MEC441 - Fluid Mechanics I

TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION
- PART 1 -

Reference:

Yunus A. Cengel , John M. Cimbala, “Fluid Mechanics Fundamentals and

Applications”, 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2017, ISBN-10:
1259696537, ISBN-13: 978-1259696534
OBJECTIVES
• Understand the basic concepts of Fluid Mechanics.
• Recognize the various types of fluid flow problems
encountered in practice.
• Model engineering problems and solve them in a systematic
manner.
• Have a working knowledge of accuracy, precision, and
significant digits, and recognize the importance of
dimensional homogeneity in engineering calculations.

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INTRODUCTION
Mechanics: The oldest physical science that
deals with both stationary and moving bodies
under the influence of forces.
Statics: The branch of mechanics that deals
with bodies at rest.
Dynamics: The branch that deals with bodies
in motion.
Fluid mechanics: The science that deals with
the 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.
Fluid dynamics: Fluid mechanics is also Fluid mechanics deals with
referred to as fluid dynamics by considering liquids and gases in motion or
fluids at rest as a special case of motion with at rest.
zero velocity. 3
Hydrodynamics: The study of the motion of fluids that can be
approximated as incompressible (such as liquids, especially water, and
gases at low speeds).
Hydraulics: A subcategory of hydrodynamics, which deals with liquid flows
in pipes and open channels.
Gas dynamics: Deals with the flow of fluids that undergo significant density
changes, such as the flow of gases through nozzles at high speeds.
Aerodynamics: Deals with the flow of gases (especially air) over bodies
such as aircraft, rockets, and automobiles at high or low speeds.
Meteorology, oceanography, and hydrology: Deal with naturally occurring
flows.

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WHAT IS A FLUID?
• It is a substance that deforms
continuously under the application of
a shear (tangential) stress no matter
how small the shear stress may be.
• A fluid is unable to retain any
unsupported shape.
• It flows under its own weight and
takes the shape of any solid body
with which it comes into contact.
• If a fluid is at rest, there can be no
shearing force acting and, therefore,
Deformation of a rubber block placed
all forces must be perpendicular to
between two parallel plates under the
the planes upon which they act.
influence of a shear force. The shear stress
shown is that on the rubber—an equal but
It comprises: opposite shear stress acts on the upper plate.
• liquid phase
• gas (or vapor) phase. 5
Stress: Force per unit area.
Normal stress: The normal component of
a force acting on a surface per unit
area.
Shear stress: The tangential component
of a force acting on a surface per unit
area.
Pressure: The normal stress in a fluid at
rest.
Zero shear stress: A fluid at rest is at a
state of zero shear stress.

When the walls are removed or a liquid

container is tilted, a shear develops as The normal stress and shear stress at
the surface of a fluid element. For
the liquid moves to re-establish a
fluids at rest, the shear stress is zero
horizontal free surface. 6
and pressure is the only normal stress.
Intermolecular bonds are strongest in solids and weakest in gases.
Solid: The molecules in a solid are arranged in a pattern that is repeated
throughout.
Liquid: In liquids, molecules can rotate and translate freely.
Gas: In the gas phase, the molecules are far apart from each other, and
molecular ordering is nonexistent.

The arrangement of atoms in different phases: (a) molecules are at

relatively fixed positions in a solid, (b) groups of molecules move about
each other in the liquid phase, and (c) individual molecules move about 7

at random in the gas phase.

LIQUIDS AND GASES
Liquid
• A liquid is difficult to compress and, for many purposes,
may be regarded as incompressible.
• A given mass of liquid occupies a fixed volume.
• A free surface is formed if the volume of the container is
greater than that of liquid.

Gas
• A gas is comparatively easy to compress. Changes of
volume with pressure are large, cannot normally be
neglected and are related to changes of temperature.
• A given mass of a gas has no fixed volume and will
expand continuously unless restrained by a containing
vessel.
• It will completely fill any vessel in which it is placed and,
therefore, does not form a free surface.
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GAS AND VAPOR

Gas and vapor are often used as synonymous words.

• Gas: The vapor phase of a substance is customarily called a gas when it is

above the critical temperature.

• Vapor: Usually implies that the current phase is not far from a state of
condensation.

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APPLICATION AREAS OF FLUID MECHANICS

Fluid dynamics is used extensively

in the design of artificial hearts. 10
Shown here is the Penn State
Electric Total Artificial Heart.
11
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METHOD OF DESCRIBING FLUID MOTION

Lagrangian method
Method of describing fluid motion by analyzing a single fluid particle.

Eulerian method
Method of describing fluid motion by analyzing a point in flow field.

Notes:
The Eulerian method is commonly used in fluid mechanics.

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FLOW PATTERNS
Pathline
• It is a path (trajectory) traced by a particle in a flowing fluid across the
time.

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Streakline or filament line
• It is a snapshot (instantaneous picture) of the positions of all the particles
which have passed through a particular point in the flow field.

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Streamline
• It is an imaginary line drawn in the flow field such that, at a given instant, it
is tangent to the velocity vector (direction of flow) at every point.

