Subject Name: Fluid Mechanics

Subject Code: CE-3002

Semester: 3rd
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UNIT 3

LAMINAR FLOW

Laminar Flow and Turbulent Flow: Introduction to laminar & turbulent flow, Reynolds experiment &
Reynolds number. Velocity distribution, Laminar and turbulent boundary layers and laminar sub layer,
boundary layer concept, aging of pipes. Losses due to sudden expansion and contraction, losses in pipe
fittings and valves, concepts of equivalent length, hydraulic and energy gradient lines, siphon, pipes in
series, pipes in parallel, branching of pipes. Concept of Water Hammer transmission of power.

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LAMINAR FLOW

. Real fluids

The flow of real fluids exhibits viscous effect that is they tend to "stick" to solid surfaces and have
stresses within their body.

You ight e e e fo ea lie i the ou se Ne to ’s la of is osit :

This tells us that the shear stress, in a fluid is proportional to the velocity gradient - the rate of change of
velocity across the fluid path. For a "Newtonian" fluid we can write:

Where the constant of proportionality, is known as the coefficient of viscosity (or simply viscosity).
We saw that for some fluids - sometimes known as exotic fluids - the value of changes with stress or
velocity gradient. We shall only deal with Newtonian fluids.

In his lecture we shall look at how the forces due to momentum changes on the fluid and viscous forces
compare and what changes take place.

2. Laminar and turbulent flow

If we were to take a pipe of free flowing water and inject a dye into the middle of the stream, what
would we expect to happen?

This

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Actually both would happen - but for different flow rates. The top occurs when the fluid is flowing fast
and the lower when it is flowing slowly.

The top situation is known as turbulent flow and the lower as laminar flow.

In laminar flow the motion of the particles of fluid is very orderly with all particles moving in straight
lines parallel to the pipe walls.

But what is fast or slow? And at what speed does the flow pattern change? And why might we want to
know this?

The phenomenon was first investigated in the 1880s by Osbourne Reynolds in an experiment which has
become a classic in fluid mechanics.

Fig.: Reynolds Experiment

He used a tank arranged as above with a pipe taking water from the centre into which he injected a dye
through a needle. After many experiments he saw that this expression

Where = density, u = mean velocity, d = diameter and = viscosity

Would help predict the change in flow type. If the value is less than about 2000 then flow is laminar, if
greater than 4000 then turbulent and in between these then in the transition zone.

This value is known as the Reynolds number, Re:

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Laminar flow: Re < 2000

Transitional flow: 2000 < Re < 4000

Turbulent flow: Re > 4000

What are the units of this Reynolds number? We can fill in the equation with SI units:

I.e. it has no units. A quantity that has no units is known as a non-dimensional (or dimensionless)
quantity. Thus the Reynolds number, Re, is a non-dimensional number.

We can go through an example to discover at what velocity the flow in a pipe stops being laminar.

If the pipe and the fluid have the following properties:

Water density = 1000 kg/m3

Pipe diameter d = 0.5m

(Dynamic) viscosity, = 0.55x10-3 Ns/m2

We want to know the maximum velocity when the Re is 2000.

If this were a pipe in a house central heating system, where the pipe diameter is typically 0.015m, the
limiting velocity for laminar flow would be, 0.0733 m/s.

Both of these are very slow. In practice it very rarely occurs in a piped water system - the velocities of
flow are much greater. Laminar flow does occur in situations with fluids of greater viscosity - e.g. in
bearing with oil as the lubricant.

At small values of Re above 2000 the flow exhibits small instabilities. At values of about 4000 we can say
that the flow is truly turbulent. Over the past 100 years since this experiment, numerous more
experiments have shown this phenomenon of limits of Re for many different Newtonian fluids -
including gasses.

What does this abstract number mean?

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We can say that the number has a physical meaning, by doing so it helps to understand some of the
reasons for the changes from laminar to turbulent flow.

It can be interpreted that when the inertial forces dominate over the viscous forces (when the fluid is
flowing faster and Re is larger) then the flow is turbulent. When the viscous forces are dominant (slow
flow, low Re) they are sufficient enough to keep all the fluid particles in line, then the flow is laminar.

In summary:

Laminar flow

 Re < 2000
 'low' velocity
 Dye does not mix with water
 Fluid particles move in straight lines
 Simple mathematical analysis possible
 Rare in practice in water systems.

Transitional flow

 2000 > Re < 4000

 'medium' velocity
 Dye stream wavers in water - mixes slightly.

