Fluid properties and fluid forces

AE 225 Incompressible Fluid Mechanics

Aniruddha Sinha

Department of Aerospace Engineering

IIT Bombay

Why fluid mechanics ?

Mechanics: science that deals with both stationary and moving bodies

under the influence of forces

Statics: deals with bodies at rest
Dynamics: deals with bodies in motion
Fluid mechanics: deals with behaviour of fluids at rest (fluid statics) or

in motion (fluid dynamics)

Also deals with interaction of fluids with solids or other fluids at the

boundaries
Fluid mechanics may be called fluid dynamics when treating fluids at

rest as a special case of fluids in motion

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What is a fluid?

A fluid is anything that flows; the other category of matter is solid

Solids are hard and not easily deformed
Fluid is soft and easily deformed (we can readily move thru air)
Although fairly descriptive, this definition is unsatisfactory for

engineers/scientists
Closer look at molecular structure is more fruitful for categorization
Arrangement of molecules
Their energy
Distance between them

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Molecular structure of solids

Densely packed molecules vibrating about fixed positions
Dense packing results in large inter-molecular cohesive forces
Solids maintain their shape & volume
They can have infinite no. of free surfaces (material boundaries)

www.schoolphysics.co.uk/
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Molecular structure of liquids

Molecules spaced farther apart

Consequently inter-molecular forces are weaker; molecules have greater

freedom of movement
Liquids are easily deformed but not easily compressed (i.e., change

shape but not volume)

They can form one free surface

www.physicalgeography.net
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Molecular structure of gases

Even greater molecular spacing

Negligible cohesive intermolecular forces; molecules have greater

freedom of motion
Gases are easily deformed and compressed
They cannot form a free surface (expands to fill any volume)

chemwiki.ucdavis.edu
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Behaviour of fluids in presence of forces

Natural question in fluid mechanics
Solids have finite (usually small) change of shape and/or volume under

external forces
Elastic: regain shape when force is removed
Inelastic: otherwise
Exception: Geological scales (formation of mountains) large forces

Fluids (both liquids and gases) under the action of forces have

continuous change of shape as particles keep sliding over each other

Never regain shape once external force is removed

www-mdp.eng.cam.ac.uk
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Degree of detail in studying fluid mechanics

Option #1 (Molecular dynamics approach): Study the motion of

gazillions of individual molecules

This is generally intractable
Wasteful
Do we really need to know what each molecule of the surrounding air is

doing at any given instant to know how an airplane performs?

Option #2 (Continuum approach): Consider an extremely small

element (volume) of matter and study its averaged-out properties,

along with rate-of-change of selected properties from one element to
another
Assumption: Properties are varying continuously from one element to

the next
Corollary: We can write derivatives such as dp/dx

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Molecular dynamics approach to studying mechanics

Study the motion of individual molecules
Applicability of approach depends on value of Knudsen number (Kn)

Kn =

Mean free path of molecules

Characteristic length (measure of relevant domain)

Kn 1: molecules are relatively far apart compared to domain size

Computationally tractable when no. of molecules is fairly small
Averaging (in continuum approach) is tricky due to paucity of molecules
When Kn  1, MD is neither feasible nor relevant
Too many molecules to keep track of within flow domain
Useless level of detail

Flow becomes continuum as distance between particles reduces w.r.t. domain size
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Defining density of matter

Density of a matter is the amount of mass per unit volume
We may define (spatial-, not time-) average density of a finite element

of the matter surrounding a point of interest with volume V (we do

not specify the precise shape of the element)
X
mi
M
i
:=
=
,
mi = Mass of ith molecule
V
V
For elements with sides mean free path,

will vary greatly depending on precise shape

and size of volume chosen
For very large elements encompassing regions
with different phenomena, will again vary
E.g.: convection flow in a kettle
In this case, study of is useless

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Defining density of matter (contd.)

Lecture notes of Prof. Shevare

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Applicability of continuum hypothesis

Q: What is the typical no. of air molecules in a micron-sized element at

standard conditions?

