Pressure Losses and Turbulence Models in Pipe Flows

Fig.
1 Formation of a turbulent puff in pipe flow [1]
PRESSURE LOSSES AND TURBULENCE

MODELS IN PIPE FLOWS
Author: Wojciech Rydlewicz
Lodz, April 2014
1 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

VISCOUS FLOW IN
DUCTS

VISCOUS FLOW IN DUCTS (1/2)
Piping systems are encountered in almost every engineering
design and thus have been studied extensively;
There are two kinds of basic piping problems:
1. Given the:
pipe geometry and its added components (fittings, valves, bends,
diffusers);
desired flow rate;
fluid properties.
QUESTION: What pressure drop is needed to drive the flow?
2. Given the:
pressure drop available from the pump;
fluid properties.
QUESTION: What flow rate will it ensue?
NO GENERAL analysis of a fluid motion yet exists several
dozens of known particular solutions.

VISCOUS FLOW IN DUCTS (2/2)
A lot of theoretical solutions are available
when such important effects as viscosity
and compressibility are neglected;
Due to the reasons mentioned above: there
is no general theory and there may never
be one!
THE REASON: Profound and vexing change
in the fluid behaviour occuring at the given
values of the Reynolds number (definition Fig. 2 Steam pipe bridge in a
goethermal power plant [1]
provided in the further part).

PRESSURE LOSSES
GENERAL INFORMATION

TOTAL & GRAVITATIONAL PRESSURE
LOSSES (1/1)
To calculate the total pressure losses in the pipe flow the following formula ought to
be applied:
Where Pg (gravitational pressure loss, data for water):

PRESSURE LOSSES DUE TO LOCAL
RESISTANCES (1/1)
In order to calculate the overall loss of pressure in the pipeline also the minor
pressures losses due to local resistances, have to be calculated. These are due to
fittings (e.g. bends), valves, pumps installed along the pipeline.
The formula is presented below, along with the descitption:
In case of several fittings in the pipe the K-factor is summed up.

K factor is defined experimentally. For the design purposes the values provided by
Crane can be made use of. They are descriped in the Technical Paper No. 410, Metric
Edition Flow of fluids through valves, fittings and pipe by Crane.
E.g. for pipe with the following fittings: 1x90o elbow, 2x45o elbow -> 0.69 +
2*(16*0.023) = 1.426 -> K=1.426

PRESSURE FRICTION LOSSES (1/1)
Calculation of pressure friction

losses in duct flows is the main
subject of this presentation and
is going to be explained, step by
step, in the further parts.

FLOW REGIMES

REYNOLDS-NUMBER REGIMES (1/4)
There are 3 distinguished flow regimes depending on
Reynolds number:
Laminar;
Transitional;
Turbulent.
Flow begins being smooth and steady (laminar) and become
fluctuating and agitated (turbulent);
The changeover is called: transition to turbulence;
Transitions depends on many effects, e.g.:
wall roughness;
fluctuations in the inlet stream,
yet the primary parameter is Reynolds number;
Turbulence can be detected using measurement by a small,
sensitive instrument e.g. such as a hot-wire anemometer.
Fig. 3 Three regimes of viscous flow: laminar, transition and turbulent, depending on the value of Re [1]
Laminar flow in case of laminar flow there may be occasional natural disturbances which damp out quickly
(Fig. 3 (a));
Transition if it is occurring, there will be sharp bursts of turbulent fluctuations (Fig. 3 (b)), because the
increasinf Reynolds number causes breakdown in stablity of laminar motion;
Turbulent flow when the value of the Reynolds number is high enough the flow will fluctuate continuously
and will be referred to as fully tubulent (Fig. 3 (c));
The fluctuations are not strictly periodic, but they are random and encompass a continuous range, spectrum
or frequency. They usually range from 1% to 20% of average velocity.
Definitions of the laminar and turbulent flows:
Laminar flow in laminar flow fluid particles move in
parallel layers, or laminas, sliding past adjacent laminas,
yet not mixing with them. These particles are
constrained to be in motion in parallel paths by the
action of viscosity [2];
Turbulent flow despite the fact that the main direction
of motion is easily noticeable, rapid and irregular
pulsations of velocity take place fluid particles are not
retained in layers. They move in heterogenous fashion
through the flow, sliding past dome partciles and
colliding with the others in enturely haphazard manner,
causing an effect of mixing [2].

(a)
In Fig. 4 flow issuing at constant speed

from a pipe is shown:
(a) high-viscosity, low-Reynolds number
laminar flow;
(b) low-viscosity, high-Reynolds-number (b)
turbulent flow.
Fig. 4 Two types of flow: (a) laminar, (b)

turbulent [1]
REYNOLDS NUMBER

REYNOLDS NUMBER -
HISTORICAL OUTLINE (1/2)
Turbulent flow is more prevalent than laminar flow
experimenters have observed turbulence for centuries,
yet could not name any details;
Before 1930 flow instruments were too insensitive to
record rapid fluctuations and simply mean values of
velocity, pressure and force were recorded;
G. H. L. Hagen first reported in 1839 that there might
exist two regimes of continuous flow, yet he could not
state what they may be dependend upon.

REYNOLDS NUMBER -
HISTORICAL OUTLINE (2/2)
In 1883 Osborne Reynolds, showed that the change in
fact depends on , a parameter which is now
named after him, thus:
Re =
Ro density of the fluid [kg/m^3]
u velocity of the fluid flow [m/s]
d diameter of the pipe [m]
- dynamic viscosity of the fluid [Pa*s]
Reynolds number is dimensionless and is one of the

similarity numbers used to describe the properties of
flow.

REYNOLDS NUMBER (1/1)
Reynolds introduced a dye streak into a pipe flow and
could observe transition and turbulence. His sketches of
the flow are shown in Fig. 5.

After the examination of Reynolds data
(not provided in the presentation), the
following is obtained:
Transition occurs for the values of
Reynolds number between 2300 and
4200.

This is accuarte for commercial pipes,
although with special care in providing
a rounded entrance, smooth walls
and steady inlet stream lower border
of Re can be delayed to much higher
values
Fig. 5 Reynolds sketches of pipe-flow transition: (a) laminar, (b) tubulent, (c) spark photograoh of contion (b) [1]
INTERNAL VISCOUS
FLOW

INTERNAL VISCOUS FLOW (1/2)
Internal flow is constrained by bounding walls and the
viscous effects;
There exist an entrance region, where a nearly inviscid flow
converges and enters the tube;
Vicous boundary layers grow downstream, retarding the axial
flow u(r, x) and accelerating the center core flow to maintain
the incompressible continuity equation;
At a finite distance from the entrance, the boundary layers

merge and the invisid core disappears. The tube flow is then
entirely viscous. At x = Le there are no longer changes and
the flow is said to be fully developed, u = u(r).
Le entrance length
INTERNAL VISCOUS FLOW (2/2)
Dimensional analysis shows
that Re is the only parameter
affecting the entrance
length Le.
Le is proportional to
diameter of the pipe
and depends on the flow
regime.
This is a crucial
phenomenon, yet it may
be neglected in most of the
cases of pipe-systems
analysis, as Le is relatively
short in comparison to the
L/d ratio analysis for a
fully developed flow may
be made.
Fig. 6 Developing velocity profiles and pressure changes in the flow entrance of the duct [1]
FRICTION PRESSURE
LOSSES

ASSUMPTIONS (1/1)
In the calculations it is assumed that: density and
viscosity are constant, there are no thermal
interactions, thus only the continuity and momentum
equations are to be solved for velocity and pressure:
Continuity
Momentum
No slip walls is assumed and inlet and outlet conditions
are known.
Both laminar and turbulent flow satisfy the above Eq.

THE STEADY-FLOW ENERGY
EQUATION (1/1)
For a steady flow with one inlet (LHS) and one outlet (RHS), both one
dimensional, we can obtain the following energy relation, given in its head
form (given in meters):
Where: 1 pressure head, 2 velocity head, 3 elevation, 4 head of

heat added, 5 head of shaft work done (pump), 6 head of the turbine
Assumption: low speed flow (nearly incompressible) with one inlet and
one outlet;
The complete Eq. would be given in the form:
Where: Alfa kinetic-energy correction factor. Around 2.0 for fully

developed laminar pipe flow and from 1.04 to 1.11 for turbulent pipe flow.

FLOW IN A CIRCULAR PIPE (1/2)
Classic problem of a flow in a full pipe.
Fig. 7 Control volume of a steady, fully developed flow between two sections in a pipe [1]

FLOW IN A CIRCULAR PIPE (2/2)
Before performing the solutions of the equations of motion a lot
can be learned from the analysis of the control volumes.
The continuity relation:
Since A of pipe = const, the steady flow energy equation reduces to:
Because there is no shaft work or heat-transfer effects,

FLOW IN A CIRCULAR PIPE
DARCY FRICTION FACTOR (1/2)
After a portion of recalculaton we come to the
conclusion that the head loss in the flow depends on a
certain factor.
It is called Darcy friction factor after Henry Darc (1803-
1858). After further substitutions we get:
The Darcy-Weisbach equation.

Where: f Darcy friction factor [], L length of the pipe
[m], d diameter of the pipe [m], V velocity of the
flow [m/s], g gravitational acceleration [m/(s^2)]

FLOW IN A CIRCULAR PIPE
DARCY FRICTION FACTOR (2/2)
NOTE: In England the Fanning friction factor is used,
which is in fact Darcy friction factor divided by 4. The
same letter is used to denote it.
Having the Darcy-Weisbach equation it is possible to
calculate the head loss in a pipe.
Equation is valid for duct flows of any cross section and
for laminar and turbulent flow. It was proposed by
Julius Weisbach in 1850.
The only remaining problem is to know how to find the
value of f for LAMINAR FLOW and for TURBULENT
FLOW!

LAMINAR FLOW SOLUTION (1/1)
After certain recalculations it is possible to obtain the value of the
Darcy friction factor for the Re<2300
f = a / Re
Where a depends on the cross section of the duct [3]:

a = 64 for circular ducts
a = 57 for square ducts
a = 96 for ringducts
a = 96 for rectangular ducts where the ratio of the sides is 1:2
Yet, the most useful case is for circular ducts, as these are the ones
that are made use of in most of the cases.
TURBULENT FLOW
SOLUTIONS (1/1)
There is a number of solutions, which can be provided
given certain assumptions. The formulas were derived
by adjusting the equations to the emipircal data
obtained via the experiments.
In 1935 Prandtl proposed a formula for smooth-wall
pipes, yet it was an implicit one [1]:
Blasius, student of Prandtl, suggested another formula,

yet with a limitd scope of application [1]:

EFFECT OF ROUGH WALLS (1/3)
It was not known until experiments conducted by
Coulomb in 1800 surface roughness affects the friction
resistance;
Nikuradse, student of Prandtl, simulated the roughness
by gluing uniform sand grains onto the inner walls of
pipes. He then measured the pressure drops and flow
rates and correlated friction factor versus Reynolds
number.

Fig. 8 Effect of wall roughness on turbulent pipe flow [1]

It can be seen that laminar flow is unaffected, but
turbulence friction, after an onset point, increases
monotically with the roughness ratio e/d.
For a given ratio of e/d friction factor becomes constant
(fully rough) at high Reynolds numbers.
IMPORTANT: In the transition region sand grains behave

somewhat different from commercially rough pipes,
thus Fig. 8 was replaced by the Moody Chart.

THE MOODY CHART (1/2)
In 1939 to cover the transitionally rough range,
Colebrook combined the smooth wall (Prandtl) and
rough wall (fully rough wall) equations into an
interpolation formula:
This is the accepted design formula for turbulent

friction. It was plotted in 1944 by Moody, into what is
called the Moody Chart. It is accurate to +/- 15% for
design calculations over the full range of Reynolds
number. It can be used for circular and noncircular pipe
flows.

THE MOODY CHART (1/2)
Fig. 9 The Moody chart for pipe friction with smooth and rough walls. Chart is identical to Colebrook
34 | formula
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Centrum flow [1]
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HAALANDS FORMULA (1/1)
There is an alternative, explicit formula, given by
Haaland (which is easier to recalculate, as it is not
implicit):
The results vary less than 2% from the Colebrook

formula.

RECOMMENDED ROUGHNESS
VALUES (1/1)
In the table the recommended roughness values for
commercial ducts are given:
Fig. 10 Recommended roughness values for commercial ducts (during calculations) [1]
TOTAL PRESSURE
LOSSES

TOTAL PRESSURE LOSSES (1/1)
To calculate the total pressure losses in the pipe flow the following
formula ought to be applied:

HAZEN-WILLIAMS
FORMULA

HAZEN-WILLIAMS EQUATION (1/3)
It is an empirical relationship, which relates the flow of
water in a pipe with the physical propertis of the pipe
and the pressure drop caused by friction [4].
The advantage: C is not the function of Reynolds
number, yet the disadvantage is that is is only valid for
water. Also, it does not account for the temperature or
the viscosity of water.
Yet, the results obtained are reliable when designing
fire sprinkler systems, water supply networks and
irrigation systems and the calculations are easier.

Fig. 11 Hazen-Williams eqution, with a description, from the PIPENET Spray/Sprinkler

Help Topics

Here, the typical values of the C-factor taken into
account when doing calculation using the Hazen-
Williams equation are given:
Fig. 12 Values of the C-factor for popular materials [4]

REFERENCES

REFERENCES
[1] Fluid Mechanics, Frank M. White, 4th Edition,
McGraw Hill Series in Mechanical Engineering
[2] Instruction to laboratory Critical Reynolds number,
dr Krzysztof Sobczak, Thermodynamics and Fluid
Mechanics course, Fluid Mechanics Part, 3rd
semester;
[3] The History of the Darcy-Weisbach Equation,
Glenn Brown, Oklahoma State University, 2000 (revised
2002);
[4] Handbook of Hydraulics, Brater et la., 7th Edition,
McGraw Hill, New York
[5] PIPENET Spray/Sprinkler Help Topics

Thank you for your
attention!
Do you have any

questions?

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Fig.

1 Formation of a turbulent puff in pipe flow [1]

PRESSURE LOSSES AND TURBULENCE

Lodz, April 2014

1 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

2 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

3 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

4 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

5 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

Where Pg (gravitational pressure loss, data for water):

6 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

In case of several fittings in the pipe the K-factor is summed up.

7 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

Calculation of pressure friction

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9 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

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In Fig. 4 flow issuing at constant speed

Fig. 4 Two types of flow: (a) laminar, (b)

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Reynolds number is dimensionless and is one of the

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At a finite distance from the entrance, the boundary layers

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Where: 1 pressure head, 2 velocity head, 3 elevation, 4 head of

Where: Alfa kinetic-energy correction factor. Around 2.0 for fully

23 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

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Because there is no shaft work or heat-transfer effects,

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The Darcy-Weisbach equation.

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Where a depends on the cross section of the duct [3]:

Blasius, student of Prandtl, suggested another formula,

29 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

30 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

Fig. 8 Effect of wall roughness on turbulent pipe flow [1]

IMPORTANT: In the transition region sand grains behave

32 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

This is the accepted design formula for turbulent

33 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

The results vary less than 2% from the Colebrook

35 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

37 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

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Fig. 11 Hazen-Williams eqution, with a description, from the PIPENET Spray/Sprinkler

41 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

Fig. 12 Values of the C-factor for popular materials [4]

43 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

44 | WWW.SOFTDESK.PL Copyright Centrum Systemw Softdesk 2014

Do you have any

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