Chapter 1
Fundamental Concepts of Fluid
Mechanics for Mine Ventilation
1.1 Introduction
This chapter offers a very concise review of the main concepts of fluid mechanics,
with a particular focus on aerodynamics, the mastery of which is essential for understanding the rest of the text. Although many students may be familiar with this
subject, they should revisit it to refresh concepts and units.
1.2 Fluid Statics
1.2.1 Pressure Scales
Two fundamental pressure scales are (Fig. 1.1):
• Absolute pressure (P abs ), which is measured in relation to an absolute vacuum. It
is always positive.
• Gauge pressure (P g ), which is measured in relation to the atmospheric pressure
(P atm ) at any time. It can be positive or negative.
The relationship between the two is expressed in Eq. 1.1.
P abs = P atm + P g
(1.1)
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
C. Sierra, Mine Ventilation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49803-0_1
1
Fundamental Concepts of Fluid
Mechanics for Mine Ventilation
1.1 Introduction
This chapter offers a very concise review of the main concepts of fluid mechanics,
with a particular focus on aerodynamics, the mastery of which is essential for understanding the rest of the text. Although many students may be familiar with this
subject, they should revisit it to refresh concepts and units.
1.2 Fluid Statics
1.2.1 Pressure Scales
Two fundamental pressure scales are (Fig. 1.1):
• Absolute pressure (P abs ), which is measured in relation to an absolute vacuum. It
is always positive.
• Gauge pressure (P g ), which is measured in relation to the atmospheric pressure
(P atm ) at any time. It can be positive or negative.
The relationship between the two is expressed in Eq. 1.1.
P abs = P atm + P g
(1.1)
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
C. Sierra, Mine Ventilation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49803-0_1
1