Use in Fluid Dynamics Ι lab.
Flow through an Orifice apparatus allows students, as water leaves an orifice, to measure:
- decrease in flow,
- contraction of the stream,
- energy losses.
Students can use the apparatus to study different shapes of orifices. The apparatus works with a hydraulic bench and stands on its worktop. The equipment has a transparent cylindrical tank, with a mounting in the base for different orifices. The apparatus is supplied with a sharpedged orifice already mounted.
Water flows into the tank from the hydraulic bench through an adjustable diffuser. The flow rate and an overflow pipe set the water level. To change the level in the tank (and so the head on the orifice), students adjust the flow to the diffuser. Water leaves the tank through the orifice. The jet that leaves the orifice discharges into the hydraulic bench measuring tank.
Manometers measure the total head on the orifice and under the jet. A traverse assembly holds a Pitot tube which students can position anywhere in the jet. A sharp blade accurately measures the jet diameter. This allows students to find the contraction coefficient.