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Dimensionless numbers (or characteristic numbers) have an important role in analyzing the behavior of fluids and their flow as well as in other transport phenomena. [1] They include the Reynolds and the Mach numbers, which describe as ratios the relative magnitude of fluid and physical system characteristics, such as density, viscosity, speed of sound, and flow speed.
In continuum mechanics, time-dependent viscosity is a property of fluids whose viscosity changes as a function of time. The most common type of this is thixotropy , in which the viscosity of fluids under continuous shear decreases with time; the opposite is rheopecty , in which viscosity increases with time.
The Reynolds and Womersley Numbers are also used to calculate the thicknesses of the boundary layers that can form from the fluid flow’s viscous effects. The Reynolds number is used to calculate the convective inertial boundary layer thickness that can form, and the Womersley number is used to calculate the transient inertial boundary thickness that can form.
The proportionality factor is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid, often simply referred to as the viscosity. It is denoted by the Greek letter mu ( μ ). The dynamic viscosity has the dimensions ( m a s s / l e n g t h ) / t i m e {\displaystyle \mathrm {(mass/length)/time} } , therefore resulting in the SI units and the derived units :
How much the volume viscosity contributes to the flow characteristics in e.g. a choked flow such as convergent-divergent nozzle or valve flow is not well known, but the shear viscosity is by far the most utilized viscosity coefficient. The volume viscosity will now be abandoned, and the rest of the article will focus on the shear viscosity.
A Newtonian fluid is a power-law fluid with a behaviour index of 1, where the shear stress is directly proportional to the shear rate: = These fluids have a constant viscosity, μ, across all shear rates and include many of the most common fluids, such as water, most aqueous solutions, oils, corn syrup, glycerine, air and other gases.
For an incompressible and isotropic Newtonian fluid in laminar flow only in the direction x (i.e. where viscosity is isotropic in the fluid), the shear stress is related to the strain rate by the simple constitutive equation = where is the shear stress ("skin drag") in the fluid,
Figure 1. Bingham Plastic flow as described by Bingham. Figure 1 shows a graph of the behaviour of an ordinary viscous (or Newtonian) fluid in red, for example in a pipe. If the pressure at one end of a pipe is increased this produces a stress on the fluid tending to make it move (called the shear stress) and the volumetric flow rate increases proportionally.