Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical

Engineers, Conference
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Paper 7: An Investigation of Steady Compressible Flow through Thick Orifices

B. E. L. Deckker and Y. F. Chang
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Conference Proceedings 1965 180: 312
DOI: 10.1243/PIME_CONF_1965_180_307_02
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312

Paper 7

AN INVESTIGATION OF STEADY COMPRESSIBLE FLOW

THROUGH THICK ORIFICES
By B. E. L. Deckker* and Y. F. Chang*
A thick orifice of a given diameter is one in which the length-diameter ratio exceeds that of a British Standard
sharp-edge orifice of the same diameter. Thick orifices are important technically but little systematic work
appears to have been performed on them. Sharp-edge orifices are treated as limiting cases of thick orifices.
This paper describes a carefully controlled investigation into the behaviour of the steady flow of air through
thirty-eight orifices ranging in diameter from
to in and of length-diameter ratios, Z/d, of 2.0, 1.0, and 0.5
and of sharp-edge orifices. These orifices have been calibrated against a range of sharp-edge orifices according
to the British Standards code. The maximum possible instrument error over the experimental range (maximum
pressure 150 lb/in2 absolute, maximum temperature 940R) is estimated to be less than 0.1 per cent. The
greater part of the overall error is attributed to the use of the code and may be as high as 1.6 per cent in some
cases. About seven hundred experimental measurements have been made during the course of this investigation
from which new relationships between the geometrical and physical parameters have been derived. The
existence of a hysteresis phenomenon in a compressible flow through an orifice has also been measured for the
first time. The main conclusions are :
(1) When the ratio of the orifice diameter, d, to that of the cylinder cross-section is small the air expands
from a state of virtual stagnation at a distance of one orifice-diameter from the plane of entry to the orifice.
The ambient pressure is attained at the plane of exit only in the case of orifices for which Z/d 2 2.
(2) In the range of Reynolds numbers between lo4and lo5the dimensionless mass flow, G = riz( To)1Z/d2po,
and the coefficient of discharge, c d , are independent of the Reynolds number.
( 3 ) For a given Z/d ratio G, or c d , is a function only of the overall pressure ratio.
(4) The Z/d ratio is an important parameter in thick orifices because of the possibility of jet attachment.
The observed behaviour of thick orifices may be explained on this basis.
(5) For Z/d = 0.5 there is a clearly delineated hysteresis in the flow near the threshold of choking, the
lower branch corresponding roughly to the behaviour of a sharp-edge orifice and the upper branch attaining
a value of c d of nearly 0.9 for the choked regime.
(6) Within the limits of accuracy of measurement, eccentric location of the orifice has no effect upon either
G or c d .
Finally, the experimental results are compared with published theoretical and experimental work on
compressible steady flow through orifices.

INTRODUCTION

A THICK ORIFICE is found where both the strength of the

containing walls and positive control of the flow pattern
through the orifice are important considerations. Despite
the widespread use of these orifices, little systematic work
on their behaviour appears to have been carried out.
The MS. of this paper was first received at the Institution on 25th
October 1965 and in its revised form,as accepted by the Council for
publication, on 15th December 1965.
* The University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs 1965-66

Wallace and Mitchell (I)t and Benson (2) have derived

expressions for the discharge coefficients of ported engine
cylinders from experiments under the transient conditions
obtaining during exhaust blow-down. Their work is
relevant in the wider context of the authors research
which is aimed at elucidating the differences between
steady and non-steady flows through orifices. The experiments reported in this paper are concerned only with the
steady flow of air mainly through concentric circular

References are given in Appendix 7.1.

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AN INVESTIGATION OF STEADY COMPRESSIBLE FLOW THROUGH THICK ORIFICES

orifices at the end of a cylinder. I n these experiments the

area ratio, that is the ratio of the orifice area to the area of
the cylinder, was always made small enough so that the
velocity of the air approaching the orifice was negligibly
small. Thus, in a geometrically similar configuration, the
effect of wave action in a transient flow would also be
negligibly small. It is anticipated that under the conditions
obtaining in both steady and slow transient flows in
geometrically similar configurations, the distribution of
the dynamic variables in the cylinder would be similar.
These conditions must be satisfied as far as possible if a
comparison is to be made between the discharge coefficients for steady and transient flows through a given orifice.
A thick orifice is defined as one in which the ratio of the
length of the orifice to its diameter, I/d, exceeds that of a
standard* sharp-edge orifice of the same diameter. A
sharp-edge orifice, therefore, may be regarded as the
limiting case of a thick orifice of the same diameter. At the
other end of the scale, the distinction between a thick
orifice and a pipe orifice is not defined although the experience gained in the present investigation suggests a limiting
value of the l/d ratio equal to 2.0.
Notation
Discharge coefficient, m/mtheo = GIGcheo.
CLi
D
Diameter of cylinder.
d
Diameter of orifice.
G
Mass flow number, m( To)1'2/d2p,.
Theoretical mass flow number.
Gtheo
Relative roughness factor.
kld
I
Thickness (length) of orifice.
M
Mach number.
m
Mass flow rate.
Pressure.
P
Stagnation pressure.
Po
R
Characteristic gas constant.
Re
Reynolds number.
T
Temperature.
Stagnation temperature.
To
Ratio of the specific heat.
Y
Coefficient of viscosity.
P
Density.
P
PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS

The arrangement shown in Fig. 7.1 was used to provide

( a ) geometrical similarity of the cylinder-orifice configuration and (b) a steady flow with a negligibly small approach
velocity to the orifice for given stagnation conditions in the
plenum chamber. Qualitative information about the flow
pattern near the orifice was obtained by a longitudinal
static pressure traverse along the centre-line, for one value
of the stagnation pressure. Orifices of 0-50in nominal
diameter and of six different l/d ratios were used in this
investigation.

A standard orifice of given diameter is one whose dimensions, in particular the Ild ratio, arefixed by the British Standards Specification
on Flow Measurement, B.S.S. 1042: 1943.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs 1965-66

11

SETTLING

TANK

- 24"

1-

313

-1

TEST ORIFICE

Fig. 7.1. Arrangement used to reproduce conditions in

cylinder-orifice configuration for steady flows

A five-hole static pressure probe, 12 in long, of stainless

steel tubing 0.035 in outside diameter and suitably
stiffened, was mounted on a slide with micrometer adjustment in two perpendicular directions. The tip of the
probe was aligned on the centre-line to within 0.001 in by
means of a cathetometer. The difference between the pressure in the plenum chamber and at the measuring station
was measured by a 'Vessen' manometer with a resolution
of 0.001 in water. The arrangement of the orifice and
probe is shown in Fig. 7.2.
I n all, six traverses were made corresponding to I/d
ratios of 2.0, 1.0, 0.63, 0.50, 0.25, and a standard sharpedge (l/d = 0-05). I n each traverse more than fifty measurements were made on either side of the upstream face
of the orifice for a total distance equal to about fifteen
orifice diameters. In that region where the fall of pressure
inside the cylinder was first detected and on either side of
the station of minimum pressure, the probe was traversed
in steps of 0.010 in. The results are shown in Fig. 7.3 in
which the curves have been drawn through each of the
experimental points. A single traverse occupied from 10 to
12 hours, because of the relatively long response time
(about 10 min) of the probe and manometer, during which
the ambient pressure varied. Since a low stagnation pressure was used, the variation in the ambient pressure was

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B. E. L. DECKKER AND Y. F. CHANG

314

significant and it was necessary to express the results in

terms of the gauge pressure. The ambient temperature
was held to within 2 degF by air conditioning.
It is evident from the results shown in Fig. 7.3 that,
under the given experimental conditions, any significant
motion of the air in the cylinder occurs only within a

distance equal to one orifice diameter from the upstream

face of the orifice. Therefore, it may be assumed that the
air expands from a virtual state of stagnation and it is
thought that the distribution of the dynamical variables
would be similar to that obtaining in a slow transient flow
at the same instantaneous overall pressure ratio.

Fig. 7.2. Arrangement for static pressure traverse

Stagnation pressure p o = 250 mm water (gauge).

Ambient temperature = 85F.

Fig. 7.3. Steady flow static pressure distribution on centre-line of cylinder-orifice

configuration for different Ild ratios
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315

AN INVESTIGATION OF STEADY COMPRESSIBLE FLOW THROUGH THICK ORIFICES

Sutherland's equation (4), the viscosity at the temperature

T' may be written approximately as:
p = p0(T'/T0)3'2 for air
Therefore, the Reynolds number may be expressed in the
form :

a Ild = 2.0; b

lld = 1.0; c Ild = 0.5; d sharp-edge;

e Ild = 20.

Fig. 7.4. Typical set of orifces of different l / d ratios for a

constant diameter
The relative positions of the pressure minima for the
six different l / d ratios, in particular the lld ratio of 0.50,
and also the extent of the pressure recovery where this
occurs within the length of the orifice, are of interest.
Subsequent measurements with orifices of different
diameters for this value of the l / d ratio revealed the existence of a hysteresis phenomenon near the region where
choking would be expected to occur. Lichtarowicz, Duggins, and Markland (3) refer to the possibility of hysteresis
occurring in incompressible flows through orifices with
l/d ratios between 0.5 and 1.5 although its existence has
not been verified.

DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

A dimensional analysis of the problem of flow through an

orifice yields a large number of independent groups, thus :
ti?(
.- TO)ll2-

[(')

P -,
p' -,
T' -,
P'
-4
2~ 4, -k, R , y, My-y
M , Re'
d "0
D d d
P o P o To Po
where the prime (') denotes local properties at the upstream
face of the orifice. The characteristic length in the Reynolds number group is the diameter of the orifice. Under
suitably chosen experimental conditions some of these
groups will be eliminated. For example, if the velocity of
approach is made small enough, the area ratio, (d/D)2,and
the approach Mach number, M yare not significant. The
relative roughness, kid, may be regarded as being constant
if the orifices are carefully manufactured and afterwards
examined, under magnification, for quality of finish. The
local thermodynamic properties, viz. p', T', and p', and the
local Mach number, M y are functions of the overall pressure ratio, p / p o , since, in principle, it is always possible to
derive relationships between p i p o and each of the ratios
p'/po, T'/To,and M yrespectively, that will take account of
the internal losses in the expansion from the stagnation
pressure, p o , to the ambient pressure, p . Thus, the dimensionless groups corresponding to these local properties
may be represented by the single group p / p o .
The Reynolds number, Re', may also be reduced to a
more tractable form in the following manner. If the
temperature dependence of the viscosity is given by

in which the numerical value of the temperature ratio can

vary only between 1.0 and 0.8333. If the group m / ( p o d )is
regarded as being a nominal Reynolds number, Re;, the
true Reynolds number differs from the nominal Reynolds
number by a constant which has a value between 1.0 and
1.3, depending on the value of the overall pressure ratio.
Thus, the final form of the functional equation is :

where G is the mass flow number and Re' is the nominal

Reynolds number at the upstream face of the orifice.
From an experimental viewpoint it would be expedient
first of all to examine the effect of the nominal Reynolds
number on the mass flow number, keeping the other two
groups constant. If it is found that the Reynolds number
has no effect on the flow, the subsequent experiments will
be straightforward. On the other hand, difficulties will be
introduced if it is found necessary to hold the Reynolds
number constant while varying the pressure ratio, since
changes both in the mass flow and in the diameter of the
orifice will be involved simultaneously.
EXPERIMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

Four l/d ratios were used in the design of the experiments.

Of these, three ratios equal to 2.0,1*0, and 0.5 were selected
arbitrarily while the fourth corresponded to standard
sharp-edge orifices for which lld = 0.05. Altogether,
thirty-eight geometrically similar orifices were calibrated
against standard metering orifices according to the British
Standards Specification 1042: 1943. The nominal diameters of the test orifices varied between 3 and $?in,
small diameters being necessary to achieve a stagnation
pressure of 150 lb/in2 absolute and to eliminate the effect
of the approach velocity. The leading dimensions of these
orifices are given in Table 7.1 and the design of a set of
orifices of constmt diametx comprising the different lid
ratios is shown in Fig. 7.4. A pipe orifice (lid = 20) which
is shown in Fig. 7.4 was not, however, tested systematically.
Five standard metering orifices ranging in diameter from
0.500 in to 1.000 in were used to calibrate the test orifices.
This was the minimum number required to keep the back
pressure on the test orifices to within 10 in water (gauge),
and at the same time to provide Reynolds numbers
greater than 2 x lo4 in the metering orifice when the mass
flow was varied. Considerable care was taken in the manufacture of both test and metering orifices which were of a
medium carbon steel. In particular, the upstream face of
each orifice plate was ground to the required thickness and
the bore was lapped until it showed a uniform finish when
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B. E. L. DECKKER AND Y. F. CHANG

316

Table 7.1. Leading dimensions of orifces

Nominal
diameter,
in

Measured diameter, in

Ild = 2

lld = 1

Ild = 0.5

Sharp-edge

0.0983
0.1283
0.1595
0.1928
0.2220
0.2530
0.2854
0.3145
0-3487
0.3770
0.4168
04425
0.4738
0.5015

0.0983
0.1250

0.0930
0.1250
0.1596

0.1004
0.1247
0.1547

0.2220

0.2203

0.1928
-

0.2833
0.3488
0.4173
-

0.5015

0.5023

0.2530

0.3145
0.3770

04425

lb/in2 and 60-1201b/in2. The accuracy in the smaller

range was t lb/in2 and in the higher range lb/in2. In the
range of pressure between 0 and 151b/in2 a mercury
manometer was used, the resolution being 0.05 in. The
stagnation temperature at two points in the flow was
measured by calibrated thermocouples which were accurate to degF.
T o extend the range of the nominal Reynolds numbers
it was necessary to increase the stagnation temperature.
Temperatures up to a maximum of 480F (940"R) were
obtained by installing four slab-type electric heaters of
1 kW between the plenum chamber and the test orifice.
Since in some of the experiments the air velocity was quite
small, adequate safeguards had to be provided in the event
of a 'flash-back' from the incandescent surfaces of the
heaters to the plenum chamber which could arise from
contamination of the air supply by lubricating oil. The
arrangement of the heating section and ofthe safety devices
used in the high temperature experiments is shown in
Fig. 7.6. Before systematic testing was begun it was
established that the presence of the heaters did not affect
the flow pattern near the test orifice, by traversing the
cylinder-orifice configuration axially with the static pressure probe. The arrangement shown in Fig. 7.5 was also
used during calibration of the test orifices at the higher
temperatures.

0.2827
0.3425

0.4085

0.4688

examined under a low power microscope. The diameter of

the bore was then carefully measured. In this way a
measure of control over the relative roughness and the
sharpness of the upstream edge was achieved.
Fig. 7.5 shows the arrangement used to calibrate the
test orifices at stagnation temperatures near to the ambient
temperature (about 85F). An expansion chamber of
large diameter was used to simulate atmospheric conditions downstream of the test orifice. It was found that with
a chamber of 24 in diameter, pressure recovery in the jet
was completed in a distance of about 60 in. The recovery
of pressure was measured at the wall of the chamber to
within 0.001 in water. The pipe upstream of the metering
orifice was 83 in long and that downstream was 36 in long.
Both pipes were 2.0 in internal diameter and were polished
internally. The metering orifice was located concentrically
between the two pipes and corner taps were provided
according to the British Standards code. At the metering
orifice, the upstream and downstream pressures and the
differential pressure were measured to an accuracy of
0.001 in water. The stagnation pressure was measured by
precision Bourdon gauges in two ranges, namely 15-60
'p---60'-

A- SETTLING TANK
6 - EXTENSION PIECE
C-TEST ORIFICE
D- EXPANSION CHAMBER
E-METERING ORIFICE

Fig. 7.5. Arrangement used in calibration of test orifices at

low stagnation temperatures

EFFECT O F T H E REYNOLDS NUMBER

T o investigate the effect of the nominal Reynolds number

on the mass flow, the group of fourteen orifices with a
l/d ratio of 2.0 was selected (see Table 7.1). The range of
orifice diameters permitted only a limited variation in the
Reynolds number while the pressure ratio p/po was held
constant and the required change in the Reynolds number
was effected, essentially, by increasing the stagnation
temperature. In this way, measurements were made for a
number of pressure ratios between 0.98 and 0.30 and the
results are shown in Fig. 7.7. It may reasonably be concluded from Fig. 7.7 that for nominal Reynolds numbers
above lo4,the mass flow number, and, therefore, the discharge coefficient, are independent of the Reynolds number. The dashed line in Fig. 7.7 represents the location of
the experimental points for pressure ratios less than 0.60
since they cannot be clearly separated for the scale used.
Each point in Fig. 7.7 is the mean of three values of the
pressure ratio taken close to the desired value and calculated from the Lagrange interpolation formula. It was
necessary to adopt this technique because of the difficulty
in adjusting the stagnation pressure exactly to the required
pressure ratio after a change had been made in the diameter
of an orifice or in the stagnation temperature.
T o check the results obtained with orifices of l/d ratio
equal to 2.0, the group of eight standard sharp-edge
orifices were investigated in a similar manner. A correspondingly smaller number of measurements were made in
this series of experiments but the results which are shown
in Figs 7.8a and 7.86 confirm those obtained earlier.

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AN INVESTIGATION OF STEADY COMPRESSIBLE FLOW THROUGH THICK ORIFICES

\PRESSURE

RELIEF DEVICE

AUTO-ENC INE PLUG

317

7 iPRESSVRE

ASBESTOS END PLATE

FLOW PASSAGE
SECTION

A-A

Fig. 7.6. Heating section and safety devices for high stagnation temperatures

REYNOLDS NUMBER x

1ii4

Fig. 7.7. Effect of Reynolds number on mass flow number for different pressure ratios, lid = 2.0
Strictly, the l/d ratios for standard sharp-edge orifices are
not constant for different diameters because of the tolerance allowed by the code. The orifices used in these experiments conformed to the upper limit of the tolerance of the
code for which lid = 0-05and can, therefore, be treated
validly as a single group.
Three further experiments were carried out with the
object of obtaining information about the effect of an
adjacent wall on the flow through an orifice. In these
experiments the orifice was located eccentrically so that
its periphery was tangential to the inside wall of the
cylinder. Three orifices were used of which two had a lld
ratio of 2.0 and diameters of 0.3790in and 0-2160in
while the third was a standard sharp-edge orifice of
0-4681 in diameter. Over the whole range of pressure
ratios that could be obtained with these orifices, no differences in the mass flow numbers were found within the
limits of error of the experimental measurements.
From the results of this and the two earlier experiments
it may be concluded that viscous effects are not important

in the expansion of air through the overall pressure ratio

and that, in an engineering sense, changes in the thermodynamic state of the air in the jet are isentropic. This would
imply that the discharge coefficient is equal to the product
of the contraction coefficient and a velocity coefficient.
But, as Jobson (5) has pointed out, it would be more
appropriate to regard the velocity coefficient as a correction both for the defect of velocity and for the effects of
viscosity. The measurements made by Stanton (6) lend
considerable support to these conclusions.
It may be argued that the independence of the mass
flow number from the Reynolds number could have been
predicted without recourse to experiment since, on the
basis of the measured flow rates and orifice diameters, the
calculated nominal Reynolds numbers are of the order of
lo4. However, it would be fair to state that experimental
verification was prompted by the fact that both Wallace
and Mitchell (I) and Benson (2) have implied that the
Reynolds number is a factor that determines the numerical
value of the discharge coefficient through engine ports.
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B. E. L. DECKKER AND Y. F. CHANG

318

REYNOLDS NUMBER x

REYNOLDS
a Mass flow number.

10"

e4

NUMBERX I

b Discharge coefficient.

Fig. 7.8. Effect of Reynolds number on mass flow number and on discharge
coeficient f o r different pressure ratios, sharp-edge
Before leaving the topic of the Reynolds number it is
pertinent to refer to the difficulty of obtaining low Reynolds numbers and compressibility effects simultaneously
in jets under steady conditions in the laboratory. I n the
authors' experiments an increase in the stagnation temperature from 85F to 480"F, resulted in a reduction in the
Reynolds number by about one-half its value at the lower
temperature, or from about 8 x 10" to 4 x lo4, in the middle
range of Reynolds numbers. With the smallest orifice used,
and at a pressure ratio of 0.95, a temperature of the order
of lOOO'F would be required to reduce the Reynolds
number to lo3. At a pressure ratio of 0.50, for which compressibility effects would be important, the required temperature is a little over 2500'F.
EFFECT O F T H E LENGTH-DIAMETER RATIO
A N D T H E P R E S S U R E RATIO

Elimination of the Reynolds number as a significant

independent parameter simplified the design of the sub-

sequent experiments considerably. The variation in the

mass flow number with the pressure ratio could now be
investigated readily for each of the four lid ratios. The
arrangement shown in Fig. 7.5 was used in these experiments, since the stagnation temperatures were about 85F.
The results obtained with thirty-eight orifices with l / d
ratios of 2.0, 1.0, 0.5 and with standard sharp-edge
orifices are shown in Figs 7.9a, b, c, and d . Included in
these figures are the results obtained at the higher stagnation temperatures in the earlier experiments. The leading
dimensions of the orifices used are given in Table 7.1.
It is evident that, for a given Z/d ratio, both the mass
flow number and the discharge coefficient are strongly
affected by the pressure ratio in the range 0.5 < p / p o < 1.0.
For sharp-edge orifices, Fig. 7.9d,the effect of the pressure
ratio continues well beyond the lower limit of 0.5. This
behaviour is characteristic of sharp-edge orifices and was
observed first by Hartshorn and confirmed by later
investigators (7). Since the greater part of the expansion
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319

AN INVESTIGATION OF STEADY COMPRESSIBLE FLOW THROUGH THICK ORIFICES

06

g0s

9
u

=
I

n
??

04

2 03

wu

Lr

It

Cn
In

k8

02

01

10

09

01)

07

06

05

04

PRESSURE RATIO

PRESSURE RATIO

PRESSURE RATIO

PRESSURE RATIO

03

02

01

00

a Ild = 2.0; b Ild = 1.0; c lld = 0 5 ; d sharp-edge.

Gtheois the mass flow number calculated from isentropic flow with C , equal to unity.

Fig. 7.9. Effect of pressure ratio and length-diameter ratio on mass flow number and discharge cozficient
occurs outside the orifice (see Fig. 7.2), it is clear that
area choking cannot arise, except, probably, at very low
values of the ratio p / p o , although this does not exclude the
existence of the sonic velocity locally at the plane of
minimum pressure. When the stagnation temperature is
held constant and the stagnation pressure increased, the
density is also increased at that plane and may account for
the larger part of the increase in the mass flow. However,
an increase in the area of contraction has been predicted
theoretically (5) for decreasing values of the pressure ratio
between 1.0 and 0-5283, for air, and it is quite likely that
the area of maximum contraction continues to increase as
the pressure ratio is decreased further. It is also known
that this plane regresses towards the orifice as the stagnation pressure is increased (6). Therefore, it is probable that
the combination of the last two factors, namely, the increase in area and the regression of the plane of maximum

contraction, eventually leads to area choking at sufficiently

low pressure ratios. The behaviour of sharp-edge orifices
at very low pressure ratios (p,/po< 0.01) does not appear
to have been investigated.
In contrast to the sharp-edge orifices, those with l / d
ratios of 2.0 and 1.0 (Figs 7.9a and 7.9b) clearly exhibit the
existence of area choking since in both cases the jet can
form its own nozzle within the length of the orifice. For
the l/d ratio of 2.0, the threshold of choking is at a slightly
smaller pressure ratio than the theoretical value of 0.5283
and is due to the recovery of pressure beyond the plane of
minimum pressure in the jet. The effect is not as clearly
discernible in the case of a l[d ratio of 1.0 although some
pressure recovery may also be expected to occur (see
Fig. 7.2).
The behaviour of orifices with a Z/d ratio of 0.5 is of
particular interest because of the existence of the hysteresis

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320

B. E. L. DECKKER AND Y. F. CHANG

in the flow, Fig. 7.9~.When the experimental measurements obtained in the usual manner were plotted, a scatter
was found in that region bounded by the two branches of
the hysteresis loop. Because the scatter was in the region
near the pressure ratio corresponding to the onset of choking and, also, because the minimum pressure in the jet
was known to occur close to the downstream plane of the
orifice, it was thought that a phenomenon such as hysteresis might arise. The orifices were, therefore, recalibrated
but care was taken to make only uni-directional changes in
the pressure ratio. The results obtained in this way gave
the well-defined branches of the hysteresis loop shown
in Fig. 7.9~. It is certain that a hysteresis phenomenon
exists for a lld ratio of 0.5. I n a separate series of experiments using only one orifice, a closed loop formed by a
large number of points over the same range of pressure
ratios has been obtained.
Although the behaviour observed in these orifices is
attributed to phenomena associated with attachment of
the jet to, and detachment from, the wall of the orifice, it
is not possible, at present, to give any precise details of the
processes involved. However, the following tentative
explanation is being used as a basis for further investigation into the behaviour of these orifices.
A comparison of Fig. 7 . 9 ~with Figs 7.9b and 7.9d
shows that the mass flow number, G, is well behaved up
to a value of the pressure ratio of about 0.65, the variation
in G with p/po being intermediate between that for a I/d
ratio of 1.0 and for a sharp-edge. When the pressure ratio
is reduced below the value of 0.65, it is possible that the
fringe of the jet attaches itself to the wall of the orifice so
that, at this stage, the attachment is sensitive to changes in
the upstream pressure, hence the need for uni-directional
changes in the pressure ratio. As the pressure ratio is decreased further, part of the jet apparently becomes firmly
attached to the wall thus isolating the remainder, or convergent part, of the jet from the ambient medium. Conditions within the orifice will now be much the same as those
obtaining in the orifices with I/d ratios of 1.0 and 2-0 and
the value of the mass flow number increases quickly to a
maximum, or choked value. However, it is not understood
why the maximum value of G is higher than that attained
in orifices with I/d ratios of 1.0 and 2.0, although it might
be attributed to pressure conditions within the orifice
when the jet first becomes firmly attached to the wall. The
hysteresis which is observed when the pressure ratio is
increased is a natural consequence of the viscosity of the
air, an effect which has been exploited in other fluid
applications. It is also difficult to explain satisfactorily the
existence of the sloping branches of the loop since it is
reasonable to expect discontinuous changes in the value
of the mass flow number G, if attachment, or detachment,
of the jet alone is responsible for the observed behaviour.
It is not definitely known for what other values of the Ild
ratio hysteresis effects will be encountered. Lichtarowicz,
Duggins, and Markland (3) suspect the occurrence of
hysteresis effects in incompressible flow through orifices
of Ild ratios between 0.5 and 1-5, although there does not

appear to be strong evidence of such a disturbance in their

experimental results for I/d ratios of 1.0 and 1.5. It has
certainly not been found for compressible flow through
orifices with a l/d ratio of 1.0 in the present experiments.
I n fact, from the experience gained in this investigation,
the authors would venture the opinion that measurable
hysteresis effects would not occur in compressible flows
through orifices other than those for which the I/d ratio is
0.50.
COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS W O R K

From time to time attempts have been made to predict

theoretically the discharge coefficient of orifices under
steady flow conditions. Recently, Jobson ( 5 ) derived an
expression for sharp-edge orifices in terms of a force
defect coefficient and the one-dimensional equations for
isentropic flow. In essence, his method corrects the known
contraction coefficient for incompressible flow through an
orifice for the effect of compressibility. Jobsons results are
in good agreement with those values predicted theoretically by Howarth, using the hodograph method attributed
to Chaplygin, in the range of pressure ratios between 1 and
0.5283. They also agree with the experimental results of
Perry (7) for sharp-edge orifices as well as those obtained
by the authors.
Bragg (8) extended Jobsons treatment by taking compressibility upstream of the orifice into account. His
analysis allows two predictions to be made, depending on
the data available. In the first, if the contraction coefficient
for incompressible flow through a given orifice is known,
the discharge coefficient in a compressible flow through
the same orifice could be predicted for any pressure ratio.
I n the second, if the discharge coefficient at any pressure
ratio were known, the variation in the discharge coefficient
with the pressure ratio could also be predicted. For circular sharp-edge orifices, values of the discharge coefficients
calculated by the above two methods have been found to
be in satisfactory agreement with those predicted by
Jobsons method and with the experimental results of
Perry and of the authors as shown in Fig. 7.10.
Braggs analysis does not distinguish between orifices of
different I/d ratios and of different shapes and it was disconcerting, at first sight, to find a measure of agreement
between his predicted values and the experimental results
of Benson (2) for steady flow through engine ports and of
Callaghan and Bowden (9) for steady flow through noncircular orifices. However, discharge coefficients calculated according to the second of Braggs two methods,
using a known value of the discharge coefficient at a given
pressure ratio (called here the matching point), do not
agree with the authors experimental values for thick
orifices, except, perhaps near the matching points. Only
in this restricted region can the agreement between
Braggs predicted values for the discharge coefficient and
the experimental results of Benson and of Callaghan and
Bowden be regarded as tenable. I n Fig. 7.11 three
theoretical curves have been drawn with the values found
in Table I(e) of the paper by Bragg (S), the matching
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AN INVESTIGATION OF STEADY COMPRESSIBLE FLOW THROUGH THICK ORIFICES

--- --- -

32 1

JOESON'S PREDICTION FOR Cim.611

FOR ~ ~ m . 6 1 1

'BRAGG'S PREDICTION

0 0.5

ERAGG'S PREDICTION FOR Cd m.875 AT:

PERRY'S EXPERIMENTAL VALUE

mO.2
-0

n-. A
1.0

0.9

0.7

0.8

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.0

0.1

PRESSURE RATIO

Fig. 7.10. Comparison of predicted and experimental values of discharge

coefficients for sharp-edge orifces

------

BRAGG'S PREDICTION
FOR I sI.4

0.5
1.0

l / d = 2.0
P / d 1.0

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0

PRESSURE R A T I O

Fig. 7.11. Comparison of predicted and experimental values of discharge

coefficients for Ild ratios equal to 1.0 and 2.0
points taken from the authors' results being: ( 1 ) c
d = 0-853,
pipo = 0.55, l/d = 1-0; (2) c d = 0-848, p / p o = 0.70,
l / d = 2.0;and (3) Cd = 0-856,p/p0 = 0.3, lld = 2.0. T h e
experimental curves are for orifices with l / d ratios of 2.0
and 1.0, the lld ratio of 0-5 being excluded because of the
complication introduced by the hysteresis loop. It is
evident that the discharge coefficients of orifices of different I/d ratios cannot be correlated satisfactorily by a single
curve. Departures in the behaviour of flows through thick
orifices from that of standard sharp-edge orifices are summarized succinctly in Fig. 7.12.

ratio, the expansion, and for the moisture content of the

air. The maximum possible error of each estimate of the
mass flow was also calculated according to the code. The
large mass of data involved was processed by computer.
T h e average value of the maximum possible error was
found to be 1.6 per cent. This was twenty times as large
as the average estimated value of the instrument and
observational error. These latter errors were obtained
from an analysis of twelve samples taken at random over
the entire range of the experimental measurements.

Estimate of accuracy
In this investigation about seven hundred measurements
of air flow have been made strictly in accordance with the
British Standards code. I n every case corrections were
made for the effects of the Reynolds number, the diameter

For the steady flow of air through square-edge orifices

located at one end of a cylinder whose diameter is large
compared with that of the orifice, the following conclusions apply.
( 1 ) T h e mass flow number, G = (Yi?T0)1'2/d2p0,
and the

CONCLUSIONS

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322

PRESSURE RATIO

Fig. 7.12. Percentage deviation in mass flow number and discharge coejicient for
thick orifices from that for sharp-edge orzjices
discharge coefficient, C, = G/Gth,,, are independent of the
Reynolds number, Re = m/pod, when this is above lo4.
For gases of engineering interest this would be of the
order of the Reynolds number in most applications. Reynolds numbers of lo3 and compressibility effects will be
encountered simultaneously with small orifices (< 0.25 in
diameter) and at temperatures of the order of 2500F.
(2) The mass flow number and the discharge coefficient
are functions both of the Ild ratio and the pressure ratio
p/po. For orifices in which l/d is greater than 0.5, choking
occurs although a slight dependence on the lid ratio is
retained, both G and c d decreasing slightly as l/d increases.
For example, experiments with a single orifice for a I/d
ratio of 20 gave a value for C, of 0.850 compared with
0.860 for a l/d ratio of 2.0. The onset of choking also occurs
earlier than the theoretical pressure ratio.
(3) Choking of the flow through an orifice is related to
the extent of the expansion of the jet within the length of
the orifice. In orifices for which the I/d ratios are progressively smaller than 0.5, it is probable that choking will
also occur to a diminishing extent owing to the delay in the
onset of choking. There is some evidence that orifices with
l/d ratios of 0.25 will exhibit the behaviour characteristic
of sharp-edge orifices so that the range of pressure ratios
for which the flow is choked decreases rapidly between l/d
= 0.50 and l/d = 0.25.
(4) The l/d ratio is important because of the possible
effects of the attachment of the jet to the wall of the orifice.
A hysteresis phenomenon, attributed to these effects, has
been measured for orifices of Z/d = 0.5. Under choked
conditions the performance of these orifices is superior to
that of sharp-edge orifices, although choking is delayed
until a pressure ratio of 0.35 is attained. However, under
the right conditions this value of c d can be extended to a
pressure ratio of 0.55 which is nearly equal to the theoretical critical value. Although it has not been verified as yet,

it is thought that measurable hysteresis effects would occur

only in orifices with a lld ratio of 0.50.
(5) The maximum value of the discharge coefficient in
any orifice has not been found to be greater than 0.90,
at a pressure ratio equal to 0.1. The behaviour of sharpedge orifices below a pressure ratio of 0.1 has not been
ascertained with the same accuracy as in the higher range
of pressures, although it is unlikely that a value equal to
unity will ever be attained.
(6) From a design standpoint, the expansion of the air
through the overall pressure ratio, p/po,may be considered
as being isentropic. However, it is appropriate to regard
the discharge coefficient as the product of the contraction
coefficient and a combined velocity coefficient and a loss
coefficient for the effect of viscosity.
(7) When the area ratio, (d/Q2, is small, the flow is
accelerated within a distance only of one orifice-diameter
from the upstream face of the orifice. For practical purposes, the air may be considered to expand from a state of
virtual stagnation. It has also been found that eccentric
location of an orifice does not appear to affect the flow
through it and, in general, all the above conclusions would
also apply.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to express their thanks to the University

of Saskatchewan for providing the facilities to carry out
this work and to the National Research Council of Canada
for a grant-in-aid during the years 1964 and 1965.
APPENDIX 7.1
REFERENCES
(I)

WALLACE,
F. J. and MITCHELL,
R. W. S. Wave action following the sudden release of air through an engine port
system, Proc. Znstn mech. Engrs 1952-53 lB, 343.
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A N INVESTIGATION OF STEADY COMPRESSIBLE FLOW THROUGH THICK ORIFICES

BENSON,R. S. Experiments on two-stroke engine exhaust

ports under steady and unsteady flow conditions, Proc.
Znsrn mech. Engrs 1959 173, 511.
(3) LICHTAROWICZ,
A., DUGGINS,
R. K. and MARKLAND, E.
Discharge coefficients for incompressible non-cavitating
flow through long orifices, 3. mech. Engng Sci. 1965 7 ,

(2)

210.
(4) KAYE,G. W. C. and LABY,T. H. Tables of physical and
chemical constants, 12th edit. 1958,38 (Longmans, Green

and Co.).
(5) JOBSON, D. A.

On the flow of a compressible fluid through

orifices, Proc. Znstn mech. Engrs 1955 169,767.

323

(6) STANTON,
T. E. On the flow of gases at high speed, Proc. R.
SOC.1926 3,306.

(7) PERRY,J. A. Critical flow through sharp-edged orifices,

Trans. Am. SOC.mech. Engrs 1949 71, 757.

L. Effect of compressibility on the discharge

coefficient of orifices and convergent nozzles, 3. mech.
Engng Sci. 1960 2, 35.

( 8 ) BRACG,S.

(9) CALLAGHAN,
E. E. and BOWDEN,
D. T. Investigation of flow
coefficient of circular, square, and elliptical orifices at
high pressure ratios, N.A.C.A. tech. Note 1947, 1949.

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