Lecture 4

Fluid Statics
Lecture : 4
References
T3/2.8, 11
Sqn Ldr Tauha Irfan Khan

Last Lecture
➢ Pressure Measurement using hydrostatic equation
➢ Barometer
➢ Piezometer tube
➢ U-Tube Manometer
➢ Inclined tube Manometer

Today’s Lecture
➢ Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface
➢ Buoyancy, Flotation, and Stability

Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface
• A body submerged in a fluid experiences a resultant force (FR) on its surface due to
pressure of the liquid
• Practical applications include design and analysis of storage tanks, dams, ships and
hydraulic structures
• In the absence of any shear stress, the force must be perpendicular to submerged
surface and pressure varies linearly with depth if fluid is incompressible
i.e. 𝑃 = 𝛾ℎ
• Resultant force on the bottom surface
FR = 𝑃𝐴 = 𝛾ℎ𝐴
• Resultant force acts thru the centroid of the area
• However, pressure on the side of the tank is not uniformly distributed.
• Determination of resultant force (direction, location, magnitude) for such situations?
• Solve for a more general case in which the submerged plane surface is inclined
• At any depth ‘h’, the differential force acting
on area dA is
𝑑𝐹 = 𝛾ℎ 𝑑𝐴
• Integrating over entire area gives
Resultant Force
𝐹𝑅 = න 𝛾ℎ 𝑑𝐴 = න 𝛾𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑑𝐴
𝐴 𝐴
where ℎ = 𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
• For const 𝛾 and 𝜃 → 𝐹𝑅 = 𝛾𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 ‫𝐴𝑑 𝑦 𝐴׬‬
• Here ‫ 𝐴𝑑 𝑦 𝐴׬‬is ‘first moment of area’

wrt x-axis
• ‘First moment of area’ equals the summation
of area times the distance to an axis.
It is a measure of distribution of area of a
shape in relation to an axis
• Units are m3 or ft3
• For the centroid ‫ 𝐴𝑐𝑦 = 𝐴𝑑 𝑦 𝐴׬‬, where yc is the y-coordinate of the centroid of
area A measured from the x-axis
So, 𝐹𝑅 = 𝛾𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃ycA
Or 𝐹𝑅 = 𝛾ℎ𝑐𝐴
i.e. the magnitude of the resulting fluid force

is equal to the pressure acting at the centroid
of the area multiplied by the total area
𝐹𝑅 = 𝛾ℎ𝑐𝐴 , magnitude of resultant force is independent of angle 𝜃
• Only depends on 𝛾, total area A, and depth of
the centroid of the area below the free surface
• What about the location of 𝐹𝑅 ?
• Location of FR is found to be different

from location of centroid of area
• The y-coordinate of FR can be determined by summation of moments around x-axis
and equating these with the moment of
distributed pressure force
𝐹𝑅𝑦𝑅 = න 𝑦 𝑑𝐹 = න 𝑦 𝛾ℎ𝑑𝐴
𝐴 𝐴
𝐹𝑅𝑦𝑅 = ‫ 𝑦𝜃𝑛𝑖𝑠𝛾 𝐴׬‬2 𝑑𝐴

Since 𝐹𝑅 = 𝛾𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃ycA
So,
‫𝑦 𝐴׬‬2 𝑑𝐴
𝑦𝑅 =
𝑦𝑐𝐴
• ‫𝑦 𝐴׬‬2 𝑑𝐴 is the ‘second moment of area’ (moment of inertia) wrt x-axis
i.e. 𝐼𝑥 = ‫𝑦 𝐴׬‬2 𝑑𝐴
𝐼𝑥
So, 𝑦𝑅 = Parallel Axis Theorem
𝑦𝑐𝐴
𝐼𝑥𝑐 is second moment of area wrt an axis

