ENGN 0810 - Fluid Mechanics Fall 2020

Profs. Powers & Zenit

Laboratory 3: Pipe flow

Objectives
1. Understand the importance of pipe flow as a common engineering problem.
2. Conduct measurements to determine the pressure drop in a pipe.
3. Compare the measurements with tabulated data.
4. Discuss results.

1 Introduction
Moving fluids in pipes
The transport of fluids from one point to another is of significant importance in engineering practice. From
potable water to oil, blood and mucus, fluids are moved in circular conduits by applying a pressure difference
between entrance and exit.
Considering a ‘slow’ flow of a fluid in a circular pipe of diameter D and length L, the Navier-Stokes
equations can actually be solved analytically for the case of stationary and fully developed flow driven by a
pressure difference between entrance and exit, ∆P = P2 − P1 . The image on the left in Fig. 1 shows the
parabolic velocity field obtained from that solution. From it, the flow rate can be calculated analytically:
π ∆P 4
Q= D
128µ L
where Q is the flow rate. Note that the mean fluid velocity, U , within the pipe can be calculated from the
flow rate and the cross-sectional area of the pipe: U = 4Q/(πD2 ). You can find the detailed solution in a
slightly more advanced fluid mechanics textbook, for instance [1].

Figure 1: Velocity profile of a fluid inside a pipe.

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 Although this solution provides insight into the the relationship between flow rate, viscosity, pipe size
and pressure gradient, its applicability is limited to laminar flows. For this case, the flow transitions from
laminar to turbulent when the Reynolds number exceeds a value of roughly 2500. The Reynolds number is
defined as
ρU D
Re =
µ
where ρ is the fluid density. The image on the right of Fig.1 shows a schematic view of the velocity field: it
fluctuates in time and it is not possible to mathematically predict the velocity field.

Bernoulli’s equation with viscous correction

Since most engineering flows are turbulent, a predictive equation is needed. The most commonly used
approach is to consider Bernoulli’s equation. However, if used in its original form it disregards the effect of
the fluid viscosity; hence, its predictions can produce significant differences with experimental observations.
However, a correction factor that considers viscous losses can be easily added:

P1 U1 2 P2 U2 2
+ + Z1 = + + Z2 + HM + hm (1)
ρg 2g ρg 2g
where HM is the head loss due to viscous effects, defined as

U2 L
HM = f.
2 D
where f is the friction factor which depends on Re and relative pipe roughness, e/D (e is the pipe roughness).
The friction factor is obtained empirically. The most common way to obtain it is by considering the so-called
Moody diagram, shown in Fig. 2. Minor losses, resulting from other elements on the pipe line (such as valves,
elbows, etc), also cause losses:
U 2 Leq
hm = f
2 D
where Leq is the equivalent length of pipe corresponding to the head loss. For more information about this
subject see [2].
In this laboratory you will conduct experiments to determine the friction factor f . You will measure the
flow rate, pressure difference and change of height to determine HM experimentally.

Venturi flowmeter
One of the most common techniques to measure the flow rate in a pipe is the Venturi tube technique. In
essence, the flow is accelerated (then decelerated) using smooth contraction. If the flow is incompressible
and the viscous effects are small, we can use Bernoulli’s equation to calculate the flow rate from the pressure
difference between the entrance and the throat:
s
Cdis 2∆P
Q = At p (2)
1−β 4 ρ

where Q is the volumetric flow rate, At is the throat area, ρ is the fluid density, β is the ratio of the throat to
entrance diameters and ∆P is the pressure difference between the entrance and the throat. The coefficient
Cdis accounts for the viscous losses (not accounted for in Bernoulli’s equation). For the flow meter used in
this lab, shown in Fig.3, β = 0.4, Dinlet =6.35 mm, Dthroat = 2.54 mm, Cdis = 0.97

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Figure 2: The Moody diagram: friction coefficient, f as a function of Reynolds number, for values of the
pipe roughness.

Figure 3: Venturi sensor. Designed and 3D printed at the SoE-Brown University.

2 Lab instructions
Materials
• Plastic tubing and fittings, of known diameter,
• a pinch valve
• a measuring cup
• a watch
• tape, duct tape
• two large containers, two buckets
• Sensor shield with Arduino board: differential pressure, atmospheric pressure sensor and temperature
sensor.