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• There is no flow across a streamline.
• Solid boundaries can be regarded as streamlines.

• A series of streamlines through every point on the perimeter of a small area

of the stream cross-section forms a streamtube which behaves as an
imaginary pipe.
• Fluid inside the streamtube cannot escape through its walls.

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 Pathline Streakline Streamline

• In steady flow, pathlines, streaklines and streamlines are identical.

• While pathlines and streaklines are easier to generate experimentally, the
streamline is convenient to calculate mathematically and is the most common
method of flow-pattern presentation.

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CLASSIFICATION OF FLUID FLOWS
Viscous versus Inviscid Regions of Flow
Viscous flows: Flows in which the frictional effects are significant.
Inviscid flow regions: In many flows of practical interest, there are regions
(typically regions not close to solid surfaces) where viscous forces are negligibly
small compared to inertial or pressure forces.

The flow of an originally uniform fluid stream

over a flat plate, and
the regions of viscous flow (next to the plate
on both sides) and inviscid flow (away from
the plate).
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Internal versus external flow
External flow: The flow of an unbounded fluid over a surface such as a plate, a
wire, or a pipe.
Internal flow: The flow in a pipe or duct if the fluid is completely bounded by solid
surfaces.

• Water flow in a pipe is internal

flow, and airflow over a ball is
external flow.
• The flow of liquids in a duct is
called open-channel flow if the
duct is only partially filled with the
liquid and there is a free surface.

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External flow over a tennis ball, and
the turbulent wake region behind.
Compressible versus incompressible flow
Incompressible flow: If the density of flowing
fluid remains nearly constant throughout
(e.g., liquid flow)(𝜌 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡).
Compressible flow: If the density of fluid
changes during flow (e.g., high-speed gas
flow) )(𝜌 ≠ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡).
When analyzing rockets, spacecraft, and
other systems that involve high-speed gas
flows, the flow speed is often expressed by
Mach number
Schlieren image of a small model of
the space shuttle orbiter being tested at
Mach 3 in the supersonic wind tunnel
of the Penn State Gas Dynamics Lab.
Ma = 1 Sonic flow Several oblique shocks are seen in the
Ma < 1 Subsonic flow air surrounding the spacecraft.
Ma > 1 Supersonic flow 22

Ma >> 1 Hypersonic flow

Gas flows can often be approximated as
incompressible if the density changes are under
about 5 percent, which is usually the case when
Ma < 0.3. Therefore, the compressibility effects
of air at room temperature can be neglected
at speeds under about 100 m/s.

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Laminar versus turbulent flow
Laminar flow: The highly ordered fluid
motion characterized by smooth layers of
fluid. The flow of high-viscosity fluids such
as oils at low velocities is typically laminar.
Turbulent flow: The highly disordered fluid
motion that typically occurs at high
velocities and is characterized by velocity
fluctuations. The flow of low-viscosity fluids
such as air at high velocities is typically
turbulent.
Transitional flow: A flow that alternates
between being laminar and turbulent.

Laminar, transitional, and turbulent 24

flows.
QUESTION

https://www.flickr.com/photos/christlagat75fr/3262468113/

Laminar or turbulent? 25
Steady versus unsteady flow

• The term steady implies no change at a point with time.

𝜕𝑉
• = 0, 𝑉 is a variable to be measured
𝜕𝑡

• The opposite of steady is unsteady.

• The term periodic refers to the kind of unsteady flow in which the flow oscillates
about a steady mean.
• Many devices such as turbines, compressors, boilers, condensers, and heat
exchangers operate for long periods of time under the same conditions, and
they are classified as steady-flow devices.

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 Oscillating wake of a blunt-based airfoil
at Mach number 0.6. Photo (a) is an
instantaneous image, while photo (b) is
a long-exposure (time-averaged) image.

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Uniform versus non-uniform flow

• The term uniform implies no change with location over a specified region
𝜕𝑉
• = 0, 𝑉 is a variable to be measured
𝜕𝑥

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Rotational versus irrotational flow

Rotational flow
• Fluid particles while flowing along streamlines also rotates about their own axis.

Irrotational flow
• Fluid particles while flowing along streamlines do not rotate about their own
axis.

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One-, two-, and three-dimensional flows

• A flow field is best characterized by its velocity distribution.

• A flow is said to be one-, two-, or three-dimensional if the flow velocity varies in one,
two, or three dimensions, respectively.
• However, the variation of velocity in certain directions can be small relative to the
variation in other directions and can be ignored.

The development of the velocity profile in a circular pipe. V = V(r, z)

and thus the flow is two-dimensional in the entrance region, and
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becomes one-dimensional downstream when the velocity profile fully
develops and remains unchanged in the flow direction, V = V(r).
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SYSTEM AND CONTROL VOLUME
• SYSTEM: A quantity of matter or a region in space chosen for study.
• SURROUNDINGS: The mass or region outside the system.
• BOUNDARY: The real or imaginary surface that separates the system
from its surroundings.
• The boundary of a system can be FIXED or MOVABLE.
• Systems may be considered to be CLOSED or OPEN.

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• Closed system (Control mass)
• A fixed amount of mass, and no mass can cross its boundary.

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 • Open system (control volume)
• A properly selected region in space.
• It usually encloses a device that involves mass
flow such as a compressor, turbine, or nozzle.
• Both mass and energy can cross the boundary
of a control volume.
• Control surface: the boundaries of a control
volume. It can be real or imaginary.

An open system (a control 34

volume) with one inlet and
one exit.
IMPORTANCE OF DIMENSIONS AND UNITS
• Any physical quantity can be characterized by
dimensions.
• The magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are
called units.
• Some basic dimensions such as mass m, length L,
time t, and temperature T are selected as primary
or fundamental dimensions, while others such as
velocity V, energy E, and volume 𝓥 are expressed
in terms of the primary dimensions and are called
secondary dimensions, or derived dimensions.
• Metric SI system: a simple and logical system
based on a decimal relationship between the
various units.
• English system: it has no apparent systematic
numerical base, and various units in this system are
related to each other rather arbitrarily.
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Dimensional homogeneity
All equations must be dimensionally homogeneous.

Unity conversion ratios

All nonprimary units (secondary units) can be formed by
combinations of primary units.
Force units, for example, can be expressed as

They can also be expressed more conveniently as unity

conversion ratios as

To be dimensionally
homogeneous, all the
Unity conversion ratios are identically equal to 1 and are terms in an equation
unitless, and thus such ratios (or their inverses) can be must have the same
inserted conveniently into any calculation to properly unit. 36
convert units.
Always check the units in your
37
calculations.
MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF ENGINEERING
PROBLEMS
Experimental vs. Analytical Analysis
An engineering device or process can be studied either experimentally (testing
and taking measurements) or analytically (by analysis or calculations).

The experimental approach has the advantage that we deal with the actual
physical system, and the desired quantity is determined by measurement,
within the limits of experimental error. However, this approach is expensive,
time-consuming, and often impractical.

The analytical approach (including the numerical approach) has the

advantage that it is fast and inexpensive, but the results obtained are subject
to the accuracy of the assumptions, approximations, and idealizations made in
the analysis. 38
Modeling in Engineering
Why do we need differential equations? The
descriptions of most scientific problems involve
equations that relate the changes in some key
variables to each other.
In the limiting case of infinitesimal or differential
changes in variables, we obtain differential
equations that provide precise mathematical
formulations for the physical principles and laws by
representing the rates of change as derivatives.
Therefore, differential equations are used to
investigate a wide variety of problems in sciences
and engineering.
Do we always need differential equations? Many
problems encountered in practice can be solved
without resorting to differential equations and the
complications associated with them.

Mathematical modeling of physical 39

problems.
 Complex model
(very accurate)
vs.
Simple model
(not-so-accurate)

Simplified models are often used in fluid

mechanics to obtain approximate
solutions to difficult engineering
problems.
Here, the helicopter's rotor is modeled
by a disk, across which is imposed a
sudden change in pressure. The
helicopter's body is modeled by a
simple ellipsoid. This simplified model
yields the essential features of the
overall air flow field in the vicinity of the
ground.

The right choice is usually the simplest

model that yields satisfactory results. 40
PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUE

• STEP 1: PROBLEM STATEMENT

• STEP 2: SCHEMATIC
• STEP 3: ASSUMPTIONS AND APPROXIMATIONS
• STEP 4: PROPERTIES
• STEP 5: ANALYSIS
• STEP 6: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

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ACCURACY, PRECISION, AND
SIGNIFICANT DIGITS
Accuracy error (inaccuracy): The value of one
reading minus the true value. In general, accuracy of
a set of measurements refers to the closeness of the
average reading to the true value. Accuracy is
generally associated with repeatable, fixed errors.
Precision error: The value of one reading minus the
average of readings. In general, precision of a set of
measurements refers to the fineness of the resolution
and the repeatability of the instrument. Precision is
generally associated with unrepeatable, random
errors.
Significant digits (or significant figures): Digits that are
relevant and meaningful.

Illustration of accuracy versus precision.

Shooter A is more precise, but less 42
accurate, while shooter B is more
accurate, but less precise.
A result with more significant digits than
that of given data falsely implies more
precision.

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 SUMMARY
• Physical science related to Fluid Mechanics
• Difference between solid, fluid and gas
• Application areas of Fluid Mechanics
• Method of describing fluid motion and flow patterns
• Classification of fluid flows
• Viscous versus inviscid regions of flow
• Internal versus external flow
• Compressible versus incompressible flow
• Laminar versus turbulent flow
• Steady versus unsteady flow
• Uniform versus non-uniform flow
• Rotational versus irrotational flow
• One-, two-, and three-dimensional flows
• System and control volume
• Importance of dimensions and units
• Mathematical modeling of engineering problems
• Problem solving technique 44

• Accuracy, precision and significant digits