OBJECTIVE

To acquire fundamental concepts of fluid properties

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this chapter, student should be able to:

i. Define fluid
ii. State the differences between solid and fluid
iii. Calculate common fluid properties when
appropriate information are given.
iv. Define Newton’s Law of viscosity; relationship
between shear stress and rate of shear strain
1
1.0 INTRODUCTION

• Any characteristic of a system is called a property.

– Familiar: pressure P, temperature T, volume V, and mass m.
– Less familiar: viscosity, thermal conductivity, modulus of
elasticity, thermal expansion coefficient, vapor pressure, surface
tension.
• Intensive properties are independent of the mass of the
system. Examples: temperature, pressure, and density.
• Extensive properties are those whose value depends on
the size of the system. Examples: Total mass, total
volume, and total momentum.
• Extensive properties per unit mass are called specific
properties. Examples include specific volume v = V/m
and specific total energy e=E/m.
1.1 FLUIDS

• We normally recognize 3 states of matter : Solid, Liquid and Gas.

• Although differ in many respects, liquids and gases have common
characteristics in which they are differ from solids.
• Liquid and gas are fluids: in contrast to solids, they (fluid) 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

FLUID

Deforming continuously
Flow under the action Unable to retain any
for as long as the force
of such forces unsupported shape
applied

3
 1.1 FLUIDS

What is a fluid?

• A fluid is a substance in the gaseous or liquid form

• Distinction between solid and fluid?
– Solid: can resist(oppose) an applied shear by deforming. Stress is
proportional to strain
– Fluid: deforms continuously under applied shear. Stress is proportional to
strain rate

Solid Fluid
F V
F   
  A h
A
1.1 FLUIDS

• Stress is defined as the force per unit

area.
• Normal component: normal stress
– In a fluid at rest, the normal stress
is called pressure
• Tangential component: shear stress
1.1 FLUIDS

• A liquid takes the shape of the

container it is in and forms a free
surface in the presence of gravity
• A gas expands until it encounters
the walls of the container and fills
the entire available space. Gases
cannot form a free surface
• Gas and vapor are often used as
synonymous words
 1.1 FLUIDS

solid liquid gas

• Behaviour at rest (statics) or in motion (dynamics)

• Liquids (generally incompressible) and gases (compressible)
• Liquids – takes shape with side and bottom
– Top or uniform level
– Liquid pours out (viscous)  Focus of this course
• Gases – expand to completely fill space
– Gas escapes container
1.1 FLUIDS

 A fluid is defined as
any matter that
flows when force is
applied.

 Liquids like water or

silver are kinds of
fluid.
 Forces in fluids
 Forces in fluids are more complicated
than forces in solids because fluids can
change shape.
 Pressure
 A force applied to a fluid creates
pressure.
 Pressure acts in all directions, not just
the direction of the applied force.
 No-slip condition

• No-slip condition: A fluid in direct contact with a solid

``sticks'‘ to the surface due to viscous effects
• Responsible for generation of wall shear stress w,
• surface drag D= ∫w dA, and the development of the
boundary layer
• The fluid property responsible for the no-slip condition is
viscosity
1.1 FLUIDS
• Deforming is caused by shearing forces, i.e. forces such as F (refer Figure
1.1), which act tangentially to the surfaces to which they are applied and
causes the material originally occupying the space ABCD to deform AB’C’D.

B B’ C C’
F

ø x
E
y

A D
Figure 1.1: Deformation caused by shearing forces
We can then say:
A fluid is a substance which deforms continuously, or flows,
when subjected to shearing forces.
On the other hand, this definition means the very important
point that:
If a fluid is at rest, there are no shearing forces acting. All
forces must be perpendicular to the planes which they are
12
acting.
1.2 SHEAR STRESS IN A MOVING FLUID

• Shear stresses are developed when the fluid is in motion. If

the particles of the fluid move relative to each other so they
have different velocities, causing the original shape of fluid
to become distorted.
• If the velocity of fluid is the same at every point, no shear
stresses will be produced, since the fluid particles are at
rest relative to each other.
• The force per unit area, F/A is the shear stress τ and the
deformation, measured by angle ø (the shear strain), will be
proportional to the shear stress.
• The shear strain ø will continue to increase with time and
the fluid will flow.
• The rate of shear strain (or shear strain per unit time) is
directly proportional to the shear stress.

13
1.2 SHEAR STRESS IN A MOVING FLUID

• Suppose that in time t, a particle at E (refer Figure 1.1) moves through a

distance x.
B B’ C C’ F
• If E is a distance y from AD then, for a small angles,
ø x
E
y
A D
x
Shear strain ,  
y
x (x / t ) u
Rate of shear strain   
yt y y
where u  x / t is the velocity of the particle at E

• Revise that shear stress is proportional to shear strain, then

u
  constant x Equation 1.1
y

14
1.2 SHEAR STRESS IN A MOVING FLUID

• The term u/y is the change of velocity with y and may be written in differential
form du/dy.

• The constant of proportionality is known as the dynamic viscosity μ of the fluid.

Substitute to Equation 1.1,

(N/m2) Equation 1.2

du
τ=μ
dy

Equation 1.2 is Newton’s law of viscosity

15
 1.3 NEWTONIAN AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

• Fluids obeying Newton’s law

of viscosity and for which μ
has a constant value are
known as Newtonian fluids.

• Most common fluids fall into

this category, for which shear
stress is linearly related to
velocity gradient (refer Figure
1.2)

Rate of shear strain, du/dy

Figure 1.2: Variation of shear stress with velocity gradient

16
1.3 NEWTONIAN AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

• Fluids which do not obey obeying Newton’s law of viscosity are

known as non-Newtonian fluids and fall into one or the following
groups.

1. Plastic: Shear stress must reach a certain minimum before flow

commences. Thereafter, shear stress increases with the rate of
shear according to the relationship in Equation 1.3, where A, B
and n are constants. If n=1, the material is known as Bingham
plastic, e.g. sewage sludge.
 du 
n

  A  B
 dy  Equation 1.3
 

2. Pseudo-plastic: Dynamic viscosity decreases as the

rate of shear increases, e.g. colloidial substances like
clay, milk and cement.

17
1.3 NEWTONIAN AND NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

3. Dilatant substances: Dynamic viscosity increases as the rate of shear

increase, e.g. quicksand.
4. Thixotropic substances: Dynamic viscosity decreases with the time for
which shearing force is applied, e.g. Thixotropic jelly paints.
5. Rheopectic substances: Dynamic viscosity increases with the time for
which shearing force is applied.
6. Viscoelastic materials: Behave similar to Newtonian fluids but if there
is a sudden large change in shear stress, they behave like plastic.

• The above is a classification of actual fluids.

• There is also one more - which is not real, it does
not exist - known as the ideal fluid. This is a fluid
which is assumed to have no viscosity (τ = 0). This
is a useful concept when theoretical solutions are
being considered - it does help achieve some
practically useful solutions in analyzing some of the
problems arising in fluid mechanics.

18
1.4 DENSITY

The density of a substance is that quantity of matter contained in unit

volume of the substance. It can be expressed in three different ways.

1.4.1 MASS DENSITY

• Mass density ρ is defined as the mass of substance per unit

volume.
• Units: kilogram per cubic meter (kgm-3)
• Typical values at p=1.013 x 105 Nm-2, T=288.15 K, mass
density of water is 1000 kgm-3 and air is 1.23 kgm-3.

19
1.4 DENSITY

1.4.2 SPECIFIC WEIGHT

• Specific weight w is defined as the weight per unit volume.

• Since weight is dependent on gravitational attraction, the specific
weight will vary from point to point, according to the local value of
gravitational acceleration g.
• The relationship between w and ρ can be deduced from Newton’s
second law where,

Weight per unit volume = Mass per unit volume x g

w = ρg

• Units: newtons per cubic meter (Nm-3)

• Typical values for water is 9.81 x 103 Nm-3
and air is 12.07 Nm-3.

20
1.4 DENSITY

1.4.3 RELATIVE DENSITY

• Relative density or specific gravity (SG) σ is defined as the ratio of

the mass density of a substance to some standard mass density.
• For solids and liquids, the standard mass density chosen is the
maximum density of water (which occur at 4°C at atmospheric
pressure).
• SG is a dimensionless quantity. SG=r/rH20
ρsubs tance
σ=
ρ water at 4°C
• The relationship between is represented by,

• For gases, the standard density may be that air or

hydrogen at a specified temperature and pressure,
but the term is not used frequently.
• Units: since relative density is a ratio of two
quantities of the same kind, it is a pure number
having no units.
• Typical values for water is 1.0 and oil is 0.9.
21
1.5 VISCOSITY

Viscosity is a property that

represents the internal
resistance of a fluid to
motion.
The force a flowing fluid
exerts on a body in the flow
direction is called the drag
force, and the magnitude of
this force depends, in part,
on viscosity.
1.5 VISCOSITY

The viscosity () of a fluid measures its resistance to flow under an

applied shear stress. Representative units for viscosity are
kg/(m.sec), g/(cm.sec) (also known as poise designated by P).

The centipoise (cP), one hundredth of a poise, is also a convenient

unit, since the viscosity of water at room temperature is
approximately 1 centipoise.

The kinematic viscosity (n) is the ratio of the viscosity to the density:
n  /r,

n and will be found to be important in cases in which significant viscous

and gravitational forces exist
1.5 VISCOSITY
Viscosity of liquids in general, decreases with increasing temperature.
The viscosities () of liquids generally vary approximately with
absolute temperature T according to:
ln  = a - b ln T where a,b are constant

Viscosity of gases:

Viscosity of gases increases with increase in temperature. The

viscosity () of many gases is approximated by the formula:

  o(T/To)n in which T is the absolute temperature, o is the viscosity at

an absolute reference temperature To, and n is an empirical exponent that
best fits the experimental data.

The viscosity of an ideal gas is independent of pressure, but the viscosities

of real gases and liquids usually increase with pressure. Viscosity of liquids
are generally two orders of magnitude greater than gases at atmospheric
pressure. For example, at 25oC,  water = 1 centipoise and air = 1 x 10-2
centipoise.
1.5 VISCOSITY

To obtain a relation for viscosity,

consider a fluid layer between two
very large parallel plates separated
by a distance ℓ
Definition of shear stress is  = F/A.
Using the no-slip condition,
u(0) = 0 and u(ℓ) = V, the velocity
profile and gradient are u(y)= Vy/ℓ
and du/dy=V/ℓ
Shear stress for Newtonian fluid: 
= du/dy
 is the dynamic viscosity and has
units of kg/m·s, Pa·s, or poise.
1.5 VISCOSITY

1.5.1 DYNAMIC VISCOSITY

• The coefficient of dynamic viscosity μ can be defined as the shear

force per unit area (or shear stress τ) required to drag one layer of fluid
with unit velocity past another layer a unit distance away from it in the
fluid.
• Rearranging Equation 1.2,

Force
τ Area Force x Time Mass
μ= = = or
du Velocity Area Lenght x Time
dy Distance

• Unit: newtons seconds per square meter (Nsm-2)

or kilograms per meter per second (kgm-1s-1). But
note that the coefficient of viscosity is often
measures in poise (P) where 10 P = 1 kgm-1s-1.
• Typical values for water is 1.14 x 10-3 kgm-1s-1
and air is 1.78 x 10-5 kgm-1s-1.
26
1.5 VISCOSITY

1.5.2 KINEMATIC VISCOSITY

• The kinematic viscosity, n is defined as ratio of dynamic

viscosity, μ to mass density, ρ.

μ
ν=
ρ
• Unit: square meters per second (m2s-1) but note that the
kinematic viscosity is often measures in stokes (St)
where 10 St = 1 m2s-1.
• Typical values for water is 1.14 x 10-6 m2s-1 and air is
1.46 x 10-5 m2s-1.

27
Surface Tension
Liquid droplets behave like small
spherical balloons filled with liquid,
and the surface of the liquid acts
like a stretched elastic membrane
under tension.
The pulling force that causes this is
due to the attractive forces
between molecules
called surface tension ss.
Attractive force on surface
molecule is not symmetric.
Repulsive forces from interior
molecules causes the liquid to
minimize its surface area and attain
a spherical shape.
Surface Tension

The surface tension (s sigma) of a liquid is the work that must be done to bring enough molecules
from inside the liquid to the surface to form one new unit area of that surface (J/m2 = N/m).

surface tensions unit is dynes per centimeter (1 dyn/cm = 0.001 N/m).

Surface tension is the tendency of the surface of a liquid to behave like a stretched elastic
membrane.

There is a natural tendency for liquids to minimize their surface area. For this reason, drops of
liquid tend to take a spherical shape in order to minimize surface area. For such a small droplet,
surface tension will cause an increase of internal pressure p in order to balance the surface force.

We will find the amount D (Dp = p - poutside) by which the pressure inside a liquid droplet of radius r,
exceeds the pressure of the surrounding vapor/air by making force balances on a hemispherical
drop. Observe that the internal pressure p is trying to blow apart the two hemispheres, whereas the
surface tension s is trying to pull them together. Therefore, Dp pr2 = 2prs

i.e. Dp = 2s/r
Similar force balances can be made for cylindrical liquid jet.
Dp 2r= 2s
i.e. Dp = s/r
Similar treatment can be made for a soap bubble which is having two free surfaces. Dp pr2 = 2 x
2prs
i.e. Dp = 4s/r
Problem
Air is introduced through a nozzle into a tank of water to form a stream of
bubbles. If the bubbles are intended to have a diameter of 2 mm, calculate
how much the pressure of the air at the tip of the nozzle must exceed that
of the surrounding water. Assume that the value of surface tension
between air and water as 72.7 x 10-3 N/m.

