ENSC283

IntroductionandPropertiesof
Fluids

Spring2009

Preparedby:
M.Bahrami
MechatronicsSystemEngineering,SchoolofEngineeringandSciences,SFU

M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 2

Introduction
Afluidcannotresistashearstressbyastaticdeflectionanditmovesanddeformscontinuouslyaslong
astheshearstressisapplied.
Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids either in motion (fluid dynamics) or at rest (fluid statics). Both
liquidsandgasesareclassifiedasfluids.
Thereisatheoryavailableforfluidflowproblems,butinallcasesitshouldbebackedupbyexperiment.
Itisahighlyvisualsubjectwithgoodinstrumentation.
Since the earth is 75% covered with water and 100% with air, the scope of fluid mechanics is vast and
has numerous applications in engineering and human activities. Examples are medical studies of
breathingandbloodflow,oceanography,hydrology,energygeneration.Otherengineeringapplications
include:fans,turbines,pumps,missiles,airplanestonameafew.
Thebasicequationsoffluidmotionaretoodifficulttoapplytoarbitrarygeometricconfigurations.Thus
mosttextbooksconcentrateonflatplates,circularpipes,andothersimple geometries.Itispossibleto
apply numerical techniques to complex geometries, this branch of fluid mechanics is called
computationalfluidmechanics(CFD).Ourfocus,however,willbeontheoreticalapproachinthiscourse.
Viscosityisaninternalpropertyofafluidthatoffersresistancetoflow.Viscosityincreasesthedifficulty
ofthebasicequations.Italsohasadestabilizingeffectandgivesrisetodisorderly,randomphenomena
calledturbulence.

Fig.1:effectsofviscosityandshapeonthefluidflow.
Historyoffluidmechanics
Ancient civilization had enough knowledge to solve certain flow problems, e.g. sailing ships with oars,
irrigationsystems.
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 3

Archimedes (285 212 B.C.) postulated the parallelogram law for addition of vectors and the laws of
buoyancyandappliedthemtofloatingandsubmergedobjects.
LeonardodaVinci(14521519)statedtheequationofconservationofmassinonedimensionalsteady
stateflow.Heexperimentedwithwaves,jets,hydraulicjumps,eddyformation,etc.
EdmeMariotte(16201684)builtthefirstwindtunnelandtestedmodelsinit.
IsaacNewton(16421727)postulatedhislawsofmotionandthelawofviscosityoflinearfluids,now
called newtonian. The theory first yield the frictionless assumption which led to several beautiful
mathematicalsolutions.
Leonhard Euler (1707 1783) developed both the differential equations of motion and their integral
form,nowcalledBernoulliequation.
William Froude (1810 1879) and his son developed laws of model testing and Lord Rayleigh (1842
1919)proposeddimensionalanalysis.
Osborne Reynolds (1842 1912) published the classic pipe experiment and showed the importance of
thedimensionlessReynoldsnumber,namedafterhim.
Navier (1785 1836) and Stokes (1819 1903) added newtonian viscous term to the equation of
motion,thefluidmotiongoverningequation,i.e.,NavierStokesequationisnamedafterthem.
LudwigPrandtl(18751953)pointed outthatfluidflowswithsmallviscosity,suchaswaterflowsand
airflows,canbedividedintoathinviscouslayer(or boundarylayer)nearsolidsurfacesandinterfaces,
patchedontoanearlyinviscidouterlayer,wheretheEulerandBernoulliequationsapply.

Fig.2:Theconceptofboundarylayer.
Theconceptoffluid
Therearetwoclassesoffluids:
Liquids: are composed of relatively closepacked molecules with strong cohesive forces. Liquids have
constant volume (almost incompressible) and will form a free surface in a gravitational field if
unconfinedfromabove.
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 4

Gases: molecules are widely spaced with negligible cohesive forces. A gas is free to expand until it
encounters confining walls. A gas has no definite volume, and it forms an atmosphere when it is not
confined.Gravitationaleffectsarerarelyconcerned.
Liquidsandgasescancoexistintwophasemixturessuchassteamwatermixtures.
We can define fluid properties and parameters, as continuous point functions, ONLY if the continuum
approximation is made. This requires that the physical dimensions are large compared to the fluid
molecules.
Thefluiddensityisdefinedas:
p = lim
6v-6v
-
om
oI

wheretheoI
-
isalimitingvolumeabovewhichmolecularvariationsarenotimportant,thisvolumefor
allliquidsandgasesisabout10
9
mm
3
.
Dimensionsandunits
Any physical quantity can be characterized by dimensions. The arbitrary magnitudes assigned to the
dimensionsarecalledunits.Therearetwotypesofdimensions,primaryorfundamentalandsecondary
or derived dimensions. Some primary dimensions are: mass, m; length, L; time, t; temperature, T.
Secondarydimensionsaretheonesthatcanbederivedfromprimarydimensionssuchas:velocity(m/s),
pressure(Pa=kg/m.s
2
).
There are two unit systems currently available SI (International System) and USCS (United States
Customary System) or English system. We, however, will use SI units exclusively in this course. The SI
system is based on 7 fundamental units: length, meter (m); mass, kilogram (kg); time, second (s);
electriccurrent,ampere(A);amountoflight,candela(cd);amountofmatter,mole(mol).
TheSIunitsarebasedondecimalrelationshipbetweenunits.Theprefixesusedtoexpressthemultiples
ofthevariousunitsarelistedinTable1.
Table1:StandardprefixesinSIunits.
MULTIPLE 10
12
10
9
10
6
10
3
10
2
10
3
10
6
10
9
10
12

PREFIX tetra,T giga,G mega,M kilo,k centi,c mili,m micro, nano,n pico,p
Importantnote:inengineeringallequationsmustbedimensionallyhomogenous.Thismeansthatevery
terminanequationmusthavethesameunits.Itcanbeusedasasanitycheckforyoursolution.
Example1:UnitConversion
The heat dissipation rate density of an electronic device is reported as 10.72 mW/mm
2
by the
manufacturer.ConvertthistoW/m
2
.
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 5

2
2
2
10720
1000
1
1
1000
72 . 10
m
W
mW
W
m
mm
mm
mW

EulerianandLagrangianPointofView
Therearetwodifferentpointsofviewinanalyzingproblemsinmechanics.
In the Eulerian point of view, the dynamic behavior of the fluid is studied from a fixed point in space.
Therefore, fluid properties and parameters are computed as filed functions, e.g. p(x,y,z,t). Most
measurementdevicesworkbasedonEulerianmethod.
ThesystemconceptrepresentsaLagrangianpointofviewwherethedynamicbehaviorofafluidparticle
is considered. To stimulate a Lagrangian measurement, the probe would have to move downstream at
thefluidparticlespeed.
Fluidvelocityfield
Velocity: the rate of change of fluid position at a point in a flow field. Velocity in general is a vector
functionofpositionandtime,thushasthreecomponentsu,v,andw,eachascalarfieldinitself:
I(x, y, z, t) = u(x, y, z, t)i + :(x, y, z, t)] + w(x, y, z, t)k
Velocityisusedtospecifyflowfiledcharacteristics,flowrate,momentum,andviscouseffectsforafluid
inmotion.Furthermore,velocityfieldmustbeknowntosolveheatandmasstransferproblems.
Thermodynamicpropertiesofafluid
Anycharacteristicofasystemiscalledaproperty.Inthiscourse,thefluidisassumedtobeacontinuum,
homogenous matter with no microscopic holes. This assumption holds as long as the volumes, and
lengthscalesarelargewithrespecttotheintermolecularspacing.
Thermodynamicpropertiesdescribethestateofasystem.
Systemisdefinedasacollectionofmatteroffixedidentitythatinteractswithitssurroundings.
For a singlephase substance such as water or oxygen, two basic (independent) properties such as
pressureandtemperaturecanidentifythestateofasystem;andthusthevalueofallotherproperties.
Note:Inthiscourse,importantnonequilibriumeffectssuchaschemical,nuclear,andmagneticeffects
areneglected.
Temperature
Temperatureisameasureoftheinternalenergy,itisalsoapointerforthedirectionofenergytransfer
asheat.
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 6

Fig.3:Heattransferoccursinthedirectionofhighertolowertemperature.
When the temperatures of two bodies are the same, thermal equilibrium is reached. The equality of
temperatureistheonlyrequirementforthermalequilibrium.
Experimentally obtained Temperature Scales, the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales, are based on the
meltingandboilingpointsofwater.Theyarealsocalledtwopointscales.
Conventionalthermometrydependsonmaterialpropertiese.g.mercuryexpandswithtemperatureina
repeatableandpredictableway.
Thermodynamic Temperature Scales (independent of the material), the Kelvin and Rankine scales, are
determinedusingaconstantvolumegasthermometer.Therelationshipsbetweenthesescalesare:
I(K) = I(C) + 27S.1S
I(R) = I(F) + 4S9.67
I(R) = 1.8I(K)
I(F) = 1.8I(C) + S2
Pressure
Pressureisthe(compression)forceexertedbyafluidperunitarea.
Prcssurc =
Forcc
Arco
_
N
m
2
] Po
In fluids, gases and liquids, we speak of pressure; in solids this is normal stress. For a fluid at rest, the
pressureatagivenpointisthesameinalldirections.
Differencesorgradientsinpressuredriveafluidflow,especiallyinductsandpipes.
Density
Thedensityofafluidisitsmassperunitvolume:
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 7

p =
m
I
_
kg
m
3
]
Liquidsareessentiallyincompressible,whereasdensityishighlyvariableingasesnearlyproportionalto
the pressure. In general, liquids are approximately 3 orders of magnitude denser than gases at
atmosphericpressure.
@20C,1atm Air Water Hydrogen Mercury
p (kg m
3
) 1.20 998 0.0838 13,580
Note:specificvolumeisdefinedas:
: =
I(m
3
)
m(kg)
=
1
p

Specificweight
The specific weight of a fluid is its weight, w = mg, per unit volume. Density and specific weight are
relatedbygravity:
y = pg _
N
m
3
]
Specificgravity
Specific gravity is the ratio of a fluid density to a standard reference fluid, typically water at 4C (for
liquids)andair(forgases):
S0
gus
=
p
gus
p
u
=
p
gus
1.2uS (kgm
3
)

S0
Iqud
=
p
Iqud
p
wutc
=
p
Iqud
1uuu (kgm
3
)

Forexample,thespecificgravityofmercuryisSG
Hg
=13,580/100013.6.
Energyandspecificheats
Potentialenergyistheworkrequiredtomovethesystemofmassmfromtheorigintoapositionagainst
agravityfieldg:
PE = mgz
KineticenergyistheworkrequiredtochangethespeedofthemassfromzerotovelocityV.
KE =
1
2
mI
2

The total energy, E, of a substance is the sum of the internal, kinetic, and potential energies at a given
statepoint:
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 8

c(k[kg) =
E(k[)
m(kg)
= u + gz +
I
2
2

Note: the molecular internal energy u is a function of temperature and pressure for the singlephase
substance,whereasKEandPEarekinematicquantities.
Specificheatcapacity,alsoknownsimplyasspecificheat,isthemeasureoftheheatenergyrequiredto
increasethetemperatureofaunitmassofasubstancebyonedegreetemperature.Therearetwotypes
ofspecificheats,constantvolumec
v
andconstantpressurec
p
.
Theidealgasequationofstate
Any equation that relates the pressure, temperature, and specific volume of a substance is called an
equationofstate.Thesimplestandbestknownequationofstateforsubstancesinthegasphaseisthe
idealgasequationofstate.
It is experimentally observed that at a low pressure the volume of a gas is proportional to its
temperature:
_
p I
p
1
:
- P
I
:

or
p = R
u
pI
whereR
u
isthegasuniversalconstant,R
u
=8.314(kJ/kmol.K).Theidealgasequationcanbewrittenas
follows:
p = pRI
TheconstantRisdifferentforeachgas;forair,R
air
=0.287kJ/kg.K.ThemolecularweightofairM=28.97
kg/kmol.
R = c
p
-c

isthegasconstantandc
p
andc
v
arespecificheatconstants.
Foranidealgas,theinternalenergyisonlyafunctionoftemperature;u = u(I);thusconstantvolume
specificheatisonlyafunctionoftemperature:
c

