CHAPTER 2

MOMENTUM TRANSPORT AND LAMINAR FLOW OF

NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

2 Momentum Transport and Laminar Flow of Newtonian Fluids 30

2.1 Introduction 30
2.2 Newton’s Law of Viscosity 32
2.3 Conservation of Momentum in Steady-State Flow 36
2.4 Fluid Flow Between Two Flat Parallel Plates 40
2.5 Fluid Flow down in Inclined Plane 48
2.6 Fluid Flow in a Vertical Cylindrical Tube 53
2.7 Capillary Flowmeter 65
2.8 Fluid Flow in an Annulus 69
2.9 Mean Residence Time 76
2.10 Calculation of Viscosity from the Kinetic Theory of Gases 78
2.11 Viscosities of Liquid Metals 90
2.12 Summary 96
Problems 98
Treatment of the flow of the fluid in a duct or conduit requires considerations of:

1. The geometry of the duct or conduit (length, diameter, inclination of the pipe or
the tube)
2. Magnitude of the force causing the flow
3. Physical properties of the fluid.

In fluid flow:
 Density
 Viscosity are important properties.

 Example: molasses vs water

Greater suction is required to drink molasses through a straw it is denser
and more viscous.
 The nature of the fluid flow is also critically dependent on the magnitude of the applied force
responsible for the flow. The force has a direct influence on the velocity of the flow.
There is a critical velocity below which the flow is laminar and above which it is turbulent.

Imagine a transparent pipe with water flowing through it; several threadlike streams of dye are
injected parallel to the path of the water's flow.

At sufficiently small velocities of water, the dye will flow in parallel, straight lines.
When the velocity is increased, a point is reached at which the entire mass of water becomes
colored. In other words, hypothetical individual particles of liquid, instead of flowing in an
orderly manner parallel to the long axis of the pipe, flow in an erratic manner so as to cause
complete mixing of the dye and water.
 We can most easily visualize the fact that there are two distinctly different types of fluid flow
by referring to an experiment performed by Reynolds in 1883.

He established a criterion for the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. It is a

dimensionless quantity.

In a consistent set of units, the parameter is dimensionless, and is called the Reynolds number (Re).
The value of Re at which transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs is approximately 2100 in the
usual engineering applications of flow in pipes.

D is the pipe diameter which is the characteristic length

n is the average velocity of the fluid
 İs the density of the fluid
 İs the viscoity of the fluid
 1. Increasing the diameter of the tube decreases the average velocity at which the transition occurs
2. Increasing the flow velocity decreases the maximum pipe diameter in which laminar flow occurs.

For flow of a fluid at a given velocity in a pipe of a given diameter, the velocity at which the transition occurs is
proportional to the viscosity of the fluid and inversely proportional to the density of the fluid.

v=[(Re)]/(D)
Laminar flow follows fundamental physics and quantities such as the average flow velocity can be calculated
from the first principles. In physics, a calculation is said to be from first principles if it starts directly at the
level of established laws of physics and does not make assumptions such as empirical model and fitting
parameters.

However the average velocity in turbulent flow requires the use of correlations obtained from experimental
observations, so before any flow calculations, it is necessary to determine whther the flow is laminar or
turbulent. The value of the Re at which the transition occurs in any flow geometry has to be determined
experimentally.

In this chapter we will talk about LAMINAR FLOW:

NEWTON’S LAW OF VISCOSITY

Consider Figure 2.2. The fluid is contained between two horizontal flat plates separated by a
distance Y. If the lower plate is stationary and a force of magnitude F is applied to the upper plate
in the x direction, that plate will accelerate. So there a shear force will set between the plate and
the fluid. This shear stress will oppose the motion of the plate. A steady state is reached when F
is balanced by the shear force. In the steady state the velocity of the upper plate is constant.

At steady state Newton found out that

 No slippage occurs at the interface between fluids and the surface of the solid so the fluid adjacent
to the plates will have the same velocity as the plates themselves. The upper plate is moving with
velocity V and hence the fluid adjacent to the upper plate moves with a velocity V, while that
adjacent to the lower plate has null velocity.

 No-slip causes the development of velocity gradient in the y direction ; differential form as dvx/dy

 The force system as described is pure shear, and the force per unit area (F/A) is the shear stress.
 At steady state, when the velocity profile is linear, V/Y
exactly equals the constant velocity gradient dvx/dy and
the shear stress yx between any two thin layers of fluid
may be expressed as

Newton’s Law of Viscosity

The proportionality constant is the viscosity 

Fluids that obey Newton’s law are called Newtonian Fluids and fluids that exhibit a nonlinear
relationship between the shear stress and the velocity gradient are called non-Newtonian fluids.
 Gasses, simple organic and aqueous liquids and liquid metals - Newtonian behavior
 Complex fluids such as polymeric solutions and pastes – Non-Newtonian behavior.
 Equation may alternatively be interpreted in terms of momentum transport.
Picture the fluid as a series of thin layers parallel to the plates.
y
velocity x momentum transfer

 By the shearing action each layer causes the layer directly above it to move.

 Thus momentum is transported in the y direction. The subscripts of yx refer to this
direction of momentum transport (y) and the velocity component being considered
(x-direction).

 The rate of transport of momentum per unit area in the y direction due to the fluid
motion in the x direction is equal to the shear stress denoted yx. If the momentum is
transported in the x direction due to the motion in the y direction, the notation is xy
  In figure 2.3 b the velocity gradient dvx/dy is positive and as the direction of the momentum
transport is from the region of higher vx to the lower vx, the rate of momentum transport is
negative.

 MOMENTUM TRANSPORT IS DOWN THE VELOCITY GRADIENT : Velocity gradient is the driving
for the momentum transport

As the rate of transport of momentum in the y direction due to the fluid motion in the x direction is equal to
the shear stress. Denoted as τyx.
 Newton’s law of viscosity for the fluid flow in the x direction is written as

Example 2.1 is solved in class

Example 2.1

Two plates spaced 0.005 cm apart are separated by a lubricating oil of viscosity 0.2 Pa.s.
If the lower plate is stationary and the upper plate moves with a velocity of 0.5 m/s, calculate the shear stress
required to keep the upper plate in motion?
Conservation of momentum in Steady State Flow