1

Introduction and
basic concepts

Instructor:
Dr. Najmur Rahman,
Taibah University
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Text book
Introduction

FLUID MECHANICS:

 The science that deals with the behavior of fluids at rest (fluid statics) or in motion (fluid dynamics),
and the interaction of fluids with solids or other fluids at the boundaries.

 Fluid mechanics is also referred to as fluid dynamics by considering fluids at rest as a special case of
motion with zero velocity.
Introduction

Subcategories:

 Hydrodynamics: the study of the motion of fluids that can be approximated as incompressible

 Hydraulics: deals with liquid flows in pipes and open channels.

 Gas dynamics: deals with the flow of fluids that undergo significant density changes, such as the flow of gases
through nozzles at high speeds.

 Aerodynamics: deals with the flow of gases (especially air) over bodies such as aircraft, rockets, and automobiles
at high or low speeds.

 Meteorology, oceanography, and hydrology deal with naturally occurring flows.

Introduction
Fluid:

 A substance in the liquid or gas phase is referred to as a

fluid.

 A solid can resist an applied shear stress by deforming,

whereas a fluid deforms continuously under the influence
of a shear stress.

 In solids, stress is proportional to strain, but in fluids, stress

is proportional to strain rate.

 When a constant shear force is applied, a solid eventually

stops deforming at some fixed strain angle, whereas a fluid
never stops deforming and approaches a constant rate of
strain.
 Stress: force per unit area

 Normal stress: the normal component of a force acting on a

surface per unit area.

 Shear stress: the tangential component of a force acting on a

surface per unit area.

 In a fluid at rest, the normal stress is called pressure.

 A fluid at rest is at a state of zero shear stress.

 When the walls are removed or a liquid container is tilted, a shear

develops as the liquid moves to re-establish a horizontal free
surface.
 In a liquid, groups of molecules can move relative to
each other, but the volume remains constant
because of the strong cohesive forces between the
molecules.

 A liquid takes the shape of the container it is in, and

it forms a free surface in a larger container in a
gravitational field.

 A gas expands until it encounters the walls of the

container and fills the entire available space. This is
because the gas molecules are widely spaced, and
the cohesive forces between them are very small.

 A gas in an open container cannot form a free

surface.
Liquids and gases

 Intermolecular bonds are strongest in solids and weakest in

gases.

 Molecules are closely packed together is solids but are

separated by relatively large distances in gases.

 The molecules in a solid are arranged in a pattern that is

repeated throughout due to large attractive forces of
molecules on each other.

 In liquids molecules can rotate and translate freely as the

intermolecular forces are weaker relative to solids, but still
strong compared with gases.

 Gas molecules move about at random, continually colliding

with each other and the walls of the container in which they
are confined.
 Microscopic approach is based on the average behavior of
large groups of individual molecules

 Macroscopic approach does not require a knowledge of the

behavior of individual molecules and provides a direct and easy
way to analyze engineering problems.
Application areas of fluid mechanics
Application areas of fluid mechanics
Application areas of fluid mechanics
No-slip condition
 During the flow of a fluid in a stationary pipe or over a solid
surface that is nonporous, the fluid in motion comes to a
complete stop at the surface and assumes a zero velocity
relative to the surface.

 That is, a fluid in direct contact with a solid “sticks” to the

surface, and there is no slip.

 The fluid property responsible for the no-slip condition and

the development of the boundary layer is viscosity.

 All velocity profiles must have zero values with respect to

the surface at the points of contact between a fluid and a
solid surface.
No-slip condition
 The flow region adjacent to the wall in which the viscous effects
(and thus the velocity gradients) are significant is called the
boundary layer.

 Another consequence of the no-slip condition is the surface

drag, or skin friction drag, which is the force a fluid exerts on a
surface in the flow direction.

 Flow separation: when a fluid is forced to flow over a curved

surface, such as the back side of a cylinder, the boundary layer
may no longer remain attached to the surface and separates
from the surface.
Viscous versus inviscid regions of flow
 Flows in which the frictional effects are significant are
called viscous flows.

