Hydrostatic Force on submerged

bodies
 Force on a Plane Area
• No tangential force can exist within a fluid at rest. All forces
are normal to the surface.
• If pressure is uniformly distributed over an area, the force is
equal to pressure times the area and the point of application
of force is at the centroid of the area.
• For submerged horizontal areas, the pressure is uniform.
• In case of gases, the pressure variation with vertical distance
is very small due to low specific weight. Therefore when we
compute the static fluid force exerted by a gas, we usually
treat p as a constant. Thus for such cases:

 
F  pdA  p dA  pA (3.14)
 Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface: Tank Bottom
Simplest Case: Tank bottom with a uniform pressure distribution
p - h = patm - patm

p  h

Now, the resultant Force:

FR = p A
Acts through the Centroid

A = area of the Tank Bottom

 Force on a Plane Area
• In the case of liquids the
distribution of pressure is
generally not uniform, so
further analysis is necessary.
• Let us consider a vertical
plane whose upper edge lies
in the free surface of a liquid
(Fig). Let this plane be
perpendicular to the plane of
the figure, so that MN is its
edge.

Fig-3.15
 Force on a Plane Area
• The gage pressure will vary from zero at M to NK at
N. The total force on one side of the plane is the
sum of the products of the elementary areas and the
pressure upon them.
• From the pressure distribution, we can see that the
resultant of this system of parallel forces must act at
a point below the centroid of the area, since the
centroid of an area is the point where the resultant
of a system of uniform parallel forces would act.
 Force on a Plane Area

• If we lower the plane to

position M'N', the change of
pressure from M' to N' is less
than it was from M to N.
Hence the resultant pressure
force will act nearer to the
centroid of the plane surface.
• The deeper we submerge the
plane, the smaller the
pressure variation becomes,
and the closer the resultant
moves to the centroid.

Fig-3.15
 Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface: General Case
The origin O is at the Free
Surface.
q is the angle the plane makes
with the free surface.
M N
y is directed along the plane
surface. In Fig. let MN be the
edge of a plane area
A is the area of the surface. making an angle q with
the horizontal. To the
dA is a differential element
of the surface. right we see the
projection of this area
dF is the force acting on
onto a vertical plane
the differential element.

C is the centroid. General Shape: Planar

View, in the x-y plane
CP is the center of Pressure

FR is the resultant force

acting through CP
 Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface: General Case
Then the force acting on the differential element:

Then the resultant force acting on the entire surface:

We note h = ysinq

With  and q taken as constant:

We note, the integral part is the first moment of area about the x-axis

Where yc is the y coordinate to the centroid of the object.

hc
 Force on a Plane Area (Sloping)

• Thus we find the total force on any plane area submerged in

a liquid can be obtained by multiplying the specific weight of
the liquid by the product of the area and the depth of its
centroid. The value of F is independent of the angle of
inclination of the plane so long as the depth of its centroid is
unchanged.
• Since hc is the pressure at the centroid, we can also say that
the total force on any plane area submerged in a liquid is the
product of the area and the pressure at its centroid.
 Center of Pressure
• The point of application of the resultant pressure force on a
submerged area is called the center of pressure. We need to
know its location whenever we wish to work with the
moment of this force.
• The most general way of looking at the problem of forces on
a submerged plane area is through the use of pressure prism
concept. The line of action of the resultant pressure force
must pass through the centroid of the pressure prism
(volume). As noted, this concept is very convenient to apply
for simple areas such as rectangles. For example, if the
submerged area in Fig. is of constant width then we know
that the centroid of the pressure prism on area MN is 2/3 MN
below M.
 Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface: Location
Now, we must find the location of the center of Pressure where the Resultant Force Acts:
“The Moments of the Resultant Force must Equal the Moment of the Distributed Pressure Force”

Moments about the x-axis:

And, note h = ysinq
We note,
Second moment of Intertia, Ix

Then, Eq. (a)

Parallel Axis Thereom:

Ixc is the second moment of inertia through the centroid

Substituting the parallel Axis thereom, and rearranging:

Eq. (b)

We, note that for a submerged plane, the resultant force always acts below the centroid of the
plane.
 Center of Pressure

• The product yc A is the static moment of area A about OX.

