About this course
Contents
About this course#
The aim of the module is to establish a strong core foundation in fluid mechanics and heat transfer that can be used to build upon for more advance continuum mechanics and thermal subjects. We will expand your knowledge significantly from the first year 4CCS1SUS Energy and Sustainability module. The first half of the course will focus on exploring fluid dynamics and the basic properties of fluids, from steady laminar and unsteady turbulent flows through to the Navier-Stokes equations that govern the motion of fluids. In the second half of the course, we will turn to heat transfer, providing the basic principles and knowledge required to solve engineering problems and prerequisites for more advanced thermofluids courses. The main topics covered are steady-state and transient conditions for conduction, convection, radiation and heat exchangers.
Warning
Thermofluids is often a tough subject to get to grips with: in this course, we’ll introduce a number of new physical concepts and mathematics to go with them. The main challenge to overcome is not only learning the basic processes, but also when they apply to certain problems and how they interact.
The best way to make progress in this course is to make sure you are attending all of the lectures and tutorials, answering all the questions on tutorial sheets each week (even outside the tutorial), and engage with us if you have issues. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and if you don’t understand something, ask!
Course organisation#
The course is delivered as follows:
The main delivery of the course is two hours of lectures delivered in-person.
To accompany this, we will also have an accompanying tutorial session, where we will go through a problem sheet and discuss the topics being introduced each week. These will meet for a one hour tutorial session every week, starting from week 1 of semester 2, supported by a teaching assistant.
Finally, you will have the opportunity to undertake practical, hands-on experience of the topics covered in this module through two practical sessions, delivered in the latter half of the semester.
Warning
The timetable is often subject to short-notice change. I will do my best to update you on major timetabling changes, but make sure to consult your timetable often and frequently!
Communication and queries#
There are many ways to get help and support with this module! In no particular order:
attend tutorials;
attend office hours;
post a question to the online forum on KEATS;
I want to encourage you all to monitor and use the forum on KEATS: I will monitor this and aim to respond in 1-2 business days to any questions. You should also feel free to respond to questions if you think you know you can help! If you have an urgent or personal problem, then of course feel free to contact via email: however I would prefer use of the forum over all other methods of contact!
About these notes#
These notes have been written to provide a reference for the lectures, but they are not exhaustive. In particular, we will be following two textbooks, which you may find useful to refer to in order to find additional learning material and example problems:
For fluid mechanics, we will follow Fluid Mechanics, F. M. White, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
For heat transfer, we will follow Fundamentals of heat and mass transfer, 8th edition, by Incropera, 2017.
Access to these materials can be found via the reading list on KEATS.
Learning outcomes#
On completion of this module, you should be able to:
Characterise basic properties of fluids, using this knowledge to solve simple fluid mechanics and heat transfer problems.
Identify the differences between laminar and turbulent flows.
Apply principles of energy transfer in fluids and via heat and its conversion to engineering systems.
Link solutions of problems in heat transfer and fluid mechanics to the physical processes governing these problems.
Apply fluid mechanics and heat transfer principles in practical laboratory experiments including hydraulics and aerodynamics.
Assessment#
There are two summative assessments to this module:
an examination which accounts for 70% of your mark;
a notebook and writeup of two experimental lab sessions, which accounts for the remaining 30% of the module.
Consult the KEATS page for further information on assessment, submission points, etc.