Chapter-Three

Laminar and Turbulent Flow

 If we were to take a pipe of free flowing water and inject a dye into the
middle of the stream, what would we expect to happen?

 Actually both would happen - but for different flow rates.

 The top occurs when the fluid is flowing slowly and the lower when it is flowing
fast.
 The top situation is known as laminar flow and the lower as turbulent flow.
 In laminar flow the motion of the particles of fluid is very orderly with all particles
moving in straight lines parallel to the pipe walls.
 But what is fast or slow? And at what speed does the flow pattern change? And why
might we want to know this?
 The phenomenon was first investigated in the 1880s by Osbourne Reynolds in an
experiment which has become a classic in fluid mechanics.
 He used a tank arranged as above with a pipe taking water from the centre into which
he injected a dye through a needle.
𝜌𝑉𝐷
 After many experiments he saw that this expression, 𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑅𝑒 = 𝑅𝑒𝑦𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟
𝜌 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒
𝑉 = 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑
𝐷 = 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒,
𝜇 = 𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑
 This expression would help to predict the change in flow type.
 If the value is less than about 2000 then flow is laminar,
 if greater than 4000 then turbulent and in between these then in the transition zone.
 Laminar flow: Re < 2000
 Transitional flow: 2000 ≤ Re ≤ 4000
 Turbulent flow: Re > 4000
 What are the units of this Reynolds number? We can fill in the equation with SI units:
𝜌 = 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 𝑉 = 𝑚/𝑠 𝐷=𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜇 = 𝑁𝑠Τ𝑚2 = 𝑘𝑔Τ𝑚𝑠

𝜌𝑉𝐷 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 × 𝑚/𝑠 × 𝑚 𝑘𝑔 × 𝑚 × 𝑚 × 𝑚 × 𝑠

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑅𝑒 = = = 3
=1
𝜇 𝑘𝑔/𝑚𝑠 𝑚 × 𝑘𝑔
 Therefore, it has no units.
 A quantity that has no units is known as a non-dimensional (or dimensionless) quantity.
 Thus the Reynolds number, Re, is a non-dimensional number.
 At what velocity the flow in a pipe stops being laminar?
 If the pipe and the fluid have the following properties:
 Water density = 1000 kg/m3
 Pipe diameter d = 0.5m
 Dynamic viscosity, = 0.55x103 Ns/m2
 We want to know the maximum velocity when the Re is 2000.
𝜌𝑉𝐷
𝑅𝑒 = = 2000
𝜇
2000 × 𝜇 2000 × 0.55 × 10−3
𝑉= =
𝐷 1000 × 0.5
𝑉 = 0.0022𝑚Τ𝑠
 If this were a pipe in a house central heating system, where the pipe diameter is
typically 0.015m, the limiting velocity for laminar flow would be, 0.0733 m/s.
 In summary:
Laminar flow
 Re < 2000
 'low' velocity
 Dye does not mix with water
 Fluid particles move in straight lines
 Simple mathematical analysis possible
 Rare in practice in water systems.
Transitional flow
 2000 ≤ Re ≤ 4000
 'medium' velocity
 Dye stream wavers in water - mixes slightly.
Turbulent flow
 Re > 4000
 'high' velocity
 Dye mixes rapidly and completely
 Particle paths completely irregular
 Average motion is in the direction of the flow
 Cannot be seen by the naked eye
 Changes/fluctuations are very difficult to detect. Must use laser.
 Mathematical analysis very difficult - so experimental measures are used
 Most common type of flow.
 Analysis of Laminar flow through pipes & porous media

 The Laminar flow occurs at low velocity, so that the viscous forces predominate over
the inertial forces.
 The viscosity of fluid induces relative motion with in the fluids as the fluid layers
slide over one another, which in turn gives rise to shear stresses.
 The magnitude of shear stress varies from point to pint maximum at the boundary &
gradually decreasing with increase in distance from the boundary.
 The shear stress so produced result in developing a resistance to flow.
 In order to overcome the shear resistance to flow the pressure drops from section to
section in the direction of flow so that a pressure gradient exists.
 Laminar Flow In Circular Pipe (Hagen – Poiseuile Law)
 For steady, fully developed laminar flow there are normal forces (pressure forces)
acting on the left & right ends of the control volume, and that there are tangential
forces (shear forces) on the inner & outer cylindrical surfaces.

1. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝐵 = 𝑝 × 𝜋 × 𝑟 2

𝜕𝑝
2. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐶𝐷 = 𝑝 + 𝜕𝑥 ∆𝑥 𝜋𝑟 2
3. 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝜏 × 2𝜋𝑟∆𝑥
 As there is no acceleration, hence the summation of all forces in the direction of flow must
be zero i.e.,
2
𝜕𝑝 2
𝜕𝑝
𝑝×𝜋×𝑟 − 𝑝+ ∆𝑥 𝜋𝑟 − 𝜏 × 2𝜋𝑟∆𝑥 = 0, → − ∆𝑥𝜋𝑟 2 − 𝜏 × 2𝜋𝑟∆𝑥 = 0
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝 𝑟
− × 𝑟 − 2𝜏 = 0 → 𝜏 = −
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 2
𝜕𝑝
 The shear stress 𝜏 across a section varies with ′𝑟′ as across a section is constant.
𝜕𝑥
 Hence the shear stress distribution across a section is liner as shown figure below.
To obtain the velocity distribution across a section,
𝑑𝑉
The value of shear stress 𝜏 = 𝜇 , 𝑦 is measured from the pipe wall. Hence
𝑑𝑦
𝑦 = 𝑅 − 𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑦 = −𝑑𝑟
𝑑𝑉 𝑑𝑉
𝜏=𝜇 = −𝜇
−𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝑟
𝑑𝑉 𝜕𝑝 𝑟
Substituting 𝜏 = −𝜇 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝜏 = −
𝑑𝑟 𝜕𝑥 2
𝑑𝑉 𝜕𝑝 𝑟 𝑑𝑉 1 𝜕𝑝
−𝜇 =− 𝑜𝑟 = 𝑟
𝑑𝑟 𝜕𝑥 2 𝑑𝑟 2𝜇 𝜕𝑥
1 𝜕𝑝
𝑑𝑉 = 𝑟𝑑𝑟
2𝜇 𝜕𝑥
1 𝜕𝑝
න 𝑑𝑉 = න 𝑟𝑑𝑟
2𝜇 𝜕𝑥
1 𝜕𝑝 2
𝑉= 𝑟 +𝐶
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
 Where C is the constant of integration and its value is obtained from the boundary
condition that at
𝑟 = 𝑅, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉 = 0
1 𝜕𝑝 2
0= 𝑅 +𝐶
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
1 𝜕𝑝 2
C=− 𝑅
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
1 𝜕𝑝 2
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑉 = 𝑟 +𝐶
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
1 𝜕𝑝 2 1 𝜕𝑝 2
𝑉= 𝑟 − 𝑅
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥 4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
1 𝜕𝑝 2
𝑉=− 𝑅 − 𝑟2
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
𝜕𝑝
 The value of 𝜇, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡, which means the velocity , 𝑉 varies with the
𝜕𝑥
square of r.
1 𝜕𝑝
 The equation 𝑉 = − 𝑅2 − 𝑟 2 is equation of parabola.
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
 This shows that the velocity distribution across the section of pipe is parabolic.
From the above velocity distribution equation the maximum velocity occurs
1 𝜕𝑝 2
when 𝑟 = 0. and then, 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = − 𝑅
4𝜇 𝜕𝑥
 The discharge (𝑄) across the section of circular ring element with radius 𝑟
and thickness 𝑑𝑟,
𝜋 −𝜕𝑝
𝑄= 𝑅4
8𝜇 𝜕𝑥
𝑅
 Average velocity, occurs @ 𝑟 = = 0.707𝑅
2
𝜋 −𝜕𝑝 4
𝑄 𝑅 1 −𝜕𝑝
ത
𝑉= = 8𝜇 𝜕𝑥
= 𝑅2
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝜋𝑅 2 8𝜇 𝜕𝑥
 Ratio of maximum velocity to average velocity
1 𝜕𝑝 2
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑅 −8𝜇∗𝜕𝑝∗𝜕𝑥∗𝑅2
4𝜇𝜕𝑥
ഥ
= 1 −𝜕𝑝 2 = =2
𝑉 𝑅 −4𝜇∗𝜕𝑝∗𝜕𝑥∗𝑅2
8𝜇 𝜕𝑥
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 1
= 2 → 𝑉ത = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑉ത 2
 Drop of pressure head (Head loss) for flow of fluid through circular ring element can
be calculated from
1 −𝜕𝑝
𝑉ത = 𝑅2
8𝜇 𝜕𝑥

