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EXPERIMENT #1
Properties of Fluids
Background: The term "fluid" relates to both gases and liquids (e.g. air and water) and, although
there are differences between them, they both have the same essential property that when acted
upon by any unbalanced external force an infinite change of shape will occur if the force acts for a
long enough time. Alternatively, one may say that if acted on by a force, a fluid will move
continuously while a solid will distort only a fixed amount. If a shear force is applied to one
surface of a volume of fluid, the layers of fluid will move over one another thus producing a
velocity gradient in the fluid. For a given shear stress, a property called the viscosity determines
the velocity gradient and hence the velocity of the fluid in the plane of the applied stress. The
viscosity is a measure of the fluid's resistance to motion. Viscosity if a very important property in
fluid mechanics since it determines the behavior of fluids whenever they move relative to solid
surfaces.
Liquids and gases both share the property of "fluidity" described above, but they differ in
other respects. A quantity of liquid has a definite volume and if in contact with a gas it has a
definite boundary or "free surface." Gases, on the other hand, expand to fill the space available
and cannot be considered as having a definite volume unless constrained on all sides by fixed
boundaries (e.g. a totally enclosed vessel). The volume of a liquid changes slightly with pressure
and temperature, but for a gas these changes can be very large. For most engineering purposes
liquids can be regarded as incompressible, meaning volume and density do not change significantly
with pressure, whereas gases usually have to be treated as compressible. Similarly, the effects of
varying temperature can often be ignored for liquids (except in certain special cases), but must be
taken into account with gases.
The engineer is often concerned with determining the forces produced by static or moving
fluids and when doing this the above differences between liquids and gases can be very important.
Generally it is much easier to deal with liquids because, for most purposes, it can be assumed that
their volume and density do not change with pressure and temperature. In the study of hydrostatics
we are primarily concerned with the forces due to static liquids. The forces result from the
pressure acting in the liquid and at a given point this depends on the depth below the free surface.
Density, or mass per unit volume, is a basic property which must be known before any calculations
of forces can be made.
When considering the interfaces between liquids, solids, and gases, there is a further
property which can produce forces and this is called the surface tension. When a liquid/gas
interface is in contact with a solid boundary, the edge of the liquid will be distorted upward or
downward depending on whether the solid attracts or repels the liquid. If the liquid is attracted to,
or "wets" the solid, it will move upward at the edge and the surface tension will cause a small
upward force on the body of the liquid. If the liquid is in a tube the force will act all around the
periphery and the liquid may be drawn up the tube by a small amount. This is sometimes called the
capillarity effect or capilliary action. The forces involved are small and the effect need only be
considered in a limited number of special cases.
PART I - DENSITY
Statement of Work: To determine the density of a liquid it is necessary to measure the mass of a
known volume of liquid.
=
mass(g)
106
x
(kg/ m3)
volume(ml) 103
(1)
The density of pure water at 20 oC is 998.2 kg/m3 and this is sometimes rounded up to 1000 kg/m3
for engineering purposes. The experimental result should be within 1% of this value. The
measurement of volume is not very precise and depends on the accuracy of the graduations on the
beaker and this cannot be checked.
Density Bottle: The problem of accurately measuring a volume of liquid can be overcome by using
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
a special vessel with a known volume such as a density bottle. This is accurately made and has a
glass stopper with a hole in it through which excess liquid is expelled. When the liquid is level with
the top of the stopper, the volume of liquid is 50 cm3 (ml).
Procedure for determination of density
Carefully dry the outside of the bottle with a cloth or tissue paper and remove any excess liquid
from the stopper such that the liquid in the hole is level with the top of the stopper.
Re-weigh the bottle plus liquid and determine the mass of liquid and hence the density.
This method should give an accurate result and is limited more by the accuracy of the balance than
by the volume of liquid.
Specific Gravity: Specific gravity, or relative density as it is sometimes called, is the ratio of the
density of a fluid to the density of water. Typical values are 0.8 for paraffin; 1.6 for carbon
tetrachloride; and 13.6 for mercury. Specific gravity should not be confused with density even
though in some units (e.g. the cm/gram/sec. system) it has the same numerical values.
SGT =
densityoffl uidatagiventemperature T
(2)
SG60
SG 60 = SG t +
141.5
/ 60 F - 131.5
(4)
T - 60
3600
(5)
Place one of the tall glass cylinders on the measuring surface, fill with a liquid, and allow air to
rise to the top.
Carefully insert the hydrometer and allow it to settle in the center of the cylinder.
Take care not to let it touch the sides, otherwise surface tension effects may cause errors.
When the hydrometer has settled, read the scale at the level of the free water surface (i.e. at the
bottom of the meniscus; see Figure 1 insert).
(6)
where is the shear stress and is the strain rate. There is not an a priori reason to suppose a
linear relationship. In fact, viscosity may be a function of strain rate itself.
Effects of temperature
Gases: Viscosity increases with increasing temperature as seen in Sutherland's formula:
=
b T
1+ S T
b = 1.458 x 10-6
(7)
kg
ms K
(8)
= Ae
(9)
the strain rate. Consider the flow between parallel plates as shown in Figure 2. A parcel of fluid is
strained by the moving upper plate; hence, shear stresses are produced. For a Newtonian fluid, the
relation between shear and stress reduces to
=
du
dy
where
du
dy
(10)
Note that this special geometry results in a linear velocity distribution; hence, du
dy is constant. The
deformation of a fluid parcel is represented by element A which, as it moves to the right, deforms to
element B in Figure 2. This deformation is associated with the strain rate.
du
dy
(11)
The apparatus is designed such that the velocity profile between the cylinder and wall is linear;
therefore, the strain rate is constant for a given rotation speed of the inner cylinder. If the cylinder
is driven by a falling weight as shown, the applied stress to the fluid will be constant (and known).
