Fluid Mechanics

(Lecture)/ Topic 1

Prepared by:
Anjo M. Ramirez, ME, RMP
FEU – Faculty ME Department
MEFLUMECH-T1
OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lecture, the students will be able to:
•Understand the basic concepts of fluid mechanics and recognize the various types of fluid flow
problems encountered in practice.

•Model engineering problems and solve them in a systematic manner.

•Have a working knowledge of accuracy, precision, and significant digits, and recognize the importance of
dimensional homogeneity in engineering calculations.

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
INTRODUCTION FLUID MECHANICS
defined as the science that deals with the behavior of fluids at
MECHANICS rest (fluid statics) or in motion (fluid dynamics), and the
deals with both stationary and moving interaction of fluids with solids or other fluids at the boundaries.
bodies under the influence of forces.
HYDRODYNAMICS
STATICS motion of fluids that are practically incompressible (such
deals with bodies at rest. as liquids, especially water, and gases at low speeds)

HYDRAULICS
DYNAMICS deals with liquid flows in pipes and open channels.
deals with bodies in motion.
GAS DYNAMICS
flow of fluids that undergo significant density changes,
such as the flow of gases through nozzles at high speeds.
AERODYNAMICS
deals with the flow of gases (especially air) over bodies such as
aircraft, rockets, and automobiles at high or low speeds.
MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
WHAT IS FLUID?
FLUID - A substance in the liquid or gas phase

The difference in solid & fluid is ability to

resist applied shear stress that tends to
change its shape. Fluid can deform
“continuously”

In solids stress is proportional to strain. fluids stress is proportional to strain rate

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
FLUID

Unlike a liquid, a gas does not form a

free surface, and it expands to fill the The arrangement of atoms in different phases:
entire available space. (a) molecules are at relatively fixed positions in a solid,
(b) groups of molecules move about each other in the liquid phase, and
(c) molecules move about at random in the gas phase.

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
APPLICATION OF FLUID MECHANICS

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
CLASSIFICATION OF FLUID FLOW
Viscous versus Inviscid Regions of Flow
When two fluid layers move relative to each other, a
friction force develops between them and the
slower layer tries to slow down the faster layer.
This internal resistance to flow is quantified by the
fluid property viscosity, which is a measure of
internal stickiness of the fluid.

The flow of an originally uniform

fluid stream over a flat plate, and
the regions of viscous flow (next to
the plate on both sides) and
inviscid flow (away from the plate).

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL FLOW COMPRESSIBLE VS INCOMPRESSIBLE
Incompressibility is an approximation, and a flow is
said to be incomressible if the density remains nearly
constant throughout.

External flow over a tennis ball,

and the turbulent wake region
behind.

The flow of liquids in a duct is called open-channel

flow if the duct is only partially filled with the liquid
and there is a free surface.

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
LAMINAR VS TURBULENT
highly ordered fluid motion
characterized by smooth layers
of fluid is called laminar
NATURAL (OR UNFORCED) VS FORCED
FLOW
Force Flow a fluid is forced to flow over a surface or
in a pipe by external means such as a pump or a fan.

A flow that alternates Natural Flows any fluid motion is due to natural
between being laminar and means such as the buoyancy effect,
turbulent is called
transitional
highly disordered fluid motion
that typically occurs at high
velocities and is characterized
by velocity fluctuations is
called turbulent

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
STEADY VS UNSTEADY FLOW One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional
Steady implies no change at a point with time. Flows
Unsteady implies with change at a point with time.

Uniform implies no change with location over a

specified region.

The development of the velocity profile in a circular pipe. V=V(r, z) and

thus the flow is two-dimensional in the entrance region, and becomes one-
dimensional downstream when the velocity profile fully develops and
remains unchanged in the flow direction, V=V(r).

