MEN-2233

Fluid Mechanics - I
Dr. Gulraiz Ahmed
Spring, 2020

Mechanical Engineering, ML-202

Email: gulraiz.ahmed@ucp.edu.pk
 Branches of Fluid Mechanics

• Fluid mechanics deals with the behavior of fluids at rest (fluid statics) and in
motion (fluid dynamics).
• Hydrodynamics studies liquids (incompressible flow) in motion.
• Hydraulics studies liquids flowing in pipes, ducts and open channels.
• Gas dynamics studies compressible flow of gases with high density changes.
• Aerodynamics is similar to gas dynamics, but also covers low speed flows. It
focuses on air flow.

1-2
 Fluid Mechanics Applications
• Too many to list all of them. Some examples are
• Household appliances : refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, dish washer, washing
machine, water meter, natural gas meter, air conditioner, radiator, etc.
• Turbomachines : pump, turbine, fan, blower, propeller, etc.
• Military : Missile, aircraft, ship, underwater vehicle, dispersion of chemical
agents, etc.
• Automobile : IC engine, air conditioning, fuel flow, aerodynamics, etc.
• Medicine : Heart assist device, artificial heart valve, lab-on-a-chip device,
glucose monitor, controlled drug delivery, etc.
• Electronics : Cooling of generated heat.
• Energy : Combustor, burner, boiler, türbine (gas, hydro, wind), etc.
• Oil and Gas : Pipeline, pump, valve, offshore rig, oil spill cleanup, etc.

• Almost everything in our world is either in contact with a fluid or is itself a fluid.
1-3
 Before We Start - Dimensions and Units
• In the MLT system basic dimensions are
Mass [M], Length [L], Time [T]
Exercise: Express the dimensions of the following quantities in terms of M, L and T.

Acceleration [???]
Energy [???]
Pressure [???]
Angular velocity [???]
Torque [???]

• For some problems, Temperature [𝜃𝜃] also serves as a basic dimension.

• Equations should be dimensionally homogeneous, i.e. dimensions of the left and
right hand sides of an equation should be the same.
• Speed of a uniformly accelerated body is given by 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑉𝑉0 +𝑎𝑎𝑡𝑡
[s]
[m/s] [m/s2]
1-4
 Dimensions and Units (cont’d)
Exercise: A website claims that the distance travelled by a freely
falling body is given by the following formula. Is it dimensionally
homogeneous?
𝑑𝑑 = 4.90 𝑡𝑡 2

Exercise: The force 𝐹𝐹, due to the air blowing against a car in a wind tunnel is given by

𝐶𝐶𝐷𝐷𝜌𝜌𝑉𝑉2𝐴𝐴
𝐹𝐹 =
2
where 𝑉𝑉 is the air speed, 𝜌𝜌 is the density of
air, 𝐴𝐴 is the projected cross sectional area of
the car facing the air, and 𝐶𝐶𝐷𝐷 is a constant
called the drag coefficient. Determine the
dimensions of 𝐶𝐶𝐷𝐷.

1-5
 Before We Start - Significant Figures
Exercise: Numerical values are given for all the parameters and the required
torque is asked. One student provided the following answer and the instructor
put a comment on the student’s paper saying ‘‘Are you serious?’’.
What does the instructor expect from the student?
Student’s answer: Torque = 15.908633 Nm

• Number of significant figures that needs to be used in an answer depends on the

significant figures of the numbers that you used to calculate it.
• For measured quantities, number of significant figures
depends on the minimum reading scale of the
measuring device.
• The shown ruler CANNOT measure a length as 2.345 cm.

Exercise: We used the above ruler to measure the diameter and the height of a
cylinder as 10.0 cm and 25.5 cm, respectively. Calculate the volume of the
cylinder.

1-6
 Significant Figures (cont’d)
• Often the significant figures of the numerical values given in a problem are not
known.
• An engineer needs to use his/her engineering intuition to judge the correct number
of significant figures to use in a final calculated value and do a proper rounding.
• Some textbooks use a general rule such as ‘‘All final answers will be rounded to 3
significant figures’’.

