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Unit of study_
CIVL2611: Introductory Fluid Mechanics
2026 unit information
The objective of this unit of study is to develop an understanding of basic fluid concepts for inviscid and incompressible fluids. Topics to be covered will include: basic fluid properties, hydrostatics, buoyancy, stability, pressure distribution in a fluid with rigid body motion, fluid dynamics, conservation of mass and momentum, dimensional analysis, open channel flow, and pipe flow. This core unit of study together with CIVL3612 forms the basis for further studies in the applied areas of ocean, coastal and wind engineering and other elective fluid mechanics units which may be offered.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Engineering
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | Civil Engineering |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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Equivalent to the content of CIVL1802, MATH1061, MATH1062, MATH2061, PHYS1001 and CIVL2201. This includes basic mechanics (statics and dynamics); calculus, including differentiation; integration (single and double integrations) and simple differential equations; vector calculus; and basic physics. Students without this background should see the unit of study coordinator for a discussion |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Understand fundamental properties of fluid and how they may influence fluid behaviour
- LO2. Calculate hydrostatic and buoyancy forces on fully and partly submerged bodies
- LO3. Understand the physical meaning and limitations of Bernoulli Theorem and apply Bernoulli theorem to solve fluid flow problems.
- LO4. Understand the significance of dimensional analysis and apply Buckingham pi Theorem to simplify fluid flow problems
- LO5. Understand the conservation laws of mass and linear momentum in the context of fluid flows and use these principles in fluid flow calculations.
- LO6. Carry out basic calculations of open channel flows and pipe flows using provided formulae
Unit availability
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