Basic Engineering Laboratory BKF2731

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Title: Bernoulli’s Principle

OBJECTIVES :

a) To measure the total pressure for each various location

b) To relate between the product of the cross section area and the dynamic pressure
by Bernoulli’s Principle

Introduction

Daniel Bernoulli, an eighteenth century Swiss scientist, discovered that as the velocity of
a fluid increases, its pressure decreases. Bernoulli’s principle can be seen most easily
through the use of a venture tube.

Venturi Tube

A venturi tube is simply a tube which is narrower in the middle than it is at the ends.
When the fluid passing through the tube reaches the narrow part, it speeds up. According
to Bernoulli's principle, it then should exert less pressure. As the fluid passes over the
central part of the tube, shown in Figure, more energy is used up as the molecules
accelerate. This leaves less energy to exert pressure, and the pressure thus decreases. One
way to describe this decrease in pressure is to call it a differential pressure. This simply
means that the pressure at one point is different from the pressure at another point. For
this reason, the principle is sometimes called Bernoulli's Law of Pressure Differential.
Since Bernoulli’s principle applies to fluids and air being one of them, we can explain the
relationship between air velocity and pressure on the surfaces.

According to Bernoulli, the following equation is valid along a streamline in a frictionless

medium
2
Pst +
ρ
2
v =P tot ≈const
(1)

_____________________________________________________________________
Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering
Basic Engineering Laboratory BKF2731
_____________________________________________________________________
Where

Pst = Static pressure

Ptot = total pressure
V = flow rate
ρ = density of the medium

Equation (1) states in particular that the total pressure has the same value everywhere. In
this experiment, air flows through a wind tunnel whose cross-section decreases
progressively in the direction of flow. Due to the incompressibility of air which can
always be assumed at the given flow rates, the velocities at two different locations in the
tunnel with cross-sectional areas A0 and A are given by:

v0 x A0 = v x A
We can now eliminate V from Bernoulli’s equation (1) by rearranging we obtain

ρ
√ Δp. ( A )= .
√ 2
v .A0 0
Δp= P tot − P st

The dynamic pressure Δp is measured with a difference manometer, the cross sections are
stated at the various measuring points in the wind tunnel.

Assembly

1. Assembly the wind tunnel and the fan as shown in figure 1.

2. Insert the fan into the outlet nozzle so that air is drawn through the wind
tunnel during experiment. Ensure a clearance of approx. 1m in front of the
suction nozzle and behind the fan so that the air can be drown into the wind
tunnel without any turbulence.
3. Mount the smoothing screen on the inlet.
4. With the help of the four screws, secure the Bernoulli ramp underneath the
plexiglass canopy so that the ramp height increases the direction flow.
5. Mount the sealing strip (included the equipment for the wind tunnel) on the
sliding rails.
6. Guide the pressure probe carefully, bent section first, through the foam rubber
seal of the sealing strip and secure it to the measuring trolley.
7. Push the probe down fully to the stop so that it can reaches a position approx.
2 cm higher than the highest point of the ramp.
8. Connect the total pressure probe by means of a hose to the right-hand hose
nipple of the precision manometer (low pressure measurement).
9. Using the integrated bubble, level adjust the precision manometer into the
perfectly horizontal position, and by varying the filling level, move the
meniscus exactly to the zero mark.

_____________________________________________________________________
Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering
Basic Engineering Laboratory BKF2731
_____________________________________________________________________
Procedure

On a) Constancy of the total pressure

1. Turn on the fan and set it to maximum wind speed.

2. Read off the total pressure, and by shifting the measuring trolley, verify that
the total pressure remains constant over the entire measurement section.

On b) Dependence of the dynamic pressure on the cross-section

1. Detach the hose from the total pressure probe and connect it to the static
pressure probe.
2. Using a second hose, connect the total pressure probe with the remaining hose
nipple of the precision manometer (excess pressure measurement).
3. Push the front edge of the measuring trolley exactly over A mark on the
sealing strip.
4. If necessary, turn on the fan again and set it to maximum wind speed. Read
off the dynamic pressure (lower scale of the precision manometer) and note it
down.
5. As there are fluctuations in the flow rate, observe the manometer for 30
seconds during each measurement, and note the average value of the display
to the nearest Pa.
6. Repeat the measurement of the dynamic pressure at locations B….F.

Table 1:
2 2
Location
A/ m Δp/ Pa A √ Δp / m . √ Pa
A 0.020

B 0.019

C 0.018

D 0.017

E 0.016

F 0.015

Questions:

1. Why is the total pressure similar everywhere along the wind tunnel?
2. How does the change of cross sectional area affect the dynamic pressure?

_____________________________________________________________________
Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering
Basic Engineering Laboratory BKF2731
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Please state 2 actions that need to be taken in order to minimize the error while
running the experiment.
4. How does the experiment significantly effect to the daily application? Please give
an example of its application.

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Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering