CH6304 FLUID MECHANICS UNIT-II CLASS NOTES 2015-2016

FLUID STATICS

The basic equation of fluid statics

Identify all forces: pressure forces, and external body force which is gravity in the present
case.Consider a differential fluid elemental volume,

Force Balance (in vector form )

Σ(pressure force + gravitational force) = 0

If gravity acts in the negative z-direction

Notes:
1. Pressure gradient in a static fluid is zero if there is no gravity. Alternatively, the net force
acting on a fluid volume is zero because pressure–force balances the force due to gravity.
Alternatively, pressure-variation occurs in a static fluid because of gravity only.
2. If the fluid is water, static pressure is often referred as „hydrostatic' pressure.
3. If a body is submerged in a fluid, which is in contact with (or open to) atmosphere, the
atmospheric pressure acts uniformly on the body. For most of the engineering applications one is
interested in calculating pressure due to the fluid only, ignoring the atmospheric pressure. In such
case, the pressure is specified as a gauge pressure (above the atmosphere pressure)

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: . Therefore, the gauge pressure may be negative if the pressure

in the fluid is sub or below atmospheric. Absolute pressure is always positive
4. Pressure in the atmosphere may vary, of course, over a relatively longer altitude, because the
density of air is small (1 kg/m3 in comparison to 1000 kg/m3 for water). Consider an atmosphere
consisting of ideal gases.

Static pressure gradient

And,
Substituting

or an isothermal atmosphere

The pressure varies (decreases) exponentially with altitude, if temperature variation is considered
negligible.

A load of 200 pounds (lb) is exerted on a piston confining oil in a circular cylinder with an
inside diameter of 2.50 inches (in). Compute the pressure in the oil at the piston.
Solution:

Principles about Pressure

 Two important principles about pressure were described by Blaise Pascal, a seventeenth-
century scientist:
1. Pressure acts uniformly in all directions on a small volume of a fluid.
2. In a fluid confined by solid boundaries, pressure acts perpendicular to the boundary.

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Pressure at a Point is same in all direction

(Pascal’s Law)
Consider a wedge shaped element of fluid at rest.
2. Thickness  dy (perpendicular to plane of paper).
3. Let p  Avg. pressure in any direction.
4. p x and p z are avg. pressure in horizontal and vertical direction.
5. Forces in y direction need not be considered because they cancel.
6. No tangentia l force is involved, since the fluid is at rest.
7. Equilibriu m Condition : Sum of the force components on element
in any direction must be equal to Zero.
 Fx  0; p cos dl dy - p x dy dz  0
Since dz  dl cos
Therefore;
p  px
1
 Fz  0; p z dx dy - p dl dy sin   dx dy dz  0
2
Neglecting 3rd term due to higher order.
Since dx  dl sin
Therefore;
p  pz
10. We can also proof p  py by considerin g a three dimensiona l case.
Thus pressure at any point in a fluid at rest is same in all direction.

Variation of Pressure in a Static Fluid

(Hydrostatic Law)
 It states:

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“Rate of increase of pressure in vertical downward direction must be equal to Specific Weight of
fluid at that point.”

Consider an element of static fluid.

2. Assume density of fluid to be constant within the element
(Since the element is very small).
3. Pressure at the center of element is p.
4. Dimensions of element are x y and z.
5. Force acting in vertical direction are :
a. Body force : the action of gravity on the mass within the fluid.
b. Surface force : transmitted from the surrounding fluid.
6. If the forces are summed in the horizontal direction, that is x and y,
the only forces acting are the pressure forces on the vertical faces of
element.
To satisfy  Fx  0 and  Fy  0, the presssures on the oppositevertical
faces must be equal.
p p
8. Thus  0
x y
9. Summing forces in the vertical direction and putting it equal to zero.
 p z   p z 
 Fz   p  xy   p  xy  xyz  0
 z 2   z 2 
After simplification :
p
 
z
Since p is independent of x and y, we can write above equation as :
dp
 
dz
This is the general expression that relates variation of pressure in a
static fluid to vertical position.The minus sign indicates that as z gets larger
(increasin g elevation) , the pressure gets smaller.

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To evaluate the pressure anywhere in a fluid at rest, we must intergate previous

equation between appropriate chosen limits.

dp   dz

 dp    dz
p  z
Say; z  h
p  h
Or
p
h (Pressure Head)

p
Pressure Head h
 It is the pressure expressed in terms of height of fluid. 
 h=p/g represents the energy per unit wt. stored in the fluid by virtue of pressure under
which the fluid exists. This is also called the elevation head or potential head.

An open tank contains water 1.40m deep covered by a 2m thick layer of oil (s=0.855). What is
the pressure head at the bottom of the tank, in terms of a water column?

