February 21, 2012

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
Exam Assessment
Department of Mechanical Engineering Level BE Full Marks 100
2068, Falgun Programme BME Pass Marks 40
Year/ Part III/I Time 1.5 h

Subject: Fluid Machines (ME605)

Attempt All questions. Figure in the margin indicates the full mark.
Assume suitable data where necessary.

1. a) Explain the Jet Propulsion principle with some suitable examples. Describe essential components and
features of a hydroelectric plant. [10+5]

b) A tank of water sits on a cart with frictionless wheels as shown. The cart is attached using a cable to a
9 kg mass, and the coefficient of static friction of the mass with the ground is 0.5. At time t = 0, a second
cable is used to remove a gate blocking the tank exit. Will the resulting exit flow be sufficient to start the
tank moving? (Assume the water flow is friction less). [20]

Figure P. No: 1(b)

2. a) Indicate the places where cavitation in hydraulic turbines are likely to occur. What strategies can be
adopted to alleviate the onset of cavitation? [10]

b) The power specific speed of a 4 MW Francis turbine is 0.8, and the hydraulic efficiency can be
assumed to be 90%. The head of water supplied to the turbine is 100 m. The runner vanes are radial at
inlet and their mean internal diameter is three quarters of the external diameter. The meridional
velocities at runner inlet and outlet are equal to 25% and 30% respectively of the spouting velocity. [30]
i) the rotational speed and diameter of the runner,
ii) the flow angle at outlet from the guide vanes and relative flow angle at the mean exit diameter of
the runner
iii) the width of the runner at inlet.

3. a) Why pumps are generally less efficient than turbines? [10]

b) A centrifugal pump is required to deliver 50 litres of water per second to a height of 30 m through a
100 m long pipe of 10 cm diameter. The inlet losses in the suction pipe are estimated to be 0.35 m.
Assuming an overall efficiency of 70 percent and taking Darcy’s friction coefficient 0.015 for the
pipeline, determine the horsepower required to drive the pump. [15]

***Good Luck***