ME – 233: Fluid Mechanics – II

Dr. Emad Uddin

Non circular conduits
 With slight modification many round pipe results can
be carried over, to flow in conduits of other shapes.
 Regardless of the cross-sectional shape, there are no
inertia effects in fully developed laminar pipe flow.
 The friction factor can be written as f = C/Re h

 C depends on the shape of the duct, and

 Re is the Reynolds number, based on the hydraulic diameter D .
h h
Non circular conduits
 The hydraulic diameter is four times the ratio of the cross-
sectional flow area divided by the wetted perimeter, P, of
the pipe.
Example 8.7
 Air at T = 50 ºC and Patm flows from furnace through an
20 cm dia pipe with V = 3 m/s.
 It then passes into a square duct whose side is of length a,
with smooth surfaces (Ԑ/D = 0)
 The unit head loss is the same for the pipe and the duct.
 Determine the duct size, a.
 Plan
 Determine the head loss per unit length for the pipe, and then
size the square duct to give the same value.
 Solution
 Find Viscosity and Re
 From Re and Ԑ/D = 0, find friction factor f = 0.022
Pipe systems
 The main idea involved is to apply the energy
equation between appropriate locations within the
flow system,
 The head loss written in terms of the friction factor
and the minor loss coefficients.
 Two classes of pipe systems:
 Those containing a single pipe (whose length may be
interrupted by various components),
 Those containing multiple pipes in parallel, series, or
network configurations.
Single pipe
 The three most common types of problems are.
 Type I: Determine the necessary pressure difference or head loss from
the desired flowrate or average velocity.
 Type II: Determine the flowrate from the applied driving pressure or
head loss.
 Type III: Determine the diameter of the pipe needed from the
pressure drop and the flowrate.
 We assume
 – the pipe system is defined in terms of the length of pipe sections
used
 – the number of elbows, bends, and valves needed to convey the fluid
is known.
 – the fluid properties are given.
 Example
 Water flows from the ground floor to the second level in a three-
storey building through a 20 mm diameter pipe (drawn-tubing, Ԑ =
0.0015 mm) at a rate of 0.75 liter/s.
 The water exits through a faucet of diameter 12.5 mm.
 Calculate the pressure at point (1).
 – all losses are neglected,
 – the only losses included are major losses, or
 – all losses are included.
 PIPE NETWORKS (MULTIPLE PIPE
SYSTEMS)
 The governing
mechanisms for the flow
in multiple pipe systems
are the same as for the
single pipe systems.
 But because of the
numerous unknowns
involved, additional
complexities may arise in
solving for the flow in
multiple pipe systems.
 The simplest multiple
pipe systems can be
classified into series or
parallel flows.
Pipes in series
 Every fluid particle that passes through the system passes
through each of the pipes. Thus,
 The flowrate is the same in each pipe, and

 The head loss is the sum of the head losses in each of the pipes.

 The friction factors will be different for each pipe because the
Re and Ԑ will be different.
Pipes in series (Problem types)
 Type I:
 If flowrate is known, the pressure drop or head loss can be
determined from given equations.
 Type II:
 If the pressure drop is given and flowrate is required, an
iteration scheme is needed.
 None of the friction factors, are known, so solution may
involve more trial-and-error attempts.
 Type III:
 If the pressure drop is given and pipe diameter is to be
determined, iterations are needed as in Type II.
 Pipes in parallel
 A fluid particle traveling from A to B may take any of the paths
available, with

 The total flowrate equal to the sum of the flow rates in each pipe.
 The head loss experienced by any fluid particle traveling between
A and B is the same, independent of the path taken
Pipe networks
 Each point in the
system can only have
one pressure
 The pressure change
from 1 to 2 by path a
must equal the
pressure change from
1 to 2 by path b
Pipe networks

 Assumptions
 Pipe diameters are constant or K.E. is small
 Model withdrawals are occurring at nodes so V is
constant between nodes
Pipe Loops
 Pipe loops are common in water distribution systems.

 Pipe network divided into loops with nodes

Pipe Loops – Basic Principles
 At each node, continuity may be applied:

 Around any loop, the sum of head losses must be zero:

Pipe Loops – Basic Principles
 Also, in each pipe, head loss is a function of discharge as
is evident from all pipe flow formulae

 Sign Convention (very important!)

 Flows into a node are positive
 Head loss clockwise round a loop are positive
Pipe Loops – Solution techniques
 The "loop" or "head balance" method
 This is used when the total volume rate of flow through the
network is known but the heads or pressures at junctions within
the network are unknown.

 The "nodal" or "quantity balance" method

 This is used when the heads at each flow entry point are known
and it is required to determine the pressure heads and flows
through the network.
The Loop Method
1. Assume values of qi to satisfy
2. Calculate hfi from qi
3. if then solution is correct
4. if then apply a correction factor and return to
step 2

Correction factors can be computed from:

The Nodal Method
1. Assume values of Hj to satisfy
2. Calculate qi from Hj
3. if then solution is correct
4. if then apply a correction factor and return to
step 2

Correction factors can be computed from:

Network Analysis
 Find the flows in the loop given the inflows and outflows.
 The pipes are all 25 cm cast iron (Ԑ=0.26 mm).
Example
 Assign a flow to each pipe link
 Flow into each junction must equal flow out of the
junction
Solution
Solution
Numeric Analysis
Example
 Three reservoirs are connected by three pipes as are
shown in figure. For simplicity we assume that the
diameter of each pipe is 1 ft, the friction factor for each is
0.02, and because of the large length-to-diameter ratio,
minor losses are negligible.
 Determine the flowrate into or out of each reservoir
Example
 The flow directions are not obvious
 We assume that it flows out of reservoir B
 We will write the governing equations for this case, and
check our assumption
 The continuity equation requires that
 Q1 + Q2 = Q3
 For same diameter pipes
 V1 + V2 = V3 (Eq.1)
 The energy equation for the fluid that flows from A to C in
pipes (1) and (3) can be written as
Example
 By using the fact that
 𝑝𝑝𝐴𝐴 =𝑝𝑝𝐶𝐶 =𝑉𝑉𝐴𝐴 =𝑉𝑉𝐶𝐶 =𝑧𝑧𝐶𝐶 =0

 For the given conditions of this problem we obtain

(Eq.2)
 where V1 and V2 are in ft/s.
 Similarly the energy equation for fluid flowing from B
and C is
 V1 + V2 = V3 (Eq.1)
(Eq.2)
Example
 For the given conditions this can be written as
(Eq. 3)

 Thus, a trial-and-error solution is suggested.

 This can be accomplished as follows.
 Assume a value of V1>0
 Calculate V3 from Eq. 2
 Then V2 from Eq. 3.
 It is found that the resulting trio does not satisfy Eq. 1 for any
value of assumed.
 There is no solution to Eqs. 1, 2, and 3 with real, positive
values of V1, V2 and V3.
 Thus, our original assumption of flow out of reservoir B must
be incorrect.
Example
 To obtain the solution, assume the fluid
flows into reservoirs B and C and out of A.
 For this case the continuity equation becomes
 Q1 = Q2 + Q3
 V1 = V2 + V3 (Eq. 4)
 Application of the energy equation between points A and
B and A and C gives
Example
 With the given data, become
(Eq. 5)

 And (Eq. 6)
 Equations 4, 5, and 6 can be solved as follows. By
subtracting Eq. 5 from 6 we obtain

 Thus, Eq. 5 can be written as

(Eq. 7)
Example
 which, upon squaring both sides, can be written as

 By using the quadratic formula we can solve for V22 to

obtain the value of V2
 V2=2.88 ft/sec. From eq. 5, V1=15.9 ft/sec