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 Atmospheric Pressure: It is the force per unit area exerted by the weight of air above
that surface in the atmosphere of Earth (or that of another planet). It is also called as
barometric pressure.
 Gauge Pressure: It is the pressure, measured with the help of pressure measuring
instrument in which the atmospheric pressure is taken as Datum (reference from which
measurements are made).
 Absolute Pressure: It is the pressure equal to the sum of atmospheric and gauge
pressures. Or
 If we measure pressure relative to absolute zero (perfect Vacuum) we call it absolute
pressure.
 Vacuum: If the pressure is below the atmospheric pressure we call it as vacuum.
pabs  patm  pgage
There are many ways to measure pressure in a fluid. Some are discussed here:
1. Barometers
2. Bourdon gauge
3. Pressure transducers
4. Piezometer Column
5. Simple Manometers
6. Differential Manometers

Barometers:
To measure the atmospheric pressure.
1. Immerse the open end of tube in a liquid which is open to atmosphere.
2. The liquid will rise in the tube if we exhaust air from the tube.
3. If all the air is removed and the tube is long enough, than only pressure on the surface is
the vapour pressure and liquid will reach its max. possible height (y).

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pO  pa  patm  y  pvapour
If the vapour pressure on liquid surface in tube is negligible than :
patm  y

Bourdon Gauge:
 The pressure, above or below the atmospheric pressure, may be easily measured
with the help of a bourdon‟s tube pressure gauge.
 It consists on an elliptical tube: bent into an arc of a circle. This bent up tube is
called Bourdon‟s tube.
 Tube changes its curvature with change in pressure inside the tube. Higher
pressure tends to “straighten” it.
 The moving end of tube rotates needle on a dial through a linkage system.

Piezometer Column/Tube
 A piezometer tube is the simplest form of instrument, used for measuring, moderate
pressure.
 It consists of long tube in which the liquid can freely rise without overflowing.
 The height of the liquid in the tube will give the pressure head (p/g) directly.
 To reduce capillary error, the tube error should be at least 0.5 in.

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Manometer:
Manometer is an improved form of a piezometer tube. With its help we can measure
comparatively high pressures and negative pressure also. Following are few types of
manometers.
1. Simple Manometer
2. Micro-manometer
3. Differential manometer
4. Inverted differential manometer
Simple Manometer
It consists of a tube bent in U-Shape, one end of which is attached to the gauge point and
the other is open to the atmosphere.

Mercury is used in the bent tube which is 13.6 times heavier than water. Therefore it is
suitable for measuring high pressure as well.

1. Consider a simple Manometer connected to a pipe containing a light liquid under

high pressure. The high pressure in the pipe will force the mercury in the left limb of U-
tube to move downward, corresponding the rise of mercury in the right limb.

A simple manometer containing mercury is used to measure the pressure of water

flowing in a pipeline. The mercury level in the open tube is 60mm higher than that
on the left tube. If the height of water in the left tube is 50mm, determine the
pressure in the pipe in terms of head of water.

Pressure head in the left limb above Z - Z

 h  s1h1  h  (1x50)
 h  50 mm
Pressure head in the right limb above Z - Z
 s2 h2  13.6 x60
 816 mm
Equating;
h  50  816
h  766 mm

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A simple manometer containing mercury was used to find the negative pressure in pipe
containing water. The right limb of the manometer was open to atmosphere. Find the
negative pressure, below the atmosphere in the pipe.

Figure shows a conical vessel having its outlet at A to which U tube manometer is
connected. The reading of the manometer given in figure shows when the vessel is empty.
Find the reading of the manometer when the vessel is completely filled with water.

h 2  200mm  0.2m
s1  1 and s 2  13.6
Let h  Pressure head of mercury in terms on head of water.
1. Let us consider t he vessel is to be empty and Z - Z be the datum line.
Pressure head in the right limb above Z - Z
 s1h1  1xh  h
Pressure head in the left limb above Z - Z
 s2 h2  13.6 x0.2  2.72m
Equating; h  2.72m

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Consider the vessel to be completely filled with water.

