After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Compute the force exerted on a plane area by a pressurized gas.
2. Compute the force exerted by any static fluid acting on a horizontal plane area. 3. Compute the resultant force exerted on a rectangular wall by a static liquid. 4. Define the term centre of pressure 5. Compute the resultant force exerted on any submerged plane area by a static liquid. 6. Show the vector representing the resultant force on any submerged plane area in its proper location and direction. 7. Visualize the distribution of force on a submerged curved surface. 8. Compute the total resultant force on the curved surface. 9. Compute the direction in which the resultant force acts and show its line of action.
Introduction
Forces due to static fluids is the study of incompressible fluids at rest
Recall that the basic definition of pressure can be stated mathematically as:
We are now concerned with the force produced by the pressure in a fluid that acts on the walls of containers. When the pressure is uniform over all the area of interest, the force is simply F = pA. Considering the basic definition of pressure, the fluid exerts a force perpendicular to the surface of interest. When the pressure varies over the area of interest, other methods must be used to account for this variation before we can compute the magnitude of the resultant force on the surface. The location of the resultant force, called the centre of pressure, must also be located so that an analysis of the effects of the force can be done. Consider the side wall of the tanks in Figure 1, the hatch in the inclined wall of the fluid reservoir, the retaining wall, and the aquarium windows. The retaining wall is an example of a special case we call rectangular walls, for which the pressure varies linearly from zero (gauge) at the top surface of the fluid to some larger pressure at the bottom of the wall. The reservoir hatch and the aquarium windows require a more general approach because no part of the area of interest involves the zero pressure. Figure 1 Examples of cases where forces on submerged areas must be computed.
Gases Under Pressure
Figure 2 shows a pneumatic cylinder of the type used in automated machinery. The air pressure acts on the piston face, producing a force that causes the linear movement of the rod. The pressure also acts on the end of the cylinder, tending to pull it apart. This is the reason for the four tie rods between the end caps of the cylinder. The distribution of pressure within a gas is very nearly uniform. Therefore, we can calculate the force on the piston and cylinder ends directly from F = pA. Figure 2 Fluid power cylinder
Horizontal Flat Surfaces Under Liquids
Figure 3 shows a cylindrical drum containing oil and water. The pressure in the water at the bottom of the drum is uniform across the entire area because it is a horizontal plane in a fluid at rest. Again, we can simply use F = pA to calculate the force at the bottom. The force is of course equal to the weight of the water.
Figure 3 cylindrical drum.
Example If the drum in Figure 3 is open to the atmosphere at the top, calculate the force on the bottom. [253,8 kN] Example Would there be any difference between the force on the bottom of the drum in Figure 3 and that on the bottom of the cone-shaped container in Figure 4?
Figure 4 Cone-shaped container.
Rectangular Walls
The retaining walls shown in the figure below are typical examples of rectangular walls exposed to a pressure varying from zero on the surface of the fluid to a maximum at the bottom of the wall. The force due to the fluid pressure tends to overturn the wall or break it at the place where it is fixed to the bottom.
The actual force is distributed over the entire wall, but for the purpose of analysis, it is desirable to determine the resultant force and the place where it acts, called the centre of gravity. That is, if the entire force were concentrated at a single point, where would that point be and what would the magnitude of the force be? The Figure below shows the pressure distribution on the vertical retaining wall. As indicated by the equation p = h, the pressure varies linearly with depth in the fluid. The lengths of the dashed arrows represent the magnitude of the fluid pressure at various points on the wall. Because of this linear variation in pressure, the total resultant force can be calculated from the equation:
where,
= the average pressure
A = the total area of the wall
But the average pressure is that at the middle of the wall and can be calculated from the equation
where,
= the total depth of the fluid.
Therefore, we have
Figure 6 Vertical rectangular wall.
The pressure distribution shown in Figure 6 indicates that a greater portion of the force acts on the lower part of the wall. The centre of pressure is at the centroid of the distribution triangle, one third of the distance from the bottom of the wall. The resultant force acts perpendicular to the wall at this point. The procedure for calculating the magnitude of and the location of the centre of pressure (COP) for vertical and inclined walls in listed below.
Procedure for computing the force on a rectangular wall
1. Calculate the magnitude of the resultant force from
2. Locate the COP at a vertical distance from the bottom of the wall. 3. Show the resultant force acting at the COP perpendicular to the wall. Example The Figure below shows a dam 30,5 m long that retains 8 m of fresh water and is inclined at an angle of 60°. Calculate the magnitude of the resultant force on the dam and the location of centre of pressure.
Figure 7 Inclined rectangular wall
Hint:
Calculate the area of the dam.
Calculate the resultant force.
The centre of pressure is at a vertical distance h/3 from the bottom.
[11 MN; 2,67 m from the bottom of the dam or 3,079 m along the face of the dam]
Note:
The inclination of the wall does not change the pressure distribution diagram. The pressure distribution is due to the pressure varying linearly from zero to maximum.
If the tank is filled with liquids of different densities, the pressure distribution diagram will typically be as shown in the following Figure
Figure 8 Tank containing liquids of different densities
nd position thereof is determined separately. By taking moments about any point, the total resultant hydrostatic force is determined.
Example A tank with dimensions 2,8 x 3 x 4 m is filled with water to the first 3 m. On top of the water, oil with a density of 840 kg/m3 floats 1 m deep. Calculate the resultant hydrostatic force and the position of its line of action in the side of 2,8 x 4 m high.
840 kg/m3 1
1000 kg/m3
2 3
L3 L2 L1 O LT
F1
FT F2 F3
[11,54 kN; L1 = 0,667 m from top; 69,22 kN; L2 = 2,5 m from top; 123,6 kN; L3 = 3 m from top; FT = 204,4 kN; LT = 2,698 m]
Exercise Repeat the above example by taking the oil depth as 3 m and that of water as 5 m.
