FLUID MECHANICS
Characteristics of fluids
WHAT IS A FLUID?
A fluid can be
defined as a
substance which
is capable of
flowing. It has no
definite shape of
its own but
confirms to the
shape of the
containing vessel.
Some common fluids such as water, oil, and air satisfy the definition of a fluidthat
is, they will flow when acted on by a shear stress.
However some materials, such as slurries, tar, putty, toothpaste, and so on, are not
easily classified since they will behave as a solid if the applied shear stress is small, but
if the stress exceeds some critical value, the substance will flow.
All the fluids we will be concerned with in this course, will conform to the given
definition of a fluid.
The distinction between the 2 fluids (liquid and gas) is related to the spacing between
molecules. For a gas, the spacing is about 10 times larger than in the liquid case and
therefore a gas has the ability to expand.
length x length = L2
dimension of speed?
dimension of acceleration
dimension of force?
System of units
There are several systems of units in use but we shall consider only the three
systems that are commonly used in engineering:
International system (SI)
British gravitational system (BG)
English engineering system (EE)
SI system
M : kilogram (kg)
L : meter (m)
T : second (s)
: Kelvin (oK)
BG system
F : pound (lb)
L : foot (ft)
T: second (s)
: Fahrenheit (oF)
= m/V
In the SI system, has units of kg/m3 and in the BG system slugs/ft3.
For liquids, the density has a very mild dependence on temperature and pressure
DOB1
Unlike liquids, the density of a gas is strongly influenced by both pressure and
temperature.
The specific volume, v, is the volume per unit mass and is therefore the reciprocal of
the density v = 1/
Specific weight
The specific weight of a fluid, designated by (gamma), is defined as its weight
per unit volume.
= mg/ (m/)
or
= g
DOB2
Handout #2 (H-2) and handout #3 (H-3) lists values of specific weights for some
common liquids and gases.
H-2 (TB tables 1.5 and 1.6)
H-3 (TB tables 1.7 and 1.8)
Specific gravity
The specific gravity of a fluid, designated as SG, is defined as the ratio of the density of
the fluid to the density of water at some specified temperature.
Usually the specified temperature is taken as 4oC (39.2 oF), and at this temperature the
density of water is 1.94 slugs/ft3 or 1000 kg/m3.
In equation form, specific gravity is expressed as:
SG = / H20@4oC
Let A be the cross-section area of cylinders:
then, 13.55(A)* H20 = 1(A)* Hg
Gases are highly compressible in comparison to liquids. The changes in gas density
are directly related to changes in pressure and temperature through the equation:
= p/RT
The equation above is commonly termed the ideal or perfect gas law, or the equation
of state for an ideal gas. It is known to closely approximate the behavior of real gases
under normal conditions.
Pressure has the dimension of FL-2 and in BG units is commonly expressed as lb/in2
(psi) and in SI units as N/m2. In SI, 1 N/m2 defined as a pascal, abbreviated as Pa.
Atmospheric pressure is commonly taken as 14.7 psi or 101 kPa.
Absolute pressure (psia) = gage pressure (psi) + 14.7 psi (atmospheric pressure)
The gas constant, R, depends on the particular gas and is related to the molecular
weight of the gas. Values of the gas constant for several common gases are listed in
H-3 (tables 1.7 and 1.8 inside front cover of textbook).
Viscosity
Oil and water may have almost the same density, but they do not flow in the
same fashion.
When the force P is applied to the upper plate,
it will move continuously with a velocity, U.
From the definition of a fluid, if a shear stress = P/A
is applied to a fluid, it will deform continuously.
Behavior of a fluid placed
between two parallel plates.
The fluid between the two plates moves with velocity u = u(y), that would be found
to vary linearly, u = Uy/b. DOB3
In a small time increment t, an imaginary vertical line AB in the fluid would rotate
through an angle , so that
Since a = U t, then:
Dimensions of viscosity are FL-2T, thus, in BG units viscosity is given as lb.s/ft2 and in
SI units as N.s/m2.
