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Pressure Distribution in Fluids

The document discusses pressure distributions in fluids at rest. It covers several key topics: 1) Pressure in fluids acts normal to surfaces and is important for designs like dams and vessels. Pressure can be measured and transferred through systems. 2) Pressure intensity is defined as force per unit area. Pressure is uniform if it is the same over a given surface. 3) Hydrostatic pressure distributions occur when fluids are stationary. Pressure only varies with depth and is independent of container shape. Pressure increases with depth. 4) Manometers can be used to measure pressure differences by using columns of liquids or gases.

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Muneeb Rehman
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70 views28 pages

Pressure Distribution in Fluids

The document discusses pressure distributions in fluids at rest. It covers several key topics: 1) Pressure in fluids acts normal to surfaces and is important for designs like dams and vessels. Pressure can be measured and transferred through systems. 2) Pressure intensity is defined as force per unit area. Pressure is uniform if it is the same over a given surface. 3) Hydrostatic pressure distributions occur when fluids are stationary. Pressure only varies with depth and is independent of container shape. Pressure increases with depth. 4) Manometers can be used to measure pressure differences by using columns of liquids or gases.

Uploaded by

Muneeb Rehman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 2

PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION IN FLUIDS


Introduction to Fluid Statics
 Fluid at rest:
– No shear stresses
– Only normal forces due to pressure
 Normal forces are important:
– Overturning of concrete dams
– Bursting of pressure vessels
– Breaking of lock gates on canals
Introduction to Fluid Statics (Cont’d)

 For design: compute magnitude and location


of normal forces
 Development of instruments that measure
pressure
 Development of systems that transfer
pressure, e.g.,
– automobile breaks
– hoist
Introduction to Fluid Statics (Cont’d)
 Average pressure intensity p = force per unit area
 Let:
• F = total normal pressure force on a finite area A
• dF = normal force on an infinitesimal area dA
 The local pressure on the infinitesimal area is
 
p
If pressure is uniform, p = F/A

● BG units: psi (=lb/in2) or psf (=lb/ft2)

● SI units: Pa (=N/m2), kPa (=kN/m2)

● Metric: bar, millibar; 1 mb = 100 Pa


Isotropy of Pressure
• Small wedge of fluid at
rest of Δx by Δz by Δs
and depth b into the
paper
• px, pz and pn ; Element is
assumed small, so
pressure is constant on
each face.
Δs sin θ= Δz
Δs cos θ= Δx
Isotropy of Pressure (cont’d)

Δz = 0

 Two important principles of hydrostatics:

• There is no pressure change in the horizontal direction

• There is a vertical change in pressure proportional to the


density, gravity, and depth change

pressure p at a point in a static fluid is independent of orientation


Pressure Force on a Fluid Element

 The total net force vector on the


element due to pressure is :

f is net force per unit element


volume

Thus it is not the pressure but the pressure gradient causing a net force which
must be balanced by gravity or acceleration or some other effect in the fluid
Equilibrium of a Fluid Element
• By Newton’s law , the sum of “per unit volume
forces” equals the mass per unit volume
(density , ρ) times the acceleration a of the
fluid element.
Absolute and Gage Pressures
• Pressure measured:
– Relative to absolute zero (perfect vacuum): absolute
– Relative to atmospheric pressure: gage
• If p < patm , we call it a vacuum, its gage value = how
much below atmospheric
• Absolute pressure values are all positive
• Gage pressures:
– Positive: if above atmospheric
– Negative: if below atmospheric
• Relationship:
Pabs = Patm + Pgage
Absolute and Gage Pressures (Cont’d)
Absolute and Gage Pressures (Cont’d)
• Atmospheric pressure is also called barometric
pressure
• Atmospheric pressures varies:
– with elevation
– with changes in meteorological conditions
• Use absolute pressure for most problems
involving gases and vapor (thermodynamics)
• Use gage pressure for most problems related to
liquids
NOTE : In lecture 1 , we have used γ symbol for
specific gravity , but from now on as according
to Fluid Mechanics book by Frank M white , the
symbol gamma (γ) will be used for specific
weight and S.G. for specific gravity.
Hydrostatic Pressure Distributions

Hydrostatics Condition ; a = 0 and fvisc = 0

The fluid in hydrostatic equilibrium will


align its constant pressure surfaces
everywhere to the local gravity vector.
The maximum pressure increase will be
in the direction of gravity that is “down”
Hydrostatic Pressure Distributions (cont’d)

• The
  local gravity vector for the small scale problem is
g = -g k

• p is independent of x and y. So hydrostatic condition


reduces to

=-
Hydrostatic Pressure Distributions (cont’d)

Pressure in a continuously distributed uniform


static fluid varies only with vertical distance
and is independent of the shape of the
container. The pressure is the same at all points
on a given horizontal plane in the fluid. The
pressure increases with depth in the fluid.
Hydrostatic Pressure Distributions (cont’d)
Hydrostatic Pressure Distributions (cont’d)
Example
Newfound Lake, a freshwater lake near Bristol,
New Hampshire, has a maximum depth of 60 m,
and the mean atmospheric pressure is 91 kPa.
Estimate the absolute pressure in kPa at this
maximum depth.
Mercury Barometer
• Measures atmospheric pressure

• A tube is filled with mercury and


inverted while submerged in a
reservoir.

• Causes near vacuum in the closed


upper end because mercury has an
extremely small vapor pressure at
room temperatures (0.16 Pa at 20oC).

• Since atmospheric pressure forces a


mercury column to rise a distance h
into the tube, the upper mercury
surface is at zero pressure.
Mercury Barometer (cont’d)

Substituting
p1 = 0 at z1 = h ;
p2 = pa at z2=0 At sea-level standard

Pa = 101,350 Pa
γM = 133,100 N/m3

The barometric height is

h = 101,350/133,100
= 0.761 m or 761 mm
Application to Manometery

Static column of one or more liquids or gases can be


used to measure pressure differences between two
points. Such a device is called a manometer
Application to Manometery (cont’d)
Application to Manometery (cont’d)

Professor John Foss


of Michigan State University

Keep adding on PRESSURE INCREMENTS as you move down through the layered
fluid
Simple Open Manometer
Simple Open Manometer (cont’d)
Jump Across :
The physical reason that we can “jump across” at section 1
is that a continuous length of the same fluid connects
these two equal elevations.

Any two points at the same elevation in a continuous mass


of the same static fluid will be at the same pressure

This idea of jumping across to equal pressures facilitates


multiple-fluid problems.
Example
Example
Example

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