Corrected Proof

1 © IWA Publishing 2020 Water Supply | in press | 2020

Approximations of the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor

in a vertical pipe with full flow regime
Zhang Zeyu, Chai Junrui, Li Zhanbin, Xu Zengguang and Li Peng

ABSTRACT

The discharge in a full flow regime represents the discharge capacity of a vertical pipe, and the Zhang Zeyu
Chai Junrui (corresponding author)
Darcy–Weisbach friction factor (λ) is an important variable to calculate discharge. Since all existing Li Zhanbin
Xu Zengguang
equations for λ contain the Reynolds number (Re), it is problematic if the velocity is unknown. In this Li Peng
State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in
study, the performance of existing equations collected from studies on vertical pipes is assessed,
Northwest Arid Region of China,
and an approximation for the λ of vertical pipes in the full flow regime, without Re, is proposed. Xi’an University of Technology,
Xi’an 710048,
The performance of the Brkić and Praks equation is the best, with a maximum relative error (MRE) of People’s Republic of China
E-mail: jrchai@xaut.edu.cn
0.003% (extremely accurate). The MRE of the new approximation is 0.43%, and its assessment level is
Chai Junrui
very accurate. This work is expected to provide a reference for the design and investigation of the School of Civil Engineering,
drainage of vertical pipes. Xijing University,
Xi’an 710123,
Key words | Colebrook equation, friction factor, rough pipe, smooth pipe, vertical pipe People’s Republic of China

Li Zhanbin
State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dry-land
Farming on the Loess Plateau,
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese
Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water
Resources,
Yangling, Shaanxi 712100,
People’s Republic of China

NOTATION

The following symbols are used in this paper: λ Darcy–Weisbach friction factor (–);
C discharge coefficient (–); v mean velocity (m s
1).
d diameter of the vertical pipe (m);
db diameter of the barrel (m);
g gravitational acceleration (m s
2);
INTRODUCTION
h head above the crest of the vertical pipe (m);
l length of the vertical pipe (m);
A vertical pipe, which can be distinguished as a vertical
lb length of the barrel (m);
drain or an overflow pipe depending on whether the pipe
P projection length of the vertical pipe over the tank floor
extends above the tank floor (Kalinske ), is widely
(m);
used in different types of drainage systems, such as
Q discharge (m3 s
1);
roof rain leaders (Padulano & Del Giudice ), manholes
Re Reynolds number (–);
(Banisoltan et al. ) and tank drains. In addition, such
α angle between the horizontal plane and centerline of
pipes are used in spillways of dams after performing certain
the barrel ( );
geometric optimizations, such as in morning glory spillways
γ viscosity (m2 s
1);
(Leopardi ). In general, existing studies define three flow
ε=d relative roughness of pipe (–);
regimes of a vertical pipe, which can also be subdivided
ζe entrance loss coefficient (–);
further (Banisoltan et al. ; Padulano & Del Giudice
doi: 10.2166/ws.2020.048

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 Corrected Proof
2 Z. Zeyu et al. | Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes
). The three flow regimes, with the head varying from
low to high, are weir-like, transition and full flow regimes.
The discharge in a full flow regime corresponds to the con-
veying capacity of a vertical pipe, and it is an essential
parameter for a drainage device. In addition, the full flow
regime is the only regime in which the discharge coefficient
can be derived using the energy conservation equation.
A vertical pipe is considered to be fully filled, and the
swirl on the water surface is considered to be infinitesimal
or even nonexistent, in the full flow regime, as shown in
Figure 1. The discharge of full flow regimes can be defined
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
as Q ¼ Cπd2 =4 2g(h þ l); here, the discharge coefficient
C can be calculated as (1 þ λ l=d þ ζ e )
0:5 , where λ is the
Darcy–Weisbach friction factor and ζ e is the entrance loss
coefficient.
The Darcy–Weisbach friction factor (λ) has been investi-
gated in several studies, and is believed to be affected by the
material and size of pipe, and the velocity of the flow in the
pipe as well (Fanning ). During the development of
solving λ, the relative roughness (ε=d) and the Reynolds
number (Re) are introduced to describe the three character-
istics; and two important implicit equations, the Colebrook
equation (a function of ε=d and Re) and the Nikuradse–
Prandtl–von Karman (NPK) equation (a function of Re),
are proposed for solving λ of the rough pipes and smooth
pipes, respectively. Furthermore, explicit equations abound
that have been developed based on them. For example,
Samadianfard () proposed an explicit solution of λ
based on the Colebrook equation with gene expression
programming analysis; Brkić & Praks () derived an
accurate explicit approximation of the Colebrook equation
Figure 1 | Schematic of the full flow regime in (a) an overflow pipe, (b) a vertical drain.
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Water Supply | in press | 2020
with the Wright ω-Function (a shifted Lambert W-function);
Brkić (b) and Heydari et al. () took the complexity of
equations into consideration for the comparison of explicit
equations; analogously, Li et al. () compared the compu-
tation time of explicit solutions and proposed an explicit
determination of λ based on the NPK equation with a
ternary cubic polynomial of lnRe for the smooth pipe case.
The details of the explicit equations are collected and dis-
cussed in the third section of this paper. However, since
Re ¼ vd=γ, it is problematic if the flow velocity in the
vertical pipe (v) is unknown, such as in the design stage.
Alazba et al. (), in their study on the friction head-
loss of center-pivot irrigation machines, proposed a simple
equation for λ with a constant velocity value based on the
field data.
In this study, the accuracy of the existing equations for λ
in the case of the full flow regime in a vertical pipe is
assessed, and a new equation for λ that does not involve
the variable v is proposed based on the data from Anwar
(), Padulano et al. (), Padulano et al. () and Bani-
soltan et al. ().
STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW OF FULL FLOW IN A
VERTICAL PIPE
In this study, the literature pertaining to the flow in a vertical
pipe was investigated, and the details of the experiments per-
formed in these studies are listed in Table 1; the sketch of
the inflow condition is shown in Figure 2. Figure 3 shows
the discharge coefficient C as a function of the non-dimen-
sional water head h=d; the corresponding values of ε=d
and Re are shown in Figure 4. The value of Re recorded in
the literature is within the range of (1 × 105 , 6 × 105 ), and
that of ε=d is within (1 × 10
5 , 1:5 × 10
4 ).
SOLUTIONS FOR THE DARCY–WEISBACH FRICTION
FACTOR
Friction factor for turbulent flow in rough pipes
For turbulent flow in rough pipes, the Colebrook equation is
regarded as a transcendental expression of λ (Brkić b).
 Corrected Proof
3 Z. Zeyu et al. | Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes Water Supply | in press | 2020

Table 1 | Details of experiments reported in the literature

Vertical pipe Barrel

Projected
Source Inflow condition Diameter d (m) Length l (m) distance P (m) Angle α ( ) Diameter db (m) Length lb (m)

Anwar () radial 0.0663 0.609 0.15 –

0.1016
0.0384
Padulano et al. (); Padulano et al. () unilateral 0.07 1.5 0 –
0.1 1
Banisoltan et al. () radial 0.076 1.219 0 –
Humphreys et al. () unilateral 0.0758 1.78 0.105 0 0.053 2.79
0.1265 0.38 0.152 17.5 0.076 7.62
0
0.2015 0.61 0.379
Zhang () unilateral 0.1 0.96 0.19 0.573 0.080 7.40

Figure 2 | Sketch of inflow condition: (a) radial flow; (b) unilateral flow.

Figure 3 | Discharge coefficient C as a function of the non-dimensional water head h=d. Figure 4 | Ranges of the relative roughness and Reynolds number of the collected data.

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 Corrected Proof
4 Z. Zeyu et al. | Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes
Since the Colebrook equation is an implicit function, many
researchers have proposed explicit approximations to avoid
the iteration solution. Among these, the most popular
approximations were collected, as presented in Table 2.
The friction factor (λ) of turbulent flow in rough pipes is
believed to be affected by Re and ε=D. In general, the
relationship among these parameters can be classified into
the following three categories: logarithmic, power (No. 1,
No. 2, No. 4, No. 19 and No. 32 in Table 2) and the combi-
nation of the fronts (No. 8 in Table 2).
Friction factor for turbulent flow in smooth pipes
For a smooth pipe, the Nikuradse–Prandtl–von Karman
(NPK) equation is used to evaluate the accuracy of the
explicit approximate equations. The most popular approxi-
mations were collected, as presented in Table 3. Since the
NPK equation can be regarded as a particular case of
the Colebrook equation in which the roughness is comple-
tely absent, Brkić (a) believed that an approximation of
the NPK equation in a suitable form can be transformed
into an approximation of the Colebrook

