Basic Equations for

Fluid Flow
Neeraj Adhikari
Momentum Equation

This equation is modified form of Newton's second law of motion

Newton's second law of motion states that the resultant external force acting
on any body in any direction is equal to the rate of change of momentum of
the body in that direction.
It is expressed as
𝑑(𝑀𝑥 )
𝐹𝑥 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥 = = 𝑚(𝑣1 − 𝑣2 )
𝑑𝑡
In which Fx represents resultant force in x-direction and Mx represents the
change of momentum in x-direction
It can also be written as
𝐹𝑥 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑑(𝑀𝑥 )
𝐹𝑥 𝑑𝑡 is impulse and the term 𝑑(𝑀𝑥 ) is the resultant change of momentum.

It can also be stated as “The impulse of a force F acting on a fluid mass ‘m’
in a short interval of time dt is equal to the change of momentum d(mv) in
the direction of force”
Application of Momentum equation
The momentum equation, together with the energy equation and the
continuity equation provides the basic mathematical relationships for solving
various engineering problems in fluid mechanics.
➢To determine the resultant force acting on the boundary of flow passage
➢Pipe Bends/ elbows
➢Reducers
➢Stationary and moving vanes
➢Jet Propulsion
➢To determine the characteristic of flow when there is abrupt change of flow
section
➢Sudden Enlargement in pipe
➢Hydraulic Jump in channel
Force on a stationary blade or vane

Force exerfluid striking per second = 𝜌𝑎𝑉

Force exerted by jet ted by jet on stationary vertical plate
Mass of = mass of fluid striking per sec * change in velocity

= 𝜌𝑎𝑉 ∗ (𝑉 − 0)
= 𝜌𝑎𝑉2
Force exerted by jet on stationary inclined plate

Mass of fluid striking per second = 𝜌𝑎𝑉

Force exerted by jet in normal direction = mass of fluid striking per sec *
change in velocity

Fn = 𝜌𝑎𝑉 𝑉𝑆𝑖𝑛𝜃 − 0 = 𝜌𝑉2𝑆𝑖𝑛𝜃

.Fx = 𝐹𝑛𝐶𝑜𝑠(90 − 𝜃)
= 𝐹𝑛𝑆𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝜌𝑎𝑉2𝑆𝑖𝑛2𝜃
Fy = 𝐹𝑛𝑆𝑖𝑛(90 − 𝜃)
= 𝐹𝑛𝐶𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝜌𝑎𝑉2𝑆𝑖𝑛𝜃𝐶𝑜𝑠𝜃
Force exerted by jet on stationary curved plate at the center

Fluid of density ρ moving with velocity V and area ‘a’ be striking a stationary
curved plate.
Mass of fluid striking jet per second = ρaV
Force exerted by jet = mass of fluid striking per sec * change in velocity

Fx = ρaV(V+Vcosθ)
= ρaV2 (1+cosθ)
Force exerted by jet from one end on stationary symmetrical curved plate

Fluid of density ρ moving with velocity V and area ‘a’ be

striking a stationary curved plate.
Mass of fluid striking jet per second = ρaV
Force exerted by jet = mass of fluid striking per sec *
change in velocity

Fx = m (V1x-V2x)
= ρaV (Vcosθ + Vcosθ)
= 2ρaV2 cosθ

Fy = ρaV(Vsinθ -Vsinθ) = 0
Force exerted by jet from one end on stationary unsymmetrical curved
plate

Fluid of density ρ moving with velocity V and area ‘a’ be striking a stationary
curved plate.
Mass of fluid striking jet per second = ρaV
Force exerted by jet = mass of fluid striking per sec * change in velocity

Fx = m (V1x-V2x)
= ρaV (Vcosθ + VcosФ)
= ρaV2 (cosθ +cosФ)

Fy = ρaV(Vsinθ -VsinФ)
= ρaV2 (sinθ -sinФ)
Force on a moving blade or vane

Force on flat vertical plate moving in direction of jet

Fluid of density ρ moving with velocity V be striking a
vertical plate moving in the same direction with u velocity.
Relative velocity of jet = V-u
Mass of fluid striking jet per second = ρa(V-u)
Force exerted by jet = mass of fluid striking per sec *
change in velocity

Fx = ρa(V-u)*(V-u – 0)
= ρa(V-u)2
Work done by jet on plate,
= Fxu = ρau (V-u)2
A jet of water of diameter 50 mm moving with the velocity of 40 m/s, strikes
a curved fixed symmetrical plate at the centre. Find the force exerted by the
jet of water in the direction of the jet, if the jet is deflected through an angle
o
of 120 at the outlet of the curved plate.

