Hydrostatic Force and Center of Pressure on a Vertical Submerged Surface

Aranda Andres Gomaa Ahmed Carleton Rober

Abstract
An experiment was conducted to determine the center of pressure of the hydrostatic force on a body submerged in water. A circular quadrant was used to simplify calculation of moment, and confine all hydrostatic forces of consequence to the vertical surface. Our results were close to the theoretical predictions, but different enough to suggest experimental error played a role.

Introduction
Hydrostatic force is the force of the water on all surfaces when there are no shear stresses on the fluid, which happens when water is stationary. This force acts in a direction normal to each surface and is dependent on the depth of that surface. The magnitude of the hydrostatic force on any surface can be calculated using the following equation:

, where

is the specific weight of the fluid,

is the depth of the centroid of the submerged

surface, and

is the area of the submerged area. and due to the different methods required depending

Care must be used when determining

on whether the vertical surface is fully submerged, or partially submerged. In the fully submerged case, will not change with each reading, and will be equal to the height of water

minus half of the vertical plane height. In the partially submerged case where the vertical surface is only partially under the water, are both dependent on the water height. The value of depth , and will equal half of . and

will always be calculated using the

The circular quadrant was chosen to confine all hydrostatic forces to its vertical surface. The axis of the quadrant is also the pivot point of the submerged apparatus. All forces on the quadrant that are not on the vertical surface have a line of action that pass through that pivot point. This setup allows the experimenter to ignore all forces that are not on the vertical surface. With only one force to examine, the moment about the pivot point can be determined with respect to both the weights and the hydrostatic force. These two moments must be in equilibrium for the weight to balance.

, where

is the vertical distance from the pivot point to the Center of Pressure, and

is the moment due to the hanging masses.

Methods and Materials

The apparatus: components are a Plexiglas box for holding water or any other working fluid, and a fabricated quadrant mounted on a balance arm, which pivots on knife-edge. The pivot point coincides with the axis of the quadrant. Thus, the only hydrostatic forces acting on the quadrant giving rise to the moment about the pivot point is the force on the vertical face. All other forces cancel out or pass through the point of rotation, hence, do not contribute to the moment about the pivot.

The following procedure was used to obtain the basic experimental data: 1. Position the empty tank on the hydrostatic bench, or any working surface. 2. Adjust the screwed feet until the built-in circular spirit level (If available) indicates that the base is horizontal. 3. Move the counter-balance weight until the balance arm is horizontal. 4. Fill up the tank with water; make sure that the drain valve is closed. 5. Add the weights to hanger to retain the balance of beam. 6. Empty the tank, clean the working space, wipe out any water.

Results Fully submerged Experimental h [m] 0.199 0.195 0.189 0.165 0.14 0.091 0.059 hc (m) 0.149 0.145 0.139 0.115 0.09 0.041 0.009 Theoritical (Yrt) Fr (N) 10.9515 10.6575 10.2165 8.4525 6.615 3.0135 0.6615 d (m) 0.154631 0.153931 0.155396 0.156522 0.16 0.17561 0.4 Yre (m) 0.153631 0.148931 0.144396 0.121522 0.1 0.06661 0.259 0.132666667 0.13 0.126 0.11 0.093333333 0.060666667 0.039333333 Error % 15.80217 14.56233 14.59975 10.47431 7.142857 9.796301 558.4746

Mass [Kg] 0.64 0.62 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.1

(Fr, Yre, Yrt) vs h

12 10 8 Fr, Yre, Yrt 6 4 2 0 0 0.05 0.1 h (m) 0.15 0.2 0.25

Discussion
This experiment has as objective to determine the center of pressure of hydrostatic force acting on a vertical plane surface immersed in water. In order to performance this experiment the following measurements were needed, mass, height, depth of the centroid, and with these data it was possible to calculate the distance, resultant hydrostatic force, experimental depth. Therefore, using all these data, the percentage will be obtained. Seven runs were performed, with different data. The obtained result showed large discrepancies between the theoretical and experimental values of the center of pressure, where the experimental ones were larger than the theoretical ones. For example in the first run, the experimental depth was 0.15 m, while the theoretical depth was 0.132 m. This is because as the mass applied on the apparatus decreases the experimental depth decreases as well. The differences between the two were smaller in total immersion region (y>=10) than in the partial immersion region. These discrepancies might be a result of errors occurred in the experimental procedures or apparatus such as unbalance weight, error in determining the depth due to taking the reading from the vernier or from parallax error determining the touching point between the water surface and the pin of the measuring device.

Conclusion
This experiment used different formulas to ensure that the theory and the practical use match. The following principles were theoretical learned and practically proved, the higher the water level rises, the shorter the distance between line of action and the pivot became, therefore shortening the lever that had to oppose the opposing moment on the balancing arm, the only feasible response to keeping the system in equilibrium would be for the force to increase. However, this is possible on if the system stays in equilibrium and the lever becomes shorter, the force has to increase to supply the same torque. Therefore, the deeper the water became, the more power is used. The test run as expected, however, there is always the need to think of a possible mistake. When one considers a possible mistake that could have slipped in during measurement, the inherent inaccuracy of the human eye and the variance in constants like density of water, temperature and measuring instruments, the results might be good. Considering possible mistakes makes an experiment more accurate to the expected result.