2
i.e. λ ¼ (
2 log x) ! λ ¼ {
2 log [x þ ε=(3:71d)]} .
approximations with matching forms were thus transformed
and are presented in Table 3.
ANALYSIS AND RESULT
Assessment of accuracy of the existing approximations
The Darcy–Weisbach friction factor (λ) corresponding
to the data from Anwar (), Padulano et al. (),
Padulano et al. () and Banisoltan et al. () was
calculated using the Colebrook equation and the approxi-
mations mentioned previously, and the maximum relative
errors (MRE) of the approximations compared with the
Colebrook equation were determined, as shown in Figure 5.
Offor & Alabi () classified the accuracy of approxi-
mations considering the MRE, and the threshold value
was considered to be 5%. It is thus inadvisable to accept
an approximation that has an MRE greater than 5%, and
approximations with an MRE of up to 0.14% and 0.5%
are assessed as extremely accurate and very accurate,
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Water Supply | in press | 2020
respectively. Accordingly, 34 approximation equations
exist for rough pipes, which are acceptable among the 40
approximations mentioned (the MRE of the equation of
Rao and Kumar, listed as No. 23 in Table 2, is 26.88%,
and it is not shown in Figure 5 considering the scale of
the chart). Among these 34 equations, 24 approximations
were assessed as very accurate and three were assessed
as extremely accurate. The MREs of the extremely accurate
approximations were 0.003%, 0.010%, and 0.014% for the
Brkić and Praks (No. 39 in Table 2), Biberg (No. 37 in
Table 2) and Serghides I (No. 17 in Table 2) approxi-
mations, respectively.
For the equations transformed for rough pipes, the
MREs of all the approximations decrease after transform-
ation, as observed from Figure 5. The values of all MREs
are less than 5%, which indicates that these values are
acceptable. Among the considered approximations, four
can be judged as very accurate. Thus, the transformed
equations from the approximations for smooth pipe can be
suitably employed to calculate the λ value for a rough pipe.
equation, Proposed equation for the friction factor not

2
The including Re
To propose a new approximation for λ, the data from Anwar
(), Padulano et al. (), Padulano et al. () and
Banisoltan et al. () were employed. According to the
brief review of existing approximations for the λ of a pipe,
λ can be represented using logarithmic and power law
equations. Since a logarithmic equation can be approxi-
mated with a power law form and considering the
convenience of further analysis, the power law form was
selected for deriving the new approximation, i.e.,
y¼ axb1 þ cxd2 þ    þ m. The variables ε=d, Re, ε=d Re,
(ε=d)=Re and their logarithms were used in the approxi-
mations mentioned above. In the full flow regime of a
vertical pipe, the flow velocity is determined by h þ l (for
the overflow pipe, l should be replaced with P þ l); accord-
ingly, (h þ l)=d was used to replace Re in the new
approximation equation of λ. In particular, the variables
ε=d, (h þ l)=d, ε=d  (h þ l)=d, (ε=d)=[(h þ l)=d], ln(ε=D),
ln[(h þ l)=d], ln[ε=d  (h þ l)=d] and ln{(ε=d)=[(h þ l)=d]}
were used to establish the new equation. The resulting
expression can be defined as Equation (1); this
 Table 2 | Summary of the approximation equations for the friction factor of rough pipes

5
No. Author and source Year Equation for rough pipe

Z. Zeyu et al.
2 !1=3 3
ε 106
1 Moody 1947 λ ¼ 0:005541 þ 2 × 10 þ 4 5
d Re
(Brkić b)

|
 0:25

Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes

ε 68
2 Altshul 1952 λ ¼ 0:11 þ
d Re
(Olivares et al. )
1 Re
3 Altshul II 1952 pffiffiffi ¼ 1:8 log
λ 0:135Re ε=d þ 6:5
(Olivares et al. )
4 Wood 1966 λ ¼ 0:094(ε=d)0:225 þ 0:53ε=d þ 88(ε=d)0:44 R
V
e
(Brkić b)
where V ¼ 1:62(ε=d)0:134
 
