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THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF SRI LANKA - DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY (CIVIL) - LEVEL 5
CEX 5231 – MECHANICS OF FLUIDS – YEAR 2015/16

HINTS FOR ASSIGNMENTS

As explained in the Course Information Sheet in Block 1, I have included some Hints to help you
answer the Assignment questions WITHOUT looking at the Suggested Answers. If you look at the
Hint for a particular section you should reduce your marks for that section by 50% .

When you look at the Hints please look ONLY at the section you are attempting. Cover the Hints
below with a piece of paper.

HINTS FOR ASSIGNMENT # 1

1) a) Read about energy losses in the Course Material and any other textbook that you have. We
consider two types of energy losses
i) Friction losses – these are due to the friction at the boundary of the pipe. Friction losses are
proportional to the length of the pipe
ii) Minor losses – these are losses that take place due to changes in geometry – entrances to
pipes, exits from pipes, pipe bends, valves and taps, etc.

You should remember this type of graph from CEX3232. Begin by drawing the Elevation Head and
the Velocity Head. Next you should draw the Total Head – make sure you show all the energy losses.
Some losses take place over a short distance near a certain point while some losses take place
gradually over the length of the pipe.

Is there any addition of energy to the flow? Addition of energy means the total head increases. How
can we show this increase on the total head line?

Finally sketch the variation of the pressure head. Remember the conditions that must be satisfied by
the Pressure Head line
1) The sum of the Elevation Head, Velocity Head and Pressure Head must always equal the
Total Head
2) The Pressure Head will be zero at locations that are at atmospheric pressure.

b) Can you use the principle of conservation of energy (modified Bernoulli equation) here? Between
which two points should it be applied?
You can assume values for any coefficients that have not been given.

c) Can you use the principle of conservation of energy between two other points?

2) a) Go back to your CEX3232 materials or any other text book and learn about differential
manometers. You should understand that the the difference in the levels of the U-tube mercury
manometer is proportional to the difference in the piezometric pressure.

How do we find out the direction of the flow? Does water always flow from high pressure to low
pressure?

There are always energy losses in a flow. How can we use this fact to find the direction of the flow?

b) What is the definition of the rate of energy loss?

c) The discharge is the same but the flow is in the other direction. Will the energy losses be the same
as before or different? Don’t forget that the manometer difference is proportional to the difference in
piezometric head – not the difference in total head.

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3) a) If you are not sure of the definition look at your old course notes or a textbook.

b) If you cannot do this without looking it up you should realize that you are very weak in the basics.

c) If you are not sure of the statement of this principle look at your old course notes or a textbook.

d) What is the definition of the flux of momentum?

e) Use the result from b).

f) Use the principle of conservation of momentum. Select the Control Volume (CV) that will give you
the result you want. Applying this principle gives us the force on the CV – how do we find the force
on the sluice gate?

4) a) Read about the friction factor and the different regions of the Moody diagram.

b) See sections 9.4 and 10.6 of the course material for the full derivation. I do not want you to copy
these full derivations here – you should summarize the important steps in a few sentences.

c) You should assume quasi-steady (nearly steady) flow – then you can apply the conservation of
energy (modified Bernoulli equation).

You should obtain a relationship between the water level h , the average velocity in the pipe, v and
the friction factor. If you use the Blasius equation and substitute the given value for h you will
obtain an implicit equation for either the velocity of the friction factor.

This implicit equation cannot be solved directly (spend a little time trying if you like!) – you have to
use a trial and error method.

There is way to get a direct answer with a simple assumption. Look at the energy equation – you
should have terms for the velocity head at the exit and the head lost in the pipe. Can we assume that
one of these is much larger than the other?

After you solve the problem you have to check the Reynolds number to see if the Blasius equation is
valid for these values of the water level h .

d) What is the control volume you should use? Is the flow steady?

e) Assume that the velocity head at the exit is very small when compared to the head loss in friction.
Then you should be able to integrate the relationship for the rate of change of water level.

f) If entrance losses are included will the velocity for any water level increase or decrease?

g) From your solutions to c) you should be able to show that the Blasius equation is not valid below a
certain value of the water level h . Can you assume another relationship for the friction factor below
this level?

h) Look at the Moody diagram and see if the Blasius equation will be valid for this pipe under these
conditions.

