Fluid Mechanics

Chapter 1 Basic Fluid Properties

FLUID MECHANICS 1 Basic Fluid Properties

Fluid mechanics is the study of the behaviour of fluids under the action of applied forces. The challenge in fluid mechanics is that it is often very difficult to predict the motion of fluids. Fluid mechanics can be applied to various fields of engineering. Aeronautical Engineering Civil Engineering flow over wings and bodies river flows, wind effects on high buildings, sedimentation, hydraulics, currents in harbours and submerged structures flow of coolants in power systems, flow of fluid with electrical properties turbomachinery, fluidic lubrication, gas flow in exhausts dispersion of pollutants in air and water, storm surge and ocean currents blood flow and weather prediction

Electrical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Environmental Engineering Other applications

1.1 Nature of Fluids A fluid consists of discrete molecules possessing random motion. A fluid may be a gas or a liquid. If there is a large change of pressure in a gas, then there will be a change in gas density. The term compressible fluid is used when circumstances are such that changes of density as a fraction of the original density cannot be regarded as negligible. Liquids are usually treated as incompressible. A fluid is defined as a substance that deforms continuously when acted on by a shear stress of any magnitude. A shear stress (force per unit area) is created whenever a tangential force acts on a surface. When common solids such as steel or metals are acted on by a shear stress, they will initially deform, but they will not continuously deform.

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1.2 Properties of Fluids 1.2.1 Dimensions & Units

Engineering problems are solved to answer specific questions. Any valid equation that relates physical quantities must be dimensionally homogeneous; each term in the equation must have the same dimensions. There are seven primary (basic) dimensions commonly used are: Mass; Length; Time; Temperature; Electric Current; Luminous intensity and Amount of substances There is more than one way of selecting the unit of measure for each primary dimension. However in the rest of the course, only the SI units will be used. SI, which is the official abbreviation in all languages for the System International dUnites, is an extension and refinement of the traditional metric system. In engineering fluid mechanics, the four primary SI units commonly used are, mass in kilogram (kg); length in metre (m); time in second (s) and temperature in Kelvin (K, formerly K). All other units which compose of more than one primary unit are called secondary (derived) units. Quantity Force Pressure / stress Work / energy Power Plane angle Unit Newton pascal joule watt radian Symbol N Pa J W rad Equiv. combination of primary units kg m/s2 N/m2 ( kg m-1 s-2) N m ( kg m2 s-2) J/s

Some other units are also accepted for use with the SI.
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Name minute hour litre tonne

Quality time time volume mass

Symbol min h L t

Value in SI units 1 min 60 s 1 h 60 min 3600 s 1 L 10-3 m3 (or 1 m3 1000 L) 1 t 1000 kg

1.2.2

Prefixes

To avoid inconveniently large or small numbers, prefixes may be put in front of the unit names. Prefix tera giga mega kilo hecto deca deci centi milli micro nano pico Symbol T G M k h da d c m n p Factor by which unit is multiplied 1012 109 106 103 102 10 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-6 10-9 10-12

When a unit with a prefix is raised to a power, the exponent applies to the whole multiple and not just to the original unit. 1 mm2 (10-3 m)2 10-6 m2 not 1 m(m2) 10-3 m2

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1.2.3

Mass

The mass of a fluid, designated by symbol m (kg), is the quantity of matter in a body. It does not change with position, and is not affected by pressure, temperature or motion. In fact, mass remains constant whatever happens to the body.

1.2.4

Weight

The weight of a fluid, designated as w (N), is the gravitational attractive force that the Earth exerts on a mass. Weight depends on the acceleration due to gravity (g = 9.81 ms-2) and this varies with height and location on the earth. Since weight is a force, weight and mass are related as w = mg

1. 2. 5

Density

The density of a fluid, designated by the Greek symbol , is defined as its mass per unit volume. Density is typically used to characterise the mass of a fluid system. In the SI system, has units of kg/m3. =
m mass = V Volume

The value of density can vary widely between different fluids, but for liquids, variations in pressure and temperature generally have only a small effect on the values of . The typical value of for water at standard pressure and temperature is 1000 kg/m3.

1.2.6

Specific Weight (Unit Weight)

The specific weight of a fluid, designated by the Greek symbol , is defined as its weight per unit volume. The unit in SI is N/m3. =
w V
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Since w = mg, and = m/V, therefore

mg V m = ( )g V

= g

Just as density is used to characterise the mass of a fluid system, the specific weight is used to characterise the weight of the fluid system. The typical value for water is 9.81 kN/m3.

1.2.7

Specific Gravity (Relative Density)

Many times a fluid is designated by its specific gravity, a dimensionless number from which you can determine the density and specific weight of the fluid. Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a fluid to the density of water at 4 C. The reason to choose the density of water at 4 C is that water has the maximum density at 4 C. S.G. =
subs tan ce H 2 O at 4 o C

The typical value for water is 1.0 and mercury 13.6. For gases, the standard density is commonly referred to air rather than to water.

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Worked examples: 1. A tank of seawater has a volume of 12 m3 and a weight of 123 kN. Determine its density and specific weight in SI units.

Answer Weight of water, w Volume of tank, V specific weight, = 123 kN = 12 m3 = w/V = 123/12 kN/m3 = 10.25 kN/m3 = g = 9.81 m/s2 = 10.25/9.81*1000 kg/m3 = 1045 kg/m3

Since by taking Density of water

2.