1 ε 1:5
5 Eck 1973 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
λ 3:715d Re

Corrected Proof
(Brkić b) "   #
1 ε 6:943 0:9
6 Jain 1976 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
λ 3:715d Re
(Brkić b) !
1 ε 5:74
7 Swamee and Jain 1976 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
λ 3:7d R0:9
(Olivares et al. ) " 
e
#121
12
1 8 1
8 Churchill 1977 pffiffiffi ¼ 8 þ
λ Re " (C1 þ C2 )1:5 #16  
(Brkić b)
1 37,530 16
where C1 ¼ 2:457 ln C 2 ¼
(7=Re )0:9 þ 0:27ε=d Re
" !#
1 ε 5:0452 1  ε 1:1098 5:8506
9 Chen 1979 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log
log þ 0:8981
λ 3:7065d Re 2:8257 d Re
(Brkić b)
 
1 0:27ε 6:5
10 Round 1980 pffiffiffi ¼
1:8 log þ
λ d Re
(Olivares et al. )
  
1 ε 5:02 ε 14:5
11 Shacham 1980 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ log þ
λ 3:7d Re 3:7d Re
(Zigrang & Sylvester
) ε
1 X(1
lnX)

12 Shacham II 1980 pffiffiffi ¼ 3:7d
λ 1:15129X þ 2:51=Re
(Olivares et al. )
 

Water Supply
ε 5:02 ε 14:5
where X ¼
log þ
3:7d Re 3:7d Re
8 9
>
> >
>
>
> Re >
>
< 4:518 log =

|
1 ε 7

in press
13 Barr 1981 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ " #
λ >
> 3:7d R 0:52  
ε 0:7 >>
(Olivares et al. ) >
> Re 1 þ e >
>
: ;
29 d

|
2020
(continued)

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 Table 2 | continued

6
No. Author and source Year Equation for rough pipe

Z. Zeyu et al.
"   #
1 ε 6:81 0:9
14 Pavlov 1981 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
λ 3:7d Re

|
(Olivares et al. )

Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes

   
1 ε 5:02 ε 5:02 ε 13
15 Zigrang–Sylvester 1982 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log
log
log þ
λ 3:7d Re 3:7d Re 3:7d Re
(Zigrang & Sylvester
)  
1 ε 1:11 6:9
16 S. E. Haaland 1983 pffiffiffi ¼
1:8 log þ
λ 3:7d Re
(Haaland )
1 (S1
S2 )2
17 Serghides I 1984 pffiffiffi ¼ S1

λ S3
2S2 þ S1
(Brkić b)    
ε 12 ε 2:51S1
where S1 ¼
2 log þ S2 ¼
2 log þ

Corrected Proof
3:7d Re 3:7d Re
 
ε 2:51S2
S3 ¼
2 log þ
3:7d Re

1 (S1
4:781)2
18 Serghides II 1984 pffiffiffi ¼ 4:781

λ S2
2S1 þ 4:781
(Brkić b)    
ε 12 ε 2:51S1
where S1 ¼
2 log þ S2 ¼
2 log þ
3:7d Re 3:7d Re

C if C  0:018
19 Tsal 1989 λ¼
0:0028 þ 0:85C if C < 0:018
(Asker et al. )
where C ¼ 0:11(68=Re þ ε=d)0:25
!
1 ε 95 96:82
20 Manadilli 1997 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ 0:983

λ 3:7d Re Re
(Olivares et al. )

 0:9345 !!!
1 ε 5:0272 ε 4:567 ε 0:9924 5:3326
21 Romeo 2002 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log
log
log þ
λ 3:7065d Re 3:827d Re 7:7918d 208:815 þ Re
(Romeo et al. )

1 0:4587Re
22 Sonnad 2006 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:8686 ln G=(Gþ1)
λ G
(Olivares et al. )
where G ¼ 0:124Re ε=d þ ln(0:4587Re )

