CIVE 2313:

FLUID
MECHANICS
TOPIC 4: FLUID DYNAMICS
(CONSERVATION OF MASS)
CONSERVATION OF
MASS
Conservation of mass principle is one of
the most fundamental principles in nature.
Mass, like energy, is a conserved property,
and it cannot be created or destroyed
during a process.
For closed systems mass conservation is
implicit since the mass of the system
remains constant during a process.
For control volumes, mass can cross the
boundaries which means that we must
keep track of the amount of mass entering
and leaving the control volume.
MASS AND VOLUME FLOW RATES
The amount of mass flowing
through a control surface per unit
time is called the mass flow rate
and is denoted m
The dot over a symbol is used to
indicate time rate of change.
Flow rate across the entire cross-
sectional area of a pipe or duct is
obtained by integration

m    m   Vn dAc
Ac Ac
While this expression for mis
exact, it is not always convenient
for engineering analyses.
AVERAGE VELOCITY AND VOLUME
FLOW RATE
Integral in m can be replaced with
average values of  and Vn
1
Vavg  
Ac Ac
Vn dAc

For many flows variation of  is

very small: m  Vavg Ac
Volume flow rateV is given by

V   Vn dAc  Vavg Ac  VAc

Ac

Note: many textbooks use Q

instead of V for volume flow rate.
Mass and volume flow rates are
related by m   V
CONSERVATION OF MASS
PRINCIPLE
The conservation of mass
principle can be
expressed as

dmCV
min  mout 
dt
Where min and mout are the
total rates of mass flow
into and out of the CV, and
dmCV/dt is the rate of
change of mass within the
CV.
STEADY—FLOW PROCESSES
For steady flow, the total
amount of mass contained in
CV is constant.
Total amount of mass entering
must be equal to total amount
of mass leaving
m  m
in out

For incompressible flows,

 V A  V A
in
n n
out
n n
CONTINUITY
APPLYING TO A STREAMTUBE
CONTINUITY
 Conservation of Mass: The Continuity
A Eqn.
1
A 2

fluid in  fluid out 

v1 v2
Q. How much fluid flows across each area in a time ∆𝑡: v2t
v1t

A1 A2

m   V1   A1 v1t m   V2   A2v2 t

m
flow rate :   Av continuity eqn : A1v1  A2v2
t
 CONSERVATION OF MASS: THE
CONTINUITY EQN. (EXAMPLE 1)
Q. A river is 40m wide, 2.2m deep and flows at 4.5 m/s. It passes
through a 3.7-m wide gorge, where the flow rate increases to 6.0
m/s. How deep is the gorge?

𝐴2 = 𝑤2𝑑2
𝐴1 = 𝑤1𝑑1

𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ∶ 𝐴1𝑣1 = 𝐴2𝑣2 → 𝑤1𝑑1𝑣1 = 𝑤2𝑑2𝑣2

𝑤1𝑑1𝑣1 40 × 2.2 × 4.5
𝑑2 = = = 18 𝑚
𝑤2 𝑣 2 3.7 × 6.0
EXAMPLE 2
EXAMPLE 3
EXAMPLE 4
EXAMPLE 4