Roll No.

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Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
B.Tech. Degree Examinations June 2012
Fourth Semester
Mechanical Engineering

MEC222 Fluid Mechanics and Machinery

Time: Three hours

Maximum: 100 Marks

Answer all questions

1. (a) The velocity distribution for the flow of a Newtonian fluid between two wide,
parallel plates is given by the equation
2
3V y
1
u=
2 h
where, V is the mean velocity. The fluid has a viscosity of 1.92 x 10-3 Pa-s.
When V = 0.61 m/s and h = 5 mm determine
(i) the shear stress acting on the bottom wall, and
(ii) the shear stress acting on a plane parallel to the walls and passing through the
midplane.

(6)

(b) Oil, with a vapor pressure of 20 kPa, is pumped through a pipeline by equally
spaced pumps, each of which increases the oil pressure by 1.3 MPa. Friction losses
in the pipe are estimated to be 150 Pa per meter of pipe. Find the maximum possible
pump spacing to avoid cavitation of oil? The suction pressure for the first pump in
the pipeline may be assumed to be 20 kPa.
(4)
2. (a) A tiny neutrally buoyant electronic pressure probe is released into the inlet pipe of a
water pump and transmits 2000 pressure readings per second as it passes through
the pump. Is this a Lagrangian or Eulerian approach? Substantiate.
(2)
(b) The velocity field of a flow is given by
r
Vx
V y
V = 2 0 2 1/ 2 i + 2 0 2 1/ 2 j
(x + y )
(x + y )

where, V0 is a constant. Determine

(i) the stagnation point
(ii) the equation of the streamlines and plot the streamlines.

(6)

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3. The 200 kg, 5 m wide rectangular gate shown in figure is hinged at B and leans against
the floor at A making an angle of 45 with the horizontal. The gate is to be opened from
its lower edge by applying a normal force at its center. Determine the minimum force F
required to open the water gate.
(8)

4. (a) Consider two 5 cm diameter spherical balls one made of aluminium of density
2707 kg/m3 and the other made of iron of density 7897 kg/m3 submerged in water.
Compare the buoyant force acting on them.
(2)
(b) Determine the metacentric height of the combined unit of a rectangular boat, 9 m
long, 7 m wide and 2 m deep weighing 500 kN carrying on its deck a boiler of 3 m
diameter and 1 m high weighing 300 kN. The centre of gravity of each unit may be
taken to be at the geometric centre and along the same line.
(6)
5. When a jet strikes an inclined fixed plate, as shown in the figure, it breaks into two jets
at 2 and 3 of equal velocity V (m/s) but unequal volumetric flow rate Q (m3/s) at 2
and (1 ) Q (m3/s) at section 3, being a fraction.

(a) Doing a momentum balance along x direction, taking x axis along the plate and y
axis perpendicular to the plate find as a function of the plate angle .
(b) When the plate is at = 90o what would be the ratio of area of cross section of jet 2
to area of cross section of jet 3?
(8)

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6. A venturimeter is installed in a horizontal pipeline of diameter 30cm carrying water.

The throat diameter to pipe diameter ratio is 1:3. The absolute pressure in the pipeline
and the throat are measured to be 2.4 bar and 0.513 bar respectively. If 4% of the
differential pressure is lost due to friction between the pressure taps, compute the
volumetric flow rate through the pipeline.
(8)
7. (a) What is fully developed flow in pipes? In fully developed laminar flow in pipes the
wall shear stress does not vary with length. True or False? Substantiate your
answer.
(4)
(b) Water is to be pumped from an underground well which has its free surface 20 m
below ground level to a tank placed 58 m above ground level at 4 lps using smooth
plastic pipe of diameter 5 cm. The total length of the pipeline is estimated to be
420 m and the layout to be laid is as shown in the figure. If the efficiency of the
pump is 75%, find the rated power of the pump that is required for the application.
Frictional effects in the pump may be neglected. Take viscosity of water as 0.0013
Pa-s.
(12)

8. (a) A boundary layer is a thin region usually along a wall in which viscous forces are
significant and within which the flow is rotational. Consider a boundary layer
growing along a thin flat plate. The flow is steady. The boundary layer thickness
at any downstream distance x is a function of x, free stream velocity V and fluid
properties density and viscosity . Use the method of repeating variables to
generate a dimensionless relationship for as a function of other parameters. (6)

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(b) An airship operates at 20 m/s in air which behaves as an ideal gas at atmosphere
conditions. The drag force on it is to be determined. A model is constructed to 1/20
scale and tested in a wind tunnel at the same air temperature and the drag force is
determined. What criterion should be considered to obtain dynamic similarity? If
the model is tested at 75 m/s, what pressure should be used in the wind tunnel? If
the model drag force is 250 N, what will be the drag of the prototype? Hint: Fluid
viscosity is only a function of temperature.
(8)
9.

(a) The performance characteristics of a pump is given, where H is the net head and V&
is the volume flow rate. On the figure, label the shut off head, the free delivery, the
pump performance curve, the system curve and the head and the flow rate at the
operating point.
(4)

(b) A centrifugal pump running at 3500 rpm pumps water at a rate of 0.01 m3/s. The
water enters axially and leaves the impeller at 5 m/s relative to the blades, which
are radial at the exit. If the pump consumes 5 kW and is 67 % efficient, estimate
the impeller exit diameter and the width.
(8)
10. A pelton wheel is used to produce hydroelectric power. The average radius of the wheel
is 1.83 m and the jet velocity is 102 m/s from a nozzle of exit diameter equal to 10 cm.
The turning angle of the bucket is 165o. (a) Calculate the volume flow rate through the
turbine in m3/s. (b) What is the optimum rotation rate (in rpm) of the wheel for
maximum power? (c) Calculate the output shaft power in MW if the efficiency of the
turbine is 82 percent.
(8)

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