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Applicability of continuum hypothesis

Q: What is the typical no. of air molecules in a micron-sized element at

standard conditions?
Ans: About 3 107
Large enough for robust definition of fluid properties (e.g., density)
Micron-sized element still meaningful in study of most everyday flows
Distance between air molecules is 3 109 m

Mean free path is actually 25 times longer ( 8 108 m)

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Applicability of continuum hypothesis

Q: What is the typical no. of air molecules in a micron-sized element at

standard conditions?
Ans: About 3 107
Large enough for robust definition of fluid properties (e.g., density)
Micron-sized element still meaningful in study of most everyday flows
Distance between air molecules is 3 109 m

Mean free path is actually 25 times longer ( 8 108 m)

No. of molecules in a cube that is 1 mean free path on each side is
15,000 (still a large number)
Kinetic theory of gases predicts that density of this volume will
fluctuate by only 0.8% (root mean square)
Consider a nano-fluidic device with water; in a nanometer-sized volume

there will be 30 water molecules unreliable for estimating density

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Choice of size of fluid element

If the fluid density is expected to change from point to point, the element
size should not be too large
This will affect the resolution of the property estimate
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Formal definition of fluid property in continuum

:= lim

V 

M
,
V

min <  < max

min determined by probability of finding sufficient no. of molecules

max guided by necessity of resolving property field for engineering purposes

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Concept of fluid particle

Material region (MR) is a region of the flow whose surface moves with local
velocity
E.g., consider a bubble of gas rising inside a liquid; an
MR enclosing the gas has velocity made of 3 parts*:
Overall rising velocity of the bubble
Expansion velocity of the bubble
Gas velocity at the interface due to internal

circulation (a sliding velocity tangent to the surface)

Fluid particle (or fluid element) is a vanishingly small MR
Due to molecular diffusion, a fluid particle does NOT consist of the same
set of molecules at all times
Another useful concept is a fixed point in space (actually a vanishingly small
fixed region)
We can define properties for either a fluid particle or a fixed point in the fluid
*Panton, Incompressible flow
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Velocity
In fluid mechanics, various particles of the fluid move with different speeds
As we change x, y , z, or t the velocity changes:
V = V (x, y , z, t)
Velocity is a vector field, i.e.,
u = u (x, y , z, t) ,

v = v (x, y , z, t) ,

w = w (x, y , z, t)

Velocity is again a continuum concept based on the volume-limiting process

(Mass-averaged) velocity is the vector sum of all molecular momenta within
a fluid element, averaged over the total mass of molecules
X
mi V i
,
min <  < max
V := lim X
V 
mi
V gives the molecular-averaged fluid momentum per unit volume at a
point in space-time
Molar-averaged velocity may be more appropriate in chemically
inhomogeneous flows
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Types of forces acting on fluids

Body forces Force acts throughout
the volume of the fluid particle, and is
proportional to volume
Surface forces Force acts only on the surface of the fluid particle, and is
proportional to surface area
Any surface force can be resolved into a force normal to the surface and
another tangential to it

Tangential surface force

Normal surface force

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Stresses acting on fluids

Shear stress, :=

Shear force
,
Surface area

Normal stress, p :=

Normal force
Surface area

Surface forces are proportional to surface area, so that shear and normal
stress do not depend on the surface area or size of the fluid particle; e.g.:
Shear stress =

Shear force
lim
area0 Surface area

Note that this limit must be seen in the context of the continuum hypothesis
Therefore, in the strictest sense,
Shear stress = limV 

Shear force
Surface area

Normal stress = limV 

min <  < max ,

Normal force

Surface area

with the relevant surface of the fluid particle being oriented as desired
throughout the limiting procedure
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Pressure

Consider a fluid particle, with one of its (locally-plane)

surfaces being of area A
The fluid or solid neighbouring this surface will exert a
normal force Fnormal

Fnormal

The consequent normal stress is called pressue in fluid

mechanics
Fnormal
p := lim
,
min <  < max
V 
A
SI unit of pressure is N m2 or Pa (Pascals)
Sign convention: Since fluids cannot sustain tensile forces (usually), but do
resist compressive forces, normal forces are always considered positive when
directed into a fluid particle

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Shear stress
Consider a fluid particle, with one of its
(locally-plane) surfaces being of area A
The fluid or solid neighbouring this surface will
exert a tangential force Ftangent

A
Ftangent,1

Ftangent,2

No surface has a unique tangential direction,

therefore tangential stresses are described in two
orthogonal directions
The consequent shear stresses are

