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Pipe Flow Pre Lab

The Fluid Mechanics Pre-Lab Action Plan outlines an experiment to measure the relative roughness of pipes with diameters ranging from 4.5 to 17mm, addressing customer complaints about pressure drops. Key measurements include volumetric flow rate, temperature, and pressure drop, with calculations for flow velocity, Reynolds number, and Darcy-Weisbach friction factor. The goal is to ensure the pipes meet the manufacturing specification of roughness less than 0.1mm and to generate a report for the client.

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4 views3 pages

Pipe Flow Pre Lab

The Fluid Mechanics Pre-Lab Action Plan outlines an experiment to measure the relative roughness of pipes with diameters ranging from 4.5 to 17mm, addressing customer complaints about pressure drops. Key measurements include volumetric flow rate, temperature, and pressure drop, with calculations for flow velocity, Reynolds number, and Darcy-Weisbach friction factor. The goal is to ensure the pipes meet the manufacturing specification of roughness less than 0.1mm and to generate a report for the client.

Uploaded by

justincheng2014
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fluid Mechanics Pre-Lab Action Plan

Group 2d

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering


Imperial College London

Date: 9th January, 2025


Customers of a pipe manufacturer are complaining of significant pressure drop over lengths of the
manufacturer’s piping. This experiment aims to measure the relative roughness for supplied pipes of
varying diameters (4.5, 8, 11, 15, 17mm), and ensure that they meet the manufacturing specification
of < 0.1mm
Throughout the experiment, measurements are to be taken and recorded as described in the table
below:

Measurement Symbol Unit Apparatus


Volumetric Flow Rate Q m3 s−1 Volumetric Flask & Stopwatch
Temperature T K Digital Thermometer
Pressure Drop ∆P Pa Manometer, Digital Barometer

Flow rate is calculated by measuring the time (t) it takes to fill a container of known volume (V ).

V
Q= (1)
t

δQ δV δt
= +
Q V t

The average flow velocity (U ) is calculated from the flow rate.

4Q
U= (2)
πD2
The ID of the pipes is presumed to be within tolerance and therefore have insignificant uncertainty.

δU δQ
=
U Q

The viscosity (µ) and density (ρ) of the water at the measured temperature (T ) is interpolated from
the given tables1 .
The Reynolds Number (Re) is calculated.

ρDU
Re = (3)
µ
 
δRe δρ δQ δµ
= + +
Re ρ Q µ

1
Mordechai Sokolov Joseph Kestin and William A. Wakeham. ‘Viscosity of liquid water in the range 8 °C to 150
°C’. in: Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data (1978). doi: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.555581.
The Darcy-Weismann Friction Factor (f ) is calculated.2 .

2∆P D
f= (4)
ρU 2 L

δf δP δρ δU
= + +
f P ρ U

Finally, determining relative roughnesses (ϵ/D) using the Haaland Equation for Friction Factor.
 
1 ϵ 1.1 6.9
√ = −1.8 log10 + (5)
f 3.7D Re

Ideally, the roughness of the piping will be within specification, and a report detailing the methods
and analysis can be generated for the client.

2
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Moody_EN.svg

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