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Module 3 - Hydrostatic Force I
Module 3 - Hydrostatic Force I
Module 3 - Hydrostatic Force I
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Hydrostatic Force – Location
The equation F = γhc A gives the resultant force
For moment calculations, the point of application (center of
pressure) of this resultant force is needed
Ic
The location of the force is at: y p = yc +
yc A
Here y is the slant (not vertical) distance from the free surface as
shown below. The subscript c stands for centroid.
I is the moment of inertia of the submerged body (gate) about its
centroidal axis. The formula for various geometries can be
found in the Appendix.
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Application Examples
All examples consist of finding the magnitude and location of
the resultant hydrostatic force on a submerged gate or window
using the above two equations.
Few are straightforward application while most involve also an
application of the moment equation to determine the reaction,
the force needed to open a gate or keep it closed.
Vertical gates are relatively simpler to solve than slanted ones.
All problems involve a constant density except for the interesting
tidal gate problem.
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