13/4/2016

DSD Refresher Course 2016

Lecture 4
Pipe Flows and Open Channel Flows

Pipe Flows
Reynolds Number
Reynolds number (Re) is a non-dimensional parameter,
which represents a ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces.
The ratio gives the importance of the forces and is used to
determine the flow conditions.

Where,
V = average flow velocity (m/s);
g = acceleration due to gravity (m/s2);
= kinematic viscosity (m2/s);
= dynamic viscosity (Ns/m2); and
D = characteristic length-scale (m). For pipe flows, D is the diameter of the pipe.
For open channel flows, D = cross-sectional area / top width of channel, e.g. for
rectangular channel, D = water depth.

13/4/2016

For non-circular pipes, the Reynolds number is calculated

using the hydraulic diameter Dh:
4
Where,
A = cross-sectional area (m2); and
P = wetted perimeter, which is the contact length between the water and the
channel boundary.
Perimeter of a rectangular channel:
P = B + 2H

Circular pipe with diameter D:

H
B

Laminar Flow and Turbulent Flow

Depending on the magnitude of Reynolds number (Re),
the approximate ranges of Reynolds number for different
flow conditions are:
Laminar flow

Re = 0 2000

Transitional flow :

Re = 2000 4000

Turbulent flow

Re > 4000

Glass tube
dye

Laminar flow

Eddies in turbulent flow

Turbulent flow
4

13/4/2016

Laminar flow is characterized by orderly motion of fluid

particles. Transfer of momentum and energy across
streamlines is by means of molecular diffusion.
Turbulent flow is characterized by swirling flow motion
or eddies, and is less orderly with rapid fluctuations,
which enhance momentum and energy transfer, resulting
in lateral mixing.
Instantaneous velocity
component u at a specified
location is:

Velocity, u

Time, t

Where, and are average

value and fluctuating component
of the velocity, respectively.
5

Flow in Pipe Entrance

Due to no-slip condition, a boundary layer is formed at
the pipe wall that extends from the entrance point to a
point where the boundary layer reaches the center of the
pipe. This region is called the hydrodynamic entrance
region. The flow is hydrodynamically fully developed
when the velocity profile is fully developed and remains
unchanged.

13/4/2016

Hydrodynamic Entry Lengths (Lh)

The distance between the pipe entrance and the point
where the wall shear stress reaches about 2% of the fully
developed value.
Laminar flow:

Turbulent flow:

0.05
1.359

Kays and
Crawford (1993)
/

Bhatti and Shah

(1987)

In many practical flow cases, the entrance effects after a

pipe length of approximately 10 pipe diameter are not
significant. Therefore,
,
10
Where,
D = pipe diameter (m).

Laminar Flow in Pipes

The velocity profile of a fully developed laminar
flow in a pipe is parabolic in shape.
Zero velocity occurs at pipe wall.
Maximum velocity is at the centreline of the pipe.
The average velocity in fully developed laminar pipe
flow is one-half of the maximum velocity at the pipe
centreline.
Laminar velocity profile:
2

u(r)

R
x
umax

Parabolic velocity profile

At r = 0, u(r) = umax

Where,
= average flow velocity which can be
determined by flow rate and cross-sectional area.

13/4/2016

Pressure Drop and Head Loss

Pressure drop for laminar flow in a pipe can be expressed
as:
32

Where,
P = pressure drop;
P1 and P2 = pressure at point 1 and point 2,
respectively;
= average flow velocity;
L = pipe length;
P1
= dynamic viscosity; and
D = pipe diameter.

L
D

P2
2

In practice, the pressure loss for the fully developed

laminar and turbulent flows are expressed as:

Where,
f = Darcy friction factor; and

= dynamic pressure.

Darcy friction factor can be expressed as:

Where,
w = wall shear stress.

The expression is also called the Darcy-Weisbach friction

factor.

10

13/4/2016

Pressure drop in laminar flow varies linearly with

velocity.
32
~

Combining with the Darcy Weisbach equation gives:

32

2
64

64
/

11

The friction factor for fully developed laminar flow in a

circular pipe:
64
64

In laminar flows, the friction factor is a function of the

Reynolds number only and is independent of the pipe
surface roughness.
Head loss (hL) is commonly used instead of pressure loss,
and is:

2
Head loss represents the required energy per unit weight of
the liquid to overcome the frictional losses in the pipes.
12

13/4/2016

Turbulent Flow in Pipes

Total shear stress contains the following components:
Laminar component that accounts for the friction
/
between layers in the flow direction,

Turbulent component that accounts for the friction

between the fluctuating fluid particles and the fluid
body,
.
+

Where,
u and v = fluctuating velocity components in the x- and ydirections, respectively.
13

This term is called Turbulent Shear Stress,

Reynolds Stress or Turbulent Stress.
Experimental results show that this term is
usually a negative quantity.

Joseph Boussinesq (1877) suggested to use the following

expression:

Where,
t = eddy viscosity or turbulent viscosity, which accounts for
momentum transport by turbulent eddies.

Total shear stress can be expressed as:

Where,
= kinematic viscosity = / = dynamic viscosity / density); and
t = t / = kinematic eddy viscosity or kinematic turbulent viscosity or eddy
diffusivity of momentum.

14

13/4/2016

Dynamic viscosity is much larger that eddy viscosity,

then

Eddy viscosity needs to be modeled as a function of the

average flow variables in order to get its value. Prandtl
(1925) proposed a concept of mixing length, lm, which is
related to the average size of the eddies responsible for
mixing. The turbulent shear stress can be expressed as:

15

Turbulent velocity profile:

Power-law velocity profile

Vavg
r

u(r)

R
x

umax

Where,
r = distance from the pipe centerline;
R = pipe radius;
u = u(r) = velocity at distance r from the centerline;
umax = maximum velocity at centerline of the pipe;
n = is an exponent and its value increases with increasing Reynolds number. In
many practical flow cases, n = 7. Hence, the velocity profile is called oneseventh power-law velocity profile.
16

13/4/2016

Shear stress at pipe wall:

w
R

Vmax

Shear

Shear stress at pipe wall:

4 2

Where,
w = shear stress at pipe wall;
f = friction factor (dimensionless);
= fluid density; and
V = fluid velocity.

17

Hydraulically smooth walls:

Transitional roughness:

Fully rough flow:

70

No effect of
roughness on
friction
Moderate Re effect

70

Friction is independent of Re

Where,
= wall-roughness height;
u* = friction velocity = (w / )1/2, where w is the wall shear stress, and is
fluid density; and
= kinematic viscosity of the fluid.

18

13/4/2016

Colebrook Equation
Friction factor (f ) for smooth-wall and fully rough flow:
1

2.0 log

/
3.7

2.51
/

Turbulent flow, Re > 2300

Where,
= pipe roughness or absolute roughness;
D = pipe diameter; and
Re = Reynolds number.

If Re and /D (relative roughness) are known, friction factor

can be determined but Colebrook equation is an implicit
formula, i.e. f cannot be directly obtained.

19

Haaland Equation
An explicit formula for turbulent flow:
1
/

6.9
1.8 log

/
3.7

The Haalands equation varies less than 2 percent from the

Colebrooks equation.

Moody (1994) plotted a full range of friction factor in the

Moody diagram/chart. The accurracy is about 15
percent for design calculations.

20

10

13/4/2016

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moody_chart#/media/File:Moody_diagram.jpg

21

Examples of pipe roughness values for commercial pipes:

Material

Condition

Absolute
Roughness,
(mm)

Steel

Stainless

0.002

Iron

Cast (new)

0.26

Galvanized (new)

0.15

Brass

Drawn (new)

0.002

Plastic

Drawn tubing

0.0015

Concrete

Smoothed

0.04

Rough

2.0

Source: Fluid Mechanics by White

Note: The uncertainty may be up to 60%.

22

11

13/4/2016

Friction Loss
Head loss in pipes consists of the head loss due to
viscous or frictional effects in fully developed flow in
pipes (major loss) and the head loss in the various pipe
fittings (minor loss), e.g. entrance, bend, tee, exit, valve,
etc.
Total head loss = Major loss + Minor loss
(1) Major Loss
Darcy-Weisbach Equation:

2
23

(2) Minor Loss or Local Loss

,

Where,
k is the loss coefficient specific to the fitting or transition and is determined
experimentally for each situation, and
V is the average velocity.

For a pipeline with a number of fittings and transitions,

the minor loss equation can be expressed as:
,

Total Head Loss

2
2

2
24

12

13/4/2016

Minor Loss
Coefficients

25

Energy Equation for a Simple Pump-Pipe System

2

2
Where,
P = pressure (gage);
V = velocity;
z = elevation;
hp = pump head;
hL = total head loss;
= fluid density;
g = acceleration due to gravity;
D = pipe diameter;
L = pipe length;
f = friction factor; and
k = minor loss coefficient.

2
2
Tank B

1
Tank A
z1

z2
pump

datum
26

13

13/4/2016

Pipe in Series
Pipes are connected in series when the pipes of different
sizes or roughness are connected in such a way that the
water flows from one pipe and then to the other. In
series pipes, the water flows through all the pipes.
Therefore, the head losses are cumulative.
1
H

Continuity equation:

Tank A

Tank B

z1

Q1

Energy equation:

datum

2
2

z2

Q2

27

Pipe in Parallel
Pipes are connected in parallel when two or more pipes
are connected in such a way that the water flow is
distributed into the pipes and then is joined again. In
parallel pipe system, the head losses are the same in any
of the individual pipes. Therefore, the discharges are
cumulative.
Pipe 1

Q1

Pipe 2

Q2 B

Continuity equation:
Q

Pipe 3

Q3

Energy equation:
Head losses between point A and point B
through pipe 1, pipe 2 and pipe 3 are the same.
28

14

13/4/2016

Branched Pipes
It is required to assume flow directions in the pipes.
Continuity equation at the junction (J):
Energy equation:
2

Reservoir 1

z1
1

Reservoir 3

Reservoir 2

z3
z2

2
J

datum

29

Pipe Network
It is required to assume flow rates and directions in the
q2
pipes.
B

Continuity equation at a node:

inflows to node

outflows from node

Q4

Q1
Loop 1

q1

Q3 Loop 2
Q5

Q2

2
..(1)

q3

D
..(2)

q4

..(3)

30

15

13/4/2016

Energy equation for loops:

The sum of all head losses around a loop = 0
0

Sign convention: The head loss associated with a flow in the

clockwise direction is positive and the head loss associated with a
flow in the anti-clockwise direction is negative.
2

..(4)

..(5)

5 equations to solve for 5 unknowns (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 and Q5)

31

16