Foreword
This book, Essential Fluids with MATLAB and Octave - Part 1 (Theory), is the second of the series of four books the author has planned to develop before and during his retirement. These books are meant to be vehicles by which the author can give back to his profession and its practice. These books address the early foundations of mechanical engineering in undergraduate education -see Essential Foundations of Engineering. They are also useful in several other engineering disciplines, such as aerospace, civil, and chemical engineering.
Essential Fluids with MATLAB and Octave - Part 1 (Theory) is developed similarly to Essential Mechanics - Statics and Strength of Materials with MATLAB and Octave released by the author in 2020.
This first textbook, Essential Mechanics - Statics and Strength of Materials with MATLAB and Octave, is unique and atypical . It combines two normally separate courses in the early undergraduate engineering curriculum. It weaves together various essential topics from Statics and Strength of Materials to allow discussing structural design from the very beginning. The traditional content of these courses are reordered to make it convenient to cover rigid body equilibrium and extend it to deformable body mechanics immediately – rather than having to wait a semester.
The first ebook covers the most useful topics from both courses with computational support through MATLAB/Octave. The traditional approach to learning engineering content is rigorously supported through graphics and analysis. Prior knowledge of MATLAB/Octave is not necessary. Use of Octave (a GNU resource) is included for those who do not have access to MATLAB through an institutional license. Instructions for its use in context are provided and explained. It takes advantage of the numerical, symbolic, and graphical capability of MATLAB/Octave for effective problem solving. This computational ability provides a natural procedure for What if? exploration that is important for design. The book also emphasizes graphics to understand, learn, and explore design.
The second ebook, Essential Fluids with MATLAB and Octave - Part 1 (Theory) addresses only basic fluid mechanics. The computational support through MATLAB/Octave is fundamental to the textbook with an emphasis on understanding concepts through graphics. The book also supports the ability to generate graphics through programming.
Essential Fluids with MATLAB and Octave - Part 1 (Theory) was planned as a single book to be ready for publication in 2023; however, the author has decided to release the book in two parts. The first part covers theoretical development which is necessary to understand fluid flow, which the author just concluded. This has already exceeded the time frame by a year. The second part will cover applications. These applications are parameter based and rely on empirical information that may be free or royalty constrained. They are mostly algebraic applications that rely on tables, charts, and simple correlations. A significant amount of time and effort will be required to assemble and compile this information for free and useful access. Hence the author will deliver the content of basic fluid mechanics through two parts.
One important takeaway from this book (Part 1) is that fluid mechanics is hard. Serious applications in fluid mechanics require a lot more learning on multiple topics and levels. Real fluid problems and designs involve three dimensional, unsteady, nonlinear flow on complex boundaries. It may also involve little understood fluid properties. It is only possible to determine the solution or evaluate the design numerically via computation. Solutions involve advanced numerical techniques, advanced programming, and extensive computing resources. Even then the solution is difficult to obtain. It is currently not possible to completely solve an actual three-dimensional, unsteady, turbulent, viscous flow over a car or an aircraft. Most solutions are output of numerical simulation and numerical experimentation. Verifying the numerical process requires actual field experimental data that is very expensive, difficult, and challenging to obtain. Real fluid design problems today are addressed by special software packages using massive resources, which require advanced degrees and training. This is way beyond the scope of this introductory book or even an advanced book. It will require a lifetime of professional commitment.
The content of Essential Fluids with MATLAB and Octave - Part 2 (Applications) will cover topics similar to the other books in the field. There is not much scope for originality except for the integration of computation where possible. The design and applications are based on simple parameterized models that mostly require application of algebra.These input/output models are based on fixed geometries infused with parameters that are read off charts or interpolated from tables. Sometimes data is fitted to provide formulas for easier application. This requires access to databases. In current printed books, they are part of a large appendix spanning a significant number of pages. The author's book is an ebook and it makes more sense to link these databases through hypertext links. The author is at present unclear about the availability and free access to these required online databases. The author’s books in this series are open access books. They are available as ebooks, free to download with the most generous Creative Commons international license. They are also self published. He can only link royalty free databases and this will require time to track down
Now we come to a fundamental question !
Does the world need another Fluid Mechanics textbook ?
For me the answer is Yes! if it is different in a useful way. My book (and the series) is the result of a long held passion and belief that computation can empower and energize thinking and learning even in basic courses. I am hoping that all of you who use this book will confirm (or disagree) with this premise after you explore its contents. It can certainly be used along with a traditional offering of the basic fluid mechanics course in all institutions. I believe that the book can be a positive influence in learning basic concepts of fluid flow. A non traditional book, especially a free one, has a lot of difficulty in attracting a new audience. My publicity budget is non-existent. I will rely on your dissemination for its growth in use. I cannot attest to its actual effects on learning but I hope all of you will be able to.
I have over 35 years of experience in the classroom. I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses in mechanical and aerospace disciplines. I have taught statics and strength of materials. I have taught dynamics, vibrations, system dynamics, and aircraft flight dynamics. I have taught introductory and advanced fluid courses. I have taught aerodynamics and convective phenomena. I have taught graduate mathematics, computer programming (several languages) and numerical methods. I have taught design optimization. I have taught fluid mechanics applications using “Fluent” and “Comsol”. You can check out some course notes - if they are still hosted at my last academic institution - through the link below (https://sites.google.com/site/venkatpan/my-courses?authuser=0).
The idea of incorporating computation in basic courses has serious challenges. You can expect many traditional and institutional objections. It is a burden in a course already packed with content. It must be a prerequisite and therefore needs to be delivered separately. The prerequisite will postpone this course and the follow-on courses creating a scheduling nightmare and late graduation. There is an implied demand on faculty to be computer literate if it is part of instruction. Including computation will necessarily displace important contents of the course. These are serious issues that must have an answer before the content change can be justified. This is more serious in courses where the content is already overwhelming.
As an instructor I always used MATLAB in all my courses without requiring prior knowledge of MATLAB programming. I have one hands-on session to explain the basics of using MATLAB and one session on problem solving with MATLAB. I provide the base code for subsequent problem solving examples.. Students were encouraged to use and modify the code to apply it to new problems. Copy, Paste, and Edit was necessarily encouraged. MATLAB use appeared as assignments. MATLAB use was not overwhelming in any course. This type of adoption does not need knowledge of MATLAB programming. Subject information was still conveyed in a traditional manner. Students use MATLAB as a tool for problem solving.
As a teacher I have observed that students have difficulty in understanding even basic concepts in engineering courses because they lack confidence with mathematical reasoning and recollection. This hangup with math is a serious impediment to develop simple analytical skills and its application. They lose interest in the courses very early and find it difficult to stay tuned. They are unable to create their own database of concepts in their mind from attending all those early engineering courses. Later we just pile on additional equations, formulae, with very little of the information being absorbed.
A simple way to recollect prerequisite mathematical information could fix the above problem. This is my reason for integrating problem solving using MATLAB in my courses. This relaxes the burden on the student of recollecting knowledge gained through earlier math courses. MATLAB is a complete mathematical encyclopedia with the needed information available with a simple command (often just a single word). You do not need to know serious MATLAB programming. Just how to execute the command and handle the result.
Another way to enhance learning and understanding is to demonstrate concepts infused with graphics. Particularly with graphics that can be created on the fly. MATLAB supports graphical programming with a small set of commands. For example, in the basic fluids course, we define a fluid velocity field using a mathematical expression. We then crank out the acceleration field applying standard formulation and that's the end of it. The student really does not conceive of what he has done. He has no picture of a physical phenomena in his mind - the velocity field. All he did was test/review his math skills. This is not easy for the student as differentiation was learnt in the previous semester and they have moved on. Now the student has to connect and absorb this information. Formalic manipulation is so dry and hardly inspiring. Imagine that the students can see the plot of the velocity field illustrated using velocity vectors. Imagine the richness of information when we can draw streamlines for this field and create a particle track. Imagine if the acceleration field is automatically constructed and displayed. Instead of just equations we now visualize the field and its properties. To program all this in an introductory fluids course with limited programming skills is definitely a challenge. If the base code is available the student only has to change the velocity definition (a simple act) and then visually experience the connection between the particular field definition (math) and some of its properties (behavior). The emphasis is not on MATLAB but problem solving with MATLAB.
How did all this work out?
I cannot say it was a universal success. One reason could be due to the fact that this was not practiced widely at the department. Like institution resistance there is also a student resistance if they feel it was an extra burden only in my class. I would say about 20% of the students appreciated it in my class. About 10% recognized its value as they moved through the curriculum. A few of them were able to transition the information to other engineering courses. Many of them became comfortable with MATLAB and used it better in advanced courses. I sincerely think it can make a difference with instructor and institutional buy-in. Nevertheless this book represents my integration of learning and problem solving using computation and graphics. Delivery of basic concepts in a traditional fashion is not sacrificed in the description and delivery of content in this book.
I am very comfortable with MATLAB and have been using it for a long time. I do not use Octave except for this book. I program in MATLAB and make sure the code runs in Octave with minimal changes. I identify the changes.
The entire text is written by me. The figures used in the analysis are drawn by me. I like to use a lot of color as the book is expected to be viewed on a device (ebook). The code is original and mine. This is
Essential Fluids with MATLAB and Octave - Part 1 (Theory)
Technical Information involved in the development of the book:
The book was written in Scrivener from Literature and Latte
The figures are created using Canvas X and later from Canvas GFX
The mathematical formulas are generated using MathType from Design Science
MATLAB code using MATLAB version 2020a from Mathworks
Octave code using GNU Octave version 5.1/5.2 from GNU Octave site
Python and Sympy through Anaconda Python 3 distribution (for Octave)
All figures not created by the author are from public domain sources. The majority of them are from Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia). If a particular figure in this book should not be present because of proprietary reasons the author will exclude it and update the electronic file, when informed.
I would welcome any assistance for editing the manuscript. I am sure of having missed the errors during my edits. I am sure there are still lots of them. Sometimes there is unintentional wrapping of the code. With your help I can correct them and update the electronic file.
P. Venkataraman
January 2024
Rochester, NY, USA.
Email : Venpanch1@outlook.com
Profile: https://sites.google.com/site/venkatpan/
Ex-Faculty: Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 146123, USA
Alumni:
I. I. T. Kanpur, B.Tech, 1974
Rice University, PhD, 1984
(Sorry! That was probably too long)