Department of Chemical Engineering

National Institute of Technology, Warangal

________________________________________________________

Academic Year

: 2014-15, I Semester, II Biotech

Course

: CH235 Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer

Instructor

: Dr. V. Ramsagar

Turbulence:
Fluid can flow through a pipe or conduit in two different ways.
The distinction bw these two types is determined by Osborne Reynolds.

Dye followed a straight

path.
Dye followed a wavy
path with streak intact.
Dye rapidly mixed
through the fluid in the
tube

Reynolds classified the flow type according to the motion of the fluid.

Laminar Flow: every fluid

molecule followed a straight path
that was parallel to the
boundaries of the tube.
Transitional Flow: every fluid
molecule followed wavy but
parallel path that was not parallel
to the boundaries of the tube.
Turbulent Flow: every fluid
molecule followed very complex
path that led to a mixing of the
dye.

Reynolds found that conditions for each of the flow types depended on:
1. The velocity of the flow (U)

2. The diameter of the tube (D)

3. The density of the fluid (r).

4. The fluids dynamic viscosity (m).

He combined these variables into a dimensionless combination now

known as the Flow Reynolds Number (R) where:

rUD
R
m

The value of R determined the type of flow in the experimental tubes:

UD

< 2100

2100 - 4000

> 4000
R in terms of Kinematic viscosity.
But in general R <2100 is considered as laminar flow.
We can maintain laminar flow upto R 24000 by eliminating all disturbances.
In Transitional region flow may be laminar or turbulence.

Turbulence
Nature of turbulence: in the pipes turbulence can be generated by 2
ways: contact of flow stream with solid boundaries (wall turbulence)
Contact bw two layers of fluid moving at different velocities (free
turbulence).
TF consist of mass of eddies of various sizes coexisting in the flowing
stream.

Large eddies are continuously formed and they break down into
smaller eddies, which further reduced and disappeared.
Flow with in the eddy is laminar.
Turbulent flow is not a molecular phenomenon since a smallest eddy
contain 1012 mole.

Characterizing Turbulence:

Turbulent eddies create fluctuations in velocity. As an example, the

longitudinal (u) and vertical (v) velocity measured at point A in figure are
shown below. Both velocities varying in time due to turbulent fluctuations. If
the flow were steady and laminar then u =u bar and v = v bar for all time t,
where the over-bar denotes a time average. For turbulent flow, however, the
velocity record includes both a mean and a turbulent component. We
decompose the flow as follows

The shear stress in turbulent flow can not be analyzed in the same manner as did in
laminar flow. Experiments show it is much larger due to turbulent fluctuation.
The turbulent shear stress consists of two parts: the laminar component, and the
turbulent component

Consider turbulent flow in a horizontal pipe, and the

upward eddy motion of fluid particles in a layer of
lower velocity to an adjacent layer of higher velocity
through a differential area dA
Then the turbulent shear stress can be expressed as

Experimental results show that

is usually a negative quantity.

Reynolds Stress or Turbulent Stress

where mt the eddy viscosity or turbulent viscosity, which accounts
for momentum transport by turbulent eddies

mt and t (Eddy diffusivity of momentum) are analogous to m and .

Quantities relates shear stress and velocity gradient.
m and are properties of the fluid.

mt and t (Eddy diffusivity of momentum) are not only the properties but
depends on fluid velocity and geometry of the system.
analogous to m and .