This is a resource page for the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory course at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The syllabus, and the procedures for the laboratory experiments themselves, are given on UTC Learn. This is supplementary material to explain some of the concepts and to be an informational source for the students, i.e., perhaps to reduce time with the search engine.
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He rowed his own boat. You row yours too. Don’t cheat!
Sample Syllabus (the official one is on UTC Learn, this is just for outside visitors)
- My Profile on Meet the Prof
- Fluid Mechanics YouTube Channel
- The “Open” Version of the Canvas Page (a purely online, unofficial implementation of the course)
- Introductory Video
- Experiment 1: Curve Fitting and Least Squares Methods
- Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Video: Least Squares and Curve Fitting
- Least Squares Analysis and Curve Fitting (instructor’s handout)
- A comparison of the results of 1-norm to 2-norm data fitting
- Linear Regression by Hand (video)
- Using LINEST for Least Squares Regression With More Than One Independent Variable (video)
- Plotting Graphs With a Spreadsheet (video)
- Experiment 2: Calibration of Pressure Gauges
- Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Video: Pressure Gauge Testing
- Chauvenet’s Criterion (video overview)
- Fluid Power Systems: An Overview and Design Example
- An Overview of Tapered Pipe Threads, and Their Application at Vulcan, which is how the gauges are held to the pressure gauge tester.
- Experiment 3: Viscosity Experiment
- Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Video: Viscosity
- Variation in Viscosity (instructor’s handout)
- Taking the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal: The Life of
Saint-Venant. His name is better known in mechanics of materials, but Saint-Venant was the first researcher (even before Stokes) to include viscosity in fluids on a theoretical basis. This will be important when we get to the wind tunnel test.
- Experiment 4: Hydrostatic Forces/Body Stability
- Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Video: Buoyancy and Stability
- Buoyancy and Stability: An Introduction (instructor’s handout)
- The Experimental Determination of the Metastatic Height. A textbook treatment (with worked example) of the experiment actually run.
- Know Your Own Ship
- Naval Ships’ Technical Manual Chapter 096: Weights and Stability
- The Propulsive Power of Screw Ships. Once you get them stable, ships have to go somewhere, and this is an investigation of how much power they take to do it.
- My Special Interest in This Topic
- Experiment 5: Rotational Motion of Fluids
- Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Video: Rotating Drum
- Computing Open Channel Flow Using a Pitot Tube, this is strictly speaking for the Hydraulic Jump, but it explains the calculations for the Pitot tube, which you will need in this experiment.
- Experiment 6: Calibration of Flow Meters; Gave Valve Head Losses
- Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Video: Flow Meters, Gate Valve and Pipe Losses (Moody Chart)
- Fluid Flow in Pipes, Losses and Flow Metering (instructor’s handout.)
- Compressible Flow Through Nozzles. A look at flow with compressible fluids such as air.
- Getting the Reynolds Number Right. Messing up this calculation is an error I see too often; this should help.
- Valve Loss Study. Although this was with compressible fluids, the basic concepts are the same.
- Experiment 7: Wind Tunnel Tests
- Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Video: Wind Tunnel Testing
- Lift, Drag and Wind Tunnel Testing (instructor’s handout)
- Computing Lift and Drag Coefficients, some useful information on a subject where errors take place
- NASA Beginners Guide to Wind Tunnels
- Pressure Distribution on Buildings (an example of a wind tunnel testing program, perhaps you’d like to try a building model)
- Aerodynamic Characteristics of NACA 0012 Airfoil Section at Angles of Attack from 0 deg. to 180 deg.
- Standard Atmosphere Calculator (which is also able to calculate your Reynolds numbers, especially if you input the data properly)
- Climate Data for Design of Aviation and Other Equipment
- Experiment 8: Hydraulic Jump
- Other Items
- Mathematical Resources (because everybody needs help in math)
- Blessed are the Merciful: I keep getting requests to “go light” on the grading. This is how I did it myself.
- My Thoughts on Sleeping in Class
- In Search of the Lost Movado: Bar hopping has consequences.
- Who’s This Idiot? That’s Me! It’s easy to get trapped in the system.
- When the Pathfinder Gets Lost: some students like to “follow the lead” of someone else to get the course work done. That can have negative results other than those described in the syllabus, just like this example
- “I Need to Find the Way”. Fluid Mechanics can be a stinker, as one Turk found out the hard way.
- What’s Really Important When You Hit the Field
- The Two Promises I Made to Myself
- Lessons from the Cotter Bridge
- Mirroring Our Creator
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