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Fluid properties & units

Density
Density (ρ) is defined as mass per unit volume, 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔
𝑓𝑡 3
Specific Weight
𝑙𝑏
Specific weight (𝛾) is defined as weight per unit volume,
𝑓𝑡 3

Density and specific weight are related by

Specific Volume
Specific volume (SV) is the volume occupied by a unit mass of fluid.
Specific Gravity
Specific gravity (SG) of a given fluid is defined as the specific weight of the fluid
divided by the specific weight of water,

Example 1
Air at 20°C and atmospheric pressure has a density of 1.23 kg/m3. Find its specific
gravity. What is the ratio of the specific gravity of water to the specific gravity of air at
20°C and atmospheric pressure? What is the significance of the ratio?
𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 1.23 kg /𝑚3 @ 20𝑜 C 𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 1000 kg /𝑚3 𝜌
𝑆𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝑆𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑟 =?
𝑆𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑟 =1.23× 10−3 𝑆𝐺𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 =1
𝑆𝐺𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
=? 𝑆𝐺𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝑆𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑟 =813 Water is 813 times heavier than air
𝑆𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑟

Example 2
The specific weight of oil mixture at ordinary pressure and temperature is 9.81 kN/m3.
The specific gravity of mercury is 13.56. Compute the density of oil mixture and the
specific weight and density of mercury.
𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 =𝜌𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 g 9.81
𝜌𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 = = 1000 kg /𝑚3
9.81
𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 =9.81 kN/𝑚3
𝜌𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝜌𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝛾𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝛾𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦
𝑆. 𝐺𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 =13.56 𝑆. 𝐺𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 = = = 13.56=
𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝜌𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 9.81
𝜌𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 =? 𝛾𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦
𝛾𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 =? 𝛾𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 = 133.024 kN/𝑚3 𝜌𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 =
𝑔
𝜌𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 =? 𝜌𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑦 = 13560 kg /𝑚3

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Pressure
Pressure is defined as force per unit area. 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝐹
𝑝= =
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝐴

The pressure developed at the bottom of a column of any liquid is called hydrostatic
pressure and is given by
𝑝 = 𝜌𝑔𝑕
where P is the hydrostatic pressure or the pressure at the bottom of liquid column in
Pascal or 𝑁/𝑚2 , 𝜌is the density of liquid in kg/𝑚3 , g is the acceleration due to
gravity in m/𝑠 2 and h is the level of the column of liquid in meters.

Observing the equation, it can be concluded that pressure does not depend on the
cross sectional area of the liquid column but only on the column height and specific
weight of the liquid.

absolute and gauge pressure

Absolute pressure = Gauge pressure + Atmospheric pressure

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Example
For the fluid power automobile lift system, the hydraulic piston has a 250-mm diameter.
How much of oil pressure (kPa) is required to lift a 13300 N automobile?

Solution

F = 13300 N, diameter (d) = 0.25 m

area (A) = 0.0491 𝑚2 . The pressure is
𝐹 13300
P= = = 270.876 kPa
𝐴 0.0491

Bulk Modulus (Volume Modulus of Elasticity)

Bulk modulus is a measure of the compressibility of a liquid and is required when it is
desired to calculate oil volume changes for high pressure and large system volumes
such as forging pressures.
−∆𝑝
𝐵=
∆𝑣/𝑣

where ΔP is the change in pressure, ΔV is the change in volume and V is the original
volume.

Example 1
A 500 𝑐𝑚3 sample of oil is to be compressed in a cylinder until its pressure is increased
from 1 to 50 atm. If the bulk modulus of oil equals 1750 MPa, find the percentage
change in its volume.
Given volume (V) = 500 𝑐𝑚3 , 𝑝1 =1 atm, 𝑝2 = 50 atm and B =1750 MPa .
−∆𝑝 ∆𝑣 −∆𝑝 −49 × 1.013 ×100000
∴𝐵= = = 1750×1000000
∆𝑣/𝑣 𝑣 𝐵

Reduction in volume = −0.2836 %, which implies that oil is incompressible

Example 2
A positive displacement pump with a delivery of 1 L/min is fed into a pipe with a total
volume of 1 L. If the end of the pipe is suddenly blocked, calculate the rise in pressure
after 1 s. (The bulk modulus of the fluid being pumped may be taken as 2000 MPa;
neglect any change in the volume of the pipe.)

−∆𝑝 1
∴𝐵= ∆𝑣= pump flow in one sec= 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟
∆𝑣/𝑣 60

1
∆𝑝= - B ∆𝑣/𝑣 = - 2000 × ∆𝑝= - 33.3 𝑀𝑃𝑎
60

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Reynolds Number
It is a dimensionless number referred to as a compressible or incompressible fluid
flow, and is defined by ratio of inertia force to viscous force.
𝜌𝑉𝐷
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇
where ρ is the density (kg/𝑚3 ), v is the velocity of fluid (m/s), D is the diameter of
the pipe (m) and µ is the absolute or dynamic viscosity
Based on the range of Reynolds number, the flow of fluid is classified as
a. Laminar flow: b. Turbulent flow:
 The flow is characterized by the  the flow is characterized by the
smooth motion. random motion of the fluid particles.
 There is no mixing of adjacent fluid  There is considerable mixing of
layers for the flow in the laminar adjacent fluid layers.
regimes.  the Reynolds number is greater than
 The Reynolds number is less than 4000.
2000.

Viscosity
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its
resistance to shear or angular deformation.

As the temperature increases, the

viscosities of all liquids decrease,
whereas the viscosities of all gases
increase. This is because of the force of
cohesion.

Consider two parallel plates, a small distance Y apart, with fluid filling the space in
between. The lower plate is stationary whereas the upper one moves parallel to it with
a velocity U due to a force F corresponding to some area A of the moving plate.

Newton’s equation of viscosity

𝐴𝑈 𝐴𝑈
𝐹∝ 𝐹=𝜇
𝑌 𝑌
𝐹 𝑈 𝑑𝑢
𝜏= =𝜇 𝜏=𝜇
𝐴 𝑌 𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝜏
𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝜇= kg/m/sec
𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑢/𝑑𝑦

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Example
A 4.5 N force moves a piston inside a cylinder at a velocity of 3 m/s as shown. The piston
of 10.16 cm diameter is centrally located in the cylinder having an internal diameter of
10.17 cm. An oil film separates the piston from the cylinder. Find the absolute viscosity of
the oil.

𝑑𝑢 𝐹 𝑣
𝜏=𝜇 For small gaps, =𝜇
𝑑𝑦 𝐴 𝑦
𝐷−𝑑
𝐴=𝜋𝑑𝐿 = 𝜋 × 0.1016 ×0.05= 0.016 𝑚2 𝑦= = 0.005 cm =5× 10−5 m
2

4.5 5×10−5
𝜇= 𝜇=4.7 × 10−3 kg/m/sec
0.016 3