FLUID PROPERTIES – SURFACE

TENSION
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/112/104/112104118/
SURFACE TENSION AND CAPILLARY
EFFECT
Determine the gage pressure inside a soap bubble of diameter
(a) 0.2 cm and (b) 5 cm at 20°C.
In the ink delivery system in a continuous inkjet printer, ink is
removed from a reservoir and pumped through a nozzle. Soon after
leaving the nozzle, the column of ink separates into spherical
droplets. These ink droplets are first charged and then directed into
position by charged deflection plates. The surface tension of the ink
is vital for this process to work: if the surface tension is too high the
ink may clog the nozzle or not adhere properly to the paper, and if
the surface tension is too low it can cause ink to leak from the
nozzle or cause the ink to bleed on the paper.
• Under certain conditions, it is desirable to lower the surface
tension. A high surface tension encourages a liquid to bead rather
than spread evenly across a surface. For this reason surface-
active agents, or surfactants, are used for various applications to
lower the surface tensions of liquids.
• Inks and paints are everyday examples in which lowering surface
tension is useful in making liquids spread.
• Using surfactants to lower surface tension is also used in the oil
industry. Surface tension causes oil to become trapped in the
pores of the containing rock due to a phenomenon called
capillary action. By adding surfactants to the oil deposit, it helps
the oil release from the pores and become available for extraction
• Capillary action is the result of adhesion and surface
tension. Adhesion of water to the walls of a vessel will cause
an upward force on the liquid at the edges and result in a
meniscus which turns upward. The surface tension acts to
hold the surface intact, so instead of just the edges moving
upward, the whole liquid surface is dragged upward.
Capillary action occurs when the adhesion to the walls is
stronger than the cohesive forces between the liquid
molecules. The height to which capillary action will take
water in a uniform circular tube is limited by surface
tension.
The height h to which capillary action will lift water
depends upon the weight of water which the surface
tension will lift.
• The pressure difference between the inside and outside of a
bubble depends upon the surface tension and the radius of the
bubble. The relationship can be obtained by visualizing the
bubble as two hemispheres and noting that the internal pressure
which tends to push the hemispheres apart is counteracted by the
surface tension acting around the cirumference of the circle.

Excess pressure in a liquid drop

 VAPOUR PRESSURE AND CAVITATION
A restricted flow path causes the fluid velocity to accelerate. When velocity increases, it corresponds to
a decrease in the local pressure (Bernoulli’s Principle for incompressible liquid flow). If the drop in
pressure is great enough, it may fall below the fluid’s vapor pressure (the pressure at which a fluid
becomes a gas), resulting in the formation of vapor bubbles.
Upon exiting the control valve, the fluid velocity decreases and the pressure recovers downstream,
allowing the bubbles to implode. This phenomenon is called ‘cavitation’. Cavitation may seem
harmless; however, it can be a destructive process. When a vapor bubble implodes, the bubble’s center
pulls in a jet of liquid at supersonic speed. When these implosions occur close to the valve or pipe wall,
the jet will erode material from these surfaces. If left unchecked, cavitation can lead to significant
noise, vibration and mechanical failure.
VAPOUR PRESSURE AND CAVITATION

https://www.slurryflo.com/cavitation
ADDITIONAL INFO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/380/cavitation-wear-hydraulic
REYNOLD’S NUMBER- LAMINAR FLOW AND
TURBULENT FLOW

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_number
• Flow in a pipe is laminar if the Reynolds Number (based on diameter of the
pipe) is less than 2000 and
• is turbulent if it is greater than 4000. Transitional Flow prevails between
these two limits.
• But it should be pointed out that people have preserved laminar flow at very
high Reynolds number through carefully monitored conditions.