Summary

The aim of this experiment is to study the pressure drop across a pipe with different flow rate and to
observe the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, known as the laminar–turbulent transition. The
main parameter characterizing the transition is the Reynolds number, which will be evaluated for
each flow in this experiment. The friction factor obtained for each type of flow will then be evaluated
and compared with the published chart. It was found in the experiment that the flow rate of a fluid
varies along with the pressure drop across the pipe. Laminar flow was also observed in lower flow
rates while higher flow rates lead to a more turbulent flow.

Apparatus

Water is supplied to a 3.0 mm internal diameter tube of length 500 mm from either a header tank
(small flow rate) or the pump of the hydraulic bench (larger flow rate). The pressure drop along the
tube is measured using either an air-over-water manometer or a hand-held pressure meter. The flow
rate is controlled by a needle valve at the exit from the tube and is measured by timing the discharge
of water into a measuring cylinder using stopwatch. A thermometer is used to measure the
temperature of the water of the system.

Experimental Results and Calculations

For both low and high flow, the flow rate, Q, is calculated using the following formula:

Water Volume
Q=
Time Interval

For low flow rates, the pressure drop, Δ𝑝, is the difference between left and right manometer levels
which gives a unit of mm H 2 O .

The results and data for both low and high flow rates are tabulated in Table 1 and Table 2
respectively as shown.
 Table 1 — Low flow rate using manometer.

Manometer levels Pressure Pressure Water Time Flow rate,

Left (mm) Right Drop ( Drop (Pa) volume interval (s) Q (ml/s)
(mm) mm H 2 0 ¿ (ml)
195 375 180 1765.8 119 17.55 6.78
203 369 166 1628.46 112 17.88 6.26
211 364 153 1500.93 111 18.85 5.89
220 359 139 1363.59 96 17.94 5.35
224 355 131 1285.11 103 19.81 5.20
236 348 112 1098.72 92 20.75 4.43
250 338 88 863.28 89 25.06 3.55
264 333 69 676.89 88 29.75 2.96
271 324 53 519.93 95 43.12 2.20
290 310 20 196.2 100 130.22 0.77

The values of pressure drop for low flow rates are converted into Pascal using the following formula:

Pressure drop=ρgh

where ρ represents the fluid density, which is 1000 kg /m3 for water, and the value of h refers to the
pressure measured in mm H 2 O .

Table 2 — High flow rate using pressure meter.

Pressure Drop (meter Water volume Time interval

Flow rate, Q (ml/s)
readings in Pa) (ml) (s)
19620 730 36.39 20.06
18340 725 37.52 19.32
17070 715 38.66 18.49
15890 715 40.41 17.69
14810 705 41.63 16.93
13540 730 45.00 16.22
12650 700 45.06 15.53
11180 685 47.22 14.51
9810 695 51.88 13.40
8339 680 55.74 12.20
6965 660 59.72 11.05
5003 640 69.55 9.20

Two graphs of pressure drop against the volumetric flow rate, Q, are plotted for low and high flow rates in
Figure 1 and Figure 2 respectively.
 Graph of pressure drop against volume flow rate for low flow rate
2000

1800

1600

1400
Pressure drop (Pa)

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Volume flow rate, Q (ml/s)

Figure 1 — Graph of pressure drop against flow rate for low flow rate.

Graph of pressure drop against volume flow rate for high flow rate
25000

20000
Pressure drop (Pa)

15000

10000

5000

0
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

Volume flow rate, Q (ml/s)

Figure 2 — Graph of pressure drop against flow rate for high flow rate.

Given that the pipe diameter, d, is 3mm, the cross-sectional area of the pipe can be obtained as
follows:
 d 2
A=π ( )
2
2
3× 10−3
¿π ( 2 )
¿ 7.069 ×10−6 m 2

Flow velocity, u, for each value can be calculated using the following equation:

Q
u=
A

Where the volumetric flow rate, Q has been converted to give a unit of m 3 /s .

Temperature of the fluid is given as T =26 ° C. The kinematic viscosity of the flow can be obtained
from the chart given in the manual:

v=0.873 ×10−6 m2 /s

Fluid viscosity, μ, can then be calculated using the following equation:

μ=vρ

μ=(0.873 ×10−6) ×(1000)

μ=0.873× 10−3 m 2 /s

The Reynolds number, Re, for each reading can then be calculated using the following equation:

ρud
ℜ=
μ

For laminar flow, the theoretical friction factor, f T laminar , can be calculated using the following
formula:

16
f T laminar =
ℜ

For turbulent flow with a Reynolds number of 2000 < Re < 105, the theoretical friction factor,
f T turbulent , can be calculated using the following formula:

f T turbulent =0.079 ℜ−0.25

The actual friction factor for each flow, f A, can be calculated using the following formula:

d × pressure drop
f A=
2 ρ u2 l

Using the equations stated above, the results and data for both low and high flow rate are tabulated in
Table 3 and Table 4 respectively. Two graphs of f A and f T against Q are plotted for both laminar and
turbulent flow in Figure 3 and Figure 4 respectively.

Table 3 — Calculations for low flow rate using manometer.

Pressure drop Flow velocity, Reynolds Actual friction Theoretical friction

(Pa) u (m/s) number, Re factor, f A (10−3 ¿ factor, f T laminar (10−3 ¿
1765.8 0.9592 3296.24 5.757568 10.42611
1628.46 0.8861 3045.086 6.221761 10.63475
1500.93 0.8330 2862.6 6.48895 10.80033
1363.59 0.7570 2601.344 7.138771 11.06185
1285.11 0.7355 2527.562 7.12643 11.1417
1098.72 0.6272 2155.355 8.378857 11.59438
863.28 0.5024 1726.466 10.26056 9.267488
676.89 0.4184 1437.953 11.59749 11.12693
519.93 0.3117 1071.011 16.05803 14.93916
196.2 0.1086 373.3115 49.876 42.85965

Table 4 — Calculations for high flow rate using pressure meter.

Flow velocity, u Reynolds Actual friction Theoretical friction

(m/s) number, Re factor, f A (10−3 ¿ factor, f T laminar (10−3 ¿
2.837807 9751.913 7.308944 7.949771
2.733488 9393.43 7.363532 8.024557
2.616292 8990.694 7.481391 8.11295
2.502991 8601.342 7.608985 8.203242
2.395657 8232.5 7.741531 8.29362
2.29484 7886.047 7.713211 8.383247
2.197601 7551.894 7.858036 8.474481
2.052138 7052.021 7.964341 8.620822
1.895077 6512.292 8.194766 8.794145
1.725774 5930.495 8.399768 9.002318
 Graph of f against Q for low flow rate
60

50
f actual f theoretical

40
f (10-3)

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Q (m3/s x 10-6)

Figure 3 — Graph of friction factor against flow rate for low flow rate.
 Graph of f against Q for high flow rate
12

10

8
f (10-3)

2 f actual f theoretical

0
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
Q (m3/s x 10-6)

Figure 3 — Graph of friction factor against flow rate for high flow rate.
 Two
Graph of log10 pressure drop against log10 Re for high flow rate
4.4
4.3
f(x) = 1.75 x − 2.67
4.2
log10 pressure drop (a.u.)

4.1
4
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.6 3.65 3.7 3.75 3.8 3.85 3.9 3.95 4 4.05
log10 Re (a.u.)

graphs of pressure drop against Reynolds number using a log scale for both flow rates are plotted in
Figure 5 and Figure 6 respectively.

Graph of log10 pressure drop against log10 Re for low flow rate
3.5

3 f(x) = 1.02 x − 0.35

log10 pressure drop (a.u.)

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6
log10 Re (a.u.)

Figure 5 — Graph of log10 pressure drop against log10 Re for low flow rate.

Figure 6 — Graph of log10 pressure drop against log10 Re for high flow rate.
The gradients of both graphs are obtained using the equations displayed on the charts:
Gradient for low flow rate = 1.02
Gradient for high flow rate = 1.75
Discussion

From the graphs in Figure 1 and Figure 2, it is clear that the pressure drop increases with lower flow
rate, and vice versa.

The Reynolds number obtained for each flow shows that laminar flow takes place at a critical
velocity of flow at which Re is less than 1800, and Re is greater than 2300 for turbulent flow.
According to Table 3 and Table 4, the Reynolds number for each flow increases along with flow
rate. Therefore, the higher the flow rate, the more likely it will transition from laminar to turbulent
flow.

Based on Figure 3 and Figure 4, the graph shows that the friction factor of the flow decreases with
increasing flow rate. It is also deduced that the actual friction factor calculated from the pressure
reading differs from that of the theoretical values determined using the equations given. The
discrepancies could be credited to certain experimental errors that may have occurred including
faulty readings and certain human errors such as the parallax error.

According to the results tabulated in Table 3 and Table 4, the Reynolds number for each flow
increases along with the pressure drop. The different regions in the graph correspond to the different
flow rates and the different friction factors which contributes to different Reynolds number for each
flow.

Based on the experiment, steady laminar flow takes place at Reynolds numbers less than 1800.
Turbulent flow on the other hand, takes place when the Reynolds number is greater than 2300. As
Reynolds number increases, both the pressure drop across the pipe and flow rate increases. From the
graph in Figure 1 and Figure 2, the gradient can be seen to be steeper when the flow begins to transit
from laminar to turbulent flow. This infers that turbulent flow would result in a higher rate of
pressure drop across the pipe as compared to laminar flow.
Conclusion

From the experiment, the flow rate has been observed to increase along with the pressure drop and
flow velocity. The experimental results also indicate that Reynolds number increase along with flow
velocity whereas the friction factor decreases as Reynolds number increases. The experiment has
also shown that the friction factor for low flow rate is higher than that of high flow rate.