Ftangent,1

1 := limV 
A
min <  < max ,
Ftangent,2

2 := limV 
A
SI unit of shear stress is N m2 (its rare that shear strain is reported in Pa)
N.B.: Shear stress always tries to stop the fluid particle from moving; it is
frictional force per unit area
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Pressure vs. shear stress

Pressure
Direction of the pressure depends on the
particle under study
In gases, value of pressure is always
positive
Pressure exists whether fluid is stationary
or flowing

Shear stress
Shear stresses always offers resistance
Shear stresses tend to make the
velocities of neighbouring particles more
equal
Shear stress is zero when fluid is not
flowing
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Properties of fluids
Fluid properties can be classified as:
Physical properties
Constitutive properties: relation between two physical properties
Examples of physical properties:
Density
Surface tension
Vapour pressure
Examples of constitutive properties:
Viscosity
Bulk modulus (compressibility)
Thermal conductivity
Mass diffusivity
Properties (or variables) of flow (as opposed to those of the fluid):
Velocity
Pressure
Temperature
Density (yes, may be a property of flow too!)
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Deformation of a fluid particle

If velocity of fluid is same everywhere then there is no difference between
solid and fluid (rigid body mechanics)
Since velocity varies from point to point, fluid particle may change in size
and shape; mathematically these changes are important

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Shear strain of a particle

Viscosity is a defining constitutive property of a fluid
It relates shear forces with kinematics (velocity field)
Viscosity distinguishes how a fluid particle changes its shape when

shear force is applied

We define shear strain as change of shape of a rectangular particle to

a non-rectangular particle
To be precise, shear strain is the change in included angle (in radians)

In solids, shear strain is proportional to the applied shear force

Corollary: Shear strain exists only when shear force remains applied
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Shear strain of a fluid particle

Any shear force produces continuous shear strain
By definition fluids can not resist shear force

In fact how rate of change of deformation changes with shear force is

used for classifying fluids

Corollary: Shear strain rate is the important behaviour of a fluid for

mechanics, not shear strain by itself

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Solids vs. fluids vis-`a-vis response to shear

N.B.: rate of change shear strain for solid w.r.t. time is zero

Even when shear force is unchanged, the shear strain of fluid changes w.r.t.
time; i.e., finite shear strain rate
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Relation between shear stress & shear strain rate viscosity

In this case, shear strain rate is
u/y (continuum concept)

At time t
X

Shear stress (shear force per unit

area) is xy (shear stress in x direction
acting on plane normal to y direction)

At time t + t

u(y + y)

Xu

x
X

u(y)

Xl

Viscosity for fluids is given by Newtons law of viscosity:

:=

xy
u/y

is also called dynamic viscosity to differentiate from kinematic viscosity

defined as
:= /
SI unit of (dynamic) viscosity is
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Relation between shear stress & shear strain rate viscosity

In this case, shear strain rate is
u/y (continuum concept)

At time t
X

Shear stress (shear force per unit

area) is xy (shear stress in x direction
acting on plane normal to y direction)

At time t + t

u(y + y)

Xu

x
X

u(y)

Xl

Viscosity for fluids is given by Newtons law of viscosity:

:=

xy
u/y

is also called dynamic viscosity to differentiate from kinematic viscosity

defined as
:= /
SI unit of (dynamic) viscosity is N s m2 or Pa s
SI unit of kinematic viscosity is
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Relation between shear stress & shear strain rate viscosity

In this case, shear strain rate is
u/y (continuum concept)

At time t
X

Shear stress (shear force per unit

area) is xy (shear stress in x direction
acting on plane normal to y direction)

At time t + t

u(y + y)

Xu

x
X

u(y)

Xl

Viscosity for fluids is given by Newtons law of viscosity:

:=

xy
u/y

is also called dynamic viscosity to differentiate from kinematic viscosity

defined as
:= /
SI unit of (dynamic) viscosity is N s m2 or Pa s
SI unit of kinematic viscosity is m2 s1
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Newtonian fluids
Fluids for which remains constant in the equation xy = u/y are
called Newtonian fluids

N.B. The for Newtonian fluids may still vary with temperature, but is
independent of the actual shear stress imposed
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Newtonian vs. non-Newtonian fluids

In general in the above Newtons law of viscosity is not constant

Not all fluids satisfy Newtons law of viscosity, and hence they are

called non-Newtonian fluids

Some fluids (e.g., ketchups, paints, polymers, blood, etc.) do not obey

this simple linear relation between shear stress and shear strain rate
Instead a more general relation may be a more appropriate model for

such fluids
xy = A + B (u/y )

N.B.: The coefficient B doesnt have units of Pa s; its unit depends on

the index n

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Classification of fluids based on viscous behaviour

Plastics: A 6= 0, n < 1
Bingham plastics: A 6= 0, n = 1
Shear stress

Pseudo plastics: A = 0, n < 1

(Shear thinning)
Newtonian fluid: A = 0, n = 1
Dilatant: A = 0, n > 1
(Shear thickening)
Ideal solid: B
Ideal fluid: B = 0
Shear strain rate

xy = A + B (u/y )

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Fluid classification based on viscosity variation w.r.t. time

Thixotropic: viscosity decreases with time

Rheopectic: viscosity increases with time
Viscoelastic materials: Newtonian fluids behaving like plastics when

subjected to sudden changes in shear stress

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Example of shear-thickening fluid corn starch

Corn-starch appears thin (i.e., of low viscosity) when stirred gently
If one stirs it quickly, then it appears a lot thicker
For the same reason, one can run on the the corn starch reservoir, since

running involves application of higher shear stresses

Walking on the same reservoir leads to sinking

Walking on water: fun with shear-thickening fluid (corn starch)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2XQ97XHjVw
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Viscosity on molecular scale

Viscosity can be explained based on
a) intermolecular cohesion, and
b) transfer of molecular momentum
Intermolecular cohesion is dominant in liquids as molecules are

relatively densely packed

Transfer of molecular momentum is important in gases
This explains why viscosity of a liquid decreases and that of gases

increases as temperature increases

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Viscosity of water with temperature

www.ce.utexas.edu
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Viscosity of air with temperature

www.ce.utexas.edu
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No-slip condition consequence of viscosity

Plates are sufficiently large in lateral

direction, so edge effects can be neglected

No slip condition:
At y = 0, we must have u = 0
At y = h, velocity must be u = U
Velocity monotonically increases with y
A probable solution is u = Uy /h
A similar phenomenon is no temperature

Dye on a flat plate*

discontinuity at interfaces
*www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUTkqZeiMow
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Viscosity a macroscopic perspective

In loose terms, diffusion is mixing of two or more fluids
Here diffusion means mixing of fluids with different energy or

momentum
Mathematically, viscosity is the transport property that accounts for

momentum diffusion (mixing)

In fluids, molecules with higher momentum mix with molecules with

lower momentum to produce molecules having smooth velocity

variation

Velocity is continuous across fluids; in solids velocity can have discontinuity

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Bulk modulus (compressibility)

How easily can the volume (hence density) of a given mass of fluid

change when there is a change in pressure?

I.e., how compressible it is?
The fluid property that determines this is bulk modulus

Ev =

dp
dp
=
dV /V
d/

Compressibility is actually the reciprocal of bulk modulus

Water: 21.5 MPa required to compress a unit volume of water by 1%
Air at standard conditions: 1.4 kPa required for same 1% compression
For liquids, compressibility may be safely ignored (incompressible)
For gases, whether to consider compressibility or ignore it is determined

by flow speed (specifically Mach number)

Bulk modulus (or compressibility) is a constitutive property of a fluid
SI unit of bulk modulus is
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Bulk modulus (compressibility)

How easily can the volume (hence density) of a given mass of fluid

change when there is a change in pressure?

I.e., how compressible it is?
The fluid property that determines this is bulk modulus

Ev =

dp
dp
=
dV /V
d/

Compressibility is actually the reciprocal of bulk modulus

Water: 21.5 MPa required to compress a unit volume of water by 1%
Air at standard conditions: 1.4 kPa required for same 1% compression
For liquids, compressibility may be safely ignored (incompressible)
For gases, whether to consider compressibility or ignore it is determined

by flow speed (specifically Mach number)

