ViscousFlowinDucts

We want to study the viscous flow in ducts with various velocities, fluids and duct shapes. The basic
problem is this: Given the pipe geometry and its added components (e.g. fittings, valves, bends, and
diffusers) plus the desired flow rate and fluid properties, what pressure drop is needed to drive the
flow?
Reynoldsnumberregimes
ThemostimportantparameterinfluidmechanicsistheReynoldsnumber:
Rc =
puI
p

wherepisthefluiddensity,Uistheflowvelocity,Listhecharacteristicslengthscalerelatedtotheflow
geometry, and p is the fluid viscosity. The Reynolds number can be interpreted as the ratio of
momentum(orinertia)toviscousforces.
A profound change in fluid behavior occurs at moderate Reynolds number. The flow ceases being
smoothandsteady(laminar)andbecomesfluctuating(turbulent).Thechangeoveriscalledtransition.
Transition depends on many effects such as wall roughness or the fluctuations in the inlet stream, but
the primary parameter is the Reynolds number. Turbulence can be measured by sensitive instruments
suchasahotwireanemometerorpiezoelectricpressuretransducer.

Fig.1:Thethreeregimesofviscousflow:a)laminar(lowRe),b)transitionatintermediateRe,andc)
turbulentflowinhighRe.
Thefluctuations,typicallyrangingfrom1to20%oftheaveragevelocity,arenotstrictlyperiodicbutare
randomandencompassacontinuousrangeoffrequencies.InatypicalwindtunnelflowathighRe,the
turbulentfrequencyrangesfrom1to10,000Hz.
The higher Re turbulent flow is unsteady and irregular but, when averaged over time, is steady and
predictable. ForafluidflowwithaveragevelocityUwhichitsshearlayerhasthe characteristicslength
scaleL,Rc = puI p ,thefollowingapproximaterangesoccur:
0<Re<1:highlyviscouslaminarcreepingmotion
1<Re<100:laminarstrongRedependence
100<Re<10
3
:laminar,boundarylayertheoryuseful
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts2

10
3
<Re<10
4
:transitiontoturbulence
10
4
<Re<10
6
:turbulent,moderateRedependence
10
6
<Re<:Turbulent,slightRedependence
Note: The representative ranges vary with flow geometry, surface roughness, and the level of
fluctuationsintheinletstream.

Fig.2:Formationofturbulenceinpipeflow,a0andb)nearentrance;c)somewhatdownstream;d)far
downstream.
Mostofourknowledgeonturbulentflowisempirical;ageneralsolutionfortheturbulentflow,thatcan
predict the transition and the fluctuation in the flow parameters, does not exist. In 1883 Osborne
Reynolds, a British engineering professor, observed the transition to turbulence in a pipe flow by
introducingadyestreakintheflow.
Reynoldsexperimentallyshowedthatthetransitionoccursinapipeflowat:
Rc
d
=
puJ
p
= 2Suu
where, d is the diameter of a circular tube and is considered as the characteristic length scale for the
fluidflow.
Thevalue2300isfortransitioninpipes.Othergeometries,suchasplates,airfoils,cylinders,andspheres
havecompletelydifferenttransitionRenumbers.

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts3

Fig.4:Reynoldsssketchesofpipetransition.
Internalandexternalviscousflow
Bothlaminarandturbulentflowmaybeinternalorexternal.
Internal flow: An internal flow is contained (or bounded) by walls and the viscous flow will grow and
meet and permeate the entire flow. As a result, there is an entrance region where nearly inviscid
upstreamflowconvergesandenterstheduct.