Values of viscosity for several common liquids and gases are listed in H-2 and H-3
(Tables 1.5 through 1.8 in front cover of textbook)
Viscosity is very sensitive to temperature
The effect of temperature on viscosity can be closely
approximated using two empirical formulas.
For air
S = 150.7
C= 1.59E-06
SUTHERLAND EQUATION
T(degC) T(degK)
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
313
323
333
343
353
363
373
Viscosity from
Viscosity from
Sutherland equation table B.4 [H5]
1.89879E-05
1.87E-05
1.94849E-05
1.95E-05
1.9975E-05
1.97E-05
2.04586E-05
2.03E-05
2.09357E-05
2.07E-05
2.14066E-05
2.14E-05
2.18715E-05
2.17E-05
SG = / H2O = 0.91
Re = VD/
= H2O x 0.91
Re = (910)(2.6)(0.025)/(0.38)
Re ~ 156
(a) BG units
From conversion factor (H-1)/table 1.4
= 0.00194 x (910) = 1.77 slugs/ft3
Re = VD/
Solved problem 3: A layer of water flows down an inclined fixed surface with the
velocity profile shown in Fig. below. Determine the magnitude and direction of the
shear stress that the water exerts on the fixed surface for U = 2 m/s and h = 0.1 m.
with du/dy = (2U/h) (2yU/h2)
So that = (2U/h)
in SI units
= (1.12 x 10-3)(4/0.1)
Compressibility of fluids
Bulk modulus
How compressible is a fluid? A property that is commonly used to characterize
compressibility is the bulk modulus Ev , defined as:
Ev = - dp/(dV/V)
From m = V,
The bulk modulus (also referred to as the bulk modulus of elasticity) has
dimensions of pressure, FL-2.
In BG units, values for Ev are usually given as lb/in2 (psi) and in SI units as N/m2 (Pa).
The use of bulk modulus as a property describing compressibility is most prevalent
when dealing with liquids, although the bulk modulus can also be determined for
gases.
Bulk modulus for liquids are listed in H-2 (or tables 1.5 and 1.6). It can be seen that
the values are quite large.
Compression and expansion of gases
When gases are compressed (or expanded), the relationship between pressure and
density depends on the nature of the process:
Isothermal process: The compression or expansion takes place under
constant temperature conditions
p/ = constant
Isentropic process: The compression or expansion is frictionless and no
heat is exchanged with the surroundings
p/k = constant
where k is the ratio of the specific heat at
constant pressure cp, to the specific heat
at constant volume cv, the two specific heats
are related to the gas constant, R, through the
equation R = cp cv.
pi /i = pf /f
where i stands for initial state
and f stands for final state
thus, pf = (f /i ) pi
air
Speed of sound
valve
Since the disturbance is small, there is negligible heat transfer and the process is
assumed to be isentropic. Thus:
and making use of the ideal gas law
For example, for air at 15 oC with k = 1.40 and R = 286.9 J/kg. oK, it follows that
c = 340 m/s
Vapor pressure
Vapor pressure is the pressure at which a liquid boils and is in equilibrium with its
own vapor.
For example, the vapor pressure of water at 68F is 0.34 psi, while that of mercury
is only 2.3 x 10-5 psi.
If the liquid pressure is greater than the vapor pressure, the only exchange between
liquid and vapor is evaporation at the interface.
If, however, the liquid pressure falls below the vapor pressure, vapor bubbles begin
to appear in the liquid.
If water is heated to 212F, its vapor pressure rises to 14.7 psi, and thus water at
normal atmospheric pressure will boil
Surface tension
Surface tension
(force/unit length)
air bubbles
in liquid
Values of surface tension for some common liquids (in contact with air) are given H-2
(tables 1.5 and 1.6).
In general, the value of the surface tension decreases as the temperature increases
END OF CHAP.1