4 Rules of Thumb for Mechanical Engineers
FLUID STATICS
Fluid statics is the branch of fluid mechanics that deals
with cases in which there is no relative motion between fluid
elements. In other words, the fluid may either be in rest or
at constant velocity, but certainly not accelerating. Since
Manometers and Pressure Measurements
Pressure is the same in all directions at a point in a sta-
tic fluid. However, if the fluid is in motion, pressure is de-
fined as the average of three mutually perpendicular nor-
mal compressive stresses at a point:
P = (Px + Py + P J 3
Pressure is measured either from the zero absolute pres-
sure or from standard atmospheric pressure. If the reference
point is absolute pressure. the pressure is called the absohte
pressure, whereas if the reference point is standard atmos-
pheric (14.7 psi), it is called the gage pressure. A barom-
eter is used to get the absolute pressure. One can make a
simple barometer by filling a tube with mercury and in-
verting it into an open container filled with mercury. The
mercury column in the tube will now be supported only by
the atmospheric pressure applied to the exposed mercury
surface in the container. The equilibrium equation may be
written as:
pa = 0.491(144)h
where h is the height of mercury column in inches, and 0.491
is the density of mercury in pounds per cubic inch. In the
Hydraulic Pressure on Surfaces
For a horizontal area subjected to static fluid pressure,
the resultant force passes through the centroid of the area.
If the Plane is h A k d at an angle 0, then the local Pressure
Will V W linearly with the depth- The average Pressure
occurs at the average depth:
there is no relative motion between fluid layers, there are
no shear stresses in the fluid under static equilibrium.
Hence, all bodies in fluid statics have only normal forces
on their surfaces.
above expression, we neglected the vapor pressure for
mercury. But if we use any other fluid instead of mercury,
the vapor pressure may be signifcant. The equilibrium
equation may then be:
Pa = [(O-O361)(s)(h)+ pvl(144)
where 0.0361 is the water density in pounds per cubic
inch, and s is the specific gravity of the fluid. The consis-
tent equation for variation of pressure is
P=Yh
where p is in lb/ft2,y is the specific weight of the fluid in
lb/ft3, and h is infeet. The above equation is the same as p
= ywsh, where yw is the specific weight of water (62.4
lb/ft3) and s is the specific gravity of the fluid.
Manometers are devices used to determine differential
pressure. A simple U-tube manometer (with fluid of spe-
cific weight y) connected to two pressure points will have
a differential column of height h. The differential pressure
will then be Ap = (p2 - pl) = 'yh. Corrections must be
made if high-density fluids are present above the manome-
ter fluid.
1
pavg =-(h, +h,)sine (3)
2
However, the center of pressure will not be at average depth
but at the centroid of the triangular or trapezoidalpressure
distribution, which is also known as the pressure prism.