Faculty of Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Department

Fluid Mechanics Lab

ENME312
Experiment No.2
The Stability of a Floating Body

Manar khaddash 1121246

Muntaseer Abu Khaleel 1121552

Section 1
Dr Adel Dwaik
Assistant Muhammad Wahed

Date of submission: 25-11-2015

Abstract

In this experiment, a floating system will be considered to be able studying the

equilibrium situations for this system. Referring to Archimedes Principle Any object
wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the
fluid displaced by the object." So here we will considered two vertical forces, first one is
the weight of the system and an adjustable weight slides vertically to change the center of
gravity where the weight force acting, and give an angular displacement. Second force is
buoyancy acting at the center of the immersed volume. Axis of the system and the center
of buoyancy force intersect at a point called metacenter. Due to change of weight, system
will be rotate, if the metacenter become above the center of gravity a righting moment
will be produced and return the system to its original position, which means the system is
in stable position, where if the metacenter goes below the center of gravity, overturning
moment will be produced and the angular displacement increase making the system
unstable. So we will measure angle of tilt corresponding to a certain height and position
of jockey weight, after that we will be able to calculate metacentric height and compare it
with the theoretical one, and show the variation of the angle of tilt against the position of
the jockey weight for each position of the adjustable weight.

The main results:

The main results are shown in table (2), and graphs (1, 2, 3,4,5and 6)

Objective

1- Measure angle of tilt by changing the center of gravity using jockey weight.
2- Calculate metacentric height from experiment results and compare it with theoretical
one.
3- To become familiar with the rectangular pontoon and the different weights supporting
it.
4- To plot the angle of tilt vs. position of the jockey weight.
5- To discuss the results of the experiment.
Data
Table (1) Data

Position of Jockey weight, x1 (cm)

Y1
-7.5 -6 -4.5 -3 -1.5 0 1.5 3 4.5 6 7.5
(cm)
105 -8 -7 -4.6 -2.2 0 2.5 4.4 6.8 8
165 -7.4 -5.5 -2.9 0 2.5 5.4 7.5
225 -8 -6.5 -3.5 0 3.2 6.2 7.9
285 -7.2 -4.5 0 3.9 7.3
345 -5.8 0 5
Angle of tilt, (degrees)

Sample Calculations:

To calculate the constant (A):

y1 = 345 mm, = 90 mm
Y = y1/5.2 +A
A=23.6 cm

w= 0.2 kg
W= 2.6 kg
V
H= L D

Where: w: Jockey Weight

W: Total weight of assembly
L: Length of pontoon = 360 mm
D: Breadth of pontoon = 206 mm
: angle of Tilt
H: depth of the immersion of pontoon.
H/2: depth of center of buoyancys.
For y1 = 105 mm
V W 2.6
H= L D = L D =10000.3600.206 = 0.035 m = 35.0 mm

CG = - H = 90 35.0 = 55 mm
dx
= 1.4233 cm/degree
d

= 1.4233*180/3.14 = 816 mm/rad

dx
GM = (w/W) *( ) = (0.2/2.6) *(816) = 62.7mm
d

CM = CG + GM = 55 + 62.7 = 117.7 mm

The theoretical value

CM BM BC

BM
D2

206 101mm
2

12 H 12 35.0
H
BC 17.5mm
2
CM th. 101 17.5 83.5mm

Table 2: The result of the test is shown in the table below:

y1 y dx/d
(mm (mm) CG(mm) (mm/rad) GM(mm)
105 90 55.00 816 62.77
165 55.33 20.33 337.2 25.94
225 66.87 31.87 301.7 23.21
285 78.41 43.41 230.2 17.71
345 89.95 54.95 152.8 11.75
 Position of the jockey (cm) V.S the angle of the tilt (degree)
10
8
Position of the jockey (cm)

6
4
2
0
-8 -6 -4 -2 -2 0 2 4 6 8
-4
-6 y = 1.4233x - 0.0111
-8 R = 0.9951
-10
The angle of the tilt (degree)

Graph (1):shows the relationship between the position of the jockey and the angle of the
tilt at y1=105mm

Position of the jockey (cm) V.S the angle of the tilt (degree)
10
The angle of the tilt (degree)

8
6
4
2
0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 -2 0 1 2 3 4 5
-4
-6
y = 1.7119x - 0.0571
-8 R = 0.9977
-10
Position of the jockey (cm)

Graph (2): shows the relationship between the position of the jockey and the angle of the
tilt at y1=165cm
 Position of the jockey (cm) V.S the angle of the tilt (degree)
10
The angle of the tilt (degree)

8
6
4
2
0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 -2 0 1 2 3 4 5
-4
-6 y = 1.9x - 0.1
-8 R = 0.9909
-10
Position of the jockey (cm)

Graph (3): shows the relationship between the position of the jockey and the angle of the
tilt at y1=225cm

Position of the jockey (cm) V.S the angle of the tilt (degree)
10
The angle of the tilt (degree)

8
6
4
2
0
-4 -3 -2 -1 -2 0 1 2 3 4
-4
-6 y = 2.4933x - 0.1
R = 0.9953
-8
-10
Position of the jockey (cm)

Graph (4): shows the relationship between the position of the jockey and the angle of the
tilt at y1=285cm
 Position of the jockey (cm) V.S the angle of the tilt (degree)
7
The angle of the tilt (degree)

6
5
4
3
2
1 y = -0.2667x + 3.6
R = 0.0162
0
-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Position of the jockey (cm)

Graph (5): shows the relationship between the position of the jockey and the angle of the
tilt at y1=345cm

dx/d vs. CG

2.5
dx/d (mm/deg.)

1.5

0.5 y = -0.0261x + 2.6308

R = 0.2303
0
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00
CG(mm)

Graph (6): shows the relationship between in (mm/deg.) and the position of the

centre of gravity (CG) in mm.
Discussion of Results

The main results of the experiment are:

From the results of table #2, it is seen that as the adjustable weight is moved
upward, the value of increases and thus the position of the centre of gravity
(CG) moves upward. This result is expected from basic principles of
hydrostatics. It is also noticed that the same position of the jokey weight
produces greater angles of tilt as the vertical adjustable weight is moved
upward. This implies that the higher the position of the centre of gravity of a
floating body, the less stable the system will be and the higher the tilting
moment that is produced.

From graphs 1-5, it is noticed that the angle of tilt increases as the jokey weight
is moved from the centre of the apparatus in both directions. Higher values of
the adjustable weight produce steeper changes in tilt angles with changing jokey
position.

From graph 6, it is noticed that there is an inverse relationship between the slope
of the stability line and the position of the center of gravity above the water
surface (CG), but there is some errors.

By comparing the experimental and theoretical values of the meta-centric

height (CM) it is noticed that the two values are not close to each other due to
some errors in the experiment mentioned below.

Conclusion

The main application of the stability of a floating object experiment is to determine whether
floating marine structures such as ships are stable and safe to use. One of the most
important parameters for stability is to determine the value of the meta-centric height and
ensuring that the centre of gravity lies between the meta-centre and the centre of buoyancy
in order for the system to be stable. Based on this, the pontoon used in the experiment is
stable in all five trials.

If a liquid having a higher density than water was used in the experiment, stability will
decrease because the depth of immersion of pontoon (t) will decrease
Sources of errors in this experiment include:
Systematic errors in the used apparatus.
Measured angles were approximated to the nearest quarter of a
degree leading to some inaccuracy in angles measurement.
The value of the tilt angle when the jokey weight is in the centre is
theoretically zero which was not true experimentally due to
systematic errors.

References

The following references were used:

1. Fluid laboratory manual, Birzeit University, Experiment #2: stability of a

floating object.

2. http://library.thinkquest.org/C001429/statics/stability.htm