Introduction to Fluid Mechanics

• Fluid Mechanics is concerned with the behavior of fluids at rest and in

motion

• Distinction between solids and fluids:

– According to our experience: A solid is “hard” and not easily
deformed. A fluid is “soft” and deforms easily.
– Fluid is a substance that alters its shape in response to any force
however small, that tends to flow or to conform to the outline of its
container, and that includes gases and liquids and mixtures of solids
and liquids capable of flow.
– A fluid is defined as a substance that deforms continuously when
acted on by a shearing stress of any magnitude.

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 Course Organization
Textbook: deNevers “Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers”

 Introduction (Chapter 1) / Dimensions, Units

Fluid statics: Fluid is at rest

Fluid mechanics
Fluid dynamics: Fluid is moving

 Fluid statics (Chapter 2): Pressure, measurement of pressure, hydrostatic

forces, buoyancy
 Fluid dynamics (Chapters 3-5, 7): Mass, energy and momentum balances
 Applications in Engineering (Chapters 6, 9, 11, 12): Flow in pipes,
turbomachines, flow over immersed bodies, flow through porous media
 Dimensional analysis and modeling (Chapter 13)

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 TOPIC 1

Introduction
(de Nevers 1.1-1.5.2, 1.8-1.10)

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 Dimensions and Units
In fluid mechanics we must describe various fluid characteristics
in terms of certain basic quantities such as length, time and mass
• A dimension is the measure by which a physical variable is expressed
qualitatively, i.e. length is a dimension associated with distance, width,
height, displacement.
 Basic dimensions: Length, L
(or primary quantities) Time, T
Mass, M
Temperature, 
 We can derive any secondary quantity from the primary quantities
i.e. Force = (mass) x (acceleration) : F = M L T-2

• A unit is a particular way of attaching a number to the qualitative

dimension: Systems of units can vary from country to country, but
dimensions do not

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 Dimensions and Units
British English
Primary
SI Unit Gravitational Engineering
Dimension
(BG) Unit (EE) Unit
Pound-mass
Mass [M] Kilogram (kg) Slug
(lbm)

Length [L] Meter (m) Foot (ft) Foot (ft)

Time [T] Second (s) Second (s) Second (s)

Temperature [] Kelvin (K) Rankine (°R) Rankine (°R)

Newton
Force [F] Pound (lb) Pound-force (lbf)
(1N=1 kg.m/s2)

 Conversion factors are available in the textbook inside of front cover.

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 Units of Force: Newton’s Law F=m.g
• SI system: Base dimensions are Length, Time, Mass, Temperature
 A Newton is the force which when applied to a mass of 1 kg
produces an acceleration of 1 m/s2.
 Newton is a derived unit: 1N = (1Kg).(1m/s2)
• BG system: Base dimensions are Length, Force, Time, Temperature
 A slug is the mass which produces an acceleration of 1 ft/s2 when
a force of 1lb is applied on it:
 Slug is a derived unit: 1slug=(1lb) (s2)/(ft)
• EE system: Base dimensions are Length, Time, Mass, Force and
Temperature
 The pound-force (lbf) is defined as the force which accelerates
1pound-mass (lbm), 32.174 ft/s2.

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 Units of Force – EE system
To make Newton’s law dimensionally consistent we must include a
dimensional proportionality constant:

g
F  m
gc
where

(lb m )( ft )
g c  32.1740
(lbf )(s) 2

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 Example: Newton’s Law
• An astronaut weighs 730N in Houston, TX, where the local
acceleration of gravity is g=9.792 m/s2. What is the mass of the
astronaut? What is his weight on the moon, where g=1.67 m/s2?

• Redo the same problem in EE units. In EE units the astronaut weighs

164.1lbf, gHouston=32.13 ft/s2 and gmoon=5.48 ft/s2.

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 Dimensional Homogeneity
• All theoretically derived equations are dimensionally homogeneous:
dimensions of the left side of the equation must be the same as those
on the right side.
– Some empirical formulas used in engineering practice are not
dimensionally homogeneous

• All equations must use consistent units: each term must have the
same units. Answers will be incorrect if the units in the equation are
not consistent. Always chose the system of units prior to solving the
problem

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 Properties of Fluids

 Fundamental approach: Study the behavior of individual molecules

when trying to describe the behavior of fluids
 Engineering approach: Characterization of the behavior by considering
the average, or macroscopic, value of the quantity of interest, where the
average is evaluated over a small volume containing a large number of
molecules

Treat the fluid as a CONTINUUM: Assume that all the fluid

characteristics vary continuously throughout the fluid

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 Measures of Fluid Mass and Weight
• Density of a fluid, (rho), is the amount of mass per unit volume of a
substance: =m/V
  ( P, T )
– For liquids, weak function of temperature and pressure
– For gases: strong function of T and P

from ideal gas law:  = P MR T

(1.1)
where R = universal gas constant, M=mol. weight

R= 8.314 J/(g-mole K)=0.08314 (liter bar)/(g-mole K)=

0.08206 (liter atm)/(g-mole K)=1.987 (cal)/(g-mole K)=
10.73 (psia ft3)/(lb-mole °R)=0.7302 (atm ft3)/(lb-mole °R)
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 Measures of Fluid Mass and Weight

• Specific volume: =1/

• Specific weight is the amount of weight per unit volume of a substance:

=w/V=g

• Specific Gravity (independent of system of units)


SG 
 H 2 O @ 4 C

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