CE 261: Fluid Mechanics Credit: 4

Syllabus:
Development and scope of fluid mechanics, fluid properties, Fluid statics: fluid pressure and its
measurement, application of hydrostatics, Equilibrium of floating body, fluid mass subjected to
acceleration, fundamentals of fluid flow; Measurement of fluid flow: Venturimeters, nozzles and
pilot tubes, orifice, mouthpiece, Notch, weirs; Bernoulli’s equation; Flow through closed conduits,
pipes in series and parallel, branching pipes, pipe networks; Viscous flow; Dimensional analysis and
similitude.

Reference Books:

1. Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics – Lewitt, E.H.

2. Fluid Mechanics – Streeter
3. Elementary Fluid Mechanics – Vennard, J.K.
4. Hydraulics – King, Wisler & Woodburn
5. Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics – Modi & Seth
6. Fluid Mechanics & Hydraulics – Jagdish Lal

Definition of Fluid:

 A fluid is a substance that deforms continuously in the face of tangential or shear

stress, irrespective of the magnitude of shear stress. This continuous deformation
under the application of shear stress constitutes a flow.

 In this connection fluid can also be defined as the state of matter that cannot sustain
any shear stress.

Fluids: gases and liquids, water and air most prevalent in daily experience.

Examples:
– Flow in pipes and channels -- air and blood in body
– Air resistance or drag -- wind loading
– Projectile motion -- jets, shock waves
– Lubrication -- combustion
– Irrigation – sedimentation
– Meteorology -- oceanography

Distinction Between Solid and Fluid

Solid Fluid

 More Compact Structure  Less Compact Structure

 Attractive Forces between the  Attractive Forces between the

molecules molecules

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 are larger therefore more closely are smaller therefore more loosely
packed packed

 Solids can resist tangential stresses in  Fluids cannot resist tangential stresses
static condition in static condition.

 Whenever a solid is subjected to shear  Whenever a fluid is subjected to shear

stress stress
a. It undergoes a definite
deformation α or breaks a. No fixed deformation
b. α is proportional to shear b. Continuous deformation takes
stress up to some limiting place until the shear stress is
condition applied

 Solid may regain partly or fully its  A fluid can never regain its original
original shape when the tangential shape, once it has been distorted by the
stress is removed shear stress

Development of Fluid Mechanics:

Fluid Mechanics is that branch of science which deals with the behaviour of the fluids at rest
as well as in motion. In general, the scope of fluid mechanics is very wide which includes the
study of all liquids and gases. But usually it is confined to the study of liquids and those gases
for which the effects due to compressibility may be neglected.

The problems man encounter in the fields of water supply, irrigation, navigation and water
power, resulted in the development of the fluid mechanics.

Some two hundred years ago mankind’s centuries of experience with the flow of water began
to crystallize in scientific form. Two distinct Schools of thought gradually evolved in the
treatment of fluid mechanics. One, commonly known as Classified Hydrodynamics, deals
with the theoretical aspects of the fluid flow, which assumes that shearing stresses are non-
existent, that is, ideal fluid concept. The other known as Hydraulics, deals with the practical
aspects of fluid flow which has been developed from experimental findings and is, therefore,
more of empirical nature. Notable contributions to theoretical hydrodynamics have been made
by Euler, D’Alembert, Navier, Lagrange, Stokes, Kirchoff, reyleigh, Rankine, Kelvin, Lamb
and many others. Many investigators have contributed to the development of experimental
hydraulics, namely, Chezy, Venturi, Bazin, Hagen, Poiseuille, Darcy, weisbach, Kutter,
Manning, Fraccis nad several others.

Although, the empirical formulae development in hydraulics have found useful application in
several problems, it is not possible to extend them to the flow of fluids other than water and in
the advanced field of aerodynamics. The modern Fluid Mechanics provides a new approach,
taking a balanced view of both the theorists and the experimentalists. The generally recognized
founder of the modern fluid mechanics is the German Professor, Ludwig Prandtl. Other notable
contributors to the modern fluid mechanics are Blasius, Nikuradse, von-Karman, Reynolds,
Rouse and many others.

