Engineers Edge

Average (Bulk) Velocity - Fluid Flow

Random Links

Fluid Flow Table of Contents | Hydraulic and Pneumatic Knowledge
Fluid Power Equipment

In many fluid flow problems, instead of determining exact velocities at different locations in the same flow cross-section, it is sufficient to allow a single average velocity to represent the velocity of all fluid at that point in the pipe. This is fairly simple for turbulent flow since the velocity profile is flat over the majority of the pipe cross-section. It is reasonable to assume that the average velocity is the same as the velocity at the center of the pipe.

If the flow regime is laminar (the velocity profile is parabolic), the problem still exists of trying to represent the "average" velocity at any given cross-section since an average value is used in the fluid flow equations. Technically, this is done by means of integral calculus. Practically, the student should use an average value that is half of the center line value.
Contribute Article

© Copyright 2000 - 2012, by Engineers Edge, LLC All rights reserved.
Disclaimer

Home
Engineering Store
Engineering Training PDH
Products & Services
Engineering Forum
Engineering Design Data
Engineering News
Engineering Videos
Engineering Calculators
Engineering Jobs
Industrial News Buzz
Newsletter Register
Feedback
GD&T Training ASME Y14.5-2009
DFM Training
Contribute Article

Share |