UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND APPLIED SCIENCES –

IBRI
EGME2220 Fluid Mechanics
Topics

• Fluid Mechanics – Introduction, Branches, Applications

• Units & dimensions
• Properties of fluids
• Types of fluids
• Problems solved
 Fluid Mechanics Introduction
Fluid
Fluid is defined as a physical substance which deforms continuously or it flows
continuously when it is subjected to a tangential shear stress. It includes both
liquids and gases.
Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics is the science that deals with 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 Mechanics Introduction

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
It deals with the flow of fluids that undergo significant density
changes, such as the flow of gases through nozzles at high speeds.
Aerodynamics:
It deals with the flow of gases (especially air) over bodies such as
aircraft, rockets, and automobiles at high or low speeds.

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 Application areas of fluid Mechanics
• Medicine: All artificial hearts, breathing machines.
Medicine: Lab-on-a Chip device, glucose monitor,
controlled drug delivery, etc.
• Oil and Gas: The piping systems for cold water. Ducting
network of heating and A/c systems. Pipeline, pump,
valve, offshore rig, oil spill clean-up, etc.
• Electronics: Convective cooling of generated heat.
• Military: Missile, aircraft, ship, underwater vehicle,
dispersion of chemical agents etc.
• Energy: Combustor, burner, boiler, gas, hydro and wind
turbine, etc.
Almost everything in our world is in contact with a fluid
or is itself a fluid.
Units and Dimensions
Primary and Secondary units

Primary Units Derived Units

Fluid Properties
 Fluid Properties

Density : It is defined as the ratio of mass of the fluid to its volume

Density () = (kg/m3)
Density of water = 1000 kg/m3
Density of mercury= 13600 kg/m3
Specific volume: It is the reciprocal of density. i.e
Specific volume = (m3/kg)
Weight Density or Specific weight: It is defined as the ratio of weight of the
fluid to its volume.
Weight Density = (N/m3)
(Note: Weight = mg; Weight density =  g)
FLUID PROPERTIES

Specific Gravity
• Specific Gravity is defined as the ratio between density or weight density
of the fluid to density or weight density of standard fluid.
• For liquids the standard fluid considered is water, and for gases the
standard fluid considered is air.

For liquids:
Specific gravity of liquids = or

For gases:

Specific gravity of gas = or

Viscosity

It is defined as the property of a fluid which offers

resistance to the movement of one layer of fluid over
another adjacent layer of the fluid.

When two layers of fluid at a distance (dy) apart move

with 2 different velocities (u) and (u+du), then there
will be a shear stress () acting.

Newton's law of Viscosity

This shear stress is directly proportional to the rate of
change of velocity with respect to y. Mathematically,
  du/dy
 =  du/dy
Where  - Shear stress in (N/m2)
du / dy – Velocity gradient
Types of Viscosity

Dynamic (or Absolute) Viscosity:

• The dynamic viscosity() of a fluid is a measure of the resistance it offers
to relative shearing motion.
= Ꞇ/(du/dy) N-s/m² (SI unit) Shear stress Ꞇ= F/A
Another unit of viscosity is Poise 1 Poise =

Kinematic Viscosity :
• It is defined as the ratio of absolute viscosity to the density of fluid.
ν=  /ρ m²/s (SI unit) ; ρ= density of fluid
The unit of kinematic viscosity = Another unit of kinematic viscosity is
stoke
1 stoke = 10-4 m²/s
 Surface tension
• Surface tension () is defined as: the tensile force acting on the surface of
the liquid contact with a gas or on the surface between two immiscible liquids
such that the contact surface behaves like a membrane under tension
 For liquid droplet: , where () is the pressure
 For hollow bubble:
• The unit of surface tension is:
 CAPILLARITY

• Capillarity () is defined as: the phenomenon of

fall or rise of liquid 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 is called capillarity rise:

 The fall of liquid is called capillarity rise:

• The unit of capillarity is

Relationship between Linear velocity and Angular velocity

• Linear velocity , du =
Where D = Diameter of rotating shaft in
m,
N = Speed of rotating shaft in
rpm,
• Torque transmitted by the shaft:
Torque transmitted, T = F x D/2 ;
• Power lost in the bearing:
Power lost, P = F X u
Types of fluids