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Scope of Fluid Mechanics:

● Used in the design of:

– Water supply system -- waste water treatment
– Dam spillways -- valves, flow meters
– Shock absorbers, brakes -- automatic transmissions
– ships, submarines -- breakwaters, marinas
– Aircrafts, rockets -- computer disk drives
– Windmills, turbines -- pumps, HVAC systems
– Bearings -- artificial organs
– Sport items:
● Golf balls
● Race cars
● Surf boards

DIMENSIONS AND UNITS

Dimension = A dimension is the measure by which a physical variable is expressed

quantitatively.

Unit = A unit is a particular way of attaching a number to the quantitative dimension.

Dimensions and units

● Units are needed to properly express a physical quantity
● Systems to be used:
– S.I.
● Adopted in 1960
● Used by nearly every major country, except the U.S.
● Likely to be adopted by the U.S. in the near future
– B.G. (British Gravitational system)
● Used in the technical literature for years
– MKS

● Basic dimensions used in fluid mechanics:

– Length (L)
– Mass (M)
– Time (T)
– Temperature (θ)
● Dimensions of acceleration: [a] = LT-2
-2
● Newton's 2nd law: F = [m][a] = MLT

Definition of Stress:

Consider a small area δA on the surface of a body (Fig. 1). The force acting on this area is δF.

This force can be resolved into two perpendicular components.

 The component of force acting normal to the area called normal force and is denoted
by δFn.

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  The component of force acting along the plane of area is called tangential force and
is denoted by δFt.

Fig 1 Normal and Tangential Forces on a surface

When they are expressed as force per unit area they are called as normal stress and
tangential stress, respectively. The tangential stress is also called shear stress.

The normal stress

(1.1)

and shear stress

(1.2)

Fluid Properties:

Characteristics of a continuous fluid which are independent of the motion of the fluid are called
basic properties of the fluid. Some of the basic properties are as discussed below.

Property Symbol Definition Unit

The density p of a fluid is its mass per unit volume. If a fluid element enclosing
a point P has a volume Δ and mass Δm (Fig. 2), then density (ρ)at point P is
written as

Density ρ kg/m3

However, in a medium where continuum model is valid one can write -

(1.3)

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 Fig 2 A fluid element enclosing point P

The specific weight is the weight of fluid per unit volume. The specific
weight is given

by γ= ρg (1.4)
Specific
γ N/m3
Weight
Where g is the gravitational acceleration. Just as weight must be clearly
distinguished from mass, so must the specific weight be distinguished from
density.

The specific volume of a fluid is the volume occupied by unit mass of fluid.

Specific Thus
v m3/kg
Volume
(1.5)
For liquids, it is the ratio of density of a liquid at actual conditions to the
density of pure water at 101 kN/m2 , and at 4°C.

Specific The specific gravity of a gas is the ratio of its density to that of either hydrogen
s -
Gravity or air at some specified temperature or pressure.

However, there is no general standard; so the conditions must be stated

while referring to the specific gravity of a gas.

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Viscosity (μ):

 Viscosity is a fluid property whose effect is understood when the fluid is in motion.
 In a flow of fluid, when the fluid elements move with different velocities, each element
will feel some resistance due to fluid friction within the elements.
 Therefore, shear stresses can be identified between the fluid elements with different
velocities.
 The relationship between the shear stress and the velocity field was given by Sir Isaac
Newton.

Consider a flow (Fig. 3) in which all fluid particles are moving in the same direction in such a
way that the fluid layers move parallel with different velocities.

Fig 4 Two adjacent layers of a moving

Fig 3 Parallel flow of a fluid
fluid.

 The upper layer, which is moving faster, tries to draw the lower slowly moving layer
along with it by means of a force F along the direction of flow on this layer. Similarly,
the lower layer tries to retard the upper one, according to Newton's third law, with an
equal and opposite force F on it (Figure 4).

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  Such a fluid flow where x-direction velocities, for example, change with y-coordinate
is called shear flow of the fluid.

 Thus, the dragging effect of one layer on the other is experienced by a tangential force
F on the respective layers. If F acts over an area of contact A, then the shear stress τ is
defined as

τ = F/A

Viscosity (μ):

 Newton postulated that τ is proportional to the quantity Δu/Δy, where Δy is the distance
of separation of the two layers and Δu is the difference in their velocities.

 In the limiting case of, Δu/Δy equals du/dy, the velocity gradient at a point in a direction
perpendicular to the direction of the motion of the layer.

