressure : 1 atm = 101.3 kPa = 14.7 psi = 760 mmHg ≈ 1 bar
140 kg
70 kg

Afeet=343
cm2
 Exercise : Water is flowing up inside a pipe against gravity as shown below. Show
all the forces acting on the fluid inside the dashed lines.

What are the types of forces acting on a fluid body?

Does shear stress exists between fluid molecules?

Viscosity
 � [Pa s]
 A measure of a fluid’s resistance to shear or angular deformation.
 It is about the “fluidity” of a fluid. It shows a fluid’s resistance to change shape.
 Experiment: Consider a solid block firmly attached to two parallel plates.

 The block deforms elastically if a force F is applied to the upper plate

 Stress α strain; Shear stress ∝ Angular deformation (shear strain)
 If the force is increased the block will break apart at some point  beyond elastic point
 Perform a similar experiment with a layer of fluid between two parallel plates.
 Vertical fluid element AB will deform continuously as long as the shear force is
applied by moving the top plate.

• First observation: After an initial

transition, the velocity of the top plate
will be constant (�0) and the velocity
profile within the fluid will be linear.
 Angular deformation rate or shear strain rate of line AB is

 Assignment : Show that this deformation rate is equal to which is also equal to

 Second observation: Shear stress acting on a surface parallel to the flow (such as the surface of
the top plate) will be proportional to deformation rate
 Shear stress ∝ Rate of angular deformation
 is observed for fluids known as Newtonian
fluids.

 For Newtonian fluids, shear stress on a surface tangent to the flow direction is
proportional to the rate of shear strain or to the velocity gradient on the surface
(change of velocity in a direction normal to the surface).
 This is known as Newton’s Law of Viscosity.
 Proportionality constant of the above relations is known as viscosity.
 Exercise : What is the sign convention for stress ? Are the stresses shown in the previous figure
negative or positive ? How did we decide on the arrows of the stresses ?

 Exercise : For the figure below, is the shear stress negative or positive on the lower and upper
fluids ? Show the direction of shear forces acting by the fluids on the plates ?

 Exercise : Consider two concentric cylinders with fluid in between. Inner cylinder is fixed and
outer one is rotating. Write the proper form of Newton’s law of viscosity for the stress acting on
the inner
cylinder. You need to think about the correct indices and velocity components to be used in the
equation.
 Definition of fluid : A fluid deforms continuously under the application of a shear (tangential)
force, no matter how small the force is.

 It is more difficult to deform highly viscous fluids.

• Viscosity can be measured using

• capillary tube viscometer
• falling sphere viscometer
• concentric cylinder viscometer
• Saybolt viscometer

 Kinematic viscosity: ( � ) [m2/s]

 Assignment: Laminar, fully developed, pressure driven flow inside a constant
diameter pipe has the shown parabolic velocity profile. For the flow of a Newtonian
fluid with viscosity � and centerline velocity of ����, calculate the force exerted by
the fluid on the pipe wall over a pipe section of length L. Comment on the
dependency of the calculated force on the pipe radius.
Viscous Behavior of Fluids
 Newtonian behavior is simple (it is linear). Common fluids such as water, air, oil
behave as Newtonian.
 Inviscid (ideal) fluids do not exist in real world. They have m = 0. This might be a
useful simplification for analytical analyses.
 Dialatant fluids become thicker under increased shear stress. (printing ink).
 Bingham plastics do not flow below a certain amount of shear stress. (toothpaste).
 Pseudoplastics become thinner under increased shear stress. (wall paint, blood).
 For thixotropic fluids viscosity decreases with time (lipstick).
 For rheopetic fluids viscosity increases with time (betonite solution).

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx2DjGwnd44  shear thinning/thickening?

 The effect of pressure on viscosity is small and often neglected.
 Viscosity of liquids decreases with increasing temperature.
 Viscosity of gases increases with increasing temperature.

 General formula for liquids: Andrade’s equation

 General formula for gases: Sutherland’s equation

Surface Tension
 �T [N/m], acts along the circumference/length
 Surface tension is due to the asymmetric cohesive forces acting on the molecules of a free surface
(interface between a liquid and a gas).
 This asymmetry will result in a hypothetical skin (membrane) all around the surface
 Surface tension exists whenever there is a density discontinuity between a liquid and another liquid,
gas or solid.

 Exercise : Read more about surface tension at http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/exper2/exper2.htm

 Assignment: Surface tension is known to create a pressure difference across a
curved interface of two fluids. Consider a spherical liquid droplet in a gas. Compute
the pressure difference �� − �� in terms of the uniform surface tension (�) on
droplet’s surface and the diameter of the droplet (�).
 Balance the forces, draw FBD (which forces are considered?); which has the greater pressure?
Inside/outside of bubbles?]

 Capillary rise (or drop) observed when an open-end tube

is immersed into a liquid is also related to surface tension.