Instructor

Prof. Rajneesh Bhardwaj

Section

S2 (based on odd/even roll numbers)

Semester

Autumn

Course Difficulty

Moderate

Time Commitment Required

The initial 2-3 chapters out of a total 8 are easy to follow during class. It is useful to understand the slides in detail and get more clarity in the rest of the chapters. Sincerely preparing for the four quizzes (2 chapters per quiz) will easily help you cover the syllabus and be prepared for endsem. Tutorials are quite doable and you can expect much more difficult problems in exams. Slides and tutorials are sufficient to solve different types of questions but you may choose to refer additional material. On an average, a couple of hours per week are enough to perform well in exams.

Grading

Moderate (nearly 50% class got BB or higher)

Attendance Policy

70% mandatory

Pre-requisites

None

Evaluation Scheme and Weightages

Quizzes (25%, best 3 out of 4), Midsem (25%), Endsem (50%)

Topics Covered in the Course

Introduction, Hydrostatics, Manometers, Buoyancy, Kinematics, Bernoulli’s equation, Reynolds Transport Theorem, Continuity and Navier Stokes equations for different coordinate systems, Dimensional analysis and Similitude, Basics of Turbulence, Friction factor, Moody Chart, Losses in pipes, Boundary layer theory and relevant parameters, Velocity boundary layer, Blasius equation, Drag coefficient

Quality of Lectures

The pace of the lectures is fast due to the high volume of slides per chapter and it is easy to lose track. Majority of the students in our batch found it difficult to focus and understand what was being taught. Slides had a good amount of problems related to theory and the professor made sure to solve them on board. A tutorial common for both sections had TAs discussing 10 questions and their solutions in each session. Most of the doubts were cleared in the class itself and students are free to visit the professor during office hours to review concepts if necessary.

Assignments and projects in the Course

None

Exams

Quizzes (Easy to Moderate), Midsem (Moderate), Endsem (Difficult) Quizzes were easy but most students found the time duration very less. You are expected to maintain speed while solving quizzes. The difficulty level is definitely increased for midsem and endsem. A majority of the problems in exams require you to apply some concept, use the relevant formula (cheat sheets are allowed ;) ) and plug-in numbers. The mathematics can be tedious sometimes and hence, there are chances you will leave the problem half way after getting done with the physics . A small weightage in exams is also given to objective and short-answer type theory questions. Your thoroughgoing with the slides will come in handy here. Solving problems or glancing through the solved examples from recommended textbooks may help you score better in exams.

Reference Material

Fundamentals of fluid mechanics, Munson, Young et al., Fluid mechanics, F. M. White, Introduction to fluid mechanics, Fox, Pritchard, & McDonald, Fluid mechanics: fundamentals and applications, Cengel & Cimbala

Importance of Course

This course is a prerequisite for all Thermal and Fluid engineering courses (like Heat Transfer in the 5th Sem) and utmost fundamental for students intending to do research in relevant fields.

Review by: Raj Lakhani