 According to Newton, τ and du/dy bears the relation

(1.7)

where, the constant of proportionality μ is known as the coefficient of viscosity or simply

viscosity which is a property of the fluid and depends on its state. Sign of τ depends upon the
sign of du/dy. For the profile shown in Fig. 3, du/dy is positive everywhere and hence, τ is
positive. Both the velocity and stress are considered positive in the positive direction of the
coordinate parallel to them.

Equation

defining the viscosity of a fluid, is known as Newton's law of viscosity. Common fluids, viz.
water, air, mercury obey Newton's law of viscosity and are known as Newtonian fluids.

Other classes of fluids, viz. paints, different polymer solution, blood do not obey the typical
linear relationship, of τ and du/dy and are known as non-Newtonian fluids. In non-Newtonian
fluids viscosity itself may be a function of deformation rate as you will study in the next lecture.

Causes of Viscosity:

 The causes of viscosity in a fluid are possibly attributed to two factors:

(i) intermolecular force of cohesion

(ii) molecular momentum exchange

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  Due to strong cohesive forces between the molecules, any layer in a moving fluid tries
to drag the adjacent layer to move with an equal speed and thus produces the effect of
viscosity as discussed earlier. Since cohesion decreases with temperature, the liquid
viscosity does likewise.

Fig 5 Movement of fluid molecules between two adjacent moving layers

 Molecules from layer aa in course of continous thermal agitation migrate into layer bb

 Momentum from the migrant molecules from layer aa is stored by molecules of layer
bb by way of collision

 Thus layer bb as a whole is speeded up

 Molecules from the lower layer bb arrive at aa and tend to retard the layer aa

 Every such migration of molecules causes forces of acceleration or deceleration to drag

the layers so as to oppose the differences in velocity between the layers and produce
the effect of viscosity.

 As the random molecular motion increases with a rise in temperature, the viscosity also
increases accordingly. Except for very special cases (e.g., at very high pressure) the
viscosity of both liquids and gases ceases to be a function of pressure.

 For Newtonian fluids, the coefficient of viscosity depends strongly on temperature but
varies very little with pressure.

 For liquids, molecular motion is less significant than the forces of cohesion, thus
viscosity of liquids decrease with increase in temperature.

 For gases, molecular motion is more significant than the cohesive forces, thus viscosity
of gases increase with increase in temperature.

No-slip Condition of Viscous Fluids

 It has been established through experimental observations that the relative velocity
between the solid surface and the adjacent fluid particles is zero whenever a viscous
fluid flows over a solid surface. This is known as no-slip condition.

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  This behavior of no-slip at the solid surface is not same as the wetting of surfaces by
the fluids. For example, mercury flowing in a stationary glass tube will not wet the
surface, but will have zero velocity at the wall of the tube.

 The wetting property results from surface tension, whereas the no-slip condition is a
consequence of fluid viscosity.

Ideal Fluid

 Consider a hypothetical fluid having a zero viscosity ( μ = 0). Such a fluid is called an
ideal fluid and the resulting motion is called as ideal or inviscid flow. In an ideal flow,
there is no existence of shear force because of vanishing viscosity.

 All the fluids in reality have viscosity (μ > 0) and hence they are termed as real fluid
and their motion is known as viscous flow.

 Under certain situations of very high velocity flow of viscous fluids, an accurate
analysis of flow field away from a solid surface can be made from the ideal flow theory.

Non-Newtonian Fluids

 There are certain fluids where the linear relationship between the shear stress and the
deformation rate (velocity gradient in parallel flow) as expressed by the

is not valid. For these fluids the viscosity varies with rate of deformation.

 Due to the deviation from Newton's law of viscosity they are commonly termed as non-
Newtonian fluids. Figure 6 shows the class of fluid for which this relationship is
nonlinear.

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 Figure 6 Shear stress and deformation rate relationship of different fluids

 The abscissa in Fig. 6 represents the behaviour of ideal fluids since for the ideal fluids
the resistance to shearing deformation rate is always zero, and hence they exhibit zero
shear stress under any condition of flow.

 The ordinate represents the ideal solid for there is no deformation rate under any loading
condition.

