Roll No.

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Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
B.Tech. Degree Examinations May 2013
Fourth Semester
Mechanical Engineering

MEC222 Fluid Mechanics and Machinery

Time: Three hours

Maximum: 100 Marks

Answer all questions
Clearly write your assumptions where necessary

1. How is a shear thinning fluid different from a Newtonian fluid? Explain with an example how
the shear thinning property of a fluid is used in engineering or household applications.
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2. Explain with a neat sketch how a micromanometer can be used to accurately measure small
pressure differences. Obtain the necessary mathematical relation for measuring pressure
difference between two points with a micromanometer. How can the sensitivity of the
micromanometer be improved?
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3. The flow of water from a reservoir is controlled by a 1.5 m wide L-shaped gate hinged at point
A as shown in the below figure. If it is desired that the gate open when the water height is 2.4
m, determine the mass of the required weight W.
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4. a. With neat sketch explain what are streak lines and path lines and how can they be used to
represent fluid flow?
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b. If a flow is represented by V y 2 i 6 xj , obtain an expression for streamline passing
through (2,2).

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5. a. Using the Reynolds Transport theorem obtain the general equation of conservation of mass
for a fixed control volume.
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b. The open tank in the below fig., contains water at 20C and the inlet and exit flows are as
shown. Assuming incompressible flow, derive an analytic expression for the water-level
change dh/dt in terms of arbitrary volume flows (Q1, Q2and Q3) and tank diameter d. If the
water level h is constant, determine the exit velocity V2 for the given data V1= 3 m/s and
Q3 = 0.01 m3/s.
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d
6. A 10-cm-diameter hose provides water from a tanker to an open fire through an end nozzle of
diameter 2.5cm. The inlet of the hose is maintained at 1600 kPa. Estimate the force that the
water exerts on the nozzle. The elevation difference between inlet and exit and other
mechanical losses may be neglected.
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7. A fluid of density 804 kg/m3 flows through a pump as shown in the below figure. The inlet pipe
diameter is 7.5 cm and the exit pipe diameter is 15 cm. The flow rate of the fluid is 0.065 m3/s
and the pump delivers 6 kW to the flow. The elevation difference between the inlet and exit
pipe is 1.5 m and the head losses between points 1 and 2 are 2.4 m. What should be the
mercury manometer reading h?
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8. Air enters a 7 m long section of a rectangular duct of cross section 15cm 20cm made of
commercial steel ( 4.5 10 5 m ) at an average velocity of 7m/s. Determine the fan power
needed to pump the air through the duct. Neglect all minor losses. Under the operating
conditions, assume that the density of air is 1.145 kg/m3 and the absolute viscosity
is 1.895 10 5 Ns / m 2 .

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9. a. What is dimensional analysis? Explain its significance with an example

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b. The power P required to run a centrifugal pump depends on the impeller diameter D,
the rotational speed N , rate of discharge Q, density , Viscosity . Using Buckinghams Pi
theorem obtain a dimensionless relationship for Power and clearly identify the groups. 8m
10. A commercial centrifugal pump has an impeller of inner and outer radii 10 cm and 17.5 cm
respectively while the impeller widths at inlet and exit are 4.38 cm. The inlet and exit blade
angles are 30o and 20o respectively. The impeller rotates at 1440 rpm. Draw the inlet and exit
velocity triangles and estimate the design point discharge, water power and the pump head.
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11. What is Net positive suction head and what is its significance with respect to pump
installation? Write two steps to increase the available NPSH of a pump installation and
substantiate your answer with a mathematical relation for NPSHA.
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12. A turbine is to operate under a head of 25 m and 200 rpm. The discharge is 9m3/s and the
turbine efficiency is 90%. Determine the specific speed of the turbine and state which turbine
would best suit the situation? If the same turbine operates under a head of 20 m what would be
the corresponding rpm of the turbine?
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13. The mean bucket speed of a Pelton turbine is 15 m/s. The rate of flow of water supplied by the
jet under a head of 42 m is 1m3/s. If the jet is deflected by the buckets at an angle of 165o, find
the power and efficiency of the turbine. Sketch the inlet and exit velocity triangles neatly.
Take velocity coefficient = 0.985.
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