FLUID MECHANICS

ABDULAZEEZ ISMAILA
H00344059
4/11/2021

BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE LABORATORY

Group Members
 Taimoor Hassan
 Abdul-azeez Ismaila
 Abishek Kannan
 Karthik Manikantadas Meno

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 Abstract
In this experiment, the velocity and pressure drop for a given flow rate of water
were calculated, the value were found through the use of Bernoulli’s equation
and the continuity equation.

The results gotten for both the experimental and calculated value were found to
obey Bernoulli’s principle even though the values weren’t exactly the same.

Some suggestions were made to improve the accuracy of the experiment and the
errors have been explained for future reference.

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1. INTRODUCTION
Bernoulli’s principle is a theorem that is being employed in many modern-day
fluid mechanics applications. An example of Bernoulli’s theorem is to
determine the flow speed of a fluid, devices such as venturi meters and orifice
plates are used and can be placed into a pipeline to reduce the diameter of the
flow.

The reduction in diameter will bring about an increase in the flow speed, and
thus by following the Bernoulli there must be a decrease in pressure.

The aim of this experiment is to determine Bernoulli’s theorem which can be

applied to a venturi meter that consists of a converging and diverging cone.

Bernoulli’s equation has been used in many applications such as

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2. THEORY
In a fluid system, with an increase in flow velocity, the pressure which is
produce by the fluid will decrease. Bernoulli’s principle states that when
incompressible fluid flows steady in the duct, when there is an increase in flow
velocity, the static pressure of the fluid will decrease and vice versa.

The principle is shown as:

2 2
P1 u1 P 2 u2
+ + z 1= + + z 2
ρg 2 g ρg 2 g

Where,

P1= Pressure at point 1

P2= Pressure at point 2

u21= Velocity at point 1

u22= Velocity at point 2

z= Elevation head

g= Gravity

ρ = Density

The equation is the sum of the Kinetic energy, Potential energy and
gravitational energy at height. If the equation is multiplied through by the
volume, the density can be replaced by mass and the pressure replaced by
force times distance.

The continuity equation states that for an incompressible fluid flowing in a

tube of varying cross-section, the mass flow rate is the same everywhere in the
tube. The equation is written as:
ρ1 A 1 u 1=ρ2 A 2 u2 =Q

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Where,

A= Cross sectional area .

Q= Flowrate

For a fluid in which the density is constant the equation states that:

Q=Au

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3. Experiment Details
This section will contain the apparatus and experimental procedure used in the
experiment.

 Flowmeter apparatus

 Stopwatch
 Hydraulic Bench

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Procedures

Start-up procedures

1. The clear acrylic is ensured that the test section is installed with the
converging section upstream.
2. The apparatus is located on the flat top of the bench.
3. A spirit level is attached to baseboard and on top of the bench is levelled by
adjusting the feet.
4. The flexible inlet is connected using the quick release coupling in the
channel.
5. A flexible hose is connected to the outlet.
6. The outlet flow control valve is gradually opened to allow the volumetric
tank to be filled.

Experimental procedures

1. After the start-up procedures are performed.

2. All piezometer tubes are checked properly connected to the corresponding
pressure taps don’t have air bubbles.
3. The discharged valve is adjusted to a high measurable flow rate.
4. After the level is stabilized, the flow rate is measured.
5. The hypertonic tube is gently slid so that the cross section of the venturi
tube reached its end.
6. Step 5 was repeated for other cross sections.

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4. RESULTS
Volume of water =5 Litres

Time taken = 43.47s

Flow rate = 0.115L/s = 1.15*10-4m3/s

G=9.81m/s2

ρ = 997kg/m3

µ =0.89*10-3

POINT STATIC HEAD(cm) TOTAL HEAD(cm) Area(m2)

NO.

1 23 23.65 6.16*10-4

2 22.6 23.6 3.46*10-4

3 20 23 1.54*10-4

4 20.8 23 2.22*10-4

5 21.6 23 3.02*10-4

6 22 23.1 3.94*10-4

7 NA NA 4.99*10-4

8 22.3 22.9 6.16*10-4

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DYNAMIC umeasured =√ 2 g h dynamic NRe ucalc
HEAD(cm
(m/s)
)

0.65 0.36 11291.87 0.19

1.0 0.44 10350.88 0.33

3 0.77 12076.02 0.75

2.2 0.66 12421.05 0.52

1.4 0.52 11417.33 0.38

1.1 0.47 11793.73 0.29

NA NA NA NA

0.6 0.34 10664.54 0.19

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 5. Discussion
Bernoulli’s theorem was demonstrated and from the result it was calculated
that when the diameter of the cross section was getting smaller, the velocities
were increasing along the distribution tube. The smallest area gave the largest
pressure difference and had the highest velocities.

The volumetric flow rate was gotten from determining the amount of time it
took for a given amount of water to flow. The velocities were gotten through
measurement and calculation by the use of Bernoulli’s equation and the
continuity equation respectively. It was observed that the measured values
were higher than the calculated values.

Some errors that may have been encountered during the course of the
experiment include:

 Error due to parallax when measuring the pressure drop

 Human error when using the stopwatch
 The pipes inner surface may not be entirely frictionless and as such will
affect the pressure drop.

Some limitations of Bernoulli’s principle include

 The loss of energy when the liquid is in motion is not considered while
some kinetic energy is converted into heat and are lost.
 The fact that the fluids must be incompressible even though the elastic
energy of the fluid isn’t taken into account.

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6. CONCLUSION
Bernoulli’s principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs when
there is a pressure drop. Based on the results gotten from the above
experiment for the measured and calculated values of velocity and also the
pressure drop values gotten, it can be deduced that the principle has been
proved right.

Some improvements that can be made to the experiment include:

 To solve the problem of friction, the distance to the inlet can be

shortened, thereby reducing the error.
 To improve the head reading, the manometer tubes can be marked and
the head measured at the end of the experiment.

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