Fluid Mechanics - Part 1
Fluid Mechanics - Part 1
Fluid Mechanics - Part 1
Fluid Mechanics
CIVE 2400 - 2nd year Fluid Mechanics
(Given by Dr Goodwill)
o Homework:
Example sheets: These will be given for each section of the
course. Doing these will greatly improve your exam mark.
They are course work but do not have credits toward the
module.
Lecture notes: Theses should be studied but explain only the
basic outline of the necessary concepts and ideas.
Books: It is very important do some extra reading in this
subject. To do the examples you will definitely need a text
book. Any one of those identified below is adequate and will
also be useful for the fluids courses in higher years.
Example classes:
There will be example classes each week. You may
bring any problems/questions you have about the course
and example sheets to these classes.
1. Specific Elements:
o Introduction
o Fluid Properties
Fluids vs. Solids
Viscosity
Newtonian Fluids
Properties of Fluids
o Statics
Hydrostatic pressure
Manometry / pressure measurement
Hydrostatic forces on submerged surfaces
o Dynamics
The continuity equation.
The Bernoulli Equation.
Applications of the Bernoulli equation.
The momentum equation.
Application of the momentum equation.
o Real Fluids
Boundary layer.
Laminar flow in pipes.
o Introduction to dimensional analysis
Dimensional analysis
Similarity
2. Books:
Any of the book listed below are more than adequate for this module.
(You will probably not need any more fluid mechanics books on the rest of the
Civil Engineering course)
The lecture notes you are reading can be found on the WWW at he following
address:
http://www.efm.leeds.ac.uk/CIVE
These notes give more information than is found in the lectures although they
must also be read along with other fluid mechanics books. They may be read
on line or printed off for personal use.
And some examples where the primary object is construction - yet analysis of
the fluid mechanics is essential:
Notice how nearly all of these involve water. The following course, although
introducing general fluid flow ideas and principles, will demonstrate many of
these principles through examples where the fluid is water.
5. System of units
To avoid any confusion on this course we will always used the SI (metric)
system - which you will already be familiar with. It is essential that all
quantities be expressed in the same system or the wrong solution will results.
Despite this warning you will still find that that this is the most common
mistake when you attempt example questions.
The SI system consists of six primary units, from which all quantities may be
described. For convenience secondary units are used in general practise which
are made from combinations of these primary units.
Primary Units
The six primary units of the SI system are shown in the table below:
In fluid mechanics we are generally only interested in the top four units from
this table.
Notice how the term 'Dimension' of a unit has been introduced in this table.
This is not a property of the individual units, rather it tells what the unit
represents. For example a metre is a length which has a dimension L but also,
an inch, a mile or a kilometre are all lengths so have dimension of L.
(The above notation uses the MLT system of dimensions, there are other ways
of writing dimensions - we will see more about this in the section of the course
on dimensional analysis.)
Derived Units
There are many derived units all obtained from combination of the above
primary units. Those most used are shown in the table below:
The above units should be used at all times. Values in other units should NOT
be used without first converting them into the appropriate SI unit. If you do
not know what a particular unit means find out, else your guess will probably
be wrong.
One very useful tip is to write down the units of any equation you are using. If
at the end the units do not match you know you have made a mistake. For
example is you have at the end of a calculation,
30 kg/m s = 30 m
you have certainly made a mistake - checking the units can often help find the
mistake.
More on this subject will be seen later in the section on dimensional analysis
and similarity.
A water company wants to check that it will have sufficient water if there is a
prolonged drought in the area. The region it covers is 500 square miles and the
following consumption figures have been sent in by various different offices. There is
sufficient information to calculate the amount of water available, but unfortunately it
is in several different units.
Of the total area 100 000 acres is rural land and the rest urban. The density of the
urban population is50 per square kilometre. The average toilet cistern is sized 200mm
by 15in by 0.3m and on average each person uses this 3 time per day. The density of
the rural population is 5 per square mile. Baths are taken twice a week by each person
with the average volume of water in the bath being 6 gallons. Local industry uses
1000 m3 per week. Other uses are estimated as 5 gallons per person per day. A US air
base in the region has given water use figures of 50 US gallons per person per day.
The average rain fall in 1in per month (28 days). In the urban area all of this goes to
the river while in the rural area 10% goes to the river, 85% is lost (to the aquifer) and
the rest goes to the one reservoir which supplies the region. This reservoir has an
average surface area of 500 acres and is at a depth of 10 fathoms. 10% of this volume
can be used in a month.
There are two aspects of fluid mechanics which make it different to solid
mechanics:
We normally recognise three states of matter: solid; liquid and gas. However,
liquid and gas are both fluids: in contrast to solids they lack the ability to resist
deformation. Because a fluid cannot resist the deformation force, it moves, it
flows under the action of the force. Its shape will change continuously as long
as the force is applied. A solid can resist a deformation force while at rest, this
force may cause some displacement but the solid does not continue to move
indefinitely.
and conversely this definition implies the very important point that:
When a fluid is in motion shear stresses are developed if the particles of the
fluid move relative to one another. When this happens adjacent particles have
different velocities. If fluid velocity is the same at every point then there is no
shear stress produced: the particles have zero relative velocity.
Consider the flow in a pipe in which water is flowing. At the pipe wall the
velocity of the water will be zero. The velocity will increase as we move
toward the centre of the pipe. This change in velocity across the direction of
flow is known as velocity profile and shown graphically in the figure below:
Because particles of fluid next to each other are moving with different
velocities there are shear forces in the moving fluid i.e. shear forces are
normally present in a moving fluid. On the other hand, if a fluid is a long way
from the boundary and all the particles are travelling with the same velocity,
the velocity profile would look something like this:
Velocity profile in uniform flow
and there will be no shear forces present as all particles have zero relative
velocity. In practice we are concerned with flow past solid boundaries;
aeroplanes, cars, pipe walls, river channels etc. and shear forces will be
present.
The shearing force F acts on the area on the top of the element. This area is
given by . We can thus calculate the shear stress which is equal to
force per unit area i.e.
The deformation which this shear stress causes is measured by the size of the
angle and is know as shear strain.
In a solid shear strain, , is constant for a fixed shear stress .
In a fluid increases for as long as is applied - the fluid flows.
It has been found experimentally that the rate of shear stress (shear stress per
unit time, /time) is directly proportional to the shear stress.
If the particle at point E (in the above figure) moves under the shear stress to
point E' and it takes time t to get there, it has moved the distance x. For small
deformations we can write
shear strain
Using the experimental result that shear stress is proportional to rate of shear
strain then
The term is the change in velocity with y, or the velocity gradient, and may
As you will have seen when looking at properties of solids, when the elastic
limit is reached they seem to flow. They become plastic. They still do not
meet the definition of true fluids as they will only flow after a certain
minimum shear stress is attained.
Even among fluids which are accepted as fluids there can be wide differences
in behaviour under stress. Fluids obeying Newton's law where the value of is
constant are known as Newtonian fluids. If is constant the shear stress is
linearly dependent on velocity gradient. This is true for most common fluids.
Below are brief description of the physical properties of the several categories:
Although liquids and gasses behave in much the same way and share many
similar characteristics, they also possess distinct characteristics of their own.
Specifically
Viscosity will also change with pressure - but under normal conditions
this change is negligible in gasses.
2. Viscosity in Liquids
Properties of Fluids
The properties outlines below are general properties of fluids which are of interest in
engineering. The symbol usually used to represent the property is specified together
with some typical values in SI units for common fluids. Values under specific
conditions (temperature, pressure etc.) can be readily found in many reference books.
The dimensions of each unit is also give in the MLT system (see later in the section
on dimensional analysis for more details about dimensions.)
1. Density
1. Mass Density
Dimensions:
Typical values:
2. Specific Weight
Dimensions: .
Typical values:
3. Relative Density
For solids and liquids this standard mass density is the maximum mass
density for water (which occurs at c) at atmospheric pressure.
Dimensions: 1.
2. Viscosity
All fluids are viscous, "Newtonian Fluids" obey the linear relationship
given by Newton's law of viscosity. , which we saw earlier.
Units ;
Dimensions .
Units: ,
Dimensions
Typical values:
2. Kinematic Viscosity
Kinematic Viscosity, , is defined as the ratio of dynamic viscosity to
mass density.
Dimensions: .
Typical values:
2. The density of an oil is 850 kg/m3. Find its relative density and
Kinematic viscosity if the dynamic viscosity is 5 x 10-3 kg/ms.
[0.85, 1.47 x10-6 m2/s]
3. The velocity distribution of a viscous liquid (dynamic viscosity = 0.9
Ns/m2) flowing over a fixed plate is given by u = 0.68y - y2 (u is
velocity in m/s and y is the distance from the plate in m).
What are the shear stresses at the plate surface and at y=0.34m?
[0.612 N/m2, 0]
4. 5.6m3 of oil weighs 46 800 N. Find its mass density, and relative
density, .
[852 kg/m3, 0.852]
5. From table of fluid properties the viscosity of water is given as
0.01008 poises.
What is this value in Ns/m2 and Pa s units?
[0.001008 Ns/m2]
6. In a fluid the velocity measured at a distance of 75mm from the
boundary is 1.125m/s. The fluid has absolute viscosity 0.048 Pa s and
relative density 0.913. What is the velocity gradient and shear stress at
the boundary assuming a linear velocity distribution.
[15 s-1, 0.720 Pa]
where is the viscosity. So viscosity is the gradient of a graph of shear stress against
vellocity gradient of the above data, or
2. The density of an oil is 850 kg/m3. Find its relative density and
Kinematic viscosity if the dynamic viscosity is 5 10-3 kg/ms.
Kinematic viscosity = = /
3. The velocity distribution of a viscous liquid (dynamic viscosity = 0.9
Ns/m2) flowing over a fixed plate is given by u = 0.68y - y2 (u is
velocity in m/s and y is the distance from the plate in m).
What are the shear stresses at the plate surface and at y=0.34m?
At y = 0.34m,
As the velocity gradient is zero at y=0.34 then the shear stress must also be
zero.
4. 5.6m3 of oil weighs 46 800 N. Find its mass density, and relative
density, .
Weight 46 800 = mg
Relative density
5. From table of fluid properties the viscosity of water is given as
0.01008 poises.
What is this value in Ns/m2 and Pa s units?
= 0.01008 poise
= 0.048 Pa s
= 0.913
Objectives
This understanding of pressure will then be used to demonstrate methods of pressure measurement that
will be useful later with fluid in motion and also to analyse the forces on submerges surface/structures.
1. Fluids statics
The general rules of statics (as applied in solid mechanics) apply to fluids at rest. From earlier we know
that:
a static fluid can have no shearing force acting on it, and that
any force between the fluid and the boundary must be acting at right angles to the
boundary.
Note that this statement is also true for curved surfaces, in this case the force acting at any point is
normal to the surface at that point. The statement is also true for any imaginary plane in a static fluid.
We use this fact in our analysis by considering elements of fluid bounded by imaginary planes.
For an element of fluid at rest, the element will be in equilibrium - the sum of the
components of forces in any direction will be zero.
The sum of the moments of forces on the element about any point must also be zero.
It is common to test equilibrium by resolving forces along three mutually perpendicular axes and also
by taking moments in three mutually perpendicular planes an to equate these to zero.
2. Pressure
As mentioned above a fluid will exert a normal force on any boundary it is in contact with. Since these
boundaries may be large and the force may differ from place to place it is convenient to work in terms
of pressure, p, which is the force per unit area.
If the force exerted on each unit area of a boundary is the same, the pressure is said to be uniform.
Dimensions: .
By considering a small element of fluid in the form of a triangular prism which contains a point P, we
can establish a relationship between the three pressures p x in the x direction, py in the y direction and ps
in the direction normal to the sloping face.
The fluid is a rest, so we know there are no shearing forces, and we know that all force are acting at
right angles to the surfaces .i.e.
And, as the fluid is at rest, in equilibrium, the sum of the forces in any direction is zero.
Force due to ,
( )
The element is small i.e. , and are small, and so is very small and considered
negligible, hence
thus
Considering the prismatic element again, is the pressure on a plane at any angle , the x, y and z
directions could be any orientation. The element is so small that it can be considered a point so the
derived expression . indicates that pressure at any point is the same in all directions.
(The proof may be extended to include the z axis).
In the above figure we can see an element of fluid which is a vertical column of constant cross
sectional area, A, surrounded by the same fluid of mass density . The pressure at the bottom of the
cylinder is at level , and at the top is at level . The fluid is at rest and in equilibrium so all
the forces in the vertical direction sum to zero. i.e. we have
The fluid is at equilibrium so the sum of the forces acting in the x direction is zero.
This result is the same for any continuous fluid. It is still true for two connected tanks which appear not
to have any direct connection, for example consider the tank in the figure below.
We have shown above that and from the equation for a vertical pressure change we have
and
so
This shows that the pressures at the two equal levels, P and Q are the same.
Consider the cylindrical element of fluid in the figure above, inclined at an angle to the vertical,
length , cross-sectional area A in a static fluid of mass density . The pressure at the end with
height is and at the end of height is .
There are also forces from the surrounding fluid acting normal to these sides of the element.
For equilibrium of the element the resultant of forces in any direction is zero.
Resolving the forces in the direction along the central axis gives
In a static fluid of constant density we have the relationship , as shown above. This can be
integrated to give
In a liquid with a free surface the pressure at any depth z measured from the free surface so that z = -h
(see the figure below)
Fluid head measurement in a tank.
At the surface of fluids we are normally concerned with, the pressure is the atmospheric pressure,
. So
As we live constantly under the pressure of the atmosphere, and everything else exists under this
pressure, it is convenient (and often done) to take atmospheric pressure as the datum. So we quote
pressure as above or below atmospheric.
Gauge pressure is
The lower limit of any pressure is zero - that is the pressure in a perfect vacuum. Pressure measured
above this datum is known as absolute pressure i.e.
Absolute pressure is
As g is (approximately) constant, the gauge pressure can be given by stating the vertical height of any
fluid of density which is equal to this pressure.
Example:
. Using ,
Objective:
To demonstrate the analysis and use of various types of manometers for pressure
measurement.
This method can only be used for liquids (i.e. not for gases) and only when the liquid height is
convenient to measure. It must not be too small or too large and pressure changes must be detectable.
A "U"-Tube manometer
Pressure in a continuous static fluid is the same at any horizontal level so,
If the fluid being measured is a gas, the density will probably be very low in comparison to the density
of the manometric fluid i.e. man >> . In this case the term can be neglected, and the gauge
pressure give by
Again, if the fluid whose pressure difference is being measured is a gas and , then the
terms involving can be neglected, so
4. Advances to the "U" tube manometer.
The "U"-tube manometer has the disadvantage that the change in height of the liquid in both sides must
be read. This can be avoided by making the diameter of one side very large compared to the other. In
this case the side with the large area moves very little when the small area side move considerably
more.
Assume the manometer is arranged as above to measure the pressure difference of a gas of (negligible
density) and that pressure difference is . If the datum line indicates the level of the
manometric fluid when the pressure difference is zero and the height differences when pressure is
applied is as shown, the volume of liquid transferred from the left side to the right
We know from the theory of the "U" tube manometer that the height different in the two columns gives
the pressure difference so
If the pressure to be measured is very small then tilting the arm provides a convenient way of obtaining
a larger (more easily read) movement of the manometer. The above arrangement with a tilted arm is
shown in the figure below.
Tilted manometer.
The pressure difference is still given by the height change of the manometric fluid but by placing the
scale along the line of the tilted arm and taking this reading large movements will be observed. The
pressure difference is then given by
The sensitivity to pressure change can be increased further by a greater inclination of the manometer
arm, alternatively the density of the manometric fluid may be changed.
5. Choice Of Manometer
Care must be taken when attaching the manometer to vessel, no burrs must be present around this joint.
Burrs would alter the flow causing local pressure variations to affect the measurement.
Slow response - only really useful for very slowly varying pressures - no use at all for
fluctuating pressures;
For the "U" tube manometer two measurements must be taken simultaneously to get
the h value. This may be avoided by using a tube with a much larger cross-sectional
area on one side of the manometer than the other;
It is often difficult to measure small variations in pressure - a different manometric
fluid may be required - alternatively a sloping manometer may be employed; It
cannot be used for very large pressures unless several manometers are connected in
series;
For very accurate work the temperature and relationship between temperature and
must be known;
Objectives:
We will use these to analyse and obtain expressions for the forces on submerged surfaces. In doing this
it should also be clear the difference between:
Pressure which is a scalar quantity whose value is equal in all directions and,
Force, which is a vector quantity having both magnitude and direction.
Since the fluid is at rest the force will act at right-angles to the surface.
Consider the plane surface shown in the figure below. The total area is made up of many elemental
areas. The force on each elemental area is always normal to the surface but, in general, each force is of
different magnitude as the pressure usually varies.
We can find the total or resultant force, R, on the plane by summing up all of the forces on the small
elements i.e.
This resultant force will act through the centre of pressure, hence we can say
If the surface is a plane the force can be represented by one single resultant force,
acting at right-angles to the plane through the centre of pressure.
For a horizontal plane submerged in a liquid (or a plane experiencing uniform pressure over its
surface), the pressure, p, will be equal at all points of the surface. Thus the resultant force will be given
by
If the surface is curved, each elemental force will be a different magnitude and in different direction
but still normal to the surface of that element. The resultant force can be found by resolving all forces
into orthogonal co-ordinate directions to obtain its magnitude and direction. This will always be less
The resultant force can be found by summing all of these forces i.e.
The term is known as the 1st Moment of Area of the plane PQ about the free surface. It is
equal to i.e.
where A is the area of the plane and is the depth (distance from the free surface) to the centroid, G.
This can also be written in terms of distance from point O ( as )
Thus:
It is convenient to take moments about the point where a projection of the plane passes through the
surface, point O in the figure.
We know the resultant force from above , which acts through the centre of pressure
at C, so
Equating gives,
Thus the position of the centre of pressure along the plane measure from the point O is:
It look a rather difficult formula to calculate - particularly the summation term. Fortunately this term is
known as the 2nd Moment of Area , , of the plane about the axis through O and it can be easily
calculated for many common shapes. So, we know:
And as we have also seen that 1st Moment of area about a line through O,
Thus the position of the centre of pressure along the plane measure from the point O is:
To calculate the 2nd moment of area of a plane about an axis through O, we use the parallel axis
theorem together with values of the 2nd moment of area about an axis though the centroid of the shape
obtained from tables of geometric properties.
where is the 2nd moment of area about an axis though the centroid G of the plane.
Using this we get the following expressions for the position of the centre of pressure
(In the examination the parallel axis theorem and the will be given)
The table blow given some examples of the 2nd moment of area about a line through the centroid of
some common shapes.
Triangle
Circle
Semicircle
If the shape is symmetrical the centre of pressure lies on the line of symmetry. But if
it is not symmetrical its position must be found by taking moments about the line OG
in the same way as we took moments along the line through O, i.e.
but we have so
Consider the tank in the diagram below having vertical walls and holding a liquid of density to a
depth of H. To the right can be seen a graphical representation of the (gauge) pressure change with
depth on one of the vertical walls. Pressure increases from zero at the surface linearly by , to
a maximum at the base of .
The area of this triangle represents the resultant force per unit width on the vertical wall, using SI
units this would have units of Newtons per metre. So
The force acts through the centroid of the pressure diagram. For a triangle the centroid is at 2/3 its
height, i.e. in the figure above the resultant force acts horizontally through the point .
For a vertical plane the depth to the centre of pressure is given by
The same pressure diagram technique can be used when combinations of liquids are held in tanks (e.g.
oil floating on water) with position of action found by taking moments of the individual resultant forces
for each fluid. Look at the examples to examine this area further.
More complex pressure diagrams can be draw for non-rectangular or non-vertical planes but it is
usually far easier to use the moments method.
It is most straightforward to calculate the horizontal and vertical components and combine these to
obtain the resultant force and its direction. (This can also be done for all three dimensions, but here we
will only look at one vertical plane).
Horizontal forces
Considering the horizontal forces, none can act on CB as there are no shear forces in a static fluid so
the forces would act on the faces AC and AB as shown below.
We can see that the horizontal force on AC, , must equal and be in the opposite direction to the
resultant force on the curved surface.
As AC is the projection of the curved surface AB onto a vertical plane, we can generalise this to say
The resultant horizontal force of a fluid above a curved surface is:
RH = Resultant force on the projection of the curved surface onto a vertical plane.
We know that the force on a vertical plane must act horizontally (as it acts normal to the plane) and that
must act through the same point. So we can say
Thus we can use the pressure diagram method to calculate the position and magnitude of the resultant
horizontal force on a two dimensional curved surface.
Vertical forces
The diagram below shows the vertical forces which act on the element of fluid above the curved
surface.
There are no shear force on the vertical edges, so the vertical component can only be due to the weight
of the fluid. So we can say
and it will act vertically downward through the centre of gravity of the mass of fluid.
Resultant force
The overall resultant force is found by combining the vertical and horizontal components vectorialy,
Resultant force
The position of O is the point of integration of the horizontal line of action of and the vertical line
of action of .
What are the forces if the fluid is below the curved surface? This situation may occur or a curved sluice
gate for example. The figure below shows a situation where there is a curved surface which is
experiencing fluid pressure from below.
The calculation of the forces acting from the fluid below is very similar to when the fluid is above.
Horizontal force
From the figure below we can see the only two horizontal forces on the area of fluid, which is in
equilibrium, are the horizontal reaction force which is equal and in the opposite direction to the
pressure force on the vertical plane A'B. The resultant horizontal force, RH acts as shown in the
diagram. Thus we can say:
The resultant horizontal force of a fluid below a curved surface is:
Vertical force
The vertical force are acting are as shown on the figure below. If the curved surface were removed and
the area it were replaced by the fluid, the whole system would be in equilibrium. Thus the force
required by the curved surface to maintain equilibrium is equal to that force which the fluid above the
surface would exert - i.e. the weight of the fluid.
Rv =Weight of the imaginary volume of fluid vertically above the curved surface.
The resultant force and direction of application are calculated in the same way as for fluids above the
surface:
Resultant force
And acts through O at an angle of .
Use p = gh,
2. Example of a Piezometer.
What is the maximum gauge pressure of water that
can be measured by a Piezometer of height 1.5m?
And if the liquid had a relative density of 8.5 what
would the maximum measurable gauge pressure?
pB = pC
pB = pA + gh1
pD = pB + g (hB - h) + man g h
pC = pD
pC = pA + g hA
pD = pB + g (hB - h) + man g h
z2 = x sin ,
and
A1 z1 = a2 x
z1 = x (d/D)2
where x is the reading on the manometer scale.
p1 is atmospheric i.e. p1 = 0
Resultant force
R = pressure at centroid x Area
=
Where is the depth to the centroid (point G above).
This force acts through the centre of pressure.
From the lecture notes, depth to centre of pressure
Statics Examples
Pressure and Manometers
1. What will be the (a) the gauge pressure and (b) the absolute pressure of
water at depth 12m below the surface? water = 1000 kg/m3, and p
2
atmosphere = 101kN/m .
[117.72 kN/m2, 218.72 kN/m2]
2. At what depth below the surface of oil, relative density 0.8, will
produce a pressure of 120 kN/m2? What depth of water is this
equivalent to?
[15.3m, 12.2m]
3. What would the pressure in kN/m2 be if the equivalent head is
measured as 400mm of (a) mercury =13.6 (b) water ( c) oil specific
weight 7.9 kN/m3 (d) a liquid of density 520 kg/m3?
[53.4 kN/m2, 3.92 kN/m2, 3.16 kN/m2, 2.04 kN/m2]
4. A manometer connected to a pipe indicates a negative gauge pressure
of 50mm of mercury. What is the absolute pressure in the pipe in
Newtons per square metre if the atmospheric pressure is 1 bar?
[93.3 kN/m2]
5. What height would a water barometer need to be to measure
atmospheric pressure?
[>10m]
6. An inclined manometer is required to measure an air pressure of 3mm
of water to an accuracy of +/- 3%. The inclined arm is 8mm in
diameter and the larger arm has a diameter of 24mm. The manometric
fluid has density 740 kg/m3 and the scale may be read to +/- 0.5mm.
What is the angle required to ensure the desired accuracy may be
achieved?
[12 39']
7. Determine the resultant force due to the water acting on the 1m by 2m
rectangular area AB shown in the diagram below.
(On the diagram distance OA is 1.22m and AB is 2.0m)
[43 560 N, 2.37m from O
8. Determine the resultant force due to the water acting on the 1.25m by
2.0m triangular area CD shown in the figure above. The apex of the
triangle is at C.
(On the diagram depth to point C is 1.0m and the distance CD is 2.0m)
[23.8103N, 2.821m from P]
1. Fluid Dynamics
Objectives
This section discusses the analysis of fluid in motion - fluid dynamics. The motion of
fluids can be predicted in the same way as the motion of solids are predicted using the
fundamental laws of physics together with the physical properties of the fluid.
It is not difficult to envisage a very complex fluid flow. Spray behind a car; waves on
beaches; hurricanes and tornadoes or any other atmospheric phenomenon are all
example of highly complex fluid flows which can be analysed with varying degrees of
success (in some cases hardly at all!). There are many common situations which are
easily analysed.
If we look at a fluid flowing under normal circumstances - a river for example - the
conditions at one point will vary from those at another point (e.g. different velocity)
we have non-uniform flow. If the conditions at one point vary as time passes then we
have unsteady flow.
Under some circumstances the flow will not be as changeable as this. He following
terms describe the states which are used to classify fluid flow:
uniform flow: If the flow velocity is the same magnitude and direction
at every point in the fluid it is said to be uniform.
non-uniform: If at a given instant, the velocity is not the same at every
point the flow is non-uniform. (In practice, by this definition, every
fluid that flows near a solid boundary will be non-uniform - as the fluid
at the boundary must take the speed of the boundary, usually zero.
However if the size and shape of the of the cross-section of the stream
of fluid is constant the flow is considered uniform.)
steady: A steady flow is one in which the conditions (velocity, pressure
and cross-section) may differ from point to point but DO NOT change
with time.
unsteady: If at any point in the fluid, the conditions change with time,
the flow is described as unsteady. (In practise there is always slight
variations in velocity and pressure, but if the average values are
constant, the flow is considered steady.
Combining the above we can classify any flow in to one of four type:
If you imaging the flow in each of the above classes you may imagine that one class is
more complex than another. And this is the case - steady uniform flow is by far the
most simple of the four. You will then be pleased to hear that this course is restricted
to only this class of flow. We will not be encountering any non-uniform or unsteady
effects in any of the examples (except for one or two quasi-time dependent problems
which can be treated at steady).
3. Compressible or Incompressible
All fluids are compressible - even water - their density will change as pressure
changes. Under steady conditions, and provided that the changes in pressure are
small, it is usually possible to simplify analysis of the flow by assuming it is
incompressible and has constant density. As you will appreciate, liquids are quite
difficult to compress - so under most steady conditions they are treated as
incompressible. In some unsteady conditions very high pressure differences can occur
and it is necessary to take these into account - even for liquids. Gasses, on the
contrary, are very easily compressed, it is essential in most cases to treat these as
compressible, taking changes in pressure into account.
4. Three-dimensional flow
Although in general all fluids flow three-dimensionally, with pressures and velocities
and other flow properties varying in all directions, in many cases the greatest changes
only occur in two directions or even only in one. In these cases changes in the other
direction can be effectively ignored making analysis much more simple.
Flow is one dimensional if the flow parameters (such as velocity, pressure, depth etc.)
at a given instant in time only vary in the direction of flow and not across the cross-
section. The flow may be unsteady, in this case the parameter vary in time but still not
across the cross-section. An example of one-dimensional flow is the flow in a pipe.
Note that since flow must be zero at the pipe wall - yet non-zero in the centre - there
is a difference of parameters across the cross-section. Should this be treated as two-
dimensional flow? Possibly - but it is only necessary if very high accuracy is required.
A correction factor is then usually applied.
In this course we will only be considering steady, incompressible one and two-
dimensional flow.
When fluid is flowing past a solid boundary, e.g. the surface of an aerofoil or the wall
of a pipe, fluid obviously does not flow into or out of the surface. So very close to a
boundary wall the flow direction must be parallel to the boundary.
At all points the direction of the streamline is the direction of the fluid velocity: this is
how they are defined. Close to the wall the velocity is parallel to the wall so the
streamline is also parallel to the wall.
It is also important to recognise that the position of streamlines can change with time -
this is the case in unsteady flow. In steady flow, the position of streamlines does not
change.
Streamlines can not cross each other. If they were to cross this would
indicate two different velocities at the same point. This is not
physically possible.
The above point implies that any particles of fluid starting on one
streamline will stay on that same streamline throughout the fluid.
A useful technique in fluid flow analysis is to consider only a part of the total fluid in
isolation from the rest. This can be done by imagining a tubular surface formed by
streamlines along which the fluid flows. This tubular surface is known as a
streamtube.
A Streamtube
And in a two-dimensional flow we have a streamtube which is flat (in the plane of the
paper):
For example an empty bucket weighs 2.0kg. After 7 seconds of collecting water the
bucket weighs 8.0kg, then:
Performing a similar calculation, if we know the mass flow is 1.7kg/s, how long will
it take to fill a container with 8kg of fluid?
As has already been stressed, we must always use a consistent set of units when
applying values to equations. It would make sense therefore to always quote the
values in this consistent set. This set of units will be the SI units. Unfortunately, and
this is the case above, these actual practical values are very small or very large
(0.001008m3/s is very small). These numbers are difficult to imagine physically. In
these cases it is useful to use derived units, and in the case above the useful derived
unit is the litre.
(1 litre = 1.0 10-3m3). So the solution becomes . It is far easier to imagine 1
litre than 1.0 10-3m3. Units must always be checked, and converted if necessary to a
consistent set before using in an equation.
Discharge in a pipe
If the area of cross section of the pipe at point X is A, and the mean velocity here is
. During a time t, a cylinder of fluid will pass point X with a volume A t. The
volume per unit time (the discharge) will thus be
Note how carefully we have called this the mean velocity. This is because the velocity
in the pipe is not constant across the cross section. Crossing the centreline of the pipe,
the velocity is zero at the walls increasing to a maximum at the centre then decreasing
symmetrically to the other wall. This variation across the section is known as the
velocity profile or distribution. A typical one is shown in the figure below.
