-; ...

...

I \

D.J.Zigrang
Deoanment 01Mechanlcal Engineenng.

N. D. Sylvester
Department
01CllemicalEngineering.
TII' Universityof Tulsa.
600 SoutllColleoe.
Tulsa.Okla. 74104

A Review01ExplicitFtiction
FactorEquations
A 1ft1ftIIollhr uplidllriclion ItlClor ftIIUIlions tkwloPi lO repltlt:f!Ih~ Colebrook
etpI/IIion is presmled. ExplidllriClion ItlClor ftIIIIllions tire dewloJ/ which yield ti
wry hirh Ilrer 01 pm:ision comptlmi 10 Ihe Colebrook /lIIIlion. A new uplicil
lllltiDn, which 'Jllers ti muDable compromi# betwn compluilY tlnd tlt:CUI'tlt:y,
is pt'fW1I,t tlnd m:om",mMd lor ,he calcuJtllion 01 tlIl flll'buJenl pipe /low lriClion
ItlClOI'Slar tlIl rourhnus rtllios tlM Rqnold's numben.

IatroductiOD
Tbe Colebrook equatiODfor tbe frictiODfactor (I).
,ID
2.51
t
., 101 -+~
~
(1)
v
33
~
is impcit iDl. Nevenbeless. it leaerally bu beca used to
obtaiD fric:tiODfacum for OowiDc1osedconduiu. Tbe widely
recopized Moody cban for fric:tiODfacum (2)is based ODit
as are othcrs. At lcut until receatly. la cbans have furDisbed mOSt or tbe fric:tion facum used iD pressure-drop
calc:ulaonsfor Oowin c1osedconduiu.
Tbe arest cxpcit approxm.aOD 10 CoIebroolt's
eq~OD is due 10 Moody (3). SiDcetbeD, a series of iDCI'C8IiDJIymore precise expcit approximatioas bave beca
published (4-7). 1be mOStreceat of thesc 18-11]bave beca
based on Dumerica1methods 8Ddcan yield any desired deree
of precisiOD.ZiJranJ and Sy1vester(8) and a
(9J as
reponed by Olujic (lOJ bave shown i&~
tbat
stania witb a reuonable app1~illUltiODfor
tWO addiona! iterations wiII yield valucs fo, / wbicb deviate

-/

l.

DeJlibly (0.02 percent averqe)

tbe seasitivity of the frictiODfactor value 10 pipc roulmess

tOletherwith a considerableuncenaiDtyiDtbe actual vaIucof
tbe rouhness may be tbe predomiDantlOurce of uncenainty
iDa frictiODfactor val..
It wouldsean tbat our real aeeds may be for more accurate
fric:tionfactor dua UpoDwhich to base correlations ud for
ways to reduce tbe unc:crtaiDtyiDpipc rouJlmess rathcr tban
for more precise expcit VersiODlof Colebroolt's equaon.
However, tbe proferatiOD of expcit approDmations
proDJputhis review.
SilllpIe Esplidt EqaadoDl
Available frictiODfactor cbarts cover boch IUDDIr8Dd
tUrbulentOows. PipcrouJhness docs DOtbave a mcasurablc
effect ODprelSUledrop in 1amiDarOow 8Dd this RlODis
adequaIay c:overedby equatiOD(2) whichis dcrived from tbe
Hqen-PoiJeuiUe equatiOD

'"

Colebrook equatiODval.. over a wide nDP of values for

Reynold's Dumber ud elD. W'aIIiams(l2J bu poiDud out It is usuaIIy acccpted that t1ow can be eitber laminar 01
that proarammable hand-heId calcuIators are 10 cuy 10 use turbulent in tbe uansiOD felOD 2OOO<RetOOO.Thus
ud converence is 10 rapid tbat tbere is litt1eDeCalty10stop cither equation (1) or eqU8OD
(2) mayacwaUy be appticable.
short of full converence.
'Ibis review. wiII ~
i~t-.sRIic:it lmR!\}.i""vi()U, IQ,
in pite of tbeseiDc:re:uiD81Y
more ac:curatebut iDcrasinaIY ~!:!
eqU8tlOD.~.JC)_R,!'!.25OQ..with.thc..~0J!
more complex cxplicit equatiODl. J. J. J. Cbcn (13J has tbt tbey are applicable only to ful1ydm:loJlC!!i..ntdmICDl.
SUIJcsted a very simple but admiued1y inaccurate cxpcit Oo..
.
.
equaOD.Equauons dcmonsuatably simpler than Chen'I but
Moody'. equaUOD(3)is iDc1udedbecauseit was tbc fJl'ltof
considerably more precise reIative 10 Colebroolt's equaUOD.'1beexpIicitapproximations 10Colebrooks's equatiOD.
e
10' IIJ
are available. HOWevef. Chen points out tbat siDce
(3)
C::lebroolt~seq~~D ~y COD~ ~fic:ant aror'.~
is
1-0.0055 1+ 20000 D + Re
Ule pr&cuca1JustiflC8110D
for mc:reasm the prec:uJon of
expcit equaODS.HaaIand (14J aIso has CODSideredthis ZiJrana uel Sylvester(8J showed tbat Moody's equaon has
point. staD: ". . .Defore simpcity is sacrificed for ex- an averqe error of 4.3 pcTCCDt
for tbcir test cases: tbus. it is
c:essive accuracy, it is wonh 1teepiD iD mind tbat tbe nOtconsidered for further evaluation. ADotbereariy cxplicit
Colebrook-White formula. . .iuelf may be 3-5 pcrca1t. ir Dot equaUOD.presented by Wood (4J,is DOtconsideredfor similar
more, in error compared to experimental data. . . ." Fioally, reasoDS.Churchill's equation (6] was CODSidered
iDu arer
reviewby ZiIf8Jll ud Sylvester (8Jwben:it was sbown to be
las accurate relative 10 equatioD (1) Iban otber las c:ompIa
Conlribuled bv Ihe Petroleum F1uid Mrcllanics Commitlec o Ihe Prarolcvm
equaODS.
Divilion for publicallon In Ihe JouaNALo. ENDGY
TICH!tOLOGY..
Other simple explicit equaODSinclude tbose of Jain (5),
M8JIUICripI reccived by Ihe Petroleum Divilion. July 23. 1984; rrvlsed
Zigrana ud 5ylvater 18J, Haaland (14). N. H. Cbcn (7J,
manuscnpt rCCClvedfrbruary 8. 198'.

[ [

'

( )

] ]

--as

280 I Vol. 107, JUNE 1985

.~

. (2)

/.. iC

from tbe fuUy C1ODYtfIed

Tr8nuet1ona

01...ASME

r-;>..... \ .
~"Shacham(9). Serghides (11] and J. J. J. Chen [13].These are
""'-

discussed in the forthcoming.

Jain's equation is based on the theoretical equations of von
Xarman and Prandtl together with curve fitting.
I
21.2S
ij = 1.14-210g (ElD)+ Reo.9
(4)

Zigrang and Sylvester [8] substituted a value for I of 0.04

imo the right-hand side of Co1ebrook'sequation to obtain
1
e/D
13
-,.,=-210g-+(5)
vI 3.7
Re
This is a1mostidenticaJ to Shacham's equation. except that
Shacham [9]useda valueof 0.03 forI to obtain
1
e/D
14.S
(6)
}";:= -210g -+-.
vI
3.7
ReHaaland [14] reexamined the basis for Co1ebrook's
equation in view of the simple friaion factor re1ations of
Prandtl and von Karman for smooth and rough pipes and
developedthe explicitrelation
1
6.9
e/D 1.11
(7)
ij= -1.810g Re + 377

For n-l.

] ]

(8)

- 3 yjelds fric:tion factors

in consonance with

those recommendedfor use in IJ&S

uansmission lines.
J. J. J. Chen (13] suaested two relations which are
". . . simp1er tban any of those already reviewed

..

"

. (but) . . . not

expec:ted

to

be

of

high

4
5
6
7
10
11

1.0
1.9
2.6
0.6
4.9
1.7

4.1
7.4
8.5
2.3
12.6
8.9

Complexity
index

--

Reference
Colebrook. 1939
Jain. 1976
Zigrang-Sylvester. 1982
Shaclwn.1980
Haaland. 1983
N. H. Chen. 1979
Serglrides. 1984

35
24
24
35
41
24

Table 2 ComparUoD of frimoD factor equatioDs of iDtenaediaae colllplaity

Pm:eat
absoluu:
deria1ion
Equalion
DO.

Mu.

AY"

Complexity
indcx

-- 0:00-0:0
12
13
14
IS

0.14
0.21
0.10
0.07

Refermc:e

--

Co1cbrook. 1939
N. H. Chm. 1979
Zigrang.Sylvester.1982
Zigrang-Sylvester. this work
Zipana.Sylvester. this worlc

82
49
60
60

0.5

0.8
O.S
0.4

ac:curacy

NumeriadJy Demed Explidt Eqaadoas of IDtermediate

Precisioe
The N. H. Chen (7] equaon, from which equation (lO) was
extracted. is sbown as equatioo 02).

ij

elD -~I
- -2101 [3.706S
Re

[ 2.8257

(E/D)I.1C191+

08

1 - '--

[ ] ]

+ Re

(lO)

Equation (lO).is relatively inac:curate as shown in Table 1.

This is surprising because equaDon (12), from which it is
obtained, is quite good as is shown in Table 2. lt appcars that
while tbe form of N. H. Chen's equation coma from a
numerical metbod. the valua of the constants rault from
curve fitting. Thus, the cxuaction of equation (lO) from
equation (12)may not be approprlate.
FinaUy, Serghides (11] utilized an equation simar to.
equations (S) and (6), except thu the constant for the sccoDd
term in the parenthesesis 12ratber than 13or 14.S.
1
elD
12

vI

2101-+[ 3.7

Reo... I ]]
(12)

(9) acc:uracywas presemed by Barr (16] but is not presented bere.

Zigran and Sylvester(lS] bave shown that equation (S)is not

only simp1erthan equation (9), but also considerab1ymore
precise relative to Colebrook's equation. Chen's sec:ond
equation is of similar accuracy.
A simple expcit expression for fric:tion factors can be
obtained from N. H. Chen's (7]equation (seeequation (12.
1.11
1
tlD
7.1S 0.'

ij - -2 101[[ 2.549

An equation comparable to Chen's in c:omplexity and

( )]

-0.3164 Reo..)+0.11 ,

Max.
0.0

. . ." Chen's Cirstequation is

' /

'

Avg.
0.0

1.1111

- ] +-[

equation (8) becomes equation (7). Haaland

suaested tbat n

Equation
no.
1

] ]

Haaland then genera.lizedthis re1ationto

1
1.8
e/D
6.9 "
vI
n [[ Re
- 3.7

~---log

Pm:ent
absolute
deviation

Table 1 ComparisoD 01 simple lrk1ioD factor equations

Re

~--2101
v

["'3.7

Re

]]

108- + 3.7 Re

(13) -

Zigrang 8Dd Sylvester (8] bave show that equation (12) is

sliabtly more precise than Clquation(13).

However.two equations,whic:hare more complexthan

-

equation (13) but less complex tban equatioo (12) and both of
whic:h are limpk:r and more accurate than equation (12), can
be obtaiDed by combinins Clquation (4) with equation (1) and
by combiDDI equatioo (7) with equaioo (1). The resulting
equations are
1

~- -2101

elD

[ 3.7 +

2.Sl
Re

[1.114-2101 [E/D+

21.25
Reo.9

(11)

Equations (4) through (7), (lO) and (11) have been compared to equation (1) for 2S00< Re< 10' and 4 X
10-5 <ElD<O.OSas in reference (11]. The results are summarizedin Table l. Inc1udedis the complexity index whic:bis
defined as the number of algebraicnotation c:alculator key
strokes required to solve tbe equation for Re-I05 and
E/D-O.OO1.Table 1 shows that equation (7) is the superior
simpleexplicitequation.
Joumal 01 Energy Resource. Technology

Ziaran8 8Dd Sylvester (8) combined equatiOt\. (S) with

equation (1) 10 pt an equaUon of somewbat less comp1exity
than N. H. Cben's (see equation (13). It is tbe flJ'Stiteration
of the IlUlDericalsalUtiODof equation (1) using the metbod of
straigbt substitUtion ud tbe value for I from equation (S) as
the first pess.
e/D
S.02
1
ElD
13

]]]
(14)

e/D

4.S18

..",--2101---108
[3.7 Re
v

6.9

elD

1.11

[-+Re [- 3.7 ] ]](lS)

Equatioas (12)througb (1S). wbicb are of intermediate

precision. were c:ompared00 the basis of error relative to
Colebrook's equation and on the basis of complexity. The
resu1tSare shownin Table 2