Data:
Surface tension (s) = 72.7 x 10-3 N/m
Radius of bubble (r) = 1

Formula:
Dp = 2s/r

Calculations:
Dp = 2 x 72.7 x 10-3 / 1 = 145.4 N/m2

That is, the pressure of the air at the tip of nozzle must exceed the
pressure of surrounding water by 145.4 N/m2
Capillary Effect
Capillary effect is the rise or
fall of a liquid in a small-
diameter tube.
The curved free surface in the
tube is call the meniscus.
Water meniscus curves up
because water is a wetting
fluid.
Mercury meniscus curves
down because mercury is a
nonwetting fluid.
Force balance can describe
magnitude of capillary rise.
Wetting and contact angle

Fluids wet some solids and do not others.

The figure shows some of the possible wetting behaviors of a drop of liquid placed
on a horizontal, solid surface (the remainder of the surface is covered with air, so
two fluids are present).

Fig.(a) represents the case of a liquid which wets a solid surface well, e.g. water
on a very clean copper. The angle q shown is the angle between the edge of the
liquid surface and the solid surface, measured inside the liquid. This angle is called
the contact angle and is a measure of the quality of wetting. For perfectly wetting,
in which the liquid spreads as a thin film over the surface of the solid, q is zero.

Fig.(b) represents the case of no wetting. If there were exactly zero wetting, q
would be 180o. However, the gravity force on the drop flattens the drop, so that
180o angle is never observed. This might represent water on teflon or mercury on
clean glass.

We normally say that a liquid wets a surface if q is less than 90o and does not wet
if q is more than 90o. Values of q less than 20o are considered strong wetting, and
values of q greater than 140o are strong nonwetting.
Capillarity is important (in fluid measurments) when using tubes smaller than about 10 mm in diameter.

Capillary rise (or depression) in a tube can be calculated by making force balances. The forces acting are
force due to surface tension and gravity.

The force due to surface tension,

Fs = pdscos(q), where q is the wetting angle or contact angle. If tube (made of glass) is clean q is zero for
water and about 140o for Mercury.

This is opposed by the gravity force on the column of fluid, which is equal to the height of the liquid which is
above (or below) the free surface and which equals

Fg = (p/4)d2hgr,

where r is the density of liquid.

Equating these forces and solving for Capillary rise (or depression), we find

h = 4scos(q)/(rgd)
weight of fluid column = surface tension pulling force

rg (pR2h) = 2 pR s cos 

h = 2 s cos 
rgR
Problem
Water has a surface tension of 0.4 N/m. In a 3 mm diameter vertical
tube if the liquid rises 6 mm above the liquid outside the tube,
calculate the contact angle. Data:
Surface tension (s) = 0.4 N/m
Dia of tube (d) = 3 mm = 0.003 m
Capillary rise (h) = 6 mm = 0.006 m

Formula:
Capillary rise due to surface tension is given by

h = 4scos()/(rgd), where q is the contact angle.

Calculations:
cos() = hrgd/(4s) = 0.006 x 1000 x 9.812 x 0.003 / (4 x 0.4) = 0.11

Therfore, contact angle q = 83.7o

Calculate the rise of liquid between two
dimentional parallel plates shown in Figure 1.17.
Notice that previously a rise for circular tube was
developed which different from simple one
dimensional case. The distance between the two
plates is 0.001 m and the and surface tension is
0.05. Assume that the contact angle is 0 circ
(the maximum possible force). Cumpute the
value for sufrace tension of 0.05 [N/m], the
density 1000[kg/m3] and distance between the
plates of 0.001[m].

Solution
Problem
A 0.6 mm diameter glass tube is inserted into water at 20oC in a cup.
Determine the capillary rise of water in the tube. Data:
Surface tension of water at 20oC (s) = 0.073 N/m

Formula:

Calculations:
Problem
The diameter of a capilary tube is 2 mm. if the surface tension of water
in contact with air is 72.8 mN/m, determine the capillary rise. Take the
contact angle, q to be 0.

Calculations:
h = (4s) cos() / wd

= 4 x 72.08 x 10 -3
9810 x 0.002

= 14.84 x 10 -3 m
Problem
A vessel of 100 mm diameter contains mercury up to the height of 150
mm. Find the mass of the mercury in the vessel if its specific gravity
is 13.6

Calculations: