ES-F341 F04

Lab 4

Stability of a Floating Body

Prepared by Abdul Sayed, awsayed@alaska.edu

Group members:
Ryan Johnson, rjohnson15@alaska.edu
Mi Chin Yi, myi5@alaska.edu
Grant Cummings gkcummings@alaska.edu
Cecilia Hull cahullz@alaska.edu

Date performed: 10/9/2014

Date due 10/16/2014

Introduction
The gravimetric hydraulic bench is a device which can be used to measure the flow rate
of water entering a system. It functions by using a pivot arm to balance a water bucket against a
weight. The device serves as a control volume. A control volume is a concept which assumes that
for a given volume, the flow rate entering the control volume will equal the flow rate leaving the
control volume.
The problem of measuring flow rate effectively and the relationship between flow rate
and the steady state height of water accumulation inside the control volume is an important
consideration when conducting this experiment.
To assess the validity of this assumption, an experiment will be set up in which the flow
rate of water leaving a control volume will be measured using a gravimetric hydraulic bench
under the principals of conservation of volumetric flow. The amount of water in the control
volume will be represented by the steady state height of the water in the control volume. Using
lengths of moment arms on the hydraulic bench, moment balance will be applied to obtain the
mass of the fluid. This information, along with the density of the fluid (water) will be sufficient
for obtaining the flow rate of the fluid.
The extent of this experiment will be limited to 8 different steady state heights and a mass
of water entering the gravimetric hydraulic bench equal to 6 kg. Other limitations include the
assumption that the density of water is uniform, random quantum effects, and unforeseen acts of
God.

Equipment List
Materials:
Gravimetric Hydraulic Bench Model Model # H1D, Serial # S5014/21
Metal load
Stopwatch
Ruler

Direction of flow

Control
Volume

Pivot
Valve
Load arm

Load

Load arm
(Load

Load arm
(Water side)

Water
tank
Water
stopper
Water
Level

Pump

Figure 11: Gravimetric Hydraulic Bench

Figure 2: Control Volume part of Gravimetric Hydraulic Bench

Procedure
1.

Record the ratio of the arm lengths to the pivot in the Observations section of the lab.

2. Turn on the gravimetric hydraulic bench.

3. Adjust the flow rate with the control knob until the control volume reaches a steady
state.
4. Record the height of water in the control volume in the Observations section.
5. After the load arm lifts up, place the 2 kg weight on the load hanger and begin the
stopwatch timer.
6. After the load arm again returns to the upward position, stop the stopwatch.
7. Record the time on the stopwatch in the Observations section.

8. Remove the 2 kg weight.

9. Adjust the flow rate to a higher amount with the control knob.
10. Repeat steps 4 8 for a total of 8 steady state heights.

Results
Observations:
Table A: Raw data collected during procedure
Steady State Height
Trial #
t (s)
1
230
33.09
(mm)
2
180
35.82
3
215
33.77
4
315
27.97
5
339
27.06
6
250
31.50
7
135
42.97
8
302
28.76
Table A presents the steady state heights as well as time to equilibrium for
eight trials.
rarm = 3 : 1 = 3

Definitions:
mwater = mass of the water in the water
tank (kg)
mload = mass of the load on the load
arm (kg)
rarm = ratio of arm lengths from the
pivot (m)
Vwater = volume of water in the water
tank (m3)

t = elapsed time for the water to

equilibrate (s)
Q = flow rate of the water in the system
(m3/s)
Steady state height = the height in the
control volume when Qin = Qout. When
flow rate is changed, the steady state
adjusts to reach these conditions
automatically

Formulas:
mwater =mload*rarm

Vwater = mwater/water

Q = Vwater/t

Table B: Calculated data

Trial #
1
2
3
4

Steady State
Height (mm)
230
180
215
315

mwater (kg)

Vwater (m3)

6
6
6
6

0.006
0.006
0.006
0.006

Q (m3/s)
1.81
1.68
1.78
2.15

E-4
E-4
E-4
E-4

5
339
6
0.006
2.22 E-4
6
250
6
0.006
1.90 E-4
7
135
6
0.006
1.40 E-4
8
302
6
0.006
2.09 E-4
Table B presents volumetric flow rate calculated from recorded dependent
variables such as mass and volume of water for the eight trials.

Discussion:

Figure 3: Plot of flow rate vs the square root of steady state height

Figure 3 shows the relationship between the flow rate and steady state height. The
expected linear trend was not seen. The resulting data is largely inconclusive. This is perhaps due
to the narrow scope of the experiment, which includes only 8 data points. Also, imprecise
observations and readings probably heavily impacted data acquisition.
Questions:
1. Question: Why do we multiply the mass of the load by the ratio of the
arm lengths to get the mass of the water? Derive and show your work.
Answer: This is to calculate the mass of the load. In order for the sum of
the moments about the devices pivot to be zero, the product of the mass
of the water bucket and its perpendicular distance to the pivot must be
equal to the product of the mass of the loads and three times the
perpendicular distance between the bucket and pivot. Stated differently;
MA = 0;

(Mass of Bucket)(L) - (Mass of Load)(3L) = 0

2. Question: In step 6b, why do we wait for the load arm to begin to lift up
before we put the load on?
Answer: This is to ensure that the load reaches equilibrium with the water
weight.
3. Question: Why do we call the equipment used the gravimetric water
bench?
Answer: The driving force for this experiment is gravity. The product of
acceleration due to gravity and the masses provide the weights that
hover in balance in this bench.
4. Question: Discuss the sources of experimental error in this experiment.

Answer: Error was introduced into the experiment by shortcomings of those conducting the
experiment. Notable examples are lack in perfect ability to ascertain steady state height, add
on weights at the instant required, and stopping the timer the precise instant the load arm
began to lift up. Besides this human error, there may have been further error introduced
from any possible leaks or other equipment issues.

Conclusion
In this experiment flow rate of water was calculated using a Gravimetric Hydraulic
bench. The times to equilibrate as well as steady state heights were observed for a total of eight
trials. The measured data was taken and used to compute volumetric flow rate, which was plotted
against the square root of steady state height. Surprisingly, this plot did not demonstrate a linear
correlation. Future experiments should be designed to take a wider array of data and address the
lack of accuracy that comes with human data recording.