1: Introduction

This book is meant to be a second course in fluid mechanics that stresses applications dealing with external potential flows and intermediate viscous flows. Students are expected to have some background in some of the fundamental concepts of the definition of a fluid, hydrostatics, use of control volume conservation principles, initial exposure to the Navier-Stokes equations, and some elements of flow kinematics, such as streamlines and vorticity. It is not meant to be an in-depth study of potential flow or viscous flow, but is meant to expose students to additional analysis techniques for both of these categories of flows. We will see applications to aerodynamics, with analysis methods able to determine forces on arbitrary bodies. We will also examine some of the exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations based on classical fluid mechanics. Finally we will explore the complexities of turbulent flows and how for boundary layer flows one can predict drag forces. This compilation is drafted from notes used in the course Intermediate Fluid Mechanics, offered to seniors and first year graduate students who have a background in mechanical engineering or a closely related area.

In developing some of these more advanced topics there will be a number of mathematical tools developed and applied to specific flow situations. An early introduction to some of the basic concepts is presented in Chapter 2. But other mathematical tools and manipulations are introduced later as the topics require. Much of fluid mechanics can be developed from a mathematical point of view and students should realize that much of the early development was from mathematicians, such as Bernoulli, Euler, Navier, Stokes, whose names should sound familiar, and many others. However, as presented here the physical interpretations and applications are important and an attempt is made to develop analysis methods with an understanding of the physical consequences along side of all of the mathematical constraints and requirements of a problem or situation. It is hoped that the student not only learns the equations and how to manipulate them but also to understand the physical situations and how the physical flow phenomena are interpreted.

Fluid mechanics, as its name implies, is a subset of the larger field of mechanics. Mechanics is a branch of science dealing with forces and motion, and their relationships. Mechanics has static and dynamic elements. Forces may exist without motion and/or with motion and forces may initiate or change motion. Since fluid properties are significantly different than solids, fluid response to applied forces can be much more complex and difficult to describe. Due to fluid deformation rates (yielding to forces over time) fluids have complex distributions of pressure and velocity and acceleration. This spatial distribution of fluid motion is an important part of the understanding of how forces are transmitted within fluids. A major area of study in fluid mechanics is the kinematic motion of the fluid and how this is described. The dynamic flow of fluids is governed by Newton’s law of momentum conservation whereby forces are required to accompany a rate change of momentum. Since forces and motion are all around us and influence much of what we do in our everyday lives it is not surprising that the origins of mechanics, and fluid mechanics, dates back to the ancient Greeks. Archimedes was instrumental in developing the concepts of hydrostatics which are used to understand forces by fluids on its surroundings as well as how fluid pressure changes due to gravitational forces. Much of the interesting applications of fluid motion follow the formulations of the conservation of momentum. In this sense one is interested in how fluid motion is altered by the existence of imposed forces on the fluid. This is important in the applications of fluid transport (pipelines, biological systems, lubrication, chemical reactions and a host of other applications). It is also important when objects move within fluids. Since we are surrounded by fluids in our living environment, by either air or water, any motion of an object must deal with the fact that fluids must be “pushed out of the way”. That is to say, object motion translates into fluid motion. And based on Newton’s Law of reaction, forces acting on objects by fluids are related to forces by objects acting on fluids. So the guiding principles of fluid motion analysis comes from conservation principles of momentum when tied to other constraints of conservation of mass and energy.

The conservation equations illustrate the physical relationship governing fluid flow and the resultant forces on and by fluid flow. Flows are often classified by the inclusion of certain forces and/or certain effects. The largest classification is most likely between inviscid and viscous flows. This is a major division used in the development here. We first present inviscid flows where we analyze forces either on or by fluids and how they affect fluid motion. The primary forces are caused by pressure distributions and gravity. As we will see the pressure field or distribution in space, is influenced by the fluid motion. Consequently, the resulting forces can become rather complicated as pressure and velocity are intertwined. In contrast, gravity represents a constant force proportional to the mass of fluid as it plays a role in affecting fluid motion. After examining some of the inviscid flow situations, we introduce viscous effects and discuss how viscous dominated flows are of importance and how they may be analyzed. As we shall see the approach to these flows is very different because of the physical conditions, boundary conditions and resultant analysis methods that are used. The coupling of viscous effects, pressure and velocity create complex flow dynamics.

Potential flows are irrotational and allow for the determination of the flow field and pressure field based on the use of a scalar velocity potential. Potential flows ignore frictional effects. This has many advantages mathematically as well as allows for a good physical interpretation of the flow. However, there is lost information concerning any viscous effects that provide additional forces that may alter the flow field and pressure distribution. The underlying assumption is that these effects are minor for certain types of flows. One may hear different classifications of flows such as potential flow, ideal flow, incompressible or constant property flows. Potential flow, as mentioned, allows the replacement of the velocity vector with a velocity potential, which is a scalar and proves mathematically useful for many situations. We will deal with potential flows as inviscid, incompressible and also irrotational. The latter condition is that the vorticity is zero throughout the flow (except maybe at some singularity points within the flow). The definition of the velocity potential mathematically requires flows to be irrotational, as we shall see. The consequence of this is that the viscous terms vanish and the expression used for the acceleration of the fluid can be simplified. The solution to the resultant governing equations becomes very much simplified.

