1.

0 TITLE

Fluid friction and losses in pipes

2.0 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this experiment are:

1. To obtain the relationship between Reynolds number, frictional factor and losses in
pipes.
2. To determine the relationship between head loss due to fluid friction and velocity
for flow of water through bore pipes.

3.0 EQUIPMENT

The equipment used in this experiment were:

1. Hydraulic Bench
2. Smooth and roughened bore pipes of various diameters
3. Manometer

4.0 INTRODUCTION

Liquid or gas flow through pipes or ducts is commonly used in heating and cooling applications
and fluid distribution networks. As an incompressible fluid flows through a pipe, a friction
force along the pipe wall is created against the fluid. The frictional resistance generates a
continuous loss of energy or total head in the fluid and hence decreases the pressure of the fluid
as it moves through the pipe. It has been known that the main factor that causes the loss of
energy of fluid is the resisting force in the hydraulic transmission system, so the friction factor
has been one of the most important parts of hydraulic flow in pipe (Cheng, 2011).

In this experiment, the relationship between Reynolds number, frictional factor and
losses in pipes was found by measuring the differential height in the manometer tubes and
calculating the flowrate and the data was plugged in into certain formulas that will be explained
later. The equipment used in this experiment is shown in the figures below:

1
Straight pipe 1 Tubings of
Straight pipe 2 Straight pipe 3
manometer

Water in Water out

Figure 1: Fluid friction apparatus

Nozzle

H2

H1

Figure 2: Manometer

2
 Control valve

Hydraulic bench

Figure 3: Apparatus setup

There are two different flow situations that were studied in this experiment, laminar
flow and turbulent flow. Based on Cengel & Cimbala (2014), laminar flow is characterized by
smooth streamlines and highly ordered motion while turbulent flow is characterized by velocity
fluctuations and highly disordered motion. The transition from laminar to turbulent flow does
not occur suddenly; rather, it occurs over some region in which the flow fluctuates between
laminar and turbulent flows before it becomes fully turbulent.

The transition from laminar to turbulent depends on the geometry, surface roughness,
flow velocity, surface temperature and type of fluid, among other things. In the 1880s, Osborne
Reynolds discovered that the flow regime depends mainly on the ratio of inertia forces to
viscous forces within the fluid, expressed by the non-dimensional Reynolds Number:

(1)
= =

Where,

= (/)
= ()
= (/3)
= (/.s)

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Under most practical conditions:

2300 Laminar flow

2300 4000 Transitional flow
4000 Turbulent flow

In fully developed laminar flow, each fluid particle moves at a constant axial velocity
along a streamline and the velocity profile u(r) remains unchanged in the flow direction.
Turbulent flow is characterized by disorderly ad rapid fluctuations of swirling regions of fluid,
called eddies, throughout the flow. These fluctuations provide an additional mechanism for
momentum and energy transfer. In laminar flow, fluid particles flow in an orderly manner along
path lines, and momentum and energy are transferred across streamlines by molecular
diffusion. However, in turbulent flow, the swirling eddies transport mass, momentum, and
energy to other regions of flow much more rapidly than molecular diffusion, greatly enhancing
mass, momentum, and heat transfer. As a result, turbulent flow is associated with much higher
values of friction, heat transfer, and mass transfer coefficients (Cengel & Cimbala, 2014).

5.0 THEORY

For laminar flow, the head loss, h, that is due to the generated shear stress is proportional to
the velocity of the flow. For turbulent flow, the generated shear stress behaves differently with
the flow velocity. The Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for head loss, hL is:

2 (2)
=
2
Where,

= ()
=
= ()
= ()
= (/)
= (/ 2 )

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 The head loss represents the additional height that the fluid needs to be raised by a
pump in order to overcome the frictional losses in the pipe. The head loss is caused by viscosity,
and it is directly related to the wall shear stress.

The frictional coefficient is the minimum force required to get an object to slide on a
surface, divided by the forces pressing them together (Linde, n.d.). For laminar flow in cicular
pipes, the frictional factor can be calculated by using the formula:

64 (3)
=

Where,

=
=

For turbulent flow, Colebrook equation can be used to calculate the frictional coefficient:

1 / 2.51 (4)
= 2.0 ( + )
3.7

Where,

=
=
= ()

The frictional coefficient can also be found by using a Moody Chart as shown in the Appendix.

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6.0 PROCEDURE

The valve of pipe

The pump was The water flowrate
1 was opened and
turned on and was set to flowrate 3
tubings of the
water started to by using the control
manometer was
flow. valve.
fixed to the pipe.

The manometer The water level

readings for h1 and The valves for the
inside both of the
h2 were taken after manometers were
manometer tubes was
the water inside the opened to let the
calibrated to the
tubes has stabilized water flow in.
50cm mark.
(approx. 30s).

The sink of the Step 3 to 7 was Step 2 to 8 was

volumetric tank was repeated with repeated for pipe 2
closed and the time decreasing flowrate and pipe 3. The
taken to collect 5 (i.e. flowrate 2 and whole experiment
Litre of water was flowrate 1). was repeated three
recorded. times.

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7.0 DATA COLLECTION

Below are the data collected and calculated from this experiment:

Table 1: Straight Pipe Dimensions

Straight pipe Section Diameter, D (mm) Length, L (mm)

1 10mm smooth 10.0 1080
2 17mm smooth 17.0 1080
3 17mm rough 17.0 1080

Table 2: Average Time Taken to Collect 5 Litres of Water

Pipe Time taken to collect 5 Litre (s)

Reading 1 Reading 2 Reading 3 Average
209.86 338.50 212.01 253.46
1 91.75 76.89 81.83 83.49
44.97 50.10 44.94 46.67
259.99 215.06 233.45 236.17
2 76.95 76.44 73.12 75.50
55.54 44.39 50.75 50.23
243.67 191.09 253.71 229.49
3 75.40 82.67 89.80 82.62
41.84 51.30 49.63 47.59

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 Table 3: Average Manometer Reading for H1 and H2

Pipe H1 H2
Reading Reading Reading Average Reading Reading Reading Average
1 2 3 1 2 3
585 605 723 637.67 549 505 530 528.00
1 608 675 754 679.00 508 472 493 491.00
685 710 780 725.00 423 435 420 426.00
560 486 508 518.00 409 479 458 448.67
2 565 492 548 535.00 432 486 463 460.33
563 496 546 535.00 436 484 453 457.67
489 524 527 513.33 465 457 468 463.33
3 546 550 565 553.67 417 447 438 434.00
632 576 654 620.67 315 419 325 353.00

Table 4: Overall Result

Average Flowrate, H1 H2 Head Velocity, Reynolds Pipe friction

Pipe time (s) Q (m3/h) (mm) (mm) loss, V (m/s) number coefficient
(mm)
253.46 0.071 637.67 528.00 109.67 0.251 2810.56 0.3158
1 83.49 0.216 679.00 491.00 188.00 0.763 8532.22 0.0587
46.67 0.386 725.00 426.00 299.00 1.364 15263.66 0.0292
236.17 0.076 518.00 448.67 69.33 0.093 1774.31 2.4612
2 75.50 0.238 535.00 460.33 74.67 0.292 5549.87 0.2709
50.23 0.358 535.00 457.67 77.33 0.439 8342.85 0.1242
229.49 0.078 513.33 463.33 50.00 0.096 1825.93 1.6759
3 82.62 0.218 553.67 434.00 119.67 0.267 5071.61 0.5199
47.59 0.378 620.67 353.00 267.67 0.463 8805.08 0.3858

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 Table 5: Values for log V and log H

Pipe Log V Log h

1 -0.60 2.04
-0.12 2.27
0.13 2.48
2 -1.03 1.84
-0.53 1.87
-0.36 1.89
3 -1.02 1.70
-0.57 2.08
-0.33 2.43

8.0 DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

This experiment was to be done in three different types of pipes with the same length which
are mentioned in Table 1 in order to find the relationship between the Reynolds number,
frictional factor and loses in pipes. The experiment was conducted by using three different
three flowrates which can be controlled by using the control valve.

Firstly, the manometer reading for H1 and H2 were measured and the head loss were
obtained by finding the difference between the water level in H1 and H2. The equation is shown
below:

, = 1 2 (5)

Consequently, the flowrate of water was calculated by recording the time taken to collect 5
Litre of water in the volumetric tank. The equation to find the flowrate of water is shown below:

(6)
=

9
 Where
= (5 )
=

And the velocity of water was calculated by using the formula: (7)

=
2 /4
Where

=
=

The Reynolds number were calculated by using equation 1 for each pipe and the results are
shown in Table 6. The flow regime for each data are shown in the table below:

Table 6: Flow regime

Pipe Reynolds number Flow regime

2810.56 Transitional flow
1 8532.22 Turbulent flow
15263.66 Turbulent flow
1774.31 Laminar flow
2 5549.87 Turbulent flow
8342.85 Turbulent flow
1825.93 Laminar flow
3 5071.61 Turbulent flow
8805.08 Turbulent flow

From Table 5, we can observe that as the flowrate increase, the flow regime for each pipe will
also increase from laminar or transitional flow to turbulent flow.

In order to calculate the pipe friction coefficient, the formula is derived from the Darcy-
Weisbach friction factor for head loss, hL and shown in equation 8 below:

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 2 (8)
=

Where

=
= ()
= ()
= ()
= (/)
= (/ 2 )

A graph of head loss versus flowrate was plotted for each pipe as shown in Figure 4:

HEAD LOSS VS FLOWRATE

350.00

300.00 R = 0.9972

250.00
HEAD LOSS (MM)

R = 0.9732
200.00

150.00

100.00 R = 0.9892

50.00

0.00
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45
FLOWRATE (M^3/H)

Pipe 1 (10mm smooth) Pipe 2 (17mm smooth)

Pipe 3 (17mm rough) Linear (Pipe 1 (10mm smooth))
Linear (Pipe 2 (17mm smooth)) Linear (Pipe 3 (17mm rough))

Figure 4: Graph of head loss versus flowrate

From Figure 4, the trend of graph for all pipes are linearly increasing. This means that
as the flowrate of water inside the pipe increase, the head loss will increase. By comparing pipe
1 and pipe 2, where both pipes are smooth but with different diameters, we can see that pipe 2
which has a larger diameter has a smaller head loss compared to pipe 1. When the flow rate

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increases, the velocity of the liquid increases at the same rate. The friction or resistance to flow
(due to viscosity) also increases. The head loss is related to the square of the velocity (which
can be seen from equation 2), so the increase in head loss is very quick. Also, as the diameter
of the pipe decrease, the shear force produced in the pipe is larger. More energy will be needed
to overcome the shear force that acting in the opposite direction of the fluid, thus it leads to
higher head loss.

In order to compare the head loss in pipes with different roughness, it can be observed
by comparing the data between pipe 2 with a smooth inner surface and pipe 3 which has a
rough inner surface. Both of the pipes have the same diameter. Based on the graph, roughened
pipe 3 has a larger gradient compared to the smooth pipe 2. As the roughness of the inside pipe
wall increases so does the thickness of the slow or non-moving boundary layer of liquid. The
resulting reduction in flow area increases the velocity of the liquid and increases the head loss
due to friction.

Next, a graph of log H versus log V is plotted by using the data from Table 6:

LOG H VS LOG V
2.60

y = 1.0398x + 2.7359
2.40
R = 0.9784
y = 0.5785x + 2.3757
2.20 R = 0.9818
LOG H

2.00

1.80
y = 0.0693x + 1.9119
R = 0.996
1.60

1.40
-1.20 -1.00 -0.80 -0.60 -0.40 -0.20 0.00 0.20
LOG V
Pipe 1 (10mm smooth) Pipe 2 (17mm smooth)
Pipe 3 (17mm rough) Linear (Pipe 1 (10mm smooth))
Linear (Pipe 2 (17mm smooth)) Linear (Pipe 3 (17mm rough))

Figure 5: Graph of Log H versus Log V

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 As illustrated in Figure 5, it shows that pattern of pipe 1, pipe 2 and pipe 3 are increasing
linearly. Therefore, we can say that as the velocity increase, the head loss will also increase.
This relationship between the velocity of water and the head loss is similar to what have been
stated in Figure 4. In comparison between pipes with different diameters (pipe 1 and pipe 2),
the velocity of water will be much higher in the pipe with a smaller diameter, thus more shear
force will be produced and more energy is needed to overcome the head loss. The friction
(resistance to flow) will also increase and this will lead to a higher head loss. In comparison
between pipes with different roughness (pipe 2 and pipe 3), the velocity of water will be much
faster in a smooth pipe since there is less friction occurs between the water and the wall of the
pipe. From the graph plotted, the equation for each line shown in the graph is obtained by using
the formula = + , where m is the gradient of the graph and c is the y-intercept. From
the R2 value shown in the figure for each line, pipe 3 has the highest gradient while pipe 2 has
the lowest gradient.

Some possible systematic errors and random errors might have occurred while
conducting the experiment. For example, there might be some parallax error when taking the
reading of the water level inside the tank. Bubbles also might have present inside the pipes
especially when the pipe is opaque. Besides that, the data of H1 and H2 taken might not be
accurate since the water level inside the manometer tube is not stable. It might have increased
or decrease after the data has been taken.

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9.0 CONCLUSION

Reynolds number, frictional factor and losses in pipe are very highly correlated to each
other. By knowing the Reynolds number of a certain fluid flowing inside a pipe, we can know
the flow profile of the fluid whether it is laminar, transitional or turbulent. The frictional factor
can be calculated by using the DarcyWeisbach equation, which relates the head loss,
or pressure loss, due to friction along a given length of pipe to the average velocity of the fluid
flow for an incompressible fluid. Therefore, from the overall result in Table 4 and the flow
regime in Table 6, we can conclude that when the Reynolds number is increasing, the losses in
pipes will also increase and the frictional factor is decreasing. The relationship between these
three variables can also be seen in the Moody-chart where the plot of relative roughness (/D)
of a pipe against the Reynold's number is used to find the frictional factor. Next, when the
velocity of water flow through bore pipes increased, there will be more head loss in the pipe
due to fluid friction. The head loss from friction is related to the velocity energy (V2/2g) of the
liquid squared. Therefore, the objectives of this experiment have been achieved.

Based on the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for head loss in equation 2, the parameters
that can be designed so that the head loss can be reduced is by decreasing the length of pipe
and decreasing the velocity of water flow since they are directly proportional to head loss. The
diameter of pipe should be increased since the diameter is inversely proportional to head loss.
Also, by decreasing the roughness of the pipe, the sheer force on the surface of pipe will also
decrease. Thus, less energy is needed to overcome the sheer force and therefore leads to a lower
head loss.

In order to have a more precise and accurate result for this experiment, make sure the
eyes are parallel to the meniscus of the water level to avoid parallax error. When changing the
tubings of manometer from one pipe to the other pipe, make sure that one of the valves is
opened so that there is always an alternate flow. It is recommended to start the experiment for
each pipe from the highest flowrate to the lowest because starting from the lowest flowrate
might trap air bubbles inside the pipes and manometers. Also, after calibrating the water inside
the manometer tubes, press the nozzle on top of the manometer to balance the air pressure
inside.

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10.0 REFERENCES

1. Cengel, Yunus A. & Cimbala, John M. (2014). FLUID MECHANICS:

Fundamentals and Applications Third Eddition in SI Units. Singapore: McGraw-
Hill Education.

2. Cheng. Li (8th October 2011). The Experiment for Pipe Friction. Retrieved from
http://wenku.baidu.com/view/b7e2ae09844769eae009ed32.html [Accessed on:
29th March 2017]

3. Linde, Sharon. Coefficient of Friction: Definition, Formula & Examples. Retrieved

from http://study.com/academy/lesson/coefficient-of-friction-definition-formula-
examples.html [Accessed on: 30th March 2014]

4. Head Loss in Piping Systems. Retrieved from

http://www.hydromatic.com/ResidentialPage_techinfopage_headloss.aspx
[Accessed on: 31st March 2017]

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