I NDIAN I NSTITUTE OF T ECHNOLOGY M ADRAS

BT3011
CFA E XERCISE

Trajectory of a projectile fluid in

laminar flow

BY:
Vishnu Narayan (BE14B033)

4 November, 2016
Contents
1 Introduction 3

2 Background Knowledge 3
2.1 Engineering Bernoulli Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Projectile Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Reynold's Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.4 Frictional Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Calculation of Trajectory 5
3.1 Assumptions and Requisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.1 Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.2 Requisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2.1 Shooting pipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2.2 Projectile Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2.3 Limiting Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3 Upper Bounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.4 v max for different fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 Possible Venture 8

2
1 Introduction
Laminar flow occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption
between the layers. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral
mixing, and adjacent layers slide past one another. The motion of the parti-
cles of the fluid is very orderly with particles close to a solid surface moving in
straight lines parallel to the surface. Laminar flow occurs at lower velocities,
below a threshold after which it becomes turbulent. Because of all the smooth
characteristics of laminar flow, very interesting properties are observed.

The general populace is accustomed to seeing the turbulent flow of water and
as such is very intrigued by the smooth properties observed in laminar flow.
Some engineers have exploited this and used laminar flow to set up stunning
displays at hotspots like casinos and expensive hotels and such. One such ex-
ample is a fountain which shoots jets of liquid in laminar flow so that it's trajec-
tory can be predetermined to set up interesting displays. This article is going
to talk about how one would be able to model the same trajectory for different
fluids.

2 Background Knowledge
2.1 Engineering Bernoulli Equation
The Engineering Bernoulli equation can be considered to be a statement of the
conservation of energy principle. This equation allows us to relate the change
in external conditions between two points in a pipe flow[1].
Between two points in a pipe flow,
the Engineering Bernoulli equation becomes:

∆p ∆v 2
+ + g ∆x + FcL + W
cs = 0 (2.1)
ρ 2
where FcL stands for frictional loss and W
cs stands for work done.

2.2 Projectile Motion

A point projectile experiences forces due to gravity and air friction. Air friction
shall be ignored here to simplify calculations. When a projectile is shot from

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the ground at an elevation angle θ with an initial velocity u the time of flight is
found by :

−usi nθ = usi nθ − g t (2.2)

2usi nθ
t= (2.3)
g

So for 0 ≤ t ≤ 2usi nθ :

v y = usi nθ − g t (2.4)

v x = ucosθ (2.5)

The trajectory of the particle can be found out to be :

g t2
y = ut si nθ − (2.6)
2

x = ut cosθ (2.7)

2.3 Reynold's Number

Reynold's Number is a dimensionless quantity that is used to help predict simi-
lar flow patterns in different fluid flow situations. The Reynold's Number is de-
fined as the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces and consequently quantifies
the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow conditions.
Here, Reynold's Number is being used to predict and regulate flow pattern of
the fluid at any point and maintain it below the threshold to maintain laminar
flow. In the case of pipe flow that we are dealing with, laminar flow prevails for
Reynold's Number below 2100, while turbulent flow prevails for values above
4200. Mathematically, Reynold's Number for pipe flow becomes :

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 ρvD
NRe = (2.8)
µ

where ρ stands for density of fluid, v for velocity of fluid, d stands for diameter
of pipe and µ stands for viscosity of fluid.

2.4 Frictional Loss

The Engineering Bernoulli equation includes a term for frictional losses at the
pipe wall(skin friction) - FcL . In a pipe flow, it mathematically boils down to :

2
4 f L v av g
FL = (
c ) (2.9)
D 2

where f is the friction factor, L is length of the pipe, v av g is the average velocity
in the pipe and D is the diameter of the pipe.

3 Calculation of Trajectory
3.1 Assumptions and Requisites
3.1.1 Assumptions

• Air friction to the projectile motion is assumed to be negligible.

• Stream of water flowing out of pipe is considered to be made up on indi-

vidual droplets small enough to be considered as independent projectiles
with the same trajectory.

• Newtonian fluid with constant density and viscosity.

3.1.2 Requisites

• Pressure drop established at shooting site to counter effects of skin fric-

tion and gravity.

• Velocity of fluid at any point should be lower than the maximum velocity
permitted for laminar flow in the system.

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3.2 Formulation
The problem can be divided into three stages:

3.2.1 Shooting pipe

In the pipe which is at an inclination of θ to the ground, a pressure difference is

supplied such that the velocity of the fluid is maintained constant throughout
the pipe. Applying the Engineering Bernoulli equation to the above statement
gives :
∆p
+ g ∆z +b(F L) = 0
ρ

2
4 f L v av g
∆p = −ρ( + g Lsi nθ) (3.1)
D 2

where L is the length of the shooting pipe.

3.2.2 Projectile Motion

Once the liquid has been shot out of the pipe, it's assumed that the stream
of water behaves as a collection of individual point particles and that the air
friction is negligible. The trajectory equation is as given in Eq. 2.6 and Eq. 2.7
where u = v av g from Eq. 3.1.
g t2
y = ut si nθ −
2
x = ut cosθ

Other useful relations are:

Maximum height of projectile:

u 2 si n 2 θ
h= (3.2)
2g

Range of projectile:

2u 2 cosθsi nθ
S= (3.3)
g

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3.2.3 Limiting Factors

For our assumptions to be valid, the flow has to be laminar at all points. That
means that the Reynold's Number must be less than 2100 at every point. To
make calculations simpler, and to avoid turbulence at any cost, the limit on
NRe will be rounded to 2000.
ρvD
NRe = < 2000
µ

µ
vD < 2000 (3.4)
ρ

This becomes the limiting product of velocity of fluid and diameter of pipe in
terms of viscosity and density. Since viscosity and density both are constant for
a given Newtonian fluid, this product is characteristic for a liquid flowing in a
pipe.

3.3 Upper Bounds

As seen in Eq.3.4, for laminar flow:
µ
vD < 2000
ρ
If we were to keep the diameter of the pipe D constant, then we can calculate
the upper bounds for the velocity of the liquid for a given liquid.
µ
v max = 2000 (3.5)
ρD

From Eq.3.1,
2
4 f Lv max
∆p = −ρ( + g Lsi nθ)
2D
for a given L and where :
16 16
f = =
NRe 2000

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which becomes, pressure drop needed in case of maximum velocity :

µ2
∆p max = −ρ(64000 2 3 + g Lsi nθ) (3.6)
ρ D

π
For maximum range of projectile, θ = :
4
µ
S max = (2000)2 (3.7)
ρD g

3.4 v max for dierent uids

D is taken to be fixed at 5cm. Kinematic viscosity ν for some liquids were
obtained[2] and their respective v max were calculated.

Table 3.1: v max for different fluids

µ ν
Liquid ν= (in m 2 s −1 ) v max = 2000 (in ms −1 )
ρ D

Distilled Water(16◦ C) 1.0038x10−6 4x10−2

Sea Water 1.15x10−6 4.6x10−2
Glycerine 100%(20◦ C 648x10−6 25.92
Vinegar(15◦ C) 1.35x10−6 5.4x10−2
Corn Starch Solution(22 Baume 21◦ C) 32.1x10−6 1.284

4 Possible Venture
The model could be taken one step further by using the shooting pipe only to
focus the flow into a laminar one and by choosing initial velocity at the entry
of the pipe such that the loss in velocity till the exit of the pipe compensates
for the skin friction and gravity. Calculations in such cases tend to complicate
further as both Reynold's Number and skin friction loss are dependent on the
velocity at individual points. Due to the complexity of the resulting Engineer-
ing Bernoulli equation, it is not discussed here.

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Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Prof. G K Suraishkumar for giving me the opportunity to
perform this exercise as part of his Transport Phenomena in Biological Systems
course. I would also like to thank my classmates Debayan and Onkar for their
valuable suggestions.

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References
[1] Suraishkumar GK. 2014. Continuum Analysis of Biological Systems: Con-
served Quantities, Forces and Fluxes.

[2] http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/

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