DATA ANALYSIS AND REPORTING

REQUIREMENTS

EXPERIMENT 2
DETERMINATION OF FLOW TYPE ON AN OSBORNE
REYNOLDS APPARATUS

Arş. Gör. Güven Hasret YILMAZ

Lucía Tricas Arbesú
Nº 23115052903
 Determination of Flow Type on An Osborne Reynolds Apparatus
Fluid mechanics I

Objetive
The experiment aimed to determine the type of flow (laminar or turbulent) by varying the flow
conditions in an Osborne Reynolds apparatus. The goal was to explore the transition between
laminar and turbulent flow regimes by changing the flow rate and observing the resulting
patterns.

Ilustration 1:Examples of laminar and turbulent flow

Equipment
1. Obsborne Reynolds apparatus
2. Flow control valve
3. Water supply
4. Pressure and flow rate measuring instruments
5. Observation section

Procedure
1. Fill the dye reservoir and lower the dye injection until it is just above the bellmouth
inlet.
2. Open the inlet valve and allow water to enter the stilling tank. Maintain a constant
level by ensuring a small overflow spillage to waste through the upper drain outlet.
3. Allow the water to settle for five minutes.
4. Fractionally open the flow control valve and adjust the dye control needle valve until a
slow flow with dye indication is achieved.
5. See the laminar flow and transitional region flow conditions by adjusting the control
valve.
6. Measure the flow rate by timing the discharge from the outlet connection into a
calibrated vessel against time.
7. Repeat this process for ascending orders of Q (by progressively opening the flow
control valve.)

2
 Determination of Flow Type on An Osborne Reynolds Apparatus
Fluid mechanics I

REYNOLDS NUMBER
The Reynolds number is a dimensionless quantity used to characterize the flow of a fluid. It
indicates the relative importance of inertial forces to viscous forces in the fluid motion
around an object or through a conduit.

The Reynolds number helps predict the flow regime. Low Reynolds numbers typically
indicate laminar flow, where viscous forces dominate, resulting in smooth, orderly flow. High
Reynolds numbers suggest turbulent flow, where inertial forces prevail, leading to chaotic
and irregular flow patterns.

The determination of the Reynolds number require velocity of the flow, diameter of the pipe
and kinematic viscosity of the fluid. The velocity of the fluid could be determined hy
measuring the flow rate Q [m3 /s] from:

4Q
u= 2 (2)
πD
Substituting Eq(2) into (1), the Reynolds number reduces to:

4Q
ℜ= (3)
υπ D

Observations and results

For this experiment, the pipe used has a diameter of D 13 mm = 0.013m and fluid (which is
water) has a kinematic viscosity of =1.2x10-6 m2/s

Measurement 1 Measurement 2
Volume (ml) 340 480
Time(s) 14.52 11.32
Q(ml/s) 23.41 42.40
Q(m3/s) 2.34x10-5 4.24x10-5
Re 1911.163 3460.83
Table 1: Measured values

For measurement 1, Reynolds number is less than 2000, that indicates that the flow is in the
laminar regime, which coincides with what we saw in the laboratory.

For measurement 2, Reynolds number is greater tan 2800, it indicates that the flow is likely in
the turbulent regime.

The experiment succesfully identified the transition from laminar to turbulent flow by varying
the Reynolds number. The critical Reynolds number at which this transition occurred was
determined.