passing thru its centroid and parallel to x-axis
So,
𝐼𝑥𝑐
𝑦𝑅 = + 𝑦𝑐
𝑦𝑐𝐴
• Hence, for non horizontal surfaces the resultant force does not pass thru centroid
𝐼𝑥𝑐
but always below it, since >0
𝑦𝑐𝐴
𝐼𝑥𝑐
𝑦𝑅 = + 𝑦𝑐
𝑦𝑐𝐴
• The x-coordinate (xR) for the resultant force can be determined in a similar manner
by summing moments about y-axis
i.e.
𝐼𝑥𝑦𝑐
𝑥𝑅 = + 𝑥𝑐
𝑦𝑐𝐴
• The x-coordinate (xR) for the resultant force can be determined in a similar manner
by summing moments about y-axis
i.e.
𝐼𝑥𝑦𝑐
𝑥𝑅 = + 𝑥𝑐
𝑦𝑐𝐴
• The point thru which resultant force acts

is called ‘Center of Pressure’
• Geometric properties of some common shapes
Buoyancy, Flotation & Stability
Archimedes' Principle
• A body submerged (completely or partially) in a fluid experiences a ‘buoyancy’ force
that is equal in magnitude to the weight of the fluid ‘displaced’ by the body and is
directly vertically up (opposite to gravity)
• This net upward force results because pressure

increases with depth and pressure forces acting
from below are larger from the forces acting from above
• Consider a body of arbitrary shape, having volume V immersed in a fluid
• Forces F3 & F4 are equal and cancel

• Equilibrium equation in z-direction implies
𝐹𝐵 = 𝐹2 − 𝐹1 − 𝑊
• For constant sp. Weight of the fluid
𝐹2 − 𝐹1 = 𝛾 ℎ2 − ℎ1 𝐴
and
𝑊 = 𝛾[ ℎ2 − ℎ1 𝐴 − 𝑉]
Where W is the weight of the shaded fluid volume
• Substituting we get
𝐹𝐵 = 𝛾 ℎ2 − ℎ1 𝐴 − 𝛾[ ℎ2 − ℎ1 𝐴 − 𝑉]
𝐹𝐵 = 𝛾𝑉
• Buoyancy force has a magnitude equal to weight of fluid displaced by the body and
is directed vertically up
• Buoyant Force passes thru centroid of the displaced volume
• The point thru which FB acts is called ‘Center of Buoyancy’

Flotation
• Depends on the balance between
Buoyancy Force and Weight of the Object
Stability
• Ability of a body to return to its original position when disturbed from its equilibrium
position
• Stability considerations are particularly important for submerged
or floating bodies since Center of Buoyancy and CG do not necessarily coincide
Stability
• Submerged bodies are considered stable if CG lies in a plane lower than CB
Stability
• For floating bodies stability problem is more complicated; as the body is displaced or
rotated, location of center of buoyancy may change
• A floating body riding low in water may be stable even though CG is located above
CB
Stability
• For relatively tall bodies having CG outside the fluid domain may be unstable

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Fluid Statics

Sqn Ldr Tauha Irfan Khan

➢ Pressure Measurement using hydrostatic equation

➢ Inclined tube Manometer

➢ Hydrostatic Force on a Plane Surface

➢ Buoyancy, Flotation, and Stability

• Here ‫ 𝐴𝑑 𝑦 𝐴׬‬is ‘first moment of area’

i.e. the magnitude of the resulting fluid force

• What about the location of 𝐹𝑅 ?

• Location of FR is found to be different

𝐹𝑅𝑦𝑅 = ‫ 𝑦𝜃𝑛𝑖𝑠𝛾 𝐴׬‬2 𝑑𝐴

𝐼𝑥𝑐 is second moment of area wrt an axis

• The point thru which resultant force acts

• This net upward force results because pressure

• Forces F3 & F4 are equal and cancel

• Buoyant Force passes thru centroid of the displaced volume

• The point thru which FB acts is called ‘Center of Buoyancy’

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