= _
ou
oI
]_

=
Ju
JI
= c

(I)
or,
Ju = c

(I)JI
Enthalpy,anotherthermodynamicproperty,isrelatedtointernalenergy:
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 9

b = u +
p
p
= u + RI = b(I)
Theconstantpressurespecificheatcanbedefinedas:
c
p
= _
ob
oI
]_
p
=
Jb
JI
= c
p
(I)
or,
Jb = c
p
(I)JI
Theratioofspecificheatsofaperfectgasisanimportantdimensionlessparameterincompressibleflow
analysis:
k =
c
p
c

= k(I) 1
Forair,k
air
=1.4atatmosphericconditions.
Incompressiblefluid
Liquidsare(almost)incompressibleandthushaveasingleconstantspecificheat:
c
p
= c

= c Jb = cJI
Viscosity
Viscosityisameasureofafluidsresistancetoflow.Itdeterminesthefluidstrainratethatisgenerated
byagivenappliedshearstress.

Fig.4:Velocityprofileandshearstress.
ANewtonianfluidhasalinearrelationshipbetweenshearstressandvelocitygradient:
= p
Ju
Jy

Theshearstressisproportionaltotheslopeofthevelocityprofileandisgreatestatthewall.
u(y)
y
Noslipatwall
Velocity
profile
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 10

Thenoslipcondition:atthewallvelocityiszerorelativetothewall.Thisisacharacteristicofallviscous
fluid.
Thelinearitycoefficientintheequationisthecoefficientofviscosity,p (N. sm
2
).Wecanalsousethe
kinematicviscosityv(m
2
s ) = p p .Someexamples:
p
hdogcn
= 9.uE - 6 [
kg
m.s
, p
u
= 1.8E -S [
kg
m.s
, p
wutc
= 1.uE - S [
kg
m.s
p
cngnc oI,SAL30
=
u.2u [
kg
m.s

Temperaturehasastrongandpressurehasamoderateeffectonviscosity.Theviscosityofgasesand
mostliquidsincreasesslowlywithpressure.
Gasviscosityincreaseswithtemperature.Twocommonapproximationsarethepowerlawandthe
Sutherlandlaw:
p
p
0
=
`
1
1
1
1
_
I
I
0
]
n
powcr low
(I I
0
)
32
(I
0
+ S)
I + S
SutbcrlonJ low

wherep
0
isaknownviscosityataknownabsolutetemperatureusually273K(notethatKelvin
temperaturescalemustbeusedintheformula).TheconstantnandSarefittothedata.Forairn=0.7
andS=110K.
Liquidviscositydecreaseswithtemperatureandisroughlyexponential,p = oc
-b1
.Abetterfitisthe
followingempiricalrelationship:
ln
p
p
0
= o + b _
I
0
I
] + c _
I
0
I
]
2

whereforwaterI
0
= 27S.16K, p
0
= u.uu1792
kg
m.s
, o = -1.94, b = -4.8u, onJ c = 6.74with
accuracyabout1%.
TheReynoldsnumber
TheReynoldsnumber,Re:
Rc =
pII
p
=
II
v

is a dimensionless number that gives a measure of the ratio of inertial forces (pI) to viscous
forces(p I ) and, consequently, it quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for
givenflowconditions.

