SCE4241/SBS4121
Fluid Mechanics
Topic 01
Introduction
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• A fluid is a substance whose molecules
move freely past each other. More
specifically, a fluid is a substance that will
continuously deform (i.e., flow) under the
action of a shear stress. Alternatively, a
solid will deform under the action of a
shear stress but will not flow like a fluid.
Both liquids and gases are classified as
fluids.
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• Mechanics: The oldest physical science that
deals with both stationary and moving
bodies under the influence of forces.
• Statics: The branch of mechanics that deals
with bodies at rest.
• Dynamics: The branch that deals with
bodies in motion.
• Fluid mechanics: 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 dynamics: Fluid mechanics is also
referred to as fluid dynamics by considering
fluids at rest as a special case of motion
with zero velocity.
Fluid mechanics deals
with liquids and gases
in motion or at rest. 3
• Hydrodynamics: The study of the motion of fluids that
can be approximated as incompressible (such as liquids,
especially water, and gases at low speeds).
• Hydraulics: A subcategory of hydrodynamics, which
deals with liquid flows in pipes and open channels.
• Meteorology, oceanography, and hydrology: Deal with
naturally occurring flows.
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• Gas dynamics: Deals with the flow of fluids that undergo
significant density changes, such as the flow of gases
through nozzles at high speeds.
• Aerodynamics: Deals with the flow of gases (especially air)
over bodies such as aircraft, rockets, and automobiles at
high or low speeds.
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Application of Fluid Mechanics in
Civil Engineering
Tai Hang Tung Flood Storage Tank
Hydraulic Power Generation Plant
Water Supply and Drainage
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Application of Fluid Mechanics in
Civil Engineering
Wind Tunnel Experiments
Lamma Island Wind Power
Generation Plant
Resonance decimates the
Washington's Tacoma Narrows
suspension bridge over Puget
Sound on Nov. 7, 1940.
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Application of Fluid Mechanics in
Building Services Engineering
Fire Engineering
Water Supply and Drainage in Building
HVAC System
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• A fluid usually behaves as if it were comprised of
continuous matter that is infinitely divisible into smaller
and smaller parts. This idea is called the continuum
assumption.
• A fluid particle is defined as a small quantity of fluid
with fixed identity. Small means that the lengths of the
particle are much smaller that the characteristic
length(s) of the problem under study.
10
Comparison of (a) instantaneous snapshot of an unsteady
flow, and (b) long exposure picture of the same flow.
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• A dimension is a category for measurement.
• Primary and Secondary dimensions
• A secondary
dimension can be
expressed using
primary dimensions.
12
• A unit is a standard for measurement so that size or
magnitude can be characterized.
• International System of Units (abbreviated SI from the
French "Le Système International d'Unités"), which is
based on the meter, kilogram, and second.
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Consistent units are defined as a set of units for which
the conversion factors only contain the
Consistent Units
number 1.0.
• Four primary dimensions
(M, L, T, θ) are used to
build approximately 12
secondary dimensions
(flow rate, pressure,
power, etc.) in Fluid
Mechanics.
14
• Three methods for finding unity conversion
ratios.
• 1) Derive a formula.
• 2) To look up a formula
• 3) Use a memorized fact.
15
• Engineers often use pounds-mass (Ibm) and
slugs in calculations.
• I kg = 2.2 Ibm
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Checking for Dimensional Homogeneity (DH)
• When the primary dimensions of each
term of an equation are the same, the
equation is Dimensionally Homogeneous
(DH).
• Eg. p = ρRT
17
Dimensionless Groups
• Engineers often arrange variables so that primary
dimensions cancel out.
• These variables can be grouped to form a new variable
L/D, which is an example of a dimensionless group.
• A dimensionless group is any arrangement of variables
in which the primary dimensions cancel.
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Dimensionless Groups
• The Mach number M, which relates fluid speed V to the speed
of sound c, is a common dimensionless group.
M=1 Sonic flow
𝑉 M<1 Subsonic flow
𝑀= M>1 Supersonic flow
𝑐 M >> 1 Hypersonic flow
• Another common dimensionless group is named the Reynolds
number and given the symbol Re. The Reynolds number involves
density, velocity, length, and viscosity μ:
𝜌𝑉𝐿
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇
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Primary Dimensions of Derivative and Integral Terms
• In calculus. the derivative is defined as a ratio:
• The primary dimensions of a first-order derivative can
be found by using a ratio:
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Primary Dimensions of Derivative and Integral Terms
• The primary dimensions for a higher-order derivative can also be
found by using the basic definition of the derivative. The resulting
formula for a second-order derivative is:
21
Primary Dimensions of Derivative and Integral Terms
• recall from calculus that an integral is defined as an
infinite sum of terms that are very small (i.e.,
infinitesimal).
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THE NO-SLIP CONDITION
The no-slip condition
for viscous fluids
states that at a solid
boundary, the fluid
will have zero velocity
relative to the
boundary.
The development of a velocity A fluid flowing over a stationary
profile due to the no-slip surface comes to a complete stop
condition as a fluid flows over at the surface because of the no-
a blunt nose. slip condition.
Boundary layer: The flow
region adjacent to the
wall in which the viscous
effects (and thus the
velocity gradients) are
significant.
Flow separation during flow over a curved surface. 23
CLASSIFICATION OF FLUID FLOWS
Viscous versus Inviscid Regions of Flow
Viscous flows: Flows in which the frictional effects are significant.
Inviscid flow regions: 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.
The flow of an originally
uniform fluid stream over
a flat plate, and
the regions of viscous flow
(next to the plate on both
sides) and inviscid flow
(away from the plate).
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• Incompressible flow: If the density of flowing
fluid remains nearly constant throughout (e.g.,
liquid flow).
𝑑𝜌
=0
𝑑𝑡
• Compressible flow: If the density of fluid
changes during flow (e.g., high-speed gas flow)
𝑑𝜌
≠0
𝑑𝑡
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• The term steady implies no change at a point with time.
𝑑𝑢
=0 (steady)
𝑑𝑡
• The opposite of steady is unsteady.
𝑑𝑢
≠ 0 (unsteady)
𝑑𝑡
• The term uniform implies no change with location over a specified region.
𝑑𝑢
= 0 (uniform)
𝑑𝑥
• The term periodic refers to the kind of unsteady flow in which the flow
oscillates about a steady mean.
• Many devices such as turbines, compressors, boilers, condensers, and heat
exchangers operate for long periods of time under the same conditions, and
they are classified as steady-flow devices.
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One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Flows
• A flow field is best characterized by its velocity
distribution.
• A flow is said to be one-, two-, or three-dimensional if the
flow velocity varies in one, two, or three dimensions,
respectively.
• However, the variation of velocity in certain directions Flow over a car antenna is
can be small relative to the variation in other directions approximately two-dimensional
and can be ignored. except near the top and bottom of
the antenna.
The development of the velocity profile in a circular pipe. V = V(r, z) and thus the flow is
two-dimensional in the entrance region, and becomes one-dimensional downstream
when the velocity profile fully develops and remains unchanged in the flow direction, V =
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V(r).
• System: A quantity of matter or a region in space chosen
for study.
• Surroundings: The mass or region outside the system
• Boundary: The real or imaginary surface that separates
the system from its surroundings.
• The boundary of a system can be fixed or movable.
• Systems may be considered to be closed or open.
• Closed system (Control mass):
A fixed amount of mass, and
no mass can cross its
boundary.
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• Open system (control volume): A properly
selected region in space.
• It usually encloses a device that involves
mass flow such as a compressor, turbine, or
nozzle.
• Both mass and energy can cross the
boundary of a control volume.
• Control surface: The boundaries of a control
volume. It can be real or imaginary.
An open system (a control
volume) with one inlet and
one exit. 29
• An empirical equation is one that was developed by the logical
process called induction.
• “Induction" is the process of making many experimental
observations and then concluding that something is always true
because every experiment indicates this truth.
• The Ideal Gas Law (IGL) was developed by combining three
empirical equations:
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 (𝐵𝑜𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑠 ′ 𝑠 𝐿𝑎𝑤)
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• Charles's law, states that when pressure is held
constant, the temperature and volume V of a fixed
quantity of gas are related by:
𝑉
= 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 (𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑒′𝑠 𝐿𝑎𝑤)
𝑇
• Avogadro’s Law: Equal volumes of gases at the same
temperature and pressure contain equal number of
molecules.
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑛𝑅𝑢 𝑇
• Ru is a constant called the universal gas constant
𝑘𝐽
𝑅𝑢 = 8.314
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 ∙ 𝐾 31
• It can be rearranged to use mass units instead of mole
units.
𝑚 𝑅𝑢
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑅𝑢 𝑇 = 𝑚 𝑇 = 𝑚𝑅𝑇
ℳ ℳ
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑚𝑅𝑇
• To introduce density into the IGL, introduce the
definition of density ρ: 𝑚
𝑝= 𝑅𝑇 = 𝜌𝑅𝑇
𝑉
𝑅𝑢 𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝐺𝑎𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑅 = Specific Gas Constant = =
ℳ 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠
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• For gases near atmospheric conditions, the IGL is a good
approximation .
• When both the liquid phase and the gas phase are present (e.g .
propane in a tank used for a barbecue), one can consult
thermodynamic tables to find the density of the gas phase.
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Experimental vs. Analytical Analysis
An engineering device or process can be studied either experimentally (testing
and taking measurements) or analytically (by analysis or calculations).
The experimental approach has the advantage that we deal with the actual
physical system, and the desired quantity is determined by measurement,
within the limits of experimental error. However, this approach is expensive,
time-consuming, and often impractical.
The analytical approach (including the numerical approach) has the advantage
that it is fast and inexpensive, but the results obtained are subject to the
accuracy of the assumptions, approximations, and idealizations made in the
analysis.
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• PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUE
• Step 1: Problem Statement
• Step 2: Schematic
• Step 3: Assumptions and Approximations
• Step 4: Physical Laws
• Step 5: Properties
• Step 6: Calculations
• Step 7: Reasoning, Verification, and
Discussion
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Neatness and organization are
highly valued by employers.
The results obtained from an
engineering analysis must be checked
for reasonableness.
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