Lecture 1

Introduction &
Basic Concepts of
Fluid Mechanics
 What is Fluid?
(a) Solid: Arranged in a repetitive pattern; holds relatively fixed
positions.
(b) Liquid: Molecules can rotate and translate freely; groups of
molecules move about each
(c) Gas: Molecules are far apart from each other, and
molecular ordering is nonexistent; individual molecules move
about at random in the gas phase.
(a) (b) (c)
 What is Fluid?
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.

Macroscopic or classical approach:

Does not require a knowledge of the
behavior of individual molecules and
provides a direct and easy way to
analyze engineering problems.
Microscopic or statistical approach:
Based on the average behavior of large
groups of individual molecules.

On a microscopic scale, pressure is determined by the collision

interaction of individual gas molecules and a wall. However, we can
measure the pressure on a macroscopic scale with a pressure gage.
 What is Fluid?
Extending the visualization (sampling volume) from
individual molecular level to larger population of
molecules: Reduces uncertainty.

Sampling volume (control

volume) may be of different sizes

Knudsen number (Kn) =

Mean Free Path λ
=
Sampling length scale L
Kn < 0.01: Continuum flow
0.01 < Kn < 0.1: Slip flow
0.1 < Kn < 10: Transitional flow
Kn > 10: Free molecular flow

Continuum: The fluid medium and its macroscopic properties can be considered as a
continuous function (variable) in the domain (does not depend on the molecular discreteness)
In consideration with the Continuum
hypothesis for fluid medium…
The volume of the fluid element considered to apply the various
conservation (mass, momentum and energy) principles must be

(1) large enough to hold sufficient molecules such that molecular

fluctuations does not affect the average value of its properties,
yet

(2) small enough compared to the fluid body under consideration

such that the fluid element can essentially be modelled as a
point in the fluid body.
 Consider everything that follows is in the
What is Fluid? continuum (macroscopic) regime but it is
always helpful to remember the underlying
Definition of Stress: microscopic picture.

Consider a small area δA on surface of a

body. The force acting on this area is δF. δF
has two components, along the normal to the
area δFn and tangential to the area δFt.

When the forces are expressed in per unit

area, they become
What is Fluid? A solid can resist an applied shear
stress by deforming.
A fluid deforms continuously under
the influence of a shear stress, no
matter how small.
In solids, stress is proportional to
strain, but in fluids, stress is
proportional to strain rate.

Strain is defined as the change in a

dimension (length, area or volume) by
the original dimension.

Liquid and gases comprises fluids.

Unlike a liquid, a gas does not form a
free surface, and it expands to fill the
entire available space.
Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car) aerotak.dk/en/automotive

roadandtrack.co
m
www.youtube.com
Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
SpaceX
Falcon

https://tenor.com/
www.nas.nasa.gov

Safrangroup
www.youtube.com
 Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)

https://tenor.com/

https://profjord.se
Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)
 Sports balls

wikipedia.org

https://www.simscale.com/

computationalfluiddynamics.com.au
 Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles) https://tenor.com
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)
 Sports balls
 Power and Process plants

EDF Officiel
 Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)
 Sports balls
 Power and Process plants
 Natural phenomena

www.baamboozle.com

julialang.org

Comsol simulation https://gifer.com

Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)
 Sports balls
 Power and Process plants
 Natural phenomena
 Human body / Medical Sciences

Cardiovascular system (chick

embryonic heart): nature.com

Tian et al. Fluids 2021, 6, 73

https://tenor.com
Fluid mechanics is everywhere
Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in
cloud formation
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)
 Sports balls
 Power and Process plants
 Natural phenomena
 Human body / Medical Sciences
 Mixing and instability
www.globalweatherclimatecenter.com

https://tenor.com
Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)
 Sports balls
 Power and Process plants
 Natural phenomena
 Human body / Medical Sciences
 Mixing and instability
 Fluid-structure interaction

https://www.simscale.com (vortex shedding)

www.Youtube.com (CU Optimization)

 Fluid mechanics is everywhere
 Automobiles (standard car, sports car)
 Spacecrafts (airplane, rockets, missiles)
 Watercrafts (ships, boats)
 Sports balls
 Power and Process plants
 Natural phenomena
www.Youtube.com www.Youtube.com

 Human body / Medical Sciences

 Mixing and instability
 Fluid-structure interaction
 Fluid mechanics is beautiful
wired.co
m

octomoosey.tumblr.com
 Fluid mechanics is everywhere

Applications of real life fluid mechanics simulated using fluid flow governing equations
(https://gifer.com/en/EwyK)
Legends of Fluid Mechanics

 Evangelista Torricelli
 Blaise Pascal
 Isaac Newton
 Leonhard Euler
 Claude-Louis Navier
 Hermann von Helmholtz
 George Stokes
 Albert Einstein
 Ludwig Prandtl
 Daniel Bernoulli
 Osborne Reynolds
 G. I. Taylor
 System and Control Volume
Conservation laws (mass, momentum and energy) are
applied to a fluid element considering either control
mass or control volume systems (under continuum).
• 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 closed or open.

