Buoyancy

In our common experience we know that wooden objects float on water and small dust
particles also float in air. This means that a fluid exerts an upward force on a body which
is immersed fully or partially in it. The upward force that tends to lift the body is called
the buoyant force,
b
F
.
The buoyant force acting on floating and submerged objects can be estimated by
employing the hydrostatic principle. With reference to figure consider a fluid element of
area
H
dA
. The net upward force on the fluid element is

( )
2
2 1
B H
H
dF PdA
W h h dA

The upward buoyant force becomes
( ) ( )
2 1
bodyvolume
B H
F W h h dA W

This result shows that the buoyant acting on the object is equal to the weight of the fluid
it displaces.
The line of action of the buoyant force on the object is called the center of buoyancy. To
find the centre of buoyancy moments about an axis 00 can be taken and equated to the
moment of the resultant forces. The equation gives the distance to the centroid to the
object volume.
The centroid of the displaced volume of fluid is the centre of buoyancy, which, is
applicable for both submerged and floating objects. This principle is known as
Archimidies principle which states:
A body immersed in a fluid experiences a vertical buoyant force which is equal to the
weight of the fluid displaced by the body and the buoyant force acts upward through the
centroid of the displaced volume.
Buoyant force in a layered fluid :-
As shown in figure an object floats at an interface between two immiscible fluids of
density
1 2
and P P
. The buoyant force
B
F
is

( )
1 1 2 2
displaced volume
B B
i
i
F dF gdV gdV
g

where
1 2
and dV dV are the volumes of fluid element submerged in fluid 1 and 2
respectively. The centre of buoyancy can be estimated by summing moments of the
buoyant forces in each fluid volume displaced.
Buoyant force on a floating body:-
When a body is partially submerged in a liquid, with the remainder in contact with air. (as
shown in figure) (90-white) the buoyant force of the body can be computed using
equation (). Since the specific weight of the air (11.8
2
/ N m
) is very negligible as
compared with the specific weight of the liquid (for example specific weight of water is
9800
3
/ KN m
).
We can neglect the weight of displaced air. So, equation (.) becomes

B
F pg
(displaced volume of the submerged liquid)
= The weight of the liquid displaced by the body.
The buoyant force acts at the centre of the buoyancy which coincidies with the centeroid
of the volume of liquid displaced.
Stability:-
Floating or submerged bodies such as boats, ships etc. are sometime acted upon by
certain external forces. Some of the common external forces are wind and wave action,
pressure due to river current, pressure due to maneuvering a floating object in a curved
path etc. These external forces cause a small displacement on the body which may
overturn it. If so the floating body is unstable otherwise after imposing the displacement
the body restores its original position and this body is said to be in stable equilibrium.
Therefore in the design of the floating / submerged bodies the stability analysis is of
major
Stability of a submerged body :-
Consider a body fully submerged in a fluid in the case given in figure (.), the center of
gravity (CG) of the body is below the centre of buoyancy. When a small angular
displacement is applied a moment will generate and restore the body to its original
position; the body is stable.
However if the CG is above the centre of buoyancy an overturning moment rotates the
body away from its original position and thus the body is unstable. Note that as the body
is fully submerged, the shape of the displaced fluid remains the same when the body is
tilted. Therefore the centre of buoyancy in a submerged body remains unchanged.
Stability of floating body:-
A body floating in equilibrium (i.e.
B
F W
) is displaced through an angular
displacement . The weight of the fluid W continues to act through G. But the shape of
immersed volume of liquid changes and the centre of buoyancy moves relative to body
from
1
to B B
. Since the buoyant force
B
F
and the weight W are not in the same straight
line, a turning movement proportional to
X
W
is produced. In figure () the moment is
a restoring moment and makes the body stable. In figure () an overturning moment is
produced. The point M at which the line of action of the new buoyant force intersects
the original vertical through the CG of the body, is called the metacentre.The restoring
moment

