Applied Fluid Mechanics Lab Manual

Reviewed by Anthony Ucci, Professor, Bristol Community College on 5/26/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This is a good introductory lab manual, but only contains 10 experiments. The subjects covered are common to most fluid mechanics courses and the associated materials are well done, but a wider variety of topics and equipment/apparatuses would be helpful.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Content appears to be error-free & unbiased, but to fully evaluate this each of these experiments would need to be completed with the associated equipment to insure accuracy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Content is completely up-to-date with current fluid mechanics instruction. Since fluid mechanics is a very mature field and fluid equipment is relatively consistent technology. However, it would be helpful to have alternative training equipment options that would allow for broader application.

Clarity rating: 5

This lab manual appears to me to be completely clear and relatively free of unnecessary jargon. The technical terminology used is appropriate for students in an introductory fluid mechanics course, but could be challenging for someone unfamiliar with this field of study.

Consistency rating: 4

Overall this lab manual is very consistent, but there is some variability in how external resources are referenced. That being said, I do not believe these minor differences would be a problem for students using this text.

Modularity rating: 4

This manual is organized into 10 individual experiments that can be organized in any way an instructor would prefer to use them. Within each experiment, individual subsections are clear, well organized and easy to adapt. As mentioned before, it would be helpful if sections for alternative equipment/apparatuses were available.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Topics follow the organization of a standard fluid mechanics course and allow for scaffolding of knowledge. Modular approach does allow for custome organization if desired.

Interface rating: 4

I reviewed the downloaded PDF format of this manual which worked fine. The table of contents with links to individual experiments was helpful and allowed for relatively quick navigation to the desired section. The front material had some unnecessary empty space that makes sense as a printed document, but was less helpful when used as a digital resource.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not come across any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The subject matter, fluid mechanics lab exercises, did not reference or discuss culturally sensitive information. Topics were covered in a highly technical way that appear to be equally inclusive to individual that represent a variety of races, ethnicities and backgrounds.

Comments

Overall this is a good lab manual for an introductory fluid mechanics course, but requires an institution to have the specific equipment used in the exercises. While these apparatuses are relatively common & somewhat generic, this limits the applicability of this book. A more general approach might have broader appeal, but would likely be less helpful in the performance of the experiments. Sections for other brands of lab training equipment would be helpful, but it would be impossible to cover all the different types of fluid training options available on the market and in use in institutions.

Reviewed by Caroline Baker, Assistant Professor, Anderson University on 1/8/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Covers most major areas of a standard undergrad course, but does not include an index/glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Accuracy is pretty easy to come by in an engineering context.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Fluid mechanics, while a relevant field, is not a modern one. This is reflected in this text; very few things should have to change in order to maintain its relevance.

Clarity rating: 4

While the book is clear in what it does say, it could benefit from more thorough explanations.

Consistency rating: 5

The book appears to be consistent in it's use of terminology, as well as the framework in which it presents itself.

Modularity rating: 5

Because the book is a laboratory text, it is, by definition modular. The sections are independent and able to be rearranged at will.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text follows what I would consider to be a standard order for concepts in a fluid mechanics course.

Interface rating: 3

There are several outside references to videos/spreadsheets/etc. that break up the flow of the text significantly. In addition, the numbering of each lab starts over at step 1 in very large numbers, while the headings for the individual labs are not as prominent, so that can lead to some confusion in finding/referencing a particular lab.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There were no grammatical

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I'm marking 5, but it's not really relevant to this text.

Comments

I like this text well enough that I do plan to use it with my Fluid Mechanics class this spring. The most severe drawback is that it assumes a very particular set of apparatuses for lab, which are not necessarily accessible to some of the smallest programs. I will, however, use this opportunity to have my students design and build the apparatuses that they will use for class, to give them some design practice as well.

Reviewed by Isaac Choutapalli, Professor, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 11/20/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text covers most basic areas in experimental fluid mechanics.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content is error free. However, many figures in the textbook do not show clarity and are sometimes confusing with too much detail in small spaces.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The text covers many important basic fluid mechanics related experiments that are very important in undergraduate fluid mechanics. However, most experiments use basic equipment and the authors did not make any attempt to introduce basic advanced measurement techniques like PIV. There are quite a few PIV systems specially designed for undergraduate education.

Clarity rating: 3

The authors are sufficiently clear in their explanations and presentation of the material. However, the instruction with regard to operating the equipment is missing. While it is difficult to put out a specific set of 'general' instructions for operating the equipment, the authors could have used the equipment available in their laboratory and could have written down the operating instructions for that specific equipment. That would provide a general sense of how similar instruments could be operated and how the data could be collected.

Consistency rating: 4

The lab manual is, in general, consistent within the framework of basic fluid mechanics experiments for undergraduates.

Modularity rating: 4

The text is well divided into compact modules which are complete experiments in themselves.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The topics are presented in a logical fashion in increasing order of difficulty and follows the general pattern of many standard fluid mechanics textbooks.

Interface rating: 4

Some of the images in the lab manual are too 'congested'. There are too many details that are fit into a small space. One suggestion is to split up the figures into multiple sub figures.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The lab manual reads well and is mostly free of grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This reviewer did not find anything in the lab manual that is culturally insensitive.