2.1 Procedure
2.1.1 First part
1. Place the large water container at a certain height, on a table for instance. Insert the tubing into the
water, tape it such that one end remains immersed into the water. Place the second container below

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 the first one.
2. Place the pinch valve into the tubing, start with it not obstructing the flow.
3. By applying some suction, establish a certain flow (siphon water from the top container into the lower
one.)

4. Once you have a steady flow, measure the flow rate.

5. Repeat the measurement of flow rate for different positions of the pinch valve (four different measure-
ments in total).
6. Repeat the entire measurement by changing the relative height of the two buckets.

2.1.2 Second part

1. Connect the Venturi meter at some intermediate position along the tubing

2. Connect the measuring ports to the differential pressure sensor

3. Establish a certain flow rate (as in part 1)
4. Read the pressure different from the transducer using the Arduino board (see notes below)
5. Repeat the measurement of flow rate for different positions of the pinch valve (as in part 1).

3 Post-Lab Analysis
1. Using the modified Bernoulli’s equation, considering the case of the unobstructed tubing, calculate f .
Report values of Re. Is the flow laminar or turbulent?
2. Compare your measurements with those obtained from the Moody diagram. Is the agreement reason-
able?

3. Considering the cases where the pinch valve obstructs the flow, calculate the minor losses from the
pinch valve. Report the losses in terms of equivalent length. Compare with tabulated values.
4. Compare the measurements of the flow rate obtained by the Arduino-based flow meter with those
obtained by filling up the measuring cup. Discuss differences.

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Using the Sensor Shield with Arduino: differential pressure sensor operation
An Arduino board is microprocessor that can be connected to a computer via the USB port. It has many uses:
to control electronic devices, to read signals, etc. See https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Introduction
for more information.
To help you use this technology to measure flow properties, we have designed and manufactured a sensor
shield (a printer circuit board) that has several sensors and an Arduino nano board. See image below, in
Fig.4.

Figure 4: Brown Fluids Lab sensor shield, B-FLaSSh.

To operate the shield, you need to download the Arduino software: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/
Software. Then, in the course web site, download the Arduino-code corresponding to Lab 3. The code
reads the voltage signal from the differential pressure and converts it into pressure units (Pa).

Figure 5: Wind Sensor Rev. C, by Modern Device.

The code also reads the ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. You may need to slightly fiddle
with the code to make it work for you.

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Useful tips:
• It is a good idea to lubricate the pressure sensor and the Venturi ports (any oil or grease would do).
The tubing for the pressure ports is tight.
• The pressure sensor has a range of pm 4300 Pa, so a height difference of about 1 foot is good to obtain
good measurements.
• Remember to download the Adafruit BMP3XX library to run the Arduino board.

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4 Report instructions and grading rubric
The report should be a PDF file, no more than 10 pages, uploaded to Canvas. A simple elegant report is
preferred over a florid peacock. Think about the best way to present data (tables, vs graphs). Your report
will be graded according to the following rubric:

Section Pts. Description

Introduction 10 Give a brief introduction to the lab, the goals and the basis for the
experiment, the assumptions and approach.
Methods 20 Describe the experimental techniques and procedures.
Results 20 Present the results - tables and/or graphs of the f vs. Re. Com-
parison between measured Q, using the sensor and by measuring
the volume in time
Discussion, Conclusions 20 Discuss the results - are they what you expect? Briefly discuss the
and Recommendations strengths and weaknesses of this experiment and provide sugges-
tions to improve the lab for future students.
Appendix: 10 Error analysis; provide a table of the estimated errors/uncertainty
in each component of the experiment, and perform a quantitative
analysis of regarding the resulting uncertainty in R and µ.
Production values, read- 20 Overall appearance and formatting, clarity of graphs with labelled
ability and style axes, appropriate use of units, reasonable figure captions (A good
caption is 2-3 sentences, not 5 words, not a full paragraph). The
report should be easy to read without excessive ”techno-speak”.
Make sure to define your variables, give proper citations, etc.
TOTAL 100

References
[1] G. K. Batchelor. An introduction to fluid dynamics. Cambridge University Press, 1967.
[2] F. White. Fluid Mechanics. McGraw Hill Education, United States, 8th edition, 2008.

Revision history: V1.0, September 12, 2020.

c School of Engineering, Brown University, 2020.