MEMEC08:

Fluid Mechanics & Machines

Dr. Vivek Kumar

Assistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NSUT
UNIT I:
 Fluid Properties
 Fluid Statics
 Manometry
 Buoyancy
 Forces on submerged bodies
 Stability of floating bodies
 Control-volume analysis of mass
 Introduction to Fluid Mechanics
☼ MECHANICS – Branch of physical science that deals with energy and forces and their
effect on material bodies.

Statics: deals with bodies at rest.

Mechanics
Dynamics: deals with bodies in motion.

FLUID MECHANICS - the science that deals with 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.

o Fluid Statics: Study of fluids at rest.

o Fluid Kinematics: Study of fluids in motion without considering pressure forces.

o Fluid Dynamics: Study of fluids in motion with consideration of pressure forces.

 Properties of Fluids
o The study of properties of fluids is basic for the understanding of flow or static condition of
fluids.

o The important properties are specific gravity, viscosity and its significance,
compressibility, surface tension, capillarity, vapor pressure and manometry.

Viscosity causes resistance to flow.

Surface tension leads to capillary effects.

Bulk modulus is involved in the propagation of disturbances like sound waves in

fluids.

Vapour pressure can cause flow disturbances due to evaporation at locations of low
pressure. It plays an important role in cavitation studies in fluid machinery.
Properties of Fluids
 Specific Weight
─ It is defined as the ratio between the weight of a fluid to its volume. Thus, weight per unit
volume of a fluid is called weight density.

─ SI unit of specific weight is N and the dimensional formula is [ML-2T-2].

─ Specific weight of the water: = =

Mass of a body remains same regardless of its

location in the universe. Its weight, however,
changes with a change in gravitational
acceleration. A body weighs less on top of a
mountain since g decreases with altitude.
 Specific Gravity

─ It is defined as the ratio of the weight density (or density) of a fluid to the weight density
(or density) of a standard fluid.
─ For liquids, the standard fluid is water and for gas, the standard fluid is air.
─ Specific gravity is also called relative density. It is unit-less and dimensionless quantity.

─ Weight density of a liquid 1000

─ Density of a liquid 1000 kg
 Viscosity
o Viscosity can be thought of as the internal stickiness of a fluid.
o Viscosity is the internal resistance offered by one layer of fluid to the other layer.
o Viscosity is that property of a real fluid by virtue of which it offers resistance to shear force.
o When two solid bodies in contact move relative to each other, a friction force develops at the
contact surface in the direction opposite to motion.
o Viscosity represents the internal
resistance of a fluid to motion or the
“fluidity”.
o The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body
in the flow direction is called the drag
force, and the magnitude of this force
depends, in part, on viscosity.
o It is one of the properties that influences
the power needed to move an airfoil
through the atmosphere.

A fluid moving relative to a body

exerts a drag force on the body, partly
because of friction caused by viscosity.
o The rate of deformation of a fluid element is equivalent to the velocity gradient du/dy.

o For most fluids the rate of deformation is directly proportional to the shear stress, τ

o Fluids for which the rate of deformation is proportional to the shear stress are called
Newtonian fluids.

o Most common fluids such as water, air, gasoline, and oils are Newtonian fluids. Blood and
liquid plastics are examples of non-Newtonian fluids.

o In one-dimensional shear flow of Newtonian fluids, shear stress can be expressed by the linear
relationship
o The constant of proportionality μ is called the coefficient of viscosity or the dynamic (or
absolute) viscosity of the fluid.
o Unit is kg/m · s, or equivalently, N·s/m2 (or Pa.s).
o A common viscosity unit is poise, which is equivalent to 0.1 Pa.s.

o A plot of shear stress versus the rate of

deformation (velocity gradient) for a
Newtonian fluid is a straight line whose
slope is the viscosity of the fluid.
o For non-Newtonian fluids, the relationship between shear stress and rate of deformation
is not linear. The slope of the curve is referred to as the apparent viscosity of the fluid.

