Fluid Mechanics

Fluid mechanics is the discipline where we analyze the behaviour of fluids at rest (hydrostatics)
and motion of fluids (kinematics and dynamics). When pressure forces on fluids are not
considered in the flow analysis it is called kinematics study while dynamics analysis consider
pressure forces as acting forces on fluid during analysis.

A fluid can be defined as “a substance that deforms continuously under the application of a shear
(tangential) stress no matter how small the shear stress may be” In general, a material which
constantly deforms itself such as the air or water is called a fluid, consequently two states of
matter, Liquid and gas are fluids.

When solids yield under shear stress, the deformation it undergoes is finite and once the force is
released, unlike fluids, it tends to assume its initial shape. A plastic or elastic solid is deformed
continuously during the application of a force and once the body is free from the force; a plastic
body stops deformation while an elastic solid returns to its original shape. This is in contrast to
the fluid that keeps deforming even when it is free from force.

Fluid Statics is the area of fluid mechanics that studies fluids at rest. It also extends to fluids in
motion when there is no relative motion between adjacent fluid particles (e.g. rigid body motion).
Fluid statics provide an essential body of knowledge to design liquid storage tanks.

Fluid flows are commonly observed phenomena in this world. The flow of matter implies at most
times the development of displacement and deformation of matter. Namely, a number of
particles compose the body of matter, and are moving and continuously changing their relative
positions, and are evolving with time always.

Flows are observed in diverse phenomena in addition to the wind and river above: air flows in a
living room, flows of blood or respiratory air in a body, flows of microscopic suspension particles
in a chemical test-tube, flows of bathtub water, atmospheric flows and sea currents, solar wind,
gas flows in interstellar space.

Vehicles such as ships, airplanes, jetliners and rockets utilize flows in order to obtain thrust to
move from one place to other while carrying loads. Glider planes or soaring birds use winds
passively to get lift.
Fish use water motions (eddies) to get thrust for their motion(swimming), while animals such as
insects or birds commonly use air flows in order to get lift for being airborne and thrust for their
forward motion.

Fluid Properties
These are properties that determine behaviour of the fluid whether in flow or out of flow, they
include pressure, surface tension, compressibility etc.
Density
Density is defined as the ratio of mass of fluid to the volume occupied by the fluid. This is
denoted by the symbol  (rho) and is expressed mathematically by equation 1

1
Where mf is the mass of fluid (kg), vf is the volume of fluid(m3) and  is the density in kg/m3
The density of liquids are considered constant while that of gas changes with pressure and
temperature.
The standard density of water is 1000 in kg/m3

Specific weight or Weight density

The specific weight of a fluid, designated by the Greek symbol  (gamma), is defined
as its weight per unit volume. Thus, specific weight is the ratio of the weight of a fluid to the
volume occupied by the fluid. The specific weight is represented by equation 2 is expressed in
N/m3.
2
where wf is the weight of fluid (N), vf is the volume of fluid (m3) and w is the weight density in
N/m3
It is related to density through the equation 3 as

where g is the local acceleration of gravity.

Just as density is used to characterize the mass of a fluid system, the specific weight is used to
characterize the weight of the system.
Specific Volume
This is defined as the volume of a fluid occupied by a unit mass of the fluid. It is expressed in
m3/kg and given by equation 3 and has a unit of m3/kg. It is however commonly used with gas
analysis. It is usually represented by symbol v

3
It should be noted that specific volume is the inverse of mass density()

The specific gravity of a fluid, designated as SG, is defined as the ratio of the density of the fluid
to the density of water or air depending on the standard fluid at some specified temperature.
Usually the specified temperature is taken as 4 oC (39.2 _F), and at this temperature the density of
water is 1000 kg/m3.
In equation form specific gravity is expressed as Equation 4
4
For liquid the standard is water (1000kg/m3) and its air for gas (1.225 kg/m3) and since it is the
ratio of densities, the value of SG does not depend on the system of units used.
Pressure
When a fluid is at rest, there is no shear stress and the pressure at any point in the fluid is the
same in all directions. The pressure is also the same across any longitudinal section parallel with
the Earth’s surface; it varies only in the vertical direction, that is, from height to height. This is
the phenomenon of hydrostatics. Pressure is defined as the total force applied normal
(perpendicular) to a unit surface area.
5
Force is a vector. It has a magnitude and a direction of action. Area is a scalar as only a
magnitude is needed to define it sufficiently. It should be noted that pressure is a scalar.
Pressure has the units N/m2 and/or N/mm2 . A N/m2 is called a Pascal (P) in honour of Blaise
Pascal, a French mathematician and a physicist whose work on static fluids lead to understand
the concept of pressure.
Other most widely used unit are mercury millimetres (Hg mm), bar( 1 bar = 100kPa = 105
N/m2)
Consider the Figure showing the relationship between gauge and atmospheric pressure. It is
essential to understand that the pressure is measured relative to the atmospheric pressure. In
other words, some measuring techniques measure the pressure difference between the fluid and
the atmosphere.

This is called the gauge pressure. For instance, P-Patm gives the gauge pressure. To obtain the
absolute pressure one has to add the atmospheric pressure to the gauge pressure. Absolute
pressure is measured relative to an absolute vacuum (zero pressure).
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The absolute value of the atmospheric pressure is 101325 Pa. In most cases 1.01×105 Pa
(101kPa) is used for simplicity.
The pressure in the ideal gas law must be expressed as an absolute pressure, which means that it
is measured relative to absolute zero pressure (a pressure that would only occur in a perfect
vacuum). Standard sea-level atmospheric pressure (by international agreement) is 14.696 psi (abs)
or 101.33 kPa (abs). For most calculations, these pressures can be rounded to 14.7 psi and 101
kPa, respectively.
In engineering, it is common practice to measure pressure relative to the local atmospheric
pressure; when measured in this fashion it is called gage pressure. Thus, the absolute pressure can
be obtained from the gage pressure by adding the value of the atmospheric pressure.
For example, a pressure of 30 psi (guage) in a tire is equal to 44.7 psi (abs) at standard
atmospheric pressure from equation 6
Also recall that the pressure at any given point by a fluid is given by Equation 7
7
Where h is the height in the vertical direction above the reference point,  is the density of fluid
and g is the acceleration due to gravity.
Pascal’s Law states that the pressure at a point in a fluid at rest is independent of direction as long
as there are no shearing stresses present.
He also observed that a pressure change in one part of a fluid at rest in a closed container is
transmitted without a loss to all parts of the fluid and the walls of the container. This is known as
the Pascal’s law in hydraulics.
Consider two pistons with different surface areas confining a fluid in a u-shaped cavity as shown
in Figure 2. Suppose the area AA << AB and the pistons are at the same level as shown.

Piston A exerts a pressure FA/AA on the luid and piston B exerts a pressure FB/AB. Since both
pistons are at the same height
This is an interesting law when applied in engineering
Example 1
A hydraulic ram with glycerol as fluid has a ram diameter of 100 cm and a plunger radius of 3.5
cm, with a plunger force of 300N would the system be capable of lifting a 6.5 tonne machine.
If not what would be minimum modification required of the plunger.