HYDRAULICS LABORATORY

LBYCV2D Experiment 05

STANDARD EXPERIMENT NO. 05

CALIBRATION OF ORIFICE UNDER

CONSTANT HEAD AND FALLING HEAD
INTRODUCTION

An orifice is an opening with a closed perimeter through which fluid flows. It is used to measure or
control the flow of fluids. Orifices used for measuring flow are usually circular, square, or rectangular in
cross-section. The upstream edge of the orifice may be sharp or rounded; sharp-edged orifice being the
most common for fluid flow measurement.

Orifices may be calibrated under a constant head condition or under a falling head condition. The constant
head produces a steady stream of water while the falling head approach makes use of an unsteady flow
condition. In this experiment, we determine the value of the coefficient of discharge of the orifice and
compare the results obtained under a constant head and falling head conditions.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this experiment is to determine the coefficient of discharge of a vertical, sharp-edged
orifice under a constant head condition and falling head conditions.

APPARATUS AND SUPPLIES

 Hydraulic Bench
 Orifice and Jet Apparatus
 Water Supply
 Measuring Devices like ruler and caliper
 Thermometer
 Stopwatch

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND DERIVATION

Refer to the lecture notes on Orifice that will be discussed in both lecture and laboratory classes.

Page | 1
DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY:
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
HYDRAULICS LABORATORY
LBYCV2D Experiment 05

Figure 5.1 Orifice apparatus

1 Inlet Pipe 2 Flexible Hose 3 Adjustable Overflow Pipe 4 Scale 5 Header Tank Inlet Pipe
6 Clamp 7 Backboard 8 Vertical Needles 9 Locking Screws 10 Adjustable Feet
11 Thumb nuts 12 Orifice Plate 13 Baffle

Page | 2
DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY:
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
HYDRAULICS LABORATORY
LBYCV2D Experiment 05

LABORATORY PROCEDURE

Calibration of Orifice Under Constant Head

1. Place the apparatus on the side channels of the benchtop channel. Level the apparatus using the
adjustable feet.
2. Insert the orifice plate piece and using the two thumb nuts to tighten the piece against the wall.
3. To control the height of the water inside the cylinder, position the adjustable overflow pipe to the
desired level. The excess water passes through this tube and through a flexible hose pipe which
goes back to the sump tank. Allow water to pass to the header tank using the inlet pipe via the
hydraulic bench apparatus.
4. Use the scale to determine the water level in the header tank.
5. The baffle at the base of the header tank reduces turbulence in the water within the header tank.
6. With a stream of water passing through the orifice, plot the trajectory of the jet using the vertical
needles.
7. Insert a piece of paper under the clamp on the backboard and adjust the needles to follow the
profile of the jet. Lock the needles in position using the screws provided.
8. Make sure that the horizontal and vertical positions relative to the centerline of the orifice are
recorded.
9. Take the value of the temperature of the water in the tank.
10. Repeat the procedure with different heads h. Provide five values of h. For each head h, determine
the discharge using the volumetric tank of the hydraulic bench apparatus. In the datasheet, the
five trials of h are marked A to E.
11. Take about three values of flow rate for each head h and obtain the average flow rate of the three
values. This will represent the actual flow rate for a particular head h.

Calibration of Orifice Under Falling Head

1. Set five heights “h” by marking six different levels on the header tank. Record these heights
between intervals.
2. Fill the tank with water having the sharp-edged orifice open. Let the water surface be a little
higher than the highest mark. The water surface will go down since there is an opening.
3. In all these trials, record the time t that elapses between the marks. Disconnect supply.

RESULTS AND CALCULATIONS

Calibration of Orifice Under Constant Head

1. What are the values of C d obtained using the different head h for the orifice plate used? Is this a
constant? Should it be a constant?
2. If the results indicate that C d is not constant over a range of heads, determine Reynolds number at
each head and plot C d with Re . Comment on the slope of this graph.
3. Which of the measurements do you think is contributing the greatest error in obtaining C d or C v ?

Page | 3
DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY:
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
HYDRAULICS LABORATORY
LBYCV2D Experiment 05

Calibration of Orifice Under Falling Head

1. Plot 2 A s ( √ h1− √ h 2) as ordinate and A0 T √ 2 g as abscissa and obtain C d from this graph. Take
an average C d from the different trials.
2. Answer the following questions.
a. Is C d a constant over the range of heads?
b. If the values of C d obtained in these experiments differed from the previous method
(constant head), on which of the two values do you place most reliance and why?
c. Which of the measurements do you regard as contributing the greatest error?

DATA SHEET

Shape of the orifice:

Area of cross section of orifice w/ diam (m):
Area of cross section of header tank (w/o baffle wall):
Calibration of Orifice Under Constant Head

Head Coordinates along Coefficients

Volume Obtained
Above Time Flowrate the Trajectory (average)
Trial
Orifice (s) (m3/s) X Y
(liters) (m3) Cv Cd
(m) (m) (m)
1
2
A
3

1
2
B
3

1
2
C
3

1
2
D
3

1
2
E
3

Calibration of Orifice Under Constant Head

Time (s) h1 h2 Cd
Trial
t1 t2 Δt (m) (m)
√ h1− √h2 trial average

Page | 4
DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY:
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
HYDRAULICS LABORATORY
LBYCV2D Experiment 05

1
2
3
4
5

SAMPLE COMPUTATIONS

RESULTS/ DISCUSSION (attach additional page/s if necessary)

CONCLUSIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES:

Fluid Mechanics with Engineering Applications, SI Metric Edition, Daugherty R.L, Franzini, J.,
Finnemore, John E., McGraw Hill Book Company, 1989, pp 66-69, 92-94, 102-108, 404-405, 402-403,
418- 419
Fluid Mechanics, Streeter V., Wylie, B., Metric Edition, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, pp 82-93,
94-101, 351-356

Page | 5
DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY:
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
HYDRAULICS LABORATORY
LBYCV2D Experiment 05

Calibration of Orifice Under Constant Head

REFERENCES:

Fluid Mechanics with Engineering Applications, SI Metric Edition, Daugherty R.L, Franzini, J.,
Finnemore, John E., McGraw Hill Book Company, 1989, pp 111-114, 410-417,

Fluid Mechanics, Streeter V., Wylie, B., Metric Edition, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, pp 342-
350

Page | 6
DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY:
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT