Best Book for Fluid Mechanics & Thermodynamics

[stephen]

Hi all!
I'm an undergraduate student.
I'm going to consolidate my what I've learned in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. I would like to pick up a nice book and read through it from the beginning.(learning from the very basic)

So, I would like to know what books you would recommend?

 

[Clausius2]

Hi all!
I'm an undergraduate student.
I'm going to consolidate my what I've learned in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. I would like to pick up a nice book and read through it from the beginning.(learning from the very basic)

So, I would like to know what books you would recommend?

During my studies, I have bought few books. Two of them has been the two books of J. Spurk "Fluid Mechanics" regarding both theory and a great set of solved problem in the vol 2. I think it is not the best book in fluid mechanics you'll find, but it is written in the classical way such as the ones of Batchelor and Landau, and the set of solved problems deserve a purchase. Don't think of them as classical books of applied fluid mechanics to engineering, but they are books of physics of fluids, which are the best to understand this science from just the bottom.

 

[brewnog]

I can recommend:

- Fluid Mechanics, by Frank White. I think it's a McGraw Hill publication. Very useful indeed, lots of applied scenarios, and it's by far the most readable Fluids book I've come across. Was excellent for someone like me who can't learn just by following pages of equations!

- Engineering Thermodynamics, Work & Heat Transfer, by Rogers & Mayhew. It's pretty good, easy to follow and the chapters are organised sensibly unlike some other books I've used. Published by Longman.

 

[ChrisHarvey]

I have to say my favourite basic textbook for fluid mechanics (not that I own that many!) is by far "A first course in fluid dynamics" by A.R.Paterson ISBN 0-521-27424-9

It's very mathematical and covers loads of ground. I find it's explanations very easy to follow and the examples very revealing. I 1st read it before starting my aero degree to get a feel for the subject, although much of the maths at that time I couldn't follow. I've just finished rereading it and now that I can follow pretty much most of it, I can only recommend it more.

 

[shaiqbashir]

Well as far as ur Thermodynamics Book is concerned, i would recommend you a very good book and that is:

Applied Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach

By Cengel & Boles

 

[morry]

My fluids book isn't the greatest (AJ Smits), but I have a great thermo book. By Sonntag, Borgnakke and van Wylen.

 

[arman]

I have the Cengel & boles thermodynamics and frank m white fluid dynamics, they're both an enormous help. I find Frank White's approach to writiting very personal and he does a great job at making initially difficult techniques such as dimensional analysis very easy to grasp.

 

[mavenuparker]

Fluid Mechanics: Frank M White
Thermo-dynamics : An Engg approach by Cengel Boles

where ever you go in world you can see applications quoted from these texts...they are by far the best book I've ever read...

 

[boneh3ad]

Any fluids book by Frank White is going to be great. His Viscous Flow book is the industry and academic standard, for example.

 

[ben_carter]

I recently bought the following book for a similar purpose

Fluid Mechanics with Multimedia DVD, Fifth Edition

Not cheap but very good

 

[Studiot]

Hello, Ben it is good to offer help to others, but did you note the date of the previous post in this thread?

 

[ben_carter]

Apologies. I found this thread via Google and didn't look at the date.

 

[Studiot]

Nevertheless, welcome to Physics Forums, you will find much of interest here if you already have books on fluids and thermo.

 

[sivaprasaducc]

Hi everyone

Thanks for the information

 

[pukb]

Introduction to fluid mechanics by cengel and cimbala

 

[warriormondale]

Here's one that I found helpful, http://www.potto.org/gasDynamics/gasDynamics.php.

 

[Chestermiller]

In my entire 50 year career as an engineer specializing in fluid mechanics, by far the book that I referred to most was Transport Phenomena by Bird, Stewart, and Lightfoot. This book is a classic, and has stood the test of time. It also has very relevant sections on heat and mass transfer which employ the important concepts in thermodynamics, but in a more powerful continuum mechanics framework.

Chet

 

[Wucko]

Hello, i am trying to find a book in which there is more profane acess to thermodynamics. I have books based on formulas and laws but there is no real examples that could help us understand and visualize the problem. So if you have any suggestions?

 

[Chestermiller]

Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, Smith and Van Ness.

 

[Wucko]

I am studying mechanical engineering, so would be this book still in mine domain? Thanks..

 

[Chestermiller]

I am studying mechanical engineering, so would be this book still in mine domain? Thanks..

Yes.

 

[Aero_UoP]

Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, Cengel and Boles

 

[Ritz_physics]

Cengel: for both fluid mechanics and thermodynamics

 

[5d2]

Once a student has gained some intuition for the basics of fluid mechanics, I think that the best and quickest path to mastery is to first learn tensor analysis and then use that knowledge to learn continuum mechanics. Better yet, take a graduate-level course on continuum mechanics and learn both at the same time. (But try not to schedule any other courses for that semester. Continuum mechanics ain't easy at first).

Sadly, I cannot recommend a text on continuum mechanics. When I took the course, I used T. J. Chung's text, which I think is fantastic. However, I suspect that I may be biased because I had the privilege of taking the course from the author himself. As a result, I had direct access to insights (as well as some god-awful homework problems) that are not available to other readers.

Regardless, my point is this. Prior to taking continuum mechanics in my 2nd year of grad school I had taken 4-5 semesters of fluid mechanics, 3-4 semesters of solid mechanics and 3 semesters of thermodynamics. Yet in one semester of continuum mechanics, I learned far more about each of those three subjects than I had learned from all of those other semesters of work combined. What I appreciated most was the mathematically concise revelation that each of those subjects are really pieces of a larger, intricately connected whole. Continuum mechanics also uncovers the natural coupling between fluid mechanics and electricity and magnetism in the form of plasma dynamics (a.k.a. magnetohydrodynamics). The underlying mathematical tool of tensor analysis is also very useful in other fields such as classical mechanics and relativity (and probably others that I'm not familiar with).