Introduction to

Fluid Mechanics
 Fluid Definition
 Mechanics is the oldest physical science that deals with both stationery and moving
boundaries under the influence of forces. The branch of the mechanics that deals
with bodies at rest is called statics while the branch that deals with bodies in motion
is called dynamics.
 Fluid Mechanics is the science that deals with 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.
 A substance in liquid / gas phase is referred as ‘fluid’. Distinction between a solid & a
fluid is made on the basis of substance’s ability to resist an applied shear (tangential)
stress that tends to change its shape. A solid can resist an applied shear by deforming
its shape whereas a fluid deforms continuously under the influence of shear stress,
no matter how small is its shape. In solids, stress is proportional to strain, but in
fluids, stress is proportional to ‘strain rate’.
 Fluid as Continuum
 Fluids are aggregations of molecules; widely spaced for a gas and closely spaced for
liquids. Distance between the molecules is very large compared to the molecular
diameter. The number of molecules involved is immense and the separation
between them is normally negligible. Under these conditions, fluid can be treated as
continuum and the properties at any point can be treated as bulk behavior of the
fluids.
 For the continuum model to be valid, the smallest sample of matter of practical
interest must contain a large number of molecules so that meaningful averages can
be calculated. In the case of air at sea-level conditions, a volume of 10-9 mm3 contains
3×107 molecules. In engineering sense, this volume is quite small, so the continuum
hypothesis is valid.
 In certain cases, such as, very-high-altitude flight, the molecular spacing becomes so
large that a small volume contains only few molecules and the continuum model
fails. For all situations in these lectures, the continuum model will be valid.
 Properties of Fluid
Any characteristic of a system is called property. It may either be intensive
(mass independent) or extensive (that depends on size of system). The state
of a system is described by its properties. The number of properties required
to fix the state of the system is given by state postulates. Most common
properties of the fluid are:
Pressure ( p) : It is the normal force exerted by a fluid per unit area. More details
will be available in the subsequent lecture. In SI system the unit and
dimension of pressure can be written as, N/m2 and ML-1 T-2 , respectively.
Density ( ρ) : It is defined as mass per unit volume of the substance.

specific weight(γ): It is the weight of the substance per unit volume.

specific weight γ =ρg
Specific Gravity(sg): Specific gravity of a fluid is defined as the density of the
fluid with respect to the density of standard fluid.
(sg)= Density of fluid/Density of standard fluid
 Properties of Fluid
Relative Density (RD) : It is defined as the density of one substance with respect
to the density of the other substance.
RD=ρ1 /ρ2
Temperature (T ): It is the measure of hotness and coldness of a system. In
thermodynamic sense, it is the measure of internal energy of a system. Many
a times, the temperature is expressed in centigrade scale (°C) where the
freezing and boiling point of water is taken as 0°C and 100°C, respectively. In
SI system, the temperature is expressed in terms of absolute value in Kelvin
scale (K = °C+ 273).

Viscosity(µ): 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. The situation is similar when a fluid moves relative to a solid or when
two fluids move relative to each other. The property that represents the
internal resistance of a fluid to motion (i.e. fluidity) is called as viscosity.
 Cont…
Coefficient of compressibility/Bulk modulus(Ev ): It is the property of that fluid
that represents the variation of density with pressure at constant
temperature. Mathematically, it is represented as,

In terms of finite changes, it is approximated as,

It can be shown easily that Ev for an ideal gas at a temperature p is equal to its
absolute pressure (N/m-2 ).
Coefficient of volume expansion(β ): It is the property of that fluid that
represents the variation of density with temperature at constant pressure.
Mathematically, it is represented as,
 Specific Heat
Specific heats: It is the amount of energy required for a unit mass of a fluid for unit
rise in temperature. Since the pressure, temperature and density of a gas are
interrelated, the amount of heat required to raise the temperature from 1 2 T T to
depends on whether the gas is allowed to expand during the process so that the
energy supplied is used in doing the work instead of raising the temperature.
For a given gas, two specific heats are defined corresponding to the two extreme
conditions of constant volume and constant pressure.
(a) Specific heat at constant volume (Cv )
(b) Specific heat at constant pressure (cp )
 Sonic Speed
Speed of sound (c): An important consequence of compressibility of the
fluid is that the disturbances introduced at some point in the fluid
propagate at finite velocity. The velocity at which these disturbances
propagate is known as “acoustic velocity/speed of sound”. Mathematically,
it is represented as below,
Vapour Pressure & Surface Tension
Vapour pressure ( pv ) : It is defined as the pressure exerted by its vapour
in phase equilibrium with its liquid at a given temperature. For a pure
substance, it is same as the saturation pressure. In a fluid motion, if
the pressure at some location is lower than the vapour pressure,
bubbles start forming. This phenomenon is called as cavitation
because they form cavities in the liquid.
Surface Tension (σ ): When a liquid and gas or two immiscible liquids
are in contact, an unbalanced force is developed at the interface
stretched over the entire fluid mass. The intensity of molecular
attraction per unit length along any line in the surface is called as
surface tension. For example, in a spherical liquid droplet of radius
(r), the pressure difference (∆p) between the inside and outside
surface of the droplet is given by,

In SI system the unit and dimension of pressure can be written as, N/m
and 2 MT− , respectively.
Relations for Gases and Liquids
All gases at high temperatures and low pressures are in good agreements with
‘perfect gas law’ given by,

where, R is the characteristic gas constant, R is the universal gas constant and M
is the molecular weight.
Liquids are nearly incompressible and have a single reasonable constant specific
heat. Density of a liquid decreases slightly with temperature and increases
moderately with pressure. Neglecting the temperature effect, an empirical
pressure- density relation is expressed as,

Here, B and n are the non-dimensional parameters that depend on the fluid
type and vary slightly with the temperature. For water at 1 atm, the density is
1000 kg/m3 and the constants are taken as, B = 3000 and n= 7
 Law of Viscosity
 It states that the shear stress on a fluid element layer is directly
proportional to the rate of shear strain. The constant of
proportionality is called the coefficient of viscosity.
 It is expressed by equation

 Fluid which obey the above relation are known as Newtonian

fluids and the fluids which do not obey the above relation are
called Non-Newtonian fluids.
Types of Fluids
Rheology
Example
Example
 Surface Tension
Liquids are having very important property by virtue of which it tries to
minimize its surface area up to the maximum extent such a property of liquid is
called ‘Surface Tension’.
Basic cause of surface tension: Cohesive forces between the molecules which is
known as cohesion.
Surface tension on liquid
droplet
Surface tension on liquid
Bubble
Surface tension on liquid Jet
Example on Surface Tension
 Do it Yourself
Questions:
1. Find the surface tension in soap bubble of 40mm diameter when the inside
pressure is 2.5 N/m2 above atmospheric pressure.
2. Determine the specific gravity of a fluid having viscosity 0.05 poise and
kinematic viscosity 0.035 stokes.
 Capillarity
 Capillarity is defined as a phenomenon of rise or fall of a liquid
surface in a small tube relative to the adjacent general level of
liquid when the tube is held vertically in the liquid.
 The rise of liquid surface is known as capillary rise while the fall
of liquid surface is known as capillary depression.
 The attraction (adhesion) between the wall of the tube and
liquid molecules is strong enough to overcome the mutual
attraction(Cohesion) of the molecules and pull them up the
wall. Hence the liquid is said to wet the solid surface.
 It is expressed in terms of cm or mm of liquid. Its values
depends upon the specific weight of the liquid, diameter of the
tube and surface tension of the liquid.
Capillarity
 Expression for capillary Rise
h= height of the liquid in the tube
σ= Surface tension of liquid
θ=Angle of contact between liquid and tube glass
Expression for capillary Fall
Example

The negative sign indicates

depression in tube
Pressure
Types of Pressure
Example
Variation of pressure with depth
 For fluid whose density changes significantly with elevation, a
relation for the variation of pressure with elevation can be
written as:

 The negative sign indicates that pressure decreases in an

upward direction.
 When the variation of density with elevation is known the
pressure difference between point 1 and 2 can be determine by
integration to be:
 Measurement of pressure
Pressure of fluid is measured by the following device:
Pressure
measurement

Mechanical
Manometer
Gauges

Simple Differential Diaphragm

manometers Manometers pressure gauge

U-Tube Single column U-Tube

Piezometer Bourdon tube
Manometer manometers differential

Inverted U-
Dead weight
Vertical Tube
pressure gauge
Differential

Bellows
Inclined
pressure gauge
 Do it Yourself
Questions:
1. The capillary rise in the glass tube is not to exceed 0.2 mm of water.
Determine its minimum size, given that surface tension for water in contact
with air=0.0725 N/m.
2. Find out the minimum size of glass tube that can be used to measure water
level if the capillary rise in the tube is to be restricted to 2mm. Consider
surface tension of water in contact with air as 0.073575N/m
 Piezometer
It is the simplest form of manometers used for measuring
gauge pressure. One end of this manometer is connected to the
point where pressure is to be measured and other end is open
to the atmosphere. The rise of liquid gives the pressure head at
that point. If at a point A, the height of liquid say water is h in
piezometer tube, then pressure at A
 U-Tube Manometer
It consists of glass tube bent in U-Shape, one end of which is
connected to a point at which pressure is to be measured and
other end remains open to the atmosphere. The tube generally
contains mercury or any other liquid whose specific gravity is
greater than the specific gravity of the liquid whose pressure is
to be measured.
For Gauge pressure
For Vacuum Pressure
Example on U-Tube Manometer
 Single Column Manometer
Single column manometer is a modified form of a U-Tube Manometer in which a
reservoir, having a large cross sectional area(about 100times) as compared to the
area of the tube is connected to one of the limb of the manometer. Due to large
cross-sectional area of reservoir, for any variation in pressure, the change in the
liquid level in the reservoir will be very small which may be neglected and hence
the pressure is given by the height of liquid in the other limb. The other limb may
be vertical or inclined.
Example
U-Tube differential Manometer
U-Tube Manometer Calculation
Cont…
Inverted U-Tube Manometer
Do it Yourself
 Introduction
 Fluid Kinematics deals with the motion of fluids
without considering the forces and moments which
create the motion.
 Flow visualization
 Plotting flow data
 Fundamental kinematic properties of fluid motion
and deformation.
 Lagrangian Description
 Lagrangian description of fluid flow tracks the
position and velocity of individual particles.
 Based upon Newton's laws of motion.
 Fluids are composed of billions of molecules.
 Interaction between molecules hard to
describe/model.
 However, useful for specialized applications
 Eulerian Description

 Eulerian description of fluid flow a flow domain or control

volume is defined by which fluid flows in and out.
 Field variables which are functions of space and time.
 Pressure field, PP(x,y,z,t)
 Velocity field, Acceleration field.
 Well suited for formulation of initial boundary-value problems.
 Named after Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler
(1707-1783).
 Different types of Fluid flow
 Steady & Unsteady flows:
If the properties in the fluid flow are not
changing with respect to time at a particular place
such kind of a flow is known as ‘Steady flow’
otherwise Unsteady.
 Uniform & Non-uniform Flows:
If the properties in the fluid flow are not
changing with respect to space at a particular time
such kind of a flow is known as ‘Uniform’ otherwise
Non-uniform.
 Cont…

 Steady & Uniform Flows:

If the properties are not changing with respect to
time as well as space such type of flow are steady and
uniform flow.
 Incompressible & Compressible Flow:
If the density of fluid is not changing with respect
to pressure in a flow, such a flow is known as
Incompressible flow.
 Different types of Fluid flow
 Laminar & Turbulent Flow:
When all the fluid particles lying in the same horizontal plane
are having their velocity components in the same direction then these
particles in a motion will form a layer, Such type of flow is known as
Laminar Flow. If Their velocity components are in different direction
that will be called Turbulent flow.
 Irrotational & Rotational Flow:
When the fluid particles are moving in a circular path along with
stream line such kind of a flow is known as Vortex flow.
Along with the rotation of the fluid particles in a stream line if the
particles are also rotating with respect to their own centre of masses
such a flow is known as Rotational flow otherwise irrotational flow.
Some typical Flow
Transition flow from Laminar to
Turbulent
Continuity
Control Volume:
This is a certain well defined extent of space. For the
purpose of understanding the changes that take place in
the fluid characteristics we may introduce a control
volume so that we may compare the flow characteristics
of a fluid just before it enters the control volume and just
after it leaves the control volume.
Continuity:
This is an equation based on the principle of conservation
of mass. Suppose we consider a stream tube. Since the
stream tube is always full of the fluid, the quantity of the
fluid entering the stream tube at one end per unit of time
should be equal to the quantity of the fluid leaving the
stream tube at the other end per unit of time.
Control Volume
Continuity Equation
Let V be the average velocity at any section and A the
area of the section. If w be the specific weight of the fluid,
the quantity of the fluid flowing per second across the
section
=w A V
Specific weight at section 1-1 & 2-2 be w1 and w2, A1 and
A2 be the sectional area at the section 1-1 and 2-2, and
V1 & V2 be the velocities at these sections, then
w1 A1 V1 =w2 A2 V2
If the fluid is incompressible then w1 =w2 and the relation
will be A1 V1 =A2 V2

Note: Volume of the fluid flowing across a section per unit

of time is constant.
Stream Line
A stream line is a continuous line in a fluid which shows
the direction of the velocity of the fluid at each point along
the line. The tangent to the stream line at any point on it
is in the direction of the velocity at that point. Fluid
particles lying on a stream line at an instant move along
the stream line.
Stream Line
Path Line
A path line means the path or a line actually described by
a single fluid particle as it moves during a period of time.
The path line indicates the direction of the velocity of the
same fluid particle at successive instants of time.

In the case of a steady flow since there are no

fluctuations of the velocity, the path line coincides with the
stream line. In the case of an unsteady flow the stream
lines change their positions at every instant and thus the
path line may fluctuate between different stream lines
during an interval of time.
Path Line
Streak line
The streak line is the locus of the positions of fluid
particles which have passed through a given point in
succession. Suppose A, B, C, D… are fluid particles
which passed through a reference point say the origin
one after the other in succession. These particles have
described their own path lines. Suppose at a time t, these
particles A, B, C, D… are at Pa
Circulation and Vorticity
Circulation is the line integral of velocity vector taken along a
closed loop. Twice of the angular velocity is termed as
Vorticity.
Consider a closed line or contour in a two-dimensional flow.
Let V represent the resultant velocity at any point on the
contour. Let θ be the angle between the velocity V and the
elemental contour element ds. The integral of the product
(contour length ds x the component of the velocity in the
direction of ds) is called the line integral. The line integral of
the velocity around a closed contour is called circulation
(usually denoted by Г).
Momentum Equation
Assumptions:
•Flow is laminar
•Flow is irrotational
•Flow is inviscid

We have all seen moving fluids exerting forces. The lift force on an
aircraft is exerted by the air moving over the wing. A jet of water from
a hose exerts a force on whatever it hits. In fluid mechanics the
analysis of motion is performed in the same way as in solid
mechanics - by use of Newton’s laws of motion. Account is also taken
for the special properties of fluids when in motion.
Momentum Equation
The momentum equation is a statement of Newton’s Second Law
and relates the sum of the forces acting on an element of fluid to its
acceleration or rate of change of momentum. You will probably
recognize the equation F = ma which is used in the analysis of solid
mechanics to relate applied force to acceleration. In fluid mechanics it
is not clear what mass of moving fluid we should use so we use a
different form of the equation

Applications of the Momentum Equation:

•Force due to the flow of fluid round a pipe bend.
•Impact of a jet on a plane surface.
•Force due to flow round a curved vane.
Bernoulli’s Theorem
Assumptions:
•Flow is laminar
•Flow is irrotational
•Flow is inviscid
•Flow is steady
•Flow is incompressible

Under the five

assumptions in a flow
stated above, the
summation of all the
energy that is
The pressure energy (P), the kinetic energy(1/2 ρ V2) and the potential
energy (ρgz) per unit volume will be constant between the any two
points in a flow. This theorem is known as Bernoulli’s theorem.