Determine whether your fluid flow is laminar, transitional, or turbulent.
What is the Reynolds number?
It’s a dimensionless number that helps predict the flow pattern of a fluid. It represents the ratio between inertial and viscous forces in the fluid.
What do the results mean?
- Laminar flow: Smooth and orderly (common in slow-moving or very viscous fluids).
- Transitional flow: Intermediate, can switch between laminar and turbulent.
- Turbulent flow: Chaotic, high mixing and energy loss (common in fast-moving fluids or large pipes).
Why does it matter?
Flow type affects friction, pressure loss, and heat transfer in pipes and systems — crucial for engineering, HVAC, and aerodynamics design.
Example:
For water at 20°C (ρ = 1000 kg/m³, μ = 0.001 Pa·s), a 0.05 m pipe and velocity of 2 m/s gives:
Re = (1000 × 2 × 0.05) / 0.001 = 100,000 → Turbulent.