Pipe Flow: Major and

Minor Losses
PUJA UPADHYAY
FLORIDA CENTER FOR ADVANCED AERO -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 of flow field?
 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. Remember rating and sizing problems
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 =1
P 2 P 2
1 1 gz 2 2 gz h
V V 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 unit mass at cross section 2
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 transitions
to turbulence over a region.
 Laminar vs Turbulent Flows
Turbulent flow The order of the flow is disrupted. Flow is
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

Measure of flow regime Reynolds number (Re = VD/ = VD/)

Ratio of inertial to viscous forces

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 number
Reynolds number at which the flow starts to transition to
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 life are
Velocity
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

This region near the wall where the shear forces due to viscosity are felt are called
viscous boundary layer or simply Boundary Layer
Boundary layer
Uo Fully developed profile

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 called the hydrodynamic entrance region and
its length is called hydrodynamic entrance length.
Boundary layer Fully developed profile
Uo
u
Remember
potential core in
Entrance length L 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 Flow
Assumptions
1. Incompressible, fully developed, steady
2. 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 written
Defining friction factor , 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 needs to be raised by
f is called the pump
Darcys friction
factor
This is the generic form of major head loss in pipes due to friction or viscous losses.
The loss, as you would expect, is irreversible. The equation above works for both
laminar and turbulent flows.
NEXT STEP: FIND f for LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW
Friction factor Laminar Flow
Generic equation for major loss

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

P 2 P 2
1 1 gz 2 2 gz h
V V
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
Transition

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=Resmaller 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 for 106 10 2 and 5000 Re 108
5.74
2 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