3.

Closed Conduit flow

3.1 Pipe Friction Formula, Laminar & Turbulent Flow
3.2 Pipes in Series, Parallel and Branching pipes
3.3 Network of Pipes
3.4 Introduction to Water Hammer Analysis
Closed Conduit Flow
• Closed conduit flow is a flow in a closed channel where the conduit is
completely filled with the fluid, where there is no free surface and
flow driven mainly by pressure difference.
• Flow in closed conduits (pipe, if conduit is circular in section, and duct
otherwise) differs from that of open channel flow in the
mechanism/force that derives the flow
• In the case of open channel flow, flow occurs due to the action of
gravity
• In pipes the main driving force is pressure gradient along the flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• Fluid flow is classified as external and internal, depending on whether
the fluid is forced to flow over a surface or in a closed conduit.
• Flow in pipes is an example of internal flow
• The flow is bounded by the walls, in contrast to external flow where
the flow is unbounded
Closed Conduit Flow
Pipe Flow is of considerable importance in
• Our homes
• City water supply
• Irrigation system
• Sewer water system
• Power Plants
• Transport of oil and natural gas
• Cars
• Blood in our bodies
Closed Conduit Flow
Reynold’s Number
• One of the most important parameter that we have in pipe flow is the
Reynold's number.
• Re = Inertial Force/Viscous Force
Closed Conduit Flow
• What is the importance of Reynold’s number in pipe flow

• It tells whether the flow is laminar or turbulent

• If Re is < 2000 flow is Laminar
• If 2000 < Re < 4000 flow is Transitional
• If Re > 4000 flow is Turbulent
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• For non-circular ducts
• Re = VDh/v , where Dh = hydraulic diameter

• Dh = 4A/p
• For circular ducts Dh = D
Closed Conduit Flow
• Laminar Flow – fluid particles move smoothly over each other
• For a laminar flow, V/Umax = ½ ,
where V = average velocity and Umax = maximum velocity

• The velocity profile in laminar flow is parabolic

Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• In turbulent flow the velocity profile is fairly flat (almost uniform) over
the central region of flow and very steep near the walls
• For a turbulent flow, V/Umax = 4/5
• Shear stress is directly related to the velocity gradient at the wall
• Thus turbulent flow has greater shear stress than laminar.
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Entrance Region
• The region of the flow in which the effects of the viscous shearing
forces caused by fluid viscosity are felt is called the boundary
layer
• BL is the layer of a fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding
surface where the effects of viscosity are significant
• Velocity grows from zero to maximum value along the thickness of
the boundary layer
Closed Conduit Flow
• The thickness of this boundary layer increases in the flow
direction until the boundary layer reaches the pipe center and thus
fills the entire pipe
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• The developed average velocity profile is parabolic in laminar flow, as
shown, but somewhat flatter or fuller in turbulent flow.
• The region from the pipe inlet to the point at which the boundary
layer merges at the centerline is called the hydrodynamic
entrance region, and the length of this region is called the
hydrodynamic entry length Lh.
Closed Conduit Flow

• Flow in the entrance region is called hydrodynamically

developing flow since this is the region where the velocity profile
develops.
• The region beyond the entrance region in which the velocity profile
is fully developed and remains unchanged is called the
hydrodynamically fully developed region
Closed Conduit Flow
• The velocity profile in the fully developed region is parabolic in
laminar flow.
• In turbulent flow, the velocity profile is somewhat flatter (or fuller)
due to eddy motion and more vigorous mixing in the radial direction.
• The time-averaged velocity profile remains unchanged with change
in position in X-direction when the flow is fully developed, and thus
For hydrodynamically fully developed:
Closed Conduit Flow
• The Shear Stress Remains Constant in the fully developed region.
Why?
• The wall shear stress is the highest at the pipe inlet, and
decreases gradually to the fully developed value. Why ?
• Therefore, the pressure drop is higher in the entrance regions of a
pipe
• The fully developed region is characterized by linear pressure drop.
Why?
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Entrance Lengths
• The hydrodynamic entry length is usually taken to be the distance
from the pipe entrance to where the wall shear stress (and thus
the friction factor) reaches within about 2 percent of the fully
developed value.
𝐿𝑒
• For Laminar Flow – 𝐷 = 0.06Re
• For Turbulent flow - 𝐿𝑒 = 4.4𝑅𝑒^(1)
𝐷 6
Closed Conduit Flow
Example I : A) Water in a 1m pipe at v = 10m/s find entrance length
B) Water in 0.1m pipe flowing with v = 0.0177156m/s find the type of
flow and the entrance length
Closed Conduit Flow
Laminar Flow in a pipe
• Flow in pipes is laminar for Re < 2300, and the flow is fully
developed if the pipe is sufficiently long (relative to the entry
length) so that the entrance effects are negligible.
• We consider the steady laminar flow of an incompressible fluid
with constant properties in the fully developed region of a straight
circular pipe. We obtain the momentum equation by applying a
momentum balance to a differential volume element, and obtain the
velocity profile by solving it. Then we use it to obtain a relation for
the friction factor.
Closed Conduit Flow
• In fully developed laminar flow, each fluid particle moves at a
constant axial velocity along a streamline and the velocity profile
u(r) remains unchanged in the flow direction.
• There is no motion in the radial direction, and thus the velocity
component in the direction normal to flow is everywhere zero.
• There is no acceleration since the flow is steady and fully
developed.
Closed Conduit Flow
• Take fluid element in a pipe and apply momentum equation
Closed Conduit Flow
• Example: In a pipe of diameter 2m, find velocity at 0.5m above the
centerline in terms of maximum velocity or centerline velocity.
Closed Conduit Flow
Pressure Drop and Head Loss
• A quantity of interest in the analysis of pipe flow is the pressure
drop since it is directly related to the power requirements of a
pump to maintain flow.
Closed Conduit Flow
• f is called the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor
• The head loss hL represents the additional height that the fluid
needs to be raised by a pump in order to overcome the frictional
losses in the pipe.
• The head loss is caused by viscosity, and it is directly related to
the wall shear stress. The above equation is valid for both laminar
and turbulent
• For laminar flow 𝑓 = 64/𝑅𝑒
Closed Conduit Flow
• Turbulent flow
• To get f in turbulent flow they didn’t use theoretical calculations.
• They took pipes of different diameters and they glued sand on the
inside of the pipe to get a rougher pipe( They made the flow
turbulent artificially and looked at the results of roughness coefficient
obtained)
• Using the data obtained they prepared a chart called Moody Diagram
• Moody Diagram is used to obtain f values for different types of fluid
flowing in a pipe of different material and different pipe diameter
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• The Moody Chart has four regions
1. Critical region
2. Laminar region – f depends on Re Only
3. Completely turbulent region – f depends on e/D only
4. Transition region- f depends on Re and e/D
Closed Conduit Flow
• For transition and turbulent flow (for the entire non-laminar region)
in smooth as well as rough pipes f is given by the relation known as
the Colebrook equation

• An approximate explicit relation for f was given as

Closed Conduit Flow
• 3 types of problems
Category Given unknown
1 Q, D, e, viscosity hl
2 D, e, hl, viscosity Q
3 Q, e, hl, viscosity D
Closed Conduit Flow
Minor Losses
• The fluid in a typical piping system passes through various fittings,
valves, bends, elbows, tees, inlets, exits, enlargements, and
contractions in addition to the pipes
• These components interrupt the smooth flow of the fluid and
cause additional losses because of the flow separation and mixing
they induce
• In a typical system with long pipes, these losses are minor com-
pared to the total head loss in the pipes (the major losses) and
are called minor losses
Closed Conduit Flow
• Minor losses are determined experimentally (theoretical analysis
is generally not plausible)
• Minor losses are usually expressed in terms of the loss
coefficient KL (also called the resistance coefficient), defined as
Closed Conduit Flow
where V is the average flow velocity through the entire system
• Piping systems often involve sudden or gradual expansion or
contraction sections to accommodate changes in flow rates or
properties such as density and velocity. The losses are usually much
greater in the case of sudden expansion and contraction (or wide-
angle expansion) because of flow separation.
• By combining the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy
equations, the loss coefficient for the case of sudden expansion is
approximated as
Closed Conduit Flow
• Where hL is the additional irreversible head loss in the piping system
caused by insertion of the component
Closed Conduit Flow
• Minor losses are also expressed in terms of equivalent length, Lequiv
The concept of equivalent pipe length
• From the previous discussions it can be observed that all types of
energy loss in pipes are expressed as a coefficient times the velocity
head.
• Hence if one is interested in the energy loss alone, the minor losses
can be expressed in terms of a friction loss over an equivalent length
of the pipe. Hence the equivalent length corresponding to a fitting
having the minor loss coefficient of k1 can be obtained from
Closed Conduit Flow
• In the same way, if a pipe system consists of a series of two pipes
having diameters D1 and D2, and friction coefficients f1 and f2 , if the
head loss is same in both pipe segments for the same Q, then two
pipes are said to be equivalent.
• Equivalently the length of, say the second pipe, that produces the
same total head loss as for the first pipe can be obtained from,
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Example 2 : oil (Specific gravity = 0.85, kinematic viscosity = 6 X 10^-4)
flowing in a 15cm diameter pipe with a flow rate of 0.02m3/s. Find the
head loss due to friction in 100m length of the pipe.
Closed Conduit Flow
Hazen-Williams Formula
• The Hazen-Williams Formula has been developed specifically for use
with water and has been accepted as the formula used for pipe-flow
problems in North America. It is given as

• Where: V = average velocity of flow,(m/s)

R = hydraulic radius, m
S = slope of the energy gradient ( s = hL/L)
C = a roughness coefficient
Closed Conduit Flow
• The above formula can be rearranged to give
Closed Conduit Flow
• Crude oil of density 925kg/m3 and dynamic viscosity of 0.065 Ns/m3
at 20 ℃ is pumped through a horizontal pipeline 100mm in diameter,
at a rate of 10lit/s. Determine the head loss in each kilometer of the
pipeline and the shear stress at the pipe wall. What power is supplied
by the pumps per kilometer length?
Closed Conduit Flow
• Example1: oil at 20degree centigrade (Density = 888 kg/m3 , dynamic
viscosity = 0.8 Kg/m-s) is flowing steadily through a 5 cm diameter 40
meter long pipe. The pressure at the pipe inlet and outlet are 745KPa
and 95 Kpa respectively. Determine the flow rate assuming the pipe is
• A) horizontal B) inclined 15 degree upward C) inclined 15 degree
down ward
• Example2: Fluid flows through a 10mm diameter tube at Re = 1800.
The head loss is 30m in a 120m long tube. Calculate the discharge
through it.
• Example3: Water flowing in a pipe of 500mm diameter and suddenly
passes into pipe of 750 mm diameter. Determine the hl if the initial
velocity was 2m/s
Closed Conduit Flow
Multiple Pipe Systems
• In most practical pipe-flow problems the system constitutes multiple
pipes joined in different ways. Such complex systems can be one or a
combination of the following types
I ) Pipes in series: here one pipe takes the fluid after the other so that
the same flow rate passes through out the entire pipe system.
Closed Conduit Flow
ii) Pipes in Parallel : in parallel pipes two or more pipes branch from a
point (node) and rejoin some distance downstream. Hence at the node
the flow is divided into the pipes whereas the pipes flow under the
same energy difference between the nodes.
Closed Conduit Flow
iii) Branching pipes: such pipes branch off from the main and may
return to it. Typical example is pipes that convey flow from multiple
reservoirs.
Closed Conduit Flow
Iv) Pipe networks: such a system consists of pipes interconnected in
such a way that the flow makes a circuit.
Closed Conduit Flow
Pipes in series
• In such a system the same flow passes through all the pipes involved
and hence the usual problems are either:
• To determine Q for a given head H, or
• To determine the required head H to maintain a certain flow rate.
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• For datum through B. the energy equation including the loss terms
takes the form:
Closed Conduit Flow
• Since the flow rate is the same through out the pipes, the above
equation can be reduced to
Closed Conduit Flow
• Example5: Three pipes of diameter 300mm, 200mm and 400mm and
lengths 450m, 255m and 315m respectively are connected in series.
The difference in water surface levels in two tanks is 18m. Determine
the rate of flow of water if coefficients of friction are 0.0075, 0.0078
and 0.0072 respectively.
Closed Conduit Flow
Pipes in parallel
Closed Conduit Flow
• In such arrangements the flow must satisfy:
• The common types of problems and the recommended procedures
are given below.
• i) to determine the discharge Q for a given head difference between A
and B. Since in such a case, the head loss is known, one can write

• and solve for V1 by trial

Closed Conduit Flow
• Similar equations can be written for the other pipes that make up the system and solved
for their respective velocities. The total discharge is the sum of the product of the
velocities and the cross-sectional areas.
• ii) the other problem is the determination of the distribution of the discharge among the
pipes involved given the total flowrate. A step by step procedure for such problems is:
o Assume a likely discharge in one of the pipes, say pipe 1, as Ql and compute the head
loss through the pipe.
o Using the computed value of the head loss in pipe 1, compute thee discharge through
the other pipes.
o Add the computed trial discharges in all the pipes and compare the sum with the given
total discharge. If the sum is not equal to the total discharge, correct the trial discharges
by adjusting them as given below
Closed Conduit Flow

