Fluid Mechanics (ERT 205/4)

This successful textbook emphasizes the unified nature of all the disciplines of Fluid Mechanics as they emerge from the general principles of continuum mechanics. The different branches of Fluid Mechanics, always originating from simplifying assumptions, are developed according to the basic rule: from the general to the specific. The first part of the book contains a concise but readable introduction into kinematics and the formulation of the laws of mechanics and thermodynamics. The second part consists of the methodical application of these principles to technology. In addition, sections about thin-film flow and flow through porous media are included.

The contents of this book covers the material required in the Fluid Mechanics Graduate Core Course (MEEN-621) and in Advanced Fluid Mechanics, a Ph.D-level elective course (MEEN-622), both of which I have been teaching at Texas A&M University for the past two decades. While there are numerous undergraduate fluid mechanics texts on the market for engineering students and instructors to choose from, there are only limited texts that comprehensively address the particular needs of graduate engineering fluid mechanics courses. To complement the lecture materials, the instructors more often recommend several texts, each of which treats special topics of fluid mechanics. This circumstance and the need to have a textbook that covers the materials needed in the above courses gave the impetus to provide the graduate engineering community with a coherent textbook that comprehensively addresses their needs for an advanced fluid mechanics text. Although this text book is primarily aimed at mechanical engineering students, it is equally suitable for aerospace engineering, civil engineering, other engineering disciplines, and especially those practicing professionals who perform CFD-simulation on a routine basis and would like to know more about the underlying physics of the commercial codes they use. Furthermore, it is suitable for self study, provided that the reader has a sufficient knowledge of calculus and differential equations.