 The Newtonian fluids behave according to the law that shear stress is linearly
proportional to velocity gradient or rate of shear strain . Thus for these
fluids, the plot of shear stress against velocity gradient is a straight line through the
origin. The slope of the line determines the viscosity.

 The non-Newtonian fluids are further classified as pseudo-plastic, dilatant and

Bingham plastic.

Compressibility

 Compressibility of any substance is the measure of its change in volume under the
action of external forces.

 The normal compressive stress on any fluid element at rest is known as hydrostatic
pressure p and arises as a result of innumerable molecular collisions in the entire fluid.

 The degree of compressibility of a substance is characterized by the bulk modulus of

elasticity E defined as

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 (8)

 Where Δ and Δp are the changes in the volume and pressure respectively, and is the
initial volume. The negative sign (-sign) is included to make E positive, since increase
in pressure would decrease the volume, i.e., for Δp>0, Δ <0) in volume.

 For a given mass of a substance, the change in its volume and density satisfies the
relation

Δm = 0, Δ(ρ ) = 0

(9)

Using

we get

(10)

Values of E for liquids are very high as compared with those of gases (except at very
high pressures). Therefore, liquids are usually termed as incompressible fluids though,
in fact, no substance is theoretically incompressible with a value of E as .

 For example, the bulk modulus of elasticity for water and air at atmospheric pressure
are approximately 2 x 106 kN/m2 and 101 kN/m2 respectively. It indicates that air is
about 20,000 times more compressible than water. Hence water can be treated as
incompressible.

 For gases another characteristic parameter, known as compressibility K, is usually

defined, it is the reciprocal of E

(11)

 K is often expressed in terms of specific volume .

 For any gaseous substance, a change in pressure is generally associated with a change
in volume and a change in temperature simultaneously. A functional relationship
between the pressure, volume and temperature at any equilibrium state is known
as thermodynamic equation of state for the gas.

For an ideal gas, the thermodynamic equation of state is given by

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 p = ρRT (12)

 where T is the temperature in absolute thermodynamic or gas temperature scale (which

are, in fact, identical), and R is known as the characteristic gas constant, the value of
which depends upon a particular gas. However, this equation is also valid for the real
gases which are thermodynamically far from their liquid phase. For air, the value of R
is 287 J/kg K.

Distinction between an Incompressible and a Compressible Flow

 In order to know, if it is necessary to take into account the compressibility of gases in

fluid flow problems, we need to consider whether the change in pressure brought about
by the fluid motion causes large change in volume or density.

Using Bernoulli's equation

p + (1/2)ρV2 = constant (V being the velocity of flow), change in pressure, Δp, in a flow
field, is of the order of (1/2)ρV2 (dynamic head).

 Invoking this relationship into

 we get ,

(13)

 So if Δρ/ρ is very small, the flow of gases can be treated as incompressible with a
good degree of approximation.

 According to Laplace's equation, the velocity of sound is given by

 Hence

 where, Ma is the ratio of the velocity of flow to the acoustic velocity in the flowing
medium at the condition and is known as Mach number. So we can conclude that the
compressibility of gas in a flow can be neglected if Δρ/ρ is considerably smaller than
unity, i.e., (1/2) Ma2 <<1.

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  In other words, if the flow velocity is small as compared to the local acoustic velocity,
compressibility of gases can be neglected. Considering a maximum relative change
in density of 5 per cent as the criterion of an incompressible flow, the upper limit
of Mach number becomes approximately 0.33. In the case of air at standard pressure
and temperature, the acoustic velocity is about 335.28 m/s. Hence a Mach number of
0.33 corresponds to a velocity of about 110 m/s. Therefore flow of air up to a velocity
of 110 m/s under standard condition can be considered as incompressible flow.

Surface Tension of Liquids

 The phenomenon of surface tension arises due to the two kinds of intermolecular forces

(i) Cohesion: The force of attraction between the molecules of a liquid by virtue of
which they are bound to each other to remain as one assemblage of particles is known
as the force of cohesion. This property enables the liquid to resist tensile stress.

(ii) Adhesion: The force of attraction between unlike molecules, i.e. between the
molecules of different liquids or between the molecules of a liquid and those of a solid
body when they are in contact with each other, is known as the force of adhesion. This
force enables two different liquids to adhere to each other or a liquid to adhere to a solid
body or surface.

Figure 7 The intermolecular cohesive force field in a bulk of liquid with a free
surface

A and B experience equal force of cohesion in all directions, C experiences a net force
interior of the liquid. The net force is maximum for D since it is at surface

 Work is done on each molecule arriving at surface against the action of an inward force.
Thus mechanical work is performed in creating a free surface or in increasing the area
of the surface. Therefore, a surface requires mechanical energy for its formation and
the existence of a free surface implies the presence of stored mechanical energy known
as free surface energy. Any system tries to attain the condition of stable equilibrium

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 with its potential energy as minimum. Thus a quantity of liquid will adjust its shape
until its surface area and consequently its free surface energy is a minimum.

 The magnitude of surface tension is defined as the tensile force acting across imaginary
short and straight elemental line divided by the length of the line.

 The dimensional formula is F/L or MT-2. It is usually expressed in N/m in SI units.

 Surface tension is a binary property of the liquid and gas or two liquids which are in
contact with each other and defines the interface. It decreases slightly with increasing
temperature. The surface tension of water in contact with air at 20°C is about 0.073
N/m.

 It is due to surface tension that a curved liquid interface in equilibrium results in a

greater pressure at the concave side of the surface than that at its convex side.

Capillarity

 The interplay of the forces of cohesion and adhesion explains the phenomenon of
capillarity. When a liquid is in contact with a solid, if the forces of adhesion between
the molecules of the liquid and the solid are greater than the forces of cohesion among
the liquid molecules themselves, the liquid molecules crowd towards the solid surface.
The area of contact between the liquid and solid increases and the liquid thus wets the
solid surface.

 The reverse phenomenon takes place when the force of cohesion is greater than the
force of adhesion. These adhesion and cohesion properties result in the phenomenon of
capillarity by which a liquid either rises or falls in a tube dipped into the liquid
depending upon whether the force of adhesion is more than that of cohesion or not (Fig.
8).

 The angle θ as shown in Fig. 8, is the area wetting contact angle made by the interface
with the solid surface.

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 Fig 8 Phenomenon of Capillarity

 For pure water in contact with air in a clean glass tube, the capillary rise takes place
with θ = 0. Mercury causes capillary depression with an angle of contact of about 1300
in a clean glass in contact with air. Since h varies inversely with D as found from Eq.
4𝜎 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
(𝒉 = 𝜔𝐷 ), an appreciable capillary rise or depression is observed in tubes of small
diameter only.

 For a circular-sectional tube of diameter D, the weight of column of liquid elevated

(Fig. 8) is supported by the surface tension  acting around the perimeter of the tube.
Then, resolving vertically,

Weight of liquid raised = vertical component of  acting on perimeter

𝜋
Or 𝜔 (4 𝐷2 ℎ) = 𝜎𝜋𝐷 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

where θ is the angle of meniscus at the perimeter

4𝜎 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
Hence 𝒉 = (14)
𝜔𝐷

If the liquid wets the walls of the tube, as in the case of water, the value of θ is zero,
and Eq. (14) becomes

4𝜎
ℎ= (15)
𝜔𝐷

Eq. (15) provides the best method of obtaining the value of the surface tension
experimentally.

Example: Find the height through which water is elevated by capillarity in a glass tube
of 0.25 in. bore if the surface tension at the existing temperature is 0.343×10-3 lb/in.

Sol.: Using Eq. (15),

4𝜎 4 ∗ 0.343 ∗ 10−3 ∗ 123

ℎ= = = 0.152 𝑖𝑛.
𝜔𝐷 62.4 ∗ 0.25
Kinematic Viscosity
Kinematic viscosity can be obtained by dividing the absolute viscosity of a fluid with its mass
density.

=μ/ρ (16)

where,  = kinematic viscosity, μ = absolute or dynamic viscosity, and ρ = density

In the SI-system the theoretical unit is m2/s or commonly used Stoke (St) where

1 St = 10-4 m2/s

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Since the Stoke is an unpractical large unit, it is usually divided by 100 to give the unit called
Centistokes (cSt) where

 1 St = 100 cSt
 1 cSt = 10-6 m2/s

Since the specific gravity of water at 68.4oF (20.2oC) is almost one (1), the kinematic viscosity
of water at 68.4oF is for all practical purposes 1.0 cSt.

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