• Compute the loss again and check if they are equal

Closed Conduit Flow
• Example6: The main pipe divides into two parallel pipes which again
forms one pipe
First parallel pipe: Length = 1000m, diameter = 0.8m
Second parallel pipe: Length = 1000m, diameter = 0.6m
Friction factor for each parallel pipe = 0.02
If the total rate of flow in the main is 2m3/s, find the rate of flow in
each parallel pipe.
Closed Conduit Flow
• Example 7: Given three pipes in parallel. Total pressure drop is PA –PB
= 150000 pa elevation drop is ZA – AB = 5m. The pipe data are
• Pipe L,m d,cm e,mm e/d
•1 100 8 0.24 0.003
•2 150 6 0.12 0.002
•3 80 4 0.2 0.005
• The fluid is water, density = 1000 Kg/m3 and kinematic viscosity of
1.02X10^-6m2/s. Compute the total flow rate Q
Closed Conduit Flow
Branching Pipes
• In this case, the problem is often to find the flow rate (including the
direction) in each pipe.
1. Start by assuming a value for the head at a junction
2. Flow rate in each pipe is computed for the assumed head at the
junction
3. The flow rates computed in such a way are then checked if they
satisfy continuity
Closed Conduit Flow
4. If the sum of the discharges in the pipes is less than zero (with flow
away from the junction taken negative), then this means the assumed
head is too high and it is reduced for the next trial.
5. The procedure is repeated until the sum of the flow rates is very
close to zero.
Closed Conduit Flow
• Example 8: Three reservoirs A, B, C at water levels of 25m, 12m, 8m
are connected by a pipe network. 1200m long pipe of diameter 0.5m,
f = 0.013 draws water from A. 1000m long pipe of diameter 0.4m, f =
0.015 draws water from B and joins the pipe end from A. The
reservoir C is connected to this junction by 900m long pipe of
diameter 0.6m and f = 0.011. Determine the flow to each reservoir.
Closed Conduit Flow
Pipe networks
• Pipes that are interconnected in such a way that they make loops (or
circuits) form a network
• Pipe network problems involve the analysis of existing systems,
determination of flow rate, head loss
Closed Conduit Flow
• The solution of network problems always uses iterative procedures
that make use of the following two facts:
1. The flow into a junction must equal the flow out of the junction, i.e.
at each node (and for the entire system) continuity must be satisfied.
2. The algebraic sum of the head losses around any circuit must add up
to zero.
Closed Conduit Flow
• Below a method (commonly known as the Hardy-Cross method. after
Prof. Hardy Cross) is outlined.
1. By careful inspection of the network, assume a reasonable
distribution of flow rate in the pipes so that continuity is satisfied at
each node.
2. compute the head loss in each pipe.
Closed Conduit Flow
• The Darcy- Weisbach equation can be reformulated as
Closed Conduit Flow
• Industrial (commercial) pipe-friction formulas are also used in
practice, which are generally of the form:
Closed Conduit Flow
• Thus compute ΣhL = ΣrQn and check if the sum of the head losses is
zero. If it is not the case then adjust the initially assumed flow rate as
given below.
• If the initially assumed discharge is Qo and the adjustment that
should be made to have sum of head losses zero is ΔQ, then head loss
for the new discharge is given by
Closed Conduit Flow
• For a small ΔQ, higher order terms of this value can be neglected
and the equation approximated as
Closed Conduit Flow
• The procedure is repeated until the discharges in the pipes satisfy the
two conditions mentioned at the beginning, i.e.
• ΣrQn = 0 and
• continuity is satisfied at each node.
• When these are satisfied the successive values of the corrective
discharge, ΔQ become very small.
Closed Conduit Flow
• Example1: Neglecting minor losses in the pipes determine the flows
in the pipes.
• Given
Closed Conduit Flow
• Elevation of pipe nodes
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Introduction to water hammer analysis
• During opening and closing of valves, the flow becomes unsteady
• Water hammer can be defined as the change in pressure above or below
the normal working pressure caused by the change in the velocity of flow
• Water hammer is a phenomenon of pressure change in closed pipes caused
when flowing water in a pipeline is decelerated or accelerated by closing or
opening a valve or changing the velocity of the water rapidly in some other
manner.
• Occurs in supply lines for drinking water, discharge line for sewerage water,
oil-transmission line, penstock pipeline etc.
 Water hammer theory and analysis
Definition Valve

Pipe
Valve open Vo, Po
Steady State flow

+ve pressure wave, P+ -ve pressure wave, P-

c c
Valve rapidly closed
Unsteady / transient flow
P+ > Po P- < Po
Water is compressed Water is expanded
Pipe wall stretches/ expands Pipe wall contracts
Rupture of pipe may occur Implosion of pipe may occur
Closed Conduit Flow
Causes of rapid change in flow
• Sudden opening or closing of control valves
• Starting or stopping of pumps
Def
• Water hammer is a phenomenon of pressure change in pipes. It is caused when
flowing water in a pipeline is decelerated or accelerated by
• Sudden closing or opening a valve or
• Changing the velocity of the water rapidly in some other manner such as
• Starting or stopping of pumps
• Rejecting or accepting load by hydraulic turbine
• The phenomenon is accompanied by a series of positive and negative pressure
waves which travel back and forth in the pipe system until they are damped out by
friction.
• Water hammer in penstocks may cause
• rupture of the pipe
• Implosion of the pipe
• In water hammer, flow is changing from one steady-state to another over a very, very
short time.

87
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• If the valve is suddenly closed, the fluid immediately upstream of the
valve is stopped but the remaining fluid continues to move towards
the valve as if nothing has happened
• As the fluid in the immediate neighborhood of the valve has been
brought to rest, it is slightly compressed by the fluid still flowing with
its original velocity towards the valve
• The wall of the pipe surrounding this will get stretched by the excess
pressure produced
Closed Conduit Flow
• The next element of the fluid now finds an increased pressure with
static condition in front of it, therefore, it to come to rest, is itself
compressed and expands the pipe wall slightly.
• Each element of the fluid thus stops the element following it until all
the fluid in the pipe has been brought to rest.
• Thus the pressure gets propagated in the upstream direction at the
sonic wave speed. This speed is given by the following equation:
Closed Conduit Flow
• Where K= the bulk modulus and ρ is the mass density of the fluid, if
elasticity of the material is negligible.
• If the elasticity of the pipe and that of the fluid are taken in to
consideration a more accurate expression for the pressure wave
velocity (also known as water hammer wave celerity) is
Closed Conduit Flow
• Where K = bulk modulus of fluid (2100 N/mm2 for water), E = elastic
modulus of pipe material (210000 N/mm2 for steel)
• T and D are pipe thickness and diameter respectively.
• k = a coefficient which takes the values:
5/4 – ν for pipe supported at one end only
1 – ν2 for pipe with both ends fixed
1 for pipe with expansion joints, where ν is Poisson ratio
Closed Conduit Flow
• There are two approaches to the analysis of water hammer problem
1. Rigid Water Column Theory : compressibility effects of water and
the elasticity of the pipe are neglected
2. Elastic Water Column Theory : water and pipe are elastic
1. Rigid Water Column Theory
• It is assumed that any increase in pressure change is transmitted
instantaneously throughout the fluid in the conduit, disregarding the
compressibility of the fluid and the elasticity of the conduit.
Closed Conduit Flow
• The theory ignores the elastic effects due to sudden pressure
changes. Thus any change in pressure is assumed to be transmitted
instantaneously over the whole pipe length. In reality, the pressure
transmission through the water mass is in the form of a compression
wave with velocity =C
• A pressure wave, thus needs a time T to traverse the whole length of
the pipe and is not instantaneous as presumed
• The critical time of closure, Tc, of the valve, i.e., the time taken by the pressure
wave for a round trip from the valve to the reservoir and back is
If actual valve closure time Ta is greater than Tc, rigid water column theory gives
fairly correct estimation of excess head built up due to valve closure
Based on this,
o If Ta > Tc , the valve closure is gradual,
o If Ta < Tc, the valve closure is rapid.
For rapid closure, elastic effect has to be considered and Elastic Water Column
Theory.

[Link] Elastic Water Column Theory

It is based on the following assumptions
1. The water in the pipe is compressible;
2. The pipe walls stretch regardless of the pressure inside the pipe;
Based on continuity, linear momentum, stress relationships, Jukowsky proposed the
following equation for the maximum rise or drop

96
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• From Newton’s second law,
Closed Conduit Flow
Closed Conduit Flow
• Valve closure cannot occur in reality with in zero time. Hence
classification of closure time in to rapid and slow is adopted. If the
closure time is less than 2L/c, the closure is classified as rapid and the
above equation for maximum water hammer pressure can be used.
• If, however, the closure time is greater than 2L/c then due to the
reflected negative pressure wave the maximum pressure is reduced.
Here it is proposed to reduce the maximum pressure according to
time proportion, i.e.
Closed Conduit Flow
• Example: The valve at a penstock with D = 1m carrying flow at velocity of
3.5m/s is suddenly closed. The penstock is made of steel with
thickness=10mm; E = 200 Gpa; K =2.19 Gpa and is with expansion joints.
Calculate the water hammer pressure head.