Practice Problem Sheets on FM-I
Problem Set-1: Viscosity
GROUP A
1. A shaft 80 mm in diameter is being pushed through a bearing sleeve 80.2 mm in diameter
and 0.3 m long. The clearance is assumed uniform and is flooded with lubricating oil of
viscosity 0.1 kg/ms and specific gravity 0.9.
(a) If the shaft moves axially at 0.8 m/s, estimate the resistance force exerted by the oil
on the shaft
(b) If the shaft is axially fixed and rotated at 1800 rpm, estimate the resisting torque
exerted by the oil and the power required to rotate the shaft.
[Ans. 60.32N, 22.74 Nm, 4.29 kW]
2. A body weighing 1000 N slides down at a uniform speed of 1 m/s along a lubricated
inclined plane making 30° angle with the horizontal. The viscosity of lubricant is 0.1 kg/ms
and contact area of the body is 0.25 m2. Determine the lubricant thickness assuming
linear velocity distribution.
[Ans. 0.05 mm]
3. A uniform film of oil 0.13 mm thick separates two discs, each of 200 mm diameter, mounted
co-axially. Ignoring edge effects, calculate the torque necessary to rotate one disc relative
to the other at a speed of 44 rad/s (7 rev/s) if the oil has a dynamic viscosity of 0.14 Pa s.
[Ans. 7.44 Nm]
4. A piston 79.6 mm diameter and 210 mm long works in a cylinder 80 mm diameter. If the
annular space is filled with lubricating oil of viscosity 0.065 kg/ms, calculate the speed
with which the piston will move through the cylinder when an axial load of 85.6 N is
applied. Neglect the inertia of the piston.
[Ans. 5.01 m/s]
5. A hydraulic ram 200 mm in diameter and 1.2 m long moves wholly within a concentric
cylinder 200.2 mm in diameter, and the annular clearance is filled with oil of relative
density 0.85 and kinematic viscosity 400 mm2 /s. What is the viscous force resisting the
motion when the ram moves at 120 mm/s?
[Ans. 370.6 N]
6. The space between two large flat and parallel walls 25 mm apart is filled with a liquid of
dynamic viscosity 0.7 Pa s. Within this space a thin flat plate 250 mm × 250 mm is towed at
a velocity of 150 mm/s at a distance of 6 mm from one wall, the plate and its movement
being parallel to the walls. Assuming linear variations of velocity between the plate and the
walls, determine the force exerted by the liquid on the plate.
[Ans. 1.439 N]
7. A cylinder of 0.30 m diameter rotates concentrically inside a fixed cylinder of 0.31 m
diameter. Both the cylinders are 0.3 m long. Determine the viscosity of the liquid which
fills the space between the cylinders if a torque of 0.98 N-m is required to maintain an
angular velocity of 2 rad/s (or 60 rpm, since angular velocity = 2N/60, where N is the
speed of rotation in rpm)
[Ans. V=0.943 m/s, =0.123 Ns/m2]
8. If the equation of a velocity distribution over a plate is given by V=2y - y2, in which V is the
velocity in m/s at a distance y measured in meters above the plate. Find the velocity
gradients at the boundary and at 7.5 cm and 15 cm from it. Also determine the shear
stress at these points if absolute viscosity = 8.6 poise.
[Ans. 2 s-1, 1.85 s-1, 1.7 s-1]
9. A body weighing 441.45 N with a flat surface area of 0.093 meter square slides down on a
lubricated inclined plane making a 30 degree angle with the horizontal and having oil of
viscosity of 0.1 Pa s. If the body speed is of 3 m/s determine lubricant film thickness.
[Ans. h = 0.126 mm]
10. A cylinder of 0.1 m diameter rotates in an annular sleeve of 0.102 m internal diameter at
100 rpm. The cylinder is of 0.2 m long. If the dynamic viscosity of the lubricant between the
two cylinders is 1.0 poise, find the torque needed to drive the cylinder against viscous
resistance. Assume that Newton’s law of viscosity is applicable and viscosity profile is
linear.
[Ans. 0.1645 N-m]
11. Through a horizontal oil filled channel of very narrow gap of height h, a thin plate of large
extent is pulled at a velocity of V. On one side of this thin plate has an oil of viscosity 1 and
on the other side of the plate has another oil of viscosity 2. Calculate the position of the
plate (w.r.t the bottom wall of the channel, say indicated by y) so that
(i) the shear force on the two sides of the plate is equal
(ii) the pull require required to drag the plate is minimum.
[Ans. (i) y 2 h /( 1 2 ) , (ii) y h /(1 1 / 2 ) ]
12. A 50-cm 30-cm 20-cm block weighing 150 N is to be moved at a constant velocity of 0.8
m/s on an inclined surface with a friction coefficient of 0.27.
(a) Determine the force F that needs to be applied in the horizontal direction.
(b) If a 0.4-mm-thick oil film with a dynamic viscosity of 0.012 Pa s is applied between the
block and inclined surface, determine the percent reduction in the required force.
13. The clutch system shown in Fig. P2–47 is used to transmit torque through a 3-mm-thick oil
film with = 0.38 Ns/m2 between two identical 30-cm-diameter disks. When the driving
shaft rotates at a speed of 1450 rpm, the driven shaft is observed to rotate at 1398 rpm.
Assuming a linear velocity profile for the oil film, determine the transmitted torque.
14. The velocity profile in laminar flow through a round pipe is expressed as
u 2U (1 r / r02 )
where U is the average velocity, r is the radial distance from the center line of the pipe, and r0
is the pipe radius.
(i) Draw the dimensionless shear stress profile / 0 against r / r0 , where 0 is the wall
shear stress.
(ii) Find the value of 0 , when fuel oil having an absolute viscosity m = 0.04 Pa s flows with an
average velocity of 4 m/s in a pipe of diameter 150 mm.
15. The viscosity of a fluid is to be measured by a viscometer constructed of two 75-cm-long
concentric cylinders. The outer diameter of the inner cylinder is 15 cm, and the gap
between the two cylinders is 0.12 cm. The inner cylinder is rotated at 200 rpm, and the
torque is measured to be 0.8 N-m. Determine the viscosity of the fluid.
16. Derive an expression for a power lost in a footstep bearing shown in figure below.