CEX 5231 – Mechanics of Fluids – 2015/2016– Assignment # 1, 2 & 3

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HINTS FOR ASSIGNMENT # 2

1) a), b) Draw a diagram of the control volume and mark the values of the velocity and pressure at
both ends. If the velocity at the left hand end is v then the velocity at the right hand end is v +
(dv/dx)ρx and so on.

Is the flow steady?

Are there energy losses? Can we draw a streamline from one end to the other? If some particles flow
from one end to the other we can draw a streamline. Then, if we neglect energy losses, we can apply
Bernoulli’s equation between the two ends of the CV.

c) Can you relate this problem to the problem in section a)? Can we calculate the outflow rate q(x) in
section a) from the information given here? Remember how you calculated the flow through an
orifice.

d) Here you need some ideas from your mathematics courses about the numerical solution of
differential equations.

e) What quantity determines the discharge through the holes? Is it possible to keep that quantity
constant?

f) Think!! Male students see one every day at the OU.

2) a), b) Look at the course material – especially the 20 page note at the beginning.

c) Draw the CV – mark the values of the variables at both end as for Q1. Remember that the velocity,
pressure and density are all variable in this problem.

Is the flow steady? Think about the left hand side of the equation of conservation of mass carefully –
the pipe is rigid so the volume of the CV is constant – but is the mass of fluid in the CV constant?

You can use the definition of the bulk modulus to substitute for the term dp/dx and obtain the
required result.

d) Again – draw the CV. Mark the variables at both ends.

Think about whether the momentum of the fluid in the CV is constant. Is the velocity constant? Is
the mass constant?

Can you express the momentum fluxes at both ends?

Finally you have to consider the forces on the fluid in the CV. There are no shear forces between the
CV and the pipe wall because the pipe is frictionless. This is a vector equation – in what direction are
we applying it? Will forces due to gravity (weight of the fluid in the CV) come into the equation?

In order to simplify the equation and obtain the required result you will have to use the definition of
the bulk modulus and also the result from section c).

e) Go back to the derivation in section d) and see how the friction force comes in. Can you express the
friction force in terms of the velocity, a friction factor and some other values?

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3) Do not simply copy the approach in the book in two dimensions. That is not what I want.

a) The most important thing to understand is that we are dealing with unsteady, two-dimensional
fields – everything is a function of t , x and y . So consider a elemental control volume (CV) that has
dimensions δx in the x-direction and δy in the y-direction. The CV has a unit width in the z-
direction.

Mark the velocities at the four sides of the CV. The important thing is that a fluid particle entering
from the left hand side has two velocity components u and v in the x and y directions. This is
different to the CVs in Questions 1 and 2 – where the fluid had a velocity and a momentum in only
one direction.

What will be the values of the velocity components leaving the CV on the right hand side? The
component in the x direction will be u + (du/dx) δx . What about the component in the y direction?
Can you understand that it is v + (dv/dx) δx ?

Fluid also enters and leaves the CV from the top and bottom. The fluid particles entering at the
bottom will have the same values of the velocity components u and v as the particles entering
through the left hand side. What will be the values of these components for the particles that leave
the CV through the top?

Remember that we are considering an incompressible fluid – so the density is the same.

Once you have marked the velocities you can calculate the fluxes of mass and substitute them into the
principle of conservation of mass.

b) Mark the stresses on the four sides just as done in the course material for now. Make sure you
understand how the stresses are named and the sign convention used.

The first subscript refers to the direction of the stress – “x” means the stress is parallel to the x–axis.
The second subscript refers to the plane on which the stress is acting – “y” means that the stress is
acting on the plane normal to the y-axis.

So using this naming convention

xx – Stress in direction of x–axis acting on a plane normal to the x-axis. This is a normal stress.

xy - Stress in direction of x–axis acting on a plane normal to the y-axis. This is a shear stress.

There is also a sign convention for the stresses. This depends on the location of the surface on which
the stress is acting (top or bottom, left or right, in our two-dimensional case). If the outward normal
of the surface is in the positive direction of the axis in the second subscript the direction of the stress
is in the positive direction of the axis in the first subscript. On the other hand if the outward normal
is in the negative direction of the axis in the second subscript the direction of the stress is in the
negative direction of the axis in the first subscript.

Now use these variables to quantify the momentum fluxes into and out of the CV. Note that the fluid
that flows into or leaves any edge has components of momentum in both directions. How can we
calculate the momentum flux in each direction?

Remember the definition of momentum flux – mass flux (scalar) x velocity (vector).

Quantify the forces acting on the four edges. Neglect the force of gravity for now. Think – is the
momentum of the fluid in the CV constant?

CEX 5231 – Mechanics of Fluids – 2015/2016– Assignment # 1, 2 & 3

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4) a) Read through the derivation in the course material carefully. Also compare the equations in the
course material with what is given here to identify the assumptions.

b) Again read the course material and other text books and write an answer in your own words.

c) Assume steady flow in one dimension. Make sure you mark the directions of the shear stresses on
the upper and lower surfaces of the CV correctly. Use the sign convention described in Question 3.

d) This should be easy.

e) The shear stress is defined from the velocity gradient. So you should first integrate the given
equation to obtain the velocity distribution (velocity in the x direction as a function of y). What are
the boundary conditions?

Then calculate the shear stress carefully using the sign convention.

f) Write down an expression for the discharge through the element and integrate it to find the total
discharge per unit width (here width means distance in the z direction – not the distance between the
plates).

5) a) See Block 2 Lesson 9 and then write a short answer in your own words.

b) What should the CV be? Are the boundaries of the CV fixed or is one moving? Is the mass of fluid
in the CV constant? The density of the fluid is constant but is the volume of the CV constant?

c) Mark ALL the forces. Remember that there is fluid on both sides.

d) If the piston moves downward with a steady velocity then is it accelerating? What can we say
about the net force on the piston?

How can we use the results from Question 4? Is the flow in the gap between the piston and the
cylinder the same situation as the flow between the parallel plates?

We have results for the discharge through the gap and the shear stress on the walls.

Can you use the result for the discharge from Question 4) and the result from section b) to obtain a
relationship between the velocity of the piston and the piezometric pressure gradient?

Can you relate the shear force on the piston to the piezometric pressure gradient?

Substitute these into the equation for the balance of forces on the piston.

CEX 5231 – Mechanics of Fluids – 2015/2016– Assignment # 1, 2 & 3

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HINTS FOR ASSIGNMENT # 3

1) a) Read about the principle of superposition. To make the solution easy assume that the source is
placed at the origin.

b) What is the definition of a stagnation point?

c) To sketch the streamlines we should consider what they look like at various locations. Far away
from the source on the left hand side the effect of the source is small and all streamlines should be
straight and parallel. Each line will correspond to a constant value of the stream function.

Where will the line that corresponds to a zero value of the stream function lie far away from the
source on the left hand side?
What happens at the stagnation point?
What happens far away from the source on the right hand side?

d) Read the course material. We can use the method of images to remove a straight infinite boundary.
Here there are two walls. We cannot remove them both at once – we must remove them one at a
time.

If you remove the lower wall using the method of images the result will still be the flow between two
walls because the image of the upper wall will appear at an equal distance below the lower wall.
There will also be two sources.

Then when you remove the upper wall you will still have two walls but now there will be four
sources. Where will this process of removing one wall at a time end?

e) To understand the effect of the walls on the stagnation point check the direction of the velocity at
the location of the stagnation point without walls (section b) ) in this solution. What will that tell you
about the location of the stagnation point with the walls?

f) You should obtain a cubic equation for the stagnation points. Do you have to solve this equation to
answer the question? You do not! You only have to show that there are three real solutions.

g), h) Sketch the streamlines first. Use the location of the stagnation points to show that there is a
closed streamline around all three bodies. What does this mean?

2) a) What are the conditions under which the Bernoulli equation can be used? What is the definition
of an Ideal Fluid?

b) How do you remove a long straight boundary?

c), d) First think about the stagnation points. You will get a quadratic equation for the stagnation
points – so there will be two stagnation points. Will they always lie on the x axis? What will the
atreamlines look like?

What will the streamlines look like if the stagnation points are not on the x axis?

e) Obtain an equation for the complex velocity. The velocity along the wall is the velocity along the x
axis (y = 0) .

f) Apply the Bernoulli equation from a point far away to any point on the wall. At the point far away
the velocity is U and the pressure is some value – call it p 0 . Then you can obtain the pressure at any
point on the x axis in terms of this pressure.

How can you obtain the total force from this pressure distribution?

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3) a) Read the course material about dimensional analysis. How many variables do we have in this
problem? Should we include the acceleration due to gravity?

How many dimensions do these variables have? How many non-dimensional groups are needed to
describe the problem?

In order to derive non-dimensional groups we have to select some basic variables. How many should
we select for this problem? What conditions should these basic variables satisfy?

In many problems you can select a length scale, a velocity scale and the fluid density to be the basic
variables. This list will automatically satisfy the conditions on basic variables.

The course material has a method to derive the non-dimensional variables. Here you take the three
basic variables raised to the powers x , y and z and then multiply it by one of the other variables.
You then write down an equation that has to satisfied if the total exponent of the dimension of length
(L) should be zero. Similarly, writing equations for the dimensions of mass (M) and time (T) gives
you a total of three simultaneous equations – which you have to solve to find the exponents x , y and
z.

This method is too complicated – and we do not need it for most of the problems here. Instead you
should get used to finding the exponents by inspection. For example, if you select a length, a velocity
and the density as the basic variables, only the density contains the dimension of mass (M).

Therefore the exponent of the density in the non-dimensional group should be negative value of the
exponent of M in the dimension of the variable being considered.

Similarly, only the velocity scale selected has the dimension of time (T). Therefore the exponent of the
velocity scale in the non-dimensional group should equal the value of the exponent of T in the
dimension of the variable being considered.

Think about this carefully until you understand it. Try to obtain a non-dimensional group with the
dynamic viscosity using a length, a velocity and the density as the basic variables.

b) The flow is the flow through the gap between the piston and the cylinder.

What is the length scale that is relevant for this flow? What is the velocity scale? What should the
relevant Reynolds number be?

Can you obtain this Reynolds number by combining some of the non-dimensional variables you have
derived?

c) You should either obtain the same list as in section a) or a list that can be combined to obtain the
list in section a).

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4) a) Here we have been given the non-dimensional groups. Can you figure out which variables have
been used as the basic variables?

The acceleration due to gravity has been included in the list of variables – why?

Be careful about the dimensions of some of the variables – look at how they have been defined in the
question.

Again please try to find the non-dimensional groups by inspection – as described in the Hint for
Question 3.

b) Can you combine these groups to obtain the Reynolds number of the flow past the body, the
Froude number of the flow in the channel and the drag coefficient of the body?

c) The physical significance of the important non-dimensional variables is that they represent ratios of
pairs of forces that are important for the problem. Read the course material and other text books and
then write an answer in your own words.

5) a), b), c) Read the course material.

d) Select any model scale and calculate the model discharge needed to keep the Froude number the
same and the discharge needed to keep the Reynolds number the same.

e) What is the significance of the Reynolds number? Remember the Moody diagram – after a certain
point the friction factor is independent of the Reynolds number – why?

f) This is easy.

g) Here you have to obtain the non-dimensional group for the drag force and then use the fact that if
the Froude number is the same in both model and prototype this non-dimensional number will also
be the same in model and prototype.

CEX 5231 – Mechanics of Fluids – 2015/2016– Assignment # 1, 2 & 3