FRICTION LOSS ALONG A PIPE

OBJECTIVE: To observe the head loss that occurs in a pipe due to frictional
resistance, hydraulic gradient, and the relationship between head
loss and the Reynold’s number.

PROCEDURE: See attached experimental procedure handout.

RESULTS: Show trial-by-trial data for both the mercury and water friction loss
experiments in two different tables. Include the flow rate, velocity,
hydraulic gradient, Reynold’s number, friction factor, and dynamic
viscosity for each of the trials in these tables. Also in a final table,
compare the Reynold’s number, R, friction factor, f, average
absolute viscosity (average µ’s in the laminar region), µavg,
Laminar slope, and Turbulent slope. The theoretical absolute
viscosity, µavg, can be found by using an average temperature from
the laminar region and interpolating from the given chart.

CALCULATIONS: Show one sample calculation for each step, as outlined in the
attached calculations section.

GRAPHS: Plot the velocity versus hydraulic gradient on 3-cycle log-log paper
or in a spreadsheet (change both axes to be logarithmic). Indicate
the transition point between the laminar and the turbulent flow
regions.

DISCUSSION: 1. Compare your critical Reynold’s number with the

theoretical value at which the transition from laminar to
turbulent flow occurs. What are the most significant
reasons for the differences between the two?
2. Why is it necessary to multiply the differential heads
recorded from the mercury-manometer meter by 12.6?
3. What are the two types of energy losses typically
associated with pipe flow? What determines which one
will predominate as the most significant loss of head
incurred by a fluid flowing along a pipe?
4. What is the hydraulic gradient and how is it related to the
energy gradient?

1
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

1. Level the apparatus on the bench so the manometer stand is vertical. (Assume it is
level when we start the lab.)

2. Check to see what manometer is turned on (mercury or water?). The water or

mercury manometer is introduced into the circuit by directing the lever on the tap
towards the relevant connecting pipe. Select the water manometer on first.

3. Turn on the flow rate in your tub. There is a small knob on the apparatus used to
adjust the flow rate. Open this supply valve to allow water to enter the apparatus.

4. Turn the supply valve off. The levels in the two limbs of the inverted U-tube
should settle on the same value. If not, check that the flow from the tub has not
stopped, or that there are no air bubbles in the system. If this does not work, open
the bleed valves slightly to release pressure (please see your TA before you do
this).

5. Fully open the needle valve to obtain the maximum differential head
(approximately 400 mm).

6. Find the flow rate using the volume-time method by timing the collection of a
suitable amount of water in a graduated cylinder.

7. Record the temperature of the water filling up the graduated cylinder.

8. Record the pressure heads.

9. Repeat steps 5, 6, and 8 while decreasing the difference in manometer readings by

50 mm down to 300 mm, then by 40 mm down to 180 mm, then by 20 mm down
to 100 mm, and then by 10 mm down to 0 mm.

10. Switch to the mercury manometer. Increase the flow until a pressure difference of
10 mm is obtained. Again, measure flow rate and temperature.

11. Repeat step 10 (except only measure temperature for the first trial) increasing the
difference by 10 mm up to 60 mm, then by 20 mm up to 200 mm, and then 30
mm up to the maximum difference possible.

2
CALCULATIONS

GIVEN:

• 1 m3 = 1*106 ml
• Pipe is made of brass
• Length of pipe between piezometer tappings, dl = 524 mm
• Nominal Diameter of the pipe, D = 0.003 m
• Cross-sectional area of the pipe, A = 7.07 ™ 10-6 m2

Water Manometer:

dh = h1-h2

dl = .524 m

1. Calculate the Hydraulic Gradient, iH2O, for the water manometer

The hydraulic gradient is equal to the change in hydraulic head per unit length,
and is usually a negative number as hydraulic head decreases in the direction of
the flow. The hydraulic head is the sum of elevation and pressure that is
measured by the manometer tube, or in other words, the driving force of the fluid
flow. The hydraulic gradient can be written as:

dh h1 − h2
iH 2O = =
dl 0.524m

3
Mercury:

dh

dl = .524m

2. Calculate the Hydraulic Gradient, iHg, for the mercury manometer

Mercury’s density is 13.6 times that of water, which must be taken into account
when finding the hydraulic gradient.

