Basics of Fluid Mechanics

Fluids are everywhere in the world we live in! And they are relevant in different engineering fields such as mechanical, aerospace, chemical, biomedical, civil, … Fluid mechanics as a discipline started centuries ago, and yet today it is still very relevant with the emergence of new experimental techniques, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and data-driven approaches to tackle very challenging problems.

In this course we will talk about some of the most fundamental theories and first principles for fluid mechanics, specifically for incompressible flows, as most starting courses do. I hope to break down in a comprehensible way the basic concepts, going over flow kinematics, conservation and Navier-Stokes equations, turbulence, hydrostatics, pipe flow, potential flow, and dimensional analysis & similarity.  I include some examples of problems you should be able to solve with the relevant equations. My hope is that with the basic language and tools within the discipline, you may be able to jump into more complex topics and other resources that may be of interest to you. The course is geared toward undergraduate students taking a first look at fluid mechanics, graduate students who may want to review some specific aspects, as well as practicing engineers who may need a refresher for FE or PE exams.

While some of the mathematical or physical concepts may appear daunting, it is definitely a fun and beautiful scientific field to dive into that unveils many of Nature's mysteries!