Fig.5:Developingvelocityprofilesandpressurechangesintheentranceofaduct.
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts4

Beyond the entrance region, which is a finite distance from the entrance x = L
e
, the velocity profile
becomesconstant,i.e.itnolongerchangeswithxandissaidtobefullydeveloped,u = u(r).
Forlaminarflow,theentranceregioncanbefoundformthefollowingempiricalcorrelation:
I
c
J
= u.u6Rc
d
(Iominor)
AssumingthemaximumReforthelaminarflowinaductisRe
d,crit
=2300thelongestlaminardeveloping
regionbecomes:L
e
=138d,i.e.138timesofthetubediameter.
Turbulentflowboundarylayersgrowfaster,andtheentranceregion(L
e
)isrelativelyshorter:
I
c
J
= 4.4Rc
d
16
(Iurbulcnt)
AssumingRe=10
6
forturbulentflowinaduct,atypicalturbulentdevelopingregionbecomes:L
e
=44d.
Note: the entrance region length can vary from 40d to 100d for turbulent and laminar regimes,
respectively.However,fortypicalpipeflowapplication,thepipelengthis1000ofitsdiameterinwhich
casetheentranceeffectmaybeneglected.Thereforeasimpleanalysisforfullydevelopedregioncanbe
usedfortheentirepipelength.
Externalflow:Hasnorestrainingwallsandisfreetoexpandnomatterhowthicktheviscouslayerson
theimmersedbodymaybecome.Asaresult,farfromthebodytheflowisnearlyinviscidandthereisno
externalequivalentoffullydevelopedinternalflow.
Flowheadloss(thefrictionfactor)
Considerincompressiblesteadyflowbetweensections1and2oftheinclinedconstantareapipeshown
inFig.6.

Fig.6:Steadyfullydevelopedflowinaninclinedpipe.
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts5

The1Dcontinuityequation:

1
=
2
= const or I
1
= I
2
= I
Foraconstantareapipe,thesteadyenergyequationbecomes:
_
p
y
+
I
2
2g
+ z_
1
= _
p
y
+
I
2
2g
+ z_
2
+ b
]

SinceV
1
=V
2
,thefrictionheadlostis:
b
]
= (z
1
- z
2
) + _
p
1
pg
-
p
2
pg
] = z +
p
pg

Applyingthemomentumequation,thesummationontheforcesalongthexdirection,wefind:
F
x
= p(nR
2
) + pg(nR
2
)I sin -
w
(2nR)I = m (I
2
- I
1
) = u
Rearrangingthis,wefindthattheheadlossisrelatedtowallshearstress:
z +
p
pg
= b
]
=
2
w
pg
I
R
=
4
w
pg
I
J

where z = I sin. Note that regardless of whether the pipe is horizontal or tilted, the head loss is
proportionaltothewallshearstress.AGermanprofessor,JuliusWeisbach1850,arguedthatthefriction
factorisproportionaltoL/dandV
2
(observedexperimentallyinturbulentregime).Hethenproposedto
represent the frictionless head loss with a dimensionless parameter f (called the Darcy friction factor),
thatisdefinedas:
b
]
=
I
J
I
2
2g

wheref=f(Re
d
,ductroughness,ductshape).Byequatingtheaboveequations,wefind:
=
8
w
pI
2

Laminarfullydevelopedpipeflow
Consider fully developed Poiseuille flow in a round duct of diameter d. The analytical velocity solution,
fromthepreviouschapter,is:
u(r) = u
mux
_1 -
r
2
R
2
_ wbcrc u
mux
= _-
Jp
Jx
]
R
2
4p
onJ _-
Jp
Jx
] = _
p + pgz
I
]
I =
u
mux
2
= _
p + pgz
I
]
R
2
8p
onJ = _uJA = nR
2
I =
nR
4
8p
_
p + pgz
I
]

w
= _p
Ju
Jr
_
=R
=
4pI
R
=
R
2
_
p + pgz
I
]
b
]
=
S2pII
pgJ
2
=
128pI
npgJ
4

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts6

Note:thepressuredropininverselyproportionaltothepipediametertothepower4.So,ifthesizeof
thepipeisdoubled,thepressuredropwilldecreasebyafactorof16foragivenQ.
These formulas are valid whenever the Re <2300, i.e. laminar flow. Knowing the shear stress, the
Poiseuillefrictionfactoriseasilydetermined:

Iumnu
=
8
w,Ium
pI
2
=
64
Rc
d

Turbulencemodeling
For turbulent flow, because of the fluctuations, every velocity and pressure term in momentum and
energy equations is a rapidly varying random function of time and space. Currently, our mathematics
cannothandlesuchinstantaneousfluctuatingvariables.

Fig.7:Meanandturbulentvariables.
Asengineers,weareinterestedintheaverageormeanvaluesofvelocity,pressure,shearstress,etcin
turbulent flow. Reynolds proposed to rewrite the governing equations in terms of average or mean
values.Thetimemeanvelocity,forexample,canbedefinedas:
u =
1
I
_uJI
1
0

where T is an averaging period taken to be longer than any significant period of the fluctuations
themselves.Thefluctuationuisdefinedasthedeviationofufromitsaveragevalue:
u
i
= u - u
Notethatthemean(average)valueofuiszeroovertime;butthemeansquareofafluctuationisnot
zeroandisameasureoftheintensityoftheturbulence:
u'
2
=
1
I
_u'
2
1
0
Jt = u
Usingtheconceptofmeanvalues,themomentumequationinxdirection(asanexample)becomes:
p
Ju
Jt
= pg
x
-
op
ox
+
o
ox
_p
ou
ox
- pu'
2
] +
o
oy
_p
ou
oy
- pu':'

] +
o
oz
_p
ou
oz
- pu'w'

]
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts7

Thethreecorrelationterms-pu'
2
, -pu':'

, -pu'w'

arecalledturbulentstressesbecausetheyhavethe
same dimensions and occur right alongside the newtonian (laminar) stress terms. Actually, they are
convective acceleration terms (that is why the density appears), not stresses but they have the
mathematicaleffectofstress.
Turbulentpipeflow
There are three regions in turbulent flow, inner layer (or viscous sublayer) where viscous effects are
dominant (near the wall), overlap layer (transition to turbulent occurs) and outer region (the flow is
completelyturbulent)asshowninFig.8.

Fig.8:turbulentflowregimes.
Sincetheinnerwalllayerformstypicallyonly2%ofthefluidflowprofile,wecanneglectit.Therefore,
weonlyconsidertheoverlaplayervelocityprofilefortheentirepipeflow:
u(r)
u
-
=
1

ln
(R - r)u
-
v
+B
where = u.4 onJ B = S.u,v = ppisthekinematicviscosityofthefluid,and
u
-
= _

w
p
]
12

u
-
is called the frictional velocity, because it has velocity dimensions, although it is not actually a flow
velocity.
Thefrictionfactorfortheturbulentpipeflowcanbecalculatedfromthefollowingcorrelations:
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts8

= _
u.S16Rc
d
-14
4uuu < Rc
d
< 1u
5
_1.8log
Rc
d
6.9
]
-2

whereRc
d
= IJ v .
Forahorizontalpipe,wehave:
p = u.1S8Ip
34
p
14
J
-54
I
74

Orintermsof = nJ
2
I 4 ,wefindanalternativeform:
p = u.24Ip
34
p
14
J
-4.75

1.75

Note: The pressure drop for the turbulent flow decreases with diameter even more sharply than the
laminarflow.Doublingthepipesizedecreasesthepressuredropbyafactorof27foragivenQ.
Note:AsdepictedinFig.9,aturbulentvelocityprofileisveryflatinthecenteranddropsoffsharplyto
zeroatthewall.

Fig.9:Comparisonofa)laminarandb)turbulentpipeflowvelocity.
Effectofroughwalls
The surface roughness has an effect on friction resistance; for laminar flow, however, this effect is
negligible. The turbulent flow is strongly affected by roughness. Nikuradse (1933) simulated roughness
by gluing uniform sand grains onto the inner walls of the pipes. He then measured the pressure drops
andflowratesandcorrelatedfrictionfactorversusReynoldsnumber,asshowninFig.10.
Note:
Thelaminarfrictionisunaffected,
The turbulent friction, after an onset point, increases monotonically with the roughness ratio,
eJ,
Thefrictionfactorbecomesconstant(fullyrough)athighReynoldsnumbers.
Threeregionscanbedetectedinthechart:
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts9

Fig.10:Effectofwallroughnessonturbulentpipeflow.
cu
-
v
< S:Hydraulicallysmoothwalls,noeffectofroughnessonfriction
S
cu
-
v
7u:Transitionalroughness,moderateReynoldsnumbereffect

cu
-
v
> 7u:Fullyroughflow,sublayertotallybrokenupandfrictionindependentofReynoldsnumber.
Thelogarithmlawmodifiedforroughnessbecomes:
u
+
=
u
u
-
=
1

ln [
y
e
+8.S
Integratingthisequation,wecanfindtheaveragevelocityinthepipe:
I
u
-
= 2.44ln _
J
e
] +S.2
Forfullyroughflow,wehave:
1

12
= -2.ulog _
eJ
S.7
]
NoticethatthereisnoReynoldsnumbereffect;hencetheheadlossvariesexactlyasthesquareofthe
velocityinthiscase.

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts10

TheMoodychart
Colebrook(1939)combinedthesmoothwallandfullyroughrelationsintoaclevercombined
interpolationformula:
1

= -2.ulog _
eJ
S.7
+
2.S1
Rc
d

_
Itisplottedin1944byMoody(1944)intowhatiscalledtheMoodychartforpipefriction,Fig.11.
Moodychartisoneofthemostfamousandusefulfigureinfluidmechanics.Itisaccurateto15%and
canbeusedforcircularandnoncircularductsandopenchannels.

Fig.11:TheMoodychartforpipefrictionwithsmoothandroughwalls.
TheColebrookequationiscumbersometoevaluatef,Haaland(1983)proposedanothercorrelation:
1

= -1.8 log _
6.9
Rc
d
+ _
eJ
S.7
]
1.11
_
Hydraulicdiameter
Iftheductisnoncircular,theanalysisoffullydevelopedflowfollowsthatofthecircularpipebutismore
complicatedalgebraically.Forturbulentflow,thelogarithmlawvelocityprofilecanbeused.Ingeneral,
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts11

forcomplexgeometries,itisverychallengingtoperformtheanalysisdirectly.Therefore,theconceptof
thehydraulicdiameterisintroducedforconvenience.

Fig.12:Flowinnoncircularducts.
For noncircular ducts, the above analyses are correct, however, the crosssectional area A does not
equaltonR
2
andthecrosssectionalperimeterwettedbytheshearstress,,isnotequalto2nR.For
thisreasonanoncircularductissaidtohaveahydraulicdiameter:

h
=
4 orco
wcttcJ pcrimctcr
=
4A

Weusethehydraulicdiameter,asalengthscalefornoncircularducts,andusetheanalysesderivedfor
thecircularpipes.
Minorlossesinpipesystems
Foranypipesystems,inadditiontotheMoodytypefrictionloss,computedforthelengthofpipe,there
are additional minor losses, including: pipe entrance or exit, sudden expansion or contraction, bends,
elbows,tees,otherfittings,valves(openorpartiallyclosed),andgradualexpansionsorcontractions.
Theflowpatternsinmostoftheabovementionedgeometriesarequitecomplex,seeFig.13,andthus
thelossescommonlymeasuredexperimentallyandcorrelatedwiththepipeflowparameters.
The measured minor loss is usually given as a ratio of the head loss through the device to the velocity
headI
2
(2g)oftheassociatedpipingsystem:
Ioss cocicicnt K =
b
m
I
2
(2g)
=
p
1
2
pI
2

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts12

Fig.13:Typicalcommercialvalvegeometriesa)gatevalve,b)globevalve,c)anglevalve,d)swingcheck
valve,e)disktypegatevalve.
A single pipe system may have many minor losses. Since all are correlated with I
2
(2g), they can be
summedintoasingletotalsystemlossifthepipehasconstantdiameter:
b
tot
= b
]
+ b
m
=
I
2
2g
_
I
J
+ K]

Fig.14:Kfactorfor90degreeelbows.
M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09) ViscousFlowinDucts13

K is a nondimensional factor, like f, and is often correlated with the raw size of the pipe, tables and
figures are available in the textbook for various minor changes, see Fig. 14 for example. Note that we
must sum the losses separately if the pipe size changes so that V
2
changes. The length L is the total
lengthofthepipeaxis.