Fluid Mechanics

ENME711
Week 1
Basic concepts
State of matter
Solid
Liquid
Gas
Plasma
Basic concepts
What is a fluid?
A fluid is a substance which deforms continuously under the action of
shearing forces, however small they may be.

Liquid
Conforms to container
Often considered incompressible
Gas
Expands to fill the container
Generally considered compressible
Basic concepts
Fluid Properties:
Density [kg/m3] is the mass of a material per unit volume.
[]
=
[3 ]
Specific weight [N/m3] is the weight per unit volume.
[][ 2 ] 2 ]
= = [ ]
[3 ] 3
Relative density (Specific gravity) is the ratio of the density of the material to that of
a reference material.

= [-]
2 @ 4

Specific Volume [m3/kg] is the volume that one kilogram of a material occupies.
[3 ]
=
[]
Basic concepts

Viscosity
A measure of how much a fluid can resist shearing deformation
Low viscosity = runny low shear force
High viscosity = thick high shear force
Basic concepts
Coefficient of dynamic viscosity [Ns/m2] is the shear force per unit area
required to drag one layer of fluid with unit velocity pas another layer a unit
distance.

= = (Newtons low of viscosity)

Kinematic viscosity [m2/s] is the ratio of the dynamic viscosity to mass density.

=

Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluids
Fluids that obey the Newtons low of viscosity are Newtonian fluids
Surface Tension
The tension of the surface film of a liquid caused by the attraction of
the particles in the surface layer by the bulk of the liquid, which tends
to minimize surface area.
Surface Tension
Units and Meaning:
Surface tension has the dimension of force per unit length, or of
energy per unit area.

= [] = [ 2 ]

W is the potential energy of the surface, and A is the area of the surface.
As a system will try to equilibrate to the lowest energy state, the shape of a
droplet only subject to surface tension forces will tend towards a sphere (i.e.
minimum surface area for a given volume)
Surface Tension and Temperature
Surface tension generally decreases with increasing temperature
Pressure
Force per unit area [Pa]
[]
=
[2 ]

Pressure in Fluids
Acts uniformly in
all directions (scalar)

Acts perpendicular
to a solid boundary (vector)
Pascals Law
In x direction:
= = ;

= = =

= 0, therefore:
+ = 0 , =
In y direction:

= = and = = =


= =
2

+ + =0 , = =
2
Pressure Measurement
Pressure measurements in a fluid are relative to some reference
pressure:
Atmospheric pressure as reference: Gauge Pressure
Perfect vacuum as reference: Absolute Pressure
Specified pressure as reference: Differential Pressure

= +
= 2 1
Pressure Measurement
Comparison between Absolute and Gauge pressures
Pressure Measurement
Units
Pascal: 1 Pa = 1 N/m2
Atmosphere: 1 atm = 101.325103 Pa
Bar: 1 bar = 105 Pa
Torr: 1 Torr=133.3224 Pa
Millimetres of Mercury: 1 mmHg = 133.3224 Pa
Millimetres of Water: 1 mmH2O = 9.807 Pa
Pressure Measurement
Prefixes in SI units
Variation of Pressure with Elevation
Elevation is the vertical distance, h, from some reference point
Variation of Pressure with Elevation
Variation of pressure vertically in a fluid under gravity
Force due to P1 on Area = P1A
Force due to P2 on Area = P2A=(P1+dp)A
Force due to the weight = mg
mg = =
Since the fluid is at rest
1 (1 +) + = 0
d = , now integration gives:
2
= = (2 1 )
1
This is some times known as hydrostatic pressure
Pascals Paradox
The pressure in a liquid system is not dependent on the volume of fluid, but only
the elevation.

Hydrostatic paradox
Pascals Paradox
The pressure at each elevation of all volume is the same, but the
forces are not the same.
Manometer
Hydrostatic manometers use the relationship between change in
pressure and change in elevation.

=
= + 1
= + 2
= 0
+ 1 = 2
= 2 1