PROPERTIES OF FLUIDS

Fluid Properties:

Characteristics of a continuous fluid which are independent of the motion of the fluid are called
basic properties of the fluid.

Fluids possess the following properties

(a) Mass density or specific mass, (f) Vapour pressure,

(b) Weight density or specific weight, (g) Cohesion and Adhesion
(c) Specific volume, (h) Surface tension
(d) Specific gravity (i) Capillarity,
(e) Compressibility (j) Viscosity

a) Mass Density or specific Mass or Density (ρ)

The mass density of a fluid is the mass which it possesses per unit volume. It is denoted
by the symbol ρ. [rho].
In S.I. Units, it is expressed in kilogram per cubic metre, i.e., kg/m3.

The mass density of water at the standard temperature of 4°C is 1000 kg/m 3.

The mass density of a fluid is proportional to the number of molecules in unit volume of the
fluid. The mass density of a fluid decreases with increasing temperature.

b)Weight Density or Specific Weight (w)

The weight density or specific weight of a fluid is the weight it possess per unit volume. It is
denoted by the symbol 'w' .

In S.I. units, the specific weight is expressed as N/ m3 or kN/m3.

The specific weight of water at the standard temperature of 4°C is 9810 N//H 3.

The specific weight will vary from place to place depending upon the gravitational
acceleration. Specific weight also varies with temperature. The mass density p and the specific
weight w are related as follows:

where 'g' is the acceleration due to gravity.

c) Specific volume (v):

The specific volume of a fluid is the volume occupied by the unit mass of the fluid. It is
denoted by the symbol V. In S.I. units it is expressed as m3/kg. Specific volume is the reciprocal
of
density.

Sometimes, the specific volume can also be expressed as the volume of the fluid per unit
weight. In S.I. Units, it can be expressed as m3/N.

d) Specific Gravity or Relative Density (s)

Specific gravity of a fluid is the ratio of the density (or specific weight) of the fluid to the
density (or specific weight) of a standard fluid.
For liquids, the standard fluid used is water.
For gases, the standard fluid used is air or hydrogen.

The system for specific gravity is’s’. Specific gravity is a mere number and has no units.

The specific gravity of water at the standard temperature is equal to unity.

The specific gravity of mercury is 13.6.

If the specific gravity of any liquid is known, the specific weight (or mass density) that liquid
can be calculated using the following relationship.
 e) Compressibility (1/K)

Fluids may be compressed to small volumes by applying external force. When the
external force is removed, they expand to their original volume. This property of changing the
volume of fluids by applying external pressure is known as compressibility. It is expressed as
inverse of the bulk modulus of elasticity of the fluid.

Rise in pressure always reduces the volume 'dV’. The minus sign is included in the
equation to give a positive value of K.
In S.I. Units, it is expressed in N/m2. The bulk modulus of elasticity for water a: normal
temperature and pressure is approximately 21 x 105 KN/m2. The bulk modulus of elasticity of a
fluid increases with increase in pressure.

f) Viscosity

Viscosity is the property of fluid by virtue of which it offers resistance to shear or

angular deformation. Experimental evidence indicates that when any fluid flows over a solid
surface the velocity is not uniform at any cross section; it is zero (no slip) at the solid surface
and progressively approaches the free stream velocity in the fluid layers far away from the solid
surface. This aspect of the velocity profiles (a curve connecting the tips of velocity vectors)
indicates the existence of some resistance to flow due to friction between a fluid layer and the
solid surface, and between adjacent layers of fluid itself. Again the velocity gradient (the spatial
rate of change of velocity du/dy) is large at the solid surface and gradually diminishes to zero
with distance from the wall. Evidently the resistance between the fluid and surface is greater
when compared to that between the fluid layers themselves.
The resistance to flow because of internal friction is called viscous resistance, and the
property which enables the fluid to offer resistance to relative motion between adjacent layers
is called the viscosity of the fluid. Viscosity is thus a measure of resistance to relative
translational motion of adjacent layers of a fluid. This property is manifested by all real fluids,
and it distinguishes them from ideal or non-viscous fluids. Mollases, tar and glycerine are
examples of high viscous liquids; the intermolecular force of attraction between their molecules
is very large and consequently they cannot be easily poured or stirred. Fluids like water, air and
petrol have a very small viscosity,' they flow much more easily and rapidly and are called thin
fluids.
Fig. 1.3: Velocity profile and viscosity concept

g) Newton's Law of Viscosity:

Fig. 1.4: Shear stress and time rate of shear strain

Consider two adjacent layers at an infinitesimal distance dy apart and moving with velocity u
and (u + du). respectively. The upper layer moving with velocity (u + du) drags the lower layer
along with it by exerting a force F. However, the lower layer tries to retard or restrict the
motion of the upper layer by exerting a force equal and opposite to F. These two equal and
opposite forces induce a shear or viscous resistance (pronounced tau) given by F/A where A is
the contact area between the two layers. Experimental measurements have shown that the
shear stress is proportional to the spatial rate of change of velocity normal to the flow:

The following observations help to appreciate the interaction between viscosity and velocity
distribution:
_ Maximum shear stresses occur where the velocity gradient is the largest, and the shear
stresses disappear where the velocity gradient is zero.
_ Velocity gradient at the solid boundary has a finite value. The velocity profile cannot be
asymptotic to the boundary because that would imply an infinite velocity gradient and, in turn,
an infinite shear stress.
_ Velocity gradient becomes less steep (du/dy becomes small) with distance from the
boundary. Consequently maximum value of shear stress occurs at the boundary and it
progressively decreases with distance from the boundary.

Deformation of fluid elements can be prescribed in terms of the angle of shear strain dq .

Figure 1.4 indicates a thin sheet of fluid element ABCD placed between two plates
distance dy apart. The length and the width of the plates are much larger than the thickness dy
so that the edge effects can be neglected. When force F is applied to the upper plate, it causes
it to move at a small speed du relative to the bottom plate. Velocity gradient sets up a shear
stress t = F/A which makes the fluid element distort to position AB'C'D after a short time
interval dt.
Apparently the shear stress in fluids is dependent on the rate of fluid deformation

This characteristics serves to distinguish a solid from a fluid. Whereas the shear stress in a
solid material is generally proportional to shear strain; the shear stress in a viscous fluid is
proportional to time rate of strain.

1.6.5.2 Dimensional Formula and Units of Viscosity

The units of viscosity can be worked out from Newton's equation of viscosity; t = m du/dy.
Solving for the viscosity m and inserting dimensions F, L, T for force, length and time:

When appropriate units are inserted for force, length and time, the dynamic viscosity will have
the
units:
Sometimes, the coefficient of dynamic viscosity m is designated by poise (P)

A poise turns out to be a relatively large unit, hence the unit centipoise (cP) is generally used:
1 cP = 0.01 P, Typical values of viscosity for water and air at 20°C and at standard atmospheric
pressure are:

i. e., water is nearly 55 times as viscous as air.

Specific viscosity is the ratio of the viscosity of fluid to the viscosity of water at 20°C. Since
water has a viscosity of 1 cP at 20°C, the viscosity of any fl uid expressed in centipoise units
would be a measure of the viscosity of that fluid relative to water.

h)Kinematic Viscosity

The ratio between dynamic viscosity and density is defined as kinematic viscosity of a fluid
and is denoted by v (pronounced new):

The dimensional formula for kinematic viscosity is:

The kinematic viscosity does not involve force; its only dimensions being length and
time as in kinematic of fluid flow. Typical units of v are m2/s or cm2/s, the latter being referred
to as stroke (St) to perpetuate the name of the English physicist Sir George Stokes. A centistoke
(cSt) is one-hundredth of a stoke: 1cSt= 0.01 St. Typical values of kinematic viscosity at 20°C and
at stan dard atmospheric
pressure are:

i.e., the kinematic viscosity of air is about 15 times greater than the corresponding value of
water.

Effect of Temperature on Viscosity

There exists a distinct difference between fluids of liquid and gaseous nature in the
effect of temperature on the value of their dynamic viscosity.

Increase of temperature causes a decrease in the viscosity of a liquid, whereas viscosity

of gases increase with temperature growth. This difference in behaviour can be explained by
considering the basic mechanism that gives rise to viscosity. The viscous forces in a fluid are the
outcome of intermolecular cohesion and molecular momentum transfer. In liquids, the
molecules are comparatively more closely packed; molecular activity is rather small and so the
viscosity is primarily due to molecular cohesion. The molecular cohesion decreases with growth
of temperature and consequently the viscosity of liquids drops at elevated temperatures.

In gases, the molecular cohesive forces are negligibly small and viscosity results
primarily from the molecular momentum transfer. This molecular activity increases with a rise
in temperature and so does the gas viscosity.