Therefore Eq. (a) tells us that we can obtain the distance from
the center of pressure to the axis where the plane (extended)
intersects the liquid surface by dividing the moment of inertia
of the area A about the surface axis by its static moment
about the same axis.
 Center of Pressure
• From this equation (b) we see that the location of center of pressure CP is
independent of the angel q that is, we can rotate the plane area about
axis OX without affecting the location of P.
• Also, we see that CP is always below the centroid C and that as the depth
of immersion is increased, yc increases and therefore CP approaches C.
• We can find the lateral position of the center of pressure CP by
considering that the area is made up of a series of elemental horizontal
strips.
• The center of pressure for each strip is at the midpoint of the strip. Since
the moment of the resultant force F must be equal to the moment of the
distributed force system about an axis, say, the y-axis, Xp can be found as
follows:
 Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface: Location
Moments about the y-axis: FR xR   xdF
A
And, note h = ysinq

We note,
Second moment of Intertia, Ixy

Then,

Parallel Axis Thereom:

I xy  I xyc  Axc yc Ixc is the second moment of inertia through the centroid

Substituting the parallel Axis thereom, and rearranging:

 Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface: Geometric Properties

Centroid Coordinates
Areas
Moments of Inertia
 Hydrostatic Force: Vertical Wall
Find the Pressure on a Vertical Wall using Hydrostatic Force Method

Pressure varies linearly with depth by the hydrostatic equation:

The magnitude of pressure at the bottom is p = h

The depth of the fluid is “h” into the board O

The width of the wall is “b” into the board
yR = 2/3h

By inspection, the average pressure

occurs at h/2, pav = h/2

The resultant force act through the center of pressure, CP:

y-coordinate: 1 bh 3 h
I xc  bh 3 yR  
12 bh  2
12 h
h
yc  2
2 h h 2
A  bh yR    h
6 2 3
 Hydrostatic Force: Vertical Wall
x-coordinate: 0 b Center of Pressure:
I xyc  0 xR  
b
h
bh  2
 b 2h 
yc  2  , 
2 2 3 
b
xR 
A  bh 2

Now, we have both the resultant force and its location.

The pressure prism is a second way of analyzing the forces on a vertical wall.
 Pressure Prism: Vertical Wall
Pressure Prism: A graphical interpretation of the forces due to a fluid acting on
a plane area. The “volume” of fluid acting on the wall is the pressure prism and
equals the resultant force acting on the wall.
Resultant Force:

O Volume
FR 
1
h bh 
2
FR 
1
h A
2
Location of the Resultant Force, CP:
The location is at the centroid of the volume of the
pressure prism.

Center of Pressure:
 b 2h 
 , 
2 3 
 Pressure Prism: Submerged Vertical Wall

Trapezoidal

The Resultant Force: break into two “volumes” Location of Resultant Force: “use sum of moments”

F1  h1 A Solve for yA

F2   h2  h1 A
1
2 y1 and y2 is the centroid location for the two
A  bh2  h1  volumes where F1 and F2 are the resultant forces of
the volumes.
 Pressure Prism: Inclined Submerged Wall

Now we have an incline trapezoidal volume. The methodology is the

same as the last problem, and we affix the coordinate system to the
plane.
The use of pressure prisms in only convenient if we have regular
geometry, otherwise integration is needed

In that case we use the more revert to the general theory.

 Atmospheric Pressure on a Vertical Wall

Gage Pressure Analysis Absolute Pressure Analysis But,

So, in this case the resultant force is the same as the gag pressure analysis.
It is not the case, if the container is closed with a vapor pressure above it.
If the plane is submerged, there are multiple possibilities.
 Hydrostatic Force on a Curved Surface
• General theory of plane surfaces does not apply to curved surfaces
• Many surfaces in dams, pumps, pipes or tanks are curved
• No simple formulas by integration similar to those for plane surfaces
• A new method must be used
Then we mark a F.B.D. for the volume:

Isolated Volume
Bounded by AB an AC F1 and F2 is the hydrostatic force on
and BC each planar face
FH and FV is the component of the
resultant force on the curved surface.

W is the weight of the fluid volume.

 Hydrostatic Force on a Curved Surface
Now, balancing the forces for the Equilibrium condition:
Horizontal Force:

Vertical Force:

Resultant Force:

The location of the Resultant Force is through O by sum of Moments:

Y-axis: F1 x1  Wxc  FV xV
X-axis: F2 x2  FH xH

Soda Pop Bottle Curved Surface: