HYDRAULICS I : LECTURE 2

W. PATELLA (109/005)

FLUID FLOW, AND PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION OF MASS

& CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
 FLUID FLOW
• The flow of a fluid can be described in a number of
ways. Consider the flow of water or air in a pipe or
duct. Case ‘A’ below shows flow in a length of
constant diameter, and Case ‘B’ shows flow in a
length of changing diameter.

Flow Flow
1 2
1 2
A
B
 FLUID FLOW-STEADY FLOW

• The velocity at another cross-

section may be different if the pipe
changes in cross-sectional area.
• In case “B”, is not equal to , but as
long as and remain constant with
time, the flow is .
• Steady flow occurs when the
average velocity measured at a
given cross-section of the pipe
does not change .
 FLUID FLOW-UNIFORM FLOW
• occurs when the average velocity measured at
successive cross-sections at .
• If in case “A”, when measured at any given instant
since cross-sectional area of the pipe is constant, flow
is said to be uniform. In case B, flow is non-uniform
because is not equal to .
• Note that in case “A”, andwhen measured at some
other instant might have different values (flow may be
unsteady) but flow would still be considered uniform if
.
 FLUID FLOW
• Note that in the previous discussions, we talked
aboutand as being the average velocity at cross-
sections 1 and 2, respectively.
• Due to friction at the boundaries, the velocity across a
section always has some kind of profile as shown
below.
• Therefore, the velocity is non-uniform across the
section.
Flow
Flow

Pipe Open Channel

 FLUID FLOW
• The velocity at the boundaries is zero, due to
the “no-slip” condition.
• In a pipe, maximum velocity is experienced at
the centre of the pipe.
• In an open channel, maximum velocity occurs
at aboutto due to a condition called the
“velocity dip”, where is flow depth.
 LAMINAR & TURBULENT FLOW
• Even though flow in a pipe, conduit, or channel may appear to
move smoothly in a fixed direction, there may be rapidly
varying velocities about the mean velocity, in different
directions, superimposed on the general forward velocity.
• Such a flow is known as TURBULENT flow and is found in just
about all cases of water and air flow associated with building
and civil engineering, with notable exception of water flow
through granular soils.
• Turbulent flow comprises the mean () and fluctuating ()
velocity components at a point, i.e., , where the bar ()
represents time averaged measurements and prime ()
represents the fluctuation about the time average.
• Such a representation of velocity showing the mean and
fluctuating component is called .
 LAMINAR & TURBULENT FLOW
• Reynolds decomposition
• when you measure velocity continuously
at a point for timeand plot the time series
data of against time (i.e., vs ), it will have a
fluctuating profile as shown in the figure.
• The time-averaged velocity of the time-
series data will be a straight horizontal
line.
• The fluctuating component of velocity is
obtained by subtracting the time-averaged
velocity from the time series data i.e., .
• The square of the fluctuating component
is the variance and represents the
turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) of the flow, .

• The square root of variance is known as

turbulence intensity, .
LAMINAR & TURBULENT FLOW

• Where flow velocities are very low,

and /or the fluid is very viscous, the
particles move forward in a more
orderly fashion (in layers) without
rapid fluctuations.
• For this case, flow is said to be
LAMINAR.
• Apart from groundwater flow,
where the velocities are usually
very low, laminar flow is not
common in practice.
 LAMINAR & TURBULENT FLOW
• We use the Reynolds number to determine
whether flow is laminar or turbulent.
• Reynolds number is the ratio of inertial
forces to the viscous forces.

• Where is mean velocity, is hydraulic radius,

and = is kinematic viscosity.
• m2/s for water
• For water flowing in pipes,
• Laminar flow:
• Transitional :
• Turbulent:
 LAMINAR & TURBULENT FLOW
• The parabolic profile in (a) corresponds to a laminar
flow that has a smaller velocity gradient and shear
stress than in (b) which represents turbulent flow
 LAMINAR & TURBULENT FLOW

• A consequence of turbulent flow is that

a lot more of the fluid energy is used
up (converted to non-recoverable low-
grade heat) as it moves along,
compared to laminar flow (See
Kolmogorov’s energy cascade principle
in the following slides).
• The loss of energy due to friction in
turbulent flow is proportional to the
square of the velocity, whereas the loss
of energy due to laminar flow is
proportional to just the velocity.
 FLUID FLOW-KOLMOGOROV’S THEORY

• Kolmogorov (1941) introduced notions of local

homogeneity, and local isotropy.
• Homogeneous means the same in all locations,
e.g., Temperature at A= Temperature at B
• Isotropic means the same in all directions, e.g.,
Turbulent fluctuations being the same in all
directions
• According to Kolmogorov, a high Reynolds
number flow represents a combination of multi-
scale eddies superimposed with mean flow.
• An eddy is the swell of fluid, and the currents
that form when a turbulent fluid is in motion.
 FLUID FLOW-KOLMOGOROV’S THEORY
• The largest eddies are formed as a result of
hydrodynamic instability of the mean flow, and thus
they receive the energy directly from the mean flow.
• The largest eddies, in turn, are also unstable, and form
smaller eddies of size , and characteristic velocity .
• The process of creation of smaller and smaller eddies
continues until the eddy Reynolds number becomes
so small that further generation of finer eddies is
blocked by viscosity.
• The smallest eddies represented by the dissipative
scale , serve as the mechanism for energy transfer
from turbulent fluctuations into heat.
 FLUID FLOW-KOLMOGOROV’S THEORY
• Thus, Kolmogorov’s concept assumes that the
energy transfer to turbulence occurs through the
largest eddies of scale ,
• Then the energy ‘cascades’ from larger to smaller
eddies without dissipation or production until the
eddy size becomes small enough for viscosity to
overcome inertia.
• The energy cascade concept provides a clear picture
of energy fate in turbulence dynamics.
 FLUID FLOW-KOLMOGOROV’S THEORY
• The shape and kinetics of the largest eddies are
strongly influenced by the geometry of external
flow boundaries, and therefore at scale , turbulent
flow is heterogeneous and anisotropic.
• However, the memory of the external conditions is
gradually weakened with decreasing scale and
sufficiently small eddies (but still larger than
dissipative eddies) may be viewed as locally
homogeneous and isotropic.
• CONSERVATION OF MASS
• CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

• Conservation of mass suggests that matter cannot be

created or destroyed (except in a nuclear reaction).
• For fluids, this simply means that in a pipe or duct as
shown below, the volume per second passing section 1 =
volume per second passing section 2, assuming we are
not storing any fluid between 1 and 2
𝑄=𝐴1𝑈 1=𝐴 2𝑈 2

1 2

𝑄 𝑖𝑛
𝑄 𝑜𝑢𝑡
 CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF
ENERGY

• This statement of Conservation of Mass is very

useful to remember for working out the change in
velocity due to a change in the pipe cross-section.
• It is also referred to as the principle of Continuity.
CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF
ENERGY
• Conservation of energy is another fundamental idea which
suggests that the energy contained in a flowing fluid as it
passes one section equals the energy it contains at
another section, provided no energy has been used up
(i.e., converted to heat) as it moves between the two
sections.
• In a real fluid, however, this can never be true, so we need
to have a way of estimating the friction losses unless the
distance between the sections we are considering is very
small.
 CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF
ENERGY
• The energy a fluid contains is due to its velocity (kinetic
energy) and its elevation (potential energy) above some
arbitrary level or “datum”.
• For a body to acquire energy, it must have had an
equivalent amount of work done on it previously by
applying a force to it over a distance. In the case of a fluid,
we need to apply a pressure over an area of the fluid to
have the equivalent effect.
CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF
ENERGY

• By asserting that the work done on the fluid equals the

energy acquired by it, we can derive an expression that
relates pressure, velocity, and elevation at a section in a
fluid to that at any other section for the ideal case of no
friction.
• When we collect all the terms referring to section 1 of a
pipe together, and similarly for section 2 of the same pipe
together, we get a well known form of the Bernoulli
equation.
• See next page
 CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF
ENERGY
• For practical applications, we have to also take account of
any losses between sections 1 and 2 due to friction or
other causes.

𝑍2
𝑍1

• (The Bernoulli eqn for ideal flow)

 • The Bernoulli equation in its modified
form (commonly referred to as the
Energy equation) is very useful for
CONSERVATION many practical applications, as long as
OF MASS AND we can find a way of dealing with the
CONSERVATION energy loss term.
OF ENERGY • If there is significant friction between
1 and 2, then we have to write;
•
• Where head lost to friction as fluid
flows from 1 to 2.
 CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

• The venturi effect

• Note that if we let i.e., the duct is horizontal) and we have a
change of section as shown below, then the velocity goes up
past section 2, so the pressure must drop.
• This is known as the venturi effect, and is used in many
applications in flow measurement and control.
1 2

𝑃 1𝑈 1
𝑃 2𝑈 2
CONSERVATION OF MASS AND CONSERVATION OF
ENERGY

• In some cases where we know the friction losses

are going to be relatively small, we can assume .
• Alternatively, as in the case of venturi meters,
orifice plates, e.t.c., we can adjust our answers
using an experimentally derived coefficient .
FLOW MEASUREMENT DEVICES THAT USE THE PRINCIPLE OF
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY AND MASS

• The simplest device is the PITOT TUBE

(Invented by French Engineer Henri
Pitot), which when used in conjunction
with a STATIC TUBE, enables the
velocity at any point in the flow to be
measured.
• The Pitot tube measures stagnation
pressure by reducing the velocity at a
point to zero.
1 2
• Static tube measures total pressure.
• Velocity computations for PITOT-STATIC
TUBE is computed thus;
• where ;
• Where is coefficient of velocity,
VENTURI METER AND ORIFICE PLATE
• The VENTURI METER AND ORIFICE PLATE
are two most widely used devices, both of
which operate on the same principles and
make use of the same theory, differing on 𝑉𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
the Coefficient of Discharge which is
applied to the theoretical formulae derived
from the principles of Conservation of
Energy and Mass.
• Read about the difference of the two
devices

𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
 CLASS EXAMPLE

• The flow in a 300 mm pipeline

carrying water is measured by means
of a venturi meter of throat 90 mm.
A mercury manometer is used to
measure the pressure difference
between the entrance to the meter
and the throat. Determine the flow
rate in the pipeline when the
manometer reading is 60 mm of
mercury. Assume for the meter =
0.85, and relative density of mercury
=13.6.
 TUTORIAL QUESTIONS
• Q 1.The flow in a 300 mm diameter pipe is measured by
means of a venturi meter with a throat diameter of 125mm
as shown below. If the pressure at section 1 is 30 kN/m2
and the pressure at section 2 is 15 kN/m2, determine the
discharge in the pipe.
• ANS: 68.2

flow 1 2 125mm
300mm
 TUTORIAL QUESTIONS
• Q2. Water is pumped from a sump to a higher elevation by installing a
pump with the following data;
• Discharge= 0.115m3/s ; Diameter of suction (pump inlet)= 150 mm;
Diameter of delivery (pump outlet) =100 mm; Head supplied by
pump=22.16 m
• Find the pressure in kN/m2 at 1 and 2.
• ANS: -50.6 kN/m2, 36.7 kN/m2 2
4.5m
1 pump
3m

sump
 TUTORIAL QUESTIONS
• Q3. A venturi is to be fitted to a 250 mm diameter pipe.
The pressure head in the pipe (at 1) is 6.0m of water, and
the maximum flow is 0.15 m3/s. Find the smallest diameter
of the throat to ensure that the pressure head does not
become negative.
• ANS: 130 mm

flow 1 2
𝐷 2=250 𝑚𝑚 𝐷 2 𝑚𝑚