The following empirical relations have been suggested for variation of viscosity with
temperature and pressure:

(i) For liquids:

where r
m is the viscosity at t°C, 0 m is the viscosity at 0°C and A and B are the constants
depending upon the liquid. For water
 The above correlation represents a hyperbola; viscosity tending to zero as temperature
tends to infinity.High pressures also affect the viscosity of a liquid; the viscosity increases with
increasing pressure. This may be attributed to the fact that with pressure growth, there occurs
and increase in the energy required for the relative movement of molecules. The correlation
depends on the nature of the liquid and is exponential

where K is a constant for the liquid and m is the viscosity at pressure p. For water, the viscosity
becomes two-fold when pressure increases from 1 to 1000 atm. For most of the oils, the
increase in viscosity is of the order of 10 to 15 percent for a pressure increase of about 75
atmosphere.

(ii) For gases:

The reduction in viscosity of gases with increasing temperature is prescribed by the

relationship:

i) Vapour Pressure

All liquids evaporate or vaporize when exposed to atmosphere. When the liquid is kept
in a closed vessel, it evaporates and the vapour occupies the space between the free liquid
surface and the top of the vessel. This accumulated vapour of the liquid exerts a partial
pressure on the surface of the liquid. This partial pressure is known as vapour pressure of the
liquid.
  Figure : To and fro movement of liquid molecules from an interface in a confined space
as a closed surrounding

The vapour pressure of the liquid increases with temperature. A liquid may boil even at
ordinary temperature, if the pressure above the liquid surface is reduced to the vapour
pressure of the liquid at that temperature.

At 20°C, water has a vapour pressure of 2.34 kPa (i.e., vapour pressure head = 0.24 m).

j) Compressibility and Bulk Modulus

Fluid mechanics deals with both incompressible and compressible fluids. i.e., with fluids
of either constant or variable density. When pressure is applied to a fluid, in contracts and
when pressure is released it expands. Compressibility of a fluid then characterises its ability to
change its volume under pressure. The relative change of volume per unit pressure is given by
the coefficient of compressibility:

where dp is the small change in pressure applied to the fluid and dV is the incremental
volume change in the original volume V. The negative sign implies that a positive pressure
increment results in a negative volume increment, i.e., an increase in pressure causes a
decrease in volume.

Quite often, the compressibility of fluid is expressed by its bulk modulus of elasticity K
which is the inverse of the coefficient of compressibility:
The bulk modulus of elasticity measures the compressive stress per unit volumetric strain.
The bulk modulus of elasticity increases somewhat with temperature and pressure. At
ordinary temperatures and pressures K = 20 x 108 N/m2 for water and K = 1.05 x 105 N/m2 for
air that indicates that air is approximately 20,000 times more compressible than water.

To gain some idea about the compressibility of water, imagine that a 1 m3 of water is
subjected to a pressure of 10 bar. Then a change in the volume of water amounts to:

Thus the applications of 10 bar pressure to water under ordinary conditions causes its
volume to decrease by only 1 part in 2000. Such a volume change is insignificant and as such
water is regarded as an incompressible fluid for all practical purposes. Exceptions occur only
when the water is subjected to severe accelerations such as in the water hammer that causes
compression waves.
Though gases in general are compressible, their compressibility becomes important only
when the gas velocity becomes more than 20% of the velocity of sound waves in that gas.

Velocity of Propagation of Sound (C)

Sound is propagated in a fluid due to compressibility of the medium, and the speed of sound
C is given by
where K= bulk modulus of elasticity of the medium and p = mass density of the fluid.

k) Cohesion and Adhesion

The property of a liquid by which molecules of the same liquid are attracted to each
other is known as cohesion. Due to this property, the molecules of a liquid are held together
and resists a small amount of tension.
Adhesion is the property of a fluid by which the molecules of that fluid are attracted by
the molecules of another liquid or by the molecules of a solid. Because of this property, two
different liquids adhere to each other or a liquid adhere to a solid body.
Example 1: When split over a solid surface, Mercury does not wet the surface and forms
spheres. If two spheres of mercury are brought into contact with each other, they combine
together to form a bigger sphere. This shows that mercury molecules have more affinity among
themselves (cohesion) and have no tendency to stick or adhere to the solid surface.
Example 2: When water is poured on the floor, the water molecules wet the surface. This
shows that water molecules have more affinity to stick (adhesion) to the solid surface.

l) Surface Tension

A liquid molecule lying well beneath the free surface of a liquid mass is surrounded by
other molecules all around it. Consequently the molecule is acted upon by the molecular forces
of attraction (cohesion) that are equal in all directions. These equal and opposite forces cancel
out, there is no resultant force acting upon the molecule within the fluid mass and this aspect
keeps the liquid mass in equilibrium. Never-the-less, a liquid molecule at the free surface has no
liquid molecules above it to counteract the forces due to molecules below it. Consequently as
depicted in the molecular arrangement of Figure 1.6, the molecules lying at the surface have a
net attraction tending to pull them into the interior of the liquid mass. A quantum of
energy/work is thus expanded to bring the molecule to the free liquid surface which then acts
like an elastic or stretched membrane Energy expanded per unit area of the surface is called
surface tension; designated by sigma a. Surface tension occurs at the interface of a liquid and a
gas or at the interface of two liquids, and is essentially due to inter-molecular forces of
cohesion.
Fig. 1.6: Forces of attraction on a liquid molecule

It is primarily due to surface tension effects that:

_ an isolated drop of liquid takes nearly a spherical shape
_ birds can drink water from ponds
_ water can be poured into a clean glass tumbler to a level above the tip of tumbler
_ stretched water surface can support small objects like dust particles and a needle placed
gently upon it
_ capillary rise and depression in thin-bored glass tubes

Surface tension forces are generally negligible in comparison with the pressure and
gravitational forces, but become quite significant when there is a free surface and the boundary
dimensions are small. e.g., in the small scale models of hydraulic engineering structures.

Pressure Inside a Water Droplet and Soap Bubble

Due to surface tension acting. at the interface, the pressure pi inside a small droplet or bubble
becomes greater than ambient pressure p0.
(a) For a liquid droplet: Consider a small spherical droplet of liquid (say a rain drop) of diameter
d and let it be cut into two halves.
Evidently the pressure within a liquid droplet varies inversely as its diameter; pressure
intensity decreases with an increase in the size of the droplet.

(b) For a soap bubble: A soap bubble has two surfaces in contact with air; one inside and other
outside.
Surface tension force will act on both the surfaces and accordingly
Since the soap solution has a high value of surface tensions, a soap bubble will tend to grow
large in diameter with a small pressure of blowing.
(c) For a liquid jet: Consider a cylindrical liquid jet of diameter d and length l (Figure 1.9)
Pressure force = ( p - p ) ´ld 1 0
Surface tension force = s ´ 2l
Equating the two forces, we obtain

m) Capillary or Meniscus Effect

When a small diameter glass tube, called the capillary tube is dipped into a water
container, water rises in the tube to a level that stands higher than the level of water in the
container. Conversely the surface of mercury is depressed down in the capillary tubing when it
is dipped in mercury. The phenomenon of liquid rise or fall in a capillary tube is called the
capillary or meniscus effect. Capillary effect is a surface tension effect that depends upon the
relative inter-molecular attraction between different substances; it is due to both cohesion and
adhesion.
 (a) Capillary Rise

(b) Capillary Depression

Fig.1.10. Capillary rise and depression

Adhesion between the glass and water molecules is greater than cohesion between the water
molecules. Consequently the water molecules spread over the glass surface and form a concave
meniscus with a small angle of contact". Opposite conditions hold good for mercury i.e.,
cohesion
between mercury molecules is greater than adhesion of mercury to glass. Mercury then
displays a
convex meniscus with the angle of contact greater than 90-degree.
Knowing the surface tension a, angle of contactq , tube diameter d and specific weight of
liquid w, the rise (for water) or depression (for mercury) of the liquid in the capillary tube can
be
worked out by the following analysis:
Weight of liquid raised or lowered in the capillary tube
= (area of tube x rise or fall) x specific weight

Vertical component of surface tension force

When in equilibrium, the downward weight of the liquid column h is balanced by the vertical
component of the force of surface tension.
Hence,

It is to be noticed that for 0 £ q £ 90°, h is positive (concave meniscus and capillary rise)
and that for 90 £ q £ 180°, h is negative (convex meniscus and capillary depression).
Evidently the capillary action is inversely proportional to the tube diameter. For precise work,
the small diameter tubes are to be avoided; the recommended minimum tube diameter for
water and mercury is 6 mm. Further, since the presence of dirt affects the surface tension and
hence the capillary rise or depression, the interior surface of the tube is to be kept clean.