HYDROSTATICS – WRSE 2001

Lecture 4
Kavita Ramnarine-Ramsawak

Pressure Measuring Instruments 1

 DATE TOPIC DETAILS
Units and dimensions
Simple dimensional analysis related to static fluids
Week 1,2 Conversion from one system of units to another
  Mass Density, & Specific Weight, Relative Density, Viscosity, (Kinematic and
Fluids at Rest Dynamic), Compressibility & Elasticity of Fluids
25 % Surface tension and Capillarity, Vapour Pressure,
Pressure at a point
Week 3
Pressure variation with depth and head
 
Hydrostatic equation, application to hydraulic jacks
Atmospheric pressure, gauge pressure and absolute pressure
Week 4,5,6 Piezometers, Manometers : U-tube Manometers, Differential Manometers,
  Pressure Measurement Inverted U-tube Manometer
25% Bourdon gauge
Mercury and aneroid barometers
Increasing the sensitivity of gauges
Electronic instrumentation and transducers
Hydrostatic force as the total pressure on a plane surface at depth
Week 7,8,9 Fluid Pressure at Depth Centre of pressure
  25% Pressure diagrams for horizontal, vertical and inclined surfaces
  Hydrostatic force on curved surfaces at depth
Force on lock gates, tidal flaps, sluice doors and water retaining structures and
dams
Buoyancy and stability, Archimedes Principle, Centre of Buoyancy
Week 10,11 Floating And Submerged
  Bodies Metacentre and metacentric height
  25% Conditions of equilibrium stable, unstable and neutral
Buoyancy analysis as applicable to civil engineering works
Week 12   Review- Final Exam 2
Pressure Concepts for fluids at rest

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Atmospheric Pressure
The earth is surrounded by an atmosphere
many miles high. The pressure due to this
atmosphere at the surface of the earth
depends upon the head of air above the
surface. Atmospheric pressure at sea level is
101.325 kN/m2 equivalent to a head of
10.35 m of water or approximately 760 mm
of mercury and decreases with altitude.

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Vacuum
Vacuum – A completely empty space in
which therefore the pressure is zero

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Gauge Pressure
The intensity of a pressure measured above
or below atmospheric pressure

Absolute Pressure
The intensity of pressure measured above
absolute zero, which is a perfect vacuum.

Absolute Pressure = Gauge Pressure +

Atmospheric Pressure
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Importance of Pressure Measurement
Pressure in Tyres for bicycles and
automobiles
Water supply system – is it too low or too
high?
Pressure gauge mounted on pumps or key
components of hydraulic or pneumatic
fluid power systems

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Pressure Measuring Instruments
There are numerous pressure measuring
instruments that we have to learn about:
Piezometers
U-tube Manometers, Differential
Manometers, Inverted U-tube Manometer
Bourdon gauge
Mercury and aneroid barometers
Electronic instrumentation and
transducers

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Classification of Pressure Measuring
Instruments
Based on construction and working principles, four basic types of pressure
measuring instruments are:
1. Liquid column elements:
 Barometer – Mercury, Aneroid
 Manometer –Piezometer, u tube, enlarge leg, well inclined leg
2. Elastic element gauge:
 Bourdon tube
 Bellows
 Diaphragm
 Capsule
3. Electrical transducers:
Resistance and inductance type
4. Force –balanced devices:
 Dead weight gauge
 Ring gauge
 Bell gauge
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Barometers
A

  device for measuring atmospheric pressure is
called a Barometer.
 A simple Barometer is the mercury barometer. It
consists of a long tube, closed at one end that is
initially filled completely with mercury. The open
end is then submerged under the surface of a
container of mercury and allowed to come to
equilibrium.
 A void is produced at the top of the tube that is very
nearly a perfect vacuum, containing mercury vapour
at a pressure of only 0.17 Pa at 20.
 The reading ‘h’ is proportional to atmospheric
pressure acting on mercury in the pan. Note that this
atmospheric pressure reading is in absolute units. 10
Mercury Barometer
 
The mercury
Barometer
measures
atmospheric
pressure which is
760mm of
mercury.

