Fluid Power Guide

Welcome to Fluid mechanics

Fluid mechanics is one of the oldest and richest branches of mechanics and applied physics. Fluid mechanics has been studied (formally or informally) since the beginning of recorded history. We are literally immersed in fluids, our bodies are primarily water, and we simply cannot live without air and water. Not only are fluids and their complex physics of general interest, but it is widely recognized that fluid mechanics is an essential part of the comprehensive design and manufacture of nearly all modern machinery, structures, and devices. And, yes, even the design of your computer requires some form of cooling and the manufacture of its chips requires a proper understanding of fluid flow.

Over the years, I’ve tried to pass on what is currently understood about fluid flows (and even a little bit of my fascination with them) in the classroom and my websites. The idea of the present site is to act as an umbrella for most of my fluids-related online material. Links to this material are found in the navigation column at the left.

You will find that the material here will be representative of fluid mechanics itself in that it ranges from the moderately mathematical (in the Navier-Stokes.Net site) to purely visual/physical (in the Gallery of Fluid Mechanics). In between these extremes are the Tutorials which are just short (and not-so-short) discussions of fluids-related topics. These Tutorials were originally intended to demonstrate how a knowledge of fluid mechanics can be applied to day-to-day phenomena. The math tends to be minimized and in many cases limited to order of magnitude analysis so that at least some of the material in each tutorial ought to be accessible to those without a background in engineering. Hopefully, everyone can take something useful away from these notes.

The Javascript Calculators are another major section of the site. Here I’ve provided some online calculators which can be of use to a wide variety of visitors. The advantage of these calculators is that they require no detailed knowledge of the physics or mathematics of fluids in order to generate useful numbers.

This site will continue to be updated so check back often to see what’s new. I’m also happy to receive suggestions or reports of problems with the site.