ME 152A, F24 Problem Set 3
Handed out: Friday, October 18, 2024
Due: Friday, October 25, 2024 at 4 pm
Applications
1. Application 1 (10 points):
A cart with a square base measuring 10 x 10 cm rolls down an incline
at 20o with the horizontal. The cart has a constant acceleration a = 1
m s−2 . If the height of water in the cart is 5 cm when the cart is
horizontal, what is the maximum height of the liquid in the cart as it is
traveling down the incline. The maximum height h should be measured
from the bottom of the cart.
2. Application 2 (10 points):
We consider the flow in a horizontal heated pipe (along the x-axis). The
fluid flows at a velocity 2 ft s−1 . The flow is heated at a steady rate
of 20 Fo /min at x. In addition, the temperature of the fluid increases
as it travels along the x-axis (in the positive direction), at a rate of
2.5o F/ft. Find the material derivative of the temperature at x.
3. Application 3 (15 points): The flow field in a system is described as
follows, with the position coordinates defined in m:
V = −2xyz i + (x2 − y 2 )z j − y k
(a) Is the flow steady or unsteady?
(b) Define the acceleration vector for this flow at x = 1 m, y = 1 m
and z = 0 m.
(c) Compare the magnitude of the local and convective effects.
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4. Application 4 (15 points): The components of the velocity field are:
Vx = x + y
Vy = xy 3 + 4
Vz = 0
(a) Define the vector velocity at point (2 m, 4 m).
(b) At point (2 m, 4 m), what is the speed ? What is the angle that the
vector velocity forms with the horizontal?
(c) Is there or are there stagnation point(s) in the flow? If yes, what
are its/their coordinates.
Problems
5. Problem 1 (15 points): The velocity field is defined by u = 0.8t in m/s
and v = 0.2 in m/s. x and y are in meters. For a particle released at
point (0 m,0 m) at t = 0:
(a) Define the position of the particle as a function of time (pathline).
(b) Define the equations of the streamline at t =2 s.
(c) Define the equations of the streamline at t =4 s.
(d) Plot the pathline and two streamlines. Comment
6. Problem 2 (15 points) : Water flows through a pipe elbow. A section
of the elbow is curved with a radius of curvature equal to 0.5 m. The
average flow velocity through the pipe is 2.5 m/s.
(a) Define the vector acceleration for the particles flowing through the
streamline along the center line of the pipe using the streamline coor-
dinates
(b) What is the physical meaning of the tangential and normal accel-
erations? Do the values obtained in (a) make sense?
7. Problem 3 (20 points) : We consider the velocity field, v, and pressure
field,p, in a converging duct of 3-meter width (see figure). They are
defined as follows:
V = (5 + 2x) i + 2y j (in m/s)
p = 101 − 2x + y 2 (in kPa)
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where x [m] is the coordinate measured along the centerline of the duct
and y [m] is the coordinate measured normally to the centerline.
(a) what are the dimensions of the flow?
(b) find the material acceleration experienced by a fluid particle mov-
ing through the duct.
(c) find the rate of change of pressure experienced by a fluid particle
moving through the duct.
(d) Do the velocity and pressure increase or decrease along the center-
line of the duct? Comment.
Figure 1: Duct
