Fluid Flow

Measurement
 Orifice
• An orifice is an opening with a closed
perimeter and of regular form through which
water flows.
• If the perimeter is not closed or if the opening
flows only partially full the orifice becomes a
weir.
 Orifice
• An orifice with prolonged sides, such as a
piece of pipe two or three diameters in length
set in the side of a reservoir, is called a tube.
• An orifice in a thick wall has the hydraulic
properties of a tube.
• Orifices may be circular, square, rectangular or
of any other regular shape.
 Orifice
• The stream of water which issues from an
orifice is termed the jet.
• An orifice with a sharp upstream edge so
formed that water in passing touches only this
edge is called a sharp-edged orifice.
• The term velocity of approach as applied to
orifices means the mean velocity of the water
in a channel leading up to an orifice.
 Orifice
• The portion of the channel where the velocity
of approach is considered to occur is
designated the channel of approach.
• An orifice is spoken of as a vertical or
horizontal orifice depending upon whether it
lies in a vertical or horizontal plane.
 Orifice
• The figure below shows a general case of fluid
flow through an orifice. Let pA and pB be the
air pressures in the chambers A and B,
respectively and vA be the velocity of the
stream normal to the plane of the orifice
(velocity of approach) Consider two points 1
and 2 such that vi = vA and v2 = v and writing
the energy equation between these two
points neglecting losses.
• Where H is the total head producing flow in
meters or feet of the flowing fluid. It can be
noted that H is the sum of the flow energy
upstream less the flow energy downstream, or
• H = Head Upstream - Head Downstream
Values of H for Various Conditions
Values of H for Various Conditions
 Contraction of the Jet
• The figure shown represents a cross-section
of fluid flow through a vertical sharp-edged
orifice from a reservoir to the atmosphere.
The fluid flowing is coming from all direction
upstream from the orifice and as they leave
the orifice, they cannot make an abrupt
change in their direction and they move in
curvilinear paths, thus causing the jet to
contract for a short distance beyond the
orifice.
 Contraction of the Jet
• The phenomenon is referred to as the
contraction of the jet.
• The section on the jet where the contraction
ceases is called the vena contracta which is
approximately located at one half of the
orifice diameter (D/2) from the upstream face.
 Orifices under Low Heads
• When the head on a vertical orifice is small in
comparison with the height of the orifice,
there is an appreciable difference between
the discharges using the previous analysis.
• Consider the rectangular section of length L
and height D as shown in the figure with both
the surface and the jet subject to atmospheric
pressure. The theoretical discharge through an
elementary strip of length L and height dh is
 Nozzle
• A nozzle is a converging tube installed at the
end of a pipe or hose for the purpose of
increasing the velocity of the issuing jet.
 Nozzle
• The discharge through a nozzle can be
calculated using the equation
 Nozzle
• The following table gives the mean values of
coefficients for water discharging through a
nozzle having a base diameter of 40 mm and C
= 1.0.
 Gates
• A gate is an opening in a dam or other
hydraulic structure to control the passage of
water. It has the same hydraulic properties as
the orifice. In using gates, calibration test are
advisable if accurate measurements are to be
obtained since its coefficient of discharge
varies widely.
 Gates
• The following illustrations show the two
different flow conditions through the sluice
gate
 Gates
• Writing the energy equation between 1 and 2
neglecting head lost:
 Tubes
Standard Short Tube

• A standard short tube is the one with a

square-cornered entrance and has a length of
about 2.5 times its internal diameter as shown
in the figure.
 Tubes
• Figure (a) shows a condition when the flow
started suddenly with high heads so that the jet
may not touch the walls of the pipe. This
condition is very much the same as that of a
sharp-crested orifice.
• Figure (b) shows a condition when the jet touches
the walls of the tube. The discharge through this
tube is about one-third greater than that of the
standard sharp-edged orifice but the velocity of
flow is lesser
 Tubes
Converging Tubes
• Conical converging tubes has the form of a
frustum of a right circular cone with the larger
end adjacent to the tank or reservoir as shown
in the figure.
 Tubes
Diverging Tubes
• A diverging tube has the form of a frustum of
a right circular cone with the smaller end
adjacent to the reservoir or tank.
 Tubes
Re-entrant Tubes
• These are tube having their ends projecting
inside a reservoir or tank.
 Tubes
• Borda's Mouthpiece - This is a special case of
a re-entrant tube, consisting of a thin tube
projecting into a tank having a length of about
one diameter. The coefficient of contraction
for this tube, Cc = 0.5 and Cv = 1.0.
 Tubes
Submerged Tubes
• An example of submerged tube is a culvert
conveying water through embankments. The
discharge through a submerged tube is given
by the formula:
• Where is the coefficient of discharge, A is the
area of the opening, and H is the difference in
elevation of the liquid surfaces.
 Unsteady Flow
• The flow through orifice, weirs, or tubes is
said to be steady only if the total head
producing flow, H, is constant. The amount of
fluid being discharged for a time I can
therefore be computed using the formula.
 Unsteady Flow
• Where Q is the discharge, which is constant or
steady. In some conditions however, the head
over an orifice, tube or weir may vary as the
fluid flows out and thus causing the flow to be
unsteady.
 Unsteady Flow
• Consider the tank shown in the figure to be
supplied with a fluid (inflow) and
simultaneously discharging through an outlet
(either an orifice, tube, weir or pipe).
Obviously, if Qin > Qout the head will rise and if
Qout > Qin, the head will fall. Suppose we are
required to compute the time to lower the
level from li to ha (assuming Qout > Qin), the
amount of fluid which is lost in the tank will
be
 Unsteady Flow
• where dV is the differential volume lost over a
differential time dt. If the head over the outlet
is h, then the level will drop dh, thus dV = As
dh , where As is the surface area in the
reservoir at any instant and may be constant
or variable, then
• When there is no inflow (Qin = 0), the formula
becomes:
• Interchanging the limits to change the sign of
the integrand:

• Note: If As is variable, it must be expressed in

terms of h.
 Unsteady Flow
• If the outflow is through and orifices or tube, .

• If the flow is through any other openings, use

the corresponding formula for discharge.
• For tanks with constant cross-sectional area
and the outflow is through an orifice or tube
(with no inflow), the time for the head to
change from H1, to H2 is:
 Unsteady Flow
• For tanks with constant cross-sectional area
and the outflow is through an orifice or tube
(with no inflow), the time for the head to
change from H1, to H2 is:
 Unsteady Flow
• If liquid flows through a submerged orifice or
tube connecting two tanks as shown, the time
for the head to change from H1, to H2 is:
 Unsteady Flow
• where As1 and As2 is the water surface areas in
the tanks at any time, and H is the difference
in water surfaces in the two tanks at any time.
If As1 and/or As2 will vary, it must be expressed
in terms of H.
• If As1 and As2 are constant, i.e. the two tanks
have uniform cross-sectional area, the formula
becomes: