Hydraulics

"Hydraulic" redirects here. For other uses, see Hydraulic (disambiguation).
For the mechanical technology, see hydraulic machinery.

Hydraulics and other studies[1]
An open channel, with a uniform depth. Open-channel hydraulics deals with uniform and non-uniform streams.
Illustration of hydraulic and hydrostatic, from the "Table of Hydraulics and Hydrostatics", from Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, edited by Ephraim Chambers, 1728, Vol. 1

Hydraulics (from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) 'water' and αὐλός (aulós) 'pipe')[2] is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concerns gases. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on applied engineering using the properties of fluids. In its fluid power applications, hydraulics is used for the generation, control, and transmission of power by the use of pressurized liquids. Hydraulic topics range through some parts of science and most of engineering modules, and they cover concepts such as pipe flow, dam design, fluidics, and fluid control circuitry. The principles of hydraulics are in use naturally in the human body within the vascular system and erectile tissue.[3][4]

Free surface hydraulics is the branch of hydraulics dealing with free surface flow, such as occurring in rivers, canals, lakes, estuaries, and seas. Its sub-field open-channel flow studies the flow in open channels.

  1. ^ NEZU Iehisa (1995), Suirigaku, Ryutai-rikigaku, Asakurae Shoten, p. 17, ISBN 978-4-254-26135-6.
  2. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hydraulics" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 35.
  3. ^ "The Circulatory System: The Hydraulics of the Human Heart". 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  4. ^ Meldrum, David R.; Burnett, Arthur L.; Dorey, Grace; Esposito, Katherine; Ignarro, Louis J. (2014). "Erectile Hydraulics: Maximizing Inflow While Minimizing Outflow". The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 11 (5): 1208–20. doi:10.1111/jsm.12457. PMID 24521101.