Gear oil has a specific gravity of 0.93. Determine its specific weight and density.
subs tan ce H 2 O at 4 o C

Answer S.G. =

oil = S.G. * water = 0.93 * 1000 = 930 kg/m3 = S.G. * water = 0.93 * 9.81 = 9.12 kN/m3

kg/m3

kN/m3

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1.2.8

Viscosity

The properties of density and specific weight are measures of the heaviness of a fluid. The viscosity of a liquid is the measure of the thickness of a fluid and it is related to the ability of a fluid to flow freely. The following experiment is used to compare the viscosity of fluids.

Motor oil

Corn syrup

The upper plate moves at constant velocity under the influence of a constant applied weight, w. The depth of the liquid layer has been exaggerated below.
Moving plate y
v

Moving plate motor oil

y v

corn syrup

Stationary plate

Stationary plate

For both cases a number of parallel velocity vectors have been drawn between the plate and the large surface. In both cases the velocity of the liquid adjacent to the large surface is zero, and the velocity of the liquid adjacent to the moving plate is identical to that of the moving plate (i.e. no slip condition). The reason is that fluid molecules tend to adhere to a solid. The intermediate velocities are in direct proportion to their location between the two flat surfaces. The velocity V of the fluid varies with distance y measured from some fixed reference plane, as shown in above figure and is termed the velocity

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profile. The velocity gradient,

shows the rate of change of velocity in

y direction. For many fluids, the shear stress between two adjoining layers of fluid times the velocity gradient is a constant. This constant is called the dynamic viscosity , i.e. or in differential form, = dV
dy

= / (y/v)

In SI unit, shear stress will be in Pa or N/m2, velocity in m/s and depth in m. Thus dynamic viscosity has units of N.s/m2 or Pa.s. The typical value for water is 1.14 x 10-3 Ns/m2. Many calculations in fluid mechanics involve the ratio of dynamic viscosity to mass density. Since both variables are properties, their ratio is also a property. This quantity is called kinematic viscosity in m2/s.

Typical value for water is 1.14 x 10-6 m2/s.

= If temperature and pressure are held constant, then the ratio of shear stress to velocity gradient (called dynamic viscosity) will be constant. This is true for a wide range of gases, water, water solutions and many petroleum products. As a group, all those fluids for which the assumption holds true are called Newtonian fluids. All other fluids are called non-Newtonian fluids.
Shear stress, plastic Bingham plastic

Newtonian
pseudoplastic dilatant Rate of shear, dV/dy

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Worked example: The diagram above shows two plates y apart, the lower one fixed and the upper one free to move under the action of a mass of 25 g. If the fluid between the plates is castor oil (dynamic viscosity, = 650 x 10-3 Ns/m2) and the area of contact of the upper plate with the oil is 0.75 m2, find the velocity of the upper plate when the distance separating the plate is 1 cm. Answer For Newtonian fluid, or

dV and with a constant , dy V = for constant velocity profile y

weight of the hanging mass = mg = 25/1000 * 9.81 N Viscous shear stress, =

shear force area 25 / 1000 * 9.81 N = 0.75 m2 = 0.327 N/m2

Thus

V = / * y 0.327 * 0.01 m/s = 650 x 10 -3 = 5.03 x 10-3 m/s = 5.03 mm/s

Noted that:

at fixed plate, V = 0 because of the no slip condition at moving plate, V = 5.03 mm/s also because of the no slip condition.

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1.2.9

Compressibility and the Bulk Modulus of Elasticity, K

All materials, whether solids, liquid or gases, are compressible, i.e. the volume V of a given mass will be reduced when a force is exerted uniformly all over its surface. The relation between change of pressure and change of volume depends on the bulk modulus of elasticity (or simply bulk modulus), K of the material. K = V dP dV

Since a rise in pressure always causes a decrease in volume and the minus sign is included in the equation to give a positive value of K. The SI unit for K is N/m2. Typical value for water is 2.05 x 109 N/m2. The concept of the bulk modulus is mainly applied to liquids, since for gases the compressibility is so great that the value of K is not a constant. For liquids, the bulk modulus is usually very large, i.e. liquids require very large pressure to create a small change in volume. Hence we conclude that liquids can be considered as incompressible for most practical engineering applications. Unlike liquids, gases are easily compressible and the compressibility is measured in terms of the Mach number, Ma. Ma = Where V C
V C

- velocity of flow of gases - speed of sound, i.e. sonic speed

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Class Exercise 1.1:

A hydraulic lift of the type commonly used for greasing automobiles consists of a 250 mm diameter ram that slides in a diameter cylinder. The annular space between the cylinder and the ram is filled with a 0.075 mm thick oil having a kinematic viscosity of 3.53*10-4 m2/s and SG of 0.83. If the rate of travel of the ram, V is 0.15 m/s, find the frictional resistance, F when a ram of 2 m long is engaged in the cylinder.
oil film 0.075mm ram

Fixed cylinder

(920 N)

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Tutorial: Properties of Fluids

Taking g = 9.81 m/s2 and density of water, w = 1000 kg/m3 1.A reservoir of glycerine has a mass of 1200 kg and a volume of 0.952 m3. Find the glycerines weight (W), mass density (), specific weight () and specific gravity (S.G.).

2. The specific gravity of ethyl alcohol is 0.79. Calculate its specific weight and mass density. 3. The volume of a rock is found to be 0.00015 m3. If the rocks specific gravity is 2.60, what is its weight?

4. A block weighing 100 N and having dimensions 200 mm on an edge is

allowed to slide down an incline on a film of oil having a thickness of 0.05 mm. If a linear velocity profile in the oil is assumed, what is the terminal speed of the block? The viscosity of the oil is 7*10-2 Ns/m2.

100N

0.05mm

25

END

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