CE 521 - Water Resources Engineering

RESEARCH
April 17, 2021 HIPOLITO RARANGOL, III
BSCE – V
Relative Equilibrium of Liquids

Relative equilibrium of liquid is a condition where the whole mass of liquid including the vessel in
which the liquid is contained, is moving at uniform accelerated motion with respect to the earth, but every
particle of liquid have no relative motion between each other. There are two cases of relative equilibrium
that will be discussed in this section: linear translation and rotation. Note that if a mass of liquid is moving
with constant speed, the conditions are the same as static liquid in the previous sections.

Formulas
For details of the following formulas see the translation and rotation pages.

Horizontal Motion

Inclined Motion

Vertical Motion

Rotation

and

Rectilinear Translation | Moving Vessel

Horizontal Motion
If a mass of fluid moves horizontally along a straight line at constant acceleration a, the
liquid surface assume an angle θ with the horizontal, see figure below.
For any value of a, the angle θ can be found by considering a fluid particle
of mass m on the surface. The forces acting on the particle are the
weight W = mg, inertia force or reverse effective force REF = ma, and the
normal force N which is the perpendicular reaction at the surface. These
three forces are in equilibrium with their force polygon shown to the right.

From the force triangle

Inclined Motion
Consider a mass of fluid being accelerated up an incline α from horizontal. The
horizontal and vertical components of inertia force REF would be respectively, x =
mah and y = mav.
From the force triangle above

but a cos α = ah and a sin α = av, hence

Use (+) sign for upward motion and (-) sign for downward motion.

Vertical Motion
The figure shown to the right is a mass of liquid moving vertically
upward with a constant acceleration a. The forces acting to a liquid
column of depth h from the surface are weight of the liquid W = γV,
the inertia force REF = ma, and the pressure F = pA at the bottom of
the column.
Use (+) sign for upward motion and (-) sign for downward motion. Also note that a is
positive for acceleration and negative for deceleration.

Rotation | Rotating Vessel

When at rest, the surface of mass of liquid is horizontal

at PQ as shown in the figure. When this mass of liquid
is rotated about a vertical axis at constant angular
velocity ω radian per second, it will assume the surface
ABC which is parabolic. Every particle is subjected to
centripetal force or centrifugal force CF = mω2x which
produces centripetal acceleration towards the center of
rotation. Other forces that acts are gravity force W =
mg and normal force N.

Where tan θ is the slope at the surface of paraboloid at any distance x from the axis of
rotation.
 From Calculus, y’ = slope, thus

For cylindrical vessel of radius r revolved about its vertical axis, the height h of
paraboloid is

Other Formulas
By squared-property of parabola, the relationship of y, x, h and r is defined by

Volume of paraboloid of revolution

Important conversion factor

Tags:

• centrifugal force
• angular velocity
• paraboloid
• squared property of parabola
• centripetal acceleration
• slope of paraboloid
• volume of paraboloid

Problem 1
A closed cylindrical vessel 3 m. in diameter and 6 m high is filled with water to a height
of 4.5 m. The rest is filled with air, the pressure of which is 105 kPa. If the vessel is
rotated at 191 rpm about its axis, determine the maximum and minimum inside
pressure at the base.

Solution 1

Speed of rotation

TIP: Multiply rpm by π/30 for fast conversion to rad/sec. Notice that the above
procedure is actually a multiplication of this amount.

When x = r = 1.5 m, y = h

Determine the position of the vortex:

(Note: The height of paraboloid is equal to H2/2D
when the vortex touches the bottom of the
tank.)
Since h > H2/2D, the vortex is below the vessel. See figure below.

At x = x1, y = y1

At x = x2, y = y1 + 6

Volume of air

Final volume of air = Initial volume of air

The minimum pressure at the base occurs at all points within the circle of radius x1 and
is equal to the original air pressure.
answer
The maximum pressure will occur anywhere along the circumference of the base.

answer

REACTION PAPER

Relative Equilibrium Defined liquids have been assumed to be in equilibrium and at rest with
respect both to the earth and to the containing vessel. This treats of the condition where every particle
of a liquid is at rest with respect to every other particle and to the containing vessel, but the whole mass,
including vessel, has uniformly accelerated motion with respect to the earth. The liquid is then in
equilibrium and at rest with respect to the vessel, but it is neither in equilibrium nor at rest with respect
to the earth. In this condition a liquid is said to be in relative equilibrium. Since there is no motion of the
liquid with respect to the vessel and no movement between the fluid particles themselves there can be
no friction.