MEC441 - Fluid Mechanics I

Topic 2: Fluid Statics

- Part 3 – Buoyancy and Stability

Reference:

Yunus A. Cengel , John M. Cimbala, “Fluid Mechanics Fundamentals and Applications”, 4th
Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2017, ISBN-10: 1259696537, ISBN-13: 978-1259696534
2
Objectives

• Analyze the stability of floating and submerged bodies.

John Ninomiya flying a cluster of 72 helium-filled

balloons over Temecula, California in April of
2003. The helium balloons displace
approximately 230 m3 of air, providing the
necessary buoyant force. Don’t try this at home!
 3–6 ■ BUOYANCY AND STABILITY
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Buoyant force: The upward force a fluid exerts on a body immersed in it. The
buoyant force is caused by the increase of pressure with depth in a fluid.

𝐹𝐵 = 𝐹bottom − 𝐹top = 𝜌𝑓 𝑔 𝑠 + ℎ 𝐴 − 𝜌𝑓 𝑔𝑠𝐴

𝐹𝐵 = 𝜌𝑓 𝑔 × ℎ𝐴 = 𝜌𝑓 𝑔 × volume
weight of the fluid with
volume volume of the solid

• The buoyant force acting on the plate is

equal to the weight of the liquid displaced
by the plate.
• For a fluid with constant density, the
buoyant force is independent of the
distance of the body from the free surface.

A flat plate of uniform thickness h submerged • It is also independent of the density of the
in a liquid parallel to the free surface. solid body.
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Archimedes’ principle: The buoyant force acting on a body immersed in a

fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body, and it acts
upward through the centroid of the displaced volume (center of
buoyancy).

Center of buoyancy
• It is a point through which the force of buoyancy is supposed to act.
• As the force of buoyancy is a vertical force and is equal to the weight of the fluid
displaced by the body, the center of buoyancy will be the center of gravity of
the fluid displaced.
 For floating bodies, the weight of the entire body must be equal to the buoyant
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force, which is the weight of the fluid whose volume is equal to the volume of the
submerged portion of the floating body:

A solid body dropped into a fluid will sink,

float, or remain at rest at any point in the
fluid, depending on its average density
relative to the density of the fluid.
 EXAMPLE 3–11 Height of Ice Block Below the Water Surface
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Consider a large cubic ice block floating in seawater. The specific gravities of ice and seawater are
0.92 and 1.025, respectively. If a 25-cm-high portion of the ice block extends above the surface of
the water, determine the height of the ice block below the surface.
 Assumptions
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1. The buoyancy force in air is negligible.
2. The top surface of the ice block is parallel to the surface of the sea.

Properties
The specific gravities of ice and seawater are given to be 0.92 and 1.025, respectively, and thus the
corresponding densities are 920 kg/m3 and 1025 kg/m3.

Analysis The weight of a body floating in a fluid is equal to the buoyant force acting on it (a
consequence of vertical force balance from static equilibrium), as shown in Fig. 3–48. Therefore,
 The cross-sectional area of a cube is constant, and thus the “volume ratio” can be replaced by
8 “height ratio.” Then,

where h is the height of the ice block below the surface. Solving for h gives

Discussion Note that 0.92/1.025 = 0.898, so approximately 90% of the

volume of an ice block remains under water. For symmetrical ice blocks
this also represents the fraction of height that remains under water.
This also applies to icebergs; the vast majority of an iceberg is
submerged.
 Stability of Immersed and Floating Bodies
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Stability of a ball on
the floor.

For floating bodies such as ships,

stability is an important
consideration for safety.
 Stability of Immersed Bodies
10 An immersed neutrally buoyant body is
a. stable if the center of gravity G is directly
below the center of buoyancy B of the body,
b. neutrally stable if G and B are coincident, and
c. unstable if G is directly above B.

When the center of gravity G of an immersed

neutrally buoyant body is not vertically aligned
with the center of buoyancy B of the body, it is not
in an equilibrium state and would rotate to its
stable state, even without any disturbance.
 Stability of Floating Bodies
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A floating body is stable if the body is bottom-heavy and thus the center of gravity G is
below the centroid B of the body, or if the center of gravity G is below the metacenter
M . However, the body is unstable if point G is above point M.

Metacentric height GM: The distance between the center of gravity G and the
metacenter M—the intersection point of the lines of action of the buoyant force
through the body before and after rotation.
The length of the metacentric height GM above G is a measure of the stability: the
larger it is, the more stable is the floating body.
 Summary
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 Buoyancy and Stability