M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 11

VerylowReynoldsnumber Viscouscreepingmotion,i.e.inertiaeffectsarenegligible
Moderate Reynolds
number
Smoothlyvaryinglaminarflow,bothinertiaandviscousforcesimportant
HighReynoldsnumber Turbulentflow,withstronglyrandomhighfrequencyfluctuations

Fig.5:LHS,verylowRenumber,creepingflowaroundtwocylindricalbodies.RHS:airflowaroundan
airfoil,frommoderateRenumber,laminarflow(topphoto)tohighRenumber,turbulentflowregime
(bottomphoto).
ExplicitnumericalvalueofRenumbersdependonflowgeometry.
Thermalconductivity
It can be observed that the rate of heat conduction through a material layer is proportional to the
temperaturedifferenceacrossthelayerandtheheattransferarea,butitisinverselyproportionaltothe
thicknessofthelayer,asshowninFig.6.
Rotc o bcot tronscr
(surocc orco)(tcmpcroturc Jicrcncc)
woll tbickncss

Tomakethisequality,k(w m. K )thethermalconductivityofthematerial,isintroduced.Thisiscalled
theFourierslawofheatconduction.Inthelimitingcasewherethethicknessx0,theequationabove
reducestothedifferentialform:
q =

A
= -kvI
Theminussignsatisfiestheconventionthatheatfluxispositiveinthedirectionofdecreasing
temperature.
Thiscanbewrittenforthreescalarcomponentsoftheheatflowratevector:
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 12

q
x
= -k
oI
ox
, q

= -k
oI
oy
, q
z
= -k
oI
oz

The term oI ox is called the temperature gradient, which is the slope of the temperature curve, the
rateoftemperaturechangeinthexdirection.

Fig.6:Heatconductionthroughalargeplanewall.
Note:Thermalconductivityisathermodynamicpropertyandvarieswithtemperatureandpressureina
similar manner to viscosity, the ratio of k/k
0
can be correlated using the same abovementioned
equationforviscosity.
Flowbetweenplates
ItistheflowinducedbetweenafixedlowerplateandupperplatemovingsteadilyatvelocityV.

With zero acceleration and assuming no pressure variation in the flow direction, one can write a force
balanceonasmallfluidelementthatleadstotheresultthattheshearstressisconstantthroughoutthe
fluid:
Area,A
A
x
Q
T
1

T
2

M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 13

Ju
Jy
=

p
= const.
Afterintegration:
u = o + by
thevelocitydistributionislinear,asshowninthefigureandtheconstantscanbefoundusingboundary
consitions(noslipvelocityatlowerandupperplates):
u = _
u = o +b(u) ot y = u
I = o + b(b) ot y = b

Thevelocitybecomes:
u = I
y
b

Surfacetension
Aliquid,beingunabletoexpandfreely,willformaninterfacewithasecondliquidorgas.

Fig.7:Surfacetension,liquidgassolidinterface.
The cohesive forces between liquid molecules are responsible for the phenomenon known as surface
tension. The molecules at the surface do not have other like molecules on all sides of them and
consequentlytheycoheremorestronglytothosedirectlyassociatedwiththemonthesurface.
Surface tension (pronounced upsilon) has the dimension of force per unit length (N/m) or of energy
perunitarea(J/m
2
).

Fig.8:Pressuredropacrosscurvedinterfacesduetosurfacetension.
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 14

PressureincreaseintheinteriorofaliquidhalfcylinderdropletoflengthLandradiusRis,Fig.8a:
2RIp = 2L or p =

PressuredropletintheinteriorofaliquidhalfspheredropletofradiusRis,Fig.8b:
R
2
p = 2nR or p =
2
R

Forafullspheredroplet,e.g.soapbubble,whichhastwointerfaceswithair,thepressureincreasewill
betwice:
p
bubbIc
= 2p
dopIct
=
4
R

PressuredropletintheinteriorofanarbitrarilycurvedinterfaceofprincipalradiiR1andR2,Fig.8c:
p = _
1
R
1
+
1
R
2
]
This is a more general relationship and yields both cylindrical (R
1
= R onJ R
2
- ) and spherical
R
1
= R
2
= R.
Contactangle 0:appearswhenaliquidinterfaceintersectswithasolidsurface.
0 = _

