D3C Fluid Mechanics

By
F.D. Mwale (PhD)
Department of Civil Engineering
Introduction

There are three common states of matter: solids, liquids
and gasses.
Fluid mechanics is a subject that studies the behavior of
fluids (liquids + gasses)
A fluid is a substance that deforms continuously under
the application of shear stress.
In Civil Engineering, water is the prime subject of study.
Fluid mechanics is divided into two branches:
Fluid Statics (hydrostatics) - the study of fluids at rest
Fluid Dynamics – the study of fluids in motion
Fluid Properties
Irrespective of whether the fluid is at rest or in motion,
fluids have some basic properties.
Density (ρ)
The density of a fluid is its mass per unit volume.
units: kg/m3
 typical values:
Specific weight (w)
Specific weight is the weight of fluid per unit volume.
w = ρg where g is the gravitational acceleration. Unit of
specific weight in N/m3
Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Specific volume (ν):
Specific volume of a fluid is the volume occupied by unit
mass of fluid.
 ν =1/ρ
Specific volume has the unit of m3/kg.

Relative density (Specific gravity) (γ )

For liquids, it is the ratio of density of a liquid at actual
conditions to the density of pure water at 4 °C under
atmospheric pressure.
Typical values: water = 1, mercury = 13.5, paraffin oil = 0.8
Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Viscosity (µ)
 This is resistance of a fluid to shear deformation
The more viscous the fluid, the thicker it is and the slower
it deforms under stress.
 Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Consider a liquid
sandwiched between two
large horizontal plates as
shown in the diagram.
The bottom plate (area A) is
fixed while the top plate
(also area A) is free to move
in response to the applied
tangential force F.
Fluid particles adhere to
the plates.
Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Hence velocity at the fixed plate is zero and at the
moving plate is U resulting in a velocity profile.
Between the plates, the velocity of each horizontal
filament of the liquid depends on the distance above the
fixed bottom plate.
This was Newton’s experiment and he found that F was
directly proportional to A and U but inversely
proportional to Y. i.e. F α AV/Y
τ = F/A = shear stress between layers
Therefore τ α V/Y
Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Thus shear stress is proportional to the rate of shear
deformation which is also the slope of the velocity profile
(velocity gradient)
Introducing μ, the coefficient of viscosity or absolute
viscosity or dynamic viscosity, or simply viscosity
F V du
   
A Y dy
This is Newton’s Law of viscosity
Fluids that follow the above relation are called
Newtonian fluids and those where μ is not constant are
called Non-Newtonian fluids
Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Typical values of dynamic viscosity

Sometimes it is convenient to use kinematic viscosity

other than dynamic viscosity.
kinematic viscosity (ν) is resistance to shear deformation
when the fluid is flowing under the influence of gravity.
ν = μ/ρ. Typical values
Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Viscosity in gases
A temperature increase increases

Viscosity in liquids
An increase in temperature reduces viscosity
Fluid Properties (cont’d)
Compressibility:
All fluids are compressible under the application of an
external force namely, the normal compressive force
The degree of compressibility
of a substance is
characterized by the bulk modules of elasticity (K).
K = Δ P/Δv/V = Δ P/Δρ/ρ where Δv, ΔP and Δρ are the
changes in volume , pressure and density respectively . V
and ρ are the initial volume and density respectively.
Values of K in liquids are very high as compared with those
of gases.
For most practical purposes, liquids are usually treated
as incompressible.
Exercise
Differentiate between solids and fluids
Differentiate between gasses and liquids
Explain the cause of viscosity in fluids
Discuss the effect of temperature and pressure on
viscosity in fluids
Differenciate between ideal and real fluids