Improved Analytical Solution for Turbulent Flow in Channel and Circular Pipe

TL;DR

This paper presents an improved analytical solution for turbulent flow in channels and pipes, using Alexeev Hydrodynamic Equations, achieving closer agreement with experimental data at high Reynolds numbers.

Contribution

The study introduces a refined analytical formula based on AHE that better matches experimental data, surpassing previous solutions in accuracy for high Reynolds number turbulent flows.

Findings

Reduced maximum discrepancy from 5% to 2% at Re ~100,000

Reduced discrepancy from 10% to 4% at Re up to 35 million

Validated against experimental data from multiple studies

Abstract

The approximate analytical solution for turbulent flow in a channel was proposed in Fedoseyev (2023). It described the mean turbulent flow velocity as a superposition of parabolic (laminar) and superexponential (turbulent) solutions. The Alexeev Hydrodynamic Equations (AHE), proposed by Alexeev (1994), were used as the governing equations to describe turbulent flow. Compared to the Navier-Stokes equations, the AHE include additional terms representing temporal and spatial fluctuations. These additional terms include a timescale multiplier $\tau$, and the AHE reduce to the Navier-Stokes equations in the limit as $\tau \to 0$ In this study, we propose an improved analytical solution formula that provides better agreement with experimental data at high Reynolds numbers. The maximum discrepancy between the analytical solution and experimental data has been reduced from 5% to 2% for Reynolds numbers of order 100,000, and from 10% to 4% for Reynolds numbers up to 35,000,000, based on comparisons with experimental results ranging from the legacy work of Nikuradse (Prandtl group, 1932) to studies by Wei (1989), Zagarola (1996), van Doorne (2007), and the recent work of Pasch (2023).