< 9u
wctting liquiJ
> 9u nonwctting liquiJ

The contact angle is sensitive to actual physiochemical condition of the solidliquid interface. Water is
extremelywettingtoacleanglasssurfacewith 0 = u.Foracleanmercuryairglassinterface,0 = 1Su.
Vaporpressureandcavitation
Vaporpressureisthepressureatwhichaliquidboilsandisinequilibriumwithitsownvapor.Whenthe
liquidpressureisdroppedbelowthevaporpressureduetoaflowphenomenon,wecalltheprocess
cavitation.Thedimensionlessparameterdescribingflowinducedboilingiscalledcavitationnumber:
Co =
p
u
- p

u.SpI
2

where,p
a
isambientpressure,p
v
isvaporpressureandVisthefluidvelocity.

Fig.9:Cavitationbubbles.
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 15

Fig. 10: Spiral bubbles form from the surface of a marine propeller. When water is accelerated, its
pressure drops, this can cause cavitation. The cavitation bubbles being formed on a lowpressure
surface of a marine propeller move into a higherpressure region and collapse, creating a beautiful
image.

Fig. 11: Bubble collapse is a particularly important subject because of the noise and material damage
that can be caused by the high velocities, pressures, and temperatures that may result from that
collapse.Thefigureshowsthe damagingerosioneffectsofcollapsingcavitationbubblesonapropeller
surface(LHS)andonavalveplate(RHS).
Noslipandnotemperaturejumpcondition
When a fluid flow is bounded by a surface, molecular interactions cause the fluid in contact with the
surface to seek momentum and energy equilibrium with the surface. Except for rarefied gas flows, we
shallassume:
I
]Iud
= I
wuII
noslipcondition
I
]Iud
= I
wuII
notemperaturejumpcondition
Theyserveasboundaryconditionsforanalysisoffluidflowpastasolidsurface.
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 16

Fig.12:noslipconditioninwaterflowpastathinfixedplate.theupperflowisturbulent,theloweris
laminar.Thevelocityprofileismadevisibleusingalineofhydrogenbubbles.
Speedofsoundandcompressibilityeffects
When the flow velocity reaches a considerable fraction of the speed of sound of a fluid, the
compressibility effects can be important in gas flow due to significant density changes caused by the
highvelocityflow.
Speed of sound: is the rate of propagation of smalldisturbance pressure pulses (soundwaves) through
thefluid:
o
2
= k _
op
op
]
1
, k =
c
p
c

Foranidealgas,onefinds:
o
dcuI gus
= kRI
Risthegasconstant,andTistheabsolutetemperature(Kelvin),forairat20C,a=343m/s.
Machnumberistheratiooftheflowtothespeedofsound:
Ho =
I
o

CompressibilityeffectsarenormallyneglectedforHo < u.S,i.e.,forairflowvelocityupto100m/s.

Flowpattern
Streamline:isalineeverywheretangenttothevelocityvectoratagiveninstant.
Pathline:istheactualpathtraversedbyagivenfluidparticle.
Streakline:isthelocusofparticlesthathaveearlierpassedthroughaprescribedpoint.
Turbulentflow
Laminarflow
Thinfixedplate
Velocityprofile,
Turbulentflow
Velocityprofile,
laminarflow
M.Bahrami FluidMechanics(S09) Intro&fluidproperties 17

Timeline:isasetoffluidparticlesthatformalineatagiveninstant.
Note:insteadyflows,streamlines,pathlines,andstreaklinesareidentical.

Fig. 13: a) streamlines are tangent to the local velocity vector, b) a streamtube is formed by a closed
collection of streamlines. By definition the fluid within the streamtube is confined there because it
cannotcrossthestreamline;thusthestreamtubewallsneednotbesolidbutmaybefluidsurface.
IftheelementalarclengthdrofastreamlineistobeparalleltoV,theirrespectivecomponentsmustbe
inproportion:
Streamline:
dx
u
=
d

=
dz
w
=
d
v

Thus, if velocities (u, v, w) are known functions of position and time, we can integrate the above
equationandfindthestreamlinepassingthroughtheinitialpoint(x
0
,y
0
,z
0
).