This idea, that mean velocity multiplied by the area gives the discharge, applies to all
situations - not just pipe flow.
4. Continuity
Matter cannot be created or destroyed - (it is simply changed in to a different form of
matter). This principle is know as the conservation of mass and we use it in the
analysis of flowing fluids.
The principle is applied to fixed volumes, known as control volumes (or surfaces),
like that in the figure below:
Mass entering per unit time = Mass leaving per unit time + Increase of mass in the
control volume per unit time
For steady flow there is no increase in the mass within the control volume, so
Mass entering per unit time = Mass leaving per unit time
This can be applied to a streamtube such as that shown below. No fluid flows across
the boundary made by the streamlines so mass only enters and leaves through the two
ends of this streamtube section.
A streamtube
The flow of fluid through a real pipe (or any other vessel) will vary due to the
presence of a wall - in this case we can use the mean velocity and write
When the fluid can be considered incompressible, i.e. the density does not change, 1
= 2 = so (dropping the m subscript)
We can apply the principle of continuity to pipes with cross sections which change
along their length. Consider the diagram below of a pipe with a contraction:
A liquid is flowing from left to right and the pipe is narrowing in the same direction.
By the continuity principle, the mass flow rate must be the same at each section - the
mass going into the pipe is equal to the mass going out of the pipe. So we can write:
(with the sub-scripts 1 and 2 indicating the values at the two sections)
As we are considering a liquid, usually water, which is not very compressible, the
density changes very little so we can say . This also says that the volume
flow rate is constant or that
Notice how the downstream velocity only changes from the upstream by the ratio of
the two areas of the pipe. As the area of the circular pipe is a function of the diameter
we can reduce the calculation further,
Now try this on a diffuser, a pipe which expands or diverges as in the figure below,
Another example of the use of the continuity principle is to determine the velocities in
pipes coming from a junction.
Total mass flow into the junction = Total mass flow out of the junction
1Q1 = 2Q2 + 3Q3
A more general approach to obtaining the parameters of motion (of both solids and
fluids) is to apply the principle of conservation of energy. When friction is negligible
the
Kinetic energy
Gravitational potential energy
(m is the mass, v is the velocity and h is the height above the datum).
To apply this to a falling droplet we have an initial velocity of zero, and it falls
through a height of h.
We know that
so
Initial kinetic energy + Initial potential energy = Final kinetic energy + Final potential
energy
so
We can consider the situation as in the figure above - a continuous jet of water
coming from a pipe with velocity . One particle of the liquid with mass travels
with the jet and falls from height to . The velocity also changes from to .
The jet is travelling in air where the pressure is everywhere atmospheric so there is no
force due to pressure acting on the fluid. The only force which is acting is that due to
gravity. The sum of the kinetic and potential energies remains constant (as we neglect
energy losses due to friction) so
This will give a reasonably accurate result as long as the weight of the jet is large
compared to the frictional forces. It is only applicable while the jet is whole - before it
breaks up into droplets.
We can use a very similar application of the energy conservation concept to determine
the velocity of flow along a pipe from a reservoir. Consider the 'idealised reservoir' in
the figure below.
An idealised reservoir
The level of the water in the reservoir is . Considering the energy situation - there
is no movement of water so kinetic energy is zero but the gravitational potential
energy is .
If a pipe is attached at the bottom water flows along this pipe out of the tank to a level
. A mass has flowed from the top of the reservoir to the nozzle and it has gained
We know that
so
so
We now have a expression for the velocity of the water as it flows from of a pipe
nozzle at a height below the surface of the reservoir. (Neglecting friction
losses in the pipe and the nozzle).
Now apply this to this example: A reservoir of water has the surface at 310m above
the outlet nozzle of a pipe with diameter 15mm. What is the a) velocity, b) the
discharge out of the nozzle and c) mass flow rate. (Neglect all friction in the nozzle
and the pipe).
Volume flow rate is equal to the area of the nozzle multiplied by the velocity
The pipe is filled with stationary fluid of density has pressures and at levels
and respectively. What is the pressure difference in terms of these levels?
or
This applies when the pressure varies but the fluid is stationary.
Compare this to the equation derived for a moving fluid but constant pressure:
You can see that these are similar form. What would happen if both pressure and
velocity varies?
Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.
Alternative Proxies: