Experimental Study of the Rate of Unsteady Fluid Flow from a Prefilled Vessel

The variation of the flow-rate of a fluid flowing out of a prefilled cylindrical vessel through sinkholes with a diameter less than 0.1 of the vessel diameter has been studied experimentally. The study was carried out in both the presence and the absence of a vortex funnel around the sinkhole. In these experiments the vessel was filled in such a way that a funnel was formed only when a disk immersed in the fluid was rotated before the sinkhole was opened. The time dependence of the flow-rate is found for various initial heights and rates of artificial swirl. Four different outflow stages were detected. It is shown that for certain flow parameters there is a time interval on which the fluid flow-rate is independent of the column height. A critical rotation velocity W_0* below which (W₀ < W_0*) an intense funnel is not formed is found. A limiting curve approached by all the flow-rate curves in the final stage of outflow is obtained.__________Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, 2005, pp. 113–121.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Shtarev.