Forced Vortex Essay

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Experiment 3: FREE AND FORCED VORTEX Objectives: 1. To compare the theoretical and experimental values of the piezometric head and total head against the square of radius for forced vortex. 2. To discuss the effect of different angular velocities of the paddle on the surface profiles of the forced vortices. 3. To investigate discuss the effect of different orifice diameters on the surface profiles of the free vortices. 4. To describe the physical difference(s) between free and forced vortex. Introduction: A vortex represents a flow in which the streamlines are concentric circles as is shown in Figure 1. Two vortices are studied, i.e., free (irrotational) vortex, and forced (rotational) vortex (Figure 2). Figure 1. The streamline pattern for a vortex. 1 Fluid Mechanics II Lab Sheet Figure 2. Motion of fluid element from A to B: (a) for free vortex; (b) for forced vortex. The Bernoulli’s equation states that the head will be constant along the streamline when the incompressible and inviscid fluid is in the steady motion. However, there is no any indication of how total head H varies from one stream to another. Besides, the H also changes from streamline to streamline across the section because the velocity rises from zero at the wall to maximum at the center. There is close relation between variation of H across the streamlines of the fluid in steady motion and the rotation of the flow. Irrotationality is referred when H is constant from streamline to another, there is no rotation in the fluid. On the other hand, rotational is referred when the H varies across the streamline and possesses rotation. Vortex flow is the flow that circulates about a fixed center and the streamline pattern consists simply of a set of concentric circles. The variation of radius r of piezometric head h and total head H can be determined by using the following equations:  u2 u 

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