VISCOSITY

When two solid bodies in contact move relative to each other, a friction force develops at the contact surface
in the direction opposite to motion. To move a table on the floor, for example, we have to apply a force to the
table in the horizontal direction large enough to overcome the friction force. It appears that there is a property
that represents the internal resistance of a fluid to motion or the “fluidity,” and that property is the viscosity.
The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the flow direction is called the drag force, and the magnitude
of this force depends, in part, on viscosity

Figure 1: A fluid moving relative to a body exerts a drag

force on the body, partly because of friction caused by
viscosity.

The fluid in contact with the upper plate sticks to the plate surface and moves with it at the same velocity, and
the shear stress t acting on this fluid layer is
F
x
where=A is the contact area between the plate and the fluid. Note that the fluid layer deforms continuously
A
under the influence of shear stress. In steady laminar flow, the fluid velocity between the plates varies linearly
between 0 and V, and thus the velocity profile and the velocity gradient are

and
du _V
dy l

where y is the vertical distance from the lower plate.

Figure 2: The behavior of a fluid in laminar

flow between two parallel plates when the
upper plate moves with a constant velocity.

1
During a differential time interval dt, the sides of fluid particles along a vertical line MN rotate through a
differential angle d$ while the upper plate moves a differential distance da = Vdt. The angular displacement
or deformation (or shear strain) can be expressed as

„ da V dt du 6/1 ~ tan^ = T
= — = ^dt

Rearranging, the rate of deformation under the influence of shear stress t becomes

d/3 = du dt dy

Thus we conclude that the rate of deformation of a fluid element is equivalent to the velocity gradient du/dy.
Further, it can be verified experimentally that for most fluids the rate of deformation (and thus the velocity
gradient) is directly proportional to the shear stress t,
d|p du
T -• — or T (r ——

Fluids for which the rate of deformation is proportional to the shear stress are called Newtonian fluids after
Sir Isaac Newton, who expressed it first in 1687. In one-dimensional shear flow of Newtonian fluids, shear
stress can be expressed by the linear relationship
Shear stress: r = fi— (N/nF)
dy

where the constant of proportionality m is called the coefficient of viscosity or the dynamic (or absolute)
viscosity of the fluid, whose unit is kg/m • s, or equivalently, N • s/m 2 (or Pa ! s where Pa is the pressure unit
pascal). A common viscosity unit is poise, which is equivalent to 0.1 Pa . s (or centipoise, which is one-
hundredth of a poise). The viscosity of water at 20°C is 1 centipoise, and thus the unit centipoise serves as a
useful reference. A plot of shear stress versus the rate of deformation (velocity gradient) for a Newtonian
fluid is a straight line whose slope is the viscosity of the fluid, as shown in Fig.3. Note that viscosity is
independent of the rate of deformation.

Rate of deformation, du/dy

Figure 3: The rate of deformation (velocity gradient) of a Newtonian fluid is proportional to shear stress, and
the constant of proportionality is the viscosity.

The shear force acting on a Newtonian fluid layer (or, by Newton’s third law, the force acting on the plate)
is

Then the force F required to move the upper plate in Fig. 2 at a constant velocity of V while the lower plate
remains stationary is

This relation can alternately be used to calculate m when the force F is measured. Therefore, the
experimental setup just described can be used to measure the viscosity of fluids. Note that under identical
conditions, the force F will be very different for different fluids.

In fluid mechanics and heat transfer, the ratio of dynamic viscosity to density appears frequently. For
convenience, this ratio is given the name kinematic viscosity v and is expressed as v = p/p. Two common
units of kinematic viscosity are m2/s and stoke (1 stoke = 1 cm2/s = 0.0001 m2/s).

Air at 20^0 and 1 atm:

/i = 1.83 x IO-s kg/m ■ s r =
1,52 x 1Or* mzft

Air at 20°C and 4 atm:

fi = 1.33 x 1CT5 kg/m ■ s v =
0.380 x ICTS m2/s
Figure 4: Dynamic viscosity, in general,
does not depend on pressure, but
kinematic viscosity does.
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The viscosity of a fluid is directly related to the pumping power needed to transport a fluid in a pipe or to
move a body (such as a car in air or a submarine in the sea) through a fluid.

