Holly @ 2014 CE

Fundamentals of Fluid
Mechanics
Chapter 1: Introduction
L1.1 - Characteristics of Fluids
Holly @ 2014 CE
Characteristics of Fluids
! A fluid is defined as a substance that deforms
continuously when acted on by a shearing
stress of any magnitude.
! Fluids: gas, liquid (air, water, syrup?)
! Not-Fluid: Slurries, tar, putty, toothpaste,
(other Bingham plastic materials)
! We assume that molecular spacing is so small
that we can treat the fluid as a continuum)
! (Vacuum: 100 particles/cc; Orion Nebula: E6
particles/cc; Interstellar space: 1 particle/cc)
Dead White (European) Males
! Archimedes, Newton, Bernoulli, Euler, Reynolds, Prandtl,
VonKarman etc

! Rouse & Ince, History of Hydraulics

! Vogle, Life in Moving Fluids

! Calculus: the tool needed to apply laws of mechanics to
fluid behavior (Newton et al)
Holly @ 2014 CE
Holly @ 2014 CE
Analysis of Fluid Behavior
Based on Fundamental Laws
of Physics

! Newtons laws of motion
! Conservation of mass
! Conservation of momentum
! Conservation of energy
! First and second laws of thermodynamics
! (Will data-mining, neural networks, genetic algorithms
make classical mechanics irrelevant in your lifetime???)
Holly @ 2014 CE
Dimensions
Primary vs Secondary Quantities

! Primary quantities: length (L), time (T), mass
(M), Force (F), temperature (! or T) basic
dimensions
! Secondary physical quantities: area; velocity;
density; force; stress; pressure etc. all have
basic dimensions

Holly @ 2014 CE
Table 1.1 (p. 5)
Dimensions Associated
with Common Physical
Quantities
Holly @ 2014 CE
Dimensional Homogeneity
! RULE Equations expressing laws of
physics must be Dimensionally
Homogeneous:

The dimensions (or units) of all terms (i.e. quantities
that are combined through addition) MUST be the
same
ma F =
p
!
+ z +
u
2
2g
= C
Holly @ 2014 CE
Example 1.1
Holly @ 2014 CE
System of Units
Length Time Mass Force Temperature
BG
foot
(ft)
second
(s)
slug
(slug)
pound
(lb)
Fahrenheit
(
o
F)
EE
foot
(ft)
second
(s)
pound
mass
(lbm)
pound
(lb)
Rankine
(
o
R)
SI
meter
(m)
second
(s)
kilogram
(kg)
Newton
(N)
Kelvin
(
o
K)
System of Units
Holly @ 2014 CE
Unit Systems
! British Gravitational (BG) System
L-foot (ft), T-second (s), F pound (lb), M-slug
(slug), T-Fahrenheit (
0
F) or Ta Rankine (
0
R)
(F = ma or pound = slug " ft/sec
2
)
# English Engineering (EE) System
L- foot (ft), T- second(s), F pound (lbf), M-
pound mass (lbm), ! - Rankine (
0
R)
1 slug (BG)= 32.174 lbm (EE)
(F = ma or poundforce = poundmass"ft/sec
2
)

Holly @ 2014 CE
System of Units
! International System (SI)
L-meter (m), T-second (s), F Newton (N),
M-kilogram (kg), "Kelvin (K) or Celsius (
0
C)
(F = ma or Newtons = kilograms " m/sec
2
)

0
K=
0
C+273.15

0
F=1.8 x
0
C+32

! Whats the standard gravity in BG, SI, and EE
units?
Holly @ 2014 CE
Table 1.3, 1.4
(back cover)
Conversion Factors from
BG and EE Units to SI Units

(You may have to go to
other sources for
conversions involving e.g.
acres, gallons, miles, etc
get the app)
Holly @ 2014 CE
Let unit/dimension checks help you
find your errors!
Carry units or dimensions in your equations to ensure
dimensional homogeneity

Useful to remember: 1 ft = .3048 m; 1 m = 3.2808 ft
1 slug = 14.59 kg; 1 m
3
= 1000 litres;

g = 9.806 m/sec
2
= 32.17 ft/sec
2

Work: 1 Joule = 1 newton-meter; 1 BTU = 778.26 ft-lb

Power: 1 Watt = 1 joule/sec; 1 HP = 550 ft-lb/sec