 In many flows of practical interest, there are regions

where viscous forces are negligibly small compared to
inertial or pressure forces.

 Neglecting the viscous terms in such inviscid flow

regions greatly simplifies the analysis without much loss
in accuracy.

 Viscous flow region: the thin boundary layer in which

the viscous effects are significant near the plate surface.

 Inviscid flow region: the region of flow on both sides

away from the plate and largely unaffected by the
presence of the plate.
 Internal versus external flow

 External flow: the flow of an unbounded fluid over a surface such as a plate, a wire, or a pipe.

 Internal flow: the flow in a pipe or duct if the fluid is completely bounded by solid surfaces.

 Water flow in a pipe is internal flow, and airflow over a ball is external flow .

 The flow of liquids in a duct is called open-channel flow if the

duct is only partially filled with the liquid and there is a free
surface.

 Internal flows are dominated by the influence of viscosity

throughout the flow field.

 In external flows the viscous effects are limited to boundary

layers near solid surfaces and to wake regions downstream of
bodies.
 Compressible versus incompressible flow
 Incompressible flow: If the density of flowing fluid remains nearly constant throughout (e.g., liquid flow).

 Compressible flow: If the density of fluid changes during flow (e.g., high-speed gas flow)

 When analyzing rockets, spacecraft, and other systems that involve

high speed gas flows, the flow speed is often expressed in terms of
the dimensionless Mach number:

Ma = 1 Sonic flow
Ma < 1 Subsonic flow
Ma > 1 Supersonic flow
Ma >> 1 Hypersonic flow
 Gas flows can be approximated as incompressible if the density
changes are under about 5 percent (
Schlieren image of the spherical shock
wave produced by a bursting balloon
 Laminar versus Turbulent Flow

 Laminar flow: The highly ordered fluid motion

characterized by smooth layers of fluid.

 The flow of high-viscosity fluids such as oils at low

velocities is typically laminar.

 Turbulent flow: The highly disordered fluid motion that

typically occurs at high velocities and is characterized by
velocity fluctuations.

 The flow of low-viscosity fluids such as air at high

velocities is typically turbulent.

 Transitional flow: A flow that alternates between being

laminar and turbulent.

 The dimensionless Reynolds number, Re, is the key

parameter for the determination of the flow regime in
pipes.
Natural (or Unforced) versus Forced Flow

 A fluid flow is said to be natural or forced, depending on how the fluid motion is initiated.

 In forced flow, a fluid is forced to flow over a surface or in a pipe by external means such as a pump or a fan.

 In natural flows, fluid motion is due to natural means such as the buoyancy effect, which manifests itself as the
rise of warmer (and thus lighter) fluid and the fall of cooler (and thus denser) fluid.

 In solar hot-water systems, for example, the thermosiphoning effect is commonly used to replace pumps by
placing the water tank sufficiently above the solar collectors.
Steady versus Unsteady Flow
 The term steady implies no change at a point with time.
 The opposite of steady is unsteady.
 The term uniform implies no change with location over a
specified region.
 The term periodic refers to the kind of unsteady flow in which
the flow oscillates about a steady mean.
 Many devices such as turbines, compressors, boilers,
condensers, and heat exchangers operate for long periods of
time under the same conditions, and they are classified as
steady-flow devices.

Oscillating wake of a blunt-based airfoil at Mach number 0.6.

Photo (a) is an instantaneous image, while photo (b) is a long-
exposure (time-averaged) image.

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Comparison of (a) instantaneous snapshot of an unsteady flow, and
(b) long exposure picture of the same flow.
One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Flows
 A flow field is best characterized by its velocity distribution.
 A flow is said to be one-, two-, or three-dimensional if the flow velocity varies in one, two, or three dimensions,
respectively.
 However, the variation of velocity in certain directions can be small relative to the variation in other directions and can
be ignored.
SYSTEM AND CONTROL VOLUME

• System: A quantity of matter or a region in space chosen for study (may be closed or open).