=h
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Aneroid Barometer

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Aneroid Barometer

This is the mechanism for an aneroid barometer. The

corrugated box is evacuated but is prevented from
collapsing by a strong spring. Variations of pressure cause
the front of the box to move in and out so that the pull of
the spring will just balance the force due to the atmospheric
pressure. These small movements are amplified and move a
pointer over a calibrated scale.
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Manometer
 Manometers use the relationship between
a change in pressure and a change in
elevation of a static fluid.

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Manometer Fluid Properties
Desirable Properties
Non-Volatile – well not be easily converted to
vapor
Chemically Inert – will not react with other
liquids in the system
Opaque – easily seen
Significantly denser than the system fluid
Thermally stable – does not change volume
over the temperature range for normal use
Insoluble in system fluid
Immiscible – will not mix with system fluid
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Piezometer
A Piezometer or simple manometer is a
simple vertical tube, fixed to a system,
whose pressure is to be measured.
The liquid rises to such a level that the
liquid column’s height balances the
pressure inside.
This instrument cannot be used to
measure high pressures
The pressure at A is due to the column of
liquid above A and similarly for B
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Piezometer

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U-tube Manometer
This works according to the hydrostatic
law: ∆P=ρ g h
U-tube manometers allow measurement
of both liquids and gases.
The “U” is filled with a fluid called
manometric fluid or gauge fluid and
connected to the system to be measured
Typical gauge fluids are water, mercury
and coloured light oils

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U-tube Manometer

U-Tube Manometer

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Differential Manometer
A U-tube manometer used to measure
pressure differences between two systems

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Inverted U-tube Manometer

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Inverted U-tube Manometer
 Used to measure difference of pressure between
two sections of a pipe
 The upper part of the tube contains air
 The liquid from the two sections of the pipe being
measured passes into the left and right limb
respectively.
 The heights of the liquid columns may be adjusted
to convenient heights by letting out air through the
valve at the top.
 As the air trapped in the upper part of the tube is
under constant pressure, the difference of pressure
between the sections of the pipe given by the
difference in the heights of the two liquid columns. 22
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U-Tube Manometer with one
limb enlarged

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U-Tube Manometer with one
limb enlarged

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Compound U-tube Manometer

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Compound U-tube Differential
Manometer

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Elastic Element Gauge
Bourdon Gauge

Principles: change in curvature of the tube is

proportional to difference of pressure inside from
that outside the tube
Applications: tyre pressure, pressure at the top or
along the walls of tanks or vessels 28
Pressure Gauges and Transducers
In some situations, only a visual
indication is needed at the site where the
pressure is being measured and hence the
use of pressure gauges.
In other cases, there is need to measure
pressure at one point and display the value
at another such as a central control statio -
where it is displayed digitally, hence the
use of pressure transducers

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Pressure Transducers
What is a pressure transducer?
◦ A pressure transducer is a device that converts
a pressure reading to an electric signal.
What type of devices can be used to
create a pressure transducer?
 Strain gage devices
 Capacitance devices
 Piezoelectric devices

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Pressure Transducer-
Capacitance device

The capacitance between two plates changes with

the distance between the plates.

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Pressure Transducer
Piezoelectric device

Piezoelectric device take advantage of the

electrical properties of crystals such as
quartz. These crystals generate an electrical
charge when they are strained 32
REFERENCES
Applied Fluid Mechanics, 6th Ed–
Robert L. Mott
Civil Engineering Hydraulics – C.
Nalluri & R.E. Featherstone
Engineering Fluid Mechanics, 6th Ed.
– John Roberson & Clayton Crowe
Solving problems in Fluid
Mechanics Vol 1 – J.F. Douglas &
R.D. Matthews
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