1

Laminar Flow

CH1044 Fluid dynamics

By
Prof. Shantha Amarasinghe

Section 1
Laminar Flow 2
 3
Laminar Flow in Chemical and Process Industry

LAMINAR FLOW THROUGH POROUS MEDIA

- flow through packed towers
- filtration
- fluidization
- moisture remove during drying of porous material like food

FLOW OF A FALLING FILM

- evaporation
- distillation
- gas-absorption
- reactions,
- condensation
- applications of coating

HYDRODYNAMIC LUBRICATION
 4
Understand fluid friction factor in real flow

One of the most important items

What is fluid friction?
of information, the engineer y
needs is the difference of
piezometric
One of the most head requireditems
important to u1 > u 2
force fluid at a certain
of information, steady rate
the engineer
needsthrough a pipe. of
is the difference x
piezometric head required to u2
force fluid at a certain steady rate
through a pipe.
What is the difference between the real fluid flow and ideal fluid flow ?

viscous

Laminar flow Turbulent flow non viscous

(inviscid)
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑢
𝜏=𝜇 𝜏 = 𝜇+𝜂
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
 5

A force F is required to
maintain the motion of the
lower plate and hence

𝑭 𝑽
=𝝁
𝑨 𝒚

𝒅𝒗𝒙
i.e. 𝝉𝒚𝒙 = −𝝁 𝒅𝒚

Newton’s Law of Viscosity

 6
Fully developed flow in closed conduits (Example pipe flow)

The development of the velocity profile in a circular pipe. V = V(r, z) and thus the flow is two-dimensional in the
entrance region and becomes one-dimensional downstream when the velocity profile fully develops and
remains unchanged in the flow direction, V = V(r).
 7
Analysis of laminar flow

In the analysis of fluid flow we need to find

- Velocity distribution
- Relationship between the pressure drop and the flow rate
- maximum velocity
- average velocity
- shear stress at a surface

In this lecture we will examine the flow problems related to

o Flow between two parallel plates - Couette flow

o Flow in circular cross section pipes

o Flow down an inclined surface

o Flow through an annulus

 8

Now refer the Lecture Note

o Flow between two parallel plates - Couette flow

o Flow in circular cross section pipes

o Flow down an inclined surface

o Flow through an annulus

INCOMPRESSIBLE, STEADY AND UNIFORM LAMINAR FLOW BETWEEN PARALLEL PLATES 9

Applying momentum equation

Where
p is the static pressure of the flow,
 is the shear stress,
 is the plate inclination
And W =  g  x  y per unit width.
Therefore,
 10
z

If z is the elevation of the system above some horizontal datum, then  z


x

and, hence, by substitution for W and sin

so that

where (p+g z) is the piezometric pressure

 11

Integration w.r.t y gives

But for a Newtonian fluid in laminar flow

Therefore

Integrating again w.r.t. y gives

Applying boundary condition

And we get
 12

This Equation represents the velocity profile across the gap between the two plates and is a general equation from which a
number of restricted cases may be considered.

1. Horizontal plates with no movement of the upper plates, i.e. U = 0, sin  = 0; hence dz/dx = 0 and

2. Horizontal plates with upper plate motion

𝑑𝑃
What if 𝑑𝑥 = 0, then

Couette flow.
 13
y
Volume flow rate Q u
y

For the general case

Therefore

For flow between stationary horizontal plates this reduces to

 14
EXAMPLE
Laminar flow of a fluid of viscosity μ = 0.9 N s m−2 and density ρ = 1260 kg m−3 occurs between a pair of parallel
plates of extensive width, inclined at 45° to the horizontal, the plates being 10 mm apart. The upper plate moves
with a velocity 1.5 m s−1 relative to the lower plate and in a direction opposite to the fluid flow. Pressure gauges,
mounted at two points 1 m vertically apart on the upper plate, record pressures of 250 kN m−2 and 80 kN m−2,
respectively. Determine the velocity and shear stress distribution between the plates, the maximum flow velocity
and the shear stress on the upper plate. 𝑑𝑧
z = −sin 45 = − 0.707
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑝 𝑑𝑧 80−250 1260×9.81×0.707
+ 𝜌𝑔 𝑑𝑥 = − = -128.9 kN/m3
 z 𝑑𝑥 1/ sin 45 1000

x Derive the following equation from first principles
y

where U = -1.5 ms-1, Y = 0.01 m and u is the local velocity at a point y above
the lower plate.
 15

Shear stress distribution is given by umax occurs where du/dy = 0,

y = 566.4 × 10−3 /143.28 = 0.395 × 10−2.
Hence,

Shear stress on upper plate is given by

This is the fluid shear at the plate; hence, the shear force on the plate is 0.78 kN per unit area resisting plate motion.
 16

Now attempt the questions in the Tutorial – Laminar flow

Q1, Q2, Q6, Q7

Continued………..