Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION AND BASIC CONCEPTS

Fluid Mechanics

AAiT, Center of Biomedical Engineering 2025

 Objectives
• Understand the basic concepts of Fluid Mechanics.
• Recognize the various types of fluid flow problems encountered in practice
• Understand Dimensional analysis
• Understand Fluid properties and flow classification
• Understand fundamental method for measuring viscosity
• Understand Kinematics, dynamics of fluid motion

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1–1 ■ INTRODUCTION

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.

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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.
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.
Meteorology, oceanography, and hydrology: Deal with naturally occurring flows.

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What is a Fluid?
Fluid: A substance in the liquid or gas phase.
A solid can resist an applied shear stress by deforming.
A fluid deforms continuously under the influence of a shear stress, no matter how small.
In solids, stress is proportional to strain, but in fluids, stress is proportional to strain rate.
When a constant shear force is applied, a solid eventually stops deforming at some fixed strain angle, whereas a fluid never
stops deforming and approaches a constant rate of strain.

Deformation of a rubber block placed between two parallel plates under the influence of a shear force. The
5shear stress shown is that on the rubber-an equal but opposite shear stress acts on the upper plate.
Stress: Force per unit area.
Normal stress:The normal component of a force acting on a surface per unit area.
Shear stress:The tangential component of a force acting on a surface per unit area.
Pressure:The normal stress in a fluid at rest.
Zero shear stress: A fluid at rest is at a state of zero shear stress.
When the walls are removed or a liquid container is tilted, a shear develops as the liquid moves to re-
establish a horizontal free surface.

The normal stress and shear stress at the surface of a fluid element. For fluids at rest, the shear stress is zero and
6 pressure is the only normal stress.
In a liquid, groups of molecules can move relative to each other, but the volume remains
relatively constant because of the strong cohesive forces between the molecules. As a
result, a liquid takes the shape of the container it is in, and it forms a free surface in a
larger container in a gravitational field.
A gas expands until it encounters the walls of the container and fills the entire available
space. This is because the gas molecules are widely spaced, and the cohesive forces
between them are very small. Unlike liquids, a gas in an open container cannot form a free
surface.

Unlike a liquid, a gas does not form a free surface, and it

expands to fill the entire available space.

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Intermolecular bonds are strongest in solids and weakest in gases.
Solid:The molecules in a solid are arranged in a pattern that is repeated throughout.
Liquid: In liquids molecules can rotate and translate freely.
Gas: In the gas phase, the molecules are far apart from each other, and molecular
ordering is nonexistent.

The arrangement of atoms in different phases: (a) molecules are at relatively fixed positions in a solid, (b)
groups of molecules move about each other in the liquid phase, and (c) individual molecules move about
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at random in the gas phase.
Gas and vapor are often used as synonymous words.
Gas:The vapor phase of a substance is customarily called a gas when it is above the critical
temperature.
Vapor: Usually implies that the current phase is not far from a state of condensation.

On a microscopic scale, pressure is determined by the

interaction of individual gas molecules. However, we
can measure the pressure on a macroscopic scale with a
pressure gage.

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 Application Areas of Fluid Mechanics

Fluid dynamics is used extensively in the design of

artificial hearts.
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Hospital Gas System
 1–2 Dimensions and Units
† A dimension is the type of physical quantity.
† A unit is a means of assigning a numerical value to that quantity. SI
units are preferred in scientific work.
Primary Dimensions
† In fluid mechanics the primary or fundamental dimensions, together
with their SI units are:

† In other areas of physics additional dimensions may be necessary.

The complete set specified by the SI system consists of the above
plus
IMPORTANCE OF DIMENSIONS AND UNITS
 Any physical quantity can be characterized by dimensions.
 The magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are called units.
 Some basic dimensions such as mass m, length L, time t, and
temperature T are selected as primary or fundamental
dimensions, while others such as velocity V, energy E, and
volume V are expressed in terms of the primary dimensions
and are called secondary dimensions, or derived
dimensions.
 Metric SI system: A simple and logical system based on a
decimal relationship between the various units.
 English system: It has no apparent systematic numerical
base, and various units in this system are related to each other
rather arbitrarily.
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 Some SI and English Units

Work = Force  Distance The SI unit prefixes are used in all branches of engineering.
1 J = 1 N∙m
1 cal = 4.1868 J
1 Btu = 1.0551 kJ

The definition of the force units.

