KIT’s College of Engineering, Kolhapur

Civil Engineering Department

Prof. Omkar P. Suryawanshi

B.E. (Civil), M. Tech. (EST), M.B.A. (HR. and Marketing)
 FLUID PRESSURE AND ITS
MEASUREMENT
(FLUID MECHANICS)

UNIT – I

March -2021
Hydrostatic Pressure
 Unit 1: Fluid Statics
1. Introduction
a) Fluid Statics
b) Fluid Kinematics
c) Fluid Dynamics
d) Application of Fluid Mechanics in Civil Engineering
2. Properties of Fluids
a) Density
b) Specific Weight
c) Specific Volume
d) Specific Gravity
e) Kinematic and Dynamic Viscosity
f) Surface Tension
g) Capillarity
 Learning Objectives
3. Introduction Fluid Statics
a) Fluid Pressure
b) Pascal’s Law
c) Hydrostatics Law
c). Pressure variation in a Fluid at Rest
4. Measurement of Pressure
a) Manometers
b) Mechanical Gauges
5. Hydrostatic Forces on Surface Submerged in Liquid
a). Vertical Plane Surface b). Horizontal Plane Surface c).
Inclined Plane Surface
 Fluid Pressure
Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure that is exerted by a fluid at equilibrium at a
given point within the fluid, due to the force of gravity.

Hydrostatic Law: It states that the intensity of pressure or the rate of increase of
pressure in a vertical direction must be equal to the specific weight of fluid at that
point.

Unit: N/m2 or Pascal

Density = Mass/Volume
OR
Mass = Density x Volume
= V
Pressure variation in a Fluid at Rest
 Types of Pressure
1. Gauge Pressure
2. Vacuum Pressure  Negative Gauge
Pressure
3. Atmospheric Pressure  101.325 kPa or
1 bar or
14.696 psi
4. Absolute Pressure:
= Gauge Pressure + Atmospheric Pressure
OR
= Atmospheric Pressure – Vacuum Pressure
 Total Pressure
Total Pressure or Absolute Pressure is sum of
Atmospheric Pressure and Fluid Pressure

Ptotal = Patm + gh

Atmospheric Pressure at the surface of the

Earth stays relatively constant.

The value of the atmospheric pressure at the

surface of the Earth, Patm = 1.01x105 Pa
Measuring of Atmospheric Pressure:

Atmospheric air
pressure is often given
in bar or millibars

Unit:
1 bar = 101.325 kPa
= 1.01x105 Pa
= 1013.25
millibar

1 torr = 1mm of
mercury column
Barometer
 Pascal’s Law
Pascal’s law states that the intensity of pressure at a point in a static fluid is equal
in all the directions (x, y and z directions).
OR
The intensity of pressure at any point in a liquid at rest is same in all directions.
i.e., Px = Py = Pz

This can be derived from

X = 0
(consider Px and Pz cos) and
Y = 0
(consider weight of fluid in addition to Py and Pz sin)
 Measurement of Pressure
The pressure of fluid is measured by the following devices:
1. Manometers – by balancing the column of fluid by the same or another column of the fluid
a) Simple Manometers
i. Piezometer
ii. U-tube Manometer
iii. Single Column Manometer
a. Vertical Single Column Manometer
b. Inclined Single Column Manometer
b) Differential Manometers
i. U-tube Differential Manometer
ii. Inverted U-tube Differential Manometer
2. Mechanical Guages – by balancing the column of fluid by the spring or dead weight
a) Diaphragm Pressure Guage b) Bourdon Tube Pressure Guage
c) Dead-weight Pressure Guage d) Bellows Pressure Guage
U-tube Manometer
U-tube Manometer
 Single
Column
Manometer
 Single Column Manometer

=L
sin

Case 1: Small Pressure in Case 2: Very Small Pressure in

Fluid Fluid
 Differential Manometers
Differential manometers are used to measure the difference of pressures between two
points in a pipe or in two different pipes.

Inverted differential manometer

Differential Manometers
Differential Manometers
 Reference
Chapter 1-3
(Page 1- 129)
A Textbook of
Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machines
Dr. R. K. Bansal
Laxmi Publications