23/09/14

Lecture 6
Poiseuille’s equation and Reynolds numbers are
not discussed in the text.
Real fluids
– viscosity and turbulence You should read the relevant sections of the
notes on the web, at
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/teach_res/jp/fluids/wfluids.htm

Viscosity  
So far we have considered ideal fluids: fluids
which have no internal friction (nonviscous) and
which flow in steady, laminar flow. Real fluids have different viscosity.

In real situations, these assumptions often cannot In liquids, viscosity is due to adhesion forces
be made. between the liquid molecules.
Viscosity is a dissipative effect.

When a viscous (sticky) fluid flows past a stationary Consider a viscous fluid between two parallel plates
wall, the fluid next to the wall does not move*, but of area A, where one plate moves with velocity v.
away from the wall the speed is non-zero v
⇒ velocity gradient.
F

High speed L

F
Low speed
Stationary wall The fluid in contact with each surface has the same
velocity as the surface. The flow in between increases
* In general: when a viscous fluid is near a solid wall, its velocity
linearly with distance, so the velocity gradient is v/L.
will match that of the wall

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The force needed to keep the top plate moving is The coefficient η is called the coefficient of
proportional to the area: viscosity, and is different for different liquids.
F∝A
Experimentally it is found that the velocity gradient Fluids which flow easily (water, petrol) have smaller
is proportional to the stress F/A: viscosities than “thick” liquids (honey, glycerine).

Viscosity is highly dependent on temperature. The

viscosity of a liquid decreases as T increases, while
for a gas η increases as T increases.
v
F
L

Viscosity has units of Pa.s (=N m–2 s).

Liquid η (mPa.s)
water (0° C) 1.8 For a Newtonian fluid, the viscosity η is
water (20° C) 1.0 independent of speed v, and the force is
water (100° C) 0.3
proportional to the speed.

blood plasma (37° C) ~ 1.5 Not all liquids are Newtonian, particularly
engine oil (AE10) ~ 200
“thick” liquids like colloidal suspensions.

air 0.018
honey 2,000 – 10,000

Viscosity means that when a fluid moves over a

Non-Newtonian fluids have viscosity which surface, there is a thin layer near the surface
changes with the applied shear force. which is nearly at rest: a boundary layer.
e.g.
Free stream
•  hair gel or toothpaste, where the viscosity
decreases when force is applied
Boundary layer
•  corn flour + water mixture (oobleck), where
the viscosity increases when force is applied
Surface of object

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Flow  through  a  pipe   Since viscosity restricts the velocity gradient, a

liquid must flow faster through a wide pipe than
a narrow one.

The rate of flow through a pipe for a viscous

liquid is described by Poiseuille’s law. We are
not going to derive it here; instead, here is a
motivation for the form of the law.

⇒ flow rate ∝ R

Similarly, we can guess: The volume flow rate Q = dV/dt is

•  the bigger the pressure difference, the higher
the flow
parabolic
⇒ flow rate ∝ Δp – Poiseuille’s law. velocity profile

•  the longer the pipe, the greater the friction p1 p2

⇒ flow rate ∝ 1/L Poiseuille’s law is only Q = dV/dt

•  the more viscous the liquid, the lower the flow applicable to laminar L
⇒ flow rate ∝ 1/η flow in Newtonian fluids.

The volume flow rate Q = dV/dt is Applications of Poiseuille’s law:

•  Irrigation pipes: Since Q ∝ Δp/L, it is
uneconomical to spray irrigation too far from
Consequences: the river
•  high viscosity ⇒ low flow rate
•  Blood flow: Any constriction of the blood
•  Δp/L is the pressure gradient: the bigger the vessels – like cholesterol build-up on the
pressure difference, the faster the flow walls of arteries – increases the resistance ⇒
heart has to work harder to produce same flow
•  the radius of the pipe makes a large difference
rate.
to the flow rate

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The viscosity of lava affects how volcanoes

behave.

A  lava  channel  on  Venus,  Bal0s  Vallis,  up  to  2  km  wide  and  6800  km  in  length,  must  
have  been  formed  by  lava  with  very  low  viscosity  which  flowed  for  a  very  long  0me.  

Turbulence   When does a fluid become turbulent?

So far we have only talked about laminar flow. We can guess some of the factors:
When the motion becomes too violent, eddies and
vortices occur: the motion becomes turbulent. •  Speed of flow: fast flow gets turbulent more
easily
The flow pattern is
no longer stable, but •  Stickiness of fluid: thick liquids like honey
becomes irregular don’t get turbulent as easily as thin ones.
and chaotic.
Turbulence dissipates
energy.

The nature of the flow depends on a The Reynolds number is not a precise quantity. L
dimensionless quantity called the Reynolds and v are “typical” values of size and speed.
number: Often it’s not clear which length you should use.

For fluids flowing through a pipe, L turns out to

be the pipe diameter.
As predicted, it depends on the velocity v and the
viscosity (actually the kinematic viscosity, η/ρ). As a rule of thumb,

Unexpectedly, it also depends on the size of the •  Re < ~ 2000 ⇒ laminar flow
system L.
•  Re > ~ 2000 ⇒ turbulent flow

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•  Sydney Harbour ferry: •  Blood circulation:

v ~ 5 ms–1, L ~ 20 m v ~ 0.2 ms–1, L ~ 10 mm for the aorta;
so Re ~ 5 × 20 x 103 / 10–3 =108 assume ηblood ~ water = 10–3 Pa s
⇒ turbulent flow
so Re ~ 0.2 × 0.1 x 103 / 10–3 = 2000
⇒ right on boundary of turbulent flow

•  Bacterium: Flow patterns are very different in systems with

v ~ 30 x 10–6 ms–1, L ~ 1 µm; ηwater = 10–3 Pa s low and with high Reynolds numbers.
In particular, the flow in very low Reynolds
so Re ~ 30 x 10–6 × 1 x 10–6 x 103/10–3 = 3x10–5 number situations is perfectly reversible.
⇒ very low Reynolds number

see  “Micro-­‐robot  olympics  reveal  champion  swimmer”,  New  ScienGst  12  December  2007  
hJp://technology.newscienGst.com/arGcle/dn13041-­‐microrobot-­‐olympics-­‐reveal-­‐ch  

In modelling a flow system, the flow patterns In wind tunnels, scale models of aircraft are
will be similar if the Reynolds numbers for both often tested at higher air pressure to reproduce
are equal; thus the same fluid flow.
ρvL ρm vm Lm
Re = = R em =
η ηm e.g. a 1/4 scale aircraft
If the same fluid is used for model and prototype, would be tested at
then flow similarity is achieved if 4 atmospheres pressure.
vL = vm Lm
so since Lm< L, then vm> v, i.e. a scaling down of
size requires a scaling up of velocity.

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Summary  
The fact that the Reynolds number depends on Energy dissipation:
size means that it’s very hard to make scale
models of anything to do with water. Both viscosity and turbulence dissipate energy.

Viscous effects are important in low Reynolds

The human brain is surprisingly good at number situations: in thick liquids (η large), or
estimating the Reynolds number of a situation. small, slow flow systems.

Turbulence can be responsible for energy loss in

high Reynolds number situations.

Static fluids
– variation of p in static fluid
– buoyancy
– surface tension
Ideal fluids
– mass conservation: continuity: flow rate
– energy conservation: Bernoulli’s equation
Real fluids
– viscosity: internal friction (qualitative)
– turbulence: chaotic eddies (qualitative)
– use Reynold’s number

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