Water Supply
2  ε 
1 3
1 6 2 7
23 Rao and Kumar 2007 pffiffiffi ¼ 2 log6 d
40:444 þ 0:135Re
7
5
λ Φ(Re )
(Brkić b)

|
in press
Re

where Φ(Re ) ¼ 1
0:55e
0:33ðln6:5Þ

Re 2

|
2020
(continued)

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 Table 2 | continued

7
No. Author and source Year Equation for rough pipe

Z. Zeyu et al.
B2
B1 þ 2log
1 Re
24 Buzzelli 2008 pffiffiffi ¼
λ 2:18
(Olivares et al. ) 1þ

|
B2

Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes

0:774 lnRe
1:41 ε
where B1 ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi B2 ¼ Re þ 2:51B1
1 þ 1:32 ε=d 3:7d

1 0:4587Re
25 Vatankhah and 2008 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:8686 ln
λ (G
0:31)G=(Gþ0:9633)
Kouchakzadeh
(Brkić b) where G ¼ 0:124Re ε=D þ ln(0:4587Re )

6:4
26 Avci 2009 λ¼n h  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiio2:4
(Brkić b) lnRe
ln 1 þ 0:01Re ε=d 1 þ 10 ε=d

Corrected Proof
0:2479
0:0000947(7
log Re )4
27 Papaevangelo 2010 λ¼ " !#2
(Olivares et al. ) ε 7:366
log þ 0:9142
3:615d Re
1  ε 
28 Brkić 2011 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log 10
0:4343β þ
λ 3:7d
(Brkić b)
Re
where β ¼ ln
1:1Re
1:816 ln
  þ 1:1Re )
ln (1
1 2:18β ε
29 Brkić II 2011 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
λ Re 3:7d
(Brkić b)
Re
where β ¼ ln
1:1Re
1:816 ln
ln (1 þ 1:1Re )
" !#
 ε 1:1007 60:525 56:291
2
30 Fang et al. 2011 λ ¼ 1:613 ln 0:234
1:1105 þ 1:0712
d Re Re
(Fang et al. )
( "  #)
2:169
2:731 0:9152  ε 1:042
31 Ghanbari 2011 λ¼
1:52 log þ
Re 7:21d
(Asker et al. )

  rffiffiffi 
Rε=D
0:6315093 6:929841 ε 1=9 10ε=D ε 9:99701

Water Supply
32 Samadianfard 2012 λ¼ e
þ 0:0275308 þ þ þ
R1=3 þ Re ε=d Re d ε=d þ 4:781616 d Re
(Samadianfard ) e

  ε 1:109 
1 a1
pffiffiffi ¼ 1:8 log þ

|
33 Winning and Coole 2014

in press
λ a2 þ Re 3:73d
(Winning & Coole )

(continued)

|
2020
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 Table 2 | continued

8
No. Author and source Year Equation for rough pipe

Z. Zeyu et al.
8 ! !!2 !
>
> ε ε ε
>
> 6 2 6 6
>
> 0:74
0:44 log R e
2:25 log þ þ 0:053(log R e ) þ 0:0057 log þ þ 0:046 log þ log Re
>
> 4d R0:9 4d Re0:9 4d R0:9
>
> e e
<
1 (Re < ReBL )

|
34 Heydari et al. 2015 pffiffiffi ¼ ! !!2 !

Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes

λ > >
> ε ε  ε 2 ε ε ε
(Heydari et al. ) > 0:7503
1:59 log
0:306 log
>
6 6 6
> þ 0:9 þ 0:41 log þ 0:57 log þ 0:9
0:98 log þ 0:9 log
>
> d 4d R d 4d R 4d R d
>
> e e e
:
(Re > ReBL )

where log ReBL ¼ 2:61
1:13 log (ε=d)
0:0384[log (ε=d)]2

1 0:4587Re
35 Mikata and Walczak 2015 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:8686 ln
λ G
ln (G
ln (G))
(Vatankhah )
where G ¼ 0:124Re ε=d þ ln(0:4587Re )

Corrected Proof
2  3
ε α
2:51 1:14
2 log ε
1 6 d þ 7
36 Shaikh 2015 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log4 5
λ Re 3:71d
(Shaikh et al. ;
Brkić )
   

1 Re 1 1 1 1 2 9
37 Biberg 2016 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:8686 ln þ 3
2 þ
1 þ 2 3 þ ln x
ln x ln x
λ 2:18 x x x 6x x x
(Biberg )
Re Re ε
where x ¼ ln þ
2:18 8:0666 d
 

1 ε 1:975 ε 1:092 7:627

38 Offor and Alabi 2016 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log
ln þ
λ 3:71d Re 3:93d Re þ 395:9
(Offor & Alabi )
" #
1 1:0119C C
2:3849
39 Brkić and Praks 2018 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:8686 B
C þ þ
λ BþA (B þ A)2
(Brkić & Praks )
Re ε Re
where A ¼ B ¼ ln C ¼ ln (B þ A)
8:0878 d 2:18
2 3
1 6 0:3984Re 7
40 Vatankhah 2018 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:8686 ln6
4 s1 5
7
λ
(Vatankhah )
(0:8686s1 )s1 þ s2
 

Water Supply
ε 1 þ s1 1 þ 4s1
1
where s1 ¼ 0:12363Re þ ln (0:3984Re ) s2 ¼ 1 þ

d 0:5 ln (0:8686s1 ) 3(1 þ s1 )

*No. 33 a1 and a2 are constants, and their values are determined using Re; these values can be found in a determination table proposed by Winning & Coole (2015).

|
in press
No. 36 The recommended value of α is related to Re and ε=d, and the details can be found in Brkić (2016). In the calculation performed in the present study, α is regarded as
0.75, for which the applicable range is 104  Re  108
and 10
6  ε=D  0:05.

|
2020
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 9
Z. Zeyu et al.
Table 3 | Summary of approximation equations for the friction factor for smooth pipes and transformed equations for rough pipes

Author and
No. source Year Equation for smooth pipe Equation transformed for rough pipe

|
Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes
( )
0:316=R0:25 for Re < 2e4
1 Blasius 1913 λ¼ e

(Brkić 0:184=Re0:2 for 2e4  Re  2e6

)
!
1 1 5:6234 ε
2 Konakov 1950 pffiffiffi ¼ 1:8 log Re
1:5 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
(Olivares
λ λ R0:9
e
3:71d
et al.
)
!

Corrected Proof
1 1 6:6069 ε
3 Filonenko 1954 pffiffiffi ¼ 1:82 log Re
1:64 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
(Olivares
λ λ R0:91
e
3:71d
et al.
)
 
1 Re 1 1:964 ln Re
3:8215 ε
4 Techo et al. 1965 pffiffiffi ¼ 0:86859 ln pffiffiffi ¼
2 log þ
λ 1:964 ln Re
3:8215 λ Re 3:71d
(Techo
et al.
)
! !
1 1 1:73718Co lnCo 2:62122Co (lnCo )2 3:03568Co (lnCo )3 1 1 ε
5 Danish 2011 pffiffiffi ¼ Co
þ þ pffiffiffi ¼
2 log A þ
0:2A
λ 2 1:73718 þ Co (1:73718 þ Co )3 (1:73718 þ Co )4 λ Re 3:71D
et al.
(Brkić where Co ¼ 4 log Re
0:4
1:73718lnCo 2:62122(lnCo )2 3:03568(lnCo )3
) where A ¼ 1
þ þ
1:73718 þ Co (1:73718 þ Co )3
(1:73718 þ Co )4
Co ¼ 4 log Re
0:4
!
1 150:39 152:66 !
6 Fang et al. 2011 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log 0:98865
1 150:39 152:66 ε
λ Re Re pffiffiffi ¼
2 log 0:98865
þ
(Fang λ Re Re 3:71d
et al.
) 2 3
" sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi#

Water Supply
7 Li et al. 2011 1
0:0015702 0:3942031 2:5341533 6 7
pffiffiffi ¼ 2 log Re þ þ
0:198 1 6 1:25603 ε 7
(Li et al. λ ln Re (ln Re )2 (ln Re )3 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log6
6 sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ 7
7
) λ 4
0:0015702 0:3942031 2:5341533 3:71d5
Re þ 2
þ 3
ln Re (ln Re ) (ln Re )

|
in press
!
1 1 ε
8 Taler 2016 λ ¼ (1:2776 log Re
0:406)
2:246 pffiffiffi ¼
2 log 0:6388B þ
0:406B
λ Re 3:71d

|
(Taler

2020
) where B ¼ (1:2776 log Re
0:406)0:123

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 Corrected Proof
10 Z. Zeyu et al. | Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes Water Supply | in press | 2020

Figure 5 | Maximum relative errors of the approximations. Note: The approximation of Rao and Kumar (No. 23 in Table 2) is not shown in Figure 5; and the approximation of Blasius does
not have a corresponding transformed equation.

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by guest
 Corrected Proof
11 Z. Zeyu et al. | Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes Water Supply | in press | 2020

approximation had an MRE of 0.43%, which corresponds to dλ=dRe ranges from
1.76E
8 to
3.57E
9, and
an assessment level of very accurate. The comparison of the dλ=d(ε=d) ranges from 6.27 to 1.31E þ 1; i.e., λ increases
λ values calculated using the Colebrook equation and with a decrease in Re or an increase in ε=d. For Equation
Equation (1) is shown in Figure 6. Although the accuracy (1), d(1=√λ)=d[(h þ l)=d] ranges from 6.79E
2 to 2.49E
1,
of Equation (1) is lower than that of certain existing approxi- and d(1=√λ)=d(ε=d) ranges from
2.16E þ 4 to
9.42E þ 3;
mations, the error is acceptable. i.e., λ increases with a decrease in (h þ l)=d or an increase in
ε=d. This trend is similar to that of the existing
  approximations.
1  ε 0:34 h þ l
0:34
pffiffiffi ¼ 0:608 þ 6:76
λ d d
 
3  
0:0409
ε hþl ε d
þ  þ18:35  DISCUSSION
4:03E
4  d d d hþl
 
h þ l
4:568
þ 30:556 ln
25:192 (1) For the data from Humphreys et al. () and Zhang
d
(), which corresponds to the full flow regime in a verti-
cal pipe with a joint barrel, the feasibility of calculating λ of
The partial derivative sensitivity analysis (PDSA), in
the vertical pipe with Equation (1) was verified, and the
which a formula is differentiated by input variables, is
result is shown in Figure 7. Owing to the existence of the
believed to be capable of assessing the effect of input vari-
head loss in the joint section (transition loss coefficient)
ables on an equation. According to the approximations for
and friction loss in the barrel, the velocity in this case is
λ of smooth pipes (Table 3), it is clear that λ decreases
less than that in a vertical pipe without a joint barrel;
with an increase in Re, and according to the transformations
thus, the λ calculated using Equation (1) is less than that
for λ of rough pipes (Table 3), λ increases with an increase in
calculated using the Colebrook equation, as shown in
ε=d. The form of approximations for λ of rough pipes is more
Figure 7. The value calculated using Equation (1) is
complicated, and thus, a partial derivative analysis must be
within the range of ±20% of the value calculated using
performed to assess the sensitivity of variables. The partial
the Colebrook equation; therefore, it is acceptable to
derivatives of the Brkić and Praks equation (No. 39 in
approximate λ using Equation (1) in the full flow regime
Table 2) were calculated as an example. It was noted that
of the vertical pipe with a joint barrel, when the discharge
is unknown and the length of the barrel is not excessively
large.

CONCLUSION

We investigated the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor of a full

flow regime in vertical pipes based on data from the litera-
ture. The existing approximations of λ for a rough pipe
were reviewed, and their performance considering the
collected data was assessed and classified. The existing
approximate equations of λ for a smooth pipe were reviewed
and transformed to approximations for a rough pipe; the
transformed approximations were assessed, and the results
were found to be satisfactory. Furthermore, a new approxi-

Figure 6 | Comparison between the value of the friction factor calculated using the
mation not including the variable Re was proposed and
Colebrook equation and that obtained using Equation (1). shown to be very accurate.

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by guest
 Corrected Proof
12 Z. Zeyu et al. | Approximations of friction factor in full flow vertical pipes
Figure 7 | Comparison between the value of the friction factor calculated using the Colebrook equation and that obtained using Equation (1).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of
Shaanxi Province (2017JZ013); the Leadership Talent Project
of Shaanxi Province High-Level Talents Special Support
Program in Science and Technology Innovation (2017);
the National Key Research and Development Program of
China (2016YFC0402404); the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (51679197, 41330858 and 51679193).
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