1993-95 Catalog Data: 14:650:312 (3 credits)

Control volume concepts of mass, momentum and energy transport. Hydrostatics, Euler's equations, potential flow, Navier Stokes equations, turbulence and boundary layer theory.

Textbook: Introduction to Fluid Mechanics (R.W. Fox and A.T. McDonald, John Wiley and Sons, 4th edition, 1992)

Coordinator: Timothy Wei, Associate Professor of MAE

Goals:

The objectives of this course are: to derive and understand the governing equations of fluid motions, to develop physical insight into the behavior of fluid flows, and to develop analytical and empirical problem solving capabilities to study engineering fluid mechanics problems.

Topics:

1. Introduction: basic fluid mechanics concepts and terms. (2 lectures)
2. Hydrostatics: forces on submerged bodies, buoyancy, solid body motion. (4 lectures)
3. Control Volume Analysis: mass, momentum and energy conservation in inertial and accelerating reference frames. (7 lectures)
4. Differential Equations of Motion: continuity, fluid kinematics, derivation of Navier Stokes equations. (4 lectures)
5. Incompressible Inviscid Flow: Euler equations, Bernoulli equation, stream functions and potential functions. (4 lectures)
6. Dimensional Analysis: Buckingham Pi theorem, key dimensionless groups, dimensional analysis in experimentation. (3 lectures)
7. Internal and External Incompressible Viscous Flows: laminar/turbulent flows, boundary layer theory, friction factor, lift and drag. (4 lectures)

Laboratory Design:

Students were presented with an open ended design project. They were asked to prepare bid proposals for a five mile long piping system from a well to a planned luxury resort. The project entailed developing engineering estimates of water requirements, contacting pump and pipe manufacturers and optimizing installation and operating costs. The project was assigned in the eighth week of class. Students worked in groups of 3 - 4. Use of computers for the optimization process was encouraged.

ABET category content as estimated by faculty member who prepared this description:

Engineering Science: 2.0 credits or 67%

Engineering Design: 1.0 credit or 33%

Prepared by Dr. Timothy Wei