Hydraulics

Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science

using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical
properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid
counterpart of pneumatics, which concerns gases. Fluid mechanics provides
the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the applied Hydraulics and other studies[1]
engineering using the properties of fluids. In its fluid power applications,
hydraulics is used for the generation, control, and transmission of power by
the use of pressurized liquids. Hydraulic topics range through some parts of
science and most of engineering modules, and cover concepts such as pipe
flow, dam design, fluidics and fluid control circuitry, pumps. The principles
of hydraulics are in use naturally in the human body within the heart and
the penile erection.[3][4] Free surface hydraulics is the branch of hydraulics
dealing with free surface flow, such as occurring in rivers, canals, lakes,
An open channel, with a uniform
estuaries and seas. Its sub-field open channel flow studies the flow in open
depth, Open Channel Hydraulics
channels.
deals with uniform and non-
uniform streams.

The word "hydraulics" originates from the Greek word ὑδραυλικός

(hydraulikos) which in turn originates from ὕδωρ (hydor, Greek for water)
and αὐλός (aulos, meaning pipe).

Contents
Ancient and medieval era
Greek / Hellenistic age
China
Sri Lanka
Innovations in Ancient Rome
Modern era (c. 1600 – 1870)
Benedetto Castelli
Blaise Pascal
Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille Illustration of hydraulic and
In the UK hydrostatic.[2]
Hydraulic models
See also
Notes
References
External links
Ancient and medieval era
Early uses of water power date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt,
where irrigation has been used since the 6th millennium BC and water
clocks had been used since the early 2nd millennium BC. Other early
examples of water power include the Qanat system in ancient Persia and
the Turpan water system in ancient Central Asia.

Greek / Hellenistic age

The Greeks constructed sophisticated water and hydraulic power systems.
An example is the construction by Eupalinos, under a public contract, of a
watering channel for Samos, the Tunnel of Eupalinos. An early example of
the usage of hydraulic wheel, probably the earliest in Europe, is the
Perachora wheel (3rd century BC).[5]
Waterwheel.

The construction of the first hydraulic automata by Ctesibius (flourished c.

270 BC) and Hero of Alexandria (c. 10 – 80 AD) is notable. Hero describes a number of working machines using
hydraulic power, such as the force pump, which is known from many Roman sites as having been used for
raising water and in fire engines.[6]

China
In ancient China there was Sunshu Ao (6th century BC), Ximen Bao (5th century BC), Du Shi (circa 31 AD), Zhang
Heng (78 – 139 AD), and Ma Jun (200 – 265 AD), while medieval China had Su Song (1020 – 1101 AD) and Shen Kuo
(1031–1095). Du Shi employed a waterwheel to power the bellows of a blast furnace producing cast iron. Zhang
Heng was the first to employ hydraulics to provide motive power in rotating an armillary sphere for
astronomical observation.[7]

Sri Lanka
In ancient Sri Lanka, hydraulics were widely used in the ancient
kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.[8] The discovery of
the principle of the valve tower, or valve pit, (Bisokotuwa in
Sinhalese) for regulating the escape of water is credited to ingenuity
more than 2,000 years ago.[9] By the first century AD, several large-
scale irrigation works had been completed.[10] Macro- and micro-
hydraulics to provide for domestic horticultural and agricultural
needs, surface drainage and erosion control, ornamental and
recreational water courses and retaining structures and also cooling Moat and gardens at Sigiriya.
systems were in place in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka. The coral on the
massive rock at the site includes cisterns for collecting water. Large
ancient reservoirs of Sri Lanka are Kalawewa (King Dhatusena), Parakrama Samudra (King Parakrama Bahu),
Tisa Wewa (King Dutugamunu), Minneriya (King Mahasen)
Innovations in Ancient Rome
In Ancient Rome, many different hydraulic applications were
developed, including public water supplies, innumerable aqueducts,
power using watermills and hydraulic mining. They were among
the first to make use of the siphon to carry water across valleys, and
used hushing on a large scale to prospect for and then extract metal
ores. They used lead widely in plumbing systems for domestic and
public supply, such as feeding thermae.

Hydraulic mining was used in the gold-fields of northern Spain,

Aqueduct of Segovia, a 1st-century AD
which was conquered by Augustus in 25 BC. The alluvial gold-mine
masterpiece.
of Las Medulas was one of the largest of their mines. It was worked
by at least 7 long aqueducts, and the water streams were used to
erode the soft deposits, and then wash the tailings for the valuable gold content.[11][12][13]

Modern era (c. 1600 – 1870)

Benedetto Castelli
In 1619 Benedetto Castelli (1576 – 1578–1643), a student of Galileo Galilei, published the book Della Misura
dell'Acque Correnti or "On the Measurement of Running Waters", one of the foundations of modern
hydrodynamics. He served as a chief consultant to the Pope on hydraulic projects, i.e., management of rivers in
the Papal States, beginning in 1626.[14]

Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) studied fluid hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, centered on the principles of hydraulic
fluids. His inventions include the hydraulic press, which multiplied a smaller force acting on a smaller area into
the application of a larger force totaled over a larger area, transmitted through the same pressure (or same
change of pressure) at both locations. Pascal's law or principle states that for an incompressible fluid at rest, the
difference in pressure is proportional to the difference in height and this difference remains the same whether
or not the overall pressure of the fluid is changed by applying an external force. This implies that by increasing
the pressure at any point in a confined fluid, there is an equal increase at every other point in the container, i.e.,
any change in pressure applied at any point of the fluid is transmitted undiminished throughout the fluids.

Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille

A French physician, Poiseuille researched the flow of blood through the body and discovered an important law
governing the rate of flow with the diameter of the tube in which flow occurred.[15]

In the UK
Several cities developed citywide hydraulic power networks in the 19th century, to operate machinery such as
lifts, cranes, capstans and the like. Joseph Bramah[16] was an early innovator and William Armstrong[17] perfected
the apparatus for power delivery on an industrial scale. In London, the London Hydraulic Power Company[18]
was a major supplier its pipes serving large parts of the West End of London, City and the Docks, but there were
schemes restricted to single enterprises such as docks and railway goods yards.

Hydraulic models
After students understand the basic principles of hydraulics, some teachers use a hydraulic analogy to help
students learn other things. For example:

The MONIAC Computer uses water flowing through hydraulic components to help students learn about economics.
The thermal-hydraulic analogy uses hydraulic principles to help students learn about thermal circuits.
The electronic–hydraulic analogy uses hydraulic principles to help students learn about electronics.

See also
Affinity laws Hydraulic transmission
Bernoulli's principle International Association for Hydro-Environment
Hydraulic engineering Engineering and Research
Hydraulic mining Open-channel flow
Pneumatics

Notes
1. NEZU Iehisa (1995), Suirigaku, Ryutai-rikigaku, Asakura Shoten, p. 17, ISBN 4-254-26135-7.
2. "hidraulica Archivos – Zona Ingenieria" (http://zonaingenieria.com/category/hidraulica/).
3. http://www.industrialoutpost.com/human-circulatory-system-heart-modern-hydraulic/
4. Meldrum, David R.; Burnett, Arthur L.; Dorey, Grace; Esposito, Katherine; Ignarro, Louis J. (2014). "Erectile Hydraulics:
Maximizing Inflow While Minimizing Outflow". The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 11 (5): 1208–20.
doi:10.1111/jsm.12457 (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fjsm.12457). PMID 24521101 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub
med/24521101).
5. Tomlinson, R. A. (2013). "The Perachora Waterworks: Addenda". The Annual of the British School at Athens. 71: 147–8.
doi:10.1017/S0068245400005864 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0068245400005864). JSTOR 30103359 (https://ww
w.jstor.org/stable/30103359).
6. Museum, Victoria and Albert. "Catalogue of the mechanical engineering collection in the Science Division of the
Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, with descriptive and historical notes." Ulan Press. 2012.
7. 1974-, Fu, Chunjiang,; Liping., Yang,; N., Han, Y.; Editorial., Asiapac (2006). Origins of Chinese science and technology (h
ttps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71370433). Asiapac. ISBN 9812293760. OCLC 71370433 (https://www.worldcat.org/oc
lc/71370433).
8. "SriLanka-A Country study" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120905131619/http://www.marines.mil/news/publicatio
ns/Documents/Sri%20Lanka%20Study_1.pdf) (PDF). USA Government, Department of Army. 1990. Archived from the
original (http://www.marines.mil/news/publications/Documents/Sri%20Lanka%20Study_1.pdf) (PDF) on 5 September
2012. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
9. "SriLanka – History" (https://web.archive.org/web/20111228234152/http://asia.isp.msu.edu/wbwoa/south_asia/sri_l
anka/history.htm). Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University. Archived from the original (http://asia.isp.msu.ed
u/wbwoa/south_asia/sri_lanka/history.htm) on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
10. "Traditional SriLanka or Ceylon" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110927020022/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/SriLa
nka.html). Sam Houston State University. Archived from the original (http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/SriLanka.html)
on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
11. Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Las Médulas" (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/803). whc.unesco.org. Retrieved
2017-06-13.
12. ricardo (2014-10-30). "Las Médulas" (http://www.patrimoniocastillayleon.com/en/las-medulas). Castilla y León World
Heritage UNESCO (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-06-13.
13. Bird, David. Pliny's Arrugia Water Mining in Roman Gold-Mining. Papers Presented at the National Association of
Mining History Organizations' Conference July 2002. Obtained from:
http://www.goldchartsrus.com/papers/PlinysArrugia-WaterPowerInRomanGoldMining.pdf
14. "The Galileo Project – Science – Benedetto Castelli" (http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/castelli.html).
15. Sutera and Skalak, Salvatore and Richard. The History of Poiseuille's Law. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 1993. 25: 1-19.
16. "Joseph Bramah" (http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/technology/engineering/biography/bramah.htm).
Robinsonlibrary.com. 2014-03-23. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
17. "William George Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810-1900)" (http://www.victorianweb.org/technology/eng
ineers/armstrong.html). Victorianweb.org. 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
18. "Subterranea Britannica: Sites: Hydraulic power in London" (http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/h/hydraulic_pow
er_in_london/index.shtml). Subbrit.org.uk. 1981-09-25. Retrieved 2014-04-08.

References
Rāshid, Rushdī; Morelon, Régis (1996), Encyclopedia of the history of Arabic science, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-
415-12410-2.

External links
Pascal's Principle and Hydraulics (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/WindTunnel/Activities/Pascals_principle.htm
l)
The principle of hydraulics (http://www.hydraulicmania.com)
IAHR media library Web resource of photos, animation & video (http://www.iahrmedialibrary.net)
Basic hydraulic equations (http://hydraulik.empass.biz)
MIT hydraulics course notes (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/civil-and-environmental-engineering/1-060-engineering-mec
hanics-ii-spring-2006/lecture-notes/)

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