AIM: TO STUDY THE LOSS OF PRESSURE DUE TO FRICTION FOR FLOW ALONG

A PIPE.

INTRODUCTION

For flow to exist there must be a continuous supply of energy. In reality, because fluids are
viscous, energy is lost by flowing fluids due to friction, which must be taken into account. The
effect of the friction shows itself as a pressure (or head) loss. It may be shown that the loss hf is
given by

Hf = 32 vl for laminar flow

gD2

hf =  V2L for turbulent flow

2gd

DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS

Water flows from a supply tank through a flexible hose to the bell-mounted entrance to a straight
tube along which the frictional loss is measured. Piezometer tappings are made at an upstream
section, which lies approximately 50-tube diameters way from the entrance, and at a downstream
section, which lies approximately 20 tube diameters away from the pipe exit. These clear
lengths upstream and downstream of the section are required to prevent the results from being
affected by disturbances near the entrance and exit of the pipe. The piezometer tappings may be
connected to an inverted tube manometer, which reads the differential pressure directly in
millimeters of water or to a U-tube, which reads in milimetres of mercury.
The rate of flow along the valve is controlled by a needle valve at the pipe exit and is measured
by trimming the collected water in a measuring cylinder.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

 The apparatus is set on the bench and leveled so that the manometers stand vertically.
 The water manometer is then introduced into the circuit by directing the lever on the tap
towards the relevant connecting pipe.
 The bench supply valve is opened and adjusted until there is a steady flow down the
supply tank.
 With the needle valve partly open to allow water to flow through the system; any trapped
air is removed by manipulation of the flexible pipes.
 The needle valve is then closed where upon the two limbs of the inverted tube should
settle to the same valve.
 The height of the water level in the manometer may be raised to a suitable valve by
allowing air to escape through the air valve at the top, or by pumping in air through the
valve.
 The first reading of head loss and flow is now taken.
 The needle valve is now opened fully to obtain a differential head of at least 400 mm and
the collection of a suitable quantity of water in the measuring cylinder timed.
 Further readings are taken at various flows and the readings are recorded.
 With the needle valve partially opened and the pump running, the bench supply valve is
opened fully.
 After removal of air bubbles there should be a continuous water connections from the
piezometer tapings to the two surfaces of mercury in the U-tube, and when the needle
valve is closed, the two surfaces should settle at the same level.
 Starting with the maximum discharge the head loss and flow are taken.
 The flow is then decreased using the needle valve to set it at the desired flow.
 For each discharge measured the mean velocity V of flow and the corresponding head
loss hf are calculated.
 A graph of hf against V and one of log hf against log V are plotted.
RESULTS

Part 1 Laminar Flow

h1/mm h2/mm v1/cm3 t1/s v2/cm3 t2/s

460 85 300 41.54 300 41.97
445 103 300 43.12 300 45.20
439 114 300 45.05 300 46.14
400 144 300 52.64 300 51.02
399 160 300 52.56 300 54.14
386 174 300 55.42 300 57.02
345 225 300 62.00 300 74.82
322 253 200 68.19 200 68.27
310 268 200 114.68 200 115.17

Part 2 Turbulent Flow

Left Limb Right Limb Vol/ cm3 t1/s t2/s

h1 water/mm h1 Hg/mm h2 Hg/mm h2 water/mm
178 116 347 258 400 18.05 17.39
185 120 340 258 400 18.93 18.98
200 132 339 258 400 19.78 19.94
215 140 318 258 400 21.07 21.22
236 150 302 257 400 23.39 23.8
245 163 294 257 400 24.94 25.33
262 176 279 257 400 28.84 29.45
269 184 271 257 400 31.05 31.73
285 194 260 256 400 37.14 37.55
295 202 250 255 400 43.38 43.75
ANALYSIS OF DATA

Diameter of pipe = 3mm

Length of pipe = 524mm
Area of pipe = d2/4 = 7.069 *10-6 m3

Laminar Flow

Q * 10-6/m3/s V/m/s hf / m log V /m/s log(h1-h2)/cm Re

7.18 1.02 0.375 0.01 -0.43 3034
6.79 0.96 0.342 -0.02 -0.47 2869
6.58 0.93 0.325 -0.03 -0.49 2779
5.79 0.82 0.256 -0.09 -0.59 2444
5.62 0.80 0.239 -0.10 -0.62 2375
5.34 0.75 0.212 -0.12 -0.67 2253
4.39 0.62 0.120 -0.21 -0.92 1852
2.93 0.41 0.069 -0.38 -1.16 1238
1.74 0.25 0.042 -0.61 -1.38 735

*
 Graph of hf v/s V

0.40

0.35 y = 0.3406x1.6256

0.30

0.25
hf /m

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20
V /m/s
 Graph of log hf v/s log v

0.00
-0.70 -0.60 -0.50 -0.40 -0.30 -0.20 -0.10 0.00 0.10

-0.20

-0.40
y = 1.6256x - 0.4677

-0.60
log hf /m

-0.80

-1.00

-1.20

-1.40

-1.60
Log V m/s

Assuming that hf α Vn
hf = c Vn
Log hf = n log V + log c

From the graph of log hf against log V,

y = 1.6256x – 0.4677
Hence, n = 1.6
Turbulent Flow

Q * 10-5 /m3/s hf / m V/m/s log V /m/s log hf/m

2.257 0.00314 3.19 0.50 -2.50
2.110 0.00299 2.99 0.48 -2.52
2.014 0.00282 2.85 0.45 -2.55
1.892 0.00242 2.68 0.43 -2.62
1.696 0.00207 2.40 0.38 -2.68
1.591 0.00178 2.25 0.35 -2.75
1.373 0.00140 1.94 0.29 -2.85
1.274 0.00118 1.80 0.26 -2.93
1.071 0.00090 1.52 0.18 -3.05
0.918 0.00065 1.30 0.11 -3.19

Graph of headloss v/s Velocity

0.004

0.004
y = 0.0004x1.7837
0.003

0.003
hf /m

0.002

0.002

0.001

0.001

0.000
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
V /m/s
 Graph of Log hf v/s Log V

0.00
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60

-0.50

-1.00

-1.50
Log hf /m

-2.00

-2.50 y = 1.7837x - 3.3762

-3.00

-3.50
Log V /m/s

Assuming that hf α Vn
hf = c Vn
Log hf = n log V + log c

From the graph of log hf against log V,

y = 1.7837x – 3.3762
Hence, n = 1.8
CONCLUSIONS

From theory it has been proved that for laminar flow the headloss is directly proportional to the
velocity of flow. From this experiment the value of n for the laminar flow is 1.6, which is far
from 1. The discrepancies are due to experimental errors. For the turbulent flow, the headloss
is proportional to the square of flow of velocity. From the values of the experiment the value of
n is 1.8, which is approximately equal to 2 agreeing to the theoretical value to some extent