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FRICTION LOSS IN PIPE FLOW

INSTRUCTED BY:GROUP MEMBERS:

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Procedure
Small diameter pipe
sThe control valve was opened and a steady flow rate was obtained
First the flow rate was adjusted so that a maximum height difference could be obtained in the piezo
meter readings.
The piezometer readings corresponding to height h1 and h2 were measured.
The outflow volume of water for a certain time period was measured after that.
Three such readings were taken for this flow rate.
The flow rate was adjusted using the control valve and the previous steps were repeated to take other
readings.
The value for the length of the pipe and the diameter of the pipe was taken.
GI pipe and PVC pipe
Instead of a piezometer a manometer was used and the previous steps were repeated in the same
manner
The volume of a bucket was measured and the time taken to fill the bucket was taken as the reading.
Three such readings were taken for each flow rate.

DISCUSSION
1)
Frictional head loss is a major loss in hydraulic systems and it is very important to take it into
consideration when designing pipe systems. (eg: when selecting a pipe to supply water, the frictional
head loss should be accounted for). The frictional head loss will differ based on length, diameter and
roughness of pipes. If the frictional head loss can be minimized, a more economic pipe system with a
higher functionality can be developed.
2)
When Re>4000, we can categorize the flow of water as turbulent flow. This can be further divided
into different types of turbulent flows based on the Re and relative roughness.
Smooth turbulent flow: The fluid will be moving in layers creating a considerable orderly movement
of fluid particles. It will flow in a moderate velocity and there will be fewer mixing between adjacent
layers. The Re value will be relatively low and the friction factor can be expressed as a function of Re
only. Disturbances in the flow created by roughness will be low.
Transitional turbulent flow: The flow will be in a state between a rough turbulent flow and a smooth
turbulent flow. The velocity would be relatively high creating a high Re. The friction factor will be
affected by Re and relative roughness.
Rough turbulent flow: Fluid will not be moving in layers and there will be disorderly movement of
fluids particles. Because of the high velocity there will be mixing between adjacent layers. Flow will
be much disturbed by the roughness. The friction will mainly depend on the roughness only.

The thickness of the laminar sub layers compared which the physical roughness within a pipe
determines whether a pipe is categorized as hydraulically smooth or rough. The roughness of the pipe
wall can be measured as the average height of the projection (k).
Hydraulically smooth pipes: If the value of k is small compared with the thickness the of the laminar
sub-layer the protrusions will be submerged in the sub-layer and it will not influence the main flow.
Such a pipe is known as a smooth pipe where smooth turbulent flow occurs.
Hydraulically rough pipes : If the value of k is high, the protrusions will project into the main flow
and there will be a continuous generation and release of edges which can affect the whole flow. Such
a pip is known as a rough pipe.
.

Boundary layer:
The phenomenon that occurs when fluid passes over a solid boundary is explained by the boundary
layers concept. When a liquid passes over a solid surface an energy loss is created due to the friction
between the surface and the liquid. This retarding frictional force not only affects the thin film of
liquid in contact with the surface, but also some of the flow at some distance from it. The boundary
layer is this affected liquid layer.
Considering the boundary layer the behavior of the friction factor in the Moody diagram can be
explained as follows:
During laminar flow fluid flows in a regular layer and the resisting forces do not depend on the
surface roughness. So lambda depends only on the Re value.
Beyond a certain distance when the Re increases, the flow in the boundary layers becomes turbulent
and layers start to mix. Then the friction factor will only depend on the surface roughness.
When the Re value is within an intermediate region the friction factor will depend on both Re and Ks

3) Aging of pipes will affect the friction factor because the roughness of the pipe wall will change due
to it. During continuous flow of fluid for a longer time period some substances in the fluid can
precipitate on the wall as well as the wall surface can corrode. As a result for the same flow rate the
friction factor will be higher than before.
From the -Re graph , we have got effective roughness of 0.0017 for PVC. i.e absolute roughness
of
0.0272mm(0.0017*16). This is higher than the standard value of new PVC pipe(0.0015mm). The old
PVC pipe might have caused to such change. We couldnt plot the graph of GI pipe due to high
friction factors (all are approximately 0.2) for different Re. This suggest that rough turbulent flow
occurred and GI pipe has high effective roughness which is considerably higher than the PVC.
4) There are other types of head losses which are known as minor losses. When designing pipe
systems it is necessary to consider all such losses. Minor losses occur due to changes in flow area:
At sudden contraction a sudden contraction in pipe usually causes a marked drop in pressure in the
pipe because of both the increase in velocity and the loss of energy of turbulence.
At sudden expansion:
Pipe valves
Pipe bends

5) In this experiment a wide range of readings for the flow rate could not be taken as the flow rate is
limited and the range of the apparatus is also limited. If more readings were taken the turbulent flow
change from smooth to rough could have been observed
The minor losses that have occurred would reduce the head further, and this wasnt taken into
consideration.
It was difficult to obtain a steady flow rate as the flow rate varied when the pipe system was accessed
from other areas of the lab. As a result it was difficult to obtain a constant value for the manometer
and piezometer readings for a certain flow rate. So there can be errors when taking readings from the
apparatus as an average value was taken as the reading.
The error that could have occurred when measuring time was reduced by measuring the time for a
period greater than 10 seconds.
There can be errors in the apparatus also due problems such as leakages.
The practical was done in ambient temperature but the calculation was done and the graph was plotted
for 20C. This also can create a difference in values.
Reference:

Fluid Mechanics and machinery C.P.Kothandaraman ,R.Rudramoorthy

Theory and applications of Fluid Mechanics K.Subramanya Tata McGraw-Hall Publishing


Company Ltd, New Delhi.

Fluid Mechanics - John F. Douglas, Janusz M. Gasiorek, John A. Swaffield.

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