Experiment No.
Fluid Mechanics Laboratory
To Determine the
Metacentric Height of a
Floating Body
Name of the Student:
Roll No:
Department of Mechanical Engineering
MKSSS’s Cummins College of Engineering for Women
Metacentric Height Page No.
Figure 1: Metacentric Height
Credit: Westlawn institute of marine technology
Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Cummins College of Engineering
Metacentric Height Page No.
Title of the Experiment: To Determine the Metacentric Height of a Floating Body.
Aim: To experimentally determine the metacentric heights of Floating body with differ-
ent conditions of loadings .
Introduction
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The determination of metacentric height is important while investigating the stability of the
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floating bodies such as ships, during the design phase by theoretical computations and after
the ship have been built by inclining experiments.
When a body is partially or fully submerged in fluid, it is forced upward by a vertical
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force known as buoyant force. Archimedes principle states that the buoyant force has a
magnitude equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body and is directed vertically
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upward. Buoyant force is a force that results from a floating or submerged body in a fluid
which results from different pressures on the top and bottom of the object and acts through
the centroid of the displaced volume.
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The buoyant thrust on a body of weight W and centroid G acts through the centroid
of the displaced fluid volume and this point of application of the buoyant force is known as
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the center of buoyancy (B) of the body. For the body in equilibrium, the weight W must
equal the buoyant thrust,FB , both acting along the same vertical line. For small angle of
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heel, the intersection point of the vertical through the new center of buoyancy B, and the
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line BG produced is known as the metacenter, M, and the body thus disturbed tend to
oscillate about M. The distance between point G and M is the metacentric height (GM).
If the floating body is bottom-heavy and thus the center of gravity G is directly below the
center of buoyancy B, the body is always stable. But unlike immersed bodies, a floating
body may still be stable when G is directly above B. This is because the centroid of the
displaced volume shifts to the side to a point B+ during a rotational disturbance while the
center of gravity G of the body remains unchanged. If point B+ is sufficiently far, these two
forces create a restoring moment and return the body to the original position. A measure
of stability for floating bodies is the metacentric height GM, which is the distance between
Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Cummins College of Engineering
Metacentric Height Page No.
the center of gravity G and the metacenter Mthe intersection point of the lines of action
of the buoyant force through the body before and after rotation. The metacenter may be
considered to be a fixed point for most hull shapes for small rolling angles up to about 20°.
A floating body is stable if point M is above point G and thus GM is positive, and unstable
if point M is below point G, and thus GM is negative. In the latter case, the weight and
the buoyant force acting on the tilted body generate an overturning moment instead of a
restoring moment,causing the body to capsize. The length of the metacentric height GM
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above G is a measure of the stability: the larger it is, the more stable is the floating body.
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Figure 2: Equilibrium of Floating Body
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Credit: : Fundamentals and Applications 3rd Edition [Cengel and Cimbala-2014]
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Experimental Setup
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It consists of a model representing a small ship floating in a tank containing water. A
crosssbar is provided to place the load at desired distance(x). Graduated arc and pointer
arrangement is provided to measure angle of heel.
1 Specifications
Weight of the ship model (W) = 8.43 kg.
Length of the ship model (L)= 380mm
Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Cummins College of Engineering
Metacentric Height Page No.
Width of the ship model (B) = 380mm
Depth of the ship model (D) = 250mm
Experimental Procedure
1. Fill the tank with water and insert the floating body and ensure that it is in stable
equilibrium.
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2. Set the horizontal sliding weight to position ‘x’ from the center towards left side of the
vertical bar.
3. Give the model a small angular displacement in clockwise direction.
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4. Measure the angle θ in the stable equilibrium.
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5. Repeat the procedure by changing the distance and weight.
6. Calculate GM experimentally. Draw a relationship between angle of heel θ(x-axis) and
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GM (y-axis), then obtain GM when equals zero.
7. Calculate GM theoretically and compare
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Observations
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Table 1: Observation Table
Sr No. w (Kg) W (Kg) Distance x (m) Tilt (θ)
1
2
3
4
5
Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Cummins College of Engineering
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Calculations
w.x
GM (Metacentric Height) =
W tanθ
Plot
Plot the metacentric height for different angle of heel and calculate the metacentric height
for zero angle of heel.
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Conclusion
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Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Cummins College of Engineering
