Timeline of Fluid Mechanics

History

Leonardo da Vinci

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 FFluid Mechanics : An Engineering
SScience of Creating Generalized
Force
• An infinitesimal amount of work is defined as:

• Therefore, engineering definition of force is

given as:

• Fluid systems generate force field due to

gradient of energy field.
 Solids vs Fluids : Microscopic View

Solid Fluid
 Solids vs Fluids : Engineering View

A fluid continually deforms

A solid resists an applied (flows) under an applied shear
force by static force regardless of the
deformation. magnitude of the applied stress.
 Engineering View: Bountiful
Nature of Fluids
Apply a Force F at time t=t for time t >t
at time t=0

A fluid continually deforms (flows) under an applied

shear force regardless of the magnitude of the
applied stress.
 Continuously & Adaptively Deforming
Fluids

A fluid Smartly/adaptively deforms (flows) under an

applied shear force regardless of the magnitude of the
applied stress.
 A Broad View of Fluids

• A First level engineering fluid mechanics problems

deal with these Clear Fluids.
• These are the common liquids, such as water, oil,
mercury, gasoline, and alcohol,
• the common gases, such as air, helium, hydrogen,
and steam, in their common temperature and
pressure ranges.
• There are many borderline cases:
• Apparently “solid” substances: Asphalt and lead
resist shear stress for short periods but deform
slowly and exhibit definite fluid behavior over long
periods.
• Colloid and slurry mixtures resist small shear
stresses but “yield” at large stress and begin to flow
 A Broad View of Fluids

• Liquids and gases can coexist in two-phase

mixtures, such as steam–water mixtures or water
with entrapped air bubbles.
• Muliti-Phase Fluid Dynamics is a specialized subject
to present the analysis of such multiphase flows.
 Dimensions and Units For Fluids

• A dimension is the measure by which a physical

variable is expressed quantitatively.
• A unit is a particular way of attaching a number to
the quantitative dimension.
• Primary Dimension: Basic Dimensions from which all
other dimensions can be derived.
• In fluid mechanics, there are only four PDs: mass,
length, time, and temperature.
The Continuum Hypothesis

• The fluid is treated as being a continuous field of

matter.
• This is referred as the Continuum Approach or
the Continuum Hypothesis.
• This Continuum Hypothesis believes that values for
density, velocity, acceleration, viscosity or energy
at any point in a fluid domain exist and valid for
design and development.
• On a real engineering scale, observing the effects
in a continuum gives rise to more steady and
repeatable data.
• The continuum hypothesis is used in classical fluid
mechanics.
However, every physical variable is discontinuous
 Mathematical Implementation of
Continuum Hypothesis
lim ∆𝑚
Definition of Density: 𝜌 ( 𝑥 , 𝑦 , 𝑧)=
∆ 𝑉 → 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
∆𝑉

At Standard Temperature and

Pressure conditions (STP) the valid
volume is m3 for air.

This tiny volume has about 30 million molecules!

The Continuum Hypothesis

• The existence of this “Valid Volume” limit is

established by considering the definition of density
as mass per unit volume.
• The volume size has an enormous influence on the
calculated value of density.
• Too small a volume, the value of calculated density
fluctuates.
• Too big a volume might mean that density itself is
varying significantly within the region of interest.
• As seemed before there is a limit on valid volume.
 A Reference Microscopic Flow
Dimension
• Mean Free Path is identified as the smallest
dimensions of gaseous Flow.
• MFP is the distance travelled by gaseous
molecules between collisions.
• Lattice Spacing is identified as the smallest
dimensions of liquid Flow.

1 V 
1
3
Mean free path :  Lattice Dimension:   
nd 2 NA 
d : diameter of the molecule
V is the molar volume
n : molar density of the NA : Avogadro’s number.
fluid, number molecules/m3
 Condition for the Validity of Continuum
Approach
Average size of the system being studied: L


Kn 
L

Knudsen defined a non-dimensional distance as the ratio of mean free

path of the gas to the characteristic dimension of the system.

This is called “Knudsen number”

 Classification of Flow Regimes

 Based on the Knudsen number magnitude, flow

regimes can be classified as follows :

 Continuum Regime : Kn < 0.001

 Slip Flow Regime : 0.001 < Kn < 0.1

 Transition Regime : 0.1 < Kn < 10

 Free Molecular Regime : Kn > 10

 Thermodynamic, Transport &
Kinematic Properties of a Fluid
• The three most common thermodynamic properties:
• Density, Temperature and Pressure
• These three are regular companions of the velocity
vector in flow analyses.
• Four derived thermodynamic properties
• Internal energy, Enthalpy, Specific heats cp and cv
• Two important derived Transport Properties:
• Coefficient of viscosity and Thermal conductivity
• The three most common kinematic properties:
• Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration.
 Density, Specific Weight &
Specific Gravity

• A mass will have a weight W on planets, Satellites…..

• Weight is (Only) the means of measuring mass!
• The specific weight of a fluid: Weight per unit volume.
• Density and specific weight are simply related by
gravitational acceleration (gravity) on any
planet/satellite.
• Mass is essential to create inertia and hence
acceleration!
• Specific gravity, denoted by SG, is the ratio of a fluid
density to a standard reference fluid, usually water at
4C (for liquids) and air (for gases)
 Temperature and Microscopic
Kinetic Energy
Boltzmann Equation by Maxwell:
For a fluid inside a valid size of volume (as a point):
Absolute Kelvin Temperature is proportional
to average kinetic energy of atoms in a
system containing ideal gas.

• When N number of atoms/molecules with f number of DoF

collide, they tend on the average, to equalize kinetic energy
spreads equally over all atoms.
• This is called thermal equilibrium.
 Fluid Pressure
• A fluid contained in a vessel exerts a pressure on its
walls.
• The microscopic origin of pressure is collisions that
occur between fluid molecules and the walls of the
• A microscopic picture of
vessel in which they are contained.
pressure:
• p is related to the molar
mass (M) and the squared
average velocity (v2rms) of
the fluid particles:

For a gaseous fluid:

 Modern Definition of Viscosity

• Viscosity is a quantitative measure of a fluid’s resistance

to flow.
• Viscosity determines the fluid strain rate that is generated
by a given applied shear stress.
• Consider a fluid element sheared in one plane by a single
shear stress.
 Ceaseless Fluid Reaction to an
Invariant Action
• The shear strain angle,  will continuously grow with
time if the stress is maintained.
• The upper surface moving at speed u larger than
the lower.
• Common fluids as water, oil, and air show a linear
relation between applied shear and resulting strain
rate.
From the geometry of the figure shown:

In the limit of infinitesimal changes, this becomes a relation

between shear strain rate and velocity gradient:
 Modern Statement of Newtons
Law of Viscosity
• The applied shear is also proportional to the velocity
gradient for the common linear fluids.
• The constant of proportionality is the viscosity
coefficient:

• This equation must be dimensionally homogeneous.

• This conditions gives dimensions of viscosity as
stress–time: {FTL-2 } or {M(LT)-1}, with units as Pa.s.
• The linear fluids that follow above equation are
called Newtonian fluids, after Sir Isaac Newton, who
first postulated this resistance law in 1687
 Viscosity : A Thermodynamic
Property
• The viscosity of newtonian fluids is a true thermodynamic
property and varies with temperature and pressure.
• Also known as absolute viscosity or dynamic viscosity.
• At a given state (p, T) there is a vast range of values among
the common fluids.