Engineering Fluid Mechanics I Example Problems: Fluid Statics

Problem 1. Pressure Difference in a Manometer a) Write an expression for the water difference between points A and B, pA-pB, in terms of w , the specific gravity of the oil, SGoil, the levels of the fluids zs at A, B, C, D and E. b) Determine the pressure difference between locations A and B in the figure below. The water has a w = 9800 N/m3 and the oil specific gravity, SGoil = 0.85.

Water Water A

0.15 m B

0.2 m

0.15 m

D 0.1 m

Oil, SG = 0.85

Oil

Solution: p A pB = ( p A pC ) + ( pC pD ) + ( pD pE ) + ( pE pB )

= w ( z A zC ) oil ( zC z D ) w ( z D z E ) oil ( z E z B ) = w ( z A zC ) + SGoil ( zC z D ) + ( z D z E ) + SGoil ( z E z B ) = 9800 N/m3 0.15 m + 0.85 ( 0.10 m ) + ( 0.20 m ) + 0.85 ( 0.15 m ) = 73.5 Pa = p A pB
Problem 2. In the figure below, the tank contains water and immiscible oil at 20oC. What is h in cm if the density of the oil is 898 kg/m3?

Solution: We identify the level of the top surface of the oil as 1, the interface between the oil and the water as 2 and the level of the top surface of water as 3. We choose the zero level to be the bottom of the tank; therefore:

z1 = h + 12 cm + 8 cm = h + 20 cm = h + 0.2 m, z2 = 8 cm = 0.08 m, z3 = 6 cm+12 cm + 8 cm = 0.26 m. The density of oil is, oil = 898 kg/m3; therefore, its specific weight, oil = oil g = 898 9.8 = 8800.4 N/m3 . The specific weight is:

water = 9,800 N/m3 . Now, we integrate

dp = between 1 and 3: dz

p3 z3 z2 z3 dp = dp = dz p3 p1 = oil dz water dz p1 z1 z1 z2 dz

= oil ( z2 z1 ) water ( z3 z2 ) = oil ( z1 z2 ) water ( z3 z2 ) = 0 .

We set the difference between p1 and p3 to be zero, because both of them are equal to the atmospheric pressure (both ends are open to the atmosphere). Substituting the values of the specific weights and the levels, we get:

oil ( z1 z2 ) water ( z3 z2 ) = 0 8,800.4 ( h + 0.2 0.08 ) 9,800 ( 0.26 0.08 ) = 0.

this h= expression, the only unknown is 9,800 ( 0.26 0.08 ) 0.12 = 0.08 m = 8 cm = h . 8,800.4

In h:

Problem 3. Gate AB is 1.2 m long and 0.8 m into the paper. Neglecting atmospheric pressure effects, compute the force F on the gate and its center of pressure position X from point A (see Figure).

Solution: First, to find the resultant force, we use the following expression: F = oil hc Agate (neglect atmospheric pressure, pa ) . The specific weight of oil may be

expressed as: oil = SGoil w = 0.82 9.8 kN/m3 . The height, hc, corresponds to the vertical distance from the oil surface to the centroid of the gate. This centroid, given that the gate is rectangular, sits in the middle of the gate at 1.2/2 or 0.6 m from A along the gate. hc may then be expressed as: hc = 4 m + (1+0.6) m sin 40= 5.028 m = hc

You have to be careful here to use the right units for the angle. Here, we use degrees; but, sometimes, the default is to use radians; explicitly state that the angle is in degrees when computing the sine. The area of the gate is expressed as the length times its width:
Agate = 1.2 m 0.8 m = 0.96 m 2 = Agate

The center of pressure sits below the centroid by the followind distance along the plate incline (note that along the width into the paper, xCP = 0, i.e. no shift for the center of pressure relative to the centroid in the x-direction): I sin yCP xc hc Agate By using the following figure:

1 3 1 3 ba = ( 0.8 m )(1.2 m ) = 0.1152 m 4 =I xc . Note, here that we used 12 12 the coordinate system, as shown in the figure above, to determine that a corresponds to the length and b corresponds to the depth into the paper. The value for yCP is: I sin ( 0.1152 ) sin 40 = = 0.0153 m = yCP yCP xc hc Agate ( 5.028)( 0.96 ) Note that if yCP is positive, then the position of the center of pressure is below the centroid. Now, we evaluate the distance X from A to the center of pressure as: X = 0.6 + yCP = 0.615 m = X

Therefore, I xc =

Problem 4. The tank shown below is 2 m wide into the paper. Neglecting atmospheric pressure, find the resultant hydrostatic force on panel BC.

Solution: The resultant force acting normal to panel BC may be expressed as: F = w hc A (neglect atmospheric pressure, pa ). The centroid depth is determined as follows:

hc = 3 + 3 / 2 = 4.5 m = hc . The
A=

area

of

the

gate

is

determined

as

follows:

(3 m ) + ( 4 m )
2 panel length

( 2 m ) = 10 m 2 =A
panel width

Therefore, the resultant force is: F = w hc A = 9.8 kN/m3 ( 4.5 m ) 10 m 2 = 441 kN = F