An introduction to fluid dynamics

This successful textbook describing the fundamentals of the physics of real fluids makes accessible to students the understanding of common flow systems and flow phenomena which has been obtained from research over the past fifty years. It is intended for systematic use by both undergraduates and beginning graduate students of applied mathematics and engineering. The book assumes no previous knowledge of fluid dynamics, and the material in it has been selected to introduce a reader to the important ideas and applications. The emphasis throughout is on physical principles and generalities of fluid dynamics. Particular attention is paid to the correspondence between observation and the various conceptual and analytical models of flow systems. Many photographs of flow fields are included. The first three chapters prepare the ground for a discussion of any branch of fluid dynamics, and describe the physical properties of fluids, kinematics of flow fields, and the governing equations in general form. Chapters 4 to 7 are all concerned with the motion of a uniform incompressible viscous fluid, this subject being at the centre of fluid dynamics by virtue of its fundamental nature and practical importance. An unconventional feature of the book is that the motion of viscous fluid and the properties of flow at high reynolds number are considered first; the circumstances in which the viscosity may safely be assumed to be zero are thus made clear before the detailed discussion of motion of an inviscid fluid. Irrotational flow theory and its many applications are then described, and the last chapter is concerned with rotational flow of effectively inviscid fluid, with examples drawn from geophysics, aeronautics, and other fields.