Fluid power

Calculating friction in one step

A new The Colebrook equation
)# " & # 2.51 & ,
even for computers. Add to this the repeti-
tive calculations needed at numerous points
method
1
= !2 log +% ( +% (. (1) in complex flow systems and the task be-
f +*$ 3.7D ' $ Re f ' .- comes time consuming, to say the least.
eliminates has long been used for calculating the fric-
For these reasons, many different dia-
grams have been constructed to simplify the
tion factor, f, for incompressible and some
the tedium of compressible flows in uniform pipes, ducts,
process. A well-known one is the Moody
Friction Factor graph. However, reading the
and conduits. It is asymptotic to both the
determining accepted smooth-surface and rough-surface
chart and interpolating values often leads to
inaccuracies. And it would take numerous
pipe equations.
pipe friction. Although widely used, the Colebrook
equations to capture the graphs in software.
A new equation, based on Colebrook’s,
equation is iterative because the unknown has been developed that calculates friction
Dennis Buzzelli friction factor appears on both sides of the factors in one step.
long island, N.Y. equation. To solve for this unknown, one
must start by somehow estimating the f ( " B%+
* A + 2 log $ ' -
value on the right side of the equation, solve 1 # Re & -
for the new f on the left, enter the new value = A! * (2)
f * " 2.18 % -
back on the right side, and continue this pro- * 1 + $# B '& -
cess until there is a balance on both sides of ) ,
the equation within an arbitrary difference.
(An exact solution to this equation has re- !
For >0:
mained elusive, to date.) D
This difference must be small yet accom- ) # # ! && ,
1.9 % "2 log %
modate all ε/D (surface roughness/hydraulic + !
# & $ $ 3.7D (' (' .
diameter) and Re (Reynolds number) values A = "2 log + % ( + .
+ $ 3.7D ' Re .
without causing endless computations. The + .
method is labor intensive and complicated * -

Calculating
friction factors for
Edited by Kenneth Korane pipe systems is
often complex and
labor intensive.
A new method
simplifies the
process.

MACHINE DESIGN 54 • JUNE 19, 2008 www.machinedesign.com

 ! tions results when Re reaches and extends
For = 0:
D beyond certain minimum values (Re → in-
A = #" 0.774 ln ( Re )$% & 1.41
finity) and ε/D > 0:
1 # " &
= !2 log %
$ 3.7D ('
(3)
" ! Re % f
B=$
# 3.7D '&
+ 2.51A
This equation appears on the right side
This is the Colebrook equation rewritten of the second equation and represents the
using a modified Newton iteration for ap- smallest f for a given ε/D value. Friction fac-
proximating the solution. The modification tors are constant (straight lines on the Moody
involves a new factor, A. For ε/D > 0, A is a Chart) with flows fully turbulent once these
modified Colebrook equation and calculates Re values are reached and are solely func-
the first estimate for the unknown f, or, in tions of ε/D > 0. These minimum Re values
this case, 1/f 0.5. can be approximated by:
Values for f calculated with this equation 51.8
are based on 69 randomly chosen numbers Re = (4)
" ! %
for R e from 4,000 to 10 8 and ε/D from 0 f$
(smooth) to 0.05 (rough). They were com- # 3.7D '&
pared in terms of percent difference from f Substituting equation 3 for 1/f 0.5 into
values calculated with the Colebrook equa- equation 4 yields:
tion after three iterations for each of the same
# " &
Re and ε/D values (four iterations yielded log %
$ 3.7D ('
negligible changes). Re = !103.6 (5)
For ε/D > 0, all resulting differences are # " &
%$ (
<0.001%. The average difference for all 69 3.7D '
calculations is 0.000134%, with the maxi-
mum being 0.000941% and the minimum Or in natural logs:
0%. # " &
ln %
For ε/D = 0, A is derived using least- $ 3.7D ('
Re = !45 (6)
squares fit and fine-tuned using trial and # " &
%$ (
error. Only 52 of the 69 numbers were used 3.7D '
because of the shorter range of Re (4,000
to 107). All resulting differences are again After selecting a conduit material and hy-
<0.001%. The average difference for all 52 draulic diameter, calculate a minimum Re
calculations is 0.000229% with a maximum using equation 5 or 6 and compare it to the
0.000519%. operating Re. If the operating Re equals or
A single equation for A was also devel- exceeds the minimum Re, use equation 3 to
oped for all cases: calculate the friction factor. If not, use equa-
tion 2. In either case, the friction factor is
A=
(0.774 ln ( R )) ! 1.41
e calculated in one step without iterations. md
# "&
% 1 + 1.32 D ( Mr. Buzzelli has engineering degrees from
$ '
the Stevens Institute of Technology and
However, for ε/D > 0 the maximum differ- Polytechnic Institute of New York, and more
ence is 0.0117% for one of the calculations. than 20 years
The average for all 69 numbers is 0.00379%. experience in
For ε/D = 0, the difference for all 52 were fluid-mechanic
Nomenclature
again <0.001% with the same average, maxi- D = Hydraulic diameter, ft or in.
analysis in f = Friction coefficient
mum, and minimum mentioned above. commercial
Note that all f values calculated with the ε = Surface roughness of duct, pipe,
and defense or tube, ft or in.
second equation are slightly higher than industries.
those of the Colebrook equation and, there-
fore, slightly conservative. All calculations Make Contact
are completed to eight decimal places using For more information on the calculations
Microsoft Excel. Also note that the magni- and how data points match Moody Chart
tude of the differences is sensitive to which curves, contact the author at dennisbu@
version of factor A is used. juno.com.
A shortened form of the first two equa-

MACHINE DESIGN 55 • JUNE 19, 2008 www.machinedesign.com