5
Experimental Fluid Mechanics
5.1 Classical Fluid Mechanics Experiment
Experimental fluid mechanics, theoretical fluid mechanics, and computational fluid mechanics constitute the three branches of fluid mechanics.
Experimental fluid mechanics includes experimental aerodynamics and experimental fluid dynamics, involving nearly all fields of fluid mechanics. Experimental fluid mechanics plays a key role in the development of fluid mechanics
theory. On the one hand, physical phenomena can be observed carefully
and repeatedly through experiments, so as to reveal the flow mechanism and
discover the flow law, on the other hand, an important basis for the establishment of physical models and theories can be provided by direct experimental
measurement of physical quantities.
In 250 BC, Archimedes proposed the famous buoyancy theorem of
fluid mechanics through a large number of experimental studies. Galileo
(1564–1642), an Italian physicist, first introduced experimental methods
into mechanical studies and then demonstrated the resistance to motion of
objects in air in 1632. In 1643, E. Torricelli (1608–1647), an Italian scientist,
completed the atmospheric pressure measurement experiment, and proved
the basic law of constant orifice outflow, and proposed that the orifice outflow
speed is proportional to the square root of the head value. In 1653, Blaise
Pascal (1623–1662, as shown in Fig. 5.1), a French scientist, proposed the
hydrostatic pressure transfer theorem on the basis of experiments and made
a hydraulic press (as shown in Fig. 5.2). In 1686, Newton, a British scientist, completed the law of internal friction of fluid, and in 1687, he used
© Science Press 2021
P. Liu, A General Theory of Fluid Mechanics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6660-2_5
333
Experimental Fluid Mechanics
5.1 Classical Fluid Mechanics Experiment
Experimental fluid mechanics, theoretical fluid mechanics, and computational fluid mechanics constitute the three branches of fluid mechanics.
Experimental fluid mechanics includes experimental aerodynamics and experimental fluid dynamics, involving nearly all fields of fluid mechanics. Experimental fluid mechanics plays a key role in the development of fluid mechanics
theory. On the one hand, physical phenomena can be observed carefully
and repeatedly through experiments, so as to reveal the flow mechanism and
discover the flow law, on the other hand, an important basis for the establishment of physical models and theories can be provided by direct experimental
measurement of physical quantities.
In 250 BC, Archimedes proposed the famous buoyancy theorem of
fluid mechanics through a large number of experimental studies. Galileo
(1564–1642), an Italian physicist, first introduced experimental methods
into mechanical studies and then demonstrated the resistance to motion of
objects in air in 1632. In 1643, E. Torricelli (1608–1647), an Italian scientist,
completed the atmospheric pressure measurement experiment, and proved
the basic law of constant orifice outflow, and proposed that the orifice outflow
speed is proportional to the square root of the head value. In 1653, Blaise
Pascal (1623–1662, as shown in Fig. 5.1), a French scientist, proposed the
hydrostatic pressure transfer theorem on the basis of experiments and made
a hydraulic press (as shown in Fig. 5.2). In 1686, Newton, a British scientist, completed the law of internal friction of fluid, and in 1687, he used
© Science Press 2021
P. Liu, A General Theory of Fluid Mechanics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6660-2_5
333