William Cawthorne Unwin

“ It is not likely that any formula can be found which will give exactly the discharge of any given pipe. For one of the chief factors in any such formula must express the exact roughness of the pipe surface, and there is no scientific measure of roughness. The most that can be done is to limit the choice of the coefficient for a pipe within certain comparatively narrow limits. The experiments on fluid friction show that the power of the velocity to which the resistance is proportional is not exactly the square. ”

“ If in one part of its course the velocity of a stream is great enough to scour the bed and the water becomes loaded with silt, and in a subsequent part of the river’s course the velocity is diminished, then part of the transported material must be deposited. Probably deposit and scour go on simultaneously over the whole river bed, but in some parts the rate of scour is in excess of the rate of deposit, and in other parts the rate of deposit is in excess of the rate of scour. Deep streams appear to have the greatest scouring power at any given velocity. ”

“ We may either fix attention on a given mass of fluid and consider its changes of position and energy under the action of the stresses to which it is subjected, or we may have regard to a given fixed portion of space, and consider the volume and energy of the fluid entering and leaving that space.
If, in following a given path ab (fig. 4) , a mass of water a has a constant velocity, the motion is said to be uniform. The kinetic energy of the mass a remains unchanged. If the velocity varies from point to point of the path, the motion is called varying motion. ”

“ No actual fluid is devoid of viscosity, and the effect of viscosity is to render the motion of a fluid sinuous, or rotational or eddying under most ordinary conditions. At very low velocities in a tube of moderate size the motion of water may be nearly pure stream line motion. But at some velocity, smaller as the diameter of the tube is greater, the motion suddenly becomes tumultuous. The laws of simple stream line motion have hitherto been investigated theoretically, and from mathematical difficulties have only been determined for certain simple cases. ”

“ If the fluid molecules take precisely the accelerations which they would have if independent and submitted only to the external forces, the pressure is uniform. Thus in a jet falling freely in the air the pressure throughout any cross section is uniform and equal to the atmospheric pressure. ”

“ Classification of Turbines.—In some turbines the whole available energy of the water is converted into kinetic energy before the water acts on the moving part of the turbine. Such turbines are termed Impulse or Action Turbines, and they are distinguished by this that the wheel passages are never entirely filled by the water. To ensure this condition they must be placed a little above the tail water and discharge into free air. Turbines in which part only of the available energy is converted into kinetic energy before the water enters the wheel are termed Pressure or Reaction Turbines. ”

“ If at a given point a in space, the particles of water always arrive with the same velocity and in the same direction, during any given time, then the motion is termed steady motion. On the contrary, if at the point a the velocity or direction varies from moment to moment the motion is termed unsteady. A river which excavates its own bed is in unsteady motion so long as the slope and form of the bed is changing. ”

“ But, further, in fluids such as water, air, steam, &c., to which the present division of the article relates, the tangential stresses that are called into action between contiguous portions during distortion or change of figure are always small compared with the weight, inertia, pressure, &c., which produce the visible motions it is the object of hydraulics to estimate. On the other hand, while a fluid passes easily from one form to another, it opposes considerable resistance to change of volume. ”

“ Position which a Movable Plane takes in Flowing Water.—When a rectangular plane, movable about an axis parallel to one of its sides, is placed in an indefinite current of fluid, it takes a position such that the resultant of the normal pressures on the two sides of the axis passes through the axis. If, therefore, planes pivoted so that the ratio a/b (fig. 163) is varied are placed in water, and the angle they make with the direction of the stream is observed, the position of the resultant of the pressures on the plane is determined for different angular positions. ”

“ Relative Value of Different Materials for Submerged Works.—That the power of water to remove and transport different materials depends on their density has an important bearing on the selection of materials for submerged works. In many cases, as in the aprons or floorings beneath bridges, or in front of locks or falls, and in the formation of training walls and breakwaters by pierres perdus, which have to resist a violent current, the materials of which the structures are composed should be of such a size and weight as to be able individually to resist the scouring action of the water. ”

“ In all actual streams the different fluid filaments have different velocities, those near the surface and centre moving faster than those near the bottom and sides. The ordinary formulae for the flow of streams rest on a hypothesis that this variation of velocity may be neglected, and that all the filaments may be treated as having a common velocity equal to the mean velocity of the stream. On this hypothesis, a plane layer abab (fig. 102) between sections normal to the direction of motion is treated as sliding down the channel to a′a′b′b′ without deformation. ”

“ Notches, Weirs and Byewashes.—A notch is an orifice extending up to the free surface level in the reservoir from which the discharge takes place. A weir is a structure over which the water flows, the discharge being in the same conditions as for a notch. The formula of discharge for an orifice of this kind is ordinarily deduced by putting H1 = 0 in the formula for the corresponding orifice, obtained as in the preceding section. ”

“ When the solid boundaries are complete, the flow is said to take place in a pipe. When the solid boundary is incomplete and leaves the upper surface of the fluid free, it is termed a stream bed or channel or canal.
(2) A stream bounded laterally by differently moving fluid of the same kind is termed a current.
(3) A jet is a stream bounded by fluid of a different kind.
(4) An eddy, vortex or whirlpool is a mass of fluid the particles of which are moving circularly or spirally.
(5) In a stream we may often regard the particles as flowing along definite paths in space. ”

“ When water flows through any pipe-shaped passage, such as the passage between the vanes of a turbine wheel, the relation between the changes of pressure and velocity is given by Bernoulli’s theorem (§ 29) . Suppose that, at a section A of such a passage, h1 is the pressure measured in feet of water, v1 the velocity, and z1 the elevation above any horizontal datum plane, and that at a section B the same quantities are denoted by h2, v2, z2. ”

“ In these cases, an artificial source of water power is created by using a steam-engine to pump water to a reservoir at a great elevation, or to pump water into a closed reservoir in which there is great pressure. The water flowing from the reservoir through hydraulic engines gives back the energy expended, less so much as has been wasted by friction. Such arrangements are most useful where a continuously acting steam engine stores up energy by pumping the water, while the work done by the hydraulic engines is done intermittently. ”

“ The quantity of water to be pumped by a centrifugal pump necessarily varies, and an adjustment for different quantities of water cannot easily be introduced. Hence it is that the average efficiency of pumps of this kind is in practice less than the efficiencies given above. The advantage of a vortex chamber is also generally neglected. The velocity in the supply and discharge pipes is also often made greater than is consistent with a high degree of efficiency. Velocities of 6 or 7 ft. per second in the discharge and suction pipes, when the lift is small, cause a very sensible waste of energy ”

“ When water moves round a circular curve under the action of gravity only, it takes a motion like that in a free vortex. Its velocity is greater parallel to the axis of the stream at the inner than at the outer side of the bend. ”

“ The difference between the velocity of discharge and the velocity due to the head may be reckoned in another way. The total height h causing outflow consists of two parts—one part he expended effectively in producing the velocity of outflow, another hr in overcoming the resistances due to viscosity and friction. Let
hr = crhe, where cr is a coefficient determined by experiment, and called the coefficient of resistance of the orifice. It is tolerably constant for different heads with well-formed orifices. ”

“ Measurement of the Flow in Streams.—To determine the quantity of water flowing off the ground in small streams, which is available for water supply or for obtaining water power, small temporary weirs are often used. These may be formed of planks supported by piles and puddled to prevent leakage. The measurement of the head may be made by a thin-edged scale at a short distance behind the weir, where the water surface has not begun to slope down to the weir and where the velocity of approach is not high. ”

“ Where no other circumstance limits the loss of head to be assigned to a given length of main, a consideration of the safety of the main from fracture by hydraulic shock leads to a limitation of the velocity of flow. Generally the velocity in water mains lies between 11/2 and 41/2 ft. per second. Occasionally the velocity in pipes reaches 10 ft. per second, and in hydraulic machinery working under enormous pressures even 20 ft. ”

“ The brake horse-power increases as the resistance is diminished because the volume of discharge increases very much. The curve marked efficiency is the efficiency calculated on the work of compression only. It is zero for no discharge, and zero also when there is no resistance and all the energy given to the air is carried away as kinetic energy. There is a discharge for which this efficiency is a maximum; it is about half the discharge which there is when there is no resistance and the delivery pipe is full open. ”

“ Properties of Fluids.—The fluids to which the laws of practical hydraulics relate are substances the parts of which possess very great mobility, or which offer a very small resistance to distortion independently of inertia. Under the general heading Hydromechanics a fluid is defined to be a substance which yields continually to the slightest tangential stress, and hence in a fluid at rest there can be no tangential stress. ”

“ The pump disk or wheel is very similar to a turbine wheel. It is keyed on a shaft driven by a belt on a fast and loose pulley arrangement at P. The water rotating in the pump disk presses outwards, and if the speed is sufficient a continuous flow is maintained through the pump and into the discharge pipe D. The special feature in this pump is that the water, discharged by the pump disk with a whirling velocity of not inconsiderable magnitude, is allowed to continue rotation in a chamber somewhat larger than the pump. ”

“ If an ordinary pipe, connecting reservoirs open to the air, rises at any joint above the line of virtual slope, the pressure at that point is less than the atmospheric pressure transmitted through the pipe. At such a point there is a liability that air may be disengaged from the water, and the flow stopped or impeded by the accumulation of air. If the pipe rises more than 34 ft. above the line of virtual slope, the pressure is negative. ”

“ In many cases which occur in practice the channel of approach to an orifice or notch is not so large, relatively to the stream through the orifice or notch, that the velocity in it can be disregarded.
Let h1, h2 (fig. 48) be the heads measured from the free surface to the top and bottom edges of a rectangular orifice, at a point in the channel of approach where the velocity is u. It is obvious that a fall of the free surface,
ɧ = u2/2g has been somewhere expended in producing the velocity u, and hence the true heads measured in still water would have been h1 + ɧ and h2 + ɧ. ”

“ Then the whole velocity at any point will be inversely proportional to the radius of the point, and the fluid will describe stream lines having a constant inclination to the radius drawn to the axis of the current. That is, the stream lines will be logarithmic spirals. When water is delivered from the circumference of a centrifugal pump or turbine into a chamber, it forms a free vortex of this kind. The water flows spirally outwards, its velocity diminishing and its pressure increasing according to the law stated above, and the head along each spiral stream line is constant. ”