REYNOLDS NUMBER

REYNOLDS NUMBER
The viscosity of a fluid is that property which determines the amount of its resistance
to a shearing force. Viscosity is due primarily to interaction between fluid molecules.
𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝜇 𝜇 𝜇𝑔
𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝝂 = =𝛾 =
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝜌 ⁄𝑔 𝛾

𝑙𝑏𝑓 ∙ 𝑠 2 𝑓𝑡 2⁄
It follows that the units of 𝜇 are 𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠 or ⁄ 2 and 𝜈 are 𝑚 ⁄𝑠 or 𝑠.
𝑓𝑡
Two types of steady flow of real fluids exist, which must be understood and considered.
They are laminar flow and turbulent flow. Different laws govern the two types of flow.
The Reynolds Number (𝑅𝑒), which is dimensionless, represents the ratio of inertia
forces to viscous forces. Used to predict if flow will be laminar or turbulent. In laminar flow,
viscous forces dominate while in turbulent flow, inertia forces dominate.
For circular pipes flowing full,
𝑉𝑑 𝜌𝑉𝑑 𝛾𝑉𝑑
𝑹𝒆𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒔 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝑹𝒆 = = =
𝜈 𝜇 𝜇𝑔
For laminar flow,
𝑹𝒆 < 2000
In laminar flow, fluid particles move along straight, parallel paths in layers or laminae.
For transitional flow,
2000 < 𝑹𝒆 < 4000
The critical velocity of practical interest to engineers is the velocity below which all
turbulence is damped out by the viscosity of the fluid. It is found that the upper limit of laminar
flow of practical interest is represented by a Reynolds Number of about 2000.
For turbulent flow,
4000 < 𝑹𝒆
In turbulent flow, fluid particles move in a haphazard fashion in all directions.
LOSS OF HEAD FOR LAMINAR FLOW
Loss of head for laminar flow is expressed by the Hagen-Poiseuille Equation. The expression
is
32(𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜇)(𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝐿)(𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑉) 32𝜇𝐿𝑉
𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 = =
(𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝛾)(𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑 2 ) 𝛾𝑑 2
Or in terms of pressure,
32𝜇𝐿𝑉
𝑷=
𝑑2
Prepared by: Engr. ARASG
The Darcy-Weisbach Formula is the basis for evaluating lost head for fluid flow in pipes and
conduits. The equation is
𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝐿 𝑉 2 𝑓𝐿𝑉 2
𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 = 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑓 × × 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 =
𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑 2𝑔 2𝑔𝑑
Where the friction factor (𝑓) for laminar flow in all pipes for all fluids,
64
𝒇=
𝑅𝑒
Sample Problems:
𝟐
1. Determine the critical velocity for (𝒂) gasoline at 𝟐𝟎℃ (𝝂𝒈𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝟐𝟎℃ = 𝟔. 𝟒𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟕 𝒎 ⁄𝒔)
𝟐
flowing through a 𝟐𝟎 − 𝒎𝒎 pipe and (𝒃) water at 𝟐𝟎℃ (𝝂𝑯𝟐 𝑶 𝒂𝒕 𝟐𝟎℃ = 𝟏. 𝟎𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 𝒎 ⁄𝒔)
flowing in the 𝟐𝟎 − 𝒎𝒎 pipe.
𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏:
𝑑𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = 𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 20 𝑚𝑚
2
𝜈𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑡 20℃ = 6.48 × 10−7 𝑚 ⁄𝑠
2
𝜈𝐻2 𝑂 𝑎𝑡 20℃ = 1.02 × 10−6 𝑚 ⁄𝑠
∗ 𝑅𝑒 = 2000

𝑹𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅:
𝑉𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 , 𝑚⁄𝑠

𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:
𝑉𝑑
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜈
𝑅𝑒 ∙ 𝜈
∴𝑉=
𝑑
2
(2000) (6.48 × 10−7 𝑚 ⁄𝑠)
𝑎. 𝑉 =
1𝑚
(20 𝑚𝑚 × 1000 𝑚𝑚)

𝑽 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟔𝟒𝟖 𝒎⁄𝒔
2
(2000) (1.02 × 10−6 𝑚 ⁄𝑠)
𝑏. 𝑉 =
1𝑚
(20 𝑚𝑚 × 1000 𝑚𝑚)

𝑽 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟎𝟐 𝒎⁄𝒔

Prepared by: Engr. ARASG

2. Determine the type of flow occuring in a 𝟏𝟐” pipe when (𝒂) water at 𝟔𝟎℉
𝒇𝒕𝟐⁄ 𝒇𝒕
(𝝂𝑯𝟐 𝑶 𝒂𝒕 𝟔𝟎℉ = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟏𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟓 𝒔) flows at a velocity of 𝟑. 𝟓𝟎 ⁄𝒔 and (𝒃) heavy fuel oil at
𝒇𝒕𝟐⁄
𝟔𝟎℉ (𝝂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝟔𝟎℉ = 𝟐𝟐𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟓 𝒔) flows at the same velocity.

𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏:
𝑑 = 12"
𝑓𝑡⁄
𝑉 = 3.50 𝑠
𝑓𝑡 2⁄
𝜈𝐻2 𝑂 𝑎𝑡 60℉ = 1.217 × 10−5 𝑠
𝑓𝑡 2⁄
𝜈ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑡 60℉ = 221 × 10−5 𝑠

𝑹𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅:
𝑇𝑦𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤, 𝑅𝑒 (𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡)

𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:
𝑉𝑑
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜈
𝑓𝑡⁄
(3.5 𝑠) (1 𝑓𝑡)
𝑎. 𝑅𝑒 =
𝑓𝑡 2⁄
1.217 × 10−5 𝑠
𝑅𝑒 = 287592.4404
∴ 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕
𝑓𝑡⁄ (1
(3.5 𝑠) 𝑓𝑡)
𝑏. 𝑅𝑒 =
𝑓𝑡 2⁄
221 × 10−5 𝑠
𝑅𝑒 = 1583.7104
∴ 𝑭𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓
3. Medium lubricating oil, specific gravity 𝟎. 𝟖𝟔𝟎, is pumped through 𝟑𝟎𝟎 𝒎 of horizontal 𝟓𝟎 −
𝟑
𝒎𝒎 pipe at the rate of 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟏𝟒 𝒎 ⁄𝒔. If the drop in pressure is 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒌𝑷𝒂, what is the absolute
viscosity of the oil?
𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏:
𝑆𝐺 = 0.860
𝐿 = 300 𝑚𝑚

Prepared by: Engr. ARASG

𝑑 = 50 𝑚𝑚
3
𝑄 = 0.00114 𝑚 ⁄𝑠
Δ𝑃 = 200 𝑘𝑃𝑎

𝑹𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅:

𝜇, 𝑁 ∙ 𝑠⁄𝑚2 = 𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠

𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:
32𝜇𝐿𝑉
𝑃=
𝑑2
𝑃 ∙ 𝑑2
∴𝜇=
32𝐿𝑉
𝑄
𝑉=
𝐴
3
(0.00114 𝑚 ⁄𝑠)
𝑉= 2
𝜋 1𝑚
( 4) (50 𝑚𝑚 × 1000 𝑚𝑚)

𝑉 = 0.5806 𝑚⁄𝑠
1000 𝑃𝑎
(200 𝑘𝑃𝑎 × ) (0.05 𝑚)2
𝜇= 1 𝑘𝑃𝑎
32(300 𝑚)(0.5806 𝑚⁄𝑠)
𝜇 = 0.0897 𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠
𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟.
𝑉𝑑
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜈
𝜌𝑉𝑑
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇
𝑘𝑔⁄
(1000 (0.86)(0.5806 𝑚⁄𝑠)(0.05 𝑚)
𝑚3 )
𝑅𝑒 =
𝑁
0.0897 2 ∙ 𝑠
𝑚
𝑅𝑒 = 278.3255
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛
− 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦.
∴ 𝝁 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟖𝟗𝟕 𝑷𝒂 ∙ 𝒔

Prepared by: Engr. ARASG

4. Oil of absolute viscosity 𝟎. 𝟏𝟎𝟏 𝑵 ∙ 𝒔⁄ 𝟐 and specific gravity 𝟎. 𝟖𝟓𝟎 flows through 𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒎 of
𝒎
𝟑
𝟑𝟎𝟎 − 𝒎𝒎 cast iron pipe at the rate of 𝟎. 𝟎𝟒𝟒𝟒 𝒎 ⁄𝒔. What is the lost head in the pipe?
𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏:
𝜇 = 0.101 𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠
𝑆𝐺 = 0.850
𝐿 = 3000 𝑚
1𝑚
𝑑 = 300 𝑚𝑚 × = 0.3 𝑚
1000 𝑚𝑚
3
𝑄 = 0.0444 𝑚 ⁄𝑠

𝑹𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅:
𝐻𝐿 , 𝑚

𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:
𝑉𝑑 𝜌𝑉𝑑
𝑅𝑒 = =
𝜈 𝜇
𝑄
𝑉=
𝐴
3
(0.0444 𝑚 ⁄𝑠)
𝑉= 𝜋
( 4 ) (0.3 𝑚)2

𝑉 = 0.6281 𝑚⁄𝑠
𝑘𝑔⁄
(1000 (0.85)(0.6281 𝑚⁄𝑠)(0.3 𝑚)
𝑚3 )
𝑅𝑒 =
𝑁
0.101 2 ∙ 𝑠
𝑚
𝑅𝑒 = 1585.7970
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟, 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛 − 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑.
32𝜇𝐿𝑉
𝐻𝐿 =
𝛾𝑑2
32(0.101 𝑃𝑎 ∙ 𝑠)(3000 𝑚)(0.6281 𝑚⁄𝑠)
𝐻𝐿 =
(0.85) (9810 𝑁⁄ 3 ) (0.3 𝑚)2
𝑚
𝑯𝑳 = 𝟖. 𝟏𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝒎

Prepared by: Engr. ARASG

𝐴𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑦 − 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎):
64
𝑓=
𝑅𝑒
𝐿 𝑉2
𝐻𝐿 = 𝑓 ) ( )
(
𝑑 2𝑔
64 𝐿 𝑉 2
∴ 𝐻𝐿 = ( ) ( ) ( )
𝑅𝑒 𝑑 2𝑔
2𝑚 ⁄2
64 3000 𝑚 0.6281 𝑠2)
𝐻𝐿 = ( )( )(
1585.797 0.3 𝑚 2 (9.81 𝑚⁄𝑠 2 )

𝑯𝑳 = 𝟖. 𝟏𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝒎

REFERENCES:
Giles, R., Evett, J., & Liu, C. (2013). Schaum's Outline: Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics. New
York: McGraw Hill Professional.
The Efficient Engineer. (2020, September 8). Understanding Laminar and Turbulent Flow
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A-uUG0WR0w

Prepared by: Engr. ARASG