TERMS

WATER

Types of Fluids

Fluids are generally divided into two categories, ideal fluids and real fluids.

Ideal Fluids:

 Assumed to have no viscosity (no resistance to shear)

 Incompressible

 Have uniform velocity when flowing

 No friction between moving layers of fluid

 No eddy currents or turbulence

Real Fluids:

 Exhibit infinite velocities

 Non-uniform velocity when flowing

 Compressible

 Experience friction and turbulence

Gage pressure – is the pressure above or below the atmosphere and can be measured by pressure
gauges or manometers.

Atmospheric pressure – is the pressure at any one point on the Earth’s surface from the weight of the air
above it. A vacuum is a space that has all matter removed from it.

Absolute pressure – is the pressure above absolute zero. (vacuum)

Manometer

Open Type – has an atmospheric surface in one leg and is capable of measuring gage pressures.

Differential Type – without an atmospheric surface and capable of measuring only differences of
pressure

Piezometer – the simplest form of open manometer. It is a tube tapped into a wall of a container or
conduit for the purpose of measuring pressure.

Buoyancy

The buoyancy of a body immersed in a fluid is that property which will determine whether the body will
sink, rise or float. • Buoy - to lift; to support; to keep afloat (Merriam Webster dictionary)

• Buoyant force - is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the buoyed body.
Archimedes’ Principle

• A body immersed in a fluid experiences a vertical buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it
displaces.

Types of Dams

Gravity Dams – use only the force of gravity to resist water pressure – that is, they hold back the water
by the sheer force of their weight pushing downward.

Embankment Dams - Any dam constructed of excavated natural materials or of industrial waste
materials. Also called an Earth Dam

Masonry Dams - Any dam constructed mainly of stone, brick, or concrete blocks jointed with mortar. A
dam having only a masonry facing should not be referred to as a masonry dam.

Buttress Dams - contains face slab, buttresses and base slab.

FACTOR OF SAFETY FOR OVERTURNING

• Determines the safety of the structure against overturning.

FACTOR OF SAFETY FOR SLIDING

• Determines the safety of the structure against sliding due to the hydrostatic force produced by the
retained body of water.

Stability

• Another interesting and important problem associated with submerged or floating bodies is concerned
with the stability of the bodies.

• A body is said to be in a stable equilibrium position if, when displaced, it returns to its equilibrium
position.

METACENTRIC HEIGHT

The metacentric height is a property of the cross section for the given weight, and its value gives an
indication of the stability of the body.

RELATIVE EQUILIBRIUM

• Relative equilibrium of liquid is a condition where the whole mass of liquid including the vessel in
which the liquid is contained, is moving at uniform accelerated motion with respect to the earth.

• There are two cases of relative equilibrium in liquid namely Linear Translation and Rotation.
SOIL

Voids – these are the “SPACES” not occupied by the soil solids therefore these may come in both liquid
and gaseous states in this case, water and air.

Void Ratio – denoted by ( e ) - Defined as the ratio of volume of voids to the volume of solids. It is
expressed in decimal form.

Porosity - denoted by ( n ) - Defined as the ratio of volume of voids to the total volume. It is expressed in
percentage and does not exceed 100%

Degree of Saturation – denoted by ( S ) - Defined as the ratio of volume water to the volume of voids.
Expressed in percentage.

Water Content – denoted by ( w )(MC) - Defined as the ratio of Mass/Weight of water to mass/weight of
solids. It is expressed as percentage but used as decimal in computations.

Specific Gravity of Soil Solids – denoted by ( Gs ) - The specific gravity of any material is the ratio of its
density/unit weight to that of water. It ranges from 2.60-2.80 for most natural soil. A standard method of
measuring the specific gravity of soils uses a calibrated glass flask known as pycnometer. The pycnometer
is first filled with water and set on a balance to find its mass. Then it is refilled with a known mass of dry
soil plus water so the total volume is the same as before.

Specific Gravity of Soil – denoted by ( G ) – The specific gravity of soil is DIFFERENT from the specific
gravity of soil solids, G refers to the specific gravity of the bulk of the soil which includes the voids it
contains.

Unit Weight/Specific Weight – denoted by ( “γ” (the Greek letter Gamma) ) – Defined as the ratio of the
weight of a substance over its volume. The most commonly used values of unit weight are that of water
which are 9.81 KN/m3 for SI and 62.4 pcf (pounds per cubic foot) for English.

Density/Unit Mass/Specific Mass – denoted by ( “ρ” (the lower case Greek letter rho) ) – Defined as the
ratio of the mass of a substance over its volume.

Air Void Ratio – denoted by ( avr ) – Defined as the ratio of the volume of air over the total volume.

Relative Density/Degree of Density/Density Index – denoted by (Dr) – Used to express relative

compactness of natural cohensionless soil (coarse grained soil). It is equal to the ratio of the difference
between the maximum void ratio and the in-situ void ratio and the difference between the maximum
void ratio and the minimum void ratio.

Relative Compaction – denoted by (Re) – Used to express the relative compactness of both cohesive
(fine-grained) and cohesionless (coarse grained) soil. It is the ratio between the in-situ dry unit weight
and the maximum dry unit weight of the soil.

Swell Factor - denoted by (SF) – it is the ratio of the Volume of the excavated material and the volume of
the in-situ material (borrow pit material or bank material).

Permeability - The property of soil that permits the passage of water under a gradient of force.
Head – As discussed in Fluid Mechanics, it is the linear equivalent measure (usually in meters) of a
certain term.

Hydraulic Conductivity – (k) - Also known as the Coefficient of Permeability – is the coefficient used in
Darcy’s Law. The most common unit of measurement for this is “cm/s”. It depends on several factors:
fluid viscosity, pore size distribution, grain size distribution, void ratio, roughness of mineral particles and
degree of saturation of soil.

Hydraulic Gradient – (i) – Also known as the slope – it is defined as the change in head (Head Loss) over
the length corresponding to the heads. Darcy’s Law – It is an equation formulated by Darcy which is
explained having the velocity equal to Hydraulic Conductivity multiplied to the Hydraulic Gradient.

Discharge velocity/Velocity – (v) – is the velocity of water flowing through soil considering the gross
cross-sectional area of the soil.

Seepage Velocity – (vs) – is the actual/real velocity of water flowing through soils which consider only
the area of the voids. It is larger if not equal to the Discharge Velocity.

Transmissivity – (T) – also known as Transmissibility – it is the product of the hydraulic conductivity and
the saturated thickness of the aquifer. It is the ability of the aquifer to transmit water through its entire
thickness.
DESIGN

Newton’s Three Laws of Motion.

1. First Law – An object either at rest or in constant velocity remains in that state of motion unless acted
upon by an unbalanced force.

2. Second Law – Force is directly proportional to mass multiplied by the acceleration. (F = ma)

3. Third Law – For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Couple is a system of forces whose magnitude of the resultant is zero and yet has a moment sum.
Geometrically, couple is composed of two equal forces that are parallel to each other and acting in
opposite direction.