"Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them."
Covers the study of fluids in motion and the forces acting on solids immersed in fluids.
The basics of fluid mechanics: This covers the fundamental principles of fluid mechanics, including the differences between liquids and gases, pressure measurement, buoyancy, and viscosity.
Continuum hypothesis: This is the assumption that fluids are continuous and have no microscopic structure. It simplifies fluid dynamics calculations since the continuum hypothesis allows fluid flow to be modeled mathematically as a continuous field.
Fluid statics: This deals with the behavior of fluids at rest and pressure distribution in static fluids.
Fluid kinematics: This refers to the study of the motion of fluids without considering the forces that cause that motion. This includes descriptions of fluid flow, including velocity and acceleration fields, streamlines, pathlines, and streaklines.
Fluid dynamics equations: These equations describe the motion of fluids. They include the Euler equations, Navier-Stokes equations, and Bernoulli's equation.
Boundary layers: This refers to the thin layer of fluid adjacent to a surface that experiences changes in velocity, temperature, and concentration. Boundary layers can greatly affect the overall behavior of fluid flow.
Dimensional analysis: This involves using dimensionless parameters to quantify the behavior of fluids. This includes the Reynolds number, which indicates the relative importance of inertial and viscous forces in fluid flow.
Viscous flow: This covers the behavior of fluids with internal friction. It includes laminar and turbulent flow, and the study of boundary layers.
Compressible flow: This deals with fluids that can be compressed, such as gases, and includes subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flow.
Multiphase flow: This covers the behavior of fluids that contain more than one phase or state. This includes gas-liquid, liquid-liquid, and solid-liquid interactions.
Fluid flow measurement techniques: This includes laboratory and industrial methods for measuring fluid flow rates, such as flowmeters and pressure gauges.
Computational fluid dynamics: This involves using numerical techniques to solve fluid dynamics problems. CFD can be used to study complex flow patterns that would be difficult to analyze using traditional experimental techniques.
Applications of fluid mechanics: This covers a wide range of applications, ranging from the behavior of aircraft and ships to the flow of blood in the human body.
Hydrodynamics: The study of fluids in motion, focusing on the behavior of liquids, gases, and plasmas.
Aerodynamics: The study of gas flows (usually air) around solid objects, such as aircraft or cars, and the resultant lift and drag forces.
Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD): The study of the interaction between magnetic fields and electrically conductive fluids or plasmas.
Rheology: The study of the flow and deformation of complex fluids, such as polymers, gels, and liquid crystals.
Buoyancy-driven flows: The study of fluid flows driven by differences in density caused by thermal effects (convection) or differences in concentration (e.g., saltwater and freshwater).
Multiphase flows: The study of fluid flows containing two or more separate phases, such as gas-liquid, liquid-liquid, or solid-liquid mixtures.
Turbulence: The study of chaotic, irregular fluid motion that occurs at high flow rates, leading to energy dissipation and heat transfer.
Heat transfer: The study of the transfer of thermal energy through fluids, including conduction, convection, and radiation.
Combustion: The study of the processes involved in the burning of fuels and the associated fluid dynamics and heat transfer.
Fluid-structure interactions: The study of the interactions between fluids and structures, such as ships in waves or buildings in windstorms.
Environmental fluid dynamics: The study of fluid flows in natural systems, such as rivers, estuaries, and the atmosphere, including related phenomena such as sediment transport, erosion and deposition, and climate change.
Biofluid dynamics: The study of the fluid dynamics involved in biological systems, such as blood flow in the circulatory system or airflow in lungs.
Nanofluidics: The study of fluid dynamics at the nanoscale, where the size of the fluid channels or particles becomes comparable to the molecular scale.
Plasma fluid dynamics: The study of the behavior of electrically charged fluids or plasmas, including plasma jets and other high-energy phenomena.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD): The use of numerical methods to study fluid flows, including simulation of complex flow conditions such as turbulence, multiphase, and two-phase flows.
"It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical, and biomedical engineering, as well as geophysics, oceanography, meteorology, astrophysics, and biology."
"It can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest; and fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion."
"It is a branch of continuum mechanics, a subject which models matter without using the information that it is made out of atoms; that is, it models matter from a macroscopic viewpoint rather than from microscopic."
"Fluid mechanics, especially fluid dynamics, is an active field of research, typically mathematically complex."
"Many problems are partly or wholly unsolved and are best addressed by numerical methods, typically using computers."
"A modern discipline, called computational fluid dynamics (CFD), is devoted to this approach."
"Particle image velocimetry, an experimental method for visualizing and analyzing fluid flow, also takes advantage of the highly visual nature of fluid flow."
"Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas)."
"It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical, and biomedical engineering."
"It can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest."
"It can be divided into... fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion."
"Yes, fluid mechanics involves studying fluids at rest through fluid statics."
"Yes, fluid mechanics has applications in astrophysics."
"Yes, fluid mechanics has applications in oceanography."
"Fluid mechanics models matter from a macroscopic viewpoint rather than from microscopic."
"Yes, particle image velocimetry is an experimental method for visualizing and analyzing fluid flow."
"Many problems are best addressed by numerical methods, typically using computers."
"Fluid mechanics is a branch of continuum mechanics, which models matter without using the information that it is made out of atoms."
"Fluid mechanics, especially fluid dynamics, is an active field of research."