Pipe Flow: Major

and Minor Losses

P U JA U PA D H YAY
F LO R I DA C EN T E R F O R A DVA N C E D A ER O -
PROPULSION
 Pipe Flow: Major and Minor Losses
Summary
When a gas or a liquid flows through a pipe, there is a
loss of pressure in the fluid
Energy is required to overcome the viscous or frictional
forces exerted by the walls of the pipe on the moving
fluid
Flow also loses energy (or pressure) as it goes through
fittings, such as valves, elbows, contractions and
expansions
Minor losses are mainly due to the fact that flow
separates locally as it moves through such fittings
The pressure loss in pipe flows is commonly referred to
as head loss.
The frictional losses are referred to as major losses (hl)
while losses through valves, fittings, etc. are called minor
losses (hlm).
Together they make up the total head losses (hlT) for pipe
flows
How do we conveniently estimate pressure drop or head
loss for pipes with various components and various types
 Motivation- Why?
1. Piping systems are encountered in everyday lives. For eg.
Heating and cooling applications, fluid distribution networks
(industrial or household).
2. Valves (control valve, needle valves, check valve, ball valves,
etc), pipe fittings (elbows, tees, bends, etc.)
3. What pressure drop is needed to drive the flow?
4. The pressure drop encountered is then used to determine the
pumping requirements (space requirement, budget, flow rate
requirement)
5. To estimate the amount of pressure loss that will occur for x
kind of fluid with a y velocity and a,b,c properties in a pipe of
length (L) and diameter (d). The piping system will have a
combinations of things listed in part 2. - Alternatively,
knowing the pressure drop through various element, how
much pumping power is required to get the desired flow rate.
Why do we need
experimental results?
- Limited analytical solutions available even though the
theory is well understood. (Pipe flow- fully developed
solution for laminar flow)
- Solutions are available for much simpler cases such as
fully developed laminar flow in a circular pipe.
- Limited opportunities for plugging in the numbers to get
the right answer.
- Dependency on experiments/ empirical relations to
estimate the required parameters
Friendship (Druzhba) oil pipeline runs from east Russia to
Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and so on
4000 KM (2500 miles)
External versus Internal
Flow
Internal Flow - Flow is completely confined/bounded on all
sides. Eg: Pipe Flows, blood flow inside arteries, etc.. The
growth of boundary layer is confined!

External Flow - Flow over bodies immersed in an unbounded

fluid Eg: flow over an airfoil or turbine blades, channel flows,
jets, and so on.
 Example of external flow - Flow over an
airfoil
Boundary layer
Fully developed profile
Uo

Entrance length L

Example of internal flow - Flow inside a

pipe
Calculation of Head Loss
Consider steady, incompressible flow through a piping system
1 2
is called
Kinetic energy
Factor, laminar
flow =2, and
turbulent flow
P V
2 P V
2 =1
1 1 gz 2 2 gz h V is average
2
1
2
2 lT
velocity

at a cross
section
Mechanical energy per Mechanical energy per
Total head loss between
unit mass at cross section 1 mass at cross section 2
unit Cross sections 1 and 2
The difference between the mechanical energy at two locations, i.e, the total
head loss, is a result of the conversion of mechanical energy to thermal energy
due to frictional/viscous effects. Irreversible pressure loss due to
viscous effects. Pressure drop decides the power requirements and pump size
Head loss in pipe flows- Major and Minor losses
Total Head Loss( hLT) = Major Loss (hL)+ Minor Loss (hLM)

Due to wall friction

Due to sudden expansion,
contraction, fittings etc

2
Darcy ' s Equation hl f
LV V2
D 2g
hlm K
2g
In this experiment you will find K is loss coefficient must be
friction factor for various pipes determined for each situation
For Short pipes with multiple fittings, the minor losses are no longer
minor!!
Laminar vs Turbulent
Flows
Laminar flow smooth/undisturbed flow, occurs when
a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption
between the layers. Occurs at typically low velocities.
No eddies, swirls, or lateral velocity. Highly ordered
motion. Effect of viscosity Significant.
Analytical solutions!

Transition to turbulence The stage where flow

ceases to be laminar and becomes fluctuating. This is
the regime before the flow becomes fully turbulent.
Depends on factors like geometry, surface roughness,
surface temperature, flow veloity, type of fluid,
fluctuations in inner flow, etc. Note: Transition to
turbulence doesnt happen all of a sudden. The flow
 Laminar vs Turbulent
Turbulent flow The order of the flow is disrupted. Flow is
Flows
characterized by eddies or small packets of fluid particles
which result in lateral mixing, highly disordered motion. Rapid
mixing due to enhanced momentum transfer between
particles. Flow is energetic

Ratio of inertial to viscous forces

Measure of flow regime Reynolds number (Re = VD/ =
VD/) Re = VavgD/ = VavgD/
Effect of viscosity becomes less significant with increasing Re number

= kg/s.m (dynamic or absolute viscosity)

= / = m2/s (kinematic viscosity)

High Re = low viscous forces, less orderly flow. Viscous forces cannot
prevent fluctuations anymore
Pipe Flow-
Critical Reynolds
Reynolds number at which the flow starts to transition to

number
turbulence

Re < 2300 (laminar)

2300< Re <4000 (transitional)
Re >4000 (turbulent)
The transition from laminar to turbulent doesnt take
place instantaneously, rather it is a gradual process.

Factors affecting transition

Surface roughness
Surface temperature
Most of the fluid flow fields in real
Velocity
life are transitional or fully turbulent
Type of fluid
Geometry
Vibrations
Pre-existing fluctuations in the upstream flow, etc.
Entrance Region
When fluid enters a pipe with a certain velocity, the no slip condition
due to viscosity causes the fluid particles close to the wall to be zero
(Vwall = 0 )
Consequently, it progressively slows down the fluid layers above the
wall
To compensate for the lower velocity close to the walls, the fluid
particles in the center of the pipe accelerate to keep the mass flow
rate constant.
A velocity gradient develops in the pipe where the fluid velocity
changes from 0 at the wall to Vmax at the center of the pipe
Boundary layer
This region near the wall where the shear forcesFully
duedeveloped
to viscosityprofile
are felt
U
are called oviscous boundary layer or simply Boundary Layer
u

Entrance length L
Entrance Region
In general, there are two regions of flow inside the pipe
1) Boundary layer region: Effects of viscosity are high,
significant velocity gradient
2) Free stream/core : Flow can be approximated as
irrotational, inviscid, viscous (frictional) effects are
negligible (Fluid is always viscous Flow can be
approximated to be inviscid- IMPORTANT)
The boundary layer grows in the downstream direction until
it reaches the center of the pipe.
The region from the pipe inlet to the point where the
boundary layers meet is
Boundary calledFully
layer thedeveloped
hydrodynamic
profile
Uo
entrance region and its length is called u
hydrodynamic entrance length. Remember
potential core
Entrance length L in a free jet
Entrance Region

Parabolic profile
Entrance Region
Note: Wall shear stress is related to the slope of the velocity profile
at the wall.
At the pipe entrance, wall shear stress is maximum
value decreases gradually to the fully developed value. In the
fully developed region, wall shear stress is constant. Velocity profile
doesnt change.
This means the pressure drop is the highest at the entrance of the
tubes
Different relations are used to estimate entrance lengths

Entrance effects may be negligible for long pipes. However, for shorter
pipes, entrance losses might constitute a major portion of the total loss
Fully developed pipe
flow
Vavg
No slip condition viscosity
Vwall = 0
Vcenter = Vmax

In experiments we usually use

Vavg
 Fully Developed Pipe
Assumptions
Flow
. Incompressible, fully developed, steady
. The length of the pipe is much longer than the entrance region
(neglect entrance effects) Force
balance

Vavg

Vmax

Pressure drop for a fully

developed pipe flow
is dependent
On wall shear stress.
P1 P2 P drops linearly with x
 So far we have,

Average velocity in a pipe

Pressure gradient in a pipe is dependent on

shear stress and is constant. Pressure drops
linearly with x
Also, solving force balance equation on a fluid element inside the pipe, we get,

Parabolic velocity profile for fully developed region

Plugging in u(r) in the equation for Vavg, we get,

Also, knowing and using equations for Vmax, we get,

This pressure drop is for laminar flow in a pipe which is a function of

viscosity
What do you do for turbulent flows where analytical solutions are not available
This is when use of empirical relations become necessary.
Also, a general formulation in terms of non-dimensional quantities will be
helpful even for laminar flows
Major loss (viscous loss)
Differential Pressure
Gauge- measure P

V
D Pipe

Physical problem is to relate pressure drop to fluid

parameters and pipe geometry

Using dimensional analysis we can show

that
 VD
Re

Experiments show that P is directly proportional to L/D,

Notes:
Vavg can simply be
Defining friction factor ,
written as V
Both sides are divided
by g to give represent
hL as column of fluid. In
piping, it is common to
express head loss in
length scale signifying
additional height fluid
f is called needs to be raised by
Darcys the pump
friction factor
This is the generic form of major head loss in pipes due to friction or viscous loss
The loss, as you would expect, is irreversible. The equation above works for both
aminar and turbulent flows.
NEXT STEP: FIND f for LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW
Friction factor
Generic equation for major loss
Laminar
Flow
From analytical solution for laminar flow,

Using above equations, we can show,

Where, , friction factor is only a function of

Reynolds number and NOT surface roughness, (Only for
Laminar flow (Re < 2300).
The friction factor can also be written in terms of wall
shear stress for laminar pipe flow as, (Darcys friction factor)
(Fanning friction factor)
Watch your units!!!

Loss in Mechanical energy Loss in Mechanical energy

per unit weight of flowing per unit mass of flowing
fluid. fluid.
Unit of hL here is meters Unit of hL here is NOT
1 2
meters

P V
2 P V
2
1 1 gz 2 2 gz h hLT = HL+ Hm
2
1
2
2 lT

Mechanical energy per Mechanical energy per

Total head loss between
unit mass at cross section 1
unit mass at cross section 2
Cross sections 1 and 2
Measuring P, L, D, V f can be calculated
Friction Factor Turbulent Flows

For Turbulent flow ( Re>4000) it is not possible to derive

analytical expressions.
Empirical expressions relating friction factor, Reynolds number
and relative roughness are available in literature

In general, the friction factor f is determined experimentally and is

usually published in graphical form as a function of Reynolds number
and non dimensional surface Roughness /D.

L F Moody published this data first, usually referred to as

Moodys chart
Moodys chart for friction factor
f = function (Re, )
Fully rough flow Complete turbulence

f
/D Increases

Laminar
f=64/Re
Sm
Transition

oo
th

ReD
Fully turbulent regime f = function (Re, )
Laminar
1) Flow:
Smooth pipes f = 64/Re
viscous (Re increases
effects decrease with = viscousRe,
increasing effect
decreasing f with
Transitional Regime : Critical, need experimental results
decreases
increasing=Re smaller head loss coefficient
2) Very very rough pipes f remains constant with increasing Re
3) Rough pipes f decreases with increasing Re until the flow reaches some critical
Re. After that, f remains constant / For higher Re, f is a function of only.
 Friction factor
correlations
1 / D 2.51
Colebrook Equation 2.0 log
f 3.7 Re f
f is not related explicitly Re and relative roughness in this equation.

The following equation can be used instead

1.325
f 2
for 106 10 2 and 5000 Re 108
5.74 D
ln 0 .9
3.7 D Re
 Minor Losses

Valves Bends T joints Expansions Contractions Entrance Exits

V2
hlm K
2g
These components interrupt the smooth motion of the flow and cause
local separation and recirculation of flow
Flow separation (locally) and associated viscous effects will tend to
decrease the flow energy. This results in losses.
The phenomenon is fairly complicated. Empirical loss coefficient K
will take care of these complexities
Even though the losses are called minor losses, at times they make
up a large portion of the total losses (For instance, a short pipe system
with a lot of bends and valves, partially close control valves
(decreased mass flow), etc.)
 Minor Losses

Final Equation
 The goal is to study pressure losses due to viscous (frictional) effects in fluid flows
through pipes

Differential Pressure
Gauge- measure P
H Flow meter

Pipe
D

L
Reservoir
Valve

Schematic of experimental Apparatus

Pipes with different Diameter, Length, and surface characteristics will

be used for the experiments
 Experimental Set up
Digital Manometer
H Reservoir To measure P
 Reservoir
H

L1
x1
L2
x2
L3
x3
L4