1.

ABSTRACT
This experiment was conducted to ensure the validity of theoretical expressions for the force exerted
by a jet on target of various shape. For this experiment the angle used is 120. Theoretically, the jet
force should equals to the weight of the load, so various mass of loads used in this experiment were
served for this purpose by which to compare the forces exerted by the water jet with the weight of
loads. Area of nozzle is calculated in this experiment by which the diameter is 8mm. Not to forget the
volume of water in the tank is kept constant to 5 litres. The purpose of this is to make calculation for
flow rate easier. Jet force is calculated for each weight by the formula derived in introduction. Thus,
graph of jet force vs flow rate and also weight vs flow rate is plotted. To simplify the comparison
between them, another graph of jet force vs square of flow rate and weight vs square of flow rate is
plotted.

2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 Theory

List of symbols :

The law of Conservation of Linear Momentum for this system is :

0 , steady flow

∭ ∬

The Law of Conservation of Mass for steady flow is :

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Since :

Substituting this into Equation 2 yields:

Substituting the volumetric flow rate into equation 3 yields :

For the target :

For the target (flat plate) :

For the target (hemispherical) :

For this experiment, we only do the one with .

Additional info for calculation

•
•
•

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This experiment is carried out to understand how forces can affect the change of momentum flow in
jet. This experiment clearly demonstrate and help us understand how turbine machine work under
fluid pressure. Force is applied to a plane of the surfaces of plate when high velocity of jet of water
from a nozzle strikes upon it. By calculating and observing the force exerted on impact, change of
momentum and the mass flow rate can be determined. This experiment is mainly focusing to
calculate the force on curved surfaces for which the angle is 120.

Newton’s Law of conservation of momentum is used for this experiment. Newton’s second law for a
system of mass m subjected to net force Σ F is expressed as :

where mv is the linear momentum of the system. Noting that both the
density and velocity may change from point to point within the system,
Newton’s second law can be expressed more generally as:

𝑑
Σ𝐹 = ∫ 𝜌𝑉 𝑑𝑉
𝑑𝑡
𝑠𝑦𝑠

where 𝜌V dV is the momentum of a differential element dV, which has mass

dm = 𝜌dV. Therefore, Newton’s second law can be stated as the sum of
all external forces acting on a system is equal to the time rate of change
of linear momentum of the system. This statement is valid for a coordinate
system that is at rest or moves with a constant velocity. Accelerating systems such as
aircraft during glide off are best calculated using accelerating
coordinate systems fixed to the aircraft. (Cengel & Cimbala,2014).

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 2.2 Application

Nowadays, high pressure water jet (HPWJ) are popular among the industries because of its ability to
do various mechanical works such as cutting and cleaning. The reason why nowadays didn’t use the
standard mechanical cutting tools is due to the excessive tool wear due to thee direct contact of the
tools with piece of work which resulted to increase in cutting temperature. This will result in bigger
manufacturing cost due to its high cutting forces and poor surfaces finish. This thermal problem can
be excluded with the use of HPWJ technology since it does not have thermal related problems. This
method is done by producing high velocity stream of water with or without friction This technology
of HPWJ and its corrosive effect had already been used in early 30’s. This was originally used in
mining industry. Not long after that, it had been possible to produce pump pressures with pressure of
about 10MPa. In 1975, in cutting of baby diapers with pure water, the regular use of water jet
technology began. The addition of abrasives such as sand or corundum in early 1980 is one of the
important leap that took place in the application. Due to addition of these hard abrasives, materials
cutting performances have been improved. ( Azmir Azhari, 2012 )

Another application of water jet is Pelton wheel blade. Pelton Wheels are commonly used for power
extraction due to its water energy useful at high head and low flow rate. The basic working element is
pretty simple. Impulsive forces is prevailed when high velocity of water jet injected through a nozzle
hits the bucket of Pelton wheels. Thus, the rotating shaft glide through a generator and electricity is
generated in this way. To summarize, Pelton turbine converts kinetic energy of water jet to rotating
energy.

Figure 1 Pelton wheel blade

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 2.3 Procedure

1. Level the base of apparatus.

2. The water level in the tank is checked whether is sufficient or not.
3. Ensure the valve control is closed
4. Area of nozzle is calculated and thus it is recorded
5. Place the weight on the weight pan and switch on the pump
6. Allow the water to flow out by controlling the control valve.
7. Adjust the flow rate until the datum on the weight pan is adjacent to the level gauge.
8. When testing for level, the weight pan should be oscillated to minimize the effect of friction.
9. Take the readings of volume and time for determining flow rate. Note the mass on the weight pan.
10. Repeat with additional masses on the weight pan.

Figure 2 Setup of the experiment

3. OBJECTIVE

 To investigate the validity of theoretical expressions for the force exerted by a jet on target of various
shapes.
 To obtain the knowledge about how this experiment can be applied in industry by understanding the
concept of how jet deflection can produce a force on turbine like Pelton wheels.

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 4.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Area of nozzle (A) = 5.0265 x 10-5 m2

Angle = 120
Density of water = 999.1 kg/m3

Table 1 : Data for the experiment

Mass Weigh Volum Time, Time, Time, Average Flow Flow Q2 Jet
of t of e of T1(s) T2(s) T3(s) time, rate,Q (L rate,Q (m3 (m6 s- Force
load,m load, water, Taverage s-1) s-1) 2) Fy=3ρ
2
(kg) W (N) V (s) wQ /2
(L) A (N)
0.020 0.196 5 71.96 71.83 72.00 71.93 0.0695 6.95x10-5 4.83x 0.144
10-9
0.030 0.294 5 52.43 52.66 52.88 52.65 0.0949 9.49X10-5 9.0x 0.268
10-9
0.040 0.392 5 46.30 45.72 45.90 45.98 0.109 1.09x10-4 1.19x 0.355
10-8
0.060 0.589 5 34.81 34.83 35.70 35.11 0.142 1.42x10-4 2.02x 0.6020
10-8
0.080 0.785 5 30.59 29.24 30.20 30.01 0.166 1.66x10-4 2.76x 0.823
10-8
0.100 0.981 5 28.30 28.29 28.43 28.34 0.176 1.76x10-4 3.09x 0.921
10-8
0.120 1.17 5 26.89 26.89 26.70 26.82 0.186 1.86x10-4 3.46x 1.032
10-8

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 Graph of Weight, W vs Flow Rate, Q &
Graph of Jet Force, Fy vs Flow Rate, Q
1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
6.95x10-5 9.49X10-5 1.09x10-4 1.42x10-4 1.66x10-4 1.76x10-4 1.86x10-4

Weight of Load Jet Force

Figure 3 : Graph of Weight, W vs Flow Rate, Q and Jet force Fy vs Flow rate, Q

GRAPH OF WEIGHT, W VS Q^2 &

GRAPH OF JET FORCE, FY VS Q^2
Weight of Load, W Jet Force

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
4.83E-09 9.00E-09 1.19E-08 2.02E-08 2.76E-08 3.09E-08 3.46E-08

Figure 4: Graph of Weight, W vs Q2 and Jet Force, Fy vs Q2

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By using the free online software of Microsoft Excel, the graphs can be plotted. From what we can
observe in the graphs, it can be clearly seen that the results obtained are slightly different than the
theoretical values form which we can obtain from graph of Weight vs Q2,

Fy=mg= 3𝜌Q2/2A ,
Since x-axis = Q2,gradient=3𝜌/2A
the theoretical slope of the graph is : 3(999.1)/2(5.0265x10-9) = 2.9814x107 kgm6s-2

The slope of the graph plotted in the software are automatically calculated.
For the graph Weight vs Q2 , the gradient is 3.272 x 107 kgm6s-2
The percentage error for this graph is
((3.272 x 107 – 2.9814 x 107) / (2.9814 x 107) ) x 100% = 9.7%

For the graph Fy vs Q2 , the gradient is 2.7504 x 107 kgm6s-2

The percentage error for this graph is
((2.9814 x 107 – 2.7504 x 107) / (2.9814 x 107)) x 100% = 7.8%

Since the theoretical values and experimental values of gradient of the graph both have less than 10%
percentage difference , thus the theory of this impact of jet experiment is acceptable. Percentage
difference shown in this experiment for both gradient is due to errors that is to be expected.
One of the error that is to be believed occur in this experiement is the lack of accuracy of apparatus
during the experiment. It is to be suggested that the values of all the data obtained may be quite true or
not because of parallax error of the observant when taking the reading of data during the experiment.
Another error that is suspected to be occuring in this experiment is due to factor of friction. When the
water jet is directed to the vane, the friction along its pathway cannot be ignored. Also not to forget
for the case of water jet hitting the vane, the theoretical expressions by which it is used the
conservation of momentum concept only valid when there is no frictions involved and in real life the
water jet is indeed acted on by friction.

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 5.CONCLUSION
The purpose of this experiment is to validate the theoretical values of jet force and since the
percentage difference is very small with the addition of some errors that is to be expected and
explained in this experiment, it is logical and acceptable for the theory of impact of jet to be valid.

6.REFERENCES

1. Azmir Azhari, 2012, Application of High Pressure Water Jet, http://www.uni-

kl.de/fileadmin/kima/pdf/Skript_zum_Labor_SS_2012_Anwendung_von_Hochdruckwasserst
rahlen.pdf

2. Cengel & Cimbala,2014. Fluid Mechanics - Fundementals and Applications 3rd Edition 1221
Avenue of the Americas, New York,McGraw-Hill.