METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION OF FLUID

plate F

solid 

at t = 0 t>0
 = F/A

plate Up
F
t0 t1 t2 t3
fluid

FLUID IS A SUBSTANCE THAT CAN NOT

SUPPORT SHEAR FORCES OF ANY MAGNITUDE
WITHOUT CONTINUOUS DEFORMATION

THE PROCESS OF CONTINUOUS DEFORMATION

IS KNOWN AS FLOW OF FLUIDS

Fluid

Fluids cannot support tension either

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METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS

SCOPE OF FLUID MECHANICS

Civil Engineering Applications

Utilitarian Mechanical

 Water supply  Pipelines

 Energy production  Hydraulic structures
 Transportation  Fluvial hydraulics
of fluids,  Coastal hydraulics
of material,  Groundwater flow
as waterways  Wind forces on structures

Ships, Cars, Fast Trains, Aeroplanes…

Machines, Industrial Plants…

The circulatory system of human body…

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CONCEPT OF CONTINUUM



Actual molecular structure A hypothetical medium

m
  lim
  d 


d

Continuum assumption is the continuous distribution of

matter in the flow field without any discontinuity.

A fluid particle is defined as the mass contained in the smallest

fluid volume for which the continuum assumption is not
violated.
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DESCRIBING PHYSICAL ENTITIES

Qualitative description Quantitative description

DIMENSIONS UNITS
Quantity MLT FLT SI units

Mass M FL-1T2 kg
PRIMARY

or
Force MLT-2 F N
Length L L m
Time T T s

Temperature   C

F  ma

Area L2 L2 m2
Velocity LT-1 LT-1 m/s
Acceleration LT-2 LT-2 m/s2
DERIVED

Force MLT-2 F N
Pressure ML-1T-2 FL-2 Pa
Energy ML2T-2 FL Joule
Power ML2T-3 FLT-1 Watt
Angle 1 1 radian

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF FLUIDS

Density, : Mass per unit volume,  = m/

[]=ML-3

Specific Weight, : Weight per unit volume,  = W/

[]=FL-3

Specific Gravity, SG: The ratio of the density of the fluid to the
density of water (or air) at standard conditions.

 
(SG)liquid  (SG)gas 
w air

Density and Specific Weights of some fluids (g=9.81m/s2)

Fluid Temperature Density Specific Weight

 kg/m3 N/m3
C
Water 4.0 1000. 9810.
Liquids

Mercury 20.0 13600. 133416.

Gasoline 15.6 680. 6671.
Alcohol 20.0 789. 7740.
Air 15.0 1.23 12.0
Gases

Oxygen 20.0 1.33 13.0

Hydrogen 20.0 0.0838 0.822
Methane 20.0 0.667 6.54
Note that  = g

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Viscosity:

Up
S F
B B’ 
h Δθ u(y)
A
y 

Deformation of fluid for a short time interval t

hF Up
Up   h or 
A h

 S     h 
U p t 0 t  t 0 t 
lim   lim 
   d
   lim   
h h h t 0 t  dt

d
Thus 
dt

Shear stress is proportional to the rate of angular deformation

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS

For the linear velocity profile

Up u ( y) Up du U p d
 u ( y)  y  
h y h dy h dt

Therefore
du Newton’s

du or  Law of
dy dy viscosity

The proportionality constant  is known as dynamic viscosity

of the fluid.
  

FL 2
 FL2
T  ML1 1
T
1
 du  LT
 dy 
  L

Viscosity can be made independent of 

fluid density; kinematic viscosity is 
defined as the ratio 

 ML1T 1
    L2 1
T
 ML 3

Fluid Temperature  
(C) (Ns/m2) (m2/s)
Water 20 1.00E-03 1.01E-06
Air 20 1.80E-05 1.51E-05
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In general 
n n<1
 du 
  K 
 dy  
1 n>1
n=1 Newtonian fluids
n1 Non-Newtonian fluids
n>1 Shear thickening
n<1 Shear thinning  = 0 ideal fluid

A typical variation of shear stress

y Umax u(y)

(y)
dy
du w
u(y) w
Wall shear stress
du
w  
dy y  0

Frictional drag force

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Dynamic (absolute) viscosity of some common

fluids as a function of temperature
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Surface tension , 

Intermolecular Attraction Forces

Cohesive Forces (C) Adhesive Forces (A)

Liquid to liquid Liquid to solid
Gas to gas Gas to liquid

A>C Gas The intensity of the molecular

 attraction per unit length along
any line on an interface is called
Liquid
the surface tension.
Solid   FL1
 

Capillary
A>C effects
h
h
C>A 

 

Capillary rise Capillary drop

(wetting fluid) (non-wetting fluid)
Patm 
 

z 2 cos 
h h
2R R

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS
Vapor pressure, pv

Vapor p
Boiling occurs when
ppv
Water

Heat
Vapor pressure for water
Temperature C pv (kPa)
0 0.61
10 1.23
25 3.17
60 19.92
100 101.33=patm

1 3
2
p3

Vapor pockets
p1>pv p2pv p3>pv

Cavitation
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Compressibility of Fluids

p=F/A

F
A

dp
0  d/0
V
1

dp dp
Ev   
Bulk Modulus d / 0 dρ / ρ
of Elasticity

d / 0 dρ / ρ
K 
Compressibility dp dp

(Ev)water=2.15x109Pa (STP)

(Ev)air=1.42x105Pa (STP)

Esteel=2.00x1011Pa

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EXAMPLES

Example 1.1 Calculate the velocity gradient and the shear stress for y=0, 0.1, and 0.5 m if the
velocity profile of the flow is a parabola given by

u = 50 (2y-y2) , 0  y  1m

where u is in (m/s) and y is in (m). Draw the shear stress distribution. Also calculate the
frictional drag force of the fluid on the bottom boundary on an area of 10 m2. Use dynamic
viscosity =0.001 Pas.