𝒏 𝟏

K is known as the flow consistency index and n is

the flow behavior index.

n Type of fluid
<1 Pseudoplastic
1 Newtonian fluid
>1 Dilatant (less common)
o Viscosity is caused by the cohesive forces between
the molecules in liquids and by the molecular
collisions in gases, and it varies greatly with
temperature.
o Viscosity of liquids decreases with temperature,
whereas the viscosity of gases increases with
temperature.
o In a liquid, the molecules possess more energy at
higher temperatures, and they can oppose the large
cohesive intermolecular forces more strongly.
Therefore, energized liquid molecules can move more
freely.
o In a gas, intermolecular forces are negligible, and the
gas molecules at high temperatures move randomly at
higher velocities.
o Thus, more molecular collisions per unit volume per
unit time and therefore in greater resistance to flow.
Viscosity vs Temperature
 Kinematic Viscosity
─ Ratio of dynamic viscosity to density.

─ Unit: m2/s and stoke (1 stoke (St) = 1 cm2/s (cSt) = 0.0001 m2/s)

Dynamic Viscosity: Fluid’s resistance to flow when an external force is applied.

Kinematic Viscosity: Resistive flow of a fluid under the weight of gravity or inherent viscosity of
Newtonian fluids, that does not change with a change in applied force.

─ Kinematic viscosity can be considered as the amount of area that a fluid spreads when it is
poured on a surface per unit time.

o If you have two fluids , say water and honey, water flows much more easily than honey.
Thus water will cover more area per second if you pour the water.
 Compressibility and Bulk Modulus

o How does fluid volume change with P and T? Coefficient of volume expansion

o Fluids expand as T ↑ or P ↓
o Fluids contract as T ↓ or P ↑

Temperature vs Density
Force Force

Volume decreases Volume increases

Density increases Density decreases
 Compressibility and Bulk Modulus
─ Compressibility is the reciprocal of the bulk modulus of elasticity (K).
─ Bulk modulus of elasticity is defined as the ratio of compressive stress to volumetric strain.
─ The coefficient of compressibility represents the change in pressure corresponding to a fractional
change in volume or density of the fluid while the temperature remains constant.

V
dV
Let the pressure is increased to as the volume of gas
decreases from to .
Then increase in pressure =
Decrease in volume =
Volumetric strain =
- ve sign means the volume decreases with increase of pressure.
 Vapor Pressure and Cavitation

Vapor pressure (Pv) of a pure substance the pressure exerted by its vapor molecules when the
system is in phase equilibrium with its liquid at a given temperature.

Vapor pressure increases with increasing

temperature, and thus the risk of cavitation
is greater at higher fluid temperatures.

The partial pressure of a vapor must be

less than or equal to the vapor pressure if
there is no liquid present.

When both vapor and liquid are present and the system is in phase equilibrium, the partial
pressure of the vapor must equal the vapor pressure, and the system is said to be saturated.
o Liquid pressure in liquid-flow systems dropping below the vapor pressure at some locations,
and the resulting unplanned vaporization.
o Vapor Bubbles (called Cavitation Bubbles since they form “cavities” in the liquid) collapse as
they are swept away from the low-pressure regions, generating highly destructive, extremely
high-pressure waves.
o This phenomenon, which is a common cause for drop in performance and even the erosion of
impeller blades, is called CAVITATION, and it is an important consideration in the design of
hydraulic turbines and pumps.
o For instance, water at 10°C will flash into vapor and form bubbles at locations (tip regions of
impellers or suction sides of pump) where pressure drop below 1.23 kPa.
 Surface Tension

─ Liquid droplets behave like small spherical balloons filled with liquid, and the surface of
the liquid acts like a stretched elastic membrane under tension.
─ The pulling force that causes this is due to the attractive forces between molecules called
surface tension (N/m).
─ This effect is also called surface energy and is expressed in the equivalent unit of N-m/m2
or J/m2.
 Capillary Effect
Capillary effect is the rise or fall of a liquid in a small-diameter tube inserted into the liquid.
Such narrow tubes or confined flow channels are called Capillaries.

• Rise of kerosene through a cotton wick inserted into the reservoir of a kerosene lamp
• Rise of water to the top of tall trees

Phenomenon of capillary effect can be explained microscopically by considering cohesive forces (the
forces between like molecules, such as water and water) and adhesive forces (the forces between
unlike molecules, such as water and glass
o The curved free surface of a liquid in a capillary tube is called the MENISCUS.

─ Water in a glass container curves up slightly at the edges where it touches the glass
surface; Meniscus
─ Mercury curves down at the edges

Meniscus

o If θ < 90o, the liquid is said to "wet" the solid. However, if θ > 90o, the liquid is repelled by
the solid, and tries not to "wet" it.
─ For example, water wets glass, but not wax. Mercury on the other hand does not wet
glass.
 Pressure

Normal force exerted by a fluid per unit area.

Unit:
• N/m2 (Pascal, Pa)
• 1 bar = 105 Pa
• 1 atm = 101325 Pa = 14.696 psi (Pound –
force per square inch)
• 1 kgf/cm2 = 9.807 N/cm2 = 9.807 X 104
N/m2 = 9.807 X 104 Pa = 0.9807 bar
 Pascal’s Law
─ It states that the pressure or intensity of pressure at a point in a static fluid is equal
in all directions.
─ Consider a small wedge-shaped fluid element of unit length (into the page) in
equilibrium.
─ Mean pressures at the three surfaces are P1, P2, and P3, and force acting on a surface is
the product of mean pressure and the surface area.
─ From Newton’s second law, a force balance in the x- and z- directions gives

 

 
The wedge is a right triangle, x = l cos θ and z = l sin θ.
Substituting these geometric relations,

1 3


2 3

1 3

2 3 
As z  0 and the wedge becomes infinitesimal, and thus the fluid element shrinks to a point.

Then combining the results of these two relations gives

1 2 3

The pressure at a point in a fluid has the same magnitude in all directions.
Pascal’s law states that the force applied by a fluid is proportional to the surface area.

• Two hydraulic cylinders of different areas could be

connected, and the larger could be used to exert a
proportionally greater force than that applied to the
smaller.
• Noting that P1 = P2 since both pistons are at the
same level, the ratio of output force to input force is
determined to be

P1: The Pascal’s law is applicable to the liquid which is

a) Compressible
b) Incompressible
c) Solid in phase
d) Super-compressive
 Hydrostatic Law
Pressure at any point in a fluid at rest is obtained by the Hydrostatic Law which states
that the rate of increase of pressure in a vertically downward direction must be equal to
the specific weight of the fluid at that point.

Consider a small fluid element as shown in Figure.

Let Cross-sectional area of element
Height of fluid element
Pressure on face
Distance of fluid element from free
surface
The forces acting on the fluid element are:
4. Pressure forces on surfaces and are equal and opposite.

For equilibrium of fluid element,

where Weight density of fluid.

Equation (A1) state that rate of increase of pressure in a vertical direction is equal to weight density of
the fluid at that point. This is Hydrostatic Law.
By integrating the above equation (A1) for liquids, we get

where is the pressure above atmospheric pressure and is the height of the point from
free surfaces.
From equation (A2),

Here is called pressure head.

Variation of Pressure with Depth

𝟐 𝟏 𝒔
 Variation of Pressure with Depth
Pressure in a continuously distributed uniform static fluid varies only with vertical distance
and is independent of the shape of the container. The pressure is the same at all points on a
given horizontal plane in the fluid. The pressure increases with depth in the fluid.
 Test Yourself
o Can you tell at which point the pressure is higher?
o The pressure force exerted by the fluid is always normal to the surface at the specified
points.
Relationship between Absolute, Gauge, and Vacuum Pressures
o The actual pressure at a given position is called the absolute pressure (Patm), and it is
measured relative to absolute vacuum (i.e., absolute zero pressure).

o Gauge Pressure (Pgage): Difference between the absolute pressure and the local
atmospheric pressure.

o Pressures below atmospheric pressure are called vacuum pressures (Pvac).

─ Pvac measured by vacuum gages that indicate the difference between the atmospheric
pressure and the absolute pressure.
• An elevation change of z in a fluid at rest corresponds to P/ρg, which suggests that a fluid
column can be used to measure pressure differences.
• A device based on this principle is called a manometer, and it is commonly used to measure
small and moderate pressure differences.
• A manometer mainly consists of a glass or plastic U-tube containing one or more fluids such as
mercury, water, alcohol, or oil.

• Heavy fluids such as mercury are used if large

pressure differences are anticipated.

• Consider the manometer that is used to measure the pressure in the tank. Since the
gravitational effects of gases are negligible, the pressure anywhere in the tank and at
position 1 has the same value.
• Furthermore, since pressure in a fluid does not vary in the horizontal direction within a
fluid, the pressure at point 2 is the same as the pressure at point 1,
P2 = P 1
 Pressure Measurement…Manometer

• The differential fluid column of height h is in static equilibrium, and it is open to the
atmosphere.
• Then the pressure at point 2 is determined directly from
𝟐 𝒂𝒕𝒎
• Note that the cross-sectional area of the tube has no effect on the differential height h, and
thus the pressure exerted by the fluid.

• The diameter of the tube should be large enough (more

than a few millimeters) to ensure that the surface
tension effect and thus the capillary rise is negligible.
o Some manometers involve multiple immiscible fluids of different densities stacked on top of
each other.
o For example, the pressure at the bottom of the tank can be determined by starting at the free
surface where the pressure is Patm, moving downward until reach point 1 at the bottom, and
setting the result equal to P1.
Problem: The inverted U-tube manometer of Fig. contains oil (S = 0.9) and water as
shown. The pressure differential between pipes A and B, PA – PB, is -5 kPa. Determine the
differential reading, h.
Problem: The inverted U-tube manometer of Fig. contains oil (S = 0.9) and water as
shown. The pressure differential between pipes A and B, PA – PB, is -5 kPa. Determine the
differential reading, h.

Solution: Pressure in left limb = Pressure in right limb

PA  (  g ) H 2O (0.2)  PB  (  g )Oil (h)  (  g ) H 2O (0.3)

(  g )Oil ( h)  ( PB  PA )  (  g ) H 2O (0.2)  (  g ) H 2O (0.3)

Thus,
( PB  PA )  (  g ) H 2O (0.1)
h
(  g )Oil

(5  103 )  (1000  9.81)(0.1)


(8.95  1000)

h  0.449 m
Problem: In the Fig. is shown a compound manometer. Calculate pressure difference between the
points A and B. Take ww = 10 kN/m3 for water, wHg = 136 kN/m3 for mercury and wo = 8.5 kN/m3
for oil.
Problem: In the Fig. is shown a compound manometer. Calculate pressure difference between the
points A and B. Take ww = 10 kN/m3 for water, wHg = 136 kN/m3 for mercury and wo = 8.5 kN/m3
for oil.

Solution : Starting with the pressure indicated by the

pressure gage at A and moving along the tube by
adding (as we go down) or subtracting (as we go up)
the terms until we reach the point B, and setting the
result equal to PB gives

PA  ( w) water (1.08)  ( w) Hg (0.72)  ( w)oil (0.48)  ( w) Hg (0.6)  ( w) water (0.36)  PB

PA  PB  ((w) water (1.08)  ( w) Hg (0.72)  (w)oil (0.48)  (w) Hg (0.6)  (w)water (0.36))

PA  PB  (( w) water (0.72)  ( w) Hg (1.32)  ( w)oil (0.48))

 ((10 103  0.72)  (136 103 1.32)  (8.5 103  0.48))

 (7200  179520  4080)
Ques. Given that both liquids A and B exert same amount of pressure, what would be
the height of column of liquid A if the density of liquid A is twice the density of liquid
B. Height of the column of liquid B is 10 cm?

a) 5 cm

b) 10 cm

c) 20 cm

d) Don’t know
 Pressure Measurement…Manometer

─ Manometers are well-suited to measure pressure drops across a horizontal flow section
between two specified points due to the presence of a device such as a valve or heat exchanger
or any resistance to flow.
─ This is done by connecting the two legs of the manometer to these two points.
─ The working fluid can be either a gas or a liquid whose density is ρ1. The density of the
manometer fluid is ρ2, and the differential fluid height is h.

