Hydraulics Terms

• Hydraulic jump is an abrupt rise in water surface which results from retarding water flowing at lower stage.
• Head loss occurs when the energy of flow decreases due to friction, turbulence or other losses.
• Hydrostatic pressure is the force exerted by fluid on any submerged object per unit area.
• Impeller is a rotating device that imparts velocity to the liquid passing through it.
• Hydrodynamics is a branch of hydraulics which deals with the study of forces (including velocity and acceleration) exerted by or upon liquids in motion.
• Inlet valve controls the rate of inflow into the pump.
• Intake structure is used to control the amount of water entering the system.
• Jetting is the process of forcing water under high pressure through a nozzle.
• Kinetic head is the height of a column of water having the same kinetic energy as the moving body.
• Outflow valve regulates the flow of water out of the pump.
• Manometer is a U-shaped tube filled with mercury or another liquid used to measure pressure differences.
• Outlet valve controls the discharge from the pump.
• Reservoir stores excess water and provides a source of water during peak demand periods.
• Pressure gauge measures the absolute pressure at any point in a hydraulic circuit.
• Siphon is a pipe or conduit used to transport water over long distances without using power.
• Water hammer occurs when there are sudden changes in velocity or direction of flowing water, causing shock waves that can damage pipelines.
• Pumping station houses pumps, motors, and other equipment needed to move water.
• Static head is the vertical distance between two points measured along an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface of the fluid.
• Elevation head is the height above a reference level where the water is stored.
• Velocity head is the energy possessed by moving water due to its motion.
• Weir is a device used to measure the volume of water passing through it based on its height above the surface of the water.
• Tank is an enclosed structure designed to store large quantities of water.
• Venturi meter is an instrument used to measure the rate of flow of fluids by measuring the difference in pressure between two points in the flow stream.
• A line joining the points of highest elevation of water in a series of vertical open pipes rising from a pipeline in which water flows under pressure is referred to as hydraulic gradient.
• A pressure surge or wave caused when a fluid in motion is forced to stop or change direction suddenly (momentum change) is referred to in hydraulics as water hammer.
• Hydrostatics refers to the branch of physics that deals with liquids at rest.
• Pascal's law states that pressure applied anywhere in a confined fluid will be transmitted equally throughout the entire fluid.
• Bernoulli's equation describes how changes in velocity affect pressure within a flowing fluid.
• The principle of continuity states that the mass flow rate into any system must equal the mass flow rate out of the same system.
• Bernoulli's equation describes how changes in velocity affect pressure within a flowing fluid, stating that the sum of pressure head, velocity head, and elevation head remains constant along a streamline.
• When in any instant, the number of particles passing every section of the stream are always equal, the flow is said to be continuous.