Hydrostatic Forces on Curved Surfaces

INTRODUCTION
The principle of the resultant hydrostatic
force on curved surfaces is somewh
at the same of the resultant hydrostatic force
on plane surfaces. The goal of the engineer
is to model the force due to pressure with an
equivalent force vector acting through the
center of pressure.

So from this picture, there are 3 obvious

forces which are;
1. Weight of the fluid.
2. Hydrostatic forces that acts on the
side and top surfaces which are the
vertical and horizontal components.
3. Resultant force that we are solving for.
Summing of the forces in the horizontal
direction gives us: (write on board)

F X =F AC
The line of action for the force

One approach is to integrate the pressure

force along the curved surface and find the
equivalent force. The same thing on how the
previous reporters delivered on the topic of
Hydrostatic Forces on Plane Surfaces.
(Equations from Plane Surfaces)
Since we already know how to get the
resultant hydrostatic force, the vertical
location of line of action and the lateral
location of line of action, we can apply it on
how to get the resultant hydrostatic force
considering curved surfaces with the
indicated pressure distribution.
(Figure 3.12)
It is much easier to sum forces for a free
body defined in the figure.
(Drawing of quarter of a circle)
So this free body diagram shows how the
force acting on the curved surface relates to
the force F acting on the free body.
We take into account to break the resultant
force F into components.
(Drawing of quarter of a circle with the forces
already)

F AC

is

through the center of pressure for side AC

designated as

Y cp

(which was also

discussed from the previous report)

Summing the forces in the vertical

direction gives us: (write on board)

F y =W + F CB
where ; W = weight of the fluid in the
free body that acts through the center of
gravity of the free body and

FCB

is the

force on side CB and acts through the

centroid of surface CB.
The line of action for the vertical force
may be found by summing the moments
about any convenient axis.
(Picture of resultant force with Ycp and
Xcp)
From the picture shown, the resultant
force that acts on the curved surface can
be determined using the vertical location
and lateral location of line of action. Using
trigonometry, we are able to arrive with
resultant force.