Chemical, Civil and mechanical engineers must often determine the power required to pump a fluid through a series of pipes. To do so, we must first determine a friction factor. If the fluid flow is turbulent and the pipes are smooth, the friction factor can be determined as.
1.1513/squrt(f) = ln(Re*squrt(f)/2.51
In this equation f represents the frinction factor, a positive value that does not exceed 0.1, and Re represents the Reynolds number, which is a function of the fluid properties, the pipe diameter, and the nominal fluid velocity. The reynolds number increases with increasing fluid velociyt. The flow becomes turbulent at higher velocities, when the Reynolds number exceed approximately 3000. Hence the above equation is valid only when Re exceed 3000.
Determine the values of the friction factor corresponding to Reynolds numbers of 5000, 12000, 20000. Does the frinction factor increase or decrease as the Reynolds number increases?