. . . W X W GM
provided is small; sin (in radians).
The distance GM is the metacentric height. We can observe in figure that
(a) Stable equilibrium: when M lies above G, a restoring moment is produced.
Metacentric height GM is positive.
(b) Unstable equilibrium:When M lies below G an overturning moment is produced
and the metacentric height GM is negative.
(c) Natural equilibrium: If M coincides with G neither restoring nor overturning
moment is produced and GM is zero.
Determination of Metacentric Height:-
(1) Experimental method:
The metacentric height of a floating body can be determined in an experimental set up
figure with a movable load arrangement. Because of the movement of the load, the
floating object is tilted with angle for its new equilibrium position. The measurement
of is used to compute the metacentric height by equating the overturning moment and
restoring moment at the new tilted position.
The overturning moment due to the movement of load P for a known distance X

. P X
The restoring moment is

. . W GM
For equilibrium in the tilted position the restoring moment must equal to overturning
So, equating

. . . P X W GM
Metacentric weight,

.
.
P X
GM
W

and the true metacentric height is the value of

GM
as 0 . This may be determined
by plotting a graph between the calculated value of
GM
for various values and the
angle .
(ii) Theoretical method:
For a floating object of known shape such as a ship or boat determination of metacentric
height can be calculated as follows.
The initial equilibrium position of the object has its centre of Buoyancy B and the
original water line is AC.
When the object is tilted through a small angle the centre of buoyancy will move to
new position B as a result the change in shape of displaced fluid. In the new position
A C . Is the waterline. The small wedge OCC is submerged and the wedge OAA is
uncovered. Since the vertical equilibrium is not disturbed the total weight of fluid
displaced remains unchanged. Therefore weight of wedge OAA = weight of wedge
OCC .
In the waterline plan a small area, da at a distance x from the axis of rotation OO uncover
the volume of the fluid is equal to
DDXda x da
Integrating over the whole wedge and multiplying by the specific weight w of the liquid,
Weight of wedge
0
OAA
AA W xda

Similarly,
Weight of wedge
OCC
OCC W xda

Equating Equations ( ) and ( ),

0
OAA OCC
W xda W xda
xda

Where this integral represents the first moment of the area of the waterline plane about
OO, therefore the axis OO must pass through the centeroid of the waterlineplane.
Computation of metacentric height GM :
From the figure the distance
BM
is
/ BM BB
The distance BB is calculated by taking moment about the centroidal axis YY .

A ECC O
AA ECO OCC OAA
BB wv xwdv xwdv xwdv


+

The integral
AA ECO
nwdv

equal to zero, because YY axis symmetrically divides the

submerged portion AA ECO .
At a distance x, tan . dv Lx dx
Substituting it in the above equation.
( )
2
0 tan tan
tan
tan
AECC O
OCC OAA
waterline
O
BB V xLx dx xL x dx
x dAwaterline
I

where
o
I
is the second moment of area of water line plane about OO . Thus,
Distance

/
tan
.
o
AECC O
o
AECC O
BM BB
I
V
I
V

Since,

o
submerged
BM GM BG
I
GM BG
V
+

Periodic time of transverse oscillation.
When an overturning moment which results an angular displacement to a floating body
is suddenly removed, the floating body may be set in a state of oscillation. This
oscillation behave as in the same manner of a simple pendulum suspended at metacentre
M.
Only the restoring moment ( )
. W GM
sets it in a state of oscillation. So, it is equal to the
rate of change of angular momentum.
Where,
G
K
is the radius of gyration about its axis of rotation and
2
2
d
dt

is the angular
acceleration.
The negative sign indicates the acceleration is in the opposite direction to the
displacement. As it corresponds to simple Harmonic Motion, periodic time

2
2
2
2
/
2 / .
G
G
Displacement
T
Acceleration
GM g K
K GM g

From the above equation it can be observed that a large metacentric height gives greatest
stability to a floating object. However it reduces the time period of oscillation which
results in discomfort for the passenger in a passenger ship.
Some typical metacentric heights of various floating vessels are-
Ocean going vessels: 0.3m to 1.2m.
War ship: 1m to 1.5m.
River crafts:>3.6m.
Liquids in Rigid Body Motion.
Many liquids such as water, milk and oil are transported in tankers. When a tanker is
being accelerated the liquid within the tanker starts splashing. After that a new free
surface is formed, each liquid particle moves with same acceleration. At this equilibrium
stage the liquid moves as if it were a solid.
Since there is no relative motion between fluid particles the shear stress is zero
throughout the liquid. At this equilibrium it is said to be fluid in rigid body motion.
Uniform linear acceleration:
A liquid in a vessel is subjected to a uniform linear acceleration a as discussed in
previous section after sometime the fluid particles assumes acceleration a as a solid
body.
Consider a small fluid element of dx, dy, dz dimensions as shown in figure The
hydrostatic equation () is applied with the acceleration component as
Net surface Body forceper Mass Acceleration
Per unit volume unit volumeof per unit of fluid
of afluidparticle afluidparticle volume particle
P g a +
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
+
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
] ] ] ]
r
Note that each term of equation () represents respective force per unit volume.
If

g k
r
, the relation can be resolved into their vectorical components as
( )

x y z
p p p
i j k gk a i a j a k
x y z



+ + + + +
where
, and
x y z
a a a
are the acceleration components in the x ,y ,z directions respectively.
In scalar form equation () becomes
( ) , ,
x y z
p p p
a a a g
x y z



+
Special case I :- Uniform acceleration of a liquid container on a straight path.
Consider a container partly filled with a liquid, moving on a straight path with a uniform
acceleration a. In order to simplify the analysis the projection of the path of motion on
the horizontal plane is assured to be the x-axis, and the projection on the vertical plane to
be the z-axis. Note that there is no acceleration component in the y direction. i.e.

0 ay
The equations () of motion for acceleration fluid becomes

( ) , ,
x y z
p p p
a a a g
x y z



+
Therefore,
Pressure is a function of position ( ) , x z
and the total differential becomes
d dx dz
x z

+

Substituting for the partial differentials yields
( )
x z
dP a dx g a dz +
For an incompressible fluid ( ) isconstant
. Pressure variations in the liquid can be
computed by integration.
( ) . .
x z
P a X g a Z e + +
where e is the constant of integration.
Let, at origin,
the pressure
P P
o
then,
e P
o
and finally the above equation becomes
Pressure variation, ( ) . .
x z
P P a X g a Z +
o
If the accelerated liquid has a free surface, vertical rise between two points located on the
free surface is computed as follows
( )
12 1 2 1 2
x
z
a
z Z z x x
g a
_


+
,
Note that the pressures at both points is the atmospheric pressure.
The slope of the free surface is

1 2
1 2
tan
x
z
Z z a
X X g a

+
The line of constant pressure isobars are parallel to the free surface (shown in figure).
The conservation of mass of an incompressible fluid implies that the volume of the liquid
remains constant before and during acceleration. The rise of the liquid level on one size
must be balanced by liquid level drop on the other side.
Uniform rotation about a vertical axis:
When a liquid in a container is rotated about its vertical axis at constant angular velocity,
after sometime the liquid will move like a solid together with the container. Since every
liquid particle moves with the same angular velocity : no shear stresses exit in the liquid.
This type of motion is also known as forced vortex motion.
As shown in figure a cylindrical coordinate system with the unit vector

i
in the radial
direction and

k
in the vertical upward direction, is selected.
A fluid particle p rotating with a constant angular velocity w has a centrepetal
acceleration
2
w r
direct radially toward the axis of rotation (-ve directon). By substituting
the acceleration component the pressure equation () for the fluid particle becomes
( )
2

P gk w r i
Expanding equation ( )
2

p p p
i j k gk w ri
r y z


+ + +

The scalar components are
2
, 0,
p p p
w r g
r y z




Since ( ) , P P r z
, the total differential is
P P
dP dr dz
r z

+

Substituting for and
p p
r z


then for an incompressible fluid gives and integrating
2
2
2
r
p w gz c +
where c is the constant of integration.
The equation for the surface of constant pressure (for example free surface) is
2
2
1
2
w
z r e
g
+
where
1
c P
e
g

and this equation indicates that the isobar are paraboloids of revolutions.
Special case : Cylinder container.
Let, the point (1) on the axis of rotation at height he from the origin.
The pressure at point (1) is zero. (Atmospheric pressure).
Substituting pressure and position of (1) the equation () gives
e ghe
The equation of the free surface becomes
2
2
2
w
z r he
g
+
Consider a cylinder element of radius r, free surface height z and thickness dr.
The volume of the element is
2 dv rdrz
The volume of paraboloid generated by the free surface is
0
2
2
0
2 2
2
2
2
2
4
R
r
R
V zr dr
w
r he rdr
g
w R
R he
g

_
+

,
_
+

,

Since the liquid mass is conserved and incompressible this volume must be equal to the
initial volume of the liquid before rotation.
The initial volume of fluid in the container is
2
V R hi
Equating these two volumes we get
2 2
4
w R
he hi
g

In the case of a closed container with no free surface or with a partly exposed free surface
rotated about the vertical axis an imaginary free surface based on equation can be
constructed.
FLUID KINEMATICS
The fluid kinematics deals with description of the motion of the fluids without reference
to the force causing the motion .
Thus it is emphasized to know how fluid flows and how to describe fluid motion. This
concept helps us to simplify the complex nature of a real fluid flow.
When a fluid is in motion, individual particles in the fluid move at different velocities.
Moreover at different instants fluid particles change their positions In order to analyse the
flow behaviour, a function of space and time, we follow one of the alternative approaches
(1) Lagarangian.
(2) Eularian.
In the lagarangian approaches a fluid particles of fixed mass is selected and follows
during the course of motion with time (fig *)
The fluid particles may change their shape, size and state as they move. As fluid particles
of definite mass are selected, the basic laws of mechanics can be applied to them at all
times. The task of following large number of fluid particles is quite difficult. Therefore
this approach is limited to some special applications for example re-entry of a spaceship
into the earths atmosphere and flow measurement system based on particle imagery.
In the Eularian method a finite volume of through which fluid flows in and out is used.
Here it does not keep track position and velocity of fluid particles of definite mass within
the finite volume field variables which are continuous functions of space (x, y, z) and
time (t) are defined to describe the flow. These field variables may be scalar field
variables, vector field variables and tensor quantities. Sometimes this finite volume is
referred as control volume or flow domain.
For example the pressure field P is a scalar field variable and defined as
( ) , , P P x y z
Velocity field , a vector field variable becomes ( ) , , , v v x y z t
r r
Similarly shear stress

is a tensor field variable and

xx xy xz
yx yy yz
zx zy zz



1
1

1
1
]
Note that we have defined the fluid flow as a three dimensional flow in a Cartesian co-
ordinates system.
Types of fluid flow:-
(1) Uniform and non-uniform flow: If the velocity at given instant is the same in both
magnitude and direction throughout the flow domain, the flow describe as uniform.
Mathematically the velocity field is defined as ( ) v v t
r r
, independent to space
coordinates.
When the velocity changes from point to point it is said to be non uniform flow.
Fig.( ) shows uniform flow in test section of a well designed wind tunnel and ( )
describing non uniform velocity region at the entrance.
Steady and unsteady flow:-
The flow in which the field variables dont change with time is said to be steady flow.
For steady flow,
0
v
t

or ( ) , , v u x y z
r
Many engineering devices and systems are generally designed to operate in a steady flow
condition.
For example pipe flow in a pumping system becomes steady flow condition. So, we use
often steady flow analysis in designing the devices.
If the field variables in a fluid region vary with time the flow is said to be unsteady flow.
0
v
t

( ) , , , v v x y z t
r r
One , two and three dimensional flow.
Although fluid flows generally occurs in three dimensions in which the velocity field
vary with three space co-ordinates and time, in some problem we may use one or two
space components to describe the velocity field. For example consider a steady flow
through a long straight pipe of constant cross-section. The velocity distributions shown in
figure are independent of co-ordinate x and and a function of r only. Thus the flow
field is one dimensional.
But in the case of flow over a weir of constant cross section (4.3 pouglas), we can use
two co-ordinate system x and z in defining the velocity field. So, this flow is a case of
two dimensional flow.
The reduction of independent space variable in a fluid flow problem makes it simpler to
solve