As a result, let the mercury level goes down by x meters in the right limb, and
the mercury level go up by thesame amount in the left limb.
Therefore total height of water in the right limb
 x  h  3  x  2.72  3  x  5.72
Pressure head in the right limb  1(x  5.72)  x  5.72
We know that manometer reading in this case :
 0.2  2x
Pressure head in the left limb
 13.6 (0.2  2x)  2.72  27.2x
Equating the pressures:
x  5.72  2.72  27.2x
x  0.115m
and manometer reading  0.2  (2x0.115)  0.43m  430 mm

Differential Manometer:
 It is a device used for measuring the difference of pressures, between the two points in a pipe, on
in two different pipes.
 It consists of U-tube containing a heavy liquid (mercury) whose ends are connected to the points,
for which the pressure is to be found out.
 Procedure:
 Let us take the horizontal surface Z-Z, at which heavy liquid and light liquid meet in the left limb,
as datum line.
 Let, h=Difference of levels (also known as differential manomter reading)
o ha, hb= Pressure head in pipe A and B, respectively.
o s1, s2= Sp. Gravity of light and heavy liquid respectively.
Consider figure (a):
2. Pressure head in the left limb above Z-Z = ha+s1(H+h)= ha+s1H+s1h
3. Pressure head in the right limb above Z-Z = hb+s1H+s2h
4. Equating we get,
ha+s1H+s1h = hb+s1H+s2h
ha-hb=s2h-s1h = h(s2-s1)

Two pipes at different levels:

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1. Pressure head in the left limb above Z-Z = ha+s1h1

2. Pressure head in the right limb above Z-Z = s2h2+s3h3+hb
3. Equating we get,
ha+s1h1 = s2h2+s3h3+hb
Where;
h1= Height of liquid in left limb
h2= Difference of levels of the heavy liquid in the right and left limb (reading of differential
manometer).
h3= Height of liquid in right limb
s1,s2,s3 = Sp. Gravity of left pipe liquid, heavy liquid, right pipe liquid, respectively.

A U-tube differential manometer connects two pressure pipes A and B. The pipe A contains
carbon Tetrachloride having a Sp. Gravity 1.6 under a pressure of 120 kPa. The pipe B
contains oil of Sp. Gravity 0.8 under a pressure of 200 kPa. The pipe A lies 2.5m above pipe B.
Find the difference of pressures measured by mercury as fluid filling U-tube.
Solution:

Given : s a  1.6, p a  120kPa; s b  0.8, p b  200kPa;

h1  2.5m and s  13.6
Let h  Differnce of pressure measured by
mercury in terms of head of water.
We know that pressure head in pipe A,
pa 120
  12.2m
 9.81
pb 200
Pressure head in pipe B,   20.4m
 9.81

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We also know that pressure head in Pipe A above Z - Z

 12.2  (s a . h1 )  s.h
 12.2  (1.6 x 2.5)  13.6 x h
 16.2  13.6 h
Pressure head in Pipe B above Z - Z
 20.4  s b h  20.4  (0.8 x h)
Equating;
16.2  13.6 h  20.4  (0.8 x h)
h  0.328 m  328 mm
Inverted Differential Manometer
 Type of differential manometer in which an inverted U-tube is used.
 Used for measuring difference of low pressure.
1. Pressure head in the left limb above Z-Z = ha-s1h1
2. Pressure head in the right limb above Z-Z = hb-s2h2-s3h3
3. Equating we get, ha-s1h1 = hb-s2h2-s3h3
(Where; ha, hb are Pressure in pipes A and B expressed in terms of head of liquid, respectively)

BRING OUT THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN CONTINUITY EQUATION AND

MECHANICAL ENERGY BALANCE EQUATION.

This chapter deals with four equations commonly used in fluid mechanics: the mass, Bernoulli,
Momentum and energy equations.

• The mass equation is an expression of the conservation of mass principle.

• The Bernoulli equation is concerned with the conservation of kinetic, potential, and flow
energies of a fluid stream and their conversion to each other in regions of flow where net
viscous forces are negligible and where other restrictive conditions apply. The energy
equation is a statement of the conservation of energy principle.

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• In fluid mechanics, it is found convenient to separate mechanical energy from thermal

energy and to consider the conversion of mechanical energy to thermal energy as a result
of frictional effects as mechanical energy loss. Then the energy equation becomes the
mechanical energy balance.

• We start this chapter with an overview of conservation principles and the conservation of
mass relation. This is followed by a discussion of various forms of mechanical energy .
Then we derive the Bernoulli equation by applying Newton‟s second law to a fluid
element along a streamline and demonstrate its use in a variety of applications. We
continue with the development of the energy equation in a form suitable for use in fluid
mechanics and introduce the concept of head loss. Finally, we apply the energy equation
to various engineering systems.

• Conservation of Mass

• The conservation of mass relation for a closed system undergoing a change is expressed
as msys = constant or dmsys/dt= 0, which is a statement of the obvious that the mass of the
system remains constant during a process.

• For a control volume (CV) or open system, mass balance is expressed in the rate form as

• where min and mout are the total rates of mass flow into and out of the control volume,
respectively, and dmCV/dt is the rate of change of mass within the control volume
boundaries.

• In fluid mechanics, the conservation of mass relation written for a differential control
volume is usually called the continuity equation.

•
• The conservation of mass principle for a control volume can be expressed as: The net
mass transfer to or from a control volume during a time interval t is equal to the net
change (increase or decrease) in the total mass within the control volume during t. That
is,

•
• where ∆mCV= mfinal – minitial is the change in the mass of the control volume during the
process. It can also be expressed in rate form as

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•
• The Equations above are often referred to as the mass balance and are applicable to any
control volume undergoing any kind of process.

• During a steady-flow process, the total amount of mass contained within a control
volume does not change with time (mCV = constant). Then the conservation of mass
principle requires that the total amount of mass entering a control volume equal the total
amount of mass leaving it.

• When dealing with steady-flow processes, we are not interested in the

• amount of mass that flows in or out of a device over time; instead, we are interested in
the amount of mass flowing per unit time, that is, the mass flow rate

• It states that the total rate of mass entering a control volume is equal to the total rate of
mass leaving it

•
• Many engineering devices such as nozzles, diffusers, turbines, compressors, and pumps
involve a single stream (only one inlet and one outlet).

• For these cases, we denote the inlet state by the subscript 1 and the outlet state by the
subscript 2, and drop the summation signs

•
• MECHANICAL ENERGY

• Many fluid systems are designed to transport a fluid from one location to another at a
specified flow rate, velocity, and elevation difference, and the system may generate
mechanical work in a turbine or it may consume mechanical work in a pump or fan
during this process.

• These systems do not involve the conversion of nuclear, chemical, or thermal energy to
mechanical energy. Also, they do not involve any heat transfer in any significant amount,
and they operate essentially at constant temperature.

• Such systems can be analyzed conveniently by considering the mechanical forms of

energy only and the frictional effects that cause the mechanical energy to be lost (i.e., to
be converted to thermal energy that usually cannot be used for any useful purpose).

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• The mechanical energy can be defined as the form of energy that can be converted to
mechanical work completely and directly by an ideal mechanical device.

• Kinetic and potential energies are the familiar forms of mechanical energy.

• Therefore, the mechanical energy of a flowing fluid can be expressed on a unit-mass

basis as

In the absence of any changes in flow velocity and elevation, the power produced by an ideal
hydraulic turbine is proportional to the pressure drop of water across the turbine.

Most processes encountered in practice involve only certain forms of energy, and in such cases it
is more convenient to work with the simplified versions of the energy balance. For systems that
involve only mechanical forms of energy and its transfer as shaft work, the conservation of
energy principle can be expressed conveniently as

where Emech, loss represents the conversion of mechanical energy to thermal energy due to
irreversibilities such as friction. For a system in steady operation, the mechanical energy balance
becomes

Emech, in = Emech, out + Emech, loss

THE BERNOULLI EQUATION

 The Bernoulli equation is an approximate relation between pressure,velocity, and

elevation, and is valid in regions of steady, incompressible flow where net frictional
forces are negligible ( as shown in the Figure below). Despite its simplicity, it has proven
to be a very powerful tool in fluid mechanics.

 The Bernoulli equation is an

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 approximate equation that is valid

 only in in viscid regions of flow where net viscous forces are negligibly small compared
to inertial, gravitational, or pressure forces. Such regions occur

 outside of boundary layers and wakes.

Derivation of the Bernoulli Equation

the Bernoulli Equation is derived from the mechanical energy equation

since the we are dealing with steady flow system with out the effect of the mechanical work and
the friction on the system the first terms become zero.

This is the famous Bernoulli equation, which is commonly used in fluid mechanics for steady,
incompressible flow along a streamline in inviscid regions of flow.

The Bernoulli equation can also be written between any two points on the same streamline as

Limitations on the Use of the Bernoulli Equation

 Steady flow The first limitation on the Bernoulli equation is that it is applicable to steady
flow.

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 Frictionless flow Every flow involves some friction, no matter how small, and frictional
effects may or may not be negligible.

 No shaft work The Bernoulli equation was derived from a force balance on a particle
moving along a streamline.

 Incompressible flow One of the assumptions used in the derivation of the Bernoulli
equation is that = constant and thus the flow is incompressible.

 No heat transfer The density of a gas is inversely proportional to temperature, and thus
the Bernoulli equation should not be used for flow sections that involve significant
temperature change such as heating or cooling sections.

 Strictly speaking, the Bernoulli equation is applicable along a streamline, and the value of
the constant C, in general, is different for different streamlines. But when a region of the
flow is irrotational, and thus there is no vorticity in the flow field, the value of the
constant C remains the same for all streamlines, and, therefore, the Bernoulli equation
becomes applicable across streamlines as well.

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