FLUID MECHANICS

FLUID STATICS : FORCE

DUE FLUID STATIC

NORFHAIRNA BAHARULRAZI
Fluid statics
• Fluid statics: Deals with problems associated with
fluids (either gaseous or liquid) at rest.
• In fluid statics, there is no relative motion between
adjacent fluid layers, and thus there are no shear
(tangential) stresses in the fluid trying to deform it.
• The only stress we deal with in fluid statics is the
normal stress, which is the pressure, and the variation
of pressure is due only to the weight of the fluid.
Hydrostatic (Fluid static) Forces On Submerged
Plane Surfaces
A plate, such as a gate valve in a dam, the wall of a liquid storage
tank, or the hull of a ship at rest, is subjected to fluid pressure
distributed over its surface when exposed to a liquid.
• On a plane surface, the hydrostatic forces form a system of parallel
forces
• We often need to determine the magnitude of the force (FR) and its
point of application, which is called the center of pressure (hp / yp /
Lp).
• When analyzing hydrostatic
forces on submerged surfaces,
the atmospheric pressure can be
subtracted for simplicity when it
acts on both sides of the
structure. 4
Resultant forces, FR = PA = ρgh A Hydrostatic
force on an
inclined
plane
surface
completely
submerged
in a liquid.

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Resultant forces, FR = PA = ρgh A

The pressure at the

centroid of a surface is
equivalent to the
average pressure on the
surface.
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Center of pressure
The resultant force acting on a plane
surface is equal to the product of the
pressure at the centroid of the
surface and the surface area, and its
line of action passes through the
center of pressure.

Po = 0 = Patm Ixx,c = second moment

of area (area moment
of inertia) about the x-
axis. 7
The centroid and the centroidal moments of inertia for some common geometries.
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Special case: Submerged tilted rectangular
plate

Hydrostatic force acting on the top surface of a submerged tilted rectangular plate.
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Special case: Submerged vertical rectangular
plate

Hydrostatic force acting on the top surface of a submerged vertical rectangular plate.
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Special case: Submerged horizontal rectangular
plate

Hydrostatic force acting on the top surface of a submerged horizontal rectangular plate.
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Hydrostatic forces on plane surface
total area of the wall
Example 1: Vertical wall Based on the vertical retaining wall
diagram, the fluid is gasoline (SG =
0.68) and the total depth is 3.7 m and
12.2 m long. Calculate the magnitude
Solution of the resultant force on the wall and
the centre of pressure.
Example 2: Inclined wall / Dam
Figure shows a dam 30.5 m
long that retains 8 m of
fresh water and is inclined
at an angle Ө of 60C .
Calculate the magnitude of
the resultant force on the
dam and the location of the
centre of pressure Lp/yp.
SOLUTION
Example 3: Submerged plane surface

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 TOTAL SUBMERGED PLANE AREAS

Resultant force on the area due to the fluid pressure

Centre of pressure where the can be considered to act
The point at which the area would be balanced
or known as centre of gravity of a solid body
Angle of inclination
Depth of fluid from the free surface to the centroid of the area
Distance from the free surface to the centroid, measured along the angle of
inclination
Distance from the free surface to the centre of pressure
Dimensions of the area
Procedure for Computing the Force on a Submerged Plane Area
1) Locate the centroid of the area from its geometry
2) Determine hc  vertical distance from free surface to the centroid of
the area
3) Determine Lc  the inclined distance, note that hc and Lc are related
by;
or
4) Calculate the total area, A
5) Calculate the resultant force;

6) Calculate Ic  the moment of inertia of the area about its centroidal

axis
Ic for rectangular;

7) Calculate the location of the centre of pressure

or
Example 4: Submerged plane surface
The tank shown below contains a lubricating oil with a specific gravity of 0.91. A rectangular
gate with the dimension B = 1.2 m and H = 0.6 m is placed  = 60C in the inclined wall of
the tank .
The centroid of the gate is at a depth of 1.5 m from the surface of the oil. Calculate;
a)the magnitude of the resultant force FR on the gate
b)the location of the centre of pressure
Solution

given; hc = 1.5 m (the vertical depth from the free surface)

equation;

Thus;
Thus, when

So;

Therefore;

The Lp is 0.02 m below the centroid of the gate

Hydrostatic (Fluid static) Forces On Submerged
Curved Surfaces
Submerged curved surface

To determine the horizontal force FH and the vertical force FV exerted on the
fluid by the curved surface and their resultant force FR
(A) HORIZONTAL COMPONENT

The vertical wall on the left exerts horizontal

forces on the fluid in contact with it.

The resultant force F1 is at a distance h/3 from the bottom of the wall (see
vertical wall concept)

The right hand side force F2A acts on the opposite, thus;
F1 =F2a
and
FH = F2b (at lower part of the section)

The magnitude of F2b;

thus;

where; is depth to the centroid

Therefore;

where;

S = height of projection of curved surface

W = width of the curved surface

The location of F2b is the centre of pressure (CP) of

The projected area;

thus;

and

For rectangular projected area;

then;
(B) VERTICAL COMPONENT
Weight of fluid acts downward and the vertical
component FV acts upward

thus;

thus;

where;

RESULTANT FORCE
The resultant force acts at an angle relative
to the horizontal
Example 5: Submerged curved surface
For the tank shown below, the following dimensions apply:-

Compute the horizontal and vertical components of the resultant force on the
curved surface and the curved surface and the resultant force itself. Show these
forces vectors on a sketch
SOLUTION
The weight of the isolated volume is the product of
the specific weight of the water multiply by the
volume. The volume is the product of the area
multiply by the length, w
The depth of the centroid of the projected area is;

The magnitude of the horizontal force;

and;

thus;

The resultant force, FR;

The angle of inclination, ;

FORCES VECTORS
Example 6: Submerged vertical plane
A rectangular body of 10 m width and 35 m length submerge in water at 25 m depth
under surface as shown in figure below. Determine a resultant force and its centre of
pressure.
Example 7: Submerged tilted plane
Repeat the above example but the body position is inclined with
an angle of 30o to surface water.