FLUID

MECHANICS
Prof. C.S.P. Ojha
Dept. of Civil Engineering
IIT ROORKEE

FLUID

A fluid is a substance that deforms continuously under the

application of a shear stress, irrespective of the magnitude
of the applied shear stress.
If a fluid is at rest no shear force can exist.
Attain equilibrium deformation under the application of shear force, no
matter how small.

Types of fluids:
Differentiated in the basis of effect of

Liquids cohesive force between the molecules of

Gases fluid

Fluid Mechanics deals with the study of fluid either in

rest(fluid statics) or fluid in motion ( fluid dynamics).
Fluid mechanics finds its application in breathing, blood flow,
swimming, windmills, pumps, pipes, channels, rivers, ships,
automobiles, airplanes etc.

CONTINUUM

fluids are conglomeration of separate molecules which are widely

All
spaced
in gases and closely spaced in liquids.

The distance between the molecules in both cases, however, is very

large as compared to their molecular diameter and the molecules move
freely relative to each other.

Thus a fluid property such as mass density does not have specific
meaning since the no of molecules occupying a given space changes
continuously.

Therefore the interest centers on the average conditions of the fluid

properties(density) and flow properties(velocity etc.).

In fluid mechanics it is assumed that the fluid have continuous

distribution of matter with no empty space i.e. the fluid is a continuum.

The fluid properties are considered to be continuous function of space

and time.

DIMENSIONS AND UNITS

Names and symbols of basic units of primary dimensions
Sl. No.

Quantity

Unit

Symbol

Length

meter

Mass

Kilogram

kg

Time interval

Second

Temperature

Kelvin

Electric Current

Ampere

Luminous intensity

Candela

cd

Amount of substance

mole

mol

Name and symbols of basic units of some other quantities

Sl.
No.

Quantity

Unit

Symbo
l

Equivalent
combinations of
other units

Force

Newton

kg m/s2

Pressure and
stress

Pascal

N/m2

Work and Energy Joule

N/m

Power

Watt

J/s or Nm/s

Frequency

hertz

Hz

s-1

FLUID PROPERTIES
Density
Pressure
Viscosity
Surface tension
Vapor Pressure
Bulk Modulus of elasticity

DENSITY
Mass density(): mass per unit volume. Its unit is Kg/m3
Weight density(): weight per unit volume also called unit weight or
specific weight. Its unit is N/m 3

= g where, g = 9.81m/s2 (acceleration due to gravity)

At atmospheric pressure and 20OC

w = 1000 kg/m3
w = 9800 N/m3

air = 1.205 kg/m3

air =11.8 N/m3

The density of gases is highly variable and increases nearly

proportionally to the pressure level but for liquids the density is
nearly constant.
For example the density of water would increase by only 1% if the
pressure is increased by a factor of 220. for this reason most of the
liquids are treated as incompressible.

 Specific volume (Vs):

Reciprocal of mass

density i.e. volume per unit mass(m3/kg).

Specific gravity(G):

It is the ratio of
mass(weight) density of liquid to the mass(weight) density
of water at 4oC. For gases, however, the
reference(standard) density may that of air or hydrogen.

PRESSURE
Pressure intensity= force/unit area (N/m2 called Pascal, Pa)
1atmospheric pressure = 101.325 kPa
Molecules of any fluid are in a continuous state of collision.
Every part of the fluid as well as the solid surface, the fluid is in contact
with, experiences a force exerted upon it by the surrounding fluid.
This force varies from location to location in magnitude and/or direction.
Pressure is the stress(compression) at a point in fluid and is the
consequences of normal force acting on a plane in the fluid or a plane
surface the fluid is in contact with.

For
ideal gas

VISCOSITY
Viscosity may be defined as the property of fluid due to which the
fluid is able to resist the shear (or the movement of fluid)
In a way viscosity of fluid is a quantitative measure of the
resistance to flow that the flowing fluid offers.
The resistance of any fluids to its movement depends upon the
cohesion and the rate of transfer of molecular momentum.
I liquids cohesion is the prime cause of viscosity whereas in gases
the rate of transfer of molecular momentum is the prime cause.
In liquids the viscosity increases with increase in temperature
however in gases the viscosity decreases with increase in
temperature.
The viscosity of fluid increases only marginally with pressure.

Consider a fluid element abcd with its upper face dc mobbing at a speed of
relative to the lower surface ab (figure a)
The fluid element is therefore subjected to a shear stress , due to which
shear strain angle ( at any time ) continuously increases as long as the
shear stress exists.
Common fluids such as air and water exhibit a linear relation between stress

and shear strain rate.

From figure

For infinitesimal change

Therefore

the applied shear stress is proportional to the velocity gradient

Or

..(2)
Where

is called the coefficient of dynamic

viscosity or simply viscosity

Dimensions
of

Ns/m2

is M/LT . Dynamic viscosity has therefore a unit of kg/ms or

Equation(2) is called the Newtons law of viscosity and the fluid that follow
lawfigure
are called
Newtonian
fluid.profile
thisThe
shows
the velocity

of a moving fluid near a solid

boundary.

At the boundary the velocity of fluid

relative to the boundary is zero. This is
called the no slip condition that would
exist for all viscous fluid flow pasta solid
surface.

The shear stress at any point is

proportional to the slope of the velocity

Kinematic
viscosity: it is the ratio of dynamic viscosity and mass density

...(3)
The dimension of is L2/T and the unit is m2/s
At 20oC
(m2/s)

(kg/ms)

Air

1.5 X 10-5

1.8X 10-5

water

106

10-3

fluid having no viscosity (i.e. =0 ) is called non viscous or inviscid

A
or ideal fluid. No real fluid is an inviscid.
Fluid mechanics deals with Newtonian fluid. Fluid that do not
follow Newtons law are called non-Newtonian fluid
n

.(4)
For Newtonian fluid K=1 and n=1
Equation4 can also be written as

Where, K= Consistency index

n = Flow behavior
index

..(5)
Where
is called apparent viscosity

Types

of Non Newtonian fluid

1. Dilatent (shear thickening) fluid :

Example:Concentrated solution of sugar in water.
Resistance increases with increasing applied shear stress(n>1)
2. Pseudoplastic (shear thinning)fluid:
Example: Gelatin, blood, milk, liquid cement.
Resistance decreases with increasing applied shear stress(n<1).
If the thinning effect is very strong, the fluid is called plastic. Some
plastic fluid require a finite stress before they begin to flow
3. Bingham plastic/ideal plastic:
Example: clay suspension, drilling mud, toothpaste
Exhibit linear relationship between applied shear stress and rate
of deformation.
Where, is the viscosity of plastic fluid.
4. Ideal fluid

SURFACE TENSION

()

If one imagines a line drawn on a surface of a liquid, then surface

tension may be defined as the magnitude of tensile force acting across
the perpendicular to a unit length of straight elements of the line.
Alternatively the surface tension can be regarded as the surface
energy ( in Nm) per unit area (in m2).
Surface tension has dimension M/T 2 or unit N/m

The value of surface tension for

water-air interface at 20oC is 0.073
N/m
Most organic liquid has surface
tension 0.02 to 0.03 N/m
Mercury has surface tension about
0.51 N/m
For water the surface tension
decreases
by adding some organic solutes
like soap
detergent etc.
Salinity in water increases its surface
tension

A liquid always forms an interface with another liquid or gas

unless the liquid is in a container and is filled completely.
Molecules inside the liquid being surrounded by similar molecules
are subjected to intermolecular force of attraction of equal
magnitude in all direction.
The molecules on the interface are surrounded by molecules of
other liquid or gas over the surface resulting imbalanced force
along the interface to create a hypothetical membrane.

The unbalanced tensile force,

acting on the plane of surface is
termed as surface tension that
opposes any increase of surface
area of a liquid surface.
The effect of surface tension is to
reduce the surface of a body of
liquid to a minimum.
Due to this the drop of liquid tend
to attain spherical shape so as to
minimize the surface area.

The surface tension of a liquid drop creates a higher pressure

within the drop as compared to that of the surrounding.
Consider the free body diagram of spherical drop of radius R
The force developed around the surface due to surface tension =
It has to be balanced by the pressure difference between internal
pressure pi and external pressure pa acting over the circular area

So,
Or,

For
hollow circular bubble of
radius R the surface tension force
would be 2X
as there is additional surface in side
of the bubble on which surface
tension also exists,
So,
Or,

Liquid Jet

Consider
a section of jet (radius R) of unit
length i.e. the ring between two planes normal
to the jet axis and unit length apart.
If half of the body were taken as free body:
The tension at top and bottom are and
For high pressure the center of pressure can
be taken as the center of jet and then
==
And the horizontal component of force acts
through the pressure center of the projected
area = 2pR
Therefore,

+ 2
Or,

Capillarity
Another common phenomenon related to surface tension is the rise or fall of a
liquid in a capillary tube (tube of very small diameter).
Consider a capillary tube inserted in water

From free body diagram figure C

Vertical force due to surface tension =

Weight of fluid in capillary tube =
Both should be equal (why ?)
=
Or,

For
non wetting liquids like
mercury the angle of contact
>90o(mercury in contact with
clean glass 130o)
for contact with water and
clean glass o

When an interface between two fluids such as water and air or mercury and air meets a solid
surface the interface forms an angle w.r.t. the solid surface. This angle is called angle of contact
and depends on liquid, surrounding fluid and solid surface.

VAPOUR PRESSURE

The molecules of any liquid are at a state of continuous motion.

Some of the molecules in the surface layer of the liquid would have
sufficient energy to enable them to overcome the cohesive attraction
of the surrounding molecules and escape in space above the layer.
Some of these molecules would return back to the layer but other
molecules of the liquid would take their place.
If the space above the liquid surface is confined then an equilibrium
will reach when the number of molecules of liquid in the space above
the liquid surface is constant and the gas above the surface is
saturated with vapors.
These vapors exerts a partial pressure on the liquid surface which is
known as vapour pressure.
Vapour pressure increases with increase in temperature.
When the pressure above the liquid equals the vapour pressure of
liquid ,the liquid starts boiling.

 Cavitation

In a flowing liquid, under certain condition the local pressure may

reduce less than the vapour pressure of the liquid and the liquid
starts boiling causing formation of bubbles.
These vapour bubbles are carried by the liquid in to high pressure
zones resulting in sudden implosive collapse.
If this collapse occurs in contact with a solid surface gets damaged
due to the very large force with which the liquid hits the surface
leading to the formation of cavities.
This process is called cavitation
Cavitation can also occur when the dissolved air or gas is released
due to the reduced solubility as the pressure is reduced.
Cavitation affects the performance of hydraulic machinery.

BULK MODULUS OF
ELASTICITY

compressibility of a liquid is expressed by its bulk modulus

The
of elasticity
K defined as the ratio of change in pressure dp and
the resulting volumetric strain, d where is the volume of liquid.
K=- =
The dimension of K is same as that of pressure M/LT2 and its unit is N/m2 .
The ve sign appears because with increase in pressure the volume
decreases.

Since the decrease in volume of a given mass results in an

increase in densit, one can also write
K= =

The K for common liquids are large. For water K= 2.0 X 109 N/m2
indicating that a large pressure change is required for small
change in volume.

Questions