Exercise: a) A student calculated the value of the water flow

rate coming out of a faucet as 20.4560 liters per minute. How
should it be reported?

b) A student calculated the thrust generated by a jet

engine as 485643.271 N. How should it be reported?

www.zoombd24.com
1-7
 Before We Start – Greek Letters
• The incomplete list is

𝛼𝛼, Α Alpha 𝜇𝜇, Μ Mu 𝜎𝜎, Σ Sigma

𝛽𝛽, Β Beta 𝜈𝜈, Ν Nu 𝜏𝜏, Τ Tau
𝛿𝛿, Δ Delta 𝜔𝜔, Ω Omega 𝜃𝜃, Θ Theta
𝜖𝜖, Ε Epsilon 𝜋𝜋, Π Pi 𝜉𝜉, Ξ Xi
𝛾𝛾, Γ Gamma 𝜙𝜙, Φ Phi 𝜁𝜁, Ζ Zeta
𝜅𝜅, Κ Kappa 𝜓𝜓, Ψ Psi
𝜆𝜆, Λ Lambda 𝜌𝜌, Ρ Rho

1-8
 Before We Start – 1st Order Taylor Series Expansion
• Consider a function 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥). If it is known at a certain point 𝑥𝑥0 as 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥0 we can
calculate it at a nearby point 𝑥𝑥1 = 𝑥𝑥0 + 𝛿𝛿𝑥𝑥 as follows
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥1 ≈ 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥0 + � 𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
0

• This is the mathematical tool we use to perform differential analysis.

Exercise: Consider a differential fluid volume of size 𝛿𝛿𝑥𝑥 × 𝛿𝛿𝑦𝑦 × 𝛿𝛿𝑧𝑧. If the pressure
at its centroid is 𝑝𝑝 what are the pressures at its faces?

𝑧𝑧 Pressure at the
centroid is 𝑝𝑝.

𝛿𝛿𝑧𝑧
𝑦𝑦
𝛿𝛿𝑦𝑦
𝑥𝑥
𝛿𝛿𝑥𝑥

1-9
 The Concept of Continuum

• At the microscopic scale, fluids are composed of molecules.

A glass of
1 m3 air
water

has about 1025 molecules has about 1025 molecules

• Question : Is it possible to keep track of all these molecules ?

• Answer : Practically impossible and not necessary for most engineering problems.

• Rather, we study most engineering problems at the macroscopic scale.

• That is we treat fluids as continuum and do not concern with the behavior of
individual molecules.

1-10
 The Concept of Continuum

Microscopic level: Each fluid molecule Macroscopic level: The speed at point A
shown below moves at a different is 90 km/h. The direction of air flow at
speed in a different direction. point A is as shown below.

A
Streamline showing the
flow direction

• 90 km/h is the average speed of molecules in the very small volume surrounding
point A.
• We can say that the fluid particle (not the fluid molecule) located at point A is
moving with a speed of 90 km/h.
1-11
 Continuum (cont’d)
• Continuum assumes that fluid and flow properties, such as density, velocity, pressure,
temperature, etc. vary continuously throughout the fluid.
• It does not pay attention to individual fluid molecules or worries about the gaps
between them.
• In continuum, the smallest element of a fluid is NOT a fluid molecule, but rather a fluid
particle, which contains enough number of molecules to make meaningful statistical
averages.

• Question: Is continuum a reasonable assumption?

• Practical answer: Yes, in many engineering problems.
• Detailed answer: Depends on the Knudsen number.

𝜆𝜆 Average distance traveled by molecules between collisions (mean free path)

𝐾𝐾𝑛𝑛 = =
𝐿𝐿 Characteristic dimension of the flow field

• If 𝐾𝐾𝑛𝑛 < 0.01 → continuum is valid. In this course we will treat fluids as continuum.
1-12
 Fundamental Flow and Fluid Properties

Density 𝜌𝜌 kg/m3
Velocity 𝑉𝑉 m/s
Pressure 𝑝𝑝 Pa , atm , bar , mmHg
Viscosity 𝜇𝜇 Pa∙s , Poise
Temperature 𝑇𝑇 K or oC
Internal energy 𝑢𝑢 J/kg
Enthaply ℎ J/kg
Entropy 𝑠𝑠 J/(kg K)
Specific heat 𝑐𝑐𝑝𝑝 ,𝑐𝑐𝑣𝑣 J/(kg K)
Thermal conductivity 𝑘𝑘 W/(m K)

It is common to use 𝑝𝑝 and 𝑇𝑇 to fix the thermodynamic state. Then other properties
can be expressed as a function of these two
𝜌𝜌 = 𝜌𝜌(𝑝𝑝,𝑇𝑇) , ℎ = ℎ(𝑝𝑝,𝑇𝑇) , 𝜇𝜇 = 𝜇𝜇(𝑝𝑝,𝑇𝑇) , etc.
1-13
 Density
Greek letter ‘‘rho’’
• ( 𝜌𝜌 ) [ kg/m3 ]
• Mass contained in a unit volume of a fluid. 𝜌𝜌 = 𝑚𝑚/∀
• Density determines the inertia of a unit volume of fluid and hence its acceleration
when subjected to a given force. Gases are easier to accelerate than liquids.
• Density also determines the amount of gravitational force (weight) acting on a
fluid body. Weight of gases is neglected more often than that of liquids.

• Fluids have a very wide range of densities.

Hydrogen Methane
Air Water Mercury
Gas (Natural Gas)
Density
0.084 0.67 1.2 998 13600
[kg/m3]
(at standard conditions)

1-14
 Density (cont’d)
• Density in general is a function of 𝑝𝑝 and 𝑇𝑇, i.e. 𝜌𝜌 = 𝜌𝜌 (𝑝𝑝, 𝑇𝑇)
• If a fluid’s density is a function of pressure only (not temperature) it is called a
barotropic fluid, a simplification mostly used in meteorology.

• Following examples demonstrate how density of an ideal gas (𝑝𝑝 = 𝜌𝜌𝑅𝑅𝑇𝑇) can change
with temperature and pressure.
Push
down

𝑇𝑇 : increases 𝑝𝑝 : increases
Add heat and 𝜌𝜌 : decreases Remove heat to 𝜌𝜌 : increases
allow piston to keep 𝑇𝑇 constant
go up to keep 𝑝𝑝
constant
1-15
 Density (cont’d)
• Changing 𝑝𝑝 or 𝑇𝑇 may result in a change in 𝜌𝜌. Change of 𝑝𝑝
Change of 𝑇𝑇
𝜕𝜕𝜌𝜌 𝜕𝜕𝜌𝜌
𝜌𝜌 = 𝜌𝜌 𝑝𝑝, 𝑇𝑇 → 𝑑𝑑𝜌𝜌 = 𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝 + 𝑑𝑑𝑇𝑇
𝜕𝜕𝑝𝑝 𝑇𝑇
𝜕𝜕𝑇𝑇 𝑝𝑝

Total change of 𝜌𝜌 Change of 𝜌𝜌 Change of 𝜌𝜌

due to the due to the
change in 𝑝𝑝 change in 𝑇𝑇

Push
down Used to define bulk Used to define
modulus of elasticity, 𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 coefficient of thermal
expansion, β
𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝
𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 =
𝑑𝑑𝜌𝜌/𝜌𝜌
𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 or using 𝑚𝑚 = 𝜌𝜌∀= constant
𝑝𝑝 𝑝𝑝 + 𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝 𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝 Amount of differential pressure change (𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝)
∀ ∀ − 𝑑𝑑∀ 𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 = − necessary to create a differential change in
𝜌𝜌 𝑑𝑑∀/∀ volume (𝑑𝑑∀), of a fluid of volume ∀.
𝜌𝜌 + 𝑑𝑑𝜌𝜌 1-20
 Compressibility
Exercise: At 1 atm (~100 kPa) pressure and 15 oC temperature, we need to increase
pressure to 21.5 MPa to compress a unit volume of water by 1 %. Calculate 𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 of
water under these conditions. Compare the value to the modulus of elasticity of
steel.
compress

𝑝𝑝 = 1 atm water
𝑝𝑝 = 21.5 MPa
∀= 1 unit water ∀= 0.99 unit

• Large 𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 indicates higher resistance to compression.

• Incompressible fluid (𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 → ∞) is an idealization used mostly for liquids that have
constant density over a given range of conditions of a flow problem.
• In this course we’ll consider all liquids to be incompressible (constant density) unless
otherwise mentioned.
• We’ll take 𝜌𝜌𝑤𝑤𝑎𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑟 = 1000 kg/m3 (constant) unless otherwisementioned.
1-17
 Compressibility (cont’d)
• Gases are much more compressible than liquids.
• 𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 of a gas that compresses (or expands) depends on the process.

For example an ideal gas ( 𝑝𝑝 = 𝜌𝜌𝑅𝑅𝑇𝑇 ) can go through

Isentropic
Isothermal process Isentropic process
𝑝𝑝
( 𝑇𝑇 = constant ) (
𝑝𝑝
= constant)
𝑝𝑝 𝜌𝜌𝑘𝑘
( 𝜌𝜌 = constant )
Isothermal 𝑘𝑘: specific
heat ratio
𝜌𝜌
𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝 𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝
𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 = 𝜌𝜌 = 𝑝𝑝 𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 = 𝜌𝜌 = 𝑘𝑘𝑝𝑝
𝑑𝑑𝜌𝜌 𝑑𝑑𝜌𝜌

Exercise: Calculate the isentropic bulk modulus of air (𝑘𝑘 = 1.4) at standard
conditions. Compare the compressibility of air and water.
-> Example 1.6
1-18
 Example - Density of Seawater in the Mariana Trench
• The deepest known point in the Earth's
oceans - 10994 m.
• The hydrostatic pressure in the Mariana
Trench?
• The initial pressure at sea-level
is 105 Pa and the density of seawater at
sea level is 1022 kg/m3.
• The density of seawater in the deep? Bulk Modulus
-K-
Fluid
Imperial Units - BG SI Units
(105 psi, lbf/in2) (109 Pa, N/m2)
Acetone 1.34 0.92
Benzene 1.5 1.05
Carbon Tetrachloride 1.91 1.32
Ethyl Alcohol 1.54 1.06
Gasoline 1.9 1.3
Glycerin 6.31 4.35
ISO 32 mineral oil 2.6 1.8
Kerosene 1.9 1.3
Mercury 41.4 28.5
Paraffin Oil 2.41 1.66
Petrol 1.55 - 2.16 1.07 - 1.49
Phosphate ester 4.4 3
SAE 30 Oil 2.2 1.5
Seawater 3.39 2.34
Sulfuric Acid 4.3 3.0
Water 3.12 2.15
Water - glycol 5 3.4
Water in oil emulsion 3.3 2.3
 Compressibility (cont’d)
• Speed of sound (𝑐𝑐) is a critical parameter in compressibility. 𝑐𝑐 = 𝑑𝑑𝑝𝑝/𝑑𝑑𝜌𝜌 = 𝐸𝐸𝑣𝑣 /𝜌𝜌
• Mach number (𝑀𝑀𝑎𝑎) is the non-dimensional parameter that can be used to check the
importance of compressibility in gas flows.
𝑉𝑉 Characteristic speed in a flow problem
𝑀𝑀𝑎𝑎 = =
𝑐𝑐 Speed of sound

• As a rule of thumb, flows with 𝑀𝑀𝑎𝑎 < 0.3 can be studied as incompressible.
• For an incompressible fluid, which is an idealization, 𝑐𝑐 → ∞ and 𝑀𝑀𝑎𝑎 → 0.
• Although gases are much more compressible than liquids they can also be treated as
incompressible (constant density) in many engineering applications.

Exercise : A car is traveling in still air at a speed of 90 km/h. Calculate Mach number
of the flow and decide if compressibility effects are negligible or not.

• In this course we’ll consider air to be incompressible with 𝜌𝜌𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖𝑟𝑟 = 1.2 kg/m3, unless
otherwise mentioned.
1-20
 Density (cont’d)
• Hydrometer is a device used to measure density of a liquid based on Archimedes’
principle. It’s working principle will be studied in ‘‘Fluid Statics’’ chapter and you’ll
use it in the first experiment of ME 305.

Exercise: What’s the device we use to measure the density of a gas?

• Specific gravity (Relative density): ( 𝑠𝑠 ) [ unitless ]

Ratio of density of a substance to the reference density of water at 4 oC.
𝜌𝜌
𝑠𝑠 =
𝜌𝜌 wa t e r (at 4 ℃)

1000 kg/m3
Greek letter
‘‘gamma’’
• Specific weight: ( 𝛾𝛾 ) [ N/m3 ] 𝑊𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑖𝑔𝑔ℎ 𝑡𝑡
𝛾𝛾 = 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒 = 𝜌𝜌𝑔𝑔
Weight of unit volume of a substance.
1-21
 Velocity Field
Fluid velocity: ( 𝑉𝑉 ) [ m/s ]
• In different coordinate systems velocity vector components are

Cartesian : 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢 𝑖𝑖Ԧ + 𝑣𝑣 𝑗𝑗Ԧ + 𝑤𝑤 𝑘𝑘

Cylindrical : 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑉𝑉𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑟 + 𝑉𝑉𝜃𝜃 𝑒𝑒𝜃𝜃 + 𝑉𝑉𝑧𝑧𝑒𝑒𝑧𝑧

• In general velocity field of a flowing fluid is too complicated to be expressed as a

closed form equation of space and time.

Instabilities in a jet flow Flow over a motorbike

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELaZ2x42dkU www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJd5AnNaGvY
1-22
 Velocity Field (cont’d)
• But there are also simpler flows with easy to express velocity fields.

Couette Flow: Shear driven flow between two very wide parallel plates, one is
fixed and the other is moving.

𝑈𝑈0 𝑈𝑈𝑜𝑜
𝑢𝑢 = 𝑦𝑦
ℎ
𝑢𝑢(𝑦𝑦) ℎ
𝑦𝑦 𝑣𝑣 = 0
𝑥𝑥 𝑤𝑤 = 0

Hagen Poiseuille Flow: Pressure driven, fully developed flow inside a fixed pipe.

𝑉𝑉𝑟𝑟 = 0
𝑟𝑟
𝑉𝑉𝜃𝜃 = 0
𝑧𝑧 𝑉𝑉𝑧𝑧 (𝑟𝑟) 2𝑅𝑅
𝑟𝑟 2
𝑉𝑉𝑧𝑧= 𝑉𝑉max 1− 2
𝑅𝑅
1-23
 Velocity Field (cont’d)
• No-slip condition is an important experimental observation that says “A fluid in
contact with a solid surface does not slip, i.e. it has the same velocity as the surface”.
• e.g. In Couette flow, fluid speed at the top plate is 𝑈𝑈𝑜𝑜.
• e.g. In Couette flow, fluid speed at the bottom plate is zero.
• e.g. In Hagen-Poiseuille flow, fluid speed at the pipe wall is zero.

𝑈𝑈0
𝑈𝑈0

𝑢𝑢 = 0

• No temperature jump condition is similar to the no-slip condition. It says that

“Temperature of fluid particles adjacent to a solid wall is the same as the
temperature of the wall”. 1-24
 Forces Acting on a Fluid Body
Body forces
⃑
Force: (𝐹𝐹) [ N = kg m/s2 ]
Surface forces

• Body forces are distributed over the volume of a fluid. They arise from “action at a
distance”.
• They result when a fluid is placed in a gravitational, magnetic, electrostatic, etc. force
field.
• Gravitational body force, i.e. weight is the most common one.

1-25
1-26
1-27
1-28
 Viscosity (cont’d)
• Think of a similar experiment with a layer of fluid between the parallel plates.

𝐹𝐹
B B’ B’’
t0 t1 t2
A

• Vertical fluid element AB will deform continuously as long as the shear force is applied
by moving the top plate.

𝑈𝑈0
• First observation: Top plate will reach a speed 𝑢𝑢 = 𝑈𝑈0
of 𝑈𝑈0 and the velocity profile within the fluid
ℎ
will be linear. No-slip condition will dictate the 𝑦𝑦
𝑢𝑢 = 0 𝑥𝑥
fluid speeds at 𝑦𝑦 = 0 and 𝑦𝑦 = ℎ.

1-29
1-30
1-31
 Fluid body in Couette flow Fluid body in Hagen-
Poiseuille Flow

Velocity and shear stress

distribution Couette flow
Velocity and shear stress distribution Hagen-Poiseuille Flow
 Viscosity (cont’d)
Exercise : a) What is the sign convention for stress? b) Are the stresses shown in
the figure negative or positive?

Exercise : For the problem shown on the

right, determine the sign of the shear stress
in the lower and upper fluids. Show the
direction of shear forces acting by the fluid
on the plates.
𝑈𝑈𝑜𝑜

𝑦𝑦
𝑥𝑥

• For problems in the cylindrical coordinate

system we need to be careful to write 𝑑𝑑𝑉𝑉𝜃𝜃
Newton’s law of viscosity in correct form. 𝜃𝜃 𝑟𝑟 𝜏𝜏𝑐𝑐 𝑦𝑦 = 𝜏𝜏 𝑟𝑟 = 𝜇𝜇
𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑟
Here we see two cylinders, inner one is
fixed and outer one is rotating.
1-35
1-36
1-37
 Homework Assignment

• All Examples
• Problems 1.18, 1.19, 1.54, 1.57, 1.58, 1.59, 1.61,
1.63
1-39
 Viscous Behavior of Fluids (cont’d)
• Newtonian behavior simple (it is linear). Common fluids such as water, air, oils
behave as Newtonian.
• Inviscid (ideal) fluids have 𝜇𝜇 = 0 and they do not exist in real world. It is an
idealization.
• Bingham plastics do not flow below a certain amount of shear stress. (toothpaste,
mayonnaise).
• Shear thinning fluid become thinner under increased shear stress. (wall paint,
blood).
• Shear thickening fluids become thicker under increased shear stress. (printing ink,
corn starch-water mixture, quicksand).
• For thixotropic fluids viscosity decreases with time (the longer the shear force is
applied) (lipstick).
• For rheopectic fluids viscosity increases with time (solidifying concrete).

1-42
1-43
1-44
1-45
1-46
1-47
 Homework Assignment

• All Examples
• Problems 1.18, 1.19, 1.54, 1.57, 1.58, 1.59, 1.61,
1.63
 Viscosity (cont’d)
Exercise : A concentric cylinder viscometer may be formed by rotating the inner
cylinder of a pair or closely fitting cylinders. A torque of 0.15 Nm is required to
turn the inner cylinder at 20 rad/s while keeping the outer cylinder fixed.
Determine the viscosity of the Newtonian fluid in the clearance gap of the
viscometer. Assume that the velocity distribution inside the gaps is linear.

𝜔𝜔, 𝑇𝑇
𝑐𝑐 = 0.5 mm
𝐻𝐻 = 0.2 m
𝐷𝐷 = 0.1 m
𝑐𝑐 𝜔𝜔 = 20 rad/s
𝐻𝐻 𝑇𝑇 = 0.15 Nm

𝜇𝜇 = ?
𝑐𝑐
𝐷𝐷

1-49