dh  ∆h × (13.6 − 1) 
iHg = = 
dl  0.524m 

3. Solve for the flowrate, Q, found by using the volume-time method

V
Q=
T
where: V = Volume of water filled in the graduated cylinder, and
T = The time it takes to fill the graduated cylinder to the volume

4. Using the continuity equation, calculate the velocity of the water through the
apparatus.

Q =V × A

Q
Therefore: V=
A
(Note that the inside diameter of the pipe is 0.003 m.)

5. Plot the hydraulic gradient, i, (y-axis) versus the velocity (x-axis) on 3-cycle log-
log paper or in a spreadsheet (change both axes to be logarithmic). Indicate the
transition point between the laminar and the turbulent flow regions. This can be
determined by finding the point on the graph where there is an abrupt change in
the slope. At the transition point, the Reynold’s number should be equal to 2000
theoretically, and somewhat close to this value experimentally.

4
LAMINAR FLOW CALCULATIONS:

In laminar flow, the fluid particles move in straight lines.

A. Calculate the coefficient of absolute viscosity, µ, from Poiseuille’s equation,

using each value of i in the laminar region as indicated in your graph.

i × ρ × g × D2
µ=
32 × V

where: i = hydraulic gradient

ρ = density (dependent on temperature so use the tables in the back
of the book to find this)
g = gravity = 9.81 m/s2
D = inside diameter = 0.003 m
V = velocity (from step 4)

B. Average the absolute viscosity values for the laminar region, µavg

C. Calculate a Reynold’s number for each flow rate in the laminar region.

ρ ×V × D
R=
µ avg

Make sure that all Reynold’s numbers calculated are less than 2000 as this is the
definition for laminar flow. If some of your flow rates are greater than 2000, then
they are turbulent and your transition point is incorrectly place. Move your
transition point, move the points that were greater than 2000 to your turbulent
calculations, and recalculate µavg and R for your laminar flow points that are
remaining.

D. Knowing that the flow is laminar under pressure in a circular pipe, the friction
factor can be solved for using the following equation:

64
f =
R

E. The slope of the laminar line on the plot can also be determined using the
following equation:

log i1 − log i2
Laminar Slope =
log V1 − log V2

5
TURBULENT FLOW CALCULATIONS:

In turbulent flow, the fluid particles follow random paths.

A. Determine the absolute viscosity, µ, of the turbulent flow region by interpolation

using the values from Table 1.

Table 1: Absolute Viscosity Chart

Temp. (deg C) µ *10-4 (Ns/m2)
0 17.90
10 13.10
20 10.10
30 8.00
40 6.56

B. Calculate a Reynold’s number for each flow rate in the turbulent region.

ρ ×V × D
R=
µ chart

Make sure that all Reynold’s numbers calculated are greater than 2000, as this is
the definition for turbulent flow. If some of your Reynold’s numbers are less than
2000, then they are laminar and your transition point is incorrectly placed. Move
your transition point, and move the points that had R < 2000 to your laminar
calculations.

C. Use Darcy’s equation to calculate the friction factor at each flow rate in the
turbulent flow region.

i × D × 2× g
f =
V2

D. The slope of the turbulent line on the plot can also be determined using the
following equation:

log i1 − log i2
Turbulent Slope =
log V1 − log V2

6
 COMPARE AND CONTRAST:

6. Compare and contrast experimental with theoretical values.

A. Theoretical and experimental slopes

- Theoretical Laminar = 1.0
- Theoretical Turbulent = 1.85

B. Reynold’s Number, R, at the transition point

- Experimental versus 2000

C. Friction factor, f, at the transition point

- Experimental versus Moody Diagram at R = 2000

D. Absolute viscosity, µ
- Experimental versus lab handout interpolation

EXAMPLE TABLES:

Table 1: Water Friction Loss Data Sheet

Volume Time Temp. h1 h2 dh Q V I R f u
3 2
(mL) (s) (deg. C) (m) (m) (m) (m /s) (m/s) (Ns/m )

200 21.13 24 0.508 0.050 0.458 9.47E-06 1.339 0.874 4424.65 0.014 9.05E-04
200 24.46 24 0.425 0.045 0.380 8.18E-06 1.157 0.725 3822.28 0.017 9.05E-04
150 22.62 24 0.390 0.190 0.200 6.63E-06 0.938 0.382 3099.90 0.021 9.05E-04
150 24.97 24 0.378 0.205 0.173 6.01E-06 0.850 0.330 2808.16 0.023 9.05E-04
150 28.09 24 0.368 0.220 0.148 5.34E-06 0.755 0.282 2496.25 0.026 9.05E-04
100 21.86 24 0.350 0.233 0.117 4.57E-06 0.647 0.223 2071.29 0.031 9.49E-04
100 26.44 24 0.345 0.250 0.095 3.78E-06 0.535 0.181 1712.49 0.037 9.32E-04
100 35.68 24 0.333 0.263 0.070 2.80E-06 0.396 0.134 1269.01 0.050 9.27E-04
40 23.65 24 0.320 0.278 0.042 1.69E-06 0.239 0.080 765.81 0.084 9.22E-04
30 25.37 24 0.315 0.285 0.030 1.18E-06 0.167 0.057 535.42 0.120 9.42E-04
Uavg of Laminar Flow 9.34E-04
2
(Ns/m )

7
Table 2: Mercury Friction Loss Data Sheet
Volume Time Temp. h1 h2 dh Q V I R f u
(mL) (s) (deg. C) (m) (m) (m3/s) (m/s) (Ns/m2)

110 22.83 24 0.192 0.183 0.113 4.82E-06 0.682 0.216 2252.35 0.028 9.05E-04
170 22.07 24 0.199 0.178 0.265 7.70E-06 1.089 0.505 3600.77 0.018 9.05E-04
220 22.43 24 0.210 0.170 0.504 9.81E-06 1.387 0.962 4585.03 0.014 9.05E-04
240 21.36 24 0.220 0.160 0.756 1.12E-05 1.589 1.443 5252.41 0.012 9.05E-04
300 23.08 24 0.230 0.150 1.008 1.30E-05 1.839 1.924 6076.23 0.011 9.05E-04
350 24.83 24 0.240 0.142 1.235 1.41E-05 1.994 2.356 6589.31 0.010 9.05E-04
400 23.99 24 0.262 0.123 1.751 1.67E-05 2.358 3.342 7794.32 0.008 9.05E-04
450 23.55 24 0.280 0.108 2.167 1.91E-05 2.703 4.136 8932.44 0.007 9.05E-04
500 23.99 24 0.300 0.092 2.621 2.08E-05 2.948 5.002 9742.90 0.007 9.05E-04
500 22.13 24 0.325 0.070 3.213 2.26E-05 3.196 6.132 10561.78 0.006 9.05E-04
550 22.40 24 0.343 0.052 3.667 2.46E-05 3.473 6.997 11477.92 0.006 9.05E-04
600 23.02 24 0.358 0.040 4.007 2.61E-05 3.687 7.647 12184.13 0.005 9.05E-04

Table 3: Final Results Table

Property Experimental Theoritical % Difference
R 2071.29 2000 3.56
f 0.031 0.030 3.33
uavg 9.34E-04 9.05E-04 3.20
Laminar Slope 1.007 1 0.70
Tubulent Slope 2.11 1.85 14.05

EXAMPLE GRAPH:

8
 Table 2: Mercury Friction Loss Data Sheet
Volume Average Volume Time Average Time h1 h2 12.6 x (h 1-h 2)
(ml) (ml) (s) (s) (mm) (mm) (mm)

Temperature = °C

Table 3: Water Friction Loss Data Sheet

Volume Average Volume Time Average Time h1 h2 (h 1-h 2)

(ml) (ml) (s) (s) (mm) (mm) (mm)

Temperature = °C