132 Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics and Transport Phenomena
3.4. Phenomenological laws of viscosity
3.4.1. Definition of a fluid
3.4.1.1. Introduction
We saw in Chapter 2 that the stresses in a continuous medium can be represented
by a tensor
ij
. A fluid particle undergoing a bulk movement (translation and
rotation) is at rest in a moving Cartesian reference frame. It is not subject to stresses
other than those induced by pressure forces. On the other hand, this is no longer the
case in the presence of strain. The internal stresses in this continuous medium do not
depend on the relative position of the fluid particles, but on their relative velocities:
an infinitely slow fluid movement will not generate any stresses, contrary to what
occurs in solid bodies. This distinction between fluids and solids does not always
exist: certain bodies can have the properties of elastic solids for motions which
occur at the scale of seconds or fractions of seconds, and their shape may be
changed by a flow at the scale of many hours or many days (e.g. viscoelasticity,
creep in solids).
3.4.1.2.
Viscous fluids
A viscous fluid is one in which the stresses at a given instant are a function only
of the deformation rates at that instant. We will separate pressure stresses and the
viscous stress tensor
W
ij
using the relation:
(Kronecker symbol : 0 1)
ij ij ij ij ii
p si i j, v
[3.39]
This definition corresponds with the idea of a fluid as defined in fluid statics
(section 2.2.1.1). In keeping with what has already been said, the viscous stress
tensor depends only on the strain rates, and not the deformations. There exist “visco-
elastic” bodies in which these two kinds of stress generation can co-exist. We will
not cover the more complex cases ([FRE 64], [GER 94], [TAN 00], [COI 97]),
limiting our attention to the study of viscous fluids.
As in other domains of physics, the “relationship” between viscous stresses and
strain rates become complex when the structure is complex at the molecular level. In
particular, the flow may provoke changes in the “molecular cohesion”, or preferred
orientations in the presence of macromolecules. The establishment of a flow in a
fluid (gas or liquid) containing solid particles which are more or less dispersed may
lead to their becoming suspended. For example, the wind can carry sand in the
desert or on beaches, in many industrial applications powders are often transported
using fluidized beds (airflows which are sufficiently energetic to raise and transport
solid particles, these particles being deposed when the fluid velocity drops
sufficiently), etc. A snow avalanche is a heavy fluid which flows, whereas the snow