'

Friction Loss (turbulent flow)

Description

In fluid flow, friction loss (or skin friction) is the loss of pressure or “head” that occurs in pipe or duct flow due to the effect of the fluid’s viscosity near the surface of the pipe or duct. In mechanical systems such as internal combustion engines, the term refers to the power lost in overcoming the friction between two moving surfaces, a different phenomenon.

In many practical engineering applications, the fluid flow is more rapid, therefore turbulent rather than laminar. Under turbulent flow, the friction loss is found to be roughly proportional to the square of the flow velocity and inversely proportional to the pipe diameter, that is, the friction loss follows the phenomenological Darcy–Weisbach equation in which the hydraulic slope S can be expressed, as shown here.

Related formulas

Variables

Sfriction loss or hydraulic slope (dimensionless)
fDDarcy friction factor (dimensionless)
gStandard gravity
Vflow velocity (m/s)
Dpipe diameter (m)