QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY

DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

SELF-PACED LEARNING MODULE

IN

PHY 101 (Fluid Mechanics)

BY:

DENNIS S. OPIANO
Instructor

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping

Future”
 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Module 3 Fluid Dynamics and Its Biological and Medical Applications

Competencies 1. Have an intuitive understanding of the various physical phenomena such
as drag, friction and pressure drag, drag reduction, and lift.
2. Calculate the drag force associated with flow over common geometries.
3. Understand the effects of flow regime on the drag coefficients associated
with flow over cylinders and spheres.
4. Understand the fundamentals of flow over airfoils, and calculate the drag
and lift forces acting on airfoils.

Introduction

In this chapter, we consider the flow of fluids over bodies that are immersed
in a fluid, called external flow, with emphasis on the resulting lift and drag
forces.

External flow is characterized by a freely growing boundary layer

surrounded by an outer flow region that involves small velocity and
temperature gradients.

In internal flows, the entire flow field is dominated by viscous effects, while
in external flow, the viscous effects are confined to a portion of the flow field
such as the boundary layers and wakes.

 External flow… how & what???

When a fluid moves over a solid body, it exerts pressure forces normal to the
surface and shear forces parallel to the surface along the outer surface of
the body.

The resultant of the pressure and shear forces acting on the body is
important rather than the details of the distributions of these forces along
the entire surface of the body.

The component of the resultant pressure and shear forces that acts in the
flow direction is called the drag force (or just drag), and the component
that acts normal to the flow direction is called the lift force (or just lift).

Learning time…!

Question to ponder…Which bicyclist is more likely to go faster: one who

keeps his head and his body in the most upright position or one who leans
down and brings his body closer to his knees? Why?

Answer: The bicyclist who leans down and brings his body closer to his
knees goes faster since the frontal area and thus the drag force is less in
that position. The drag coefficient also goes down somewhat, but this is a
secondary effect.

Another question…What is the difference between the upstream velocity

and the free-stream velocity?

For what types of flow are these two velocities equal to each other?

Answer: The velocity of the fluid relative to the immersed solid body
sufficiently far away from a body is called the free-stream velocity, V. The
upstream (or approach) velocity V is the velocity of the approaching fluid far
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

ahead of the body. These two velocities are equal if the flow is uniform and
the body is small relative to the scale of the free-stream flow.

Yet another question …Explain when an external flow is two-

dimensional, three-dimensional and axisymmetric. What type of flow is the
flow of air over a car?

Answer: The flow over a body is said to be two-dimensional when the body
is very long and of constant cross-section, and the flow is normal to the
body (such as the wind blowing over a long pipe perpendicular to its axis).
There is no significant flow along the axis of the body. The flow along a body
that possesses symmetry along an axis in the flow direction is said to be
axisymmetric (such as a bullet piercing through air). Flow over a body that
cannot be modeled as two-dimensional or axisymmetric is three-
dimensional. The flow over a car is three-dimensional.

Streamlined and bluff body

What is the difference between streamlined and bluff bodies? Is a tennis ball
a streamlined or bluff body?

Answer: A body is said to be streamlined if a conscious effort is made to

align its shape with the anticipated streamlines in the flow. Otherwise, a
body tends to block the flow, and is said to be blunt. A tennis ball is a blunt
body (unless the velocity is very low and we have “creeping flow”). In
creeping flow, the streamlines align themselves with the shape of any body –
this is a much different regime than our normal experiences with flows in
air and water. A low-drag body shape in creeping flow looks much different
than a low-drag shape in high Reynolds number flow.

 Drag

What is drag?
What causes it?
Why do we usually try to minimize it?

 A case study…

Andy, the manager of EZ Trucking, would like to convince his boss to invest
in installing air deflectors on their 18-wheelers. Research has shown that
the drag coefficient, CD, is lower for an 18-wheeler with an air deflector (from
0.95 to 0.75). How can he show that the air deflector will save the company
a small fortune?

Question: What is the drag exerted on the 18-wheeler with and without the
air deflector?

Approach: The drag force is directly proportional to the fuel consumption.

Base the analysis on a frontal area, A, of 100 ft2.Assume the 18-wheeler

runs at an average speed of 65 mph on the highway.

When fluid flows over an immersed body, forces are exerted on that body.
The resultant force parallel to the fluid motion is referred to as the drag.
Determining drag is important in many engineering applications, such as
the design of automobiles, airplanes, submarines and buildings.

Drag (FD) consists of both friction and pressure drag, and it is often
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

expressed in terms of a drag coefficient (CD) as in; Eq. 1

1
F D =C D ρV 2 A
2

where ρ is the fluid density; A is the characteristic area and V is the

upstream velocity. The characteristic area can be chosen as:

a. the projected frontal area (often used for flow over automobiles and
submarines),
b. the planform area (often used for flow over wings and hydrofoils),
c. the wetted area (often used for flow over ships and barges).

Question …

What is drag? What causes it? Why do we usually try to minimize it?

Answer:

The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the flow direction is called
drag. Drag is caused by friction between the fluid and the solid surface,
and the pressure difference between the front and back of the body. We
try to minimize drag in order to reduce fuel consumption in vehicles,
improve safety and durability of structures subjected to high winds, and to
reduce noise and vibration.

In some applications, such as parachuting, high drag rather than low drag
is desired. When sailing efficiently, however, the lift force on the sail is more
important than the drag force in propelling the boat.

 Generally, the drag coefficient is determined through experiments, and it

depends on parameters, such as the body shape, Reynolds number and
surface roughness.

The value of the drag coefficient for different body shapes subject to different
flow conditions are available in the literature.

Some of the drag coefficients for flow over two-dimensional and three-
dimensional bodies are summarized in Tables 11-1.

Case solution…

Andy, the manager of EZ Trucking, would like to convince his boss to invest
in installing air deflectors on their 18-wheelers. Research has shown that
the drag coefficient, CD, is lower for an 18-wheeler with an air deflector
(from 0.95 to 0.75). How can he show that the air deflector will save the
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

company a small fortune?

 Question: What is the drag exerted on the 18-wheeler with and without the
air deflector?

Approach: The drag force is directly proportional to the fuel consumption.

Base the analysis on a frontal area, A, of 100 ft2.Assume the 18-wheeler

runs at an average speed of 65 mph on the highway.

 Flow over a sphere

At low Reynolds numbers (i.e., Re << 1), the viscous effects are important in
a large area (shaded area). There is no flow separation, and the fluid is
stuck to the sphere. The drag coefficient as a function of the Reynolds
number is shown in the figure.

At very small Reynolds numbers, stokes has shown that the drag coefficient
is a linear function of the Reynolds number, as given by (Eq. 11)

At moderate Reynolds number (103 < Re < 2×105), a boundary layer is

developed near the sphere. Viscous effects are important inside the region of
this boundary layer. Due to the increase of the pressure drag, the fluid can
no longer stick to the sphere, and it is separated at an angle (β) of about
80o.A broad wake region is formed down streams. The drag coefficient
decreases with the Reynolds number.
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Flow over a sphere

As the Reynolds number is increased further (Re > 2×105), the boundary
layer becomes thinner in the front of the sphere and begins its transition to
turbulent. The flow separation is delayed until an angle of about 120 o, and
the fluid forms a relatively narrow wake region in which the flow is highly
unsteady and turbulent.

For turbulent boundary layer flow, the drag coefficient is decreased further
(e.g., CD = 0.06 for Re = 4×105). Hence, a turbulent boundary layer develops
as fluid flows past an object will reduce the drag force. 

 Example: The dimples of a golf ball (i.e., the surface roughness of the
object) are used to create turbulent boundary layer flow, and hence reduce
the drag force.

 Lift
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

What is lift? What causes it?

 A case study…

When fluid flows over an immersed body, forces will be exerted on the body.
The resultant force parallel to the fluid motion is referred to as the drag
while the resultant force perpendicular to the fluid motion is known as the
lift. 

Determining lift is obviously important in the design of airplanes, and the

lift (FL) is often expressed in terms of the lift coefficient (C L) as in equation 2.

FL
C L=
1
ρV 2 A
2
 How the lift is produced?
Take flow over an airfoil for example. The airfoil is one of the designed
shapes known best for generating lift. The angle between the free stream
velocity and airfoil chord line is referred to as the angle of attack (α). How
the lift is produced?
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Lift is produced by generating a pressure difference between the top and

bottom surfaces. When flow is past a symmetric airfoil with no angle of
attack (i.e., the free stream velocity is parallel to the airfoil chord line), no lift
will be produced due to the symmetric flow field. In order to generate lift,
either the airfoil should be non-symmetric or the angle of attack nonzero.

What is lift? What causes it? Does wall shear stress contribute to the lift?

Answer:

The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the normal direction to flow that
tends to move the body in that direction is called lift. It is caused by the
components of the pressure and wall shear forces in the direction normal to
the flow. The wall shear contributes to lift (unless the body is very slim), but
its contribution is usually small. Typically, the nonsymmetrical shape of the
body is what causes the lift force to be produced.

 Case solution…

 To remember…

 
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Question…

Answer:
The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the normal direction to flow that
tends to move the body in that direction is called lift. It is caused by the
components of the pressure and wall shear forces in the direction normal to
the flow. The wall shear contributes to lift (unless the body is very slim), but
its contribution is usually small. Typically, the nonsymmetrical shape of the
body is what causes the lift force to be produced.

Friction and pressure drag

The picture on the right margin
of this page shows examples of
air flowing past a variety of
objects.

The pressure drag is caused by

the separation of air that is
flowing over the aircraft or airfoil.

The need of streamlining…

The term "separation" refers to
the smooth flow of air as it
closely hugs the surface of the
wing then suddenly breaking free
of the surface and creating a
chaotic flow.

The bottom shows well behaved, laminar flow (flow in layers) where the flow
stays attached (close to the surface) of the object.

The object just above has a laminar flow for the first half of the object and
then the flow begins to separate from the surface and form many chaotic
tiny vortex flows called vortices.

The two objects just above them have a large region of separated flow. The
greater the region of separated flow, the greater the drag. This is why
airplane designers go to such effort to streamline wings and tails and
fuselages — to minimize drag.

 EXTERNAL FLOW: DRAG AND LIFT

 INTRODUCTION

Fluid flow over solid bodies frequently occurs in practice, and it is

responsible for numerous physical phenomena such as

 the drag force acting on automobiles, power lines, trees, and

underwater pipelines;

 the lift developed by airplane wings;

 upward draft of rain, snow, hail, and dust particles in high winds;
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

 the transportation of red blood cells by blood flow;

 the entrainment and disbursement of liquid droplets by sprays;

 the vibration and noise generated by bodies moving in a fluid; andthe

power generated by wind turbines.

Flow over bodies is commonly encountered in practice.

A fluid moving over a stationary body (such as the wind blowing over a
building), and a body moving through a quiescent fluid (such as a car
moving through air) are referred to as flow over bodies or external flow.

 The flow fields and geometries for most external flow problems are too
complicated and we have to rely on correlations based on experimental data.

Free-stream velocity: The velocity of the fluid approaching a body (V or u 

or U)

Two-dimensional flow: When the body is very long and of constant cross
section and the flow is normal to the body.

Axisymmetric flow: When the body possesses rotational symmetry about

an axis in the flow direction. The flow in this case is also two-
dimensional.

Three-dimensional flow: Flow over a body that cannot be modeled as two-

dimensional or axisymmetric such as flow over a car.

Incompressible flows: (e.g., flows over automobiles, submarines, and

buildings) compressible flows: (e.g., flows over high-speed aircraft,
rockets, and missiles).

Compressibility effects are negligible at low velocities (flows with Ma < 0.3).

Streamlined body: If a conscious effort is made to align its shape with the
anticipated streamlines in the flow.

Streamlined bodies such as race cars and airplanes appear to be

contoured and sleek.

Bluff or blunt body: If a body (such as a building) tends to block the flow.
Usually it is much easier to force a streamlined body through a fluid.

Two-dimensional, axisymmetric, and three-dimensional flows.

100 km/h100 km/h

It is much easier to force a streamlined body than a blunt body through a

fluid.
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Flow over bodies is commonly encountered in practice.

DRAG AND LIFT

 A body meets some resistance when it is forced to move through a
fluid, especially a liquid.

 A fluid may exert forces and moments on a body in and about various
directions.

 Drag: The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the flow direction.
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

 The drag force can be measured directly by simply attaching the body
subjected to fluid flow to a calibrated spring and measuring the
displacement in the flow direction.

 Drag is usually an undesirable effect, like friction, and we do our best

to minimize it.

 But in some cases drag produces a very beneficial effect and we try to
maximize it (e.g., automobile brakes).

High winds knock down trees, power lines, and even people as a result of
the drag force.

 Lift: The components of the

pressure and wall shear forces in
the direction normal to the flow
tend to move the body in that
direction, and their sum is called
lift.

The fluid forces may generate

moments and cause the body to
rotate.

Rolling moment: The moment

about the flow direction.

Yawing moment: The moment

about the lift direction.

Pitching moment: The moment

about the side force direction.

(a) Drag force acting on a flat

plate parallel to the flow depends on wall shear only. (b) Drag force acting on
a flat plate normal to the flow depends on the pressure only and is
independent of the wall shear, which acts normal to the free-stream flow.
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION
 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Enrichment Check your own understanding!

Activities
1. Which bicyclist is more likely to go faster: one who keeps his head
and his body in the most upright position or one who leans down and
brings his body closer to his knees. Why?
2. Which car is more likely to be more fuel-efficient: one with sharp
corners or one that is contoured to resemble an ellipse? Why?
3. In flow over cylinders, why does the drag coefficient suddenly drop
when the boundary layer becomes turbulent? Isn’t turbulence
supposed to increase the drag coefficient instead of decreasing it.
4. Why is flow separation in flow over cylinders delayed when the
boundary layer is turbulent?
5. Why are flaps used at the leading and trailing edges of the wings of
large aircraft during takeoff and landing? Can an aircraft take off or
land without them?
6. Many drivers turn off their air conditioners and roll down the car
windows in hopes of saving fuel. But it is claimed that the apparent
“free cooling” actually increases the fuel consumption of some cars.
Investigate this matter and write down report on which practice saves
gasoline under what conditions.
7. Why would you expect the rate of diffusion to increase with
temperature? Can you give an example, such as the fact that you can
dissolve sugar more rapidly in hot water?
What is the effect of surface roughness on the
friction
1. drag coefficient in laminar and turbulent flows?
2.
Comprehension Solve the following problems mathematically and analytically.
Check
1. A car is moving at a constant velocity of 110 km/h. Determine the
upstream velocity to be used in fluid flow analysis if (a) the air is
calm, (b) wind is blowing against the direction of motion of the car at
30 km/h, and (c) wind is blowing in the same direction of motion of
the car at 30 km/h.
2. The drag coefficient of a car at the design conditions of 1 atm, 25°C,
and 90 km/h is to be determined experimentally in a large wind
tunnel in a full-scale test. The height and width of the car are 1.25 m
and 1.65 m, respectively. If the horizontal force acting on the car is
measured to be 220 N, determine the total drag coefficient of this car.
3. A circular sign has a diameter of 50 cm and is subjected to normal
winds up to 150 km/h at 10°C and 100 kPa. Determine the drag
force acting on the sign. Also determine the bending moment at the
bottom of its pole whose height from the ground to the bottom of the
sign is 1.5 m. Disregard the drag on the pole.

4. To reduce the drag coefficient and thus to improve the fuel efficiency
of cars, the design of side rearview mirrors has changed drastically in
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Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
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recent decades from a simple circular plate to a streamlined shape.

Determine the amount of fuel and money saved per year as a result of
replacing a 13-cm-diameter flat mirror by one with a hemispherical
back, as shown in the figure. Assume the car is driven 21,000 km a
year at an average speed of 80 km/h. Take the density and price of
gasoline to be 0.75 kg/L and P 45/L, respectively; the heating value
of gasoline to be 44,000 kJ/kg; and the overall efficiency of the drive
train to be 30 percent.

5. A 7-m-diameter hot air balloon that has a total mass of 350 kg is

standing still in air on a windless day. The balloon is suddenly
subjected to 40 km/h winds. Determine the initial acceleration of the
balloon in the horizontal direction.
6. Consider 0.8-cm-diameter hail that is falling freely in atmospheric air
at 1 atm and 5°C. Determine the terminal velocity of the hail. Take
the density of hail to be 910 kg/m3.
7. Dust particles of diameter 0.06 mm and density 1.6 g/cm 3 are
unsettled during high winds and rise to a height of 200 m by the time
things calm down. Estimate how long it takes for the dust particles to
fall back to the ground in still air at 1 atm and 30°C, and their
velocity. Disregard the initial transient period during which the dust
particles accelerate to their terminal velocity, and assume Stokes law
to be applicable.
8. A tennis ball with a mass of 57 g and a diameter of 6.4 cm is hit with
an initial velocity of 105 km/h and a backspin of 4200 rpm.
Determine if the ball falls or rises under the combined effect of gravity
and lift due to spinning shortly after hitting. Assume air is at 1 atm
and 25°C.
9. A 2-m-high, 4-m-wide rectangular advertisement panel is attached to
a 4-m-wide, 0.15-m-high rectangular concrete block (density = 2300
kg/m3) by two 5-cm-diameter, 4-m-high (exposed part) poles, as
shown in Figure. If the sign is to withstand 150 km/h winds from any
direction, determine (a) the maximum drag force on the panel, (b) the
drag force acting on the poles, and (c) the minimum length L of the
concrete block for the panel to resist the winds. Take
the density of air to be 1.30 kg/m3.
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DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

10.A paratrooper and his 7-m-diameter parachute weigh 1200 N. Taking

the average air density to be 1.2 kg/m3, determine the terminal
velocity of the paratrooper.

Reference Anderson, Jr. J.D. Fundamental of Aerodynamics, Fifth Edition.McGraw-

Hill. 2007
Cengel, et.al. Solutions Manual for Fluid Mechanics, Third Edition McGraw-
Hill, 2013
Cimbala, et.al. Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications, Fourth
Edition. McGraw Hill. 2018
Chanson, H. The Hydraulics of Open Channel Flow: An Introduction.
Elsevier Butterworth Heinemenn. 2008
Durst, F. Fluid Mechanics: An Introduction to the Theory of Fluid Flows,
Springer. 2008
Fox, et.al. Introduction to Fluid Mechanics, Eighth Edition. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. 2011
Janna, W. S. Introduction to Fluid Mechanics, Fourth Edition. CRC Press.
2010
White, M. F. Fluid Mechanics, Fifth Edition. WCB McGraw-Hill. 2011
Wiggert, et.al. Schaum’s Outline of Fluid Mechanics. McGraw-Hill. 2008
Rajput, R.K. Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machineries, S. Chand &
Company LTD. 2011
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, 3401 Quirino
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION