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Thermofluids 1

Buoyancy & Stability


Lecture 8
Dr. Ghazi Droubi
m.g.droubi@rgu.ac.uk


Recap
We have looked last lecture at

Hydrostatic force on a submerged curved
surface

Hydrostatic force on a submerged curved surface
Horizontal component, F
H
= F
X

Vertical component, F
V
= F
Y
+ W (Vector addition)

where W = gV: is the weight of the enclosed liquid block of
volume V and acts downward through the centroid of this
volume.

The magnitude of the resultant hydrostatic force acting on
the curved surface,
F
R
= Tan = F
V
/ F
H

The location of the line of action of the resultant force can be
determined by taking moments about an appropriate point.

2
V
2
H F F
+
The altitude of a hot air
balloon is controlled by the
temperature difference
between the air inside and
outside the balloon, since
warm air is less dense than
cold air.

When the balloon is neither
rising nor falling, the upward
buoyant force exactly
balances the downward
weight.
Buoyancy Forces
Buoyancy forces
Buoyancy
As the pressure in a fluid increases with depth, the fluid
exerts a resultant upward force on any body immersed
in it.
Consider a cylinder submerged in water:
Buoyancy = total vertical force exerted on the body due to
pressure
Pressure force on the top surface


Pressure force on the bottom surface
A
L
F
Bottom
F
TOP
h
Free surface
ghA A P F
TOP TOP
= =
A=area
A L h g A P F
BOTTOM BOTTOM
) ( + = =
Buoyancy forces

Total pressure force or net upward force:







A
L
F
Bottom
F
TOP
h
Free surface
A = Area
gV
gLA
ghA L)A g(h
F F Force Buoyant
f
f
f f
TOP BOTTOM
=
=
+ =
=
That is:



Or in words
Buoyancy force = (density of fluid) x g x (Volume of subject body)
body f b
gV F =
Buoyancy forces
Buoyancy
The formula derived for a cylinder is applicable for any
shape:
C
E
D
F
F
CFD
F
CED
body f b
gV F =
The buoyant force acting on a body is equal to the
weight of the liquid displaced by the body.
The buoyant force is independent of:
a) the distance of the body from the free surface;
b) the density of the solid body.
A body experiences an up thrust (force)
equal to the weight of fluid displaced
The up thrust acts through the centroid
of the displaced volume
Archimedes Principle
Buoyancy forces
Maximum Buoyancy Force


Weight


Drum Floats:
Archimedes Principle
Floats/Sinks?
drum fluid
gV
g V g M
drum drum drum
=
Bouyancy Weight s
fluid drum
s
A Hot-Air Balloon has a volume of 1000m
3
, If the surrounding air
has a density of 1.21 kg/m
3
, what is the buoyancy force?
1. I need more info!
2. 11.87 kN
3. 11.87 x 10
3
kN
4. None of the above
Example
A Hot-Air Balloon has a volume of 1000m
3
, If the surrounding air
has a density of 1.21 kg/m
3
, what is the buoyancy force?
Buoyancy forces (cont.)
What is the buoyancy force on a body only partly immersed in the
liquid?


gV F
b
=
where V is the volume of the part of
the body immersed in the liquid.


The weight of the entire body must be equal to the buoyant force.
i.e. F
B
= W
Buoyancy forces (cont.)
F
B
= W
f
g V
sub
=
body
g V
total







The submerged volume fraction of a
floating body is equal to the ratio of
the average density of the body to
the density of the fluid.




v
v
f
body
total
sub
=
How deep in the water does the
drum float?

Alternatively what is h?
Archimedes Principle
Example Question
kg M
drum
250 =
m H 1 =
h
m D 8 . 0 =
3
1020 m kg
sw
=
How deep in the sea water does the drum
float?
1. 0.488 m
2. 1 m
3. 0.122 m
4. 0.497 m
5. It sinks!
6. None of the above
Archimedes Principle
Example Question
kg M
drum
250 =
m H 1 =
h
m D 8 . 0 =
Check your understanding
Consider two 5-cm-diameter sphere balls one made of steel, the other wood
submerged in water.
Will the buoyancy force acting on these two balls be the same or different?
Why?
Will the buoyancy force change if the balls are submerged in oil?


Steel
Wood
F
b
W

F
b
W

Worked example
A steel ball of 10cm-in-diameter submerged in water is hanging with a string
from top. Calculate the tensile force in the string. (The density of steel is
7800kg/m
3
.)


water
F
S
W

F
b
3 4
3
3
body
m 10 5.23
2
0.1
3.14
3
4
R
3
4
V

=
|
.
|

\
|
= =
Is it Stable?
Terminology:
Centre of Buoyancy
Centre of Gravity
Stable Equilibrium
Neutral Equilibrium
Unstable Equilibrium
Metacentre
Metacentric Height
c.g.
c.b.
Stability
Stable?
Restoring Moment = Wx
G below B
B
W
G
G
B
W
x
Rotation
Stability of Submerged Objects
Stable Equilibrium
B @ G
G
B
W
G
B
W
Neutral Equilibrium
Rotation
Stability of Submerged Objects
Overturning Moment = Wx
G above B
G
B
W
G
B
W
x
Unstable Equilibrium
Rotation
Stability of Submerged Objects
The Metacentre is the point where the line of action of
the up-thrust intersects the original vertical line through
the centre of buoyancy and the centre of gravity.
The restoring or overturning moment is

GM = metacentric height
When is small: u . .GM W
u sin . .GM W
Stability of Floating Bodies
Metacentric Height
G
B
B
W
B
B
W
u
M Above G therefore Stable
Metacentric Height
GM
Stability of Floating Bodies
G
B
B
W
G
B
B
W
u
M Below G
therefore
Unstable
Metacentric Height
Stability of Floating Bodies
c.g.
c.b.
Metacentre
Stability of Floating Bodies
Stable?
We have looked today at:

Buoyancy force
Stability of submerged and floating bodies
Next lecture
Rigid body motion
Summary

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