ACADEMIA SUMMARIES

A First Course in Fluid Mechanics for

Engineers
The original paper contains 101 sections, with 10 passages identified by our machine learning
algorithms as central to this paper.

Paper Summary
SUMMARY PASSAGE 1

Physics Of Fluids
As mentioned before, viscosity affects the fluid flow by setting a velocity gradient proportional to the
shear stress applied on the fluid. For example consider a fluid trapped between two plates. If one
plate, say the top one, is pushed forward at the constant velocity U while holding the bottom plate
stationary all the time, the fluid start to move slowly.

SUMMARY PASSAGE 2

Venturi Meter
This is known as the venturi effect (named after the Italian physicist Giovanni Battista Venturi). By
measuring the pressure drop, the flow velocity can be determined. Since the pipe diameter is known,
the flowrate can easily be deduced.

SUMMARY PASSAGE 3

Basics Of Fluid Flow

The term , which gives the pressure due to fluid motion is called the dynamic pressure.

SUMMARY PASSAGE 4

Linear Momentum
Momentum is a vector quantity that has a magnitude and a direction. Flow moves mass fluid at a
given velocity. Therefore, fluids on motion carry the momentum with it.
SUMMARY PASSAGE 5

Laminar Flow In A Circular Pipe

An analysis similar to that of section 4.2 can be carried out for steady laminar flow in circular pipe.
Consider a pipe with internal diameter R in which a fluid flow at a constant flow rate giving a velocity
u. Using the definition of the shear stress, a second order differential equation for the velocity can be
derived.

SUMMARY PASSAGE 6

Viscous Flow In Pipes

If the expansion is considerably large, , giving the head loss to be one velocity head (L/D=50)
calculated using the mean velocity in the pipe.

SUMMARY PASSAGE 7

(B) Sudden Contraction

If A 1 >>A 2 , then the head loss becomes half a velocity head computed using the average velocity
in the smaller pipe.

SUMMARY PASSAGE 8

Pumping Of Liquids
As the cross sectional area increases pressure is gained at the expense of the kinetic energy. As a
result a higher pressure is realised at the outlet. The pressure it generated is called the pressure
head or simply the head.

SUMMARY PASSAGE 9

Pumping Of Liquids C) Calculating Head Losses

Total equivalent length of pipe line in terms of number of diameters is Therefore the total head loss is
Therefore the required pump head d) The power requirement calculation Download free eBooks at
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SUMMARY PASSAGE 10

Pumping Of Liquids
shows the pressure variation along the path of the fluid. The inlet (A) pressure (which, in reality is
suction) drops further due to the nozzle friction towards the impeller. The pressure drops to its
minimum in the vanes (C) as the fluid speeds up.