Introduction to
Fluid Machines &
Review of Fluid Flow
Principles (Part 1)
Dexter Lyndon Sabusap
Instructor
ME531B Fluid Machinery
Introduction to Fluid Machinery
• Fluid machines are devices or equipment which either
run on fluid power, or run to power fluid.
• Pumps, blowers, and compressors are fluid machines
that use external power to energize a fluid.
• Turbines and windmills are fluid machines that utilize
fluid power for mechanical power generation.
General Classification of Fluid Machines
External vs Internal Flow
• External flows are those flows where the fluid
surrounds a solid surface. E.g. airflow around airplanes
• Internal flows are those flows where the fluid is
enclosed or surrounded by solid surface. E.g. flow in
pipes.
• Pipe flows are very important topic as it is common in
many engineering applications.
Density
Density (𝜌) is defined as mass (𝑚) per unit volume (𝑉) of
a substance.
𝑚
𝜌=
𝑉
Specific Weight
Specific weight (𝛾) is defined as weight (𝑊) per unit
volume of a substance.
𝑊 𝑚𝑔
𝛾= = = 𝜌𝑔
𝑉 𝑉
Or,
𝜌𝑔
𝛾=
𝑘
where 𝑔 is the gravitational acceleration, and 𝑘 is the
proportionality constant.
Specific Gravity
Specific gravity (SG) is the defined as the ratio of density
of a substance to the density of a standard substance at
a specified temperature.
For liquids:
𝜌𝑓
𝑆𝐺 = 𝒌𝒈
𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟@4℃ 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟑
𝒎
For gases:
𝜌𝑓
𝑆𝐺 = 𝒌𝒈
𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟@15.6℃ & 1 𝑎𝑡𝑚 𝟏. 𝟐𝟐𝟓 𝟑
𝒎
This is also called relative density.
Example 1
An unknown object has a weighs of 13.2 kN at a volume
of 0.88 m^3. Calculate the relative density of this object.
Dynamic Viscosity
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance to flow of a fluid.
It is calculated as the ratio of the shearing stress to the
rate of change of velocity (𝑽) perpendicular to the
direction of motion referred to as the dynamic
(absolute) viscosity (𝜇).
𝜏
𝜇=
𝑑𝑽
𝑑𝑦
Note: Symbol for velocity is in bold letter.
Dynamic Viscosity
Typical units of 𝜇 are the following:
• 1 Pa-s = 1 N-s/(m^2) = 1 kg/(m-s)
• 1 poise (P) = 1 dynes/(cm^2)
• 1 P = 0.10 Pa-s
• 1 centipoise (cP) = 1/100 P
• 1 cP = 0.001 Pa-s
• 1 Pa-s = 0.020886 lbf-s/(ft^2)
Kinematic Viscosity
The ratio of absolute viscosity with density frequently
appears in computations, so it was given a specific name
as kinematic viscosity (𝜈).
𝜇
𝜈=
𝜌
Kinematic Viscosity
Typical units of 𝜈 are the following:
• 1 (m^2)/s = 10,000 (cm^2)/s
• 1 stoke (St) = 1 (cm^2)/s
• 1 St = 0.0001 (m^2)/s
• 1 centistoke (cSt) = 1/100 St
• 1 cSt = 1 mm^2/s
• 1 (m^2)/s = 10.7639 (ft^2)/s
Reynolds Number
Reynolds number (Re) is a dimensionless parameter. It
indicates the ratio of inertia forces to viscous forces.
For pipes with circular cross section of diameter 𝐷:
𝛾𝑽𝐷 𝜌𝑽𝐷 𝑽𝐷
𝑅𝑒 = = =
𝑔𝜇 𝜇 𝜈
Reynolds Number
Re indicates the type of flow inside the pipe without
having to verify experimentally. Also, the type of flow
affects the amount of energy losses in the pipe.
For flows in pipe:
• Laminar flow : Re < 2000
• Transition flow : 2000 < Re < 4000
• Turbulent flow : Re > 4000
NOTE: These range of Re are ONLY for flow in pipes.
Reynolds Number
Velocity Profiles in (a) Laminar and (b) Turbulent Pipe
Flow. 𝑽 is the average fluid velocity.
No-Slip Condition
The no-slip condition is a when a fluid sticks to a solid
surface, assuming the velocity of the surface.
(Video) Water in a
channel flows from right
to left.
Then a green dye was
injected at very bottom of
the channel using a thin
tube.
The green dye sticking to
the bottom surface is a
demonstration of the no-
slip condition.
Example 2
Water flows in a 75-cm-diameter pipe at a velocity of 8.3
m/s. If the absolute viscosity of water is taken as 1.002 cP
what is the type of flow in the pipe?
Hydraulic Radius
For pipes that do not have circular cross section, we
calculate an equivalent radius called the hydraulic radius
𝑅𝐻 .
𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑅𝐻 =
𝑤𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Where hydraulic diameter 𝐷𝐻 is related as 𝐷𝐻 = 4𝑅𝐻 .
We use 𝐷𝐻 in place of 𝐷 in the rest of the calculations.
Example 3
Calculate (a) the hydraulic radius and hydraulic diameter
of a conduit with a rectangular cross section of side
length 2-ft-by-3-ft. (b) If air at 3 ft/s, density of 0.763
lb/ft^3, and absolute viscosity of 1.81E-5 Pa-s flows in the
conduit, what is its type of flow?
Continuity Equation
This equation is an expression of the conservation of
mass applied to fluid flow at steady flow.
𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝜌𝑖𝑛 𝑄𝑖𝑛 = 𝜌𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑄𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝜌𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑖𝑛 𝑽𝑖𝑛 = 𝜌𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐴𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑽𝑜𝑢𝑡
Where 𝑄 is the volume flow rate, and 𝐴 is the cross-
sectional area of fluid flow.
For incompressible fluid:
𝐴𝑖𝑛 𝑽𝑖𝑛 = 𝐴𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑽𝑜𝑢𝑡
Example 4
Water enters the 50-cm-diameter inlet of a pipe at 6.8
ft/s and leaves through a 30-cm-diameter outlet. At what
speed in m/s does the water leave the pipe? What is the
volume flow rate of the water in CFM?
Head
• The energy of a fluid is specified in terms of feet or
meters of head of the flowing fluid.
• Head can be thought of as a height to which a column
of fluid must rise to contain the same amount of
energy as is contained in one unit weight of the fluid
under its flowing conditions.
Head
The head of a flowing fluid is consists of 3 kinds of head:
• Pressure head :
𝑃 𝑃 𝑃
= = 𝜌𝑔 (Pressure, P)
𝛾 𝜌𝑔
𝑘
• Velocity head :
𝑽2
2𝑔
• Elevation head :
𝑧
Manometer, Pitot, and Pitot-Static Tubes
FLUID FLOW
𝑷 𝜸
𝑷 𝜸 + 𝑽𝟐 𝟐𝒈 𝑽𝟐 𝟐𝒈
manometer pitot pitot-static
or piezometer
Bernoulli’s Equation
The total energy of a flowing fluid is equal to the sum of
the pressure, velocity, and elevation heads.
𝑃 𝑽2
+ + 𝑧 = 𝐻𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝛾 2𝑔
If energy losses are negligible, then 𝐻𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 is constant.
Example 5
The pitot and piezometer probes read the total and
static pressures as shown. Calculate the velocity of the
fluid.
Example 6
A nozzle on a hose accelerates water from 4-cm
diameter to 1-cm diameter. If the pressure is 400 kPa
upstream of the nozzle, what is the maximum velocity
exiting the nozzle?