Turbulent flow

 Re > 4000
 'high' velocity
 Dye mixes rapidly and completely
 Particle paths completely irregular
 Average motion is in the direction of the flow
 Cannot be seen by the naked eye
 Changes/fluctuations are very difficult to detect. Must use laser.
 Mathematical analysis very difficult - so experimental measures are used
 Most common type of flow.

3. Pressure loss due to friction in a pipeline.

Up to this point on the course we have considered ideal fluids where there have been no losses due to
friction or any other factors. 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.

In a pipe with a real fluid flowing, at the wall there is a shearing stress retarding the flow, as shown
below.

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If a manometer is attached as the pressure (head) difference due to the energy lost by the fluid
overcoming the shear stress can be easily seen.

The pressure at 1 (upstream) is higher than the pressure at 2.

We can do some analysis to express this loss in pressure in terms of the forces acting on the fluid.

Consider a cylindrical element of incompressible fluid flowing in the pipe, as shown

Fig.: Share force

The pressure at the upstream end is p, and at the downstream end the pressure has fallen by p to (p-
p).

The driving force due to pressure (F = Pressure x Area) can then be written

Driving force = Pressure force at 1 - pressure force at 2

The retarding force is that due to the shear stress by the walls

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As the flow is in equilibrium,

Driving force = retarding force

Giving an expression for pressure loss in a pipe in terms of the pipe diameter and the shear stress at the
wall on the pipe.

Fig.: Velocity Distribution

The shear stress will vary with velocity of flow and hence with Re. Many experiments have been done
with various fluids measuring the pressure loss at various Reynolds numbers. These results plotted to
show a graph of the relationship between pressure loss and Re look similar to the figure below:

Fig.: Graph B/W Pressure And Re look

This graph shows that the relationship between pressure loss and Re can be expressed as

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As these are empirical relationships, they help in determining the pressure loss but not in finding the
magnitude of the shear stress at the wall w on a particular fluid. If we knew w we could then use it to
give a general equation to predict the pressure loss.

4. Pressure loss during laminar flow in a pipe

In general the shear stress. w. is almost impossible to measure. But for laminar flow it is possible to
calculate a theoretical value for a given velocity, fluid and pipe dimension.

In laminar flow the paths of individual particles of fluid do not cross, so the flow may be considered as a
series of concentric cylinders sliding over each other - rather like the cylinders of a collapsible pocket
telescope.

As before, consider a cylinder of fluid, length L, radius r, flowing steadily in the centre of a pipe.

We are in equilibrium, so the shearing forces on the cylinder equal the pressure forces.

B Ne to ’s la of is osit e ha e , where y is the distance from the wall. As we are

measuring from the pipe centre then we change the sign and replace y with r distance from the centre,
giving

Which can be combined with the equation above to give

In an integral form this gives an expression for velocity,

Integrating gives the value of velocity at a point distance r from the centre

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At r = 0, (the centre of the pipe), u = umax, at r = R (the pipe wall) u = 0, giving

So, an expression for velocity at a point r from the pipe centre when the flow is laminar is

Note how this is a parabolic profile (of the form y = ax2 + b) so the velocity profile in the pipe looks
similar to the figure below

What is the discharge in the pipe?

So the discharge can be written

This is the Hagen-Poiseuille equation for laminar flow in a pipe. It expresses the discharge Q in terms of

the pressure gradient ( ), diameter of the pipe and the viscosity of the fluid.

We are interested in the pressure loss (head loss) and want to relate this to the velocity of the flow.
Writing pressure loss in terms of head loss hf, i.e. p = ghf

This shows that pressure loss is directly proportional to the velocity when flow is laminar.

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It has been validated many time by experiment.

It justifies two assumptions:

1. fluid does not slip past a solid boundary

2. Ne to ’s h pothesis.

Pressure gradient and subsurface shear stress on the neuropathic forefoot.

Turbulent flow: Laminar and turbulent boundary layers and laminar sublayer, Hydro dynamically
smooth and rough boundaries, velocity distribution in turbulent flow, resistance of smooth and
artificially roughened pipes, commercial pipes, aging of pipes.
Pipe flow problems : Losses due to sudden expansion and contraction, losses in pipe fittings and valves,
concepts of equivalent length, hydraulic and energy gradient lines, siphon, pipes in series, pipes in
parallel, branching of pipes.
Pipe Network: *Water Hammer (only quick closure case).transmission of power. *Hardy Cross Method

Turbulent flow

Laminar Boundary

The laminar boundary is a very smooth flow, while the turbulent boundary layer contains swirls or
"eddies." The laminar flow creates less skin friction drag than the turbulent flow, but is less stable.
Boundary layer flow over a wing surface begins as a smooth laminar flow. As the flow continues back
from the leading edge, the laminar boundary layer increases in thickness.

Turbulent Boundary

At some distance back from the leading edge, the smooth laminar flow breaks down and transitions to
a turbulent flow. From a drag standpoint, it is advisable to have the transition from laminar to turbulent
flow as far aft on the wing as possible, or have a large amount of the wing surface within the laminar
portion of the boundary layer. The low energy laminar flow, however, tends to break down more
suddenly than the turbulent layer.

Laminar sublayer

The laminar sublayer, also called the viscous sublayer, is the region of a mainly-turbulent flow that is
near a no-slip boundary and in which the flow is laminar. As such, it is a type of boundary layer. The

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existence of the laminar sub layer can be understood in that the flow velocity decreases towards the
no-slip boundary. Because of this, the Reynolds number decreases until at some point the flow crosses
the threshold from turbulent to laminar.

Hydro dynamically smooth and Rough Boundaries

When the average depth k of the surface irregularities is less than laminar sub-la e of the su fa e δ
is called as hydrodynamic ally smooth boundary.

• The eddy which formed outside of the laminar sub-layer try to penetrate in the laminar sub-layer
boundary is called as smooth boundary as shown in

• When the average depth k of the surface irregularities is greater than laminar sub-la e of su fa e δ
is called as hydrodynamic ally rough boundary.

• The eddy which formed outside of the laminar sub layer penetrates into the laminar sub-layer.
Such boundary is called as rough boundary as shown in.

Velocity distribution in turbulent flow

The velocity g adie t at the all, a d he e also the all shea st ess, τ , is ot so la ge as i
the turbulent case of part (b) representing the (time) mean flow for fully developed turbulence. This
inner layer is termed as the viscous sublayer velocity varies linearly with distance from the wall.

Losses Due to Sudden Enlargement

If the cross-section of a pipe with fluid flowing through it, is abruptly enlarged (Fig. 14.2a) at certain
place, fluid emerging from the smaller pipe is unable to follow the abrupt deviation of the boundary.

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The streamline takes a typical diverging pattern (shown in Fig. 14.2a). This creates pockets of turbulent
eddies in the corners resulting in the dissipation of mechanical energy into intermolecular energy.

Basic mechanism of this type of loss

The fluid flows against an adverse pressure gradient. The upstream pressure p1 at section a-b is lower
than the downstream pressure p2 at section e-f since the upstream velocity V1 is higher than the
downstream velocity V2 as a consequence of continuity.

The fluid particles near the wall due to their low kinetic energy cannot overcome the adverse pressure
hill in the direction of flow and hence follow up the reverse path under the favorable pressure gradient
(from p2 to p1).

This creates a zone of recirculating flow with turbulent eddies near the wall of the larger tube at the
abrupt change of cross-section, as shown in Fig. 14.2a, resulting in a loss of total mechanical energy.

For high values of Reynolds number, usually found in practice, the velocity in the smaller pipe may be
assumed sensibly uniform over the cross-section. Due to the vigorous mixing caused by the turbulence,
the velocity becomes again uniform at a far downstream section e-f from the enlargement
(approximately 8 times the larger diameter).

Fig 14.2 (a) Flow through abrupt but finite enlargement

(b) Flow at Infinite enlargement (Exit Loss)

A control volume abcdefgh is considered (Fig. 14.2a) for which the momentum theorem can be written
as

(14.20)

Where A1, A2 are the cross-sectional areas of the smaller and larger parts of the pipe respectively, Q is
the olu et i flo ate a d p’ is the ea p essu e of the edd i g fluid o e the a ula fa e, gd. It is
k o f o e pe i e tal e ide e, the p’ = p1.

Hence the Eq. (14.20) becomes

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(14.21)

From the equation of continuity

(14.22)

With the help of Eq. (14.22), Eq. (14.21) becomes

(14.23)

Applying Bernoulli's equation between sections ab and ef in consideration of the flow to be

incompressible and the axis of the pipe to be horizontal, we can write

(14.24)

where hL is the loss of head. Substituting (p2 −p1) from Eq. (14.23) into Eq. (14.24), we obtain

(14.25)

In view of the assumptions made, Eq.(14.25) is subjected to some inaccuracies, but experiments show
that for coaxial pipes they are within only a few per cent of the actual values.

Back to original slide - "Losses due to geometric changes"

Exit Loss

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If, in Eq.(14.25), , then the head loss at an abrupt enlargement tends to . The physical
resemblance of this situation is the submerged outlet of a pipe discharging into a large reservoir as
shown in Fig.14.2b.

Since the fluid velocities are arrested in the large reservoir, the entire kinetic energy at the outlet of the
pipe is dissipated into intermolecular energy of the reservoir through the creation of turbulent eddies.

In such circumstances, the loss is usually termed as the exit loss for the pipe and equals to the velocity
head at the discharge end of the pipe.

Losses Due to Sudden Contraction

An abrupt contraction is geometrically the reverse of an abrupt enlargement (Fig. 14.3). Here also the
streamlines cannot follow the abrupt change of geometry and hence gradually converge from an
upstream section of the larger tube.

However, immediately downstream of the junction of area contraction, the cross-sectional area of the
stream tube becomes the minimum and less than that of the smaller pipe. This section of the stream
tube is known as vena contracta, after which the stream widens again to fill the pipe.

The velocity of flow in the converging part of the stream tube from Sec. 1-1 to Sec. c-c (vena contracta)
increases due to continuity and the pressure decreases in the direction of flow accordingly in compliance
with the Be oulli’s theo e .

In an accelerating flow,under a favourable pressure gradient, losses due to separation cannot take place.
But in the decelerating part of the flow from Sec. c-c to Sec. 2-2, where the stream tube expands to fill
the pipe, losses take place in the similar fashion as occur in case of a sudden geometrical enlargement.
Hence eddies are formed between the vena contracta c-c and the downstream Sec. 2-2.

The flow pattern after the vena contracta is similar to that after an abrupt enlargement, and the loss of
head is thus confined between Sec. c-c to Sec. 2-2. Therefore, we can say that the losses due to
contraction is not for the contraction itself, but due to the expansion followed by the contraction.

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Fig 14.3 Flow through a sudden contraction

Following Eq. (14.25), the loss of head in this case can be written as

(14.26)

where Ac represents the cross-sectional area of the vena contracta, and Cc is the coefficient
of contraction defined by

(14.27)

Equation (14.26) is usually expressed as

(14.28)

where,

(14.29)

Although the area A1 is not explicitly involved in the Eq. (14.26), the value of Cc depends on the ratio
A2/A1. For coaxial circular pipes and at fairly high Reynolds numbers. Table 14.1 gives representative
values of the coefficient K.

Table 14.1

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A2/A1 0 0.04 0.16 0.36 0.64 1.0

K 0.5 0.45 0.38 0.28 0.14 0

Back to original slide - "Losses due to geometric changes"

Entry Loss

As , the value of K in the Eq. (14.29) tends to 0.5 as shown in Table 14.1. This limiting

situation corresponds to the flow from a large reservoir into a sharp edged pipe, provided the
end of the pipe does not protrude into the reservoir (Fig. 14.4a).

The loss of head at the entrance to the pipe is therefore given by and is known as entry loss.

A protruding pipe (Fig. 14.4b) causes a greater loss of head, while on the other hand, if the
inlet of the pipe is well rounded (Fig. 14.4c), the fluid can follow the boundary without
separating from it, and the entry loss is much reduced and even may be zero depending upon
the rounded geometry of the pipe at its inlet.

Fig 14.4 Flow from a reservoir to a sharp edges pipe

Aging of pipes

The process of change in the properties of a material occurring over a period, either spontaneously or
through deliberate action

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Pipe flow problems

Losses in Pipe: - It is often necessary to determine the head loss, hL that occur in a pipe flow so that the
energy equation, can be used in the analysis of pipe flow problems. The overall head loss for the pipe
system consists of the head loss due to viscous effects in the straight pipes, termed the major loss and
denoted hL-major. The head loss in various pipe components, termed the minor loss and denoted hL-
minor.

That is; hL = hL-major + hL-minor

The head loss desig atio s of ajo a d i o do ot e essa il efle t the elati e i po ta e of
each type of loss. For a pipe system that contains many components and a relatively short length of
pipe, the minor loss may actually be larger than the major loss.

When a fluid is flowing through a pipe, the fluid experiences some resistance due to which some of the
energy of the fluid is lost. This loss of energy is classified as:

1) Major energy losses: The viscosity causes loss of energy in the flows, which is known as frictional
loss or major energy loss and it is calculated by the following formula;
(a)Darcy-weisbach formula

The loss of head can be measured by the following equations

hf =4f L V2 / (2gD)
Where hf = Loss of head due to friction
f = Co-efficient of friction which is a function of Reynolds number
f = 64/Re (for Re <2000) (laminar flow)
L = Length of pipe
V = mean velocity of flow
D = Diameter of pipe
2) Minor energy losses: The loss of energy due to change of velocity of the flowing fluid in magnitude
or direction is called minor loss of energy. The minor loss of energy includes the following cases

(a) Sudden expansion of pipe:

The head loss due to sudden expansion equation is

he = (V1 -V2)2 /2g

Where V1 is the velocity at section 1

V2 is the velocity at section 2

(b)Sudden contraction of pipe:

The head loss due to sudden contraction equation is

hc =k (V22 /2g)

Where k = ((1/Cc)-1)2
V2 is the velocity at section 2
(c) Bending in pipe:

The head loss due to bending equation is

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hb=k (V2 /2g)

Where V is the velocity of the flow.

k is the co-efficient of the bend ,which depends on the angle of the bend, radius of curvature of
bend and diameter of the pipe

Concepts of equivalent length

The resistance of a duct or pipe elbow, valve, damper, orifice, bend, fitting, or other obstruction to
flow, expressed in the number of feet of straight duct or pipe of the same diameter that would have the
same resistance.

Hydraulic and energy gradient lines

Just assume those lines are simple graphical representation of how the flow energy behaves along a
direction. The rough idea that lies behind flow energy is unless a flow is inviscid (zero viscosity), the
whole amount of available energy will decrease because of friction. Friction create head losses, thus
energy decrease.

For practical purposes, I will assume energy is expressed in terms of head, expressed in meters. The
total energy available in a flow, at a specific position, noted HH can be written as follows:

H=P/ρg + ) +V2 / 2g + H = P/ρg + V2 / 2g

As you can see, this total energy head is a sum of three energy heads:

 A pressure head, P/ρg

 A potential head, z
 A kinetic head, V2 / 2g

The Total Energy Line, also commonly referred as the Energy Grade Line (EGL) is a graphical
representation of the aforementioned total head H.

Now consider a flow standing still. Which is not moving at all. In that case, the kinetic head becomes
zero. The remaining head is somehow referred as "static head". It is just the total energy head minus
the velocity head.

Hstati =Pρg+z=H− V2 / g Hstati =Pρg+z=H− V2 / 2g

The Hydraulic Grade Line (HGL) is just a graphical representation of this static head. Therefore one can
make the following deductions:

 The Hydraulic Grade Line (HGL) lies one velocity head below the Energy Grade Line (EGL)
 In case the cross section is constant along the streamline and the flow steady, discharge remains
constant and also so does velocity. Therefore, velocity head remains the same aswell. In that case, HGL
will always remain parallel to EGL.

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Siphon

A tube used to convey liquid upwards from a reservoir and then down to a lower level of its own
accord. Once the liquid has been forced into the tube, typically by suction or immersion, flow continues
unaided.

Pipes in series

In addition to this, there could be cases where there is a resistance to the fluid flow due to a valve that
was partially closed or possibly build up on a pipe. Elbows and turns in a pipe can also cause a pressure
loss. All of these losses will sum up to a total loss for apipe that is in series.

Pipes in Parallel

Pipes that are in parallel will experience the same pressure loss across each pipe. ... Equation 1 is only
for a pipe system that is in parallel that has the same fluid flowing through each pipe. However, there
can be cases when the fluid flowing through each pipe is not the same.

Branching of pipes

It is common for a pipeline to be branched and for the system to be feeding more than one reservoir.

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Pipe Network

Water Hammer: - Water hammer is pressure surge or wave caused when a fluid in motion is forced to
stop or change direction suddenly (momentum change). A water hammer commonly occurs when a
valve closes suddenly at an end of a pipeline system, and a pressure wave propagates in the pipe. It is
also called hydraulic shock.
This pressure wave can cause major problems, from noise and vibration to pipe collapse. It is possible
to reduce the effects of the water hammer pulses with accumulators, expansion tanks, surge tanks, and
other features.

Hardy Cross method:-The Hardy Cross method is an iterative method for determining the flow in pipe
network systems where the inputs and outputs are known, but the flow inside the network is unknown.

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