THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING: LEVEL I EXAMINATION

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

January 4, 2000 9:30am- 12:30 pm (3 hours)

Answer any FIVE questions.

Use ofElectronic Calculators:

Density of water = 1000 kg/m 3 Kinematic viscosity of water= 1o-6 m 2Is

1. Gate ABC is hinged at B and is 1.2 m long (direction perpendicular to the paper).
Neglecting the weight of the gate, determine the horizontal force F required to open the
gate.

F A
O.Sm
Gate surfaces
Water

Connecting
passage - - - -
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2. (a) Shown below are the hydraulic grade line and energy grade line for a pipeline.
Indicate which is the hydraulic grade line and which is the energy grade line.

(b) Are all pipes the same size? If not, which is the smallest?

(c) Is there any region in the pipe where the pressure is below atmospheric pressure? If
so, where?

(d) Where is the point of maximum pressure in the system?

(e) Where is the point of minimum pressure in the system?

(f) What do you think is located at point B? (Abrupt expansion, abrupt contraction,
venturi meter, or orifice meter).

(g) Is the pressure in the air in the tank above or below atmospheric pressure?

(h) What do you think is located at the end of the pipe at point E?

I
I
I
I
~
''
''
''
''
''
''
''
Air ''
''
''
Water ''
'' B
A ' ~======~c
''
''
' ' ," __________ _
--------....
'\
I
D E
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3. For the nozzle shown below, what force would have to be applied through the bolts in the
flange to hold the nozzle in place? Assume irrotational flow. Water is flowing, and the
nozzle itself weighs 200 N.

Apipe = 0.10 m 2

f-40cml
---•-------......
V vjet = 30 m/s
A;,.=O.Olm2

PLAN VIEW
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4. (a) Distinguish between: i) irrotational flow vs ideal fluid flow; and ii) laminar vs
turbulent flow.

(b) A point source of strength q m2/s is combined with a uniform rectilinear flow to
model the ideal flow around a 'half-body'. A 3 m wide bridge pier is to be placed in a
river of velocity 1 rn/s, and the nose is to be made in the shape of a half~body.

i) Determine the strength of the corresponding source, the distance between the
stagnation point and the source, and the equation of the pier nose shape in
Cartesian co-ordinates based on the source as origin.

ii) Determine the velocity, x-acceleration, and vorticity for a point located at 1 m
in front of the nose along the line of symmetry (y=O).
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5. (a) A thin elastic wire is placed between rigid supports. A fluid flows past the wire, and
it is desired to study the static deflection, 8, at the center of the wire due to the fluid
drag. Assume that:

8 = f(L, d, p, ~.V, E)

where L is the wire length, d the wire diameter, p the fluid density, ~ the fluid
viscosity, V the fluid velocity, and E the modulus of elasticity of the wire material.
Develop a suitable set of dimensionless terms for this problem. [ 10 marks]

(b) Briefly explain why the technique of dimensional analysis is also called "partial
analysis". · [5 marks]

(c) List 3 benefits of dimensional analysis and give an example for each application.
[5 marks]
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6. What flows between two reservoirs at the rate of0.06 m3/s as shown. The diameter ofthe
larger pipe is 20 cm. The head loss due to friction in the pipes is given by:

h -= 0.025LV 2
1
D2g

where: L is the length of the pipe (m), V is the velocity in the pipe (rnls), D is the
diameter of the pipe (m), and h1 is the head loss due to friction. All other losses can be
neglected.

~=20m

30m

D1 =20cm

(a) What is the minimum diameter D2 allowed to avoid the occurrence of cavitation?
Indicate clearly, where along the pipe system is cavitation most likely to occur.
Atmospheric pressure is 101 kPa (abs) and vapour pressure is 2.45 kPa (abs).
[15 marks]

(b) Sketch accurately the Energy Grade Line and the Hydraulic Grade Line for the
system. [5 marks]

END OF PAPER