ME 4411

FLUID MECHANICS - I

Dr. Arafat Ahmed Bhuiyan

Assoc. Professor, Dept. of MPE
Islamic University of Technology (IUT)
Contact: +8801712939252
E-mail: [email protected]
Answer deals by fluid mechanics
➢Explain why a ping-pong ball can be held in an air jet?
➢How deep will the water be in Fall Creek during a spring snow melt
caused by a warm rain?
➢How much power does it take to drive a Toyota Matrix at 100 kph?
➢How big does the tunnel have to be that carries drinking water into
NYC?
➢………………….
➢………......
➢………
➢….
➢.
Basic Concept of Fluid
Mechanics
Cengel-Chapter 1
 Mechanics/Fluid Mechanics
• Mechanics is the oldest physical science that deals with both
stationary and moving bodies under the influence of forces
• The branch of mechanics that deals with bodies at rest is called
statics, while the branch that deals with bodies in motion is called
dynamics
• The subcategory fluid mechanics is defined as the science that
deals with the 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
• Fluid mechanics is also referred to as fluid dynamics by
considering fluids at rest as a special case of motion with zero
velocity
 Category of Fluid Mechanics
• The study of the motion of fluids that can be approximated as
incompressible (such as liquids, especially water, and gases at low
speeds) is usually referred to as hydrodynamics.
• A subcategory of hydrodynamics is hydraulics, which deals with liquid
flows in pipes and open channels.
• Gas dynamics deals with the flow of fluids that undergo significant
density changes, such as the flow of gases through nozzles at high
speeds.
• The category aerodynamics deals with the flow of gases (especially
air) over bodies such as aircraft, rockets, and automobiles at high or
low speeds.
 What is a Fluid?
• A substance in the liquid or gas phase is referred to as a fluid.
• Distinction between a solid and a fluid is made on the basis of the
substance’s ability to resist an applied shear (or tangential) stress that
tends to change its shape.
• A solid can resist an applied shear stress by deforming, whereas a
fluid deforms continuously under the influence of a shear stress, no
matter how small.
• When a constant shear force is applied, a solid eventually stops
deforming at some fixed strain angle, whereas a fluid never stops
deforming and approaches a constant rate of strain
 What is a Fluid? Cont’d

• Consider a rectangular rubber block tightly placed between two

plates.
• Upper plate is pulled with a force F while the lower plate is kept
stationary
• The rubber block deforms
• The angle of deformation (called the shear strain or angular
displacement) increases in proportion to the applied force F
• Assuming there is no slip between the rubber and the plates,
the upper surface of the rubber is displaced by an amount
equal to the displacement of the upper plate while the lower
surface remains stationary
• In equilibrium, the net force acting on the upper plate in the
horizontal direction must be zero, and thus a force equal and
opposite to F must be acting on the plate
• This opposing force that develops at the plate–rubber interface
due to friction is expressed as F=τA, where τ is the shear
stress and A is the contact area between the upper plate and
the rubber
 What is a Fluid? Cont’d

• This phenomenon would also be observed with other solids such as a

steel block provided that the applied force does not exceed the elastic
range.
• If this experiment were repeated with a fluid (with two large parallel
plates placed in a large body of water, for example), the fluid layer in
contact with the upper plate would move with the plate continuously at
the velocity of the plate no matter how small the force F.
• The fluid velocity would decrease with depth because of friction
between fluid layers, reaching zero at the lower plate.
 What is a Fluid? Cont’d

• Stress is defined as force per unit area and is

determined by dividing the force by the area
upon which it acts
• The normal component of a force acting on a
surface per unit area is called the normal
stress, and the tangential component of a force
acting on a surface per unit area is called shear
stress
• In a fluid at rest, the normal stress is called
pressure
• A fluid at rest is at a state of zero shear stress
• When the walls are removed or a liquid container
is tilted, a shear develops as the liquid moves to
re-establish a horizontal free surface
 What is a Fluid? Cont’d

• In a liquid, groups of molecules can move

relative to each other, but the volume remains
relatively constant because of the strong
cohesive forces between the molecules. As a
result, a liquid takes the shape of the container
it is in, and it forms a free surface in a larger
container in a gravitational field
• A gas, on the other hand, expands until it
encounters the walls of the container and fills
the entire available space. This is because the
gas molecules are widely spaced, and the
cohesive forces between them are very small.
• Unlike liquids, a gas in an open container
cannot form a free surface
Application areas of Fluid Mechanics
 No Slip Condition and Boundary Layer
• Consider the flow of a fluid in a stationary
pipe or over a solid surface that is nonporous
(i.e., impermeable to the fluid)
• All experimental observations indicate that a
fluid in motion comes to a complete stop at
the surface and assumes a zero velocity
relative to the surface
• That is, a fluid in direct contact with a solid
A fluid flowing over a
“sticks” to the surface, and there is no slip. stationary surface comes to
• This is known as the no-slip condition a complete stop at the
surface because of the no-
• The fluid property responsible for the no slip slip condition
condition and the development of the
boundary layer is viscosity
 No Slip Condition and Boundary Layer cont’d

• A consequence of the no-slip condition is that all velocity profiles must

have zero values with respect to the surface at the points of contact
between a fluid and a solid surface
• Therefore, the no-slip condition is responsible for the development of
the velocity profile. The flow region adjacent to the wall in which the
viscous effects (and thus the velocity gradients) are significant is
called the boundary layer
 Classification of Fluid Flows
Viscous versus Inviscid Regions of Flow
• When two fluid layers move relative to each other, a friction force develops between
them and the slower layer tries to slow down the faster layer
• This internal resistance to flow is quantified by the fluid property viscosity, which is a
measure of internal stickiness of the fluid
• Viscosity is caused by cohesive forces between the molecules in liquids and by
molecular collisions in gases
• There is no fluid with zero viscosity, and thus all fluid flows involve viscous effects to
some degree
• Flows in which the frictional effects are significant are called viscous flows
• However, in many flows of practical interest, there are regions (typically regions not
close to solid surfaces) where viscous forces are negligibly small compared to inertial
or pressure forces.
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

• The development of viscous and inviscid regions

of flow as a result of inserting a flat plate parallel
into a fluid stream of uniform velocity is shown
in the Fig.
• The fluid sticks to the plate on both sides
because of the no-slip condition, and the thin
boundary layer in which the viscous effects are
significant near the plate surface is the viscous
flow region The flow of an originally uniform
• The region of flow on both sides away from the fluid stream over a flat plate,
and the regions of viscous flow
plate and largely unaffected by the presence of (next to the plate on both sides)
and inviscid flow (away from the
the plate is the inviscid flow region plate).
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

Internal versus External Flow

• The flow of an unbounded fluid over a surface such
as a plate, a wire, or a pipe is external flow. The
flow in a pipe or duct is internal flow if the fluid
is completely bounded by solid surfaces
• Water flow in a pipe, for example, is internal flow,
and airflow over a ball or over an exposed pipe
during a windy day is external flow
• The flow of liquids in a duct is called open-channel
flow if the duct is only partially filled with the liquid External flow over a tennis ball,
and there is a free surface and the turbulent wake region
behind
• The flows of water in rivers and irrigation ditches
are examples of such flows
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

Compressible versus Incompressible Flow

• A flow is classified as being compressible or incompressible, depending on
the level of variation of density during flow
• Incompressibility is an approximation, in which the flow is said to be
incompressible if the density remains nearly constant throughout
• Therefore, the volume of every portion of fluid remains unchanged over the
course of its motion when the flow is approximated as incompressible
• The densities of liquids are essentially constant, and thus the flow of liquids
is typically incompressible
• A pressure of 210 atm, for example, causes the density of liquid water at 1
atm to change by just 1 percent
• Gases, on the other hand, are highly compressible. A pressure change
of just 0.01 atm, for example, causes a change of 1 percent in the density
of atmospheric air
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

Laminar versus Turbulent Flow

• The highly ordered fluid motion characterized by smooth layers of fluid is
called laminar
• The flow of high-viscosity fluids such as oils at low velocities is typically
laminar
• The highly disordered fluid motion that typically occurs at high velocities and
is characterized by velocity fluctuations is called turbulent
• The flow of low-viscosity fluids such as air at high velocities is typically
turbulent
• A flow that alternates between being laminar and turbulent is called
transitional
• Reynolds number, Re, as the key parameter for the determination of the
flow regime in pipes
Laminar versus Turbulent Flow
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

Natural (or Unforced) versus Forced Flow

• A fluid flow is said to be natural or forced, depending on how the fluid
motion is initiated.
• In forced flow, a fluid is forced to flow over a surface or in a pipe by
external means such as a pump or a fan
• In natural flows, fluid motion is due to natural means such as the
buoyancy effect, which manifests itself as the rise of warmer (and thus
lighter) fluid and the fall of cooler (and thus denser) fluid

“buoyancy effect”
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

Steady versus Unsteady Flow

• The term steady implies no change of properties, velocity,
temperature, etc., at a point with time.
• The opposite of steady is unsteady.
• The term uniform implies no change with location over a specified
region
• The terms unsteady and transient are often used interchangeably, but
these terms are not synonyms
• The term periodic refers to the kind of unsteady flow in which the
flow oscillates about a steady mean
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Flows

• A flow field is best characterized by its velocity distribution, and thus
a flow is said to be one-, two-, or three-dimensional if the flow
velocity varies in one, two, or three primary dimensions, respectively
• A typical fluid flow involves a three-dimensional geometry, and the
velocity may vary in all three dimensions, rendering the flow three-
dimensional [V(x, y, z) in rectangular or V(r, θ, z) in cylindrical
coordinates]
• Consider steady flow of a fluid entering from a large tank into a
circular pipe
• The fluid velocity everywhere on the pipe surface is zero because of
the no-slip condition, and the flow is two-dimensional in the entrance
region of the pipe since the velocity changes in both the r- and z-
directions, but not in the θ-direction
 Classification of Fluid Flows cont’d

One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Flows

• The velocity profile develops fully and remains unchanged after some
distance from the inlet (about 10 pipe diameters in turbulent flow,
and less in laminar pipe flow, as in Fig.), and the flow in this region is
said to be fully developed
• The fully developed flow in a circular pipe is one-dimensional
since the velocity varies in the radial r-direction but not in the angular
θ- or axial z-directions, as shown in Fig.