Introduction

Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Properties

What is fluid mechanics? As its name suggests it is the branch of applied mechanics concerned with the statics and dynamics of fluids - both liquids and gases. The analysis of the behaviour of fluids is based on the fundamental laws of mechanics which relate continuity of mass and energy with force and momentum together with the familiar solid mechanics properties.

There are two aspects of fluid mechanics which make it different to solid mechanics

1. The nature of a fluid is much different to that of a solid 2. In fluids we usually deal with continuous streams of fluid without a beginning or end. In solids we only consider individual elements.

We normally recognize three states of matter: solid; liquid and gas. However, liquid and gas are both fluids: in contrast to solids they lack the ability to resist deformation. Because a fluid cannot resist the deformation force, it moves, it flows under the action of the force. Its shape will change continuously as long as the force is applied. A solid can resist a deformation force while at rest, this force may cause some displacement but the solid does not continue to move indefinitely.

Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics that studies fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest; fluid kinematics, the study of fluids in motion; and fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion. It is a branch of continuum mechanics, a subject which models matter without using the information that it is made out of atoms, that is, it models matter from a macroscopic viewpoint rather than from a microscopic viewpoint. Fluid mechanics, especially fluid dynamics, is an active field of research with many unsolved or partly solved problems. Fluid mechanics can be mathematically complex, and can best be solved by numerical methods, typically using computers. A modern discipline, called computational fluid dynamics (CFD), is devoted to this approach to solving fluid mechanics problems. Particle image velocimetry, an experimental method for visualizing and analyzing fluid flow, also takes advantage of the highly visual nature of fluid flow.

FLUID DYNAMICS
The foundational axioms of fluid dynamics are the conservation laws specifically, conservation of mass, conservation of linear momentum (also known as Newton's Second Law of Motion), and conservation of energy (also known as First Law of Thermodynamics). These are based on classical mechanics and are modified in quantum mechanics and general relativity. They are expressed using the Reynolds Transport Theorem. In addition to the above, fluids are assumed to obey the continuum assumption. Fluids are composed of molecules that collide with one another and solid objects. However, the continuum assumption considers fluids to be continuous, rather than discrete. Consequently, properties such as density, pressure, temperature, and velocity are taken to be well-defined at infinitesimally small points, and are assumed to vary continuously from one point to another. The fact that the fluid is made up of discrete molecules is ignored. For fluids which are sufficiently dense to be a continuum, do not contain ionized species, and have velocities small in relation to the speed of light, the momentum equations for Newtonian fluids are the NavierStokes equations, which is a non-linear set of differential equations that describes the flow of a fluid whose stress depends linearly on velocity gradients and pressure. The unsimplified equations do not have a general closed-form solution, so they are primarily of use in Computational Fluid Dynamics. The equations can be simplified in a number of ways, all of which make them easier to solve. Some of them allow appropriate fluid dynamics problems to be solved in closed form.

Brake System A brake is a mechanical device which inhibits motion. The rest of this article is dedicated to various types of vehicular brakes. Most commonly brakes use friction to convert kinetic energy into heat, though other methods of energy conversion may be employed. For example regenerative braking converts much of the energy to electrical energy, which may be stored for later use. Other methods convert kinetic energy into potential energy in such stored forms as pressurized air or pressurized oil. Eddy current brakes use magnetic fields to convert kinetic energy into electric current in the brake disc, fin, or rail, which is converted into heat. Still other braking methods even transform kinetic energy into different forms, for example by transferring the energy to a rotating flywheel. Disc Brakes The disc brake is the most common type of brake used in modern personal and public transport vehicles such as cars and buses. Disc brakes consist of a rotating disc (rotor) that is connected to the axle. Connected to the suspension is a backing plate with a caliper attached. The caliper wraps over the disc and houses two pads that are forced laterally against the disc by a hydraulically operated piston. The frictional resistance created retards the rotor. The disc brake offers better heat distribution than the drum brake and also offers better wet-weather performance as water is thrown off the disc by centrifugal force. Initially, the disc (rotor) was solid but now they have vents through them (ventilated discs) or they are drilled to further improve heat distribution.

Hydraulic brake system When the brake pedal is pressed, a pushrod exerts force on the piston(s) in the master cylinder, causing fluid from the brake fluid reservoir to flow into a pressure chamber through a compensating port. This forces fluid through the hydraulic lines toward 4 caliper pistons then apply force to the brake pads, which pushes them against the spinning rotor, and the friction between the pads and the rotor causes a braking torque to be generated, slowing the vehicle. Heat generated by this friction is either dissipated through vents and channels in the rotor or conducted through the pads, which are made of specialized heat-tolerant materials such as kevlar or sintered glass. Subsequent release of the brake pedal/lever allows spring(s) to return the master piston(s) back into position. This relieves the hydraulic pressure on the caliper, allowing the brake piston in the caliper assembly to slide back into its housing and the brake pads to release the rotor. In figure , pedal ratio=5

The front brakes play a greater part in stopping the car than the rear ones, because braking throws the car weight forward on to the front wheels. Many cars therefore have disc brakes, which are generally more efficient, at the front and drum brake sat the rear. All-disc braking systems are used on some expensive or high-performance cars, and all-drum systems on some older or smaller cars.

Brake hydraulics
A hydraulic brake circuit has fluid-filled master and slave cylinders connected by pipes. When you push the brake pedal it depresses a piston in the master cylinder, forcing fluid along the pipe. The fluid travels to slave cylinders at each wheel and fills them, forcing pistons out to apply the brakes. Fluid pressure distributes itself evenly around the system. The combined surface 'pushing' area of all the slave pistons is much greater than that of the piston in the master cylinder. Consequently, the master piston has to travel several inches to move the slave pistons the fraction of an inch it takes to apply the brakes. This arrangement allows great force to be exerted by the brakes, in the same way that a long-handled lever can easily lift a heavy object a short distance. Most modern cars are fitted with twin hydraulic circuits, with two master cylinders in tandem, in case one should fail. Sometimes one circuit works the front brakes and one the rear brakes; or each circuit works both front brakes and one of the rear brakes; or one circuit works all four brakes and the other the front ones only. Under heavy braking, so much weight may come off the rear wheels that they lock, possibly causing a dangerous skid. For this reason, the rear brakes are deliberately made less powerful than the front. Most cars now also have a loadsensitive pressure-limiting valve. It closes when heavy braking raises hydraulic pressure to a level that might cause the rear brakes to lock, and prevents any further movement of fluid to them. Advanced cars may even have complex anti-lock systems that sense in various ways how the car is decelerating and whether any wheels are locking. Such systems apply and release the brakes in rapid succession to stop them locking.

Brake Hydraulic Theory Most people will be be starting with a brake caliper from a particular car. The goal is to find out what size master cylinder should be used to give acceptable pedal force, and also to figure out how to proportion the braking forces between the front and rear wheels. Before we jump into that lets look at brake system basics. The fundamental concept behind hydraulics is the incompressible fluid. A fluid is a material that can flow into any volume. Gases and liquids are all fluids, the principle difference being the amount of compressibility they exhibit. The other unique characteristic that all fluids share is that the pressure is the same everywhere within the fluid region (neglect the effects of gravity, it doesnt play on the size scales we are talking about). For example, lets fill a 55 gallon drum completely with water, so that there is no air in the tank. If I push on the bottom of the tank the top of the tank will start to bulge (so will the sides, but not as much since they are thicker material). The force on the bottom of the tank got transmitted to every part of the tank. Now lets get another 55 gallon drum and completely fill it with water as well. Connect it to the first tank with a hose, and get rid of all the air from the system. Again if I push on the bottom (or the top) of the first tank, the force will be felt every within the fluid, even the second tank that we just connected. Now we are starting to see our hydraulic system, the drums are the master and slave cylinders and the hose is, well, the hose.
This is our first hydraulic system. On the left is our master cylinder, on the right our slave cylinder. The key to remember is that the hydraulic fluid is incompressible. It will always have the same volume no matter what we do. If we move the master cylinder piston, then the volume inside the master cylinder changes, the volume of the rest of the system has to change in order to keep the total volume constant. Assuming that the hydraulic lines are perfect and never change the volume change in the master cylinder is going to have to be matched by a volume change in the slave cylinder. The volume change in the master cylinder is

Where is the distance the master cylinder piston moved, and is the cross sectional area of the master cylinder. Since the volume change in the slave cylinder is the same as the volume change in the master cylinder the distance the slave cylinder moves must be:

OK, but what about pressure? Thats easy, the pressure is the same everywhere. And we find it by dividing the force on the master cylinder piston by the master cylinder area:

Now what is the force exerted by the slave cylinder piston? We know the pressure in the slave cylinder, it is the same as in the master cylinder. The force on the slave cylinder piston is the pressure times the area of the slave cylinder:

So now we have the entire picture. If the slave cylinder is bigger (in diameter, and therefore area) than the master cylinder we get a bigger force out of the slave than we put into the master, but a smaller movement.

The Master Cylinder Our ideal hydraulic system is a pretty good model, but we need to add some things to it to make it applicable to automotive systems. The first addition is to the master cylinder. We do not act directly on the master cylinder piston, but rather, through a brake pedal that adds mechanical advantage. If we apply a force on the brake pedal we get a higher force on the master cylinder:

is the pedal ratio.

If we press on the pedal with 70lbf and the pedal ratio is 7, then the force on the piston is 490lbf.

Conclusion In a hydraulic brake system, the master cylinder moves brake uid through the system. The lines used to carry the liquid may be pipes hoses, or a network of internal bores or passages in a single housing, such as those found in a master cylinder. Valves are used to regulate hydraulic pressure and direct the ow of the liquid. The output devices are brake drum cylinders and disc brake calipers. Hydraulics is the study of liquids in motion. Liquids are considered non-compressible uids. Pascals Law says that pressure at any one point in a conned liquid is the same in every direction and applies equal force on equal areas. If a liquid is conned and a force applied, pressure is produced. If the pressure on the uid is applied to a movable output piston, it creates output force. In a brake system, a small master cylinder piston is used to apply pressure to larger pistons at the wheel brake units to increase braking force. Most brake systems with front discs and rear drums have large-diameter master cylinders (large piston area) and a power booster to increase the input force.