IDEAL FLUID:
A fluid which is incompressible and having no viscosity.it is an
imaginary fluid as all the fluids
REAL FLUID:
A fluid which possesses viscosity, is known as real fluid
NEWTONIAN FLUID:
A real fluid in which the shear stress is directly proportional to the
rate of shear strain is known as Newtonian Fluid
NON-NEWTONIAN FLUID:
A real fluid in which the shear stress is not directly proportional to
the rate of shear strain is known as Non Newtonian fluid
IDEAL PLASTIC FLUID:
A fluid, in which shear stress is more than the yield value and shear
stress is proportional to the rate of shear strain is known as Ideal
Plastic fluid.
Problem 1
One litre of liquid weighs 6N. Calculate the Specific weight, density and Specific
gravity of that liquid. Assume density of water as 1000 kg/m3
Problem 2
Determine the specific weight, density and weight of one litre of petrol of specific
gravity = 0.9
Problem 3
The liquid is having a dynamic viscosity of 0.045 poise and kinematic viscosity of
0.035 stokes. Find the specific gravity of that liquid.
Problem 4
A flat plate of area 1.5 X 106 mm2 is pulled with a speed of 0.4 m/s relative to another
plate located at a distance of 0.15 mm from it. Find the force and power required to
maintain this speed, if the fluid separating them is having the viscosity 1 poise.
Problem 5
Calculate the dynamic viscosity of an oil, which is used for lubrication between a
square plate of size and an inclined plane with angle of inclination as shown in the
figure. The weight of the square plate is and it slides down the inclined plane with a
uniform velocity of . The thickness of the oil film is .
Problem 6
The velocity distribution for flow over a flat plate is given by in which u is
the velocity in m/s at a distance of ‘y’ meter above the plate. Determine the shear
stress at y=0.15 m. Assume dynamic viscosity of oil as 8.5 poise.
Problem 7
An oil of dynamic viscosity is 6 poise is used for lubricate the space between the shaft
and sleeve. The diameter of the shaft is 0.4 m and rotates at 190 rpm. Determine the
(i) Torque transmitted and (ii) power lost in the bearing for a sleeve length of 90mm.
The thickness of oil film is 1.5mm.
Problem 8
The surface tension of water in contact with air at is . The pressure inside a droplet
water is to greater than the outside pressure. Calculate the diameter of droplet of
water.
Problem 9
Find the surface tension in a soap bubble of diameter when the inside pressure
is above the atmospheric pressure.
Problem 10
Find out the minimum size of a glass tube that can be used to measure water level if
the capillary rise in the tube is to be restricted to . Consider the surface tension of
water in contact with air as .
Problem 11
Calculate the capillarity effect in millimeters in a glass tube of diameter when
immersed in (i) water, (ii) mercury. The temperature of the liquid is and the values of
the surface tension of water and mercury at in contact with air are and respectively.
The angle of contact of water is zero, and that for mercury is . Take the density of
water at as equal to .
Exercise problems
1. One litre of crude oil weighs 9.6N. Calculate its specific weight, density and specific gravity. (Ans: 9600
N/m3, 978.6 kg/m3, 0.978)

2. A plate, 0.025 mm distant from a fixed plate, moves at 50 cm/s and requires a force of 1.471 N/m2 to
maintain this speed. Determine the fluid viscosity between the plates in the poise. (Ans: 7.357 x 10-4)

3. Determine the intensity of shear of an oil having viscosity = 1.2 poise and is used for lubrication in the
clearance between a 10 cm diameter shaft and its journal bearing. The clearance is 1.0 mm and shaft
rotates at 200 rpm. (Ans: 125.6 N/m2)

4. Two plates are placed at a distance of 0.15 mm apart. The lower plate is fixed while the upper plate
having surface area 1.0 m2 is pulled at 0.3 m/s. Find the force and power required to maintain this speed,
if the fluid separating them is having viscosity 1.5 poise. (Ans: 300N, 89.8 W)
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