Fanning friction factor
Encyclopedia
The Fanning friction factor, named after John Thomas Fanning (1837–1911), is a dimensionless number used in fluid flow calculations. It is related to the shear stress
at the wall as:
where:
The wall shear stress can, in turn, be related to the pressure loss by multiplying the wall shear stress by the wall area (
for a pipe) and dividing by the cross-sectional flow area (
for a pipe).
The friction head can be related to the pressure loss due to friction by dividing the pressure loss by the product of the acceleration due to gravity and the density of the fluid. Accordingly, the relationship between the friction head and the Fanning friction factor is:
where:
The formulae below may be used to obtain the Fanning friction factor for common applications.
The friction factor for laminar flow in round tubes is often taken to be:
where Re is the Reynolds number of the flow.
For a square channel the value used is:
The Darcy friction factor can also be expressed as
where:
For the turbulent flow regime, the relationship between the Fanning friction factor and the Reynolds number is more complex and is governed by the Colebrook equation which is implicit in
:
Various explicit approximations
of the related Darcy friction factor have been developed for turbulent flow.
Stuart W. Churchill developed a fomula that covers the friction factor for both laminar and turbulent flow.
Shear stress
A shear stress, denoted \tau\, , is defined as the component of stress coplanar with a material cross section. Shear stress arises from the force vector component parallel to the cross section...
at the wall as:
where:
is the shear stress at the wall
is the Fanning friction factor of the pipe
is the fluid velocity in the pipe
is the density of the fluid
The wall shear stress can, in turn, be related to the pressure loss by multiplying the wall shear stress by the wall area (
for a pipe) and dividing by the cross-sectional flow area ( for a pipe).The friction head can be related to the pressure loss due to friction by dividing the pressure loss by the product of the acceleration due to gravity and the density of the fluid. Accordingly, the relationship between the friction head and the Fanning friction factor is:
where:
is the friction loss (in head) of the pipe.
is the Fanning friction factor of the pipe.
is the fluid velocity in the pipe.
is the length of pipe.
is the local acceleration of gravity.
is the pipe diameter.
Fanning friction factor formulæ
This friction factor is one-fourth of the Darcy friction factor, so attention must be paid to note which one of these is meant in the "friction factor" chart or equation consulted. Of the two, the Fanning friction factor is the more commonly used by Chemical Engineers and those following the British convention.The formulae below may be used to obtain the Fanning friction factor for common applications.
The friction factor for laminar flow in round tubes is often taken to be:
where Re is the Reynolds number of the flow.
For a square channel the value used is:
The Darcy friction factor can also be expressed as
where:
-
is the shear stress at the wall -
is the density of the fluid -
is the average fluid velocity
For the turbulent flow regime, the relationship between the Fanning friction factor and the Reynolds number is more complex and is governed by the Colebrook equation which is implicit in
:Various explicit approximations
Darcy friction factor formulae
In fluid dynamics, the Darcy friction factor formulae are equations — based on experimental data and theory — for the Darcy friction factor. The Darcy friction factor is a dimensionless quantity used in the Darcy–Weisbach equation, for the description of friction losses in pipe flow as well as open...
of the related Darcy friction factor have been developed for turbulent flow.
Stuart W. Churchill developed a fomula that covers the friction factor for both laminar and turbulent flow.