Mulungushi University

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MEE 322 – Assignment 1: Dynamics of Fluid Flow

Date: 6th March 2024

Question 1
Air flows steadily through the variable area pipe shown in the figure below. Determine the
flowrate, Q, if viscous and compressibility effects are negligible.

Question 2
A. A Pitot tube is a device that can be used to measure the velocity of fluid flowing in a
pipe or in a channel. Using the Bernoulli equation, derive an expression for the
velocity of a fluid measured using the Pitot tube in the figure below. Please show all
the steps and state any assumptions.

Figure Q4

B. A pitot tube placed in the centre of a 300mm pipeline has one orifice pointing
upstream and the other perpendicular to it. The mean velocity in the pipe is 0.80 of the
central velocity. Find the discharge through the pipe if the pressure difference
between the two orifices is 60mm of water. Take the coefficient of pitot tube as 𝐶𝑣 =
0.98.
Question 3
A horizontal pipe has a 180° U – bend with a uniform inside diameter of 200mm and carries
a liquid petroleum fraction (Specific Gravity 0.9) at a rate of 150m3/hour. Determine the
force exerted by the liquid on the bend if the gauge pressures upstream and downstream of
the bend are 100KN/m2, and 80KN/m2, respectively.

Question 4
The water jet in the figure below moving at 13.7m/s, is split so that one third of the water
moves towards A. Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force on the stationary splitter.
Assume ideal flow in a horizontal plane.

Question 5
A. A jet of water 3 cm in diameter strikes normal to a plate as in the figure below. If the force
required to hold the plate is 23 N, what is the jet velocity? [10 Marks]

B. The horizontal pump in the figure below discharges 20oC water at 57m3/h. Neglecting losses,
what power in kW is delivered to the water by the pump? [10 Marks]
Question 6
For the pipe -flow-reducing section of below, D1= 8 cm, D2 =5 cm, and p2 =1atm. All fluids
are at 20C. If V1=5m/s and the manometer reading is h = 58cm, estimate the total force
resisted by the flange bolts.

Question 7
A liquid jet of velocity Vj and area Aj strikes a single 180° bucket on a turbine wheel rotating
at angular velocity .
a) Find an expression for the power P delivered.
b) At what  is the power a maximum?
c) How does the analysis differ if there are many buckets, so the jet continually strikes at
least one?

Question 8
The pump in the figure below is designed to draw 220 m3 of water per hour, at 20C, from the
reservoir. The total frictional head loss for the system is 5m. The flow discharges through a
nozzle to the atmosphere. Estimate the size of the pump in kW required to deliver to the
water. Assume the pump has an efficiency of 80%.

Question 9
The large turbine in the figure diverts the river flow under a dam as shown. System friction
3.5𝑣 2
losses are ℎ𝑓 = , where v is the average velocity in the supply pipe.
2𝑔
a) For what river flow rate, in cubic metres per second, will the power extracted be
25MW?
b) Which of the two possible solutions has a better “conversion efficiency”?