ME 3350 Fall 16 handout 2.

PRESSURE GRADIENT IN CYLINDRICAL COORDINATES

Lets consider a cylindrical fluid wedge of angle and dimensions r and z along the
radial and axial directions, respectively.
We will assume a pressure p at the center ( r r 2 ; 0 ; z 0 ) of the wedge.

Each face of the wedge is exposed to a pressure force. The resultant pressure force along the
radial direction is Fr Fr1 Fr2

p r r
Fr1 p O r 2 r z
r 2 2
p r r
Fr2 p O r 2 r z
r 2 2
p
Therefore: Fr r r z O r r 2 z
r
ME 3350 Fall 16 handout 2.1

The resultant pressure force along the tangential direction is F F1 F2

p
F1 p O 2 r z
2
p
F2 p O 2 r z
2
p
Therefore: F r z O r 2 z

Finally, the resultant pressure force along the axial direction is Fz Fz1 Fz2

p z
Fz1 p O z 2 r r
z 2
p z
Fz2 p O z 2 r r
z 2
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ME 3350 Fall 16 handout 2.1

p
Therefore: Fz r r z O r r z 2
z

The resultant pressure force on the fluid wedge is: F Fr er F e Fz ez

F Fr F F
It follows that: er e z ez
V V V V

which can be written:

F F p 1 p 1 p
O r er O e O z ez
V r r z r r r z

The gradient of the pressure can be calculated as:

F p 1 p p
p lim er e ez
V 0 V r r z