Introduction to Fluid Mechanics

 What is fluid mechanics?

 Fluid mechanics deals with the study of all fluids under
static and dynamic situations.
 Fluid mechanics is a branch of continuous mechanics
(material as as continuous mass rather than separate entity) which deals with a
relationship between forces, motions, and statical conditions in
a continuous material..
 Continuous mechanics ignores the fact that matter is
made of atoms & assumes that the substance of the object
completely fills the space it occupies.
Introduction to Fluid Mechanics
 Two branches of continuous mechanics
1. Solid mechanics
2. Fluid mechanics
 There is exist no sharp distinction between the two
branches.
 For example, glass appears as a solid material, but a
closer look reveals that the glass is a liquid with a large
viscosity.
Introduction to Fluid Mechanics

 A proof of the glass “liquidity” is the change of the

glass thickness in high windows in European Churches
after hundred years. The bottom part of the glass is
thicker than the top part.

 Materials like sand (some call it quick sand) and grains

should be treated as liquids. It is known that these
materials have the ability to drown people
Introduction to Fluid Mechanics
 Furthermore, material particles that “behaves” as solid
mixed with liquid creates a mixture that behaves as a
complex liquid.

 Since, the boundaries of fluid mechanics aren't sharp,

most of the discussion in this course is limited to simple
and (mostly) Newtonian fluids which will be defined later.
Brief History
 The need to have some understanding of fluid
mechanics started with the need to obtain water
supply. For example, people realized that wells have to
be dug and crude pumping devices need to be
constructed
 Later, a large population created a need to solve
waste (sewage) and some basic understanding was
created
 At some point, people realized that water can be
used to move things and provide power
Brief History
 When cities increased to a larger size, channels were
constructed. These channels reached their greatest
size and magnificence in those of the City of Rome
and China

 Yet, almost all knowledge of the ancients were need

based.. For example, larger tunnels built for a larger
water supply, etc
Brief History
 There were no calculations even with the great need
for water supply and transportation.

 The first progress in fluid mechanics was made by

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) who built the first
chambered canal lock near Milan

 A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats

between stretches of water of different levels on
river and canal waterways.
Brief History
 He also made several attempts to study the flight
(birds) and developed some concepts on the origin of
the forces.

 After his initial work, the knowledge of fluid

mechanics (hydraulic) increasingly gained speed by the
contributions of Galileo, Torricelli, Euler, Newton,
Bernoulli family, and D’Alembert.

 At that stage theory and experiments had some

discrepancy.
Brief History
 This fact was acknowledged by D’Alembert who
stated that,
“The theory of fluids must necessarily be based upon
experiment.”

For example the concept of ideal liquid that leads to

motion with no resistance, conflicts with the reality.
what is a Fluid ?
 Three common states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas.
 A fluid is either a liquid or a gas.
 If surface effects are not present, flow behaves similarly in
all common fluids, whether gases or liquids.
 Formal definition of a fluid - A fluid is a substance
which deforms continuously under the application of a
shear stress
Stress
 Definition of stress - A stress is defined as a force per
unit area, acting on an infinitesimal (tiny) surface element.

 Stresses have both magnitude (force per unit area) and

direction, and the direction is relative to the surface on
which the stress acts.

 There are normal stresses and tangential stresses

Stress

•Pressure is an example of a normal stress,

and acts inward, toward the surface, and
perpendicular to the surface
•A shear stress is an example of a tangential
stress, i.e. it acts along the surface, parallel to
the surface.
Stress
 Friction due to fluid viscosity is the primary source of
shear stresses in a fluid.

 A fluid at rest can have only normal stresses, since

a fluid at rest cannot resist a shear stress.
Fluid Concept

Free surface

k k

(a) Solid (b) Liquid (c) Gas

 Figure 1.1 Comparison Between Solids, Liquids and Gases

• For solid, imagine that the molecules can be

fictitiously linked to each other with springs.
Fluid Concept
 In fluid, the molecules can move freely but are controlled
through a traction force called cohesion (intermolecular
attraction)

 For gases, it is very weak which enables the gas to

disintegrate and move away from its container

 For liquids, it is stronger which is sufficient enough to

hold the molecule together and can withstand high
compression, which is suitable for application as hydraulic
fluid such as oil.
Branches of Fluid Mechanics

Field of Fluid Mechanics can be divided into 3 branches:

 Fluid Statics: mechanics of fluids at rest
 Kinematics: deals with velocities and streamlines
without considering forces or energy
 Fluid Dynamics: deals with the relations between
velocities and accelerations and forces exerted by or
upon fluids in motion
Importance of Fluids Mechanics
Mechanics of fluids is extremely important in many areas of
engineering and science. Examples are:
 Biomechanics
 Blood flow through arteries
 Flow of cerebral fluid
 Meteorology and Ocean Engineering
 Movements of air currents and water currents
 Chemical Engineering
 Design of chemical processing equipment
Importance of Fluids Mechanics
 Mechanical Engineering
 Design of pumps, turbines, air-conditioning equipment,
pollution-control equipment, etc.
 Civil Engineering
 Transport of river sediments
 Pollution of air and water
 Design of piping systems
 Flood control systems
 Mining Engineering
 Ventilation in mines
 Mineral processing
Dimensions and Units
 Before going into details of fluid mechanics, we stress
importance of units
 In U.S, two primary sets of units are used:
1. SI (System International) units
2. English units
Unit Table
Quantity SI Unit English Unit
Length (L) Meter (m) Foot (ft)
Mass (m) Kilogram (kg) Slug (slug) =
lb*sec2/ft
Time (T) Second (s) Second (sec)
Temperature ( ) Celcius (oC) Farenheit (oF)
Force Newton Pound (lb)
(N)=kg*m/s2
Dimensions and Units
 1 Newton – Force required to accelerate a 1 kg of mass to
1 m/s2
 1 slug – is the mass that accelerates at 1 ft/s2 when acted
upon by a force of 1 lb
 To remember units of a Newton use F=ma (Newton’s 2nd
Law)
 [F] = [m] [a]= kg*m/s2 = N
 To remember units of a slug also use F=ma => m = F / a
 [m] = [F] / [a] = lb / (ft / sec2) = lb*sec2 / ft
Thank you