ME2134 Fluid Mechanics I Tutorial 3

National University of Singapore

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME2134 Fluid Mechanics I

Tutorial 3

1. Water, assumed incompressible, flows steadily and vertically upward in a

circular cross-sectional pipe as shown in Figure P1. At section (1), the
velocity profile over the cross-sectional area is uniform at U0. At section
(2), the flow is turbulent, and the velocity profile is u  umax 1  r R 
17
,
where umax is the centerline velocity in the axial z-direction, R is the pipe
radius, and r is the radius from the pipe axis. Determine the ratio
umax U 0 for this flow.
u 60
[Ans: max  ]
U0 49

Figure P1

2. You have been engaged as an engineer to design the roof for a new
apartment. You are interested to find out for a sloping roof inclined at an
angle q to the horizontal, the loading imposed on the roof structure in the
presence of rain falling vertically downwards. As a first approximation,
you may model the roof as a flat inclined plane subtending an angle q with
respect to the horizontal, as shown in Figure P2. The roof is of unit width
perpendicular to the plane of the paper. You may further assume the
following:
(i) the rainfall or droplets of rain can be simply treated as a continuous
medium of water with density r and a vertical downward velocity of V;
(ii) the velocity u of water flowing down and parallel to the inclined plane is
given by a parabolic profile

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 y  y 2 
u  U 2      0  y  h
 h  h  
where h is the height of the water above the inclined plane in the y-
direction (i.e. perpendicular to the inclined plane), and U is a constant.
Note that h is a function of x (i.e. h  h  x  ) since the height of water h
above the inclined plane is increasing as x increases. At x = 0 (i.e. at the
beginning of the roof), h = 0. As such, u  u  x, y  ;
(iii) rain has been falling for a period of time and the flow down the inclined
plane has reached a steady state.

Answer the following:

(a) At any x-location, by considering the general flow velocity u, determine
the volumetric flow rate Q down in the inclined plane. Note that Q  Q  h 
and hence is a function of x.
(b) By applying the continuity equation to the small control volume shown in
Figure P2 or otherwise, obtain an expression for dh in terms of V, q and dx.
Hence or otherwise, derive an explicit form for h  h  x  .
2Uh  2U  3Vx cos
[Ans: (a) Q  ; (b)   V sin   dh  V cos dx ; h  ]
3  3  2U  3V sin 

Figure P2

3. A 4 m high, 3 m diameter cylindrical water tank whose top is open to the

atmosphere is initially filled with water. At time t = 0, the discharge plug
near the bottom of the tank is pulled out, and a water jet whose diameter is
5 cm streams out (Figure P3). Estimate how long it takes for the water
level in the tank to drop to 2 m from the bottom.
[Ans: 952 s]

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Figure P3

4. (a) As shown in Figure P4(a), water flows in a rectangular channel which

is 5.0 m wide. The upstream depth is 60 mm. The water surface rises 40
mm as it passes over a portion where the channel bottom rises 15 mm.
Neglecting viscous effects, what is the volume flowrate Q?
[Ans: 0.390 m3/s]

Figure P4(a)

4. (b) As shown in Figure P4(b), water flows up a ramp with negligible

viscous losses. The upstream depth and velocity are maintained at h1 = 1 m
and V1 = 10 m/s, respectively. The ramp height is H = 2 m. Obtain an
expression for the downstream depth h2.
Optional: Solve for possible values of the downstream depth h2.
[Ans: 19.62h23  80.38h22  100  0 ; h2 = 3.731 m, 1.366 m]

Figure P4(b)

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5. As shown in Figure P5, water flows out from a pipe of diameter D with a
flowrate Q. How does the diameter of the water stream d vary with the
distance below the faucet h?
1

 gh 2 D 4  4
[Ans: d  D 1   ]
 8Q 2 


Figure P5

6. As shown in Figure P6, a pitot-static tube used to measure air velocity

along a wind tunnel is coupled to a manometer which shows a difference
of head of 1.5 cm water. The density of the air is 1.22 kg/m3. What is the
air velocity?
[Ans: 15.52 m/s]

Figure P6

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7. A venturi develops a low throat pressure which is able to aspirate fluid

upward from a reservoir, as shown in Figure P7. Assuming no losses,
derive an expression for the velocity V1 which is just sufficient to draw
fluid from the reservoir into the throat.
2 gh
[Ans: V1,min  ]
1   D1 D2 
4

Figure P7

8. Water flows around the vertical two-dimensional bend with circular

streamlines and constant velocity as shown in Figure P8. If the pressure is
60 kPa at point (1), determine the pressures at points (2) and (3). Assume
that the velocity profile is uniform as indicated.
[Ans: P2  9.168 kPa ; P3  50.85 kPa ]

Figure P8

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