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Properties of Fluids 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION
A fluid can be defined as a substance which deforms or yields continuously when shear stress is applied
to it, no matter how small itis.
Fluids can be subdivided into liquids and gases. Liquids occupy a certain volume and have a free
surface. Gases have a tendency to expand and fill the container in which they are kept; they do not have
a free surface. Gases, when subjected to normal stress change their volume considerably. Liquids can
bbe compressed to a small extent. Solids are least compressible. Solids when subjected to shear stress
deform until internal resistance to deformation equals the externally applied stress. Some of the
examples of fluids are water, air, hydrogen gas, oils, paint, blood, glycerine, brine, honey, etc.
In this book SI system (Systeme Internationale d’ unites) of units is adopted, in which the following
are the units of basic quantities that are used in fluid mechanics:
Length ‘metre (im)
Mass kilogramme (kg)
Time second (8)
‘Thermodynamic
temperature kelvin (K)
Temperature celsius (°C)
A unit of force is newton (N) which is the force that produces | m/s" acceleration is a mass of | kg.
Unit of work is joule (J) which is the work done when 1.0 N force acts through a distance of 1.0 m. Unit
of power is watt (W) which is the power necessary for 1 J of work in I s.
1J_1Nm
Iw
Unit of frequency is hertz (H) having dimension of s!
1.2 MASS DENSITY, SPECIFIC WEIGHT, SPECIFIC VOLUME,
RELATIVE DENSITY, PRESSURE
Mass density, (Rho) is the mass per unit volume;2 Fluid Mechanies through Problems
Pp a)
lim AM
ae
and p=f(xy.2T)
where x,y, 2 are €0-ordinates of the point inflow field and T's temperature. At 20°C and atmospheric
pressure, for
water: ) = 998 kg/m?
208 kg/m’
Specific weight ¥ (Gamma) is weight per unit volume;
Y= pg Nim! (1.2)
Specific volume is volume per unit weight and hence
air: p=
vedm'/s (13)
Relative density isthe ratio of mass density to mass density of pure water at standard pressure of
101.325 Nim? and temperature of 4°C.
Pressure is force acting on unit area normal to it and has unit of Nim?
pe tim * a4)
soKA
1.3 VISCOSITY
Viscosity is that property of fluid by which it offers resistance to shear acting on it. According to
Newton's law of viscosity the shear F acting between two layers of fluid is proportional to difference
in their velocities Aw and area A, and inversely proportional to the distance Ay between them (see
Fig. 1.1.
Fig. 11 Shear and velocity distribution
‘Therefore
au
Pept
ua Ay
cx th shear stone is
(is)Properties of Fluids 3
‘where. (Mu) is the constant of proportionality with dimensions of
fue EAL Nome NS, Me
Taal . ie
One gm/ems dynamic viscosity is known as poise (P).
duldy gives the angular velocity of line ab or itis the rate of angular deformation.
Coefficient of kinematic viscosity, v= 6)
\y (Nu) has dimensions of m/s. One cm/s kinematic viscosity is known as stoke (S).
Hor y=f(p. 7)
Variation of viscosity of liquids with pressure is very small and can be neglected. The variation
with temperature is given by
p= Act )
where 11 is dynamic viscosity at absolute temperature T, A and B are constants. Viscosity of liquids
decreases with increase in temperature.
In the presence of suspended matter the viscosity of liquids increases according to the law
udu= 1 +a, (1.8)
‘where jt, isthe viscosity of liquid when suspended matter concentration in absolute volume is C, and
IL is the viscosity of clear liquids a is 25 according to Einstein for C, upto 0.30 and 4.5 for higher
concentration as recommended by Ward. Viscosity of gases increases with increase in temperature and
can be given by the formula proposed by Sutherland
(19)
where a and b are constants for a given gas.
Fluids are classified according to the relation between shear { and rate of angular deformation:
10 Tae ids
rent Newtonian fd
levtonian fds
du
recone +y( Idea pases of Bingham plasies
Thyxotropic fluids
Non Newtonian fluids
For non Newtonian fluids, if m is less than unity, they are called pseudo-plastics while fluids in
which m is greater than unity are known as dilatants. These are shown in Fig. 1.2.