Fluid Mechanics
for the Real World

Videos to understand fluid flows and learn to solve problems, 11 minutes at a time.

1 Basic flow quantities

Fundamental concepts required to dive into fluid mechanics
1.1 How to think of a fluid
Watch on YouTube: "How to think of a fluid"
1.2 Density
Watch on YouTube: "Density"
1.3 Viscosity
Watch on YouTube: "Viscosity"
1.4 Mass flow and volume flow
Watch on YouTube: "Mass flow and volume flow"
1.5 Fluids respond to things
Watch on YouTube: "Fluids respond to things"
1.6 A first look at turbulence
Watch on YouTube: "A first look at turbulence"
1.7 Critical questions: time dependency
Watch on YouTube: "Critical questions: time dependency"
1.8 Critical questions: Reynolds number
Watch on YouTube: "Critical questions: Reynolds number"
1.9 Turbulence and stability
Watch on YouTube: "Turbulence and stability"

2 Analysis of existing flows

Quantify the forces, moments, and powers associated with an existing flow

Videos of chapter 2 are available through the campus networks of subscribing universities.

If you are an instructor, you can request trial access for your institution through the contact form below. If you are a student, feel free to tell your instructor about this course.

2.1 Mass balance
2.2 Visualizing mass balance
2.3 Mass balance: an example
2.4 Mass balance: another example
2.5 Momentum balance
2.6 Visualizing momentum balance
2.7 Momentum balance: an example
2.8 Momentum balance: another example
2.9 Energy balance
2.10 Energy balance: shortcomings
2.11 Energy balance: an example
2.12 Energy balance: “losses”
2.13 Kill the Bernoulli equation
2.14 Non-uniform flows
2.15 Non-uniform flows: basic example
2.16 Unsteady effects
2.17 Non-uniform flows: an example 1/2
2.18 Non-uniform flows: an example 2/2
2.19 Strengths and weaknesses of this method
2.20 Control volumes: towards predicting flows

3 Working with pressure and shear

Quantify the effect of pressure and shear in fluids
3.1 Pressure on hard surfaces
3.2 Pressure on hard surfaces: example
3.3 Pressure within fluids
3.4 Special case: buoyancy
3.5 Shear on hard surfaces
3.6 Shear on hard surfaces: example
3.7 Shear within fluids
3.8 Shear perpendicular to a surface
3.9 Shear and velocity
Chapter 3 is planned for completion in Q4 2026

4 Prediction of fluid flows:
theory and practice

Understand how fluid flow is calculated using computers (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
4.1 Fields, not trajectories
4.2 Time changes on a grid: example
4.3 Time changes on a grid
4.4 Mass balance equation: general case
4.5 Mass balance equation: incompressible flow
4.6 Momentum balance: general case
4.7 Momentum balance: incompressible flow
4.8 Energy balance
4.9 CFD: discretizing the momentum equation
4.10 CFD: the most basic loop
4.11 CFD: modeling turbulence
4.12 CFD: recap
Chapter 4 is planned for completion in Q1 2027

5 Deciding what matters

Identify which parameters influence your flow, and which don’t
5.1 Scales in fluid mechanics
5.2 Non-dimensional momentum balance
5.3 Important flow parameters
5.4 Difficulties equating parameters
5.5 Revisiting turbulence
5.5 Comparing results: coefficients
5.6 Comparing results: one example
5.7 Comparing results: another example
5.8 Deciding what matters: recap
Chapter 5 is planned for completion in Q2 2027

About this course

portrait of Olivier Cleynen

Olivier Cleynen, PhD, is an engineer, scientist and teacher who likes turning complicated topics into things students can work with.

This course is designed so you can learn how to think like a fluid dynamicist — how to frame problems, compute the key quantities, and decide what is important in your fluid flow.

Olivier wants you to learn:

This course is resolutely modern. There are no edge cases or long proofs. To be comfortable here, you will need solid high-school-level math & physics (vectors, calculus, solid mechanics). From there, we progress rapidly but calmly, at a Bachelor/Masters level, in chunks of 11 minutes each.

Subscription

Full-campus access is priced at 900 EUR per year.

The subscription is available to universities, libraries, and other institutions. Discounts are available for small institutions or special circumstances.

New videos added after the subscription starts are included at no additional cost.

Features

Videos play without advertisements, interruptions, or algorithmic recommendations.

The average video duration is 11 minutes.

Access is provided by IP range authentication, which means that the videos become accessible campus-wide, and to students and academics connecting from home through their campus VPN. There is no login/password management. Videos can also be embedded in learning management systems such as Moodle or Blackboard.

Contact

Olivier welcomes feedback, trial requests, and inquiries.
To be notified when new videos are released, you can also register for updates.

An undertaking of Beyond Bernoulli Ventures / Olivier Cleynen, Warschauer Straße 13, 39104 Magdeburg, Germany.

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Videos are all rights reserved, see terms of use. Background kitesurf image derived from an original photo by Heiner. Portrait photo by Katrin Freund, used under license, all rights reserved. Mailing list operated via Mailchimp. Spam filtering carried out through Akismet. Video streaming through YouTube and Vimeo. While you are here, can I interest you in a good, free-to-download thermodynamics textbook?