Force on Boom Arm due to suctioning sludge

[siddharth23]

As shown in the picture, a vacuum created in the tank sucks in sludge from the gutters. The hose used for doing so is held in place by a structure called the boom arm. What magnitude force will act on the boom arm when the sludge is being sucked in?

What I mean is, how do I estimate the force acting on it?

Thanks..

 

[6Stang7]

This is a simple fluids and statics problem. You'll first need to figure out you mass flow through the boom arm and the area of the inlet; you can use these values to calculate the force at the inlet of the boom. You'll then apply a force and moment balance at the outlet end of the boom (where it connects to the tank) to find your reaction loads.

EDIT: Depending on the total weight of the sludge in the tube, you might want to also calculate the center of gravity of the sludge in the tube and add that into your reaction load calculation.