Bulk modulus (or compressibility) is a constitutive property of a fluid
SI unit of bulk modulus is same as that of pressure, i.e. Pa
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Thermal conductivity
Thermal conductivity is also a constitutive property of a fluid
It relates the transport of heat to the temperature field
Its a measure of how quickly thermal energy diffuses through a medium
Thermal conductivity is given by Fouriers law of heat conduction

qx =

T
x

qx is heat flux in x direction (i.e., amount of heat crossing unit area

normal to x direction per unit time)

is the thermal conductivity
T /x is the component of the temperature gradient in the direction

of heat flux
Negative sign accounts for heat flow down the temperature gradient
SI unit is Wm1 K1
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Thermal conductivity and viscosity

qx =

T
x

xy =

u
y

Fouriers law of conductivity is

analogous to Newtons law of
viscosity
Heat flow shear stress

Temperature gradient

Velocity gradient

Thermal conductivity

viscosity

Behavior of with temperature is

very similar to that of in liquids
and gases because the underlying
physics is the same for both the
cases
www.thermopedia.com
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Surface tension
Drops of liquid exist freely in nature
They resemble balloons i.e., outer surface

acts like a tensile membrane

Pulling force that causes this tension acts

parallel to the surface and is due to attractive

forces between the molecules of the liquid
Surface tension (): magnitude of this force

per unit length of cut edge of a surface

SI unit: N m1

dL4

dL1

Fluid interface
dL3

Dew drop

Mercury drops

dL2

Surface tension on exposed edges

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Surface tension molecular genesis

Attractive forces acting on interior molecule

balance each other (symmetry)

Attractive forces acting on surface molecule

isnt symmetric
Gas molecules outside exert negligible

attractive forces
Thus there is a net attractive force on molecules at the surface direct

towards the interior

This is resisted by the repulsive force from interior molecules that are

trying not to be compressed

Result: Liquid minimizes its surface area
Tendency to form spherical drops that have minimum surface area
Intermolecular cohesion negligible in gases = surface tension absent

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Surface tension in case of a general curved surface

Let the excess pressure on the concave side be p
This must be balanced by a surface tension at the interface given by
=

p
+ R21

R11

p dA
dL1

dL2
R1
dL1

R2
dL2

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Surface tension: examples

Air bubble in water
The surface tension of air-water interface is aw
Show that a spherical air bubble in water having a
radius R must have an excess pressure given by
p =

2aw
R

Soap bubble in air

The surface tension of air-soap interface is as
Show that a spherical soap bubble in air having a
radius R must have an excess pressure given by
p =

4as
R
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Surface tension: capillary effect

If a small open tube is inserted in water, the water level will rise above the
level outside the tube this is the capillary effect
Attraction (adhesion) between the wall of the tube and liquid molecules is
strong enough to overcome the mutual attraction (cohesion) of the liquid
and pull them up the wall; the liquid is said to wet the surface
Show that, with surface tension of solid-water interface being sw , the level
difference is given by
2sw cos
h=
gR

(a) Rise of column for a wetting liquid. (b) Free-body diagram for calculating
height difference, h. (c) Depression of column for a non-wetting liquid.
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Vapour pressure
Vapour pressure (pv ): pressure at which a liquid boils and is in

equilibrium with its own vapour (gas phase) at a given temperature

intrinsic property of the pure fluid
pv of a pure substance is also the pressure exerted by its vapour in

phase equilibrium with its liquid at a given temperature

E.g.: Vapour pressure of water at 20 C is 2.3 kPa, while that of

mercury is only 0.17 Pa

If the liquid pressure is greater than its vapour pressure, then

evaporation is the only possibility it will occur only if the

atmosphere isnt saturated with the liquid already
If liquid pressure falls below vapour

pressure, vapour bubbles begin to appear

in the liquid it boils
If water is heated to 100 C, its vapour

pressure rises to 101 kPa so that it will

boil at normal atmospheric pressure
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Variation of vapour pressure of water with temperature

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Vapour pressure and cavitation

Cavitation: when the local liquid pressure falls below its vapour

pressure due to any flow phenomenon (local speeding up of flow), the

liquid vaporizes locally
If water is accelerated from rest to about 14.2 m/s, its pressure drops
to 101 kPa cavitation may occur locally
Cavitation reduces performance, causes annoying vibrations, and may
erode nearby surfaces due to implosion of the bubbles

Cavitation on propeller

Pitted propeller blade

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