UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

_____________________________________________________________________
COURSE INFORMATION
COURSE TITTLE: ENGINEERING LABORATORY III (DDA 3711)
TOPIC: HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE

1. OBJECTIVES
The objective of this experiment is to determine the center of pressure of a plane
surface submerged in water.

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this experiment, students should be able to apply the concept of
hydrostatics force acting on submerged plane surface due to the total fluid pressure in
fluid mechanics problems.

3.

INTRODUCTION

When a surface is submerged in a fluid, the surface will experience the hydrostatic
force due to the fluid pressure. For fluids at rest we know that the force must be
perpendicular to the surface since there are no shearing stresses present. We also
know that the pressure will vary linearly with depth if the fluid is incompressible.
Determination of these forces is important for examples in the design of storage tanks,
ships, dams, and other hydraulic structures.

4. THEORY
4.1 Hydrostatic force on the submerged surface
The hydrostatic force on submerged surface is given by,
FR ghc A
Where ,
FR = hydrostatic force
hc = depth of the centroid from fluid free surface
A

= submerged surface area

To understand how equation (3) is obtained, consider an inclined submerged surface

as shown in Figure 1.

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________

Figure 1 : Hydrostatic Force on Submerged Surface

At any given depth, h, the force acting on the element area dA is given by The
magnitude of the resultant force acting on the entire surface can be determined by
summing all the differential forces.
with h = y sin
Therefore
But the term ydA is the first moment of area with respect to axis x where A ydA =
ycA. Thus
Where hc is the vertical distance from the fluid surface to the centroid of the area.

4.2 Determination of Center of Pressure, CP (Theoretical Method).

Point or location where resultant force FR act is known as center of pressure , CP.
Position of this point usually is explained by a vertical distance free surface, hR or
distance from axis x, yR (or sometimes known as ycp). This yR distance can be
determined by summation of moments around x axis. That is the moment of resultant
force must equal the moment of the distributed pressure force, or

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
Therefore,

yR

g sin y 2 dA

g sin y 2 dA

FR

gAy c sin
y 2 dA

yc A

But y2 dA is the second moment of the area (moment of inertia) , Ix with respect to an
axis formed by the intersection of the plane containing the surface and the free surface
(x axis). Thus, we can write

yR

Ix
yc A

where I x I xc Ay c

Or,

yR

I xc
yc
yc A

Where ,
yR = distance from point O to center of pressure, CP (m).
yc = distance from point O to centroid of surface area (m).
Ixc = second moment of area about the centroid (m4).
A
= area of submerged surface (m2).
Or in a vertical distance,

hR

I xc
hc
hc A

Where,
hR
hc

= vertical distance from point free surface to center of pressure, CP (m).

= vertical distance from free surface to centroid of surface area (m).

Thus, the center of pressure is always lower than the centroid.

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
5. EQUIPMENT
Details of the equipment are (see Figure 2):
a. Hydrostatic Pressure Test Apparatus
b. Hydraulic Bench
c. A set of weight

Weight Hanger

Figure 2: Hydrostatic Pressure Test Apparatus

6. PROCEDURE
a. Level the apparatus on the Hydraulic Bench (until Balance Indicator shows the
apparatus is in balance).
b. Adjust the counter weight to balance the quadrant, beam and weight hanger
(no weight) - without water in the tank.
c. Manually fill the tank with the water so that the quadrant is completely
submerged or about 180mm submerged. The beam at the weight hanger end is
now tilted upward.
d. Add the weight 500 g until the beam is about to tilt downward.
e. Slowly, drain the water from the tank and close the valve immediately when
the beam is horizontal.
f. Record the water level and weight, m in Table 1.
g. Remove 50g, so that the beam will again tilted upward.
h. Repeat step e to g until all the weights are removed. (when the water level
below than 100 mm, continue recording the data in Table 2) .

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
7.

RESULTS AND CALCULATIONS

7.1

Calculation.

Hydrostatic pressure on the circular side of the quadrant exerts no turning moment on
the fulcrum. The same is hydrostatic pressure on the radial side of the quadrant. The
only pressure exerting turning moment on the fulcrum is that a pressure acting on the
100 mm x 75 mm surface which is maintained at vertical.
Submerged surface , A = 100 mm (height) x 75 mm (width)
Quadrant inner radius, R1 = 100 mm
Quadrant outer radius, R2 = 200 mm
Fulcrum is located at the center of the quadrant block.
Under static balance conditions :

FY mgL
Thus,
Y

mgL
F

7.1.1 When water level is above the quadrant scale :

hR ( theory ) hc
a. Theoretically,

I xc
Ahc

hc (h1 50) mm

Where,

I xc

bd 3 75 100 3

6.25 10 6 mm 4
12
12

A 75 100 7500 mm 2

b. From Figure 3,
Thus

Y h R ( R1 h1 )
hR Y R1 h1

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
hR (exp eriment ) Y R1 h1

Experimentally,

mgL
R1 h1
F
mgL

100 h1
ghc A

Where :

mL
100 h1
(h1 50) A

= 1000 kg/m3
L = 280 mm
A = 100mm x 75mm = 7500 mm2

Figure 3 : Water level above the quadrant scale

7.1.2

When water level is within the Quadrant Lower Scale:

a.

Theoretically, hR (theory ) hc
hc

Where,

I xc
Ahc

h2
mm
2
3

bd 3 75 h2

mm 4
12
12
A 75h2 mm 2

I xc

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________

R2 Y h2 hR

b. From Figure 4,

hR (exp eriment ) Y R 2 h2

Experimentally,

mgL

g hc A

mgL
R2 h 2
F

200 h2

2mL
200 h2
h2 A

Figure 4 : Water level within the quadrant lower scale

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
7.1.3 Fill up Table 1 and 2

Table 1: Water level above the Lower Quadrant

No.

Mass, m

h1

hc =(h1+50)

Ixc

unit

mm

mm

mm4

A 1 x hc

hR (theory)

hR (exp)

mm

mm

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Table 2: Water level within the Lower Quadrant

No.

Mass,
m

h2

hc=(h2/2)

Ixc

A2

Unit

mm

mm

mm4

mm2

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

A 2 x hc

hR (theory)

hR (exp)

mm

mm

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
7.2 Sample of Calculation

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
7.3 Observation

7.4 Graphs
Plot the following graphs
a. Mass,m vs Distance hR (exp)
b. Mass,m vs Distance hR (theory)

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UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
8.0

DISCUSSION

8.1

Calculate the slope of both graphs.

11

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
8.2

Discuss the result of the graph.

12

UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
_____________________________________________________________________
9.0

CONCLUSION

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