SAINT LOUIS COLLEGE

City of San Fernando

Activity Manual in CE 413: Hydraulics

Name:_______________________________________ Group No.:_______________________

Course and Year:_______________________________ Date Performed:__________________
Schedule:_____________________________________ Date Submitted:___________________

Activity No. 1

DISCHARGE THROUGH AN ORIFICE (CONSTANT HEAD METHOD)

I. OBJECTIVE: To conduct an experiment on orifice and also determine the coefficients of discharge,
velocity, and contraction of the orifice by constant head method.

II. APPARATUS: Tank fitted with orifice, collecting tank, stop watch, ruler and/or meter stick, and marker

III. THEORY:

An orifice is an opening with a closed perimeter through which a fluid flows. The usual purpose of an orifice is
the measurement or control of the flow.

Orifices used for measuring flow are usually circular, square, or rectangular in cross section. Because of
simplicity of design and construction, sharp-edged circular orifices are most common for fluid measurement and
have been most thoroughly investigated by experiment, although much remains to be learned about the laws
governing their discharge, particularly for fluids other than water.

The theoretical velocity and discharge in a certain orifice is computed using the following formula:

t  2 gH and
Qt  Ao 2gH

where:

Vt = theoretical velocity
Qt = theoretical discharge
g = acceleration due to gravity
H = height of liquid above the orifice
Ao = area of the orifice

IV. PROCEDURE:

1. Measure the diameter of the orifice and calculate its area.

2. Open the outlet valve and fill the orifice tank at a certain height of water “h”.
3. Maintain constant head in the orifice tank.

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 4. Open the orifice and measure horizontally the distance between the orifice and the point on the ground
where the jet strikes.
5. Measure also the vertical distance between the orifice and the ground. Calculate the actual velocity using
the coordinate method.
2𝑉 2
𝑥2 = 𝑦
𝑔
Where:
V = actual velocity
x = measured horizontal distance between the orifice and the point on the ground where the jet strikes
y = vertical distance between the center of the orifice and the ground
g = gravitational acceleration

6. Water is collected through the orifice at a certain period of time “t” in the collecting tank/container.
7. Determine the volume collected, divide it by the time of collection and record it as the actual discharge
Qa.
8. Theoretical velocity and discharge are computed using the formula discussed above.
9. Coefficient of discharge, Cd, is computed by dividing the actual discharge by the theoretical discharge.
Coefficient of velocity, Cv, is also computed by dividing the actual velocity by the theoretical velocity.
Coefficient of contraction is computed by dividing the coefficient of discharge (Cd) by the coefficient of
velocity (Cv).
10. The above procedure is repeated for different constant heads.
11. The observations are tabulated and the coefficients of the orifice are computed.

V. DATA AND RESULTS

Diameter of the orifice:____________mm

Area of the orifice:________________mm2

Time Head (m) Theoretical Theoretical Actual Actual Coefficient Coefficient of

(seconds) Velocity Discharge Velocity Discharge of Velocity Discharge (Cd)
(m/s) (L/s) (m/s) (L/s) (Cv)

Average

Cc = _________

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Computations:

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VI. EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

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VII. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. A jet issues from the side of a tank under a head of 4 m. the side of the tank has an inclination of one
horizontal to one vertical. The total depth of water in the tank is 9m. Compute the maximum height to which
the jet rises, measured from the center of the orifice.

2. An orifice (Ao = 0.005 m2, Cv = 0.92) is installed at the horizontal face of a tank as shown in the figure. The
head is constant to be 8.5 m. Determine how high will the water from the orifice rise.

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3. Enumerate and illustrate at least 4 types of orifices and give a brief description of each.

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VIII. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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