Closed system (Control mass):

A fixed amount of mass, and no
mass can cross its boundary.
 • 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 volume) with one
inlet and one exit.
 Some Definitions…
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.
Mechanical 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
the liquid moves to re-establish a at the surface of a fluid element.
horizontal free surface in presence of
gravity.
 Fluid Properties
• Density: Fluid element enclosing a point P has volume ΔV and a mass
Δm, then density (ρ) at P is given by (SI unit kg/m3)
Δ𝑚
So: ρ = lim ∗
Δ⩝→Δ⩝ Δ⩝
Gives a global average or errors Δ⩝∗Volume at which Kn is less than
due to molecular level uncertainties
or equal to 0.01 (continuum
hypothesis remains valid)

• Specific weight: Weight of the fluid per unit mass. It can be written as γ = ρg,
where g is acceleration due to gravity (in N/m3).
• Specific volume: Volume of a fluid per unit mass (ν = 1/ρ).
• Specific gravity: Ratio of the density of a fluid at actual conditions to the
density of a standard (defined) condition of a base fluid. For liquid, this
defined condition is of pure water at 101 kN/m2 pressure and 4oC temperature.
For gas, the condition is some specified state of hydrogen. Specific gravity is
dimensionless (or unitless).
Fluid Velocity and Viscosity
Consider a fluid is subjected to continuous deformation under
action of a tangential (shear) stress. This continuous deformation
constitutes a flow.

This tangential stress depends

on the velocity of deformation
and vanishes when the velocity
approaches zero.

Fluid velocity (v): Motion of a fluid element is described by its velocity.

Velocity of all elements in the fluid constitutes its velocity field or fluid
velocity and it is a function of time (t) and position (x).
Continuous deformation in a flow occurs when there is a relative motion
of fluid particles.
 Fluid Velocity and Viscosity
• Viscosity: Viscosity is a fluid property, but its effect is realized when
the fluid is in motion. The relationship between the shear stress and
velocity field (or continuous deformation) describes fluid viscosity (and
was proposed by Sir Issac Newton).
If F acts over an area of contact A, then the shear stress τ is defined
as τ = F/A. According to Newton,

The ratio du/dy is called deformation

rate (or velocity gradient). Newtonian F
(water, air, Mercury) flow the above
linear relationship. For non-Newtonian F
fluids (paints, blood, toothpaste), the
above form is not valid.
 Molecular Resolution: Viscosity
Viscosity is a strong function of temperature but not of pressure. For
liquids, viscosity decreases with increase in temperature, for gases
viscosity increases with increase in temperature.

Viscosity is the result of inter-

molecular forces of cohesion.
Higher temperature reduces
such inter-molecular cohesion
Liquid motion resulting in decrease in
viscosity
Gas motion

Viscosity is the result of inter-molecular collision

(momentum exchange). Higher temperature results in
faster molecular movement, i.e., a greater number of
collisions, hence, increase in viscosity.
 Ideal Fluids
Hypothetical fluids having zero viscosity are called ideal fluids, and the
resulting motion of such fluids are called ideal or inviscid flow. Real
fluids always have viscosity > 0. Very high velocity flows away from any
surface may closely mimic inviscid flows.

Kinematic viscosity
Kinematic viscosity is the ratio of the dynamic viscosity (μ) to the fluid
density (ρ). It has a unit of m2/s.\

The dynamic viscosity (𝜇) signifies the characteristic of fluid to

transport any disturbance in momentum into the fluid.
The density (𝜌) represents inertia of a fluid and has the capability to
preserve the momentum of the fluid.
So kinematic viscosity is a relative measure of the disturbance in
momentum propagated to the momentum preserved.
 No-slip condition

A fluid flowing over a stationary surface

comes to a complete stop at the surface
because of the no-slip condition.
The development of a velocity profile
due to the no-slip condition as a fluid Boundary layer: The flow
flows over a blunt nose. region adjacent to the wall
in which the viscous
effects (and thus the
velocity gradients) are
significant.

Flow separation during flow over a curved surface.

 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.
Dimensions and Units

ALL EQUATIONS MUST BE

DIMENSIONALLY HOMOGENEOUS.
Basic Definitions
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 referred to as fluid dynamics by
considering fluids at rest as a special case of motion with zero velocity.

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Basic Definitions

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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