Basic Fluid Mechanics
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Introduction
Field of Fluid Mechanics can be divided into 3
branches:
Fluid Statics: mechanics of fluids at rest
Kinematics: deals with velocities and streamlines
w/o considering forces or energy
Fluid Dynamics: deals with the relations between
velocities and accelerations and forces exerted
by or upon fluids in motion
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Streamlines
A streamline is a line that is tangential to the
instantaneous velocity direction (velocity is a
vector that has a direction and a magnitude)
Instantaneous streamlines in flow around a cylinder
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Properties of Fluids:
Fluids are either liquids or gases
Liquid: A state of matter in which the molecules
are relatively free to change their positions with
respect to each other but restricted by cohesive
forces so as to maintain a relatively fixed volume
Gas: a state of matter in which the molecules
are practically unrestricted by cohesive forces. A
gas has neither definite shape nor volume.
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Density and specific weight
m
Density (mass per unit volume):
V
[m] kg
Units of density: [ ] 3 (in SI units)
[V ] m
Specific weight (weight per unit volume): g
Units of specific weight:
kg m N
[ ] [ ][ g] 3 2 3 (in SI units)
m s m
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Specific Gravity of Liquid (S)
liquid liquid g liquid
S
water water g water
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Viscosity
Viscosity can be thought as the internal stickiness of a fluid
Representative of internal friction in fluids
Internal friction forces in flowing fluids result from cohesion
and momentum interchange between molecules.
Viscosity of a fluid depends on temperature:
In liquids, viscosity decreases with increasing temperature (i.e.
cohesion decreases with increasing temperature)
In gases, viscosity increases with increasing temperature (i.e.
molecular interchange between layers increases with temperature
setting up strong internal shear)
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More on Viscosity
Viscosity is important, for example,
in determining amount of fluids that can be
transported in a pipeline during a specific
period of time
determining energy losses associated with
transport of fluids in ducts, channels and
pipes
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No slip condition
Because of viscosity, at boundaries (walls)
particles of fluid adhere to the walls, and
so the fluid velocity is zero relative to the
wall
Viscosity and associated shear stress may
be explained via the following: flow
between no-slip parallel plates.
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AU
For a large class of fluids, empirically, F
Y
AU
More specifically, F ; is coefficient of vis cosity
Y
F U
Shear stress induced by F is
A Y
du U
From previous slide, note that
dy Y
du
Thus, shear stress is
dy
In general we may use previous expression to find shear stress at a point du
inside a moving fluid. Note that if fluid is at rest this stress is zero because 0
dy10
Newton’s equation of viscosity
du
Shear stress due to viscosity at a point:
dy
- kinematic
- viscosity (coeff. of viscosity)
viscosity
fluid surface
y
u( y) (velocity profile)
e.g.: wind-driven flow in ocean Fixed no-slip plate
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Viscometer
Coefficient of viscosity can be measured empirically using a viscometer
Example: Flow between two concentric cylinders (viscometer) of length L
r h r - radial coordinate
R y
Moving fluid
O
Fixed outer ,T
cylinder x
Rotating inner
cylinder
z 12
Surface tension
• Consider inserting a fine tube into a bucket of water:
y
r - radius of tube
Meniscus
x h
- Surface tension vector (acts uniformly along contact perimeter between
liquid and tube)
Adhesion of water molecules tothe tube dominates over cohesion between
water molecules giving rise to and causing fluid to rise within tube
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Density and Specific Gravity
Density is defined as the mass per unit volume = m/V.
Density has units of kg/m3
Specific volume is defined as v = 1/ = V/m.
For a gas, density depends on temperature and
pressure.
Specific gravity, or relative density is defined as the
ratio of the density of a substance to the density of some
standard substance at a specified temperature (usually
water at 4°C), i.e., SG=/H20. SG is a dimensionless
quantity.
The specific weight is defined as the weight per unit
volume, i.e., s = g where g is the gravitational
acceleration. s has units of N/m3.
ME33 : Fluid Flow 14 Chapter 2: Properties of Fluids
Viscosity
Viscosity is a
property that
represents the
internal resistance of
a fluid to motion.
The force a flowing
fluid exerts on a body
in the flow direction is
called the drag force,
and the magnitude of
this force depends, in
part, on viscosity.
ME33 : Fluid Flow 15 Chapter 2: Properties of Fluids
Dams (cont.)
Hydrostatic forces
Turbine
Energy conversion Hydrostatic uplift
Bernoulli equation 16
Fluid Statics
When a surface is submerged in a fluid at rest, hydrostatic forces
develop on the surface due to the fluid pressure. These forces must be
perpendicular to the surface since there is no shear action present.
These forces can be determined by integrating the static pressure
distribution over the area it is acting on.
Example: What is the force acting on the bottom of the tank shown?
Fluid with density
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Tank area A
Units and Scales of Pressure
Measurement
Gage pressure
Absolute pressure
Standard atmospheric pressure
Local atmospheric pressure
Suction vacuum
Local (gage pressure)
10.34
barometer
reading
Absolute zero (complete vacuum)
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Pressure Measurement
Barometers Measure atmospheric pressure
Manometers
Standard Pressure relative to atm.
Differential Pressure difference between 2 pts.
Pressure Transducers
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Standard Manometers
gage
What is the pressure at A given h?
p = h
Pressure in water distribution systems
commonly varies between 25 and 100
psi (175 to 700 kPa). How high would h
the water rise in a manometer
connected to a pipe containing water at
500 kPa?
h = p/
h = 500,000 Pa/(9800 N/m3) A
h = 51 m Why is this a reasonable pressure? 20
Variation of pressure with
depth in a liquid
• Anybody the does
scuba diving knows
that the pressure
increases as then
dive to greater depths
• The increasing water
pressure with depth
limits how deep a
submarine can go
crush depth 2200 ft
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Forces in a STATIC fluid (at rest)
• W is the weight = mg of this
volume
FTOP
• FTOP is the force on the top of
the volume exerted by the
H fluid above it pushing down
• FBOTTOM is the force on the
FBOTTOM W
volume due to the fluid below
it pushing up
• For this volume not to move
(Static fluid) we must have
that
FBOTTOM = FTOP + mg
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Pressure in a fluid increases
with depth h
The pressure at the surface is
atmospheric pressure, 105 N/m2
Po = Patm
Pressure at depth h
h
P(h) = Po + gh
P(h)
= density (kg/m3)
= 1000 kg/m3 for water
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Pressure increases
with depth, so the
speed of water leaking
from the bottom hole is
larger than that from the
higher ones.
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Measuring atmospheric
pressure - Barometers
Inverted closed
tube filled with The column of liquid is
liquid held up by the pressure of
the liquid in the tank. Near
the surface this pressure
is atmospheric pressure, so
PATM PATM the atmosphere holds the
liquid up.
Pliquid 25
Barometric pressure
Atmospheric pressure
can support a column
of water 10.3 m high,
or a column of
mercury (which is
13.6 times as dense
as water) 30 inches
high the mercury
barometer
Today’s weather
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Pascal’s Vases
• The fluid levels are the same in all each
tube irrespective of their shape
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A hydraulic car lift
• Pressure is F / A
• At the same depth the
pressures are the same
• so F1 /A1 = F2 /A2, or
A2
F2 F1
A1
• with a little force you can
lift a heavy object!
• the jack 28
Buoyant Force
submerged object
that has a mass
density ρO
PTopA F=PA
h The density of the
water is ρW
PBottomA W
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Buoyant force
• The water pushes down on the top of the
object, and pushes up on the bottom of the
object
• The difference between the upward force
and the downward force is the buoyant
force FB
• since the pressure is larger on the
bottom the buoyant force is UP
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Floating objects
lighter object heavier object
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Static Fluids
• Fluids are substances, such as liquids
and gases, that have no rigidity. A
fluid lacks a fixed shape and assumes
the shape of its container.
• In the liquid state, molecules can flow;
they freely move from position to
position by sliding over one another.
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Pressure
• The pressure P acting on a fluid is the force
exerted perpendicularly per unit of the
fluid’s surface area F
P
A
• Unit of pressure is the N/m2 or Pascal;
1 N/m2 = 1 Pa (Pascal).
• Atmospheric pressure at sea level is
1 atmosphere (atm) = 1.013 x 105 Pa.
• 1 atm = 14.7 lb/in2.
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Pressure in a Liquid.
• A liquid in a container exerts forces
against the walls and bottom of the
container.
• For a liquid in a container, the
pressure the liquid exerts against the
bottom of the container is the weight of
the liquid divided by the area of the
container bottom.
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Density
• How much a liquid weighs and how
much pressure it exerts depends on its
density.
– For the same depth, a denser liquid exerts a
greater pressure than a less dense liquid.
– For liquids of the same density, the
pressure will be greater at the bottom of the
deeper liquid.
• To convert a density in g/cm3 to kg/m3,
multiply by 1000.
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Buoyancy
• If the weight of the object
is greater than the
buoyant force, the object
will sink (as in figure a).
• If the weight of the object
is equal to the buoyant
force, the net force on the
object is zero and the
submerged object will
remain at any level (as in
figure b).
• If the weight of the object
is less than the buoyant
force, the object will rise
to the surface and float.
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Pressure Measuring Devices
Bourdon Gage:
[Link]
[Link] [Link]
Principles: change in curvature of the tube is proportional to difference of
pressure inside from that outside the tube
Applications: tire pressure, pressure at the top or along the walls of tanks or
vessels
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