• Surroundings: The mass or region outside the system

• Boundary: The real or imaginary surface that separates the system from its surroundings. Can be fixed or movable

• Closed system (Control mass): A fixed amount of mass, and no mass can cross its boundary.
• Open system (control volume): A properly selected region in space.

• It usually encloses a device that involves mass flow such as a compressor, turbine, or nozzle.

• Both mass and energy can cross the boundary of a control volume.

• Control surface: The boundaries of a control volume. It can be real or imaginary.

DIMENSIONS AND UNITS
• Any physical quantity can be characterized by dimensions.

• The magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are called units.

• Some basic dimensions such as mass m, length L, time t, and

temperature T are selected as primary or fundamental
dimensions

• Velocity, energy, and volume etc are expressed in terms of the

primary dimensions and are called secondary dimensions, or
derived dimensions.

• Metric SI system: A simple and logical system based on a

decimal relationship between the various units.

• English system: It has no apparent systematic numerical base,

and various units in this system are related to each other rather
arbitrarily.
Some SI and English Units

Work = Force  Distance The SI unit prefixes are used in

all branches of engineering
1 J = 1 N ∙m
1 cal = 4.1868 J
1 Btu = 1.0551 kJ

The definition of the force units

 W weight
m mass
g gravitational
acceleration

A body weighing
150 kgf on earth
will weigh only 25
lbf on the moon
The relative magnitudes of
the force units:
newton (N),
kilogram-force (kgf),
and pound-force (lbf)

The weight of a unit mass at sea level

A typical match yields about one Btu (or one
kJ) of energy if completely burned.
Dimensional homogeneity

All equations must be dimensionally homogeneous.

All nonprimary units (secondary units) can be formed by combinations of

primary units.

Force units, for example, can be expressed as

They can also be expressed more conveniently as unity conversion ratios as

Unity conversion ratios are identically equal to 1 and are unitless, and thus
such ratios (or their inverses) can be inserted conveniently into any
calculation to properly convert units.
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Always check the units in your calculations. Every unity conversion ratio (as well as its inverse)
is exactly equal to one.
Mathematical modeling of engineering problems

An engineering device or process can be studied either experimentally (testing and taking measurements) or
analytically (by analysis or calculations).

The experimental approach has the advantage that we deal with the actual physical system, and the desired quantity
is determined by measurement, within the limits of experimental error. However, this approach is expensive, time-
consuming, and often impractical.

The analytical approach (including the numerical approach) has the advantage that it is fast and inexpensive, but the
results obtained are subject to the accuracy of the assumptions, approximations, and idealizations made in the
analysis.

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Modeling in engineering
Why do we need differential equations?

The descriptions of most scientific problems involve equations that

relate the changes in some key variables to each other.

In the limiting case of infinitesimal or differential changes in

variables, we obtain differential equations that provide precise
mathematical formulations for the physical principles and laws by
representing the rates of change as derivatives.

Therefore, differential equations are used to investigate a wide

variety of problems in sciences and engineering.

Do we always need differential equations?

Many problems encountered in practice can be solved without

resorting to differential equations and the complications
associated with them.
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Complex model (very accurate )
vs.
Simple model (not-so-accurate)

Simplified models are often used in fluid

mechanics to obtain approximate solutions to
difficult engineering problems.

Here, the helicopter's rotor is modeled by a disk,

across which is imposed a sudden change in
pressure.

The helicopter's body is modeled by a simple

ellipsoid.

This simplified model yields the essential

features of the overall air flow field in the vicinity
of the ground.

The right choice is usually the simplest model that

yields satisfactory results. 37
Problem-solving technique

Step 1: Problem Statement

Step 2: Schematic

Step 3: Assumptions and Approximations

Step 4: Physical Laws

Step 5: Properties

Step 6: Calculations

Step 7: Reasoning, Verification, and Discussion