CE 337 Hydraulics Lab

Lab No. 4 Impact of a Jet

Section: Tuesday
Name: Brian Cuan

Section I: Introduction
The purpose of this lab is to determine the impact of a jet on a plane. In order to measure
the force of impact, we have a hose pointed at a plate. Attached to this plate is a spring-plunger and
adjustable weights. When the hose is turned on, water pushes on the plate and lifts the weights
attached to the plunger. In this experiment we not only use a flat plate as the impact plane but also a
cup. To model this behavior, we use Newtons Second Law by summing the forces perpendicular to
the plate or cup. In this experiment we find that the flow required for different weights depends on
the plate geometry.

Section II: Experiment

In this experiment we use a hydraulic bench, weights, a plate, a cup attachment, and a hose.
The dimensions of the experimental setup were measured beforehand, the D or diameter of the pipe
is 8 mm. and the distance from the pipe to the impact plane is 20 mm. We first attach 500 grams of
weights to the plunger-spring assembly. We then turn on the water using the valve; we make sure
that the two level markers on the plunger and the base line up with each other to balance the force
of the flow with the force of the weights. We then record the time it takes to fill the collection basin
10 liters. Repeat the steps but reducing the weight by 100 grams for subsequent trials.

Section III: Data & Results

Sample Calculations
Run No. 1 of Ftheo for Flat Plate

Run No. 2 of Ftheo for Flat Plate

36
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33
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Data
Flow
Rate

Flat
Plate

Run No.
1
2
3
4
5

Cup

10
10
10
10
10

(sec.)
19.97
24.56
26.65
29.98
44.65

(L/sec.)
0.501
0.464
0.375
0.333
0.224

Weight
(g)
500
400
300
200
100

10
10
10
10
10

27.50
30.34
35.48
42.83
60.53

0.364
0.330
0.282
0.233
0.165

500
400
300
200
100

(L)

1
2
3
4
5

Results
Run No. ue (m/s)

uo
(m/s)

Ftheo.
(N)

Fexp.
(N)

Fexp/Ftheo

% Diff.

Flat
Plate

1
2
3
4
5

9.97
9.23
7.46
6.62
4.46

9.947
9.210
7.464
6.595
4.412

4.980
4.270
2.780
2.200
0.988

4.905
3.924
2.943
1.962
0.981

98.49
91.90
105.86
89.18
99.29

1.51
8.10
5.86
10.82
0.71

Cup

1
2
3
4
5

7.24
6.57
5.61
4.64
3.28

7.214
6.535
5.575
4.593
3.222

5.252
4.313
3.144
2.140
1.060

4.905
3.924
2.943
1.962
0.981

93.39
90.98
93.61
91.68
92.55

6.61
9.02
6.39
8.32
7.45

Section IV: Conclusion and Analysis

Considering the results achieved with the momentum equations, the predicted behavior was
roughly within 10% error of the real system. Comparing the momentum equations used to model
the flat plate and the hemispherical cup, it is empirically shown that the force needed in the cup
system should be lower due to its geometry. From the data, the flow required to keep equivalent
weights in suspension is lower in the cup than the flow in flat plate system. Observing the free body
diagrams of each the flat plate and the cup, note that in the cup that the deflected flow actually helps
propel the cup further via vector addition. In the case of the flat plate, only the force from the hose
propels the plunger, while the deflected flows are directed to the sides.
The sources of error can be contributed to the assumptions made in the momentum
equations. We assume that the flow is steady; this may not necessarily be the case, as the pump
might not pump exactly the same amount every second. There is the assumption that the flow is
incompressible, whereas water in a real system may compress a small amount. A major source of
error considering the cup system comes from the fact that the model assumes that the deflected
water makes a perfect 90 degree turn downwards. A source of error observed in the laboratory is
that the deflected water actually splashed upwards and got on top of the plunger, forcing the plunger
downwards. Also in the system, the plunger might not have a completely frictionless mechanical
movement providing to the error.

Section V: Graphical Representation

Force(N) vs. Flowrate (L/s)

6

Force (N)

Fexp Flat
Ftheo flat

Fexp Cup
Ftheo Cup

0
0.000

0.100

0.200

0.300

0.400

0.500

0.600

Q flow rate (L/s)