Fluid properties and statics

Dr. Vinayak B Hemadri

Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dayananda Sagar University
Introduction
A substance exists in three primary phases solid, liquid, and
gas.
A substance in the liquid or gas phase is referred to as a
fluid.

A solid can resist an applied shear stress by deforming,

whereas a fluid deforms continuously under the influence of
shear stress, no matter how small

The molecules in a solid are arranged in a pattern that is

repeated throughout

The molecular spacing in the liquid phase is not much

different from that of the solid phase, except the
Arrangement of atoms in different phases: a) Solid b) Liquid c) Gas
FLUID MECHANICS:
Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids either in motion (fluid dynamics) or at
rest (fluid statics) and the subsequent effects of the fluid upon the
boundaries, which may be either solid surfaces or interfaces with other
fluids.

Engineering Application of Fluid Mechanics: The application of fluid mechanics is

enormous

Breathing, blood flow, swimming, pumps, fans, turbines, airplanes, ships, rivers,
windmills, pipes, missiles, icebergs, engines, filters, jets, and sprinklers, to name a
few. When you think about it, almost everything on this planet either is a fluid or
moves within or near a fluid.
The essence of the subject of fluid flow is a judicious compromise between
theory and experiment. Since fluid flow is a branch of mechanics, it satisfies a
set of well documented basic laws, and thus a great deal of theoretical
treatment is available. However, the theory is often frustrating, because it
applies mainly to idealized situations which may be invalid in practical
problems. The two chief obstacles to a workable theory are geometry and
viscosity.
History of fluid mechanics:
Ancient civilization had enough knowledge to solve certain flow problems, e.g.
sailing ships with oars, irrigation systems.

Archimedes (285 – 212 B.C.):

Postulated the parallelogram law for addition of

vectors and the laws of buoyancy and applied them
to floating and submerged objects.
Archimedes' machine was a device with a revolving
screw-shaped blade inside a cylinder. It was turned
by hand, and could also be used to transfer water
from a low-lying body of water into irrigation
canals. The Archimedes' screw is still in use today
for pumping liquids and granulated solids such as
coal and grain. The Archimedes' screw described in
Roman times by Vitruvius may have been an
improvement on a screw pump that was used to
irrigate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The
world's first seagoing steamship with a screw
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) stated the equation of conservation of mass in
one dimensional steady state flow. He experimented with waves, jets, hydraulic
jumps, eddy formation, etc. was an Italian polymath, regarded as the epitome of
the "Renaissance Man", displaying skills in numerous diverse areas of study.
Whilst most famous for his paintings such as the Mona Lisa and the Last
Supper, Leonardo is also renowned in the fields of civil
engineering, chemistry, geology, geometry, hydrodynamics, mathematics, mecha
nical engineering, optics, physics, pyrotechnics, and zoology.

Various hydraulic machines by

Leonardo da Vinci
‐
‐
Edme Mariotte (1620 – 1684) built the first wind tunnel and tested
models in it.

Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) postulated his laws of motion and the law of
viscosity of linear fluids, now called newtonian. The theory first yield
the frictionless assumption which led to several beautiful mathematical
solutions.

Isaac Newton
Leonhard Euler (1707 – 1783) developed both the differential equations of
motion and their integral form, now called Bernoulli equation.
William Froude (1810 – 1879) and his son developed laws of model testing
and Lord Rayleigh (1842 – 1919) proposed dimensional analysis.

Osborne Reynolds (1842 – 1912) published the classic pipe experiment and
showed the importance of the dimensionless Reynolds number, named after
him.

Osborne Reynolds
Navier (1785 – 1836) and Stokes (1819 – 1903) added newtonian viscous term
to the equation of motion, the fluid motion governing equation, i.e., Navier
Stokes equation is named after them.

Ludwig Prandtl (1875 – 1953) pointed out that fluid flows with small
viscosity, such as water flows and airflows, can be divided into a thin viscous
layer (or boundary layer) near solid surfaces and interfaces, patched onto a
nearly inviscid outer layer, where the Euler and Bernoulli equations apply.

‐
Properties of fluids:

Any characteristic of a system is called a property. Some

familiar properties are pressure P, temperature T, volume V,
and mass m.
The list can be extended to include less familiar ones such as
viscosity, thermal conductivity, modulus of elasticity, thermal
expansion coefficient, electric resistivity, and even velocity
and elevation
Intensive and Extensive properties:

Properties are considered to be either intensive or extensive.

Intensive properties are those that are independent of the mass of a

system, such as temperature, pressure, and density.

Extensive properties are those whose values depend on the size—or

extent—of the system. Total mass, total volume V, and total
momentum are some examples of extensive properties

Extensive properties per unit mass are called specific properties.

Some examples of specific properties are specific volume (v =V/m) and
specific total energy (e = E/m).
Concept of Continuum

Matter is made up of atoms that are widely spaced in the

gas phase. Yet it is very convenient to disregard the atomic
nature of a substance and view it as a continuous,
homogeneous matter with no holes, that is, a continuum. The
continuum idealization allows us to treat properties as point
functions and to assume that the properties vary continually
in space with no jump discontinuities. This idealization is
valid as long as the size of the system we deal with is large
relative to the space between the molecules.
Some Important properties of Fluids:

Density (mass density) (ρ): The mass per unit volume is

defined as density. The unit used is kg/m3.
The symbol used is ρ.
Mass
Density ( ρ ) =
Volume
Density is highly variable in gases and increases nearly
proportionally to the pressure level.

Density in liquids is nearly constant; the density of

water (about 1000 kg/m3) increases only 1 percent if
the pressure is increased by a factor of 220. Thus most
liquid flows are treated analytically as nearly
“incompressible
Specific volume(ν): Specific volume of fluid is defined
as the volume of the fluid occupied by unit mass

It is reciprocal of density and having unit m3/kg

 Specific Weight: It is defined as weight per unit volume

The specific weight of a fluid, denoted by ‘γ’ (lowercase Greek gamma)

some texts by “ w’, is its weight per unit volume. The unit used is N/m3.

weight of fluid mass × acceleration due to gravity

Specific weight ( w) = =
volume of fluid volume
= ρ×g

Specific Gravity: is the ratio of a density of a fluid to the

density of standard reference fluid,
In case of liquids water is the reference fluid , and air (for
gases):
Specific gravity, denoted by SG or S=
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SG(gases ) =
Mathematically

du
du τ =µ
dy
τ∝
dy µ=
τ
du
dy
units of viscocity :
Shear stress Force / area
µ= =
Changeof velocity ⎛ Length ⎞ 1
×
Changeof dis tan ce ⎜⎝ Time ⎟⎠ Length
Force
( Length) 2 Force × Time
= =
1 ( Length) 2
Time

Units:
MKS: kgf-s/m2
S.I: N-s/m2 =Pa.s
CGS: dyne-s/cm2=poise
1N.s/m2=10poise
1cP=1/100 Poise
 Kinematic Viscosity

Kinematic viscosity is the ratio of - absolute (or dynamic) viscosity to density -

a quantity in which no force is involved. Kinematic viscosity can be obtained by
dividing the absolute viscosity of a fluid with the fluid mass density
Kinematic Viscosity (ν
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)=
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Unit: m2/s,
cm2/s=Stoke
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Variation of viscosity with temperature

The viscosity of liquids decreases with temperature, whereas the

viscosity of gases increases with temperature

This is because in a liquid the molecules possess more energy at higher

temperatures, and they can oppose the large cohesive intermolecular
forces more strongly. As a result, the energized liquid molecules can move
more freely.

In a gas, on the other hand, the intermolecular forces are negligible, and
the gas molecules at high temperatures move randomly at higher
velocities. This results in more molecular collisions per unit volume per unit
time and therefore in greater resistance to flow.
The viscosity of liquids decreases and
the viscosity of gases increases with
temperature
Surface tension and capillarity

• It is often observed that a drop of blood forms a

hump on a horizontal glass;
• A drop of mercury forms a near-perfect sphere
and can be rolled just like a steel ball over a
smooth surface;
• Water droplets from rain or dew hang from
branches or leaves of trees;
• A liquid fuel injected into an engine forms a mist
of spherical droplets;
• Water dripping from a leaky faucet falls as
spherical droplets; a soap bubble released into the
In these and other observances, liquid droplets behave like
small spherical balloons filled with the liquid, and the
surface of the liquid acts like a stretched elastic
membrane under tension.

The pulling force that causes this tension acts parallel to

the surface and is due to the attractive forces between
the molecules of the liquid. The magnitude of this force per
unit Length is called surface tension
Surface tension (σ) is defined as the tension force acting on
the surface of a liquid in contact with a gas or on the surface
between two immiscible liquids such that the contact surface
behaves like a membrane under tension.
Surface tension on liquid droplet:

Consider small sphere of liquid drop let of radius r

σ = Surface tension of theliquid
p =Pr essure int ensity inside droplet
d = diameterof droplet
Let the droplet cut int otwo halves, the forces acting

i )tensile force dueto surfacetension = σ × circumfernce

= σ ×π d
π 2
ii ) Pr essure force = p × d
4
π 2
p × d = σ ×π d
4
σ × π d 4σ
p= =
π
d d
4
Surface Tension on a Hollow bubble:
A hollow like a soap bubble in air has two surfaces in contact
with air, one inside and other outside . Thus two surfaces are
subjected to surface tension:
i )tensile force dueto surfacetension = σ × circumfernce
= σ × 2π d
π 2
ii ) Pr essure force = p × d
4
π 2
p × d = σ × 2π d
4
σ × 2π d 8σ
p= =
π
d d
4
Surface Tension on liquid jet:

Consider a liquid jet of diameter “d” and length ‘L”

as shown
σ = Surface tensionof theliquid
p =Pr essure int ensity insideliquid jet
σ = Surface tensionof theliquid
consider the equilibriumof semi jet
i )tensile force dueto surfacetension = σ × area of jet
= σ × 2L
ii ) Pr essure force = p × L × d
p × L × d = σ × 2L
σ × 2L
p=
L×d
Capillarity:
Capillarity is defined as a phenomenon of rise or fall of a
surface in a small tube relative to the adjacent general level
of liquid when the tube is held vertically in the liquid
The rise of liquid surface is known as capillary rise while the
fall of the liquid surface is known as capillary depression. It is
expressed as mm of liquid
Expression for capillary rise:
Consider a glass tube of small diameter “d” opened at both
ends and is inserted in a liquid say water, The liquid will rise in
the tube above the level of liquid.
σ = Surfacetension of liquid
θ = Angle of contact betweenliquid and glass tube
The weight of liquid of height hinthetube
= ( Area of tube × h) × ρ × g
π 2
= d ×h× ρ × g
4
ρ = density of liquid

vertical component of the surfacetensile force

= (σ × π d ) × cos θ
for equlibrium
π 2
d × h × ρ × g = (σ × π d ) × cos θ
4
4σ cos θ 4σ
h= =
ρ × g×d ρ × g×d
Expression for capillary fall:
If the glass tube is dipped in mercury , the level of mercury in
the tube will be lower than the general level of the outside
liquid
Let h= height of depression in tube

For equilibrium two forces are acting on the mercury inside

theequilibrium
For tube two forces are acting on the mercury
(σ × πinside
Surface tension acting in down word direction= d ) × cos θ
the tube.
Second force is due to hydrostatic force acting upwards and
is equal to intensity of pressure at a depth (h x area)

π 2 π 2
= p × d = ρ gh × d
4 4
for eqilibrium
π 2
(σ × π d ) × cos θ = ρ gh × d
4
4σ cos θ
h=
ρ gd
Vapour Pressure and cavitation:

It is well-established that temperature and pressure

are dependent properties for pure substances during
phase-change processes, and there is one-to-one
correspondence between temperatures and
pressures. At a given pressure, the temperature at
which a pure substance changes phase is called the
saturation temperature.
Likewise, at a given temperature, the pressure at
which a pure substance changes phase is called the
saturation pressure.
The vapor pressure Pv of a pure substance is defined as the
pressure exerted by its vapor in phase equilibrium with its
liquid at a given temperature.

Pv is a property of the pure substance, and turns out to be

identical to the saturation pressure Psat of the liquid
We must be careful not to confuse vapor pressure with
partial pressure.
Partial pressure is defined as the pressure of a gas or
vapor in a mixture with other gases

. For example, atmospheric air is a mixture of dry air and

water vapor, and atmospheric pressure is the sum of the
partial pressure of dry air and the partial pressure of
water vapor.

The partial pressure of water vapor constitutes a small

fraction (usually under 3 percent) of the atmospheric
pressure since air is mostly nitrogen and oxygen.
Importanc
e:
The reason for our interest in vapor pressure is the
possibility of the liquid pressure in liquid-flow
systems dropping below the vapor pressure at some
locations, and the resulting unplanned vaporization.

The vapor bubbles (called cavitation bubbles since

they form “cavities” in the liquid) collapse as they are
swept away from the low pressure regions, generating
highly destructive, extremely high-pressure waves.
This phenomenon, which is a common cause for drop in
performance and even the erosion of impeller blades, is called
cavitation, and it is an important consideration in the design
of hydraulic turbines and pumps.
Cavitation must be avoided (or at least minimized) in flow
systems since it reduces performance, generates annoying
vibrations and noise, and causes damage to equipment.

The pressure spikes resulting from the large number of

bubbles collapsing near a solid surface over a long period of
time may cause erosion, surface pitting, fatigue failure, and
the eventual destruction of the components or machinery. The
presence of cavitation in a flow system can be sensed by its
characteristic tumbling sound.
COEFFICIENT OF COMPRESSIBILITY

• We know from experience that the volume (or density) of

a fluid changes with a change in its temperature or
pressure. Fluids usually expand as they are heated or
depressurized and contract as they are cooled or
pressurized.

• But the amount of volume change is different for

different fluids, and we need to define properties that
relate volume changes to the changes in pressure and
temperature.

• Two such properties are the bulk modulus of elasticity k

and the coefficient of volume expansion β.
coefficient of compressibility k (also called the bulk
modulus of compressibility or bulk modulus of elasticity) for
fluids as

It can also be expressed approximately in terms of finite changes as

A large value of k indicates that a large change in pressure is needed to
cause a small fractional change in volume, and thus a fluid with a large k
is
essentially incompressible.
The inverse of the coefficient of compressibility is called the isothermal
compressibility α and is expressed as

The isothermal compressibility of a fluid represents the fractional change in

volume or density corresponding to a unit change in pressure.
Coefficient of Volume Expansion

The density of a fluid, in general, depends more strongly on

temperature than it does on pressure, and the variation of
density with temperature is responsible for numerous
natural phenomena such as winds, currents in oceans, rise of
plumes in chimneys, the operation of hot-air balloons, heat
transfer by natural convection, and even the rise of hot air
and thus the phrase “heat rises”
To quantify these effects, we need a property that
represents the variation of the density of a fluid with
temperature at constant pressure.
It can also be expressed approximately in terms of finite changes as