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Fluid Mechanics

Introduction

What is a fluid?
 Three common states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas.
 A fluid is either a liquid or a gas.
 If surface effects are not present, flow behaves similarly in all
common fluids, whether gases or liquids.
 Formal definition of a fluid - A fluid is a substance which deforms
continuously under the application of a shear stress.
 Definition of stress - A stress is defined as a force per unit area,
acting on an infinitesimal surface element.
 Stresses have both magnitude (force per unit area) and direction,
and the direction is relative to the surface on which the stress acts.
 There are normal stresses and tangential stresses.
 Normal stress σn=Fn /dA
 Shear stress σt = Ft / dA

 Pressure is an example of a normal stress, and acts inward, toward


the surface, and perpendicular to the surface.
 A shear stress is an example of a tangential stress, i.e. it acts along
the surface, parallel to the surface. Friction due to fluid viscosity
is the primary source of shear stresses in a fluid.

 Fluids at rest cannot resist a shear stress; in other words, it cannot


remain at rest under application of a shear stress and will move.
 While a solid will deform and wont move like fluid as in fig:

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What is Mechanics?

Mechanics is essentially the application of the laws of force and motion.


Conventionally, it is divided into two branches, statics and dynamics.

So, putting it all together, there are two branches of fluid mechanics:

1. Fluid statics or hydrostatics is the study of fluids at rest. The main


equation required for this is Newton's second law for non-
accelerating bodies, i.e. Σ F = 0.
2. Fluid dynamics or Hydrodynamics is the study of fluids in motion. The
main equation required for this is Newton's second law for
accelerating bodies, i.e. Σ F = ma

PROPERTIES OF FLUIDS

Density (ρ) = mass per unit volume of substance = δm/δv;

Dimensions [ρ] = [ML-3].

Specific weight (γ) = force exerted by the earth's gravity upon a unit
volume of the substance

γ = w/v → γ = mg/v = m/v.g

γ = ρg where m/v=ρ

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[γ] = [ML-2T-2].

Relative density (specific gravity) = ratio of mass density of the substance


to that of water at a standard temperature and pressure = ρ/ρw (non-
dimensional).
Specific volume (v)
Specific volume of a fluid is defined as the volume of a fluid occupied by
unit mass or
Volume per unit mass of a fluid is called specific volume.
Specific volume= Volume of fluid / mass of fluid
= 1/

Viscosity

 Viscosity, m, is a measure of resistance to fluid flow as a result of


intermolecular cohesion
 Internal friction to fluid motion which can then lead to energy loss.
 Different fluids deform at different rates under the same shear stress.
 The ease with which a fluid pours is an indication of its viscosity.
 Fluid with a high viscosity such as honey deforms more slowly than
fluid with a low viscosity such as water.
 The viscosity is also known as dynamic viscosity
 Units: N.s/m2 or kg/m/s
 Typical values: Water = 1.14x10-3 kg/m/s; Air = 1.78x10-5 kg/m/s

Newton’s Equation of viscosity (see notes)

Kinematic viscosity, n

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Definition: is the ratio of the viscosity to the density;

n  m/
• Will be found to be important in cases in which significant viscous
and gravitational forces exist.
Units: m2/s
Typical values:
Water = 1.14x10-6 m2/s; Air = 1.46x10-5 m2/s;
In general,
 viscosity of liquids ↓ with ↑ temperature, whereas
 Viscosity of gases ↑ with ↓ in temperature.

Dimensions and Units

Two primary sets of units are used:


1. SI (System International) units
2. English units

Unit Table

Quantity SI Unit English Unit


Length (L) Meter (m) Foot (ft)
Mass (m) Kilogram (kg) Slug (slug) =
lb*sec2/ft
Time (T) Second (s) Second (sec)
Temperature ( ɵ) Celsius (oC) Fahrenheit (oF)
Force Newton Pound (lb)
(N)=kg*m/s2
Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluid

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 Newton classified fluids on the basis of their viscosity as
Newtonian fluids and non-Newtonian fluids

obey refer
Fluid Newton’s law Newtonian fluids
of viscosity
Example:
du
 Newton’s law of viscosity  tm Air
dy Water
o t = shear stress Oil
o m = viscosity of fluid Gasoline
Alcohol
o du/dy = shear rate, rate of strain or velocity gradient Kerosene
 For Newtonian fluids Shear stress in directly proportional to Benzene
shear strain
Glycerine
 a linear relationship between shear stress and the velocity
gradient (rate of shear),
 the slope is constant
 the viscosity is constant

Do not obey
Fluid Newton’s law Non- Newtonian
of viscosity fluids

 slope of the curves for non-Newtonian fluids varies


 the slope is not constant
 viscosity is not constant

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Ideal Fluid
That fluid which offers no resistance to its flow.
So viscosity of such a fluid is zero and there are no energy loses.
In reality such fluid does not exists.
Bulk modulus
The bulk modulus (K) of a substance measures the substance's
resistance to uniform compression.
It is defined as the pressure increase needed to decrease the volume by a
factor of 1/e . Its base unit is the pascal

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