Vishwakarma Institute of  Information Technology 

EXPERIMENT NO: 7 DATE:

FRICTION FACTOR FOR LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW

THROUGH PIPE
Objective: To study friction factor for laminar and turbulent fow through pipe
Apparatus: A set of pipes fitted with control valves for varying the flow and provided with
pressure tapping, manometer, stopwatch, measuring tank
Theory:
The friction factor ‘f’ of pipe depends upon (i) the type of flow i.e.laminar and turbulent flow
and (ii) the nature of pipe inner surface i.e. relative roughness. Initially it is clearly a function of
Reynolds number. It is interesting to note that theoretical solution can be verified experimentally
in a close agreement for laminar and smooth turbulent flow regimes.
64 64μ
f= = For laminar region Re ≤ 2000
Re ρvD
0.316
f= For earlier part of turbulent flow i.e. smooth turbulent 105≥ Re ≥ 4000
1
Re 4
0.221
f = 0.0032 + For rough boundary region , Re = 5x 104 to 4 x 107
0.237
Re
In general, the frictional loss of head in pipe is given theoretically by Darcy Weisbach formula

f l v2
hf =
2gD
Hence ,
h 2gD
f= f
l v2
Where,
• f = Friction factor
• l = length between pressure tapping
• V = velocity of flow in pipe
• D = Diameter of pipe

    Department Of Civil Engineering 
    Vishwakarma Institute of  Information Technology 
 

Procedure:
1. Experimental device is setup on the flow and inlet-outlet connections and manometer
connections are checked.
2. The length between pressure tapping is measured.
3. The water is then allowed to flow in pipe and the pressure difference between pressure
tappings is noted.
4. The discharge is measured using measuring tank.
5. The procedure is repeated for different values of pressure head by changing the discharge.
6. The discharge is varied gradually so that the difference between two consecutive readings is
sufficiently small.
Observations:
Material of pipe =
Type of manometer =
Diameter of pipe = D = m
Kinematic viscosity of water at temp ( ) is =
Length between pressure tapping = l = m

Observation Table:

Sr.No Head differnce Volume of water Time ‘t’ in sec

H in m collected = V m3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

    Department Of Civil Engineering 
    Vishwakarma Institute of  Information Technology 
 

11
12
13
14
15

Sample calculation: For Observation No.

π 2
Area of pipe = A = D
4
Volume of water collected = V=
Actual discharge = Qact = V / t = m3/s
Velocity of flow = v = (Qact / A) =
Reynolds Number = Re = vD / ν =
Friction factor ( f)
A) By Reynolds number =
64 64μ
for laminar region, f = = =
Re ρvD
0.316
For smooth turbulent,105 ≥ Re≥ 4000, f =
1
Re 4
For turbulent flow i.e.rough boundary region Re = 5x 104 to 4 x 107
0.221
f = 0.0032 +
Re 0.237
h 2gD
By Darcy Weisbach formula , f = f =
l v2

    Department Of Civil Engineering 
    Vishwakarma Institute of  Information Technology 
 

Tabulated calculations:

Sr.No. Volume Actual Velocity Reynold Type Friction factor

of water Discharge of flow s of f
collecte Qact m3 / s =v= m/s number flow
d V m3 Re
1* 2 *
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

1* By Reynolds number
2* By Darcy-Wieshbach formula

Graph :
Plot a graph between ‘f’ on Y axis and ‘Re’ on X axis and show laminar, transitional and
turbulent zones.

    Department Of Civil Engineering 
    Vishwakarma Institute of  Information Technology 
 

Conclusion : Friction factor is not constant but it depends on Reynolds number. In laminar
region there is liniar relation between friction factor and Reynolds number indicating that friction
factor is function of ‘Re’ alone. Friction factor decreases with increase in Re. In transitional zone
there exists no specific relationship between the friction factor and Re. In turbulent zone the
relation between f and Re is given by a curve which shows a decreasing trend of friction factor
with increase in Re.When loss of head due to friction is known then by Darcy Weisbach formula
friction factor can be estimated, which is found to be very close with friction factor obtained by
Reynolds number.
Additional Exercise: Determine friction factor using Moody’s diagram for 3 readings and
compare the results.

Obs. No. f by Darcy Weisbach f by Emperical formula f by Moody’s diagram

formula

    Department Of Civil Engineering 
    Vishwakarma Institute of  Information Technology 
 

    Department Of Civil Engineering