Friction Losses in Large-Diameter Pipes
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 6, Issue 1
Abstract
There is evidence in literature that friction factors smoother than smooth, that is smaller than the ones obtained by the Moody/Prandtl/White Colebrook/Nikuradse smooth pipe law (or Blasius law), have been measured in large diameter pipes. It is shown that a slight amount of rotation or swirl, caused, for example, by a bend, may persist in a straight pipe, thereby reducing the apparent friction factor as calculated with the nominal Reynolds number. If the friction factor is calculated with the actual Reynolds number, taking into account the rotation, the Blasius law may remain valid. The reduction in friction factor is typically of the order of 5 to 10% for rotation numbers smaller than 1 to 2. The phenomenon is likely to appear only in large diameter pipes and/or at high Reynolds numbers.
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Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 6 • Issue 1 • February 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 21, 2013
Accepted: Mar 5, 2014
Published online: May 21, 2014
Discussion open until: Oct 21, 2014
Published in print: Feb 1, 2015
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