Introductory Fluid Mechanics

This book familiarises students with the basic elements of fluid mechanics and provides a comprehensive foundation for more advanced courses.

Joseph Katz (Author)

9781107617131, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 January 2014

456 pages, 264 b/w illus. 4 tables 461 exercises
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.78 kg

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it: particularly for the more mathematically inclined. This is a text that will be kept long after a degree and used as a reference book throughout one’s career." - Richard S. Miller, AIAA Journal January 2012

The objective of this introductory text is to familiarise students with the basic elements of fluid mechanics so that they will be familiar with the jargon of the discipline and the expected results. At the same time, this book serves as a long-term reference text, contrary to the oversimplified approach occasionally used for such introductory courses. The second objective is to provide a comprehensive foundation for more advanced courses in fluid mechanics (within disciplines such as mechanical or aerospace engineering). In order to avoid confusing the students, the governing equations are introduced early, and the assumptions leading to the various models are clearly presented. This provides a logical hierarchy and explains the interconnectivity between the various models. Supporting examples demonstrate the principles and provide engineering analysis tools for many engineering calculations.

1. Basic concepts and fluid properties
2. The fluid dynamic equation
3. Fluid statics
4. Introduction to fluid in motion - one-dimensional (frictionless) flow
5. Viscous incompressible flow: 'exact solutions'
6. Dimension analysis, and high Reynolds number flows
7. The laminar boundary layer
8. High Reynolds number flow over bodies (incompressible)
9. Introduction to computational fluid mechanics (CFD)
10. Elements of inviscid compressible flow
11. Fluid machinery.

Subject Areas: Mechanics of fluids [TGMF], Mechanics of solids [TGMD], Hydrology & the hydrosphere [RBK]