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS
Example 1.2 A space h=25 mm wide between two plane surfaces is filled with crude oil at
20C for which oil =7.18x10-3 Pas. What force is required to drag a very thin plate of 0.5 m2
area between the surfaces at a speed of v=0.15 m/s. Assume linear velocity profile.
a) If the plate remains equidistant from the two surfaces?
b) If it is at a distance of 10 mm from one of the surfaces.

Upper stationary plate

h
F, V

Lower stationary plate

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS

Example 1.3 When a torque T is applied to the shaft, the disk A rotates with a constant angular
velocity The fluid in between transmits this torque T to the disk B. What will be the angular
velocity 2 for the disk B?

ω1
Disk A

 h

ω2
Disk B

R0

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Example 1.4 Two capillary tubes of different diameter are submerged into water as seen in the
figure. Find the elevation difference of water between the two tubes.

D1 D2
σ
σ
θ
x
h1 θ
h2

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS
HOMEWORK PROBLEMS

1.1 If F=QU/g, where Q is discharge,  is specific weight, U is velocity and g is the

gravitational acceleration, what are the dimensions of F?

1.2 An expression for the volume rate of flow, Q flowing over a dam of length, B, is given
by the equation Q=3.09 BH3/2 where H is the depth of the water above the top of the dam
(called as head). This formula gives Q in ft3/s when B and H are in feet. Is the constant,
3.09, dimensionless? Would this equation be valid if units other than feet and seconds
were used?

1.3 A liquid when poured into a graduated cylinder is found to weigh 6 N when occupying a
volume of 500 ml (milliliters). Determine its specific weight, density and specific gravity.

1.4 A gas is compressed. The measured volume and absolute pressure before compression
are 0.30 m3 and 50.7 kPa, respectively. After compression the volume and the pressure
becomes 0.111 m3 and 202.8 kPa, respectively. What is the compressibility and bulk
modulus of elasticity of this gas?

1.5 Develop an expression for the pressure variation in a liquid in which the specific weight
increases with depth, h, as =Kh+o, where K is constant, o is the specific weight at the
free surface.

1.6 An 8-kg flat block of metal slides down a = 20 inclined plane while lubricated by a thin
film of oil. The contact area, A, is 0.2 m2. What is the terminal velocity of the block?
oil=0.29 Pa.s, t=2 mm.


Contact area, A

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS
1.7 Calculate the shear stress for y= 0, 3 Umax
and 6mm. If the velocity profile of the
flow in an open channel is given as,
y u=UmaxSin( )
u  U max Sin ( ) y δ
2
where u is in (m/s) and y in (mm).
Draw the shear stress distribution.
=1.8*10-5 kg/m.s, δ=6 mm, Umax=10
m/s.

t1
1.8 A triangular shaft is pulled in a
triangular bearing housing (see figure) oil
at a constant velocity of 0.3 m/s. Find 60 60
the force required to pull the shaft,
if the length of the shaft is 2 m. Shaft
The viscosity of the lubricating oil
filling the clearing between the shaft l
t2 t3
and the housing is =1x10-1 Ns/m2.
t1=t2=t3=1 mm, l =10 cm.

Lubricant
1.9 A 25 mm-diameter shaft is pulled
through a cylindrical bearing as shown
in the figure. The lubricant that fills the
Bearing
0.3 mm gap between the shaft and
bearing is an oil having a kinematic
viscosity of 8x10-4 m2/s and a specific P
gravity of 0.91. Determine the Shaft
force P required to pull the shaft
at a velocity of 3 m/s. Assume the
velocity distribution in the gap is
linear. L=0.5 m.

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS
1.10 A torque of T=4 Nm is required to
rotate the intermediate cylinder at
=30 rad/min. Calculate the viscosity 

of the oil. All cylinders are 450 mm
long. Neglect the end effects. R
R=0.15 m, t=0.003 m.
t
t

1.11. The device shown consists of a disk that is rotated by a shaft. The disk is positioned very
close to a solid boundary. Between the disk and boundary there is viscous oil.
a) If the disk is rotated at a rate of 1 rad/s, what will be the ratio of the shear stress in
the oil at r=2 cm to the shear stress at r =3 cm?
b) If the rate of rotation is 2 rad/s, what is the tangential velocity of the oil in contact
with the disk at r=3 cm?
c) If the oil viscosity is 0.01 N.s/m2 and the spacing y is 2 mm, what is the shear stress
for the conditions noted in (b)?

Disk
r
Oil


1.12. A conical body is made to rotate at a
constant speed of =42 rad/sec. A film
t
of oil having a viscosity of 0.5 poise t
(gr/cm.s) separates the cone from the
container. The film thickness, t, is h oil
0.025 cm. What torque is required to
maintain this motion? The cone radius
at the base, R, is 10 cm and cone has a
length of h=30 cm. t R

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 METU Civil Engineering Department CE 272 FLUID MECHANICS
1.13. Compute the torque T required to rotate a conical object at a constant angular speed .
The clearance between the object and the casing is constant in thickness (h) and filled
with oil of . ( =30)

oil
,
 D 
 

1.14. Small droplets of carbon tetrachloride at 68F are formed with spray nozzle. If the average
diameter of the droplets is 200 m what is the difference in pressure between the inside
and outside of the droplets? (=2.69x10-2N/m for carbon tetrachloride at 68F)

1.15 Water is filled between two parallel plates of infinite length, a distance d apart. Find the
capillary rise between these two plates, where

surface tension d
 angle of contact
d
ddistance between plates
  unit weight of water  
h : capillary rise


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