FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Abstract

Have you ever think that why small pin drowned in water while giant ship easily pass it?.

This curiosity was revealed by Archimedes by explaining concept of Buoyancy Forces which is

experience by every body when come in contact with fluid which is exactly equal to the weight

of fluid displaced. The point at which the buoyancy force act called center of buoyancy. The line

of action of center of gravity and of buoyancy force passes through common line in ordinary

conditions but when it is disturb by small external force it starts oscillating about specific point

known as metacenter, fully immersed body will be stable if metacenter is above the center of

gravity similarly submerged body will be stable if buoyancy force is above and Center of gravity

of the body acting downward and it will be neutral center of buoyancy and center of gravity are

at the same point.

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Table of Contents
Buoyancy:................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Center of buoyancy: ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Factors Affecting Buoyancy ............................................................................................................................ 4
Metacenter And Metacentric Height: ...................................................................................................................... 5
Stability of submerged bodies: ............................................................................................................................ 6
Stable Equilibrium : ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Unstable equilibrium : ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Neutral equilibrium: ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Stability of floating bodies: ................................................................................................................................. 7
Stable equilibrium : ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Unstable equilibrium : ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Neutral equilibrium: ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Archimedes Principle .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Applications of Archimedes principle:............................................................................................................ 8
Magnitude & direction of the buoyant force; ................................................................................................ 10
Variation with depth ...................................................................................................................................... 10

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Buoyancy:
When a body is wholly or partially immersed in fluid, the hydrostatic lift due to the Net
Vertical Component of hydrostatic pressure force experience by the body which is called
buoyant force and the phenomenon is known as buoyancy.

Explanation;

In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying
fluid. Thus, the pressure at the bottom of a column of fluid is greater than at the top of the
column. Similarly, the pressure at the bottom of an object submerged in a fluid is greater
than at the top of the object. The pressure difference results in a net upward force on the
object.
The magnitude of the force is proportional to the pressure difference, and is equivalent to
the weight of the fluid (Archimedes’ Principle) that would otherwise occupy the
submerged volume of the object, i.e. the displaced fluid.
For this reason, an object whose average density is greater than that of the fluid in which it
is submerged tends to sink. If the object is less dense than the liquid, the force can keep the
object to float.

Mathematically:

In general, the buoyancy force on a completely submerged object is given by the formula:

𝐹𝐵 = 𝑉𝜌𝑔

where V is the volume of the object, ρ is the density of the fluid, and g is gravitational
acceleration.

Figure 1showing types of Buoyancy force

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Center of buoyancy:

The point at which the buoyant force acts is called Centre of Buoyancy
Buoyancy force will act through the center of gravity of the displaced fluid and that point
i.e. center of gravity of the displaced fluid will be termed as center of buoyancy. Therefore,
we can define the term center of buoyancy as the point through which the force of
buoyancy is supposed to act.

Figure 2showing center of Buoyancy

Factors Affecting Buoyancy

➢ Volume of the submerged body;
➢ Density of the fluid in which the body immersed;
➢ Acceleration due to gravity;
➢ Temperature of the fluid;

Figure 3 showing effect of Buoyancy Force

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Metacenter And Metacentric Height:

The Metacenter may be defined as a point about which a floating body starts oscillating,
when given a small angular displacement. It is denoted by M.

The metacentric height is the distance between the centre of gravity (G) of the floating
body and the metacentre (M). Mathematically, metacentric height,

where

I = Moment of inertia of the sectional area of the floating body at the water surface.
V = Volume of the body submerged in water, and
BG = Distance between the centre of buoyancy (B) and the centre of gravity (G).

The conditions of equilibrium for a floating and submerged body are as follows :

The time of oscillation (T) of a floating body is given by

where

k = Radius of gyration of the floating body about its centre of gravity

h = Metacentric height of the floating body = GM

Figure 4 showing metacenter

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Stability Of Submerged and Floating Bodies

Stability of submerged bodies:

Stability of a submerged body can be determined by the position of the center of buoyancy
in relation to the center of gravity.
In the case of the submerged body, the center of gravity and buoyancy always lies on the
same axis.

There are three condition of Equilibrium of submerged bodies

States of equilibrium:

Stable Equilibrium :

When the center of buoyancy is above the center of gravity of the body the body will be
stable.

Unstable equilibrium :

When the center of buoyancy is below the center of gravity then the submerged body
remains in unstable equilibrium.

Neutral equilibrium:

When the center of buoyancy and Center of gravity coincides with each other.

Figure 5stability conditions for submerged bodies

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Stability of floating bodies:

Any floating body is subjected by two opposing vertical forces. One is the body's
weight W which is downward, and the other is the buoyant force BF which is upward. The
weight is acting at the center of gravity G and the buoyant force is acting at the center of
buoyancy BO. W and BF are always equal and if these forces are collinear, the body will
be in upright position as shown below.

Stable equilibrium :

➢ If the metacenter is above the center of gravity the body will be stable.
➢ When the body regain its original position when it is subjected to applied turning
moment then we call the body is stable.
Unstable equilibrium :

➢ When the metacenter is below the center of gravity the body will be unstable.
➢ When the body is subjected to turning moment, the body will not gain its original
position and will sink down in the fluid.

Neutral equilibrium:

➢ When the metacenter and center of gravity coincides with each other the body will
be in neutral equilibrium.
➢ Neutral equilibrium means that will continuously oscillate by the applied turning
moment.

Figure 6 Stability conditions for floating bodies

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Archimedes Principle
Archimedes' principle states that an object submerged in a fluid, fully or partially,
experiences an upward buoyant force that is equal in magnitude to the force of gravity on
the displaced fluid.
Ship sinks until weight of water displaced by underwater volume is equal to the weight of
the ship.

Archimedes Principal Formula

In simple form, the Archimedes law states that the Buoyant force on an object is equal to
the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. Mathematically written as:

𝐹𝑏 = 𝜌 𝑥 𝑔 𝑥 𝑉

Where,
‘Fb’ is the buoyant force
‘Ρ’ is the density the fluid
‘V’ is the submerged volume
‘g’ is the acceleration due to gravity

Applications of Archimedes principle:

• There are following application of Archimedes principle:
• Submarine
• Hot-air balloon
• Hydrometer
• Ship
• Fishes

Figure 7 Practical demonstration Archimedes principle

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Let’s consider a basic example;

Why does the helium balloon rise?

• balloon rises because of buoyancy. The force (weight) of the helium plus the
latex/rubber downward is less than the buoyant force.
• Air pressure on the bottom side of a balloon is likely bit greater than the air
pressure on the top side of a balloon.

Figure 8 showing balloon filled with helium...

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 FLUID MECHANICS (CE-206)

Magnitude & direction of the buoyant force;

The magnitude of buoyance force is given as weight of fluid displaced and this is known as
Archimedes principle.

𝐵𝑢𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 (𝐹𝑏) = 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑

Direction of buoyancy force is in upward direction. Buoyant force always acts vertically
upward through the centroid of the displaced volume.

Variation with depth

Buoyant force does not vary with depth , it stays the same regardless of how deep you go;
it is independent of the surrounding pressure .It means if we are watching any submarine
diving in ocean at constant speed ,it would appear that the propeller always spin at the
same speed and that the engines consistently draws the same amount of fuel ,Because water
is incompressible its density ,stickiness and other properties stays same as we go deeper
and buoyant force will also remain same throughout the depth. So the buoyant force does
not vary with depth in case of ocean

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