Viscosity

TABLE 2-3
Castor oil
SAI 10 oil
Dynamic viscosities of some fluids at 1
atm and 20°C {unless otherwise stated) 0.06 Glycerin
e 5: The visco 0.04
Dynamic Viscosity
he viscosity o 0.03 SAE 30 o
Fluid n, kg/m - s
erature. 0.0 Crude oil (5G 0.86!
Glycerin: 2
-20=C 134.0 0.0
o°c 10,5
20° C 1.52
Kerosei
40° C 0,31
Aniline
Engine oil:
Mercury-
SAE low 0.10
SAE 10W 30 0.17 1 xKT 3
Carbon tetrachlorici
SAE 30 0,29
SAE 50 0,86 Ethyl
Benzene
Mercury 0,0015 alcohol
Ethyl alcohol 0,0012 Gasoline'Water
(SG 0.68)
Water:
o°c 0,0018 i xur1
2D°C 0,0010
LOQ’C (liquid) 0,00028
lQQX (vapor) 0,000012 Helium
Blood, 37aC 0,00040
Gasoline 0,00029 Carbon Dioxidi
Ammonia 0,00015
Figure 6: The variation of dynamic (absolute) viscosities of
Air 0,000018 common fluids with temperature at 1 atm (1 N = s/m2 = 1 kg/m = s
Hydrogen, G°C ! 0.020886 lbf = s/ft2). F. M. White, Fluid Mechanics 4e. Copyright © 1999 The
0,0000088
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Used by permission.
Consider a fluid layer of thickness l within a small gap between two concentric cylinders, such as the thin
layer of oil in a journal bearing. The gap between the cylinders can be modeled as two parallel flat plates
separated by a fluid. Noting that torque is T = FR (force times the moment arm, which is the radius R of the
inner cylinder in this case), the tangential velocity is V = mR (angular velocity times the radius), and taking
the wetted surface area of the inner cylinder to be A = 2nRL by disregarding the shear stress acting on the two
ends of the inner cylinder, torque can be expressed as

T rn 2TTR\^L 4TT R
2 3
riL = =
^ -(;-
=
V--2-

where L is the length of the cylinder and n . is the number of revolutions per unit time, which is usually
expressed in rpm (revolutions per minute). Note that the angular distance traveled during one rotation is 2n
rad, and thus the relation between the angular velocity in rad/min and the rpm is m = 2nn.

5
 EXAMPLE2-4 Determining the Viscosity of a Fluid
The viscosity of a fluid is to be measured by a viscometer constructed of two 40-cm-long
concentric cylinders (Fig. 2-18). The outer diameter of the inner cylinder is 12 cm, and the
gap between the two cylinders is 0.15 cm. The inner cylinder is rotated at 300 rpm, and the
torque is measured to be 1.8 N ■ m. Determine the viscosity of the fluid.

SOLUTION The torque and the rpm of a double cylinder viscometer are given. The viscosity
of the fluid is to be determined.
Assumptions 1 The inner cylinder is completely submerged in oil. 2 The viscous effects
on the two ends of the inner cylinder are negligible.
Analysis The velocity profile is linear only when the curvature effects are negligible, and
the profile can be approximated as being linear in this case since (IR « 1. Solving Eq. 2-34
for viscosity and substituting the given values, the viscosity of the fluid is determined to be

FIGURE 2-18
Schematic for Example 2-
4.

Discussion Viscosity is a strong function of temperature, and a viscosity value

without a corresponding temperature is of little value. Therefore, the temperature
of the fluid should have also been measured during this experiment, and reported
with this calculation.

Reference:
Cimbala, John M., and Yunus A. £engel. Essentials of fluid mechanics: fundamentals and applications.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008.