Chapter 1- Introduction to Fluid Motion

Introduction to Fluid Motion

This chapter discusses the analysis of fluid in motion - fluid dynamics. It is useful to
introduce some definitions about fluid motion.

𝑑𝑚
Mass flow rate (𝒎̇):is the mass per time taken to accumulate this mass, 𝑚̇ = 𝑑𝑡
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑
Volume flow rate-Discharge (Q),𝑄 = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
Types of flowlines

Pathline: A pathline follows the movement of a single fluid particle. It can be produced in
the laboratory by marking a fluid particle (dying a small fluid element) and taking a time
exposure photograph of its motion.

Streakline: consists of all particles in a flow that have previously passed through a common
point. Streaklines are more of a laboratory tool than an analytical tool. They can be obtained
by taking instantaneous photographs of marked particles that all passed through a given
location in the flow field at some earlier time. Such a line can be produced by continuously
injecting marked fluid (neutrally buoyant smoke in air, or dye in water) at a given location.

Streamline: A streamline is a line that is everywhere tangent to the velocity field. If the
flow is steady, nothing at a fixed point (including the velocity direction) changes with time,
so the streamlines are fixed lines in space. For unsteady flows the streamlines may change
shape with time. Streamlines are obtained analytically by integrating the equations defining
lines tangent to the velocity field. For two-dimensional flows the slope of the streamline,
must be equal to the tangent of the angle that the velocity vector makes with the x axis.

Types of flow

Uniform flow: If the flow velocity is the same magnitude and direction at every point in
the fluid it is said to be uniform.

Non-uniform: If at a given instant, the velocity is not the same at every point the flow is
non-uniform.(In practice, by this definition, every fluid that flows near a solid boundary
will be non-uniform – as the fluid at the boundary must take the speed of the boundary,
usually zero. However if the size and shape of the cross-section of the stream of fluid is
constant the flow is considered uniform).

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 Chapter 1- Introduction to Fluid Motion

Steady flow: A steady flow is one in which the conditions (velocity, pressure and cross-
section) may differ from point to point but DO NOT change with time.

Unsteady flow: If at any point in the fluid, the conditions change with time, the flow is
described as unsteady. (In practice there is always slight variations in velocity and pressure,
but if the average values are constant, the flow is considered steady).

Combining the above we can classify any flow in to one of the following four
types:

1.Steady uniform flow. Conditions do not change with position in the stream or with time.
An example is the flow of water in a pipe of constant diameter at constant velocity.

2. Steady non-uniform flow. Conditions change from point to point in the stream but do not
change with time. An example is flow in a tapering pipe with constant velocity at the inlet
- velocity will change as you move along the length of the pipe toward the exit.

3. Unsteady uniform flow. At a given instant in time the conditions at every point are the
same, but will change with time. An example is a pipe of constant diameter connected to a
pump pumping at a constant rate which is then switched off.

4. Unsteady non-uniform flow. Every condition of the flow may change from point to point
and with time at every point. For example waves in a channel.

Compressible and Incompressible Flow

All fluids are compressible - even water - their density will change as pressure changes.
Under steady conditions, and provided that the changes in pressure are small, it is usually
possible to simplify analysis of the flow by assuming it is incompressible and has constant
density. As you will appreciate, liquids are quite difficult to compress - so under most
steady conditions they are treated as incompressible. In some unsteady conditions very
high pressure differences can occur and it is necessary to take these into account- even for
liquids. Gasses, on the contrary, are very easily compressed, it is essential in most cases to
treat these as compressible, taking changes in pressure into account.

Three Dimensional Flow

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 Chapter 1- Introduction to Fluid Motion

Flow is one dimensional if the flow parameters (such as velocity, pressure, depth etc.) at a
given instant in time only vary in the direction of flow and not across the cross-section.
The flow may be unsteady, in this case the parameter vary in time but still not across the
cross-section. An example of one-dimensional flow is the flow in a pipe. Note that since
flow must be zero at the pipe wall - yet non-zero in the center – there is a difference of
parameters across the cross-section. Should this be treated as two-dimensional flow?
Possibly - but it is only necessary if very high accuracy is required. A correction factor is
then usually applied.

Ideal Flow: frictionless (μ = 0) and

Real Flow: μ ≠ 0

Adiabatic flow: fluid flow in which no

Adiabatic + frictionless = isentropic

Laminar Flow: fluid particles move along smooth path in laminas (or layers). Laminar
flow is governed by Newton’s law of viscosity:

Turbulent Flow: Fluid particles move in very irregular paths.