−𝜕𝑝 8𝜇𝑉ത
= 2
𝜕𝑥 𝑅
8𝜇 𝑉ത
−𝒅𝒑 = 2 𝑑𝑥
𝑅
𝟏 𝟏
8𝜇𝑉ത
− න 𝒅𝒑 = න 2 𝑑𝑥
𝑅
𝟐 𝟐
8𝜇 𝑉ത 8𝜇𝑉ത
− 𝒑𝟏 − 𝒑𝟐 = 2 𝒙𝟏 − 𝒙𝟐 𝑜𝑟 𝒑𝟏 − 𝒑𝟐 = 2 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏 = 𝑳
𝑅 𝑅
8𝜇 𝑉ത ത
8𝜇𝑉𝐿 ത
32𝜇 𝑉𝐿
𝒑𝟏 − 𝒑𝟐 = 2 𝐿 = 2
=
𝑅 𝐷 Τ2 𝐷2
 𝒑𝟏 − 𝒑𝟐 is the drop of pressure.
ഥ𝐿
𝒑𝟏 −𝒑𝟐 32𝜇𝑉
∴ Loss of pressure head = =
𝜌𝑔 𝜌𝑔𝐷2
ത 𝑄ൗ
𝒑𝟏 − 𝒑𝟐 32𝜇 𝑉𝐿 32𝜇𝐿 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 32𝜇𝐿𝑄
=ℎ𝑓 = 2
= 2
= 2
𝝆𝒈 𝜌𝑔𝐷 𝜌𝑔𝐷 2
𝜌𝑔𝐷 × 𝜋 ൗ4 𝐷
𝒑𝟏 − 𝒑𝟐 𝑄𝐿
=ℎ𝑓 = 128𝜇 4
(𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝐻𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎)
𝝆𝒈 𝜋𝜌𝑔𝐷
 From Darcy- weisbach equation, the head loss due to frictional resistance in a long
straight pipe of length L diameter, D & mean velocity 𝑉ത is given as:
𝐿𝑉ഥ2 ҧ
32𝜇𝑉𝐿 𝐿 𝑉ҧ 2
ℎ𝑓 = 𝑓 , ℎ𝑓 = =𝑓
𝐷 2𝑔 𝜌𝑔𝐷2 𝐷 2𝑔
64𝜇 64 64
𝑓= ഥ
= 𝜌𝐷𝑉ഥ = where 𝑓 is the friction factor of a pipe.
𝜌𝐷𝑉 ൗ𝜇 𝑅𝑒
Note: - The above equations are derived for horizontal pipes, but for inclined pipe it is
1 𝑑
given as: 𝑉 = 𝑝 + 𝜌𝑔ℎ 𝑟 2 − 𝑅2
4𝜇 𝑑𝐿
 Example 1 A crude oil of viscosity 0.97 poise and relative density 0.9 is flowing
through a horizontal circular pipe of diameter 100mm and of length 10m. Calculate the
difference of pressure at the two ends of the pipe, if 100 kg of the oil is collected in a
tank in 30 seconds.
Example 2
Laminar Flow Through Porous Media (Between Parallel Plates)
 Consider two parallel plates kept at a distance ′𝑡′ apart and viscous (laminar) fluid
flowing between these two plates from left to right.
 And consider a fluid element of length ∆𝑥 and thickness ∆𝑦 at a distance y from the
lower fixed plate.

1. Velocity Distribution
1 𝜕𝑝
𝑉=− 𝑡𝑦 − 𝑦 2
2𝜇 𝜕𝑥

2. Shear Stress Distribution

1 𝜕𝑝
𝜏= 𝑡 − 2𝑦
2 𝜕𝑥
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 (𝜏𝑜 ) 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟
@ 𝑦 = 0 𝑜𝑟 𝑡 @ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒
𝑡
and shear stress will be 0 @ 𝑦 =
2
1 𝜕𝑝
𝜏𝑜 = 𝑡
2 𝜕𝑥
3. Average Velocity
𝑄 1 𝜕𝑝 2
𝑉ത = = − 𝑡
𝐴 2𝜇 𝜕𝑥
4. Maximum Velocity
The maximum velocity occur when 𝑦 = 𝑡Τ2
1 𝜕𝑝 2
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = − 𝑡
8𝜇 𝜕𝑥
5. Drop of pressure head (Head loss)
𝑝1 − 𝑝2 ത
𝑉𝐿
ℎ𝑓 = =12𝜇
𝜌𝑔 𝜌𝑔𝑡 2
 Turbulent Flow
 The shear stress in viscous (laminar) flow is given by Newton’s law of
viscosity as
𝑑𝑢
𝜏𝑣 = 𝜇 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝜏𝑣 = 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟).
𝑑𝑦
 Similar to the expression in laminar (viscous) shear, J. Boussinesq expressed
the turbulent shear in mathematical form as
𝑑 𝑢ത
𝜏𝑡 = 𝜂
𝑑𝑦
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝜏𝑡 = 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝜂 = 𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑢ത = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦
 The ratio of 𝜂 𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 and 𝜌 (𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦) is known as
kinematic eddy viscosity and is denoted by 𝜀 𝑒𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑛 . Mathematically it is
written as
𝜂
𝜀=
𝜌
 If the shear stress due to viscous flow also considered, then the total shear
stress becomes

𝑑𝑢 𝑑 𝑢ത
𝜏 = 𝜏𝑣 + 𝜏𝑡 = 𝜇 +𝜂
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
 The value of 𝜂 = 0, for laminar (viscous) flow. For other case the value of
𝜂 may be several thousand times the value of 𝜇. To find shear stress in
ഥ
𝑑𝑢
turbulent flow, equation 𝜏𝑡 = 𝜂 is used. But as the value of The ratio
𝑑𝑦
of 𝜂 𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 can not be predicted ,this equation is having
limited use
 Reynolds Expression for Turbulent Shear Stress
 Reynolds in 1886 developed an expression for turbulent shear stress between two
layers of a fluid at a small distance apart, which is given as
𝜏 = 𝜌𝑢′ 𝑣 ′
where 𝑢′, 𝑣′ = fluctuating component of velocity in the direction of x and y due to
turbulence.
 As 𝑢′ and 𝑣′ are varying and hence 𝜏 will also vary.
 Hence to find the shear stress, the time average on both the sides of the above
equation is taken. Then equation becomes as 𝜏ҧ = 𝜌𝑢′ 𝑣 ′ . The turbulent shear stress
given by this equation is known as Reynold stress.
 Mixing Length Theory for Turbulent Shear Stress
 In equation 𝜏 = 𝜌𝑢′ 𝑣 ′ , the turbulent shear stress can only be calculated if the value of u'
v' is known. But it is very difficult to measure 𝑢′ 𝑣′.
 To overcome this difficulty, L. Prandtl in 1925, presented a mixing length hypothesis
which can be used to express turbulent shear stress in terms of measurable quantities.
 According to Prandtl, the mixing length 𝐿, is that distance between two layers in the
transverse direction such that the lumps of fluid particles from one layer could reach the
other layer and the particles are mixed in the other layer in such a way that the
momentum of the particles in the direction of x is same.
 He also assumed that the velocity fluctuation in the x-direction 𝑢′ is related to the mixing
length 𝐿 as

𝑑𝑢
𝑢′ =𝑙
𝑑𝑦
 And 𝑣′ , the fluctuation component of velocity in y-direction is of the same order of
magnitude as 𝑢′ and hence
′
𝑑𝑢
𝑣 =𝑙
𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑢 2
2 𝑑𝑢
 Now 𝑢′ × 𝑣 ′ 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑢′ 𝑣 ′ = 𝑙 × 𝑙 = 𝑙
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
 Then from the equation 𝜏ҧ = 𝜌𝑢′ 𝑣 ′ we get the expression for shear stress in turbulent
flow due to Prandtl as
2
𝑑𝑢
𝜏ҧ = 𝜌𝑙2
𝑑𝑦
 Thus the total shear stress at any point in turbulent flow is the sum of shear stress due to
viscous shear and turbulent shear and can be written as
2
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑢
𝜏ҧ = 𝜇 + 𝜌𝑙2
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
 But the viscous shear stress is negligible except near the boundary.
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑢 2
 The equation 𝜏ҧ = 𝜇 + 𝜌𝑙2 is used for most of turbulent fluid flow problems for
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
determining shear stress in turbulent flow.
 Velocity Distribution in Turbulent Flow in Pipes
 In case of turbulent flow, the total shear stress at any point is the sum of viscous shear
stress and turbulent shear stress.
 Also the viscous shear stress is negligible except near the boundary.
 Hence it can be assumed that the shear stress in turbulent flow is given by equation

