What is fluid mechanics?
In the simplest words, fluid mechanics deals with various aspects of fluids when it is in motion. Hence it includes everything from fluid flow in pipes to flow on the surface. Fluid mechanics is also known as hydrodynamics, hydrostatics and hydromechanics.
Fluid mechanics involves all aspects of fluid flow: fluid flow through pipes or channels, fluid flow in open channels or ducts, fluid flow in porous media and fluid flow around obstacles such as dams and bridges.
The study of fluids and their motion was one of the first branches of physics. Before Newton’s work on fluids, there were several competing theories in which water, air, steam and other gases were considered properties of a medium called “spiritus”, which was either a mixture of all four elements (i.e., aether) or simply some type of invisible substance (i.e., aether).
Newton’s laws of motion were applied to describe how bodies moved under the influence of gravity (or any other force). These laws were later used to describe how liquids move as they flow under pressure and due to gravity (such as in rivers) or how liquids move when submerged in other liquids (such as oil floating on water).
What are the different branches of fluid mechanics?
- Hydrostatic Branch
The hydrostatic branch is a branch of fluid mechanics that deals with studying fluids in motion. In this branch, the displacement field of a body of fluid is described by a vector field called a pressure field or stress field. The motion of a body is described by its velocity field.
- Kinematics Branch
The kinematics branch is a branch of fluid mechanics that deals with the change in the shape of an object when it moves through a fluid medium. This includes things such as deformation, flow, and turbulence. In this branch, kinematic equations are used to describe how an object moves through a fluid medium due to forces applied to it. These equations include forces such as gravity and buoyancy forces, as well as viscosity effects.
- Dynamics branch
Dynamics Branch is a branch of fluid mechanics that deals with the study of fluids at rest about their surroundings (such as air). In this branch, Navier-Stokes equations describe how an object moves through a fluid medium and how pressure changes throughout an object’s path through the fluid medium due to friction between it and other objects in contact with it (such as walls). The Navier-Stokes equations are a set of partial differential equations that can be used to model the motion of liquids, gases, and solid particles. They are named for Jean-Marie Gustave Navier and George Gabriel Stokes.
What are the different types of fluid?
1. Ideal fluid: The ideal fluid is a perfect fluid which has no viscosity, no internal friction, and no heat transfer. It can flow through any hole or pipe without any restriction.
2. Real fluid: Real fluids are not perfect, but they behave like ideal fluids when cooled to low temperatures. However, in the real world, some internal friction, heat transfer and viscosity limit the flow of real fluids through pipes or holes and make them behave as ideal fluids only at very low temperatures.