UNSW SYDNEY

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

T3 2019, ENGG2500 – FLUID MECHANICS FOR ENGINEERS MID-TERM TEST

1. Time allowed: 60 mins

2. Total number of questions: 5
3. Questions are NOT equal value, total marks: 15
4. Answers must be written in ink
5. This paper may not be retained by the candidate

QUESTION 1 (2 marks)

Using primary dimensions, show that the Archimedes number (Ar) is indeed dimensionless,
where ρs, ρ, g, L and μ are density of the body, density of the fluid, gravitational acceleration,
length of body and dynamic viscosity, respectively.

ρs gL3
𝐴𝑟 = (ρs − ρ)
μ2

QUESTION 2 (4 marks)

A fan is to be selected to ventilate a bathroom whose

dimensions are 2 m x 3 m x 3 m. The air velocity is not to
exceed 8 m/s to minimise vibration and noise. The
combined efficiency of the fan-motor unit can be taken to
be 50%. If the fan is to replace the entire volume of air in
10 min, determine a) the wattage of fan-motor unit, and b)
the diameter of the fan casing. Take the air density to be 1.25 kg/m3.

QUESTION 3 (4 marks)

Water flows through a horizontal, 180° pipe bend. The flow

cross-sectional area is constant at a value of 0.01 m2 through the
bend. The magnitude of the flow velocity everywhere in the bend
is axial and 15 m/s. The absolute pressure at the entrance and exit
of the bend are 207 kPa and 165 kPa, respectively. Calculate the
horizontal component of the anchoring force required to hold the
bend in place. Use water density = 1000 kg/m3 and atmospheric
pressure = 101 kPa.

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QUESTION 4 (3.5 marks)

Consider a large cubic ice block floating in a bucket of seawater. The specific gravities of the
ice and seawater are 0.92 and 1.025 respectively. Estimate the percentage of the iceberg that
is below the surface.

If the ice block were to melt completely because of global warming, would there be any
change in the level of seawater (higher, the same or lower) within the bucket, before and after
the melting (you must justify your answer through calculation)? You can assume that the
melted ice has specific gravy of 1. (Hint: the weight of frozen and melted ice remains the
same).

QUESTION 5 (1.5 marks)

The shear stress and shear strain rate characteristics of three non-Newtonian fluid samples
were measured using a viscometer and the results are plotted as follow. Assuming that the
three fluid samples tested are corn starch, tooth paste and quick sand, respectively, match the
samples to the correct type of shear stress–shear strain rate profiles (i.e. red or blue) that you
would expect them to display.

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 T3 2019, ENGG2500 – FLUID MECHANICS FOR ENGINEERS MID-TERM TEST
SOLUTION

QUESTION 1

The primary dimensions of each parameter are listed,

𝑚 𝐿 𝑚
𝜌 = { 3} ; 𝑔 = { 2} ; 𝐿 = {𝐿}; 𝜇={ }
𝐿 𝑡 𝐿𝑡

Primary dimensions of Archimedes number:

𝑚𝐿 3
3 2𝐿 𝑚
{𝐴𝑟} = { 𝑡 2
𝐿 } = {1}
𝑚 𝐿3
𝐿2 𝑡 2

QUESTION 2

Assumptions:

1. The flow is steady and incompressible

2. Frictional losses along the flow, other than those due to the fan-motor inefficiency, are
negligible
3. The fan unit is horizontal, so that z = constant along the flow
4. The elevation effects are negligible because of the low density of air
5. The effect of the kinetic energy correction factors is negligible, α = 1

(a) The volume of air in the bathroom is:

𝑉 = 2𝑚 × 3𝑚 × 3𝑚 = 18 𝑚3

The volume and mass flow rate of air through the casing must be:

𝑉 18𝑚3
𝑉̇ = = = 0.03 𝑚3 /𝑠
∆𝑡 10 × 60𝑠

𝑚̇ = 𝜌𝑉̇ = (1.25𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 )(0.03𝑚3 /𝑠) = 0.0375 𝑘𝑔/𝑠

Since point 1 is sufficiently far from the fan, so that,

𝑃1 = 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚
Neglect the flow velocity,

𝑉1 = 0

Also,

𝑃2 = 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚

The energy equation from the control volume between point 1 and 2 can be reduced to:

𝑃1 𝑉12 𝑃2 𝑉22
𝑚̇ ( + ̇
+ 𝑔𝑧1 ) + 𝑊𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 = 𝑚̇ ( + + 𝑔𝑧2 ) + 𝑊̇𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 + 𝐸̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ,𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠
𝜌 2 𝜌 2

Since in this case,

𝐸̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ,𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝐸̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ,𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠,𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝
𝑊̇𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝,𝑢 = 𝑊̇𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝 − 𝐸̇𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ,𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠,𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝

Substituting,

𝑉22 (8𝑚/𝑠)2
𝑊̇𝑓𝑎𝑛,𝑢 = 𝑚̇ = (0.0375𝑘𝑔⁄𝑠) = 1.2 𝑊
2 2

And

𝑊̇𝑓𝑎𝑛,𝑢 1.2𝑊
𝑊̇𝑓𝑎𝑛,𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡 = = = 2.4 𝑊
𝜂𝑓𝑎𝑛−𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟 0.5

(b) For air mean velocity to remain below the specified value, the diameter of the fan casing
should be:

𝑉̇ = 𝐴2 𝑉2 = (𝜋𝐷22 /4)𝑉2

4𝑉̇ 4(0.03𝑚3 /𝑠)

𝐷2 = √ = √ = 0.069𝑚 = 6.9 𝑐𝑚
𝜋𝑉2 𝜋(8𝑚/𝑠)
QUESTION 3

The linear momentum equation in x-direction component,

𝑅𝑥 = 0

The linear momentum equation in y-direction component,

−𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝜌𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝐴 − 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝜌𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐴 = 𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝐴 + 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐴 − 𝑅𝑦

𝑅𝑦 = 𝜌𝐴𝑉𝑖𝑛 (𝑉𝑖𝑛 + 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 ) + 𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝐴 + 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐴

The pressure at the entrance and exit of the bend:

𝑃 = 𝑃𝑎𝑏𝑠 − 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚
𝑃𝑖𝑛 = 207 − 101 = 106 𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 165 − 101 = 64 𝑘𝑃𝑎

Thus,

𝑅𝑦 = (1000𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ) × (0.01𝑚2 ) × (15𝑚/𝑠) × (30𝑚/𝑠) + (106,000𝑃𝑎) × (0.01𝑚2 )

+ (64,000𝑃𝑎) × (0.01𝑚2 )
= 6200 𝑁
QUESTION 4

Before melting:

𝑊 = 𝜌𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑔(𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 ) = 𝜌𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑔(𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒+𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 )

𝑊 = 𝜌𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑔(𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 )

𝜌𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑔(𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 ) = 𝜌𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑔(𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒+𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 )

𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝜌𝑖𝑐𝑒 0.92
= = = 0.897
𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒+𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝜌𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 1.025

After melting:

𝑊 = 𝜌𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑔(𝑉𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑐𝑒 ) = 𝜌𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑔(𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 )

𝜌𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 ) 1.025
𝑉𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑐𝑒 = = 𝑉𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒
𝜌𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑐𝑒 1

QUESTION 5

Red: Quicksand, toothpaste

Blue: Corn starch