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In fluid dynamics, the Reynolds number (Re) is a dimensionless quantity that helps predict fluid flow patterns in different situations by measuring the ratio between inertial and viscous forces. [2] At low Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be dominated by laminar (sheet-like) flow, while at high Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be turbulent.
The equation can either be used with consistent units or nondimensionalized. The Reynolds Equation assumes: The fluid is Newtonian. Fluid viscous forces dominate over fluid inertia forces. This is the principle of the Reynolds number. Fluid body forces are negligible.
Dimensionless numbers (or characteristic numbers) have an important role in analyzing the behavior of fluids and their flow as well as in other transport phenomena. [1] They include the Reynolds and the Mach numbers, which describe as ratios the relative magnitude of fluid and physical system characteristics, such as density, viscosity, speed of sound, and flow speed.
The Reynolds and Womersley Numbers are also used to calculate the thicknesses of the boundary layers that can form from the fluid flow’s viscous effects. The Reynolds number is used to calculate the convective inertial boundary layer thickness that can form, and the Womersley number is used to calculate the transient inertial boundary thickness that can form.
The Reynolds number is useful because it can provide cut off points for when flow is stable or unstable, namely the Critical Reynolds number . As it increases, the amplitude of a disturbance which could then lead to instability gets smaller. [1] At high Reynolds numbers it is agreed that fluid flows will be unstable.
Churchill equation [24] (1977) is the only equation that can be evaluated for very slow flow (Reynolds number < 1), but the Cheng (2008), [25] and Bellos et al. (2018) [8] equations also return an approximately correct value for friction factor in the laminar flow region (Reynolds number < 2300). All of the others are for transitional and ...
The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS equations) are time-averaged [a] equations of motion for fluid flow. The idea behind the equations is Reynolds decomposition , whereby an instantaneous quantity is decomposed into its time-averaged and fluctuating quantities, an idea first proposed by Osborne Reynolds . [ 1 ]
As the Reynolds number increases, such as by increasing the flow rate of the fluid, the flow will transition from laminar to turbulent flow at a specific range of Reynolds numbers, the laminar–turbulent transition range depending on small disturbance levels in the fluid or imperfections in the flow system. If the Reynolds number is very small ...