Fluid Mechanics Lab Report

Experiment No. 01.1-Reynolds Experiment

-Shubhangi Bansude

Roll No. 10003025 Date-22/10/2012 Aim: To visually observe laminar and turbulent flow patterns. To determine critical Reynolds number for transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Experimental Setup: Two tanks with glass wall on two sides to see the water level. Two tanks are connected to each other by a glass tube of about 25 mm I.D. having bell mouth entry for water. There is a facility for entry of dye at the centre of the glass tube. Tank on left hand side [LHS] is a constant level tank having water inlet at its bottom and flow stabilizer in the form of wire mesh. Tank on the right hand side [RHS] has an outlet with a valve to control the flow rate of water through the glass tube. Procedure: 1. Checked that overhead tank is full. Opened inlet valve of the constant level tank on the left hand side. Allowed sufficient time for the constant level to be achieved. Kept outlet valve on the right hand side tank closed. Water flowed from the left hand side tank to right hand side tank. Eventually the level in the RHS tank was be same as that in the LHS tank. 2. The outlet valve is opened of the RHS tank. The flow rate is adjusted to the higher value of flow rate. [at the most to about 180 cm3/sec] 3. The flow rate of the dye is adjusted so that its flow velocity is nearly same as the velocity of water. Flow pattern in glass tube is observed. 4. Measured the volumetric flow rate using measuring flask and a stop watch. 5. The flow rate of water is decreased in small increments and steps [4] to [6] are repeated changing flow rate from 180 cm3/sec to about 5 cm3/sec. Observations and Calculations: I. Formulae Used: 1. Velocity of water through glass tube

U=

2. Reynolds Number

NRe =
II. Observation table and Calculations: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Inside diameter of the glass tube (D) Temperature of water during the run Viscosity of water Density of water Cross Sectional area of the glass tube = = 4.908 cm2 Velocity of Reynolds Pattern water through number tube NRe U(cm/sec) 4.518 1176.75 Laminar 5.503 1433.27 Laminar 5.753 1498.43 Laminar 7.496 1952.16 Laminar 7.794 2029.82 Laminar 10.187 2652.98 Laminar 11.275 2936.34 Transient 12.790 3330.79 Transient 16.043 4177.92 Turbulent 2.5 cm 0 22 C 0.96 Centipose (0.01g/cm.s) 1 (g/c.c)

A= S.No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Amount of Time of Volumetric water collection flow rate collected T(sec) Q(cm3/sec) 3 V(cm ) 1000 45.09 22.177 1000 37.02 27.012 1000 35.41 28.240 1000 27.18 36.791 1000 26.14 38.255 1000 20.00 50.000 1000 18.07 55.340 1000 15.93 62.777 1000 12.7 78.740

III. Sample calculation for first reading: Volume: 1000 cm3 , Time for collection: 45.09 sec Flow rate:

Velocity:

U=

= 4.518

Reynolds Number:

NRe =

IV. Note: Similar procedure is applied for calculation of Reynolds number in other cases. Corresponding pattern of flow is observed as shown in last column of observation table. Generally for internal flow (Flows through pipes and ducts) of water,

Critical Reynolds Number: A Reynolds number at which the flow of a fluid changes from laminar to turbulent. Our experimental observation matches with this fact. Flow patterns observed are shown in Figure 1.
Reynolds Number<2300

Reynolds Number

Reynolds Number >4000

Figure 1: Observed flow patterns for different Reynolds Nuber Source: www-mdp.eng.cam.ac.uk V. Estimation of position of transient point in terms of length of pipe L from the entrance: For maximum laminar entrance length at critical Reynolds number, Le=138D (Frank M. White, Chapter 6, Page No. 364) Le= 138 Results: For low flow rates, flow of the dye was linear and the flow pattern was in laminar region.(NRe<2300) For moderate flow rates, flow of the dye was a mixture of linear and eddy current profile. And the flow pattern is considered to be transition region between laminar and turbulent.(NRe 2300) For higher flow rates, flow of the dye was eddy current profile and the flow pattern is considered to turbulent. (NRe>>2300) Critical Reynolds Number for water is nearly equal to 2300. Experimental result matches with generally obtained critical Reynolds Number. Transient point position from the entrance of pipe is 345 cm. 345 cm

Sources of errors: Human errors may involve while taking readings for flow rate using stopwatch. It is visually difficult to decide exactly when flow change from fully laminar to transient and then transient to fully turbulent. Viscosity of water may change due to introduction of dye after repeating the experiment with same source of water several times. This can be avoided by changing the water used in the experiment periodically.

Inferences: A Reynolds number at which the flow of a fluid changes from laminar to turbulent. Critical Reynolds number can be represented in terms of length of pipe from entrance as well. Laminar flow: Highly ordered fluid motion with smooth streamlines. Transition flow: A flow that contains laminar and turbulent flow. Turbulent flow: Highly disorder fluid motion characterized by velocity fluctuations and eddies. We observed that the blue dye line change with the increasing of water flow rate. The shape change from thin threads to slightly swirling which still contains smooth thin thread sand then fully swirling. We can say that this change is from laminar flow to transitional flow and then to turbulent flow and it s not occurs suddenly.