The fully developed flow in a circular pipe is one-

dimensional since the velocity varies in the radial r-
direction but not in the angular u- or axial z-directions
MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Flows
Consider a bullet piercing through calm air. Determine if the
time-averaged airflow over the bullet during its flight is one-,
two-, or three-dimensional

Flow over a car antenna is approximately two-

dimensional except near the top and bottom
of the antenna.

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
SYSTEM AND CONTROL VOLUME

SURROUNDINGS - mass or region outside the system.

BOUNDARY- the real or imaginary surface that separates the system from its
surroundings

FIXED BOUNDARY
MOVABLE BOUNDARY

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
SYSTEM AND CONTROL VOLUME
SYSTEM - defined as a quantity of matter or a region in space chosen for
study.
OPEN SYSTEM/ CONTROL VOLUME – properly selected region in space.

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DIMENSIONS AND UNITS
Any physical quantity can be characterized by dimensions.
The magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are called units.

PRIMARY/ FUNDAMENTAL DIMENSIONS SECONDARY/ DERIVED DIMENSIONS

• mass m, • velocity V,
• length L, • energy E,
• time t, • Volume V
• temperature T

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
DIMENSIONS AND UNITS, cont.,
Standard Prefixes in SI Units

• metric SI (from Le
Système • the English system,
International d’ which is also known
Unités), which is as the United States
also known as the Customary System
International (USCS)”
System SI

• Length, m • Length, ft
• Mass, kg • Mass, lb
• Time, s • Time, s
• Temperature, K/C • Temperature, R/F

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
CONFUSION AND ERRORS IN UNITS
“F=ma (second
law of motion)”
Mass, m
PRIMARY/
kg, SI unit lb, English system FUNDAMENTAL
DIMENSIONS

1kg

Energy, E The term weight

SECONDARY/ DERIVED is often
N, SI unit lb, English system DIMENSIONS incorrectly used
to express mass,
1kg In the English system, force is
usually considered to be one of the
primary dimensions and is assigned
a non-derived unit.

1 m/s^2
MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
DIMENSIONAL HOMOGENEITY
Example 1 (Spotting Errors from Unit Inconsistencies)
While solving a problem, a person ended up with the
following equation at some stage:
Example 2 (Obtaining Formulas from Unit Considerations)
A tank is filled with oil whose density is r 850 kg/m^3. If
the volume of the tank is V 2 m^3, determine the amount
of mass m in the tank.

where E is the total energy and has the unit of

kilojoules. Determine how to correct the error and
discuss what may have caused it.

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
UNITY CONVERSION RATIOS
Example:
1.) A mass of 1.00 lbm is subjected to standard earth
gravity. The gravitational constant is g 32.174 ft/s2. Its
weight in lbf is to be determined.

2.) 1 lb (454 grams) of breakfast cereal to Newton;

They can also be expressed more conveniently as
unity conversion ratios as;
Technically, this means
that the cereal inside
the box weighs 1.00
lbf on earth and has a
mass of 453.6 g
(0.4536 kg).

MEFLUMECH-T1/Introduction
SAMPLE PROBLEMS
1.) What is the net force acting on a car cruising at a constant velocity of 70 km/h (a) on a level road and (b) on an
uphill road?

2.) A 3-kg plastic tank that has a volume of 0.2 m3 is filled with liquid water. Assuming the density of water is
1000 kg/m3, determine the weight of the combined system.

3.) Determine the mass and the weight of the air contained in a room whose dimensions are 6 m x 6 m x 8 m.
Assume the density of the air is 1.16 kg/m3.

4.) At 45° latitude, the gravitational acceleration as a function of elevation z above sea level is given by g = a - bz,
where a = 9.807 m/ s^2 and b = 3.32 x 10^-6 s^-2. Determine the height above sea level where the weight of an object
will decrease by 1 percent.

5.) The acceleration of high-speed aircraft is sometimes expressed in g’s (in multiples of the standard acceleration of
gravity). Determine the net upward force, in N, that a 90-kg man would experience in an aircraft whose acceleration is
6 g’s.

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