Contents

OBJECTIVE..............................................................................................................1

METHOD...................................................................................................................1

THEORY....................................................................................................................1

APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT.....................................................................................3

PROCEDURE............................................................................................................5

RESULTS & DISCUSSION......................................................................................6

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................10

REFERENCE...........................................................................................................12

APPENDIX..............................................................................................................12
FM5: Osborne Reynolds Demonstration

OBJECTIVE
To observe laminar, transitional and turbulent pipe flow.

METHOD
To observe the pipe flow, flow behavior is visualized by injection of a dye into a
steady flow in a pipe. This is a classical experiment and was first performed by
Osborne Reynolds in the late nineteenth century.

THEORY
A flow can behave in very different ways depending upon which forces
predominate within it. Slow flows are dominated by viscous forces, tend to be well
ordered and predictable and are described as laminar. In laminar pipe flow the fluid
behaves as if concentric layers (laminar) are sliding over each other with a maximum
velocity on the axis, zero velocity at the tube wall and a parabolic velocity
distribution. Dye injected carefully at a point in a laminar pipe flow will be stretched
out by the flow to form a clear well defined line. The only mixing that can occur is by
molecular diffusion.

Increasing the flow rate substantially will alter the flow behaviour
dramatically, as the inertia of the fluid (due to its density) becomes more significant
than the viscous forces; this is then a turbulent flow. In turbulent pipe flow, dye
injected at a point is rapidly mixed due to the substantial lateral motion in the flow
and the dye behaviour appears chaotic. These motions appear random and arise from
the growth of instabilities in the flow. Detailed behaviour is impossible to predict
except in statistical terms.

There is an in-between stage, transitional flow, in which a dye stream will

appear to wander about and will show intermittent bursts of mixing, followed by a
more laminar behaviour.

The Reynolds number, Re, provides a useful way of characterising the flow, it
is defined as:

1
 ud
= (1)

where is the dynamic viscosity, u is the mean velocity given in terms of the volume
flow rate and d is the diameter of the pipe.

Since = where is the kinematic viscosity, equation (1) can be expressed as:

ud
=

ud (2)
=

It is common practice to take a Reynolds number of 2,000 as the value which

divides laminar from turbulent flow. However, this does not take account of the
transition region and it may also be possible (with great care) to keep a flow laminar
for Reynolds numbers up to 10,000 or more. Also, pipe flows with Reynolds number
less than 1,800 are inherently laminar.

2
APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT
The apparatus and equipment consist of:

1. Reynolds Apparatus 4. Thermometer

2. Hydraulics Bench 5. Measuring Cylinder
3. Stopwatch

3
 6.

Figure 1: Layout of Osborne Reynolds Demonstration Apparatus

4
 7. PROCEDURE
1. The apparatus flow control valve was opened slightly and the bench valve was
adjusted to produce a slow trickle through the overflow pipe. The dye control
valve was adjusted until a slow flow with clear dye indication was achieved.
2. The bench valve was closed whereas the dye control valve was opened to deposit
a drop of dye at the bell mouth entry, as to observe the velocity profile in laminar
flow. The dye was observed as it deformed to take up a three dimensional
parabolic profile When the outlet control valve was opened.
3. The volume flow rate was measured by timed collection, followed the outflow
temperature (the temperature of the water gathered in the measuring cylinder).
The kinematic viscosity of the water was determined from the data provided in
table of Kinematic Viscosity of Water at Atmospheric Pressure (Appendix). The
Reynolds number was checked corresponding to the flow type.
4. The flow rate was increased by opening the apparatus flow control valve and the
dye injections was repeated to visualize transitional flow and then, at the highest
flow rates, turbulent flow, as characterized by continuous and very rapid mixing
of the dye.
5. The bench valve was adjusted to keep the overflow rate at a low level as the test
section flow rate was reduced. We were advised to take note that at intermediate
flows, it was possible to have a laminar characteristic in the upper part of the test-
section, which developed into transitional flow lower down.
6. This upper section behaviour was described as an "inlet length flow", which
means that the boundary layer had not yet extended across the pipe radius.
7. The photos of each type of flow (laminar, transitional and turbulent) were taken to
check whether the Reynolds number would match the flow pattern.

8.

5
9. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
10. Table 1: Result of Osborne Reynolds Demonstration Experiment

11. V 12. 13. Tem 14. Vol 15. Kine 16. V 17. R
ol Ti pera um mati e e
u ture e c l y
m Flo Visc o n
e w osity c ol
C Rat i ds
ol e t '
le y N
ct u
e m
d b
er
19. 24. R
18. V 20. T 21. Q 22. 23. u
t e
30. (
25. ( 3 29. (10-6 m
26. 28. (m
m 27. (C) x / 31.
3 (s) /s)
) m2/s) s
)
32. 0. 37. 0 38. 1
0 35. 9.6 . 2
0 33. 667 36. 0.97 1 5
34. 21
0 30 x10 8 2 8.
-6
2 3 4
9 1 8
44. 0 45. 3
39. 0. 42. 2.4 . 1
40.
0 343 43. 0.97 3 6
41. 41. 21
0 x10 8 0 9.
-5
1 9 1
9 3
52. 1
51. 1
0
46. 0. 49. 8.0 .
47. 4
0 257 50. 0.97 0
12. 48. 21 4
0 x10 8 2
-5 8.
1 1
4
9
6
53.

54. Calculation:

55. Given the diameter, d of the pipe is 0.010m. Thus, the cross-sectional area of
the pipe can be calculated as follow:

6
 2
56. Cross-sectional Area of Pipe, A 57. 4 d

58. 2
59. 4 (0.010)
2
60. 61. 7.854 10 m
5

Time taken
62. Volume Flow Rate , Q= Volume collected , V collect , t

63.
N 64. Calculation

65. 0.00029
66. Q= =9.6667 106 m3 / s
30
1
67. 0.001 5 3
68. Q= 41.08 =2.4343 10 m /s
2
69. 0.0001 5 3
70. Q= 12.46 =8.0257 10 m /s
3
71.

Volume Flow Rate ,Q

72. V elocity of the flow , u= Crosssectional Area of Pipe , A

73. Obs
erva 74. Calculation
tion
9.6667 106
75. 1 76. u= 5
=0.1231m/ s
7.854 10
2.4343 105
77. 2 78. u= =0.3099 m/s
7.854 105
8.0257 105
79. 3 80. u= 5
=1.0219 m/s
7.854 10
81.

82. From table of Kinematic Viscosity of Water at Atmospheric Pressure

(Appendix), the kinematic viscosity, of water at 21C is

7
 0.978 106 m2 /s . Hence, the Reynolds number, Re of each observation

can be calculated based on equation (2).

ud
83. =

84. Obs
erva 85. Calculation
tion
0.1231 0.010
= =1258.48
86. 1 87. 0.978 106
0.3099 0.010
= =3169.13
88. 2 89. 0.978 106
1.0219 0.010
= =10448.46
90. 3 91. 0.978 106
92.

93. Flow pattern of each observation:

94.
Figure 2: Flow Pattern when Re = 1258.48

8
95.

96. Figure 3: Flow Pattern when Re = 3169.13

97.

98. Figure 4: Flow Pattern when Re = 10448.46

99. From the photos above, it can be observed that Figures 2, 3 and 4 have shown
laminar flow, transitional flow and turbulent flow respectively.

9
 100. From Figure 2, it can be seen clearly that the dye flow in a
perfect straight line which the dye does not mix with water. The streamlines
are highly in order and smooth. No dispersion of dye is observed throughout
the flow except at the beginning there is some minor dispersion as the flow is
unsteady when moving form Bellmouth entry into the pipe. The characteristics
are coherent to the laminar flow described in Reynolds experiment before.

101. On the other hand, Figure 4 depicts a totally different flow

pattern as compared to Figure 2. The dye flow in Figure 4 is hardly to be seen
by naked eye. In order to capture the flow pattern, we had used the video
recording function of smartphone and then snipped out the particular short
moment whereby the dye flow appears. We can see that the flow disperses
drastically upon the injection into the pipe and the streamlines are completely
irregular. The flow is in high velocity whereby the dye mixes rapidly and
completely with the water flow in pipe, causing the flow pattern very hard to
be observed by our naked eyes. The behaviours of the flow is similar to the
turbulent flow pattern described by Reynolds, whereby the flow is
unpredictable with drastically fluctuations.

102. The flow pattern shown in Figure 3 is corresponding to the

transitional flow described by Reynolds. It is the medium state between the
laminar and turbulent flows whereby we can easily see the changes of the
streamlines. From Figure 3, we can observe that the dye flow is not a perfect
straight line. It consists of both laminar and turbulent characteristics. The
streamlines are partially straight, accompanied by some dispersions and
fluctuations throughout the pipe.

103. Experimental Errors:

1. Parallax Error
104. Parallax error occurs while reading the water level in measuring
cylinder. The eye level of observer might not be perpendicular to the scale reading
on the measuring cylinder.

10
 105. Way to overcome: Placing a sheet of white paper behind the measuring
cylinder to ease the observer for ensuring his/her eye is perpendicular to the scale
reading. Moreover, repeat the experiment more and get the more accurate mean
would also reduce the parallax error.

2. Reaction Time Error

106. The time keeper might not respond instantly to stop the stopwatch or
timer when the water level in the measuring cylinder reaches the indicated level.
This is because the reaction time to light stimuli for every human is different.
He/She might stop the stopwatch earlier or later before the water reaches the exact
indicated level. This will affect the accuracy in determining the flow rate, Q

,V
because Q= t .

107. Way to overcome: Repeat the experiment more and get the more
accurate mean to reduce the time reaction error. Normally, the time reaction error
will only have minimal effect on the accuracy of the result. However as to
improve the accuracy of our experiment to the greatest extent, the time reaction
error is still considered.

108.

109. CONCLUSION
110. From the experiment, we have successfully demonstrated the
visualization of flow patterns for laminar, transitional and turbulent flows as
well as the apparent differences among these three flow patterns. In this
context, we have made three deductions as follow:

1. The flow conditions observed occur within the expected Reynolds number range
for each particular condition. The expected Reynolds number ranges are:
Re<2000 for laminar flow; 2000<Re<4000 for transitional flow and Re>4000 for
turbulent flow. (Bruce R.Munson, 2013) From our experiment, Re for each flow
is: 1258.48 (laminar flow); 3169.13 (transitional flow) and 10448.46 (turbulent

11
 flow). Generally, the differences between the three flows are summarized in the
follow illustrations:

111.

2. The differences of velocity profile between laminar and turbulent flows are
prominent. For laminar flow, the adjacent fluid layers move at same velocity and
paths of individual particles of fluid do not cross each other. Conversely for
turbulent flow, the streamlines move with different velocities and crossing with
each other. The difference can be represented as:

112.

3. Our experimental result is coherent to the Osborne Reynolds experimental result

after comparison is done between them.

12
 113.

114.
Reynolds Experimental Result Our Experimental Result
115. REFERENCE
116. Bruce R.Munson, T. H. (2013). Fluid Mechanics 7th Edition. Singpore:
John Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte.Ltd.

117. APPENDIX

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 118.

119.

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