CE 15 – Fluid Mechanics for Civil Engineering I Date of Submission (16 October 2018)

1st Semester, A.Y. 2018-2019 Laboratory Experiment 1 (TVW)

Analysis of Hydrostatic Force on Submerged

and Partially Submerged Plane Surface Using TecQuipment H314
ALBERT J. MANUZON*
LESTER JAY V. OLLERO
MARY JOYCE D.C. DELOS REYES
Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman
*E-mail: albert.manuzon06@gmail.com

Submitted to:
Roberto S. Soriano, PhD
Assistant Professor, Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman

Abstract: Fluid is a substance that deforms continuously when subjected to shear stress. The resultant force is always
perpendicular to the surface when a fluid is in hydrostatic condition. This experiment aims to determine the hydrostatic
force exerted by the water to the surface and its center of pressure and to analyze and compare it from the theoretical
values. Using TecQuipment H314, the height of the liquid and the number of weights added were obtained. The magnitude
of the hydrostatic force and its center of pressure can be calculated from the obtained values. Analyzing the obtained data,
graphs of actual and theoretical values were presented. The possible source of error is solely due to human and parallax
error.

Keywords: plane surfaces, fluid, hydrostatic force, center of pressure, shear stress

INTRODUCTION THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Before defining the objectives of this experiment, it is Aside from the values obtained experimentally, other
important to understand the fundamental terms and values are required for this experiment that require
concepts which the experiment revolves in. multiple formulas outlined in this section of the report.
According to the provided lab slides for this For the value of the moment produced by the weights,
experiment, the definition of a hydrostatic force is the since the perpendicular distance of the weights to the
resultant force due to hydrostatic pressure while the pivot of the device is given, the moment is simply the
definition of the center of pressure is the point in a product of the weights placed (in Newtons) and the
plane at which the total fluid thrust can be said to be perpendicular distance to the pivot (in Meters).
acting normal to the plane (Bautista, 2018). Both of
these values are also fundamental to many In this experiment, when the cross section of the
applications of fluid mechanics as many other more container of the fluid is projected, the resulting
intermediate values are obtained from these values. projection is a square with a width of 75 mm and a
height dependent on the height of the fluid placed in
The objective of this experiment is for the group to the device.
find the values of the fluid hydrostatic force and the
center of pressure. Two sets of values are expected
with one set corresponding to a fully submerged
plane while the other set is for a partially submerged
plane. Using these values, there are other required
values such as the moment produced by the
counterweights and the value of the moment caused
by the fluid inside the TecQuipment H314.

The reason why the moment of the corresponding

forces is required is that the TecQuipment H314 is
Breadth of the Plane
reliant on the fact that the moment produced by the
B = 75 mm
weights and the moment produced by the hydrostatic
d = 200mm R1 = 100mm R2 = 200mm
force must be enough to balance out the device that
the balance beam is purely horizontal. Therefore,
The calculations for the hydrostatic force require
when the device is balanced, the objective of finding
fluid mechanics equations. For partially submerged
the hydrostatic forces and the center of pressure can
plane surface, hydrostatic force can be calculated
be fulfilled.
with the following:
F= (1)

1
where is the density of the fluid weights added to make the apparatus levelled after
g is the acceleration due to gravity the addition of water was denoted as Wadditional. The
b is the breadth of the plane height from the top of the apparatus up to the water
y is the height of fluid measured from the surface was recorded in meters. These were repeated
bottom of the plane for a total of four trials using different heights with
the water surface not reaching the curved part of the
For fully submerged plane surface, hydrostatic force apparatus as shown in Figure 3. The data recorded
can be calculated with this formula for this part were for the partially submerged trials.
(2) For the fully submerged trials, the water was poured
until its surface reached the curved part of the
where is the density of the fluid
apparatus as shown in Figure 4. Just like what were
g is the acceleration due to gravity
done during the partially submerged trials, weights
b is the breadth of the plane
were added until the apparatus leveled. The number
y is the height of fluid measured from the
of added weights as well as the height from the top of
bottom of the plane
the apparatus up to the water surface were recorded.
d is the height of the plane surface
These were also repeated for a total of four trials with
different heights.
The center of pressure was calculated also. For
partially submerged,
(3)
where h is the center of pressure measured from top
of the plane surface
y is the height of fluid measured from the
bottom of the plane

For fully submerged,

(4)

where h is the center of pressure measured from top

of the plane surface
y is the height of fluid measured from the
bottom of the plane
d is the height of the plane surface Figure 1. Full Set-up for this Experiment with
TecQuipment H314 Hydrostatics and Fluid
To calculate the moment due to hydrostatic force, we Properties Apparatus, Hooks, Weights, and Water
get the product of hydrostatic force and the lever arm.
Using the equation below, we can get the
corresponding lever arm given the locations of center
of pressure,
=x+h (5)
where is the lever arm
x is the height of the fluid measured from
the top
h is the location of center of pressure

EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP Figure 2. The Calibrated Apparatus After the

Fastening of Weights
In this experiment, the equipment and materials used
were TecQuipment H314 Hydrostatics and Fluid
Properties Apparatus, ring weights having a mass of
10 grams each, hooks wherein the rings were attached,
and water as shown in Figure 1.

The apparatus was calibrated as it was not leveled

initially. A hook was fastened at the left end part of
the apparatus. Weights were attached to the hook
until the apparatus became leveled as shown in FB
Figure 2. The total weights added was noted as initial
weight, W0. Water was then poured making sure that
the water surface was not reaching the curved part of Figure 3. Partially Submerged Set-up and FBD:
the apparatus. The addition of water made the Levelled Set-up with the Water Surface Not
apparatus tilt. Weights were fastened to the hooks Touching the Curved Part of the Apparatus
until the apparatus was leveled. The number of

2

FB
Figure 4. Fully Submerged Set-up and FBD:
Levelled Set-up with the Water Surface Touching
the Curved Part of the Apparatus
RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS
Resultant hydrostatic forces were calculated using
equation (1) for partially submerged and equation (2)
for fully submerged plane surfaces. The center of
pressures were calculated using equation (3) and (4)
respectively for partially and fully submerged plane
surface. Lever arm of the resultant hydrostatic forces
could be obtained by adding the center of pressure to
the original height of the fluid.
Finally, the moment due to resultant hydrostatic force
was obtained by multiplying the lever arm and the
resultant hydrostatic force.

Shown in Table 1 are the raw data from the Table 3. Data Comparing the Experimental and
experiment Theoretical Values

Table 1. Data Obtained from the Experiment

Number of
TRIAL Height y (m)
Weights Added

P1 17 0.176

P2 23 0.158
Partially
Submerged
P3 36 0.127

P4 38 0.120

F1 51 0.097

F2 59 0.086
Fully
Submerged
F3 60 0.079

F4 62 0.078
The percent error for partially submerged and fully
submerged plane surface is computed using the
formula,
P1, P2, P3, P4 stands for a series of four trials of
Partially Submerged Plane Surface while F1, F2, F3
and F4 stands for a series of four trials of Fully Percent Error = | | x 100 (6)
Submerged Plane Surface. where Mw is the moment due to Additional Weight
MR is the moment due to Resultant
Hydrostatic force
Table 2. Data Analysis
As we can see, there is a huge difference between the
experimental and theoretical values. The percent error
decreases from trial 1 up to the last trial. Hence it
explains that as we performed more series of trials
and increasing the height, the deviation or percent
error could be lessen.

These values were computed through the aid of

Microsoft Excel.

The fourth column (Moment due to additional

weight) was obtained by multiplying the force
(additional weight) and lever arm (and in this case,
this is equal to 0.2m).
Figure 1. Graph for Partially Submerged Plane
Surface
3

This graph was obtained by plotting moment due to
additional weight vs. height of fluid as actual and
plotting moment due to hydrostatic force vs. height of
fluid as theoretical. The graph shown is an example
of a polynomial function.
achieve better values. For more accurate results, it is
recommended that the instruments should be in a
more stable environment where the temperature and
the density of water is adjusted based on the room
temperature.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bautista, D. CE 15: Laboratory Experiment 1

Hydrostatic Force on Submerged and Partially
Submerged Plane Surface.[PDF file] Retrieved 08
October 2018
2. Bautista, D. CE 15: Fluid Mechanics I Lecture 3:
Hydrostatic Forces on Plane Surfaces [PDF file]
Retrieved 07 October
3. Helm, R. Hydrostatic Pressure on a Partially and
Fully Submerged Vertical Rectangular Surface.
Retrieved from
www.rachelehelm.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/4/3/38433
Figure 2. Graph for Fully Submerged Plane 197/hydrostatic_pressure_lab.pdf. Retrieved 06
Surface October 2018

This graph was obtained by plotting moment due to

additional weight vs. height of fluid as actual and
plotting moment due to hydrostatic force vs. height of
fluid as theoretical. The graph shown is an example
of a linear function showing the direct or linear
relationship between the Moment (either due to
Additional Weight or Hydrostatic Force) and the
height y(m).

In both graphs, we set Moment due to additional

weight as the actual or experimental value while
Moment due to Hydrostatic Force as the theoretical
value.

We can observe that the graph of the actual values

has some deviation from the theoretical values. This
was caused by some errors in executing the
experiment.

There were many factors that contributed to the

deviations of the actual data from the theoretical
values. One major error is the limitations of the
students to determine if the water was already leveled
which contributed to the errors in height readings.

CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

From the obtained results, we can infer that the

experimental values are relatively close to the
theoretical ones, as we apply the concepts behind
hydrostatic forces. We are able to meet the objectives
for this experiment that is to calculate the magnitude
of hydrostatic force and determine the location of the
center of pressure acting on a partially submerged and
a fully submerged plane surface. The lapses between
the experimental and theoretical values were caused
by parallax and mostly, human errors. Hence,
necessary adjustments must be made in order to