Another class of flows, known as ideal flows, are inviscid and incompressible. Typically, incompressible flows are those that do not have (significant) changes in density with changes of pressure. Liquids tend to be incompressible except under extreme conditions of high pressure changes. Gases may or may not be compressible depending on how large any pressure changes may be within the flow. Since pressure changes are linked to velocity changes within a flow it is possible to classify compressible effects through the flow conditions. Note that variations of density within a fluid flow can be caused by temperature effects, or if the fluid has a variation in concentration of some solute, but the flow still be treated as incompressible.

When including viscous effects the additional force may work with or against other forces, such as those due to pressure variations or body forces such as gravity. Interestingly the inclusion of viscous forces requires a model that depends on the properties of the fluid. This model relates how friction is measured within a moving, deforming fluid. It is not a universal law, say like conservation of mass or energy, it is mostly an empirical relationship that has been shown to be valid for a wide range of fluids and conditions. However, one can expect exceptions to this for some “exotic” fluids. We introduce the viscosity as a property of the fluid which defines the needed viscous force that results in a specified fluid deformation rate. This type of model is based on the work in the 1900s by Navier and Stokes who, separately, developed a brilliant formulation to account for viscous effects. This formulation is developed from the Cauchy equation which itself includes viscous effects in an overall identification of forces, or stresses, acting within the fluid flow field. The model allows the evaluation of stress terms based on deformation experienced by the fluid caused by viscous forces. In our applications we will restrict analyses to incompressible, constant property flows to be able to assess the contributions of the various terms. This has wide reaching applications, but does not delve into the realm of gas dynamics which combines certain equations of states with the conservation of mass, momentum and energy to evaluate compressible flows.

Another very important aspect of viscous forces is the fluid-surface boundary condition. Fluids, in contact with a solid surface, will tend to have the “no-slip” boundary condition. This is stated mathematically as the velocity at the interface is equal to the velocity of the surface, in both magnitude and direction. Moving away from this boundary the fluid velocity will change and the rate of change is found to be related to the frictional force on the surface caused by the fluid. By Newton’s third law there is an equal and opposite force by the surface on the fluid. One must treat this boundary condition based on the view of the fluid as a “continuum”. That is to say one does not get down to the molecular level, since at that scale molecules of fluid are bouncing off and on to the surface. The scale at which a fluid can be thought of as a continuum is larger than the mean free path of the molecules of the fluid, which is an average distance molecules travel before they collide with other molecules. For a continuum, the fluid velocity at the surface takes on the value of the surface velocity. There are applications, such in very small scale flows (sub-micron scale) where one can not treat the fluid as a continuum and in these situations “slip” may occur. Also, for rarified gases, under very low pressure, molecules can be very far apart and a continuum is not a valid approach. This transitions into the realm of the kinetic theory of gases. It is beyond the scope of this course to deal with these conditions.

Fluid properties are an important part of fluid flow analyses. Numerical results obviously greatly depend on values of say, density, viscosity, and other properties like surface tension or compressibility. However, here we do not go into these effects specifically. We do note that density is important in the relationship between pressure and velocity. This is easily noted by placing your hand out of the window of a car and comparing the resultant pressure on your hand with that of sticking it out of a boat into the water below when moving at the same speed as in the car. Since water density is nearly one thousand times greater for water compared with air, so is the resultant pressure. Also, a highly viscous fluid like honey will have different flow characteristics than a fluid which a much lower viscosity like water, as seen when pouring honey versus water from a jar under the action of the gravitational force. We will attempt to retain fluid properties in problems that are discussed so these types of distinctions become obvious. However, we will not go into the details of conditions of highly variable properties and the resultant change in flow and forces caused by this variability.

The rest of this book is organized as follows. Chapter 2 develops most of the common mathematical tools required for the rest of the book, although not exclusively. This is to provide a common level for mathematical notation and some manipulation. Chapter 3 develops a generalized Bernoulli equation, useful for later sections in the book. It also helps to explain the less restrictive conditions on the equation compared to that experienced by most first course students. Chapters 4 and 5 develop potential flow methods and solutions and Chapter 6 utilizes this approach in developing the Panel Method for solving for pressure and forces on objects in external flow. Chapters 7, 8 9 and 10 all deal with viscous flows. Chapter 7 develops the Navier-Stokes equation and chapter 8 provides a few classical “exact” solutions. Chapters 8 develops the boundary layer equations, the Blasius solution, and chapter 9 develops the integral solution method. Finally, Chapter 10 explores turbulence, its basic physics, some scaling conditions and a brief application to boundary layer flows. After completion of this book, students should have a better understanding of how to analyze both potential flows and viscous flows for incompressible conditions.