• A relation for the pressure difference P1 – P2 can be

obtained by starting at point 1 with P1, moving along the
tube by adding or subtracting the ρgh terms until we reach
point 2, and setting the result equal to P2:

𝟐
• By moving from point A horizontally to point B and ignored the part underneath since the
pressure at both points is the same. Simplifying

𝟏 𝟐 𝟐 𝟏

• Note that the distance a has no effect on the result, but must be included in the analysis.
• Also, when the fluid flowing in the pipe is a gas, then ρ1 << ρ2 and the relation simplifies
to

𝟏 𝟐 𝟐
Fluid Statics
 Fluid Statics
o Fluid statics deals with problems associated with fluids at rest. The fluid can be either gaseous
or liquid.
o Fluid statics is generally referred to as hydrostatics when the fluid is a liquid and as aerostatics
when the fluid is a gas.
o In fluid statics, there is no relative motion between adjacent fluid layers, and thus there
are no shear (tangential) stresses in the fluid trying to deform it.

o The only stress we deal with in fluid statics is the normal

stress, which is the pressure, and the variation of pressure
is due only to the weight of the fluid.
o The force exerted on a surface by a fluid at rest is
normal to the surface at the point of contact.
o Theorem of parallel axis states that the moment of inertia of a body about an axis
parallel to axis passing through centre of mass is equal to the sum of the moment of
inertia of body about an axis passing through centre of mass and product of mass
and square of distance between the two axes.
 Hydrostatic Forces on Submerged Plane Surfaces
o Consider the top surface of a flat plate of arbitrary shape completely submerged in a
liquid together with its top view.
o The plane of this surface (normal to the page)
intersects the horizontal free surface with an
angle θ, and the line of intersection to be the x-
axis.
o The absolute pressure above the liquid is P0,
which is the local atmospheric pressure Patm if
the liquid is open to the atmosphere.
o The absolute pressure at any point on a
differential area dA on the plate is
o The resultant hydrostatic force FR acting on the surface is determined by integrating the force
P.dA acting on a differential area dA over the entire surface area.

o The first moment of area is related to the y-

coordinate of the centroid (or center) of the
surface by
o Substituting the first moment of area,

o Here PC = P0 + ρghC is the pressure at

the centroid of the surface, which is
equivalent to the average pressure on the
surface.
hC = yC sinθ The magnitude of the resultant force acting on a plane
surface of a completely submerged plate in a homogeneous
(constant density) fluid is equal to the product of the
pressure PC at the centroid of the surface and the area A of
the surface.
Line of action of the resultant force, FR:
o Two parallel force systems are equivalent if they have the same magnitude and the same moment
about any point.

o The line of action of the resultant hydrostatic force, in

general, does not pass through the centroid of the
surface—it lies underneath where the pressure is
higher.
o The point of intersection of the line of action of the
resultant force and the surface is the center of
pressure.
o Vertical location of the line of action is determined by
equating the moment of resultant force to the moment
of distributed pressure force about x-axis.
o yP is the distance of the center of pressure from
the x-axis.
is the second moment of area (also called the area
moment of inertia) about the x-axis.

o The second moments of area about two parallel axes are

related to each other by the parallel axis theorem, which
in this case is expressed as
Line of action of the resultant force FR:
Ixx,C is the second moment of area about the x-axis passing through the centroid of the area.
Substituting the FR relation

and the Ixx,O relation

in

The yP is given as

o For P0 = 0, which is usually the case when the atmospheric pressure is ignored, it
simplifies to
Centroid and Centroidal moments
Problems Based on Submerged Flat Surfaces
Problems Based on Submerged Curved Surfaces
BUOYANCY
When a body is immersed in a fluid, an upward force is exerted by the fluid on the
body. This upward force is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body and
is called the force of buoyancy.
 STABILITY OF FLOATING BODY
Metacenter: The point of intersection of the vertical through the center of buoyancy of a
floating body with the vertical through the new center of buoyancy when the body is displaced

Metacenter Height: MG
META CENTER HEIGHT
META CENTER HEIGHT
CONDITION FOR STABILITY OF SUBMERGED BODY
(BALLON IN AIR)
CONDITION FOR STABILITY OF FLOATING BODY