Further, the strain rate, which is proportional to the rotation rate, , will be known. Hence, by
applying different weights, the apparent viscosity for each strain rate can be determined.
For this circular Couette flow, we can determine the viscosity from the following relation:
2
mg( Ro - Ri )
= r 3
Ri 2 L U
where
r
m
Ro
Ri
L
U
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
(12)
dynamic viscosity
radius of the cylinder pulley
mass which produces a steady velocity U
outer radius of cylinder
inner radius of cylinder
length of the cylinder
velocity of fall of the mass m
Procedure
Fill the gap between the stationary and rotating cylinders with the fluid whose viscosity is to be
determined. Be sure the rotating cylinder is completely immersed in the fluid.
Apply different weights to the weight hanger and, in each case, measure the velocity of the fall
(terminal velocity) by timing the fall through a known height.
Falling Ball Viscometer: Another technique that requires a low Reynolds number flow is to infer
the viscosity (Newtonian) from the rate at which a small sphere falls through a fluid (Falling Ball
Viscometer). At very low Reynolds numbers (RD<<1), viscous forces dominate inertial forces.
Hence, the nonlinear convective acceleration terms in the Navier-Stokes equations become
negligible. As a result the governing equations are linear and solvable in closed form. Stokes
solved the equations of motion for a sphere moving through a fluid using the low Reynolds number
assumption Stokes flow. The result:
F = 3UD
(13)
Where F = net force acting on sphere
U = velocity of sphere
D = diameter of sphere
= absolute viscosity
provided that
RD
UD
1 where is the density of the fluid.
(14)
Now consider a sphere falling through a stationary fluid (at a very low Reynolds number). The net
force, F, acting on the sphere is the resultant of the weight, W, and buoyancy, FB, as shown in
Figure 6. If the sphere is falling at a constant velocity, then acceleration is zero.
F=W-FB
Where W = mg, with m equal to the mass of the sphere and
FB
(15)
gD 3
6
(16)
gD 3
6
(17)
D 3
mg 1
6m .
3 U D
(18)
Again, this equation is valid when the Reynolds number based on diameter is less than 1 [14]. If
this condition is met, Equation [18] can be used to determine the viscosity of the fluid. The
velocity, U, is found by timing the fall of the sphere over a specified distance. Note that the density
of the fluid and the mass and diameter of the sphere must be known. When the Reynolds number is
greater than 1, inertial forces begin to have more influence and the above technique is no longer
valid.
Determine the density of the test fluid(s) and mass and diameter of the sphere(s). NOTE: The
instructor may have done this already.
10
Drop the sphere into the cylinder of fluid. Time the fall of the sphere through a given distance
and record. NOTE: Begin timing the fall several centimeters below the surface of the liquid.
This will allow the speed of the sphere to reach equilibrium; otherwise the above theory is
invalid.
11
Temperature ______________________
Mass
Diameter
Distance
Time
Velocity
M(kg)
D(m)
L (m)
t (s)
U (m/s)
Reynolds
Number
RD
Viscosity
(Ns/m2)
How does the diameter and mass of the sphere influence the measurement?
How do your values of viscosity compare between the two methods and with the accepted
values for the given fluids found in your textbooks? (The instructor should be able to give the
accepted viscosity values.)
12
p1 p1 L gh
(19)
13
p0 p V 2
2
(20)
where p0 is the stagnation pressure, p is the pressure as defined above (sometimes called static or
piezometeric pressure) and the last grouping of terms on the right is called the dynamic pressure.
You should recognize this as Bernoulli's equation. Note that the density term, , is that of the
fluid in which the measurement is taking place and, in general, is different than the fluid density in
the manometer measuring the pressures p0 and p. Many assumptions are made regarding this form
of Bernoulli's equation. Most importantly: a) negligible pressure change due to elevation (i.e. all
motion is confined to horizontal plane), b) incompressible flow (fluid particles do not change
density), and c) steady flow (velocity at a point in the flow is invariant with time). Bernoulli's
equation is analogous to conservation of energy where the total pressure represents total energy per
unit volume, the static pressure is the potential energy per unit volume, and the dynamic pressure is
the kinetic energy per unit volume.
14
V=
2( p 0 - p)
(21)
A manometer can be used to measure the pressure difference (p0 - p). But it remains to determine a
method to sense this pressure difference.
2 L gh
(22)
Care should be taken not to confuse the two densities, L and , as they are different.
Mercury Barometer: The mercury barometer provides a means of measuring absolute pressure by
using a column of mercury. An example of a simple mercury barometer is fitted to the bench and a
diagram is shown in Figure 12. The barometer consists of a closed-end glass tube, which is filled
15
(12)
where p2 is an absolute pressure. In our case p1 = 0, so the height h is a measure of the absolute
pressure at plane 2. The only pressure acting on the free surface is atmospheric pressure so the
height h is an absolute measure of atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure varies from day to
day, but a typical value gives a mercury column height of 760 mm.
16
output voltages are generally small (in mv). So, amplifiers are used to gain the signal output.
Figure 13 shows a Omega capacitance type pressure transducer used in our laboratory.
Procedure
Become familiar with the U-tube, multi-tube inclined, and digital manometers.
Measure the total pressure along the centerline of an air jet with the inclined and digital
manometers and compare the results.
General Notes: Show a neat schematic of the experimental setup. Estimate , , etc, for the
laboratory conditions. Report your uncertainties of measurements.
The pressure gages are calibrated using a Dead Weight Calibrator as shown in Figure 15.
17
NOTES
18
NOTES