Energy Losses In Bends

SUMMARYOFTHEORY:
Whenfluidflowthroughatypicalpipefittingssuchasanelboworabend,anenlargementor
contractionincrosssection,orthroughavalve,energylossesoccur.Theseenergylosses,which
aretermedasminorlosses,areprimarilyduetothechangeinthedirectionofflowandthe
changeinthecrosssectionoftheflowpathtypicallyoccursinvalvesandfittings.Experimental
techniquesareusedtodetermineminorlosses.Testshaveshownthattheheadlossinvalvesand
fittingsisproportionaltothesquareoftheaveragevelocityofthefluidinthepipeinwhichthe
valveorfittingismounted.Thustheheadlossisalsoproportionaltothevelocityheadofthe
fluid.Experimentalvaluesforenergylossesareusuallyreportedintermsofalosscoefficient,K,
asfollows:
hK
v2
(1)
L

2g

Inwhich
K

=Losscoefficient

v=Averagevelocityofflowinthesmallerpipe(m/s)g=Accelerationduetogravity(9.81
2

m/s )
CharacteristicofFlowthroughvariousPipeFittingsandValve:
Elbows:45elbowand90elbow:
o

Figuresbelowshowflowrounda45elbowanda90 elbow,whichhasaconstantcircularcross
sectionrespectively.

Figure2:ElbowFittings

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Energy Losses In Bends

ShortBend:
Lossesofheadinbendsarecausedbythecombinedeffectsofseparation,wallfrictionandthe
twineddysecondaryflow.Forlargeradiusbends,theheadlossispredominantbythelasttwo
effects,whereasforshortbends,itismoredominated
byseparationandsecondaryflow.ValueofKisdependentontheshapeofpassage(determined
byandR/D)andReynoldsnumber.

Figure3:BendFittings

SuddenEnlargement:

D1
D2
Figure4:FluidFlowsthroughSuddenEnlargement

Asafluidflowsfromasmallerpipeintoalargerpipethroughasuddenenlargement,itsvelocity
abruptlydecreases,causingturbulencethatgeneratesanenergyloss.Assumingthatthe
piezometricpressureonthefaceoftheenlargementtobeequaltothatintheemergingjet,and
thatmomentumfluxisconserved,thetotalheadlossisgivenby
H v1v2 2/2g
(2)

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Energy Losses In Bends

SuddenContraction:

D2
D1

Dc

Figure5:FluidFlowsthroughSuddenContraction

Asthestreamlinesapproachthecontraction,theyassumeacurvedpathandthetotalstream
continuestoneckdownforsomedistancebeyondthecontraction.Thissectionwherethe
minimumflowareaoccursiscalledthevenacontracta.Beyondthevenacontracta,theflow
streammustdecelerateandexpandagaintofillthepipe.Theturbulencecausedbythe
contractionandthesubsequentexpansiongeneratesenergyloss,whichisgivenby
H

v c
v 2
2

(4)

2g

Energy Losses In Bends

EXPERIMENTS:
Experiment1;EnergylossesinBendsandPipeFittings:
Objective:Tomeasuringthelossesinthefittingsrelatedtoflowrateandcalculatingloss
coefficientsrelatedtovelocityhead
Procedure:
Placeapparatusonbench,connectinletpipetobenchsupplyandoutletpipeintovolumetric
tank.
Withthebenchvalvefullyclosedandthedischargevalvefullyopened,startupthepumpsupply
fromhydraulicbench.
Slowlyopensthebenchvalveuntilitisfullyopened.
Whentheflowinthepipeissteadyandthereisnotrappedbubble,starttoclosethebenchvalve
toreducetheflowtothemaximummeasurableflowrate.
Byusingtheairbleedscrew,adjustwaterlevelinthemanometerboard.Retainmaximum
readingsonmanometerswiththemaximummeasurableflowrate.
Notereadingsonmanometersandmeasuretheflowratewiththevolumetrictank.
Repeattheexperimentwithdifferentflowrates.Theflowratescanbeadjustedbyutilizingthe
benchflowcontrolvalve.
PlotgraphdifferentialPiezometerhead,hagainstvelocityheadforeachdeviceanddetermine
thelosscoefficients.
Observations:
Volume,
Time
Flowrate,

Manometerreadings(mmH2O)

V
,T
Q

(liter)
(s)
(m3/s)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Velocityin
Velocity
DifferentialPiezometerhead,h(mmH2O)

smallbore

head,

pipe,v

Flowrate,
(mH2O)
90

45

(m/s)

Sudden
Sudden
Short

Q(m3/s)

v
2

4Q

elbow
enlargement
contraction

elbow
bend

2g

d 2

Graphical Representation
Draw following Graphs between

Differential piezometer head against velocity head for 90 elbow

Differential piezometer head against velocity head for sudden enlargement

Differential piezometer head against velocity head for sudden contraction

Differential piezometer head against velocity head for 45 elbow
Differential piezometer head against velocity head for short bend