TITLE

OSBORNE REYNOLDS EXPERIMENT

INTRODUCTION
The Osborne Reynolds experiment is used to investigate the characteristic flow of a liquid in a
pipe, in order to determine the Reynolds number for different flow types. The design of the
apparatus enables the study of the different characteristics of fluid flow in the pipe, the behavior of
flow, and ultimately calculate the Reynolds number for each flow type, ranging from laminar to
turbulent.

Osborne Reynolds Apparatus consists of water resource for the system supply, fix-head water
input to big and small transparent pipes, dye input by injection unit, and water output unit to
determine water flow rate. The laminar, transition and turbulent flows can be obtained by varying
the water flow rate using the water outlet control valve. Water flow rate and hence the flow
velocity is measured by the volumetric measuring tank. The supply tank consists of glass beads to
reduce flow disturbances. Flow patterns are visualized using dye injection through a needle valve.
The dye injection rate can be controlled and adjusted to improve the quality of flow patterns.

THEORY
The Reynolds number is defined below for each case.

is the mean velocity of the object relative to the fluid

is a characteristic linear dimension, (travelled length of the fluid; hydraulic diameter

when dealing with river systems),In our case it was inside diameter of pipe section.

is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid

is the kinematic viscosity (

is the density of the fluid

CALCULATIONS

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, as water flow rate is increasing, the Reynolds number will automatically
increase as well, and the red dye line change from straight line to swirling streamlines.
Likewise, it is proven that Reynolds number is dimensionless, since no unit is representing the
value of Reynolds number. Laminar flow is obtained if the Reynolds number is less than 2300;
meanwhile the Reynolds number for turbulent flow is more than 4000. The Reynolds number
for transition flow is in between 2300 until 4000
.If kinematic viscosity that means resistance to gradual deformation is high it probably be
laminar flow if doesnt it probably be turbulent. But it is also dependent on other aspects as
well.

REFERENCES

Fluid Mechanics by Dr. Andrew Sleigh (J. Franzini/E. Finnemore), McGraw Hill.
F. M. White, Fluid Mechanics (Mc-Graw Hill, Inc., New York,1994).
J. Baggett and L. Trefethen, Low-dimensional models of subcritical transition to
turbulence,Phys. Fluids 9, 1043(1997).
www.pipeflow.co.uk
WJT Associates | Article Archive Reynolds Numbers: theory v. practical application.
2015. WJT Associates | Article Archive Reynolds Numbers: theory v. practical
application
Turbulence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2015. Turbulence - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulence#Examples_of_turbulence. [Accessed 22 March
2015].
Laminar flow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2015. Laminar flow - Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminar_flow#Examples. [Accessed 22 March 2015].
IEEE Xplore Abstract - Application of low-Reynolds number turbulent flow models to the
prediction of electronic component h.... 2015. IEEE Xplore Abstract - Application of lowReynolds number turbulent flow models to the prediction of electronic component h....
[ONLINE] Available at:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=1319215.
[Accessed 22 March 2015].