CL 251: FLUID MECHANICS LAB

Name: Mayuresh More

Roll no: 14110077

Group: E

Experiment: Viscosity through Stokes’ law

Abstract: The experiment is designed to determine the viscosity of various oils
using Stokes’ law. The Stokes’ law is a generalized equation to find the viscosity of
a fluid using a particle of a particular geometry. The concept of the Stokes’ law
experiment is that the particle will attain a particular velocity, called ‘terminal
velocity’ as it touches the fluid. This velocity can be used to determine the
viscosity of the fluid using Stokes’ law. The experiment can be generalized for any
geometric shape. In this experiment, we use a spherical particle for simplicity.
Introduction: When a particular fluid moves through a solid it experiences force
at the boundary called the drag force. Similarly as a solid passes through a liquid,
it leaves turbulent flow in its wake. This means there is a loss in energy. The
viscous drag force is caused by the shear stresses at the boundaries of the fluid
media. When the boundary layer is laminar, only viscous forces act while if the
boundary layer is turbulent dissipative drag force also acts on the particle. Energy
is lost when a particle moves through a fluid media. The turbulent wake has
fluctuating velocities due to dissipative drag forces and hence there is an energy
loss. This energy depends upon the form and shape of the body.
If FD is the drag force and AP is the projected area then the drag force per
unit project area is (FD/AP). If this quantity is assumed to depend upon the
following factors:
1. The terminal velocity (U) of the solid particle in the fluid.

2. Density of the fluid.

3. Viscosity of the fluid.

4. The diameter of the spherical particle.

Then, by dimensional analysis, we have

FD/AP = CD (f.U2/2)
Here, CD is the drag coefficient, which is purely a function of the Reynold’s
number. The Reynold’s number is given as:-
NRE = (f.U.D)/
When a body is dropped in water, it experiences the following forces:-
1. Force due to gravity (W)

2. Buoyancy force (B)

3. Drag Force (FD)

The, particle attends a particular velocity when it enters the fluid which is termed
as the settling velocity or terminal velocity.
Thus, the forces on the body are balanced. Thus, we have,
W – B – FD = 0
W = 4/3(R3).p.g B = 4/3(R3).f.g and FD = CD(f.U2/2).R2
Thus, we have,
4/3(P - f).g.D = CD(f.U2)
The values of CD are given as,
1. CD = (24/NRe) for NRe < 1.9

2. CD = (18.5/(NRe)0.6) for 1.9 < NRe < 500

3. CD = 0.44 for 500 < NRe < 200,000

We, in this experiment, work in the laminar flow region wherein, NRe < 1.9. Thus,
we have, for the value of viscosity,
= g.(DP)2.(p - f)/(18.U)
Observations:

Diameter
Fluid of steel Distance Time Velocity Viscosity Re
ball
Castor oil 0.1 30 38.8 0.7731959 4.821288 0.0153956
Castor oil 0.15 30 16.6 1.8072289 4.641111 0.056073
Castor oil 0.2 30 10.3 2.9126214 5.119512 0.1092337
SAE – 40 0.1 30 14.7 2.0408163 1.853327 0.0947001
SAE – 40 0.15 30 6.5 4.6153846 1.8438713 0.3228992
SAE – 40 0.2 30 4 7.5 2.0172267 0.6394918
SAE – 90 0.1 30 13.8 2.173913 1.7365989 0.1092841
SAE – 90 0.15 30 5.8 5.1724138 1.6422185 0.4124467
SAE - 90 0.2 30 3.7 8.1081081 1.8624394 0.7601191
SAE - 90 0.4 30 1.2 25 2.4161376 3.6132048

Conclusion: We see that the viscosities of the oils are found using Stokes’ law.

Average viscosity of castor oil = 4.86 Poise

Average viscosity of SAE – 40 oil = 1.90 Poise

Average viscosity of SAE – 90 oil = 1.75 Poise

The viscosity in the last case of 0.4 cm diameter steel ball in SAE – 90 oil is 2.42
Poise which is differing by a large value than the average viscosity. This, is
because the formula used for the viscosity is for laminar flow. But the flow isn’t
laminar then. The Reynold’s number is greater than 1.9. For the rest cases, the
viscosities are reasonably close to the average value.
The SAE oils are industrial motor oils, which require a low viscosity value.
Since, such fluids are required for lubrications. We have, thus, experimentally
shown that SAE – 40 and SAE – 90 are low viscosity oils and will have a good usage
as lubricants. Castor oil has high viscosity and thus is non-ideal for lubrication
purpose.