(4711.15 N)
A wind turbine with a 9 m diameter blade span has a cut-in wind speed of 11
km/h, at which the turbine generates 0.4 kW of electric power. Determine
a) The efficiency of the wind turbine-generator unit
b) The horizontal force exerted by the wind on the supporting mast of the
wind turbine
c) What is the effect of doubling the wind velocity to 22 km/h on power
generation and the force exerted? Assume the efficiency remains the
same, and take the density of air to be 1.22 kg/m3.
(36.1%, 145 N, 3.2 kW, 580 N)
Force on a Pipe Bend
A converging pipe bend lying in the horizontal plane turning through an
angle of 𝜃.
The force exerted by bend on the fluid in the directions of x and y will be
equal to Fx and Fy but in the opposite directions.
250 liters/s of water is flowing in a pipe having a diameter of 300 mm. If the
pipe is bent by 135o, find the magnitude and direction of the resultant force
on the bend. The pressure of water flowing is 39.24 N/cm2

(52880.6 N, 22o)
Jet propulsion
Jet propulsion means the propulsion or movement of the bodies such as
ships, aircrafts, rocket etc. with the help of jet
The reaction of the jet coming out of from the orifice provided in the bodies
is used for movement.
IF the body in which orifice or nozzle is fitted, is free to move, the body will
start moving in the direction opposite to the jet.
Jet Propulsion of a tank
Mass of water coming out of the tank from orifice, m = ρav
Force acting on water = rate of change of momentum,
F= ρav (v-0) = ρav²
When tank starts moving, v→vᵣ (vel. Of jet wrt tank)
vᵣ= v-(-u)=v+u
Mass of water coming out of the tank from orifice,
m = ρa(v+u)
Force exerted on tank = rate of change of momentum,
F= ρa (v+u) {(v+u)-u)} = ρav (v+u)
Work done on moving tank by jet per second,
P= Fu = ρavu (v+u)
Efficiency of movement= Work done per sec /KE of jet per sec

η= {ρavu (v+u)}/{1/2ρa.(v+u).(v+u)²}

η= 2vu/(v+u)²
The head of water from the centre of orifice which is fitted to one side of the
tank is maintained at 2m of water. The tank is not allowed to move and the
diameter of orifice is 100 mm.
a) Find the force exerted by the jet of water on the tank. Take Cv= 0.97.
If the tank is fitted with frictionless wheels and allowed to move, determine
i) Propelling force on the tank
ii) Work done by propelling force per second
iii) Efficiency of propulsion
(289.3 N, 384.65 N, 769.3 Nm/s, 0.3728)
Jet Propulsion of ship
When the inlet orifices are at right angles to the direction of motion of ship
Propulsive force exerted on the ship
F=mass of water issuing per sec x Change of velocity
=𝜌𝑎 𝑉 + 𝑢 𝑉𝑟 − 𝑢 = 𝜌𝑎 𝑉 + 𝑢 (𝑉 + 𝑢) − 𝑢 = 𝜌𝑎 𝑉 + 𝑢 𝑉
Work done per second
=𝜌𝑎 𝑉 + 𝑢 𝑉𝑢
When the inlet orifices face the direction of motion of the ship

In this case the expression of the propelling force and the work done per
second will be same as in the pervious case
On this case, KE supplied by jet is different
KE= 1/2ρa.(v+u).{(v+u)²-u²}
So, the efficiency is calculated as,
η= 2u/(v+2u)
Momentum Equation
A dynamic equation describing fluid motion may be obtained by applying
Newton’s second law to a particle
For an infinitesimal system of mass dm, Newton’s second law can be written
as
𝑑𝑉
𝑑𝐹 = 𝑑𝑚
𝑑𝑡
Again
𝐷𝑉 𝜕𝑉 𝜕𝑉 𝜕𝑉 𝜕𝑉
𝑑𝐹 = 𝑑𝑚 = 𝑑𝑚 𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤 +
𝐷𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑡
Stress Field
Surface and body forces
Surface forces on a fluid particle lead to stress
Used double subscript to label the stress
The first subscript (in this case, x)indicates the
plane on which the stress acts(in the case, a
surface perpendicular to the x-axis)
The second subscript indicates the direction in
which the stress act
Force acting on fluid particle
Forces acting on fluid element may be classified as body force and surface
forces; surface forces include both normal and tangential forces
Let the stress at the centre of the differential elements are taken as
𝜎𝑥𝑥 , 𝜏𝑦𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜏𝑧𝑥
To obtain net surface force in x direction, dFsx, we
must sum the forces in the x direction. Thus,
𝑑𝐹𝑠 𝑥
𝜕𝜎𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝜕𝜎𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= 𝜎𝑥𝑥 + 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑧 − 𝜎𝑥𝑥 − 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑧 +
𝜕𝑥 2 𝜕𝑥 2
𝜕𝜏𝑦𝑥 𝑑𝑦 𝜕𝜏𝑦𝑥 𝑑𝑦
𝜏𝑦𝑥 + 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑧 − 𝜎𝑦𝑥 − 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑧 +
𝜕𝑦 2 𝜕𝑦 2
𝜕𝜏𝑧𝑥 𝑑𝑧 𝜕𝜏𝑧𝑥 𝑑𝑧
𝜏𝑧𝑥 + 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 − 𝜎𝑧𝑥 − 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦
𝜕𝑧 2 𝜕𝑧 2

On simplifying, we obtain
𝜕𝜎𝑥𝑥 𝜕𝜏𝑦𝑥 𝜕𝜏𝑧𝑥
𝑑𝐹𝑠 𝑥 = + + 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑧
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
Gravity is only the body force acting. The net force on x direction is

Deriving similar expression for force component in y and z direction

Differential Momentum equation
Arranging above equation, we obtain differential equation of motion

3 equations + Continuity = 4 Equations

Unknowns: 𝑢, 𝑣, 𝑤 + all the stresses
Inviscid Flow
No Viscosity No shearing stress

𝜎𝑥𝑥 = 𝜎𝑦𝑦 = 𝜎𝑧𝑧 = −𝑝

This gives us Euler Equation
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢
𝜌𝑔𝑥 − =𝜌 +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 Vector Notation:

𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑉
𝜌𝑔𝑦 − =𝜌 +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤 𝜌𝑔Ԧ − 𝛻𝑝 = 𝜌 + 𝑉. 𝛻 𝑉
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑡

𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑤 𝜕𝑤 𝜕𝑤 𝜕𝑤
𝜌𝑔𝑧 − =𝜌 +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
Navier-Stokes Equation
Navier-Stokes equation, in fluid mechanics, a partial differential equation that
describes the flow of incompressible fluids
They may be used to model the weather, ocean currents, water flow in a
pipe and air flow around a wing
For viscous flow we have to add some assumptions to the stresses.
To reduce the number of unknowns, we need a relationship between
stresses and velocity (Constitutive relation)
We relate stress with derivative of velocity → Stress deformation relationship
Newtonian fluid (the stress are linearly proportional to the strain rate)
 𝜕𝑃 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢
𝜌𝑔𝑥 − +𝜇 2
+ 2+ 2 =𝜌 +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧

𝜕𝑃 𝜕2𝑣 𝜕2𝑣 𝜕2𝑣 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣

𝜌𝑔𝑦 − +𝜇 2
+ 2+ 2 =𝜌 +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧

𝜕𝑃 𝜕2𝑤 𝜕2𝑤 𝜕2𝑤 𝜕𝑤 𝜕𝑤 𝜕𝑤 𝜕𝑤

𝜌𝑔𝑧 − +𝜇 2
+ 2+ 2 =𝜌 +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧

Vector Notation

𝜕𝑉
𝜌 + 𝑉. 𝛻 𝑉 = 𝜌𝑔Ԧ − 𝛻𝑃 + 𝜇𝛻 2 𝑉
𝜕𝑡
This form of the Navier–Stokes equations is probably (next to the Bernoulli
equation) the most famous set of equations in fluid mechanics, and has
been widely studied
These equations, with the continuity equation, form a set of four coupled
nonlinear partial differential equations for u,υ,w, and p
In principle, these four equations describe many common flows; the only
restrictions are that the fluid be Newtonian (with a constant viscosity) and
incompressible
For example, lubrication theory (describing the behavior of machine
bearings), pipe flows, and even the motion of your coffee as you stir it are
explained by these equations
It refers to a set of partial differential equations that govern the motion of
incompressible fluid. It relates the pressure p, temperature T, density r and
velocity (u , v , w) of a moving viscous fluid.

It consists of the following time dependent equations:

1. Continuity equation (Conservation of mass)
2. Momentum equations (Momentum conservation)
3. Energy equations (Energy conservation)

It contains the below variables:

1. Time independent variables such as x, y & z spatial co-ordinates and
time t
2. Time dependent variables such as pressure temperature T, density 𝝆 and
velocity components along x, y & z axes (u , v & w)
A liquid flows down an inclined plane surface in a steady, fully developed
laminar film of thickness h. Simplify the continuity and Navier–Stokes equations
to model this flow field. Obtain expressions for the liquid velocity profile, the
shear stress distribution, the volume flow rate, and the average velocity. Relate
the liquid film thickness to the volume flow rate per unit depth of surface normal
to the flow. Calculate the volume flow rate in a film of water h=1 mm thick,
flowing on a surface b=1 m wide, inclined at θ=15o to the horizontal.