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In
fluid dynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...
, the Reynolds number () is a
dimensionless quantity Dimensionless quantities, or quantities of dimension one, are quantities implicitly defined in a manner that prevents their aggregation into unit of measurement, units of measurement. ISBN 978-92-822-2272-0. Typically expressed as ratios that a ...
that helps predict
fluid flow In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...
patterns in different situations by measuring the ratio between inertial and
viscous Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...
forces. At low Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be dominated by laminar (sheet-like) flow, while at high Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be
turbulent In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...
. The turbulence results from differences in the fluid's speed and direction, which may sometimes intersect or even move counter to the overall direction of the flow ( eddy currents). These eddy currents begin to churn the flow, using up energy in the process, which for liquids increases the chances of
cavitation Cavitation in fluid mechanics and engineering normally is the phenomenon in which the static pressure of a liquid reduces to below the liquid's vapor pressure, leading to the formation of small vapor-filled cavities in the liquid. When sub ...
. The Reynolds number has wide applications, ranging from liquid flow in a pipe to the passage of air over an aircraft wing. It is used to predict the transition from laminar to turbulent flow and is used in the scaling of similar but different-sized flow situations, such as between an aircraft model in a wind tunnel and the full-size version. The predictions of the onset of turbulence and the ability to calculate scaling effects can be used to help predict fluid behavior on a larger scale, such as in local or global air or water movement, and thereby the associated meteorological and climatological effects. The concept was introduced by George Stokes in 1851, but the Reynolds number was named by
Arnold Sommerfeld Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld (; 5 December 1868 – 26 April 1951) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in Atomic physics, atomic and Quantum mechanics, quantum physics, and also educated and ...
in 1908 after
Osborne Reynolds Osborne Reynolds (23 August 1842 – 21 February 1912) was an Irish-born British innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics. Separately, his studies of heat transfer between solids and fluids brought improvements in boiler and condenser ...
who popularized its use in 1883 (an example of Stigler's law of eponymy).


Definition

The Reynolds number is the
ratio In mathematics, a ratio () shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ...
of
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
l forces to
viscous Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...
forces within a fluid that is subjected to relative internal movement due to different fluid velocities. A region where these forces change behavior is known as a
boundary layer In physics and fluid mechanics, a boundary layer is the thin layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a Boundary (thermodynamic), bounding surface formed by the fluid flowing along the surface. The fluid's interaction with the wall induces ...
, such as the bounding surface in the interior of a pipe. A similar effect is created by the introduction of a stream of high-velocity fluid into a low-velocity fluid, such as the hot gases emitted from a flame in air. This relative movement generates fluid friction, which is a factor in developing turbulent flow. Counteracting this effect is the
viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...
of the fluid, which tends to inhibit turbulence. The Reynolds number quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow conditions and is a guide to when turbulent flow will occur in a particular situation. This ability to predict the onset of turbulent flow is an important design tool for equipment such as piping systems or aircraft wings, but the Reynolds number is also used in scaling of fluid dynamics problems and is used to determine dynamic similitude between two different cases of fluid flow, such as between a model aircraft, and its full-size version. Such scaling is not linear and the application of Reynolds numbers to both situations allows scaling factors to be developed. With respect to laminar and
turbulent flow In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by Chaos theory, chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disrupt ...
regimes: * laminar flow occurs at low Reynolds numbers, where viscous forces are dominant, and is characterized by smooth, constant fluid motion; * turbulent flow occurs at high Reynolds numbers and is dominated by inertial forces, which tend to produce chaotic eddies,
vortices In fluid dynamics, a vortex (: vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...
and other flow instabilities. The Reynolds number is defined as:where: * is the
density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...
of the fluid (
SI units The International System of Units, internationally known by the abbreviation SI (from French ), is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. It is the only system of measurement with official st ...
: kg/m3) * is the
flow speed In continuum mechanics the flow velocity in fluid dynamics, also macroscopic velocity in statistical mechanics, or drift velocity in electromagnetism, is a vector field used to mathematically describe the motion of a continuum. The length of the ...
(m/s) * is a
characteristic length In physics, a characteristic length is an important dimension that defines the scale of a physical system. Often, such a length is used as an input to a formula in order to predict some characteristics of the system, and it is usually required by ...
(m) * is the
dynamic viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...
of the
fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously motion, move and Deformation (physics), deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are M ...
(Pa·s or N·s/m2 or kg/(m·s)) * is the
kinematic viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...
of the fluid (m2/s). The Reynolds number can be defined for several different situations where a fluid is in relative motion to a surface.The definition of the Reynolds number is not to be confused with the Reynolds equation or lubrication equation. These definitions generally include the fluid properties of density and viscosity, plus a velocity and a
characteristic length In physics, a characteristic length is an important dimension that defines the scale of a physical system. Often, such a length is used as an input to a formula in order to predict some characteristics of the system, and it is usually required by ...
or characteristic dimension (L in the above equation). This dimension is a matter of convention—for example radius and diameter are equally valid to describe spheres or circles, but one is chosen by convention. For aircraft or ships, the length or width can be used. For flow in a pipe, or for a sphere moving in a fluid, the internal diameter is generally used today. Other shapes such as rectangular pipes or non-spherical objects have an ''
equivalent diameter In applied sciences, the equivalent radius (or mean radius) is the radius of a circle or sphere with the same perimeter, area, or volume of a non-circular or non-spherical object. The equivalent diameter (or mean diameter) (D) is twice the equiva ...
'' defined. For fluids of variable density such as compressible gases or fluids of variable viscosity such as non-Newtonian fluids, special rules apply. The velocity may also be a matter of convention in some circumstances, notably stirred vessels. In practice, matching the Reynolds number is not on its own sufficient to guarantee similitude. Fluid flow is generally chaotic, and very small changes to shape and surface roughness of bounding surfaces can result in very different flows. Nevertheless, Reynolds numbers are a very important guide and are widely used.


Derivation

If we know that the relevant physical quantities in a physical system are only \rho, u, L, \mu, then the Reynolds number is essentially fixed by the Buckingham π theorem. In detail, since there are 4 quantities \rho, u, L, \mu, but they have only 3 dimensions (length, time, mass), we can consider \rho^ u^ L^ \mu^ , where x_1, ..., x_4 are real numbers. Setting the three dimensions of \rho^ u^ L^ \mu^ to zero, we obtain 3 independent linear constraints, so the solution space has 1 dimension, and it is spanned by the vector (1,1,1,-1). Thus, any dimensionless quantity constructed out of \rho, u, L, \mu is a function of \rho u L \mu^ , the Reynolds number. Alternatively, we can take the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations (convective form):\frac + (\mathbf \cdot \nabla) \mathbf - \nu \,\nabla^2 \mathbf = - \frac\nabla p + \mathbfRemove the gravity term \bold g, then the left side consists of inertial force \frac + (\mathbf \cdot \nabla) \mathbf, and viscous force \nu \,\nabla^2 \mathbf . Their ratio has the order of \frac \sim \frac = \frac, the Reynolds number. This argument is written out in detail on the Scallop theorem page.


Alternative derivation

The Reynolds number can be obtained when one uses the nondimensional form of the incompressible
Navier–Stokes equations The Navier–Stokes equations ( ) are partial differential equations which describe the motion of viscous fluid substances. They were named after French engineer and physicist Claude-Louis Navier and the Irish physicist and mathematician Georg ...
for a newtonian fluid expressed in terms of the Lagrangian derivative: :\rho \frac = -\nabla p + \mu \nabla^2 \mathbf + \rho \mathbf. Each term in the above equation has the units of a "body force" (force per unit volume) with the same dimensions of a density times an acceleration. Each term is thus dependent on the exact measurements of a flow. When one renders the equation nondimensional, that is when we multiply it by a factor with inverse units of the base equation, we obtain a form that does not depend directly on the physical sizes. One possible way to obtain a nondimensional equation is to multiply the whole equation by the factor : \frac, where * is the mean velocity, or , relative to the fluid (m/s), * is the characteristic length (m), * is the fluid density (kg/m3). If we now set :\begin \mathbf' &= \frac, & p' &= p\frac, & \mathbf' &= \mathbf\frac, & \frac &= \frac \frac, & \nabla' &= L \nabla, \end we can rewrite the Navier–Stokes equation without dimensions: :\frac = -\nabla' p' + \frac \nabla'^2 \mathbf' + \mathbf', where the term . Finally, dropping the primes for ease of reading: :\frac = -\nabla p + \frac \nabla^2 \mathbf + \mathbf. This is why mathematically all Newtonian, incompressible flows with the same Reynolds number are comparable. Notice also that in the above equation, the viscous terms vanish for . Thus flows with high Reynolds numbers are approximately inviscid in the free stream.


History

Osborne Reynolds famously studied the conditions in which the flow of fluid in pipes transitioned from
laminar flow Laminar flow () is the property of fluid particles in fluid dynamics to follow smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral m ...
to
turbulent flow In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by Chaos theory, chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disrupt ...
. In his 1883 paper Reynolds described the transition from laminar to turbulent flow in a classic experiment in which he examined the behaviour of water flow under different flow velocities using a small stream of dyed water introduced into the centre of clear water flow in a larger pipe. The larger pipe was glass so the behaviour of the layer of the dyed stream could be observed. At the end of this pipe, there was a flow control valve used to vary the water velocity inside the tube. When the velocity was low, the dyed layer remained distinct throughout the entire length of the large tube. When the velocity was increased, the layer broke up at a given point and diffused throughout the fluid's cross-section. The point at which this happened was the transition point from laminar to turbulent flow. From these experiments came the dimensionless Reynolds number for dynamic similarity—the ratio of
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
l forces to
viscous Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...
forces. Reynolds also proposed what is now known as the Reynolds averaging of turbulent flows, where quantities such as
velocity Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...
are expressed as the sum of mean and fluctuating components. Such averaging allows for 'bulk' description of turbulent flow, for example using the
Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS equations) are time-averaged equations of motion for fluid flow. The idea behind the equations is Reynolds decomposition, whereby an instantaneous quantity is decomposed into its time-averaged ...
.


Flow in a pipe

For flow in a pipe or tube, the Reynolds number is generally defined as : \mathrm = \frac = \frac = \frac = \frac, where * is the
hydraulic diameter The hydraulic diameter, , is a commonly used term when handling flow in non-circular tubes and channels. Using this term, one can calculate many things in the same way as for a round tube. When the cross-section is uniform along the tube or channe ...
of the pipe (the inside diameter if the pipe is circular) (m), * is the
volumetric flow rate In physics and engineering, in particular fluid dynamics, the volumetric flow rate (also known as volume flow rate, or volume velocity) is the volume of fluid which passes per unit time; usually it is represented by the symbol (sometimes \do ...
(m3/s), * is the pipe's ''cross-sectional'' area () (m2), * is the mean velocity of the fluid (m/s), * (mu) is the
dynamic viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...
of the
fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously motion, move and Deformation (physics), deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are M ...
(Pa·s = N·s/m2 = kg/(m·s)), * (nu) is the
kinematic viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...
() (m2/s), * (rho) is the
density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...
of the fluid (kg/m3), * is the mass flowrate of the fluid (kg/s). For shapes such as squares, rectangular or annular ducts where the height and width are comparable, the characteristic dimension for internal-flow situations is taken to be the
hydraulic diameter The hydraulic diameter, , is a commonly used term when handling flow in non-circular tubes and channels. Using this term, one can calculate many things in the same way as for a round tube. When the cross-section is uniform along the tube or channe ...
, , defined as :D_\text = \frac, where is the cross-sectional area, and is the
wetted perimeter Wetting is the ability of a liquid to displace gas to maintain contact with a solid surface science, surface, resulting from intermolecular interactions when the two are brought together. These interactions occur in the presence of either a ga ...
. The wetted perimeter for a channel is the total perimeter of all channel walls that are in contact with the flow. This means that the length of the channel exposed to air is ''not'' included in the wetted perimeter. For a circular pipe, the hydraulic diameter is exactly equal to the inside pipe diameter: :D_\text = D. For an annular duct, such as the outer channel in a tube-in-tube
heat exchanger A heat exchanger is a system used to transfer heat between a source and a working fluid. Heat exchangers are used in both cooling and heating processes. The fluids may be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or they may be in direct contac ...
, the hydraulic diameter can be shown algebraically to reduce to :D_\text = D_\text - D_\text, where * is the inside diameter of the outer pipe, * is the outside diameter of the inner pipe. For calculation involving flow in non-circular ducts, the hydraulic diameter can be substituted for the diameter of a circular duct, with reasonable accuracy, if the aspect ratio AR of the duct cross-section remains in the range < AR < 4.


Laminar–turbulent transition

In
boundary layer In physics and fluid mechanics, a boundary layer is the thin layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a Boundary (thermodynamic), bounding surface formed by the fluid flowing along the surface. The fluid's interaction with the wall induces ...
flow over a flat plate, experiments confirm that, after a certain length of flow, a laminar boundary layer will become unstable and turbulent. This instability occurs across different scales and with different fluids, usually when ≈ , where is the distance from the leading edge of the flat plate, and the flow velocity is the
freestream The freestream is the air far upstream of an aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field o ...
velocity of the fluid outside the boundary layer. For flow in a pipe of diameter , experimental observations show that for "fully developed" flow,Full development of the flow occurs as the flow enters the pipe, the boundary layer thickens and then stabilizes after several diameters distance into the pipe. laminar flow occurs when < 2300 and turbulent flow occurs when > 2900. At the lower end of this range, a continuous turbulent-flow will form, but only at a very long distance from the inlet of the pipe. The flow in between will begin to transition from laminar to turbulent and then back to laminar at irregular intervals, called intermittent flow. This is due to the different speeds and conditions of the fluid in different areas of the pipe's cross-section, depending on other factors such as pipe roughness and flow uniformity. Laminar flow tends to dominate in the fast-moving center of the pipe while slower-moving turbulent flow dominates near the wall. As the Reynolds number increases, the continuous turbulent-flow moves closer to the inlet and the intermittency in between increases, until the flow becomes fully turbulent at > 2900. This result is generalized to non-circular channels using the
hydraulic diameter The hydraulic diameter, , is a commonly used term when handling flow in non-circular tubes and channels. Using this term, one can calculate many things in the same way as for a round tube. When the cross-section is uniform along the tube or channe ...
, allowing a transition Reynolds number to be calculated for other shapes of channel. These transition Reynolds numbers are also called ''critical Reynolds numbers'', and were studied by Osborne Reynolds around 1895. The critical Reynolds number is different for every geometry.


Flow in a wide duct

For a fluid moving between two plane parallel surfaces—where the width is much greater than the space between the plates—then the characteristic dimension is equal to the distance between the plates. This is consistent with the annular duct and rectangular duct cases above, taken to a limiting aspect ratio.


Flow in an open channel

For calculating the flow of liquid with a free surface, the
hydraulic radius The Manning formula or Manning's equation is an empirical formula estimating the average velocity of a liquid in an open channel flow (flowing in a conduit that does not completely enclose the liquid). However, this equation is also used for calc ...
must be determined. This is the cross-sectional area of the channel divided by the wetted perimeter. For a semi-circular channel, it is a quarter of the diameter (in case of full pipe flow). For a rectangular channel, the hydraulic radius is the cross-sectional area divided by the wetted perimeter. Some texts then use a characteristic dimension that is four times the hydraulic radius, chosen because it gives the same value of for the onset of turbulence as in pipe flow, while others use the hydraulic radius as the characteristic length-scale with consequently different values of for transition and turbulent flow.


Flow around airfoils

Reynolds numbers are used in
airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...
design to (among other things) manage "scale effect" when computing/comparing characteristics (a tiny wing, scaled to be huge, will perform differently). Fluid dynamicists define the ''chord Reynolds number'' , where is the flight speed, is the chord length, and is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid in which the airfoil operates, which is for the atmosphere at
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
. In some special studies a characteristic length other than chord may be used; rare is the "span Reynolds number", which is not to be confused with span-wise stations on a wing, where chord is still used.


Object in a fluid

The Reynolds number for an object moving in a fluid, called the particle Reynolds number and often denoted , characterizes the nature of the surrounding flow and its fall velocity.


In viscous fluids

Where the viscosity is naturally high, such as polymer solutions and polymer melts, flow is normally laminar. The Reynolds number is very small and
Stokes' law In fluid dynamics, Stokes' law gives the frictional force – also called drag force – exerted on spherical objects moving at very small Reynolds numbers in a viscous fluid. It was derived by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851 by solving the S ...
can be used to measure the
viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...
of the fluid. Spheres are allowed to fall through the fluid and they reach the
terminal velocity Terminal velocity is the maximum speed attainable by an object as it falls through a fluid (air is the most common example). It is reached when the sum of the drag force (''Fd'') and the buoyancy is equal to the downward force of gravity (''FG ...
quickly, from which the viscosity can be determined. The laminar flow of polymer solutions is exploited by animals such as fish and dolphins, who exude viscous solutions from their skin to aid flow over their bodies while swimming. It has been used in yacht racing by owners who want to gain a speed advantage by pumping a polymer solution such as low molecular weight polyoxyethylene in water, over the wetted surface of the hull. It is, however, a problem for mixing polymers, because turbulence is needed to distribute fine filler (for example) through the material. Inventions such as the "cavity transfer mixer" have been developed to produce multiple folds into a moving melt so as to improve mixing efficiency. The device can be fitted onto extruders to aid mixing.


Sphere in a fluid

For a sphere in a fluid, the characteristic length-scale is the diameter of the sphere and the characteristic velocity is that of the sphere relative to the fluid some distance away from the sphere, such that the motion of the sphere does not disturb that reference parcel of fluid. The density and viscosity are those belonging to the fluid. Note that purely laminar flow only exists up to = 10 under this definition. Under the condition of low , the relationship between force and speed of motion is given by
Stokes' law In fluid dynamics, Stokes' law gives the frictional force – also called drag force – exerted on spherical objects moving at very small Reynolds numbers in a viscous fluid. It was derived by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851 by solving the S ...
. At higher Reynolds numbers the drag on a sphere depends on surface roughness. Thus, for example, adding dimples on the surface of a
golf ball A golf ball is a ball designed to be used in golf. Under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than , has a diameter not less than , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits. Like golf clubs, golf bal ...
causes the boundary layer on the upstream side of the ball to transition from laminar to turbulent. The turbulent boundary layer is able to remain attached to the surface of the ball much longer than a laminar boundary and so creates a narrower low-pressure wake and hence less pressure drag. The reduction in pressure drag causes the ball to travel farther.


Rectangular object in a fluid

The equation for a rectangular object is identical to that of a sphere, with the object being approximated as an
ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface;  that is, a Surface (mathemat ...
and the axis of length being chosen as the characteristic length scale. Such considerations are important in natural streams, for example, where there are few perfectly spherical grains. For grains in which measurement of each axis is impractical, sieve diameters are used instead as the characteristic particle length-scale. Both approximations alter the values of the critical Reynolds number.


Fall velocity

The particle Reynolds number is important in determining the fall velocity of a particle. When the particle Reynolds number indicates laminar flow,
Stokes' law In fluid dynamics, Stokes' law gives the frictional force – also called drag force – exerted on spherical objects moving at very small Reynolds numbers in a viscous fluid. It was derived by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851 by solving the S ...
can be used to calculate its fall velocity or settling velocity. When the particle Reynolds number indicates turbulent flow, a turbulent drag law must be constructed to model the appropriate settling velocity.


Packed bed

For fluid flow through a bed, of approximately spherical particles of diameter in contact, if the '' voidage'' is and the ''
superficial velocity Superficial velocity (or superficial flow velocity), in engineering of multiphase flows and flows in porous media, is a hypothetical (artificial) flow velocity calculated as if the given phase or fluid were the only one flowing or present in a gi ...
'' is , the Reynolds number can be defined as : \mathrm = \frac, or : \mathrm = \frac, or : \mathrm = \frac. The choice of equation depends on the system involved: the first is successful in correlating the data for various types of packed and fluidized beds, the second Reynolds number suits for the liquid-phase data, while the third was found successful in correlating the fluidized bed data, being first introduced for liquid fluidized bed system. Laminar conditions apply up to = 10, fully turbulent from = 2000.


Stirred vessel

In a cylindrical vessel stirred by a central rotating paddle, turbine or propeller, the characteristic dimension is the diameter of the agitator . The velocity is where is the
rotational speed Rotational frequency, also known as rotational speed or rate of rotation (symbols ''ν'', lowercase Greek nu, and also ''n''), is the frequency of rotation of an object around an axis. Its SI unit is the reciprocal seconds (s−1); other com ...
in rad per second. Then the Reynolds number is: :\mathrm = \frac = \frac . The system is fully turbulent for values of above .


Pipe friction

Pressure drops seen for fully developed flow of fluids through pipes can be predicted using the Moody diagram which plots the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor against Reynolds number and relative roughness . The diagram clearly shows the laminar, transition, and turbulent flow regimes as Reynolds number increases. The nature of pipe flow is strongly dependent on whether the flow is laminar or turbulent.


Similarity of flows

In order for two flows to be similar, they must have the same geometry and equal Reynolds and
Euler numbers Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...
. When comparing fluid behavior at corresponding points in a model and a full-scale flow, the following holds: :\begin \mathrm_\text &= \mathrm, \\ \mathrm_\text &= \mathrm, \end where \mathrm_\text is the Reynolds number for the model, and \mathrm is full-scale Reynolds number, and similarly for the Euler numbers. The model numbers and design numbers should be in the same proportion, hence : \frac = \frac. This allows engineers to perform experiments with reduced scale models in water channels or
wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...
s and correlate the data to the actual flows, saving on costs during experimentation and on lab time. Note that true dynamic similitude may require matching other
dimensionless number Dimensionless quantities, or quantities of dimension one, are quantities implicitly defined in a manner that prevents their aggregation into unit of measurement, units of measurement. ISBN 978-92-822-2272-0. Typically expressed as ratios that a ...
s as well, such as the
Mach number The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physicist and philosopher Erns ...
used in
compressible flow Compressible flow (or gas dynamics) is the branch of fluid mechanics that deals with flows having significant changes in fluid density. While all flows are compressibility, compressible, flows are usually treated as being incompressible flow, incom ...
s, or the
Froude number In continuum mechanics, the Froude number (, after William Froude, ) is a dimensionless number defined as the ratio of the flow inertia to the external force field (the latter in many applications simply due to gravity). The Froude number is ba ...
that governs open-channel flows. Some flows involve more dimensionless parameters than can be practically satisfied with the available apparatus and fluids, so one is forced to decide which parameters are most important. For experimental flow modeling to be useful, it requires a fair amount of experience and judgment of the engineer. An example where the mere Reynolds number is not sufficient for the similarity of flows (or even the flow regime – laminar or turbulent) are bounded flows, i.e. flows that are restricted by walls or other boundaries. A classical example of this is the
Taylor–Couette flow In fluid dynamics, the Taylor–Couette flow consists of a viscous fluid confined in the gap between two rotating cylinders. For low angular velocities, measured by the Reynolds number ''Re'', the flow is steady and purely azimuthal. This laminar ...
, where the dimensionless ratio of radii of bounding cylinders is also important, and many technical applications where these distinctions play an important role. Principles of these restrictions were developed by Maurice Marie Alfred Couette and Geoffrey Ingram Taylor and developed further by Floris Takens and
David Ruelle David Pierre Ruelle (; born 20 August 1935) is a Belgian and naturalized French mathematical physicist. He has worked on statistical physics and dynamical systems. With Floris Takens, Ruelle coined the term ''strange attractor'', and devel ...
. ;Typical values of Reynolds number * Dictyostelium amoebae: ~ 1 × 10−6 *
Bacterium Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...
~ 1 × 10−4 *
Ciliate The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagellum, eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a ...
~ 1 × 10−1 * Smallest
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
~ 1 *
Blood flow Hemodynamics American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or haemodynamics are the Fluid dynamics, dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostasis, homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydrau ...
in
brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
~ 1 × 102 * Blood flow in
aorta The aorta ( ; : aortas or aortae) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the Ventricle (heart), left ventricle of the heart, branching upwards immediately after, and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits at ...
~ 1 × 103 * Onset of turbulent flow ~ 2.3 × 103 to 5.0 × 104 for pipe flow to 106 for boundary layers * Typical pitch in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
~ 2 × 105 * Person
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
~ 4 × 106 * Fastest
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
~ 1 × 108 *
Blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...
~ 4 × 108 * A large ship ('' Queen Elizabeth 2'') ~ 5 × 109 * Atmospheric
tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
~ 1 x 1012


Smallest scales of turbulent motion

In a turbulent flow, there is a range of scales of the time-varying fluid motion. The size of the largest scales of fluid motion (sometimes called eddies) are set by the overall geometry of the flow. For instance, in an industrial smoke stack, the largest scales of fluid motion are as big as the diameter of the stack itself. The size of the smallest scales is set by the Reynolds number. As the Reynolds number increases, smaller and smaller scales of the flow are visible. In a smokestack, the smoke may appear to have many very small velocity perturbations or eddies, in addition to large bulky eddies. In this sense, the Reynolds number is an indicator of the range of scales in the flow. The higher the Reynolds number, the greater the range of scales. The largest eddies will always be the same size; the smallest eddies are determined by the Reynolds number. What is the explanation for this phenomenon? A large Reynolds number indicates that viscous forces are not important at large scales of the flow. With a strong predominance of inertial forces over viscous forces, the largest scales of fluid motion are undamped—there is not enough viscosity to dissipate their motions. The kinetic energy must "cascade" from these large scales to progressively smaller scales until a level is reached for which the scale is small enough for viscosity to become important (that is, viscous forces become of the order of inertial ones). It is at these small scales where the dissipation of energy by viscous action finally takes place. The Reynolds number indicates at what scale this viscous dissipation occurs.


In physiology

Poiseuille's law on blood circulation in the body is dependent on
laminar flow Laminar flow () is the property of fluid particles in fluid dynamics to follow smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral m ...
. In turbulent flow the flow rate is proportional to the square root of the pressure gradient, as opposed to its direct proportionality to pressure gradient in laminar flow. Using the definition of the Reynolds number we can see that a large diameter with rapid flow, where the density of the blood is high, tends towards turbulence. Rapid changes in vessel diameter may lead to turbulent flow, for instance when a narrower vessel widens to a larger one. Furthermore, a bulge of
atheroma An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal accumulation of material in the tunica intima, inner layer of an arterial wall. The material consists of mostly macrophage, macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variabl ...
may be the cause of turbulent flow, where audible turbulence may be detected with a stethoscope.


Complex systems

Reynolds number interpretation has been extended into the area of arbitrary
complex systems A complex system is a system composed of many components that may interact with one another. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication s ...
. Such as financial flows, nonlinear networks, etc. In the latter case, an artificial viscosity is reduced to a nonlinear mechanism of energy distribution in complex network media. Reynolds number then represents a basic control parameter that expresses a balance between injected and dissipated energy flows for an open boundary system. It has been shown that Reynolds critical regime separates two types of phase space motion: accelerator (attractor) and decelerator. High Reynolds number leads to a chaotic regime transition only in frame of
strange attractor In the mathematics, mathematical field of dynamical systems, an attractor is a set of states toward which a system tends to evolve, for a wide variety of starting conditions of the system. System values that get close enough to the attractor va ...
model.


Relationship to other dimensionless parameters

There are many dimensionless numbers in fluid mechanics. The Reynolds number measures the ratio of advection and diffusion effects on structures in the velocity field, and is therefore closely related to Péclet numbers, which measure the ratio of these effects on other fields carried by the flow, for example, temperature and magnetic fields. Replacement of the
kinematic viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...
in by the thermal or magnetic diffusivity results in respectively the thermal Péclet number and the magnetic Reynolds number. These are therefore related to by-products with ratios of diffusivities, namely the
Prandtl number The Prandtl number (Pr) or Prandtl group is a dimensionless number, named after the German physicist Ludwig Prandtl, defined as the ratio of momentum diffusivity to thermal diffusivity. The Prandtl number is given as:where: * \nu : momentum d ...
and magnetic Prandtl number.


See also

* * * *
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability The Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (after Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz) is a fluid instability that occurs when there is shear velocity, velocity shear in a single continuum mechanics, continuous fluid or a velocity difference across t ...


References


Footnotes


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

# # Brezina, Jiri, 1979, Particle size and settling rate distributions of sand-sized materials: 2nd European Symposium on Particle Characterisation
PARTEC
, Nürnberg, West Germany. # Brezina, Jiri, 1980, Sedimentological interpretation of errors in size analysis of sands; 1st European Meeting of the International Association of Sedimentologists, Ruhr University at Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany, March 1980. # Brezina, Jiri, 1980, Size distribution of sand - sedimentological interpretation; 26th International Geological Congress,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, July 1980, Abstracts, vol. 2. # Fouz, Infaz "Fluid Mechanics," Mechanical Engineering Dept., University of Oxford, 2001, p. 96 # Hughes, Roger "Civil Engineering Hydraulics," Civil and Environmental Dept., University of Melbourne 1997, pp. 107–152 # Jermy M., "Fluid Mechanics A Course Reader," Mechanical Engineering Dept., University of Canterbury, 2005, pp. d5.10. # Purcell, E. M. "Life at Low Reynolds Number", ''American Journal of Physics'' vol 45, pp. 3–11 (197

# Truskey, G. A., Yuan, F, Katz, D. F. (2004). ''Transport Phenomena in Biological Systems'' Prentice Hall, pp. 7. . . # Zagarola, M. V. and Smits, A. J., "Experiments in High Reynolds Number Turbulent Pipe Flow." AIAA paper #96-0654, 34th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, Nevada, January 15–18, 1996. # Isobel Clark, 1977, ROKE, a Computer Program for Non-Linear Least Squares Decomposition of Mixtures of Distributions; Computer & Geosciences (Pergamon Press), vol. 3, p. 245 - 256. # B. C. Colby and R. P. Christensen, 1957, Some Fundamentals of Particle Size Analysis; St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Report Nr. 12/December, 55 pages. # Arthur T. Corey, 1949, Influence of Shape on the Fall Velocity of Sand Grains; M. S. Thesis, Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, December 102 pages. # Joseph R. Curray, 1961
Tracing
sediment masses by grain size modes; Proc. Internat. Association of Sedimentology, Report of the 21st Session Norden, Internat. Geol. Congress, p. 119 - 129. # Burghard Walter Flemming & Karen Ziegler, 1995, High-resolution grain size distribution patterns and textural trends in the back-barrier environment of Spiekeroog Island (Southern North Sea); Senckenbergiana Maritima, vol. 26, No. 1+2, p. 1 - 24. # Robert Louis Folk, 1962, Of skewnesses and sands; Jour. Sediment. Petrol., vol. 8, No. 3/September, p. 105 - 111 # FOLK, Robert Louis & William C. WARD, 1957: Brazos River bar: a study in the significance of grain size parameters; Jour. Sediment. Petrol., vol. 27, No. 1/March, p. 3 - 26 # George Herdan, M. L. Smith & W. H. Hardwick (1960): Small Particle Statistics. 2nd revised edition, Butterworths (London, Toronto, etc.), 418 pp. # Douglas Inman, 1952: Measures for describing the size distribution of sediments. Jour. Sediment. Petrology, vol. 22, No. 3/September, p. 125 - 145 # Miroslaw Jonasz, 1991: Size, shape, composition, and structure of microparticles from light scattering; in SYVITSKI, James P. M., 1991, Principles, Methods, and Application of Particle Size Analysis; Cambridge Univ. Press,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, 368 pp., p. 147. # William C. Krumbein, 1934: Size frequency distribution of sediments; Jour. Sediment. Petrol., vol. 4, No. 2/August, p. 65 - 77. # Krumbein, William Christian & Francis J. Pettijohn, 1938: Manual of Sedimentary Petrography; Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., New York; 549 pp. # John S. McNown & Pin-Nam Lin, 1952, Sediment concentration and fall velocity; Proc. of the 2nd Midwestern Conf. on Fluid Mechanics,
Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
,
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
; State Univ. of Iowa Reprints in Engineering, Reprint No. 109/1952, p. 401 - 411. # McNownn, John S. & J. Malaika, 1950, Effects of Particle Shape of Settling Velocity at Low Reynolds' Numbers; American Geophysical Union Transactions, vol. 31, No. 1/February, p. 74 - 82. # Gerard V. Middleton 1967, Experiments on density and turbidity currents, III; Deposition; Canadian Jour. of Earth Science, vol. 4, p. 475 - 505 (PSI definition: p. 483 - 485). #
Osborne Reynolds Osborne Reynolds (23 August 1842 – 21 February 1912) was an Irish-born British innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics. Separately, his studies of heat transfer between solids and fluids brought improvements in boiler and condenser ...
, 1883: An experimental investigation of the circumstances which determine whether the motion of water shall be direct or sinuous, and of the law of resistance in parallel channels. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 174, Papers, vol. 2, p. 935 - 982 # E. F. Schultz, R. H. Wilde & M. L. Albertson, 1954, Influence of Shape on the Fall Velocity of Sedimentary Particles; Colorado Agricultural & Mechanical College, Fort Collins, Colorado, MRD Sediment Series, No. 5/July (CER 54EFS6), 161 pages. # H. J. Skidmore, 1948, Development of a stratified-suspension technique for size-frequency analysis; Thesis, Department of Mechanics and Hydraulics, State Univ. of Iowa, p. 2 (? pages). # James P. M. Syvitski, 1991, Principles, Methods, and Application of Particle Size Analysis; Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 368 pp.


External links


The Reynolds number - The Feynman Lectures on Physics


at Sixty Symbols

* ttps://www.calculatoratoz.com/en/reynolds-number-of-fluid-flowing-in-pipe-calculator/Calc-24037 Reynolds Number Calculation {{Authority control Aerodynamics Convection Dimensionless numbers of fluid mechanics Dimensionless numbers of thermodynamics Fluid dynamics Piping