2
𝑑𝑢
𝜏ҧ = 𝜌𝑙2
𝑑𝑦

 From this equation, the velocity distribution can be obtained if the relation between 𝑙,
the mixing length and 𝑦 is known.
 Prandtl assumed that the mixing length,𝑙 is a linear function of the distance 𝑦 from the
pipe wall i.e., 𝑙 = 𝑘𝑦
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 = 0.4.
 2
2 𝑑𝑢
 Substituting the value of 𝑙 in equation 𝜏ҧ = 𝜌𝑙 , we get
𝑑𝑦

2 2
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑢
𝜏 𝑜𝑟 𝜏ҧ = 𝜌(𝑘𝑦)2 × ⟹ 𝜏= 𝜌𝑘 2 𝑦 2 ×
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦

2
𝑑𝑢 𝜏 𝑑𝑢 𝜏 1 𝜏
= 2 2 ⟹ = 2 2
=
𝑑𝑦 𝜌𝑘 𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝜌𝑘 𝑦 𝑘𝑦 𝜌

 For small values of y that is very close to the boundary of the pipe, Prandtl assumed
shear stress 𝜏 to be constant and approximately equal to 𝜏0 which presents the turbulent
shear stress at the pipe boundary. Substituting 𝜏 = 𝜏0 in to the above equation, we get
𝑑𝑢 1 𝜏0
=
𝑑𝑦 𝑘𝑦 𝜌
 𝜏0
 has the dimension of velocity, which is known as shear velocity and is denoted by 𝑢∗ .
𝜌

𝜏0 𝑑𝑢 1
 Thus = 𝑢∗ and then = × 𝑢∗
𝜌 𝑑𝑦 𝑘𝑦

 For a given case of turbulent flow, 𝑢∗ is constant. Hence integrating above equation, we get
𝑢∗
𝑢 = log 𝑒 𝑦 + 𝐶
𝑘
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐶 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑢∗
@ 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑦 = 𝑅, 𝑢 = 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐶 = 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 − log 𝑒 𝑅
𝑘
𝑢∗ 𝑢∗ 𝑢∗
 Then 𝑢 = log 𝑒 𝑦 + 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 − log 𝑒 𝑅 = 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 + (log 𝑒 𝑦 − log 𝑒 𝑅)
𝑘 𝑘 𝑘
𝑢∗
𝑢= 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 + log 𝑒 (𝑦Τ𝑅) ∴ 𝑘 = 0.4 = 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
0.4

 𝑢 = 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 + 2.5 𝑢∗ log 𝑒 𝑦Τ𝑅 is the velocity distribution in the turbulent flow for pipes.
 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 −𝑢
= 5.75 log10 𝑅 Τ𝑦
𝑢∗
 the difference between the maximum velocity 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 , and local velocity 𝑢 at any point
i.e., (𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑢) is known as 'velocity defect’.
 This equation is applicable to smooth as well as rough pipe boundaries.
 From Nikuradse's experiment :
𝑘
1. If ′ < 0.25 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦
𝛿
𝑘
2. If 0.25 ≤ ≤ 6 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝛿′
𝑘
3. If > 6 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ
𝛿′
𝑢∗ 𝑘
 In terms of roughness Reynolds number
𝑣
𝑢∗ 𝑘
1. If < 4 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦
𝑣
𝑢∗ 𝑘
2. If 4 ≤ ≤ 100 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑣
𝑢∗ 𝑘
3. If > 100 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ
𝑣
 For smooth pipes
𝑢 𝑢∗ 𝑘
= 5.75 log10 + 5.55
𝑢∗ 𝑣
 For rough pipes
𝑢 𝑦
= 5.75 log10 ൗ𝑘 + 8.5
𝑢∗
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑘 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

Example-3 A pipe-line carrying water has average height of irregularities projecting from
the surface of the boundary of the pipe as 0.15 mm. What type of boundary is it ? The shear
stress developed is 4.9 N/m2 . The kinematic viscosity of water is 0.01 stokes.
Example-4
A rough pipe is of diameter 8.0 cm. The velocity at a point 3.0 cm from wall is 30% more
than the velocity at a point 1 cm from pipe wall. Determine the average height of the
roughness.
Example-5
A smooth pipe of diameter 80 mm and 800 m long carries water at the rate of 0.480
m3/minute. Calculate the loss of head, wall shearing stress, center line velocity,
velocity and shear stress at 30 mm from pipe wall. Also calculate the thickness of
laminar sub-layer. Take kinematic viscosity of water as 0.015 stokes. Take the value
0.0791
of co-efficient of friction ′𝑓‘ from the relation given as 𝑓 = 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑅𝑒 =
(𝑅𝑒 )1Τ4
𝑅𝑒𝑦𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