MNE3122 (2020B – Topic 7)

MNE 3122
Fluid Mechanics

Lecture Notes

Topic 7
Internal Flow

By
Patrick Wong
27th February 2021

#
Materials in this lecture notes are partly extracted from Chapter 8 of Cengel
and Cimbala.

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Topic 7 Internal Flow

1. Flow Development in Pipe

Fig. 1 Development of the internal flow field in a pipe.

- Flow enters with uniform velocity across the cross-sectional area of the pipe.
- Once in contact with the stationary wall of the pipe, fluid decelerates to zero velocity
and a layer of slow-moving fluid called boundary layer forms near the wall of the pipe.
- Due to conservation of mass, the fluid near the centre must accelerates since flow in the
boundary layer moves slower.
- At the entrance, thickness of the boundary layer increases due to some fluid molecules
move towards centre.
- The velocity profile changes at different distances at entrance and at a point further
downstream, it stops changing where there is no more radial movement of fluid.
- In the fully developed region, all flow is in the axial direction and the velocity profile is
independent of the distance from the pipe entrance.

2. Fully Developed Laminar Flow in Pipe

2.1 Velocity profile
Pipe: long, uniform, straight, full of fluid, mean diameter D, rough on the inside (no
boundary slip).
Fluid flow: fully developed (established) i.e. no radial flow exists, steady, uniform,
incompressible, flow due to pressure.

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Fig. 2 Flow in an inclined pipe.

Consider a cylindrical control volume inside a pipe as shown in Fig. 2, where L: length of
the control volume; r: radius; Ae: cross-sectional area; As: circumferential area.
For steady flow and from conservation of mass,
Mass flow rate at the entrance = Mass flow rate at the exit

𝑚 𝑚

and

𝑉 𝑉

Momentum equation,

𝐹 𝑚 𝑉 𝑉 0

𝑃𝐴 𝑃𝐴 𝜏𝐴 𝑚𝑔 sin 𝜃 0 ……(1)

Shear stress,

𝑑𝑉
𝜏 𝜇 ……(2)
𝑑𝑦

and

𝑦 𝑅 𝑟
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑟

Eqn. (2) becomes,

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𝑑𝑉
𝜏 𝜇 ……(3)
𝑑𝑟

Substituting into Eqn. (1) gives,

𝑑𝑉
𝑃𝐴 𝑃𝐴 𝜇 𝐴 𝑚𝑔 sin 𝜃 0
𝑑𝑟
𝑑𝑉
𝑃 𝑃 𝜋𝑟 𝜇 2𝜋𝑟𝐿 𝜌𝜋𝑟 𝐿 𝑔 sin 𝜃 0
𝑑𝑟
Taking 𝜋𝑟 away from each term yields,
2𝜇𝐿 𝑑𝑉
𝑃 𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃
𝑟 𝑑𝑟

1
𝑑𝑉 𝑃 𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑟𝑑𝑟 ……(4)
2𝜇𝐿

Integrating Eqn. (4) gives,

1 𝑟
𝑉 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑃 𝑃 𝐶
2𝜇𝐿 2

Considering the boundary condition: at 𝑟 𝑅, 𝑉 0,

1 𝑅
𝐶 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑃 𝑃
2𝜇𝐿 2

Thus,

1
𝑉 𝑟 𝑃 𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑅 𝑟
4𝜇𝐿

Note that 𝑉 𝑟 𝑉. 𝑟 means that 𝑉 is a function of 𝑟.

Put the pressure drop as ∆𝑃 𝑃 𝑃 in the equation.

𝑅 𝑟 ……(5)
𝑉 𝑟 ∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 1
4𝜇𝐿 𝑅

Eqn. (5) shows that in the fully developed flow region, the velocity profile is with a parabolic
shape (as a quadratic function of r) as shown in Fig. 2.
The maximum velocity occurs at the centerline, where r = 0. Putting it in Eqn. (5) gives,

∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑅 ……(6)

𝑉
4𝜇𝐿

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2.2 Average velocity and pressure drop

To find the average velocity, one just needs to do a simple

integration,

𝑉 𝑟 𝑑𝐴
𝑉
𝐴

𝑅 𝑟 Fig. 3 Pipe cross-

∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 1 2𝜋𝑟 𝑑𝑟
4𝜇𝐿 𝑅 section
𝑉
𝜋𝑅

2𝑅 ∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑟
𝑉 𝑟 𝑑𝑟
4𝜇𝐿𝑅 𝑅

∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑅 𝑅
𝑉
2𝜇𝐿 2 4𝑅

∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑅 ……(7)

𝑉
8𝜇𝐿

Comparing Eqn. (6) and (7) gives,

𝑉
𝑉 ……(8)
2
as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 𝑉 is half of the max.

velocity
Comparing Eqn. (5) and (7) gives.

𝑟 𝑟
𝑉 𝑟 2𝑉 1 𝑉 1 ……(9)
𝑅 𝑅

Solving for pressure drop (from Eqn. (7)) gives,

8𝜇𝐿𝑉
∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 ……(10)
𝑅

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2.3 For horizontal pipe

In general, tilted pipe, 𝜽. Horizontal pipe, 𝜽 𝟎

a) Pressure drop

8𝜇𝐿𝑉 8𝜇𝐿𝑉
∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 ∆𝑃 ……(11)
𝑅 𝑅
(This ∆𝑃 is merely due to friction loss
in the pipe.)

b) Average velocity

𝑅 ∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑅 ∆𝑃
𝑉 𝑉 ……(12)
8𝜇𝐿 8𝜇𝐿

c) Maximum velocity

𝑅 ∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑅 ∆𝑃
𝑉 2𝑉 𝑉 ……(13)
4𝜇𝐿 4𝜇𝐿

d) Volume flow rate

𝜋 ∆𝑃 𝜌𝑔𝐿 sin 𝜃 𝑅 𝜋𝑅 ∆𝑃
𝑄 𝐴𝑉 𝜋𝑅 𝑉 𝑄 ……(14)
8𝜇𝐿 8𝜇𝐿

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Worked Example (1):

Water flows at an average velocity of 0.091 m/s in a horizontal pipe of diameter 12.7
mm and length 1.83 m.
Assuming a fully developed flow, calculate the pressure drop from inlet to outlet and
the shear stress at the wall.
Given: The viscosity of water is 9.85 10 Pa ∙ s.

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Worked Example (2):

A vertical pipe of diameter 4.74 mm and length 2 m carries liquid ethylene glycol at
0℃. The fluid flows at an average velocity of 0.7 m/s. Assuming a fully developed flow,
find the pressure change between the inlet and the outlet.
The density and the viscosity of ethylene glycol at 0℃ are, respectively, 1131 kg/m3
and 65.1 10 Pa s.

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3. Laminar and Turbulent Flows

- Laminar: Smooth streamlines and highly ordered motion.
- Turbulent: Velocity fluctuations and highly disordered motion.
- Most flows encountered in practice are turbulent.
- Laminar flow is encountered when highly viscous fluids such as oil flow in small pipes
or narrow passages.

Fig. 5 Laminar and turbulent flow of Fig. 6 The behaviour of coloured fluid
a candle smoke. injected into the flow in (a) laminar and (b)
turbulent flow in a pipe.

4. Reynolds Number
The type of flow (laminar or turbulent) can be determined by a non-dimensional number,
Reynolds number as,

Inertial forces
𝐑𝐞
Viscous forces

For flow in a circular pipe:

Inertial force: 𝑚𝑣 𝜌𝐴𝑉 ∝ 𝜌𝑉 𝐷
Viscous force 𝜇 𝑑𝑉⁄𝑑𝑟 ∙ 𝐴 ∝ 𝜇𝑉𝐷
Hence,

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𝜌𝑉 𝐷
𝐑𝐞 ……(15)
𝜇

Non-dimensional numbers are commonly used in fluid mechanics, particularly in the

experimental studies. They can be used to express the general relations (or characteristic
curves) of different parameters, without considering the dimension (or size) effects. Thus,
practice fluid mechanics systems (or machineries) of considerable sizes can be
experimentally evaluated using equivalent models or prototypes of much smaller sizes.
Eqn. (15) illustrates that at large Reynolds numbers, the inertial forces (numerator) are large
relative to the viscous forces, and thus the viscous forces (denominator) cannot prevent the
random and rapid fluctuations of the fluid (turbulent). At small or moderate Reynolds
numbers, the viscous forces are large enough to suppress these fluctuations and to keep the
fluid “in line” (laminar).
For circular pipe flow,
Re 2,300 → Laminar flow.
2300 Re 4,000 → Transitional flow.
Re 4,000 → Turbulent flow.

Fig. 7 In the transitional flow region of

2300 Re 4000, the flow switches
between laminar and turbulent
seemingly randomly.

The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the geometry, surface roughness,
flow velocity, surface temperature, and type of fluid.
For flow through non-circular pipes, the Reynolds number is,

𝜌𝑉 𝐷
𝐑𝐞 ……(16)
𝜇

where 𝐷 : hydraulic diameter is defined as,

4 cross sectional area

𝐷 ……(17)
wetted perimeter

Wetted perimeter is any portion of the pipe or conduit perimeter touched by the fluid.
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Circular tube: 4 𝜋𝐷 /4
𝐷 𝐷
𝜋𝐷

Square duct: 4𝑎
𝐷 𝑎
4𝑎

Rectangular duct: 4𝑎𝑏 2𝑎𝑏

𝐷
2 𝑎 𝑏 𝑎 𝑏

Channel: 4𝑎𝑏
𝐷
2𝑎 𝑏

5. Entrance Region

Fig. 8 Development of the velocity boundary layer in a pipe.

Core flow region: The frictional effects are negligible and the velocity remains essentially
constant in the radial direction.
Velocity boundary layer: The region of flow in which the effects of the viscous shearing forces
caused by fluid viscosity are considerable.
Entrance region: The region from the pipe inlet to the point at which the boundary layer merges
at the centerline, and its length is termed as hydrodynamic entry length 𝑳𝒉 .
Hydrodynamic developing flow: Flow in the entrance region, where the velocity profile develops.

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Fully developed region: The region beyond the entrance region in which the velocity profile is
fully developed and remains unchanged.

Fig. 9 Velocity profile in fully developed region and shear stress at pipe wall.

In the fully developed region,

𝑑𝑉
𝜏 𝜇 constant ……(18)
𝑑𝑟

Thus, the wall shear stress remains constant (“-ve” sign because the velocity gradient 𝑑𝑉⁄𝑑𝑟 is
always has an opposite sign of 𝜏 ).
𝑑𝑉⁄𝑑𝑟 can be obtained from Eqn. (9). The shear stress at pipe wall is written as,

4𝜇𝑉 2𝜇𝑉
𝜏 ……(19)
𝑅 𝑅

In the entrance region,

Fig. 10 Variation of wall shear stress in the flow direction for flow in a pipe from the entrance
region into the fully developed region (Magnitude of 𝜏 corresponds to the velocity gradient at
the wall surface, referring to Fig. 8).

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6. Entry Lengths
The hydrodynamic entry length 𝐿 is a function of Reynolds number of the flow. In case of
laminar flow, this length is given by:
𝐿 ,
≅ 0.05𝑅
𝐷
But in the case of turbulent flow,
𝐿 , /
1.359𝑅
𝐷
Thus, the entry length in turbulent flow is much shorter as compared to laminar one. In most
practical engineering applications, this entrance effect becomes insignificant beyond a pipe
length of 10 times the diameter and hence it is approximated to be:
𝐿 ,
10
𝐷
This simplistic approach gives reasonable results for long pipes but sometimes poor results
for short ones since it underpredicts the wall shear stress.

7. Head Loss in Pipe Flow

One of the forms of the steady flow energy equation expressed in terms of head (m),
𝑃 𝑃 𝑉 𝑉
𝑧 𝑧 𝑤 ℎ 0
𝜌𝑔 2𝑔
where hL is the total head loss between stations 1 and 2, and

Pump power 𝑊
𝑤 Unit: m
specific weight flow rate 𝜌𝑔𝑄

In fact,
Total head loss in pipe flow ℎ Pipeline loss ℎ , + Minor loss ℎ ,

ℎ ℎ , ℎ ,

The head loss, ℎ , represents the additional height that the fluid needs to be raised by a
pump in order to overcome the losses in the pipe.

7.1 Pipeline loss, 𝒉𝑳,𝑷

Pipeline loss is due to viscous shear effects between fluid and the pipe wall. The pressure
drop ∆𝑃 in a laminar pipe flow is given in Eqn. (11) as,

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8𝜇𝐿𝑉 32𝜇𝐿𝑉
∆𝑃 ……(20)
𝑅 𝐷
A pressure drop due to viscous effects represents an irreversible pressure loss, and it is
called pressure loss ∆𝑃 . This loss is merely due to viscous friction. A non-dimensional
parameter, Darcy friction factor, is introduced.
Darcy friction factor for laminar flow,

64𝜇 64
𝑓 for circular pipe ……(21)
𝜌𝑉 𝐷 𝐑𝐞

Eqn. (21) indicates that the friction factor f is a linear function of the Reynolds number
only in laminar flow, and is independent of the roughness of the pipe surface.
For turbulent flow, the Darcy friction factor f is to be obtained by some other means.
Pressure loss merely due to viscous friction (for both laminar and turbulent) can be
expressed as,

𝐿 𝜌𝑉 ……(22)
∆𝑃 𝑓
𝐷 2

Put the pressure loss in head (m) as,

∆𝑃 𝐿𝑉 ……(23)
ℎ , 𝑓
𝜌𝑔 𝐷 2𝑔

ℎ , : Pipeline loss in laminar and turbulent pipe flow.

Once the pressure loss (or head loss) is known, the required pumping power to overcome
the pressure loss is determined from,

𝑊 , 𝑄 ∙ ∆𝑃 𝑄𝜌𝑔ℎ 𝑚𝑔ℎ ……(24)

7.2 Minor loss, 𝒉𝑳,𝑴

Minor losses are due to valve, meters, filters, bends, fittings etc.

𝑉 ……(25)
ℎ , 𝐾
2𝑔

where K is the minor loss coefficient and it is found by experiments.

In a typical system with long pipes, these losses are minor compared to the pipeline losses
(the major losses).

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Worked Example (3):

Same case of worked example (2). A vertical pipe of diameter 4.74 mm and length 2 m
carries liquid ethylene glycol at 0℃. The fluid flows at an average velocity of 0.7 m/s.
Assuming a fully developed flow,
(i) Calculate the Reynolds number and check if it is a laminar flow.
(ii) Obtain the friction factor.
(iii) Find the pressure change between the inlet and outlet (same question of
worked example (2)).
The density and the viscosity of ethylene glycol at 0℃ are, respectively, 1131 kg/m3
and 65.1 mPa s.

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8. Turbulent flow in pipes

8.1 Turbulent flow characteristics
- Turbulent flow is a complex mechanism dominated by fluctuations, and it is still not
fully understood.
- We must rely on experiments and empirical or semi-empirical correlations developed
for various situations.
- Turbulent flow is characterized by disorderly and rapid fluctuations of swirling regions
of fluid, called eddies, throughout the flow (Figs. 11 and 12).
- These fluctuations provide an additional mechanism for momentum and energy
transfer.
- In turbulent flow, the swirling eddies transport mass, momentum, and energy to other
regions of flow much more rapidly than molecular diffusion (by the laminar viscous
effects), greatly enhancing mass, momentum, and heat transfer.
- As a result, turbulent flow is associated with much higher values of friction, heat
transfer, and mass transfer coefficients.

Fig. 11 Swirling eddies in turbulent flow – water waves pass horizontally.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 12 Water exiting a tube: (a) laminar at low flow rate; (b) turbulent
at high flow rate; and (c) same as (b) but with a short shutter exposure.

8.2 Turbulent velocity profile

- The velocity profile is parabolic in laminar flow but is much fuller in turbulent flow
(Fig. 13).

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- Turbulent flow along a wall consists of four regions, characterized by the distance from
the wall:
(a) Viscous sublayer (a viscous laminar sublayer)
(b) Buffer layer (turbulent effects are becoming significant, but the flow is still
dominated by viscous effects.)
(c) Overlay or transition layer (turbulent effects are much more significant, but still not
dominant.)
(d) Outer turbulent layer (turbulent effects dominate over the viscous effects.)
- Turbulent velocity profile can be simply fitted by the power-law profile, Fig. 14, as,

𝑟 /
……(26)
𝑉 𝑉 1
𝑅

where the exponent n is a constant whose value depends on the Reynolds number. The
value of n increases with increasing Reynolds number.

Fig. 13 Velocity profiles of laminar and

turbulent flow. The velocity profile in fully
developed pipe flow is parabolic in laminar
flow, but much fuller in turbulent flow.

Fig. 14 Power-law velocity profiles for fully developed turbulent flow in a pipe for
different exponents.

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9. Moody chart (Fig. 16))

- The friction factor in fully developed turbulent pipe flow depends on the Reynolds
number and the relative roughness ε/D, which is the ratio of the mean height of
roughness of the pipe (Fig. (15)) to the pipe diameter.
- Considerable amount of experiments was conducted to find out the parameters’
dependence, and data were curve-fitted by an implicit relation known as the Colebrook
equation (1944) (for smooth and rough pipes) as,

1 𝜀/𝐷 2.51 ……(27)

2.0 log turbulent flow
𝑓 3.7 𝐑𝐞 𝑓

- Eqn. (27) is an implicit equation which has to be solved by iteration, probably using
numerical technique. It is easier to get solutions if the relations of the three parameters,
f, Re and ε/D are graphical illustrated.
- The Darcy friction factor for pipe flow is presented as a function of the Reynolds number
and ε/D on the famous Moody Chart (Fig. (16)).
- For laminar flow, the friction factor decreases with increasing Reynolds number, and it
is independent of surface roughness (Eqn. (21)).
- The friction factor is a minimum for a smooth pipe and increases with roughness.
- At very large Reynolds numbers (to the right of the dashed line on the chart), friction
factor curves are nearly horizontal, and thus the friction factors are independent of
Reynolds number. The flow in that region is called fully rough turbulent flow.

Fig. 15 Equivalent roughness values

for commercial pipes (uncertainty in
these values can be as much as 60%.

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Fig. 16 MOODY CHART

(Friction factor as a function of Reynolds number and relative roughness for round pipes)

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Worked example (4):

A horizontal cast-iron pipe of diameter 10.2 cm carries 114 m3 per hour. The length of
the pipe is 15.2 m. Calculate the pressure drop using the Moody chart. Take density of
water = 1000 kg/m3 and viscosity = 8.9 10 Pa s.

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10. Alternative to Moody Chart

Solving the Colebrook equation (Eqn. (27)) to get the friction factor f is most accurate, but
it is not easy. Moody Chart provides the solutions of the Colebrook equation only with a
rough resolution. An explicit equation was generated by Churchill (1997) as an alternative.
The Churchill equation is,

8 ……(28)
.
𝑓 8 𝐴 𝐵
𝐑𝐞

where

.
7 𝜀 37530
𝐴 2.457 ln 0.27 and 𝐵
𝐑𝐞 𝐷 𝐑𝐞

The difference between the Colebrook and Churchill equations is less than one percent.

Worked example (4b):

Repeat Worked example (4) by using the Churchhill equation to get the pressure drop.

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11. Solution Procedure for Typical Fluid Flow Problem

For example: Given L, Q, ∆PL to find D.

1. Express D as a function of f. (Eqn. (A)) Eqn. (22)

2. Express Re as a function of D. (Eqn. (B)) Eqn. (15)

3. Pick roughness value 𝜺 of the pipe. From Moody Chart

4. Make a guess of f.

5. From Eqn.(A), get D.

6. Get 𝜺/D

7. From Eqn.(B), get Re.

8. Based on 𝜺/D and Re, get f2 by using the Moody Chart Moody Chart or
or solving the Churchill equation. Churchill equation

9. Use f2 to get D using Eqn. (A).

10. Repeat steps (6) to (9) to update the value of D till

convergence.

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Worked example (5):

A pipe is required to convey 15,900 litres/min of oil in a distance of 3000 m. Maximum
head loss due to frictional effects is 23 m. The kinematic viscosity of the oil 𝜈 is
9.3 10 m2/s.
Determine the size of the steel pipe that will meet these requirements.

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Worked example (5b):

Repeat Worked example (5) by using the Churchill equation.
Determine the size of the steel pipe.

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