The fourth constitutive relation hypothesis states that the properties of a fluid are isotropic, i.e., independent of direction.
For example, an object moving in a fluid encounters the same resistance regardless of the direction of movement. From eq11, the properties of a fluid are described by βijkl , which must be isotropic.
As described in the articles on tensors, the general form of a fourth-order isotropic tensor is:
From eq11 of the previous article, τij is symmetric. Therefore, τij =τji and
Substitute eq12 in the above equation, we have
Substitute eq13 in eq12,
Substitute eq14 in eq11,
Substitute eq15 in eq3,
The values of μ and λ can only be determined through experiments. μ is known as the shear viscosity of the fluid while λ is the volume viscosity of the fluid, which is zero for an incompressible fluid. Eq16 becomes:
Question
Show that μ in eq16 and eq7 are the same.
Answer
Consider the flow of an incompressible fluid where the flow velocity components are u = u(y), v = 0 and w = 0. Using eq16, the stress components are:
with the remaining components equal to zero.
Clearly, the components of stress in this case include the pressure p and the shear stress , which is the result of the derivation of Newton’s law of viscosity, eq7. Hence, μ in eq16 and eq7 are the same.