MECHENG 325 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
- State what the continuum assumption is
o Fluids can be treated as continuous even though they are made up of
molecules that vary their position sporadically.
- State the no-slip boundary condition and describe what a boundary layer is.
o No-slip boundary condition = fluid in direct contact with a solid has zero
relative motion at the point of contact (they share the same velocity at
the contact point).
o Boundary layer = region of flow between surface and far field in which
velocity varies from zero to freestream value.
- Calculate shear stress in a fluid if given the velocity profile and viscosity (and
calculate the shear stress exerted on a surface adjacent to this fluid). You would
be given the equation for calculating this.
- Write down the equation which defines kinematic viscosity in terms of viscosity
and density.
𝜇
o 𝜈=𝜌
- Write down the equation which defines the Reynolds number and what it
represents and is used for.
𝜌𝑉𝐿 𝑉𝐿 𝐼𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠
o 𝑅𝑒 = = =
𝜇 𝜈 𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠
o Used for determining flow type (laminar, transitional, turbulent etc)
- Define what a laminar and turbulent flow are.
o Laminar = highly ordered fluid motion characterised by smooth layers of
fluid.
o Turbulent = highly disordered fluid motion characterised by velocity
fluctuations
- Define what a Newtonian fluid is.
o A fluid in which the viscous stresses arising from the flow are linearly
proportional to the local strain rate (change of deformation over time).
- Define a streamline, streakline, pathline, and know that these are identical in a
steady flow. Define what a streamtube is.
o Streamline = a line everywhere tangent to the velocity vector at a given
instant.
o Streakline = locus of particles which have earlier passed through a
prescribed point.
o Pathline = actual path traversed by a given fluid particle.
o Streamtube =
- If given the equation which defines a streamline, calculate an expression for a
streamline for a velocity profile.
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑧
o = =
𝑢 𝑣 𝑤
- Apply the conservation of mass and linear momentum equations to solve
various problems. Many typical problems involve making 1D assumptions. All
problems will assume steady flow. You may be asked to solve a case where the
velocity profile varies over your inlet area e.g. you could be asked to calculate
the momentum flux through the inlet and outlet of a control volume situated in
Couette flow or Poiseuille flow in a pipe and then analyse the forces acting on
this control volume. I would provide the appropriate forms of the conservation
of mass and momentum equations depending on what assumptions I expect
you to make e.g. I'd provide the 1D form for a 1D problem or the full version
for the Couette/Poisueille flow problems described above.
𝑑𝑢 𝑉
o Couette flow: 𝜏 = 𝜇 𝑑𝑦 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑢(𝑦) = ℎ 𝑦
- State the four assumptions which need to be satisfied to apply Bernoulli’s
equation
o Steady flow
o Constant density
o Inviscid flow
o Streamline
- Be able to define Static pressure, dynamic pressure, stagnation pressure and
total pressure.
o Static pressure = 𝑃
1
o Dynamic pressure = 2 𝜌𝑉 2
1
o Stagnation pressure = 𝑃0 = 𝑃 + 2 𝜌𝑉 2
1
o Total pressure = 𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑃 + 2 𝜌𝑉 2 + 𝜌𝑔𝑧
- Apply Bernoulli’s equation to calculate pressure changes along a streamline. I
will provide Bernoulli's equation, the 1D form of the conservation of mass
equation and an expression for the change in hydrodynamic pressure within a
column of liquid.
- Apply the conservation of mechanical energy equation to calculate pump or
turbine performance.
- Be able to identify the following dimensionless numbers if given their equations.
Reynolds number, Strouhal number, Mach number, Froude number. You also
need to be able to state what these numbers represent and when they are
important
𝜌𝑉𝐿 𝑉𝐿
o Reynolds: =
𝜇 𝜈
𝜔𝐿
o Strouhal: 𝑉
𝑉
o Mach: 𝑎
𝑉2
o Froude: 𝑔𝐿
- Apply the Buckingham Pi theorem to a problem to determine what
dimensionless numbers are important for that problem.
- Internal flows: You should be able to apply the conservation of mechanical
energy equation to calculate flows through pipe systems.
o Pipes in series: ∀1 = ∀2 = ∀3 = ∀ , ℎ𝐿 = ℎ𝐿.1 + ℎ𝐿,2 + ℎ𝐿,3
o Pipes in parallel: ∀ = ∀1 + ∀2 + ∀3 , ℎ𝐿 = ℎ𝐿.1 = ℎ𝐿,2 = ℎ𝐿,3
- Flow measurement: you should be able to describe what a pitot tube, is and
how it works in a couple of sentences.
o Slender tube pointed into flow that measures local velocity based on
pressure difference.
o Side walls measure static pressure and stream in front of tube measures
stagnation pressure.
2(𝑃𝑜 −𝑃)
o 𝑉=√ 𝜌
- You will need to be able to apply Bernoulli’s obstruction theory to analyse flow
through an orifice plate.
𝑑 𝜌(1−𝛽 4 ) ∀
o 𝛽 = 𝐷 ; Δ𝑃 = (𝐶 )
2 𝑑 𝐴𝑡
𝐾𝑂𝑃 𝑉𝑡2
o ℎ𝐿 = 2𝑔
- Pump analysis
o Find 𝐶𝐻 , 𝐶𝑄 , 𝐶𝑊 based on best efficiency we can achieve.
𝑔𝐻 ∀
o Use 𝐶𝐻 = (𝑛𝐷)2 ; 𝐶𝑄 = 𝑛𝐷3
- External flows: you should be able to calculate drag and lift acting on an object
if given the drag/lift coefficient. Note that 𝐶𝐿 and 𝐶𝐷 are usually functions of
Reynolds number.
