Faculty OF Engineering

Mechanical Engineering department

Fluid Mechanics Laboratory

ENME 312

EXP 5: IMPACT OF A JET

Students name:
Mahmoud Radi 1110744
Fathi Alsheakh

Instructors
Dr. Mohammad Al Karaeen

BIRZEIT

Figure 1
Abstract

Jets of water can be used to operate water turbines by the momentum exchange between
the high velocity jet and the turbine vanes. The purpose of this experiment is to show and verify
momentum equations. As well as the force generated by a jet of water deflected by an impact
surface is measured and compared to the momentum change of the jet.
The subject of this experiment is the force developed by a jet stream of water. A jet of
fluid striking stationary object exerts a force on that object, this force can be measured when the
object is connected to a scale (or a spring balance), and then this force will be related to the
velocity of the jet of fluid in order to relate it to the rate of flow.
This experiment was conducted using three different shapes of vanes independently: a
flat plate, a hemispherical and conic cup. Data was then collected at various flow rates of water
and the experimental reaction force was determined and compared to the theoretical reaction
force.
The efficiency for both vanes was found, and the efficiency of the flat plate vane was
(84.2%) higher than that of the hemispherical cup (68.3%) due to their geometries.
The relationship between the flow rate and the force affecting the vane is directly
proportional and linear, as the mass flow rate decreases the velocity hitting the vane decreases
thus decreasing the force affecting the vanes.
Objectives

To measure the force generated by a jet of water as it strikes different

types of vanes (flat plate and hemispherical cup) and compare the
force with the fluid momentum in the jet.
To calculate the efficiency of different types of vanes.

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Data and Calculations

For the flat plate vane:

Sample calculation for Run No. 1

To calculate the mass flow rate experimentally:

12
= =0.545 kg / s
22.0

To calculate the velocity of the water at the nozzle exit (u):

0.545
u= =6.96 m/s
99878.5106

To calculate the velocity of water at the vane inlet (uo):

u0= 6.96 229.810.037=6.91 m/s

To calculate the theoretical value of the force when the flat plat is used (Fp):

F p =0.545 6.91=3.77 N

To calculate the experimental value of the force when the flat plat is used
(F):

0.61 9.81 0.067

F= =2.629 N
0.1525

For the hemispherical plate.

Take the first run as an example.

To calculate the theoretical value of the force when the hemispherical cup is
used (Fc):

Fc =20.5456.91=7.54 N

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To calculate the experimental value of the force when the hemispherical cup
is used (F):

0.61 9.81 0.13

F= =5.1 N
0.1525

For the Cone plate.

Take the first run as an example.

To calculate the theoretical value of the force when the Cone cup is used (Fc):

Fc =(1+cos 45)0.5456.38=5.485 N

To calculate the experimental value of the force when the Cone cup is used
(F):

0.61 9.81 0.105

F= =4.12 N
0.1525
Table 1. Time in second, Y in mm, and Forces in N

Table shows Theoretical and experimental Forces of Flat Plate

Run Time(s) Y(mm) Ftheo(N) F exp (N)

1 22 67 3.77 2.63
2 22.97 60 3.46 2.35
3 25.25 50 2.85 1.96
4 27.53 40 2.40 1.57
5 29.87 30 2.03 1.18
6 33.56 20 1.60 0.78
7 35.72 10 1.41 0.39
8 56.71 2 0.54 0.08

Table 2. Time in second, Y in mm, and Forces in N

Table shows Theoretical and experimental Forces of Hemispherical Plate

Run Time (s) Y(mm) Ftheo(N) F exp (N)
1 22 130 7.54 5.10

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 2 24.71 110 5.96 4.32
3 25.75 95 5.49 3.73
4 28.65 80 4.42 3.14
5 30.08 70 4.01 2.75
6 34.32 55 3.06 2.16
7 41.88 35 2.04 1.37
8 57.88 20 1.04 0.78

Table 3. Time in second, Y in mm, and Forces in N

Table shows Theoretical and experimental Forces of Cone Plate

Run Time (s) Y(mm) Ftheo(N) F exp (N)
1 105 23.81 5.485 4.120
2 90 26.1 4.556 3.532
3 70 30.4 3.346 2.747
4 50 33.97 2.670 1.962
5 30 41.6 1.764 1.177
6 20 53.72 1.037 0.785
7 15 54.66 1.000 0.589
8 5 78.94 0.452 0.196

Table 4.

Efficiency of various van used due experiment

Hemispherical
Vane Flat plate Cone Cup
cup
Efficiency 0.8423 1.463915 1.2471

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 F Theoritical Vs F Experimental
8.000
7.000
6.000
5.000
F Theoritical 4.000
3.000
2.000
1.000
0.000
0.000 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000 5.000 6.000

F Experimental

Flate Plate Linear (Flate Plate)

hemispherical cup Linear (hemispherical cup)
Conic Plate Linear (Conic Plate)

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 Force on the plates for different flow rates
8.000

7.000

6.000
Flate Plate
5.000 Linear (Flate Plate)

4.000 hemispherical plate

Force on vane
Linear (hemispherical plate)
3.000 Cone plate
2.000 Linear (Cone plate)

1.000

0.000
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00

Rate of delivery of momentum

Discussion of results

From the tables it can be seen that the value of uo is always smaller than the value of u
(for both vanes). This is logical since the fluid during a flow loses kinetic energy as it hits the
vane, thus decreasing its velocity. When the velocity decreases the mass flow rate decreases.
Since the efficiency of the vanes is a comparison between values obtained experimentally and
theoretical values, it is a must that the experimental values are less than theoretical values, since
the efficiency cannot exceed 100%.

When considering graph 2, the slope of both lines is the efficiency of both cups, for the
flat plate vane the efficiency is 84.2% while for the hemispherical cup it is 68.3% and 80% for
the conical cup.

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 The force obtained by hemispherical cup vane is higher than that given by the flat faced
vane, this is consistent since the geometry of the hemispherical cup shape causes more losses that
that of the flat faced vane where the conic was between the flat and hemispherical plates.

The sources of errors in this experiment might be from:

1 Incorrectly recording the reading on the scale corresponding to the groove on the
jockey weight.

2 Misreading the time for the flow rate calculations.

Conclusion:

At the end of the experiment the force generated by the jet on different types of vanes
was determined, as well as the momentum equation to different shapes of vanes was applied.

From observing the values of theoretical and experimental forces, as expected, the
theoretical values are larger than the experimental values due to losses in kinetic energy and the
velocity as the water travels from the nozzle to the vane.

The mass flow rate was calculated experimentally by dividing the mass of water on the
time needed to fill the tank.

As the mass flow rate increases, the force resulted from the impact of the jet on both, the
flat plate vane and the hemispherical cup vane, is increased for experimental and theoretical
forces. This relation can be seen clearly from the four plots on graph 1, this result was expected
from the change in momentum equation of calculating the force.

It was also concluded that a flat faced vane is more efficient than that of a hemispherical
cup vane, due to their geometries. So less error will be produced if a flat faced vane was used.

References

Frank M .White, Fluid Mechanics, Fifth edition.

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 Fluid Lab manual.

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