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 W weight
m mass
g gravitational
acceleration

A body weighing 150 kgf on

earth will weigh only 25 lbf on
the moon.

The relative magnitudes of the force

units newton (N), kilogram-force
(kgf), and pound-force (lbf).

The weight of a unit mass at sea

16 level.
1–3 Fluid Property
Characteristics of a continuous fluid which are independent of the motion of the fluid are called basic
properties of the fluid.
Some of the basic properties are as discussed below.

Density
Density of a fluid, ,

 However, in a medium where continuum model is valid one can

write

Units: kg/m3
Typical values:
Water = 1000 kg/m3; Air = 1.23 kg/m3
Specific weight
Specific weight of a fluid, 
• Definition: weight of the fluid per unit volume
• Arising from the existence of a gravitational force
• The relationship  and g can be found using the following:

Since  = m/
therefore  = g (1.3)
Units: N/m3
Typical values:
Water = 9814 N/m3; Air = 12.07 N/m3
Specific gravity
The specific gravity (or relative density) can be defined in two
ways:
Definition 1: A ratio of the density of a substance to the density
of water at standard temperature (4C) and
atmospheric pressure, or
Definition 2: A ratio of the specific weight of a substance to the
specific weight of water at standard temperature
(4C) and atmospheric pressure.
s s
SG  
w @ 4C  w @ 4C
Unit: dimensionless.
Example
A reservoir of oil has a mass of 825 kg. The reservoir has a volume of 0.917 m3. Compute the
density, specific weight, and specific gravity of the oil.

Solution:

mass m 825
 oil     900kg / m 3
volume  0.917
weight mg
 oil    g  900x 9.81  8829N / m 3
volume 

 oil 900
SGoil    0.9
 w @ STP 998
Pressure
• Pressure is the concentration of a force – the force exerted per
unit area

• Units of pressure are N/m2 or

Greater pressure! Pascals (Pa) – 1 N/m2 = 1 Pa
(same force, less area) • Atmospheric pressure = 1 atm
= 101.3 kPa = 1 x 105 N/m2
Viscosity

• Viscosity, , is the property of a fluid, due to cohesion and interaction between

molecules, which offers resistance to shear deformation.
• Different fluids deform at different rates under the same shear stress. The case
with which a fluid pours is an indication of its viscosity.
• Fluid with a high viscosity such as syrup deforms more slowly than fluid with a low
viscosity such as water.

Units: N.s/m2 or kg/m/s

Typical values:
Water = 1.14x10-3 kg/m/s; Air = 1.78x10-5 kg/m/s
Viscosity

 Viscosity is the measure of substance's resistance to motion under an applied force.

 A common way to visualize material properties in fluids is by making a
plot of shearing stress as a function of the rate of shearing strain.
 shearing stress is represented by the Greek character Г, and the rate of shearing strain
is represented by ѓ .
 The material property that is represented by the slope of the stress–shearing rate
curve is known as viscosity and is represented by the Greek letter µ (mu).
 Viscosity=shear stress/shear rate
 Shear stress is the force per unit area required to move one layer of fluid in relation to an
other.
 Г=F/A

 Where Г=shear stress

 F=Force
 A=area
 Shear rate is the measure of the change in speed at which intermediate layers moves with
respect to an other.
 Shear rate
 Ѓ=V/h

 Where ѓ= is the shear rate

 V= is the velocity of the moving place
 h=is the distance between the two parallel plates
Temperature
 In liquids, when the temperature increases (energy added) the particles move faster and begin
to move away from each other. Because the particles are moving around more they can flow
more; their viscosity is lower.
 In gases, the particles are far apart so when energy is added the particles move faster and
collide with each other more often causing an increase in viscosity
Concentration:
 Concentration is the amount of substance that is dissolved in a specific volume.
 An increase in concentration will usually result in an increase in viscosity.
Attractive Force:
 Particles of the same substance have an attractive force on one another.
 Some substances have a strong attraction while some substances have a weaker
attraction.
 The stronger the attraction of particles, the higher the viscosity.
Fundamental Method for Measuring Viscosity
 A fundamental method for measuring viscosity involves a viscometer made
from concentric cylinders.
 The fluid for which the viscosity is to be measured is placed between the
two cylinders.
 The torque generated on the inner fixed cylinder by the outer rotating
cylinder is determined by using a torque-measuring shaft.
 The force required to cause the cylinder to spin and the velocity at which it spins are
also measured.
 Then the viscosity may be calculated in the following.
 The shear stress T in the fluid is equal to the force F applied to the outer cylinder
divided by the surface area A of the internal cylinder, that is,

The shear rate for the fluid may also be calculated from the velocity of the cylinder, V,
and the gap width h as
 From the shear stress and the shear rate, the viscosity and/or the kinematic
viscosity may be obtained as
 Let T represent the measured torque in the viscometer shaft, and ω is
its angular velocity in rad/s.
 Assume that D is the diameter of the inner viscometer cylinder, and L is
its length.
 The fluid velocity at the inner surface is
example
 Whole blood (assume µ= 0.0035 Ns/m2) is placed in a
concentric cylinder viscometer. The gap width is 1 mm and the
inner cylinder radius is 31 mm.Estimate the wall shear stress in
the fluid. Assume the angular velocity of the outer cylinder to be
60 rpm.
 We can begin by calculating the shear rate based on the angular velocity
of the cylinder, its radius, and the gap between the inner and outer
cylinders. The shear rate is equal to the velocity of the outer cylinder
divided by the gap between the cylinders.
Kinematic viscosity, 
Definition: is the ratio of the viscosity to the density;

  /
• will be found to be important in cases in which significant viscous and
gravitational forces exist.
Units: m2/s
Typical values:
Water = 1.14x10-6 m2/s; Air = 1.46x10-5 m2/s;
In general,
viscosity of liquids with temperature, whereas

viscosity of gases with in temperature.

Kinematics of Fluid Motion

 Fluid kinematics deals with describing the motion of fluids without necessarily considering the
forces and moments that cause the motion.

Kinematics of fluid motion

- - the discussion of velocity and acceleration of the fluid,
and the description and visualiz ation of its motion.

Dynamics of the motion

- - the analysis of the specific forces necessary to produce
the motion.
 Internal versus External Flow
Eexternal flow: The flow of an unbounded fluid over a surface such as a plate, a wire, or a pipe.
In-ternal flow:The flow in a pipe or duct if the fluid is completely bounded by solid surfaces.

• Water flow in a pipe is internal flow, and

airflow over a ball is external flow .
• The flow of liquids in a duct is called open-
channel flow if the duct is only partially filled
with the liquid and there is a free surface.

External flow over a tennis ball, and the turbulent wake region
behind.
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 Compressible versus Incompressible Flow
Incompressible flow: If the density of flowing fluid remains nearly constant throughout (e.g., liquid flow).
Compressible flow: If the density of fluid changes during flow (e.g., high-speed gas flow)

When analyzing rockets, spacecraft, and other systems that involve high-speed gas flows,
the flow speed is often expressed by Mach number

Ma = 1 Sonic flow
Ma < 1 Subsonic flow
Ma > 1 Supersonic flow
Ma >> 1 Hypersonic flow
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Laminar versus Turbulent Flow
Laminar flow:The highly ordered fluid motion
characterized by smooth layers of fluid. The flow of
high-viscosity fluids such as oils at low velocities is
typically laminar.
Turbulent flow:The highly disordered fluid motion
that typically occurs at high velocities and is
characterized by velocity fluctuations. The flow of
low-viscosity fluids such as air at high velocities is
typically turbulent.
Transitional flow: A flow that alternates between
being laminar and turbulent.

Laminar, transitional, and turbulent flows over a flat plate.

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 Natural (or Unforced) versus Forced
Flow
Forced flow: A fluid is forced to flow over a surface or
in a pipe by external means such as a pump or a fan.
Natural flow: Fluid motion is due to natural means
such as the buoyancy effect, which manifests itself as
the rise of warmer (and thus lighter) fluid and the fall
of cooler (and thus denser) fluid.

In this schlieren image of a girl in a swimming suit, the rise of lighter,

warmer air adjacent to her body indicates that humans and warm-blooded
animals are surrounded by thermal plumes of rising warm air.

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 Steady versus Unsteady Flow
• The term steady implies no change at a point with time.
• The opposite of steady is unsteady.
• The term uniform implies no change with location over a specified region.
• 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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 Comparison of (a) instantaneous snapshot of an unsteady flow, and (b instantaneous snapshot of an steady flow
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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 can be small
relative to the variation in other directions and can be ignored.
Flow over a car antenna is approximately two-dimensional
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 =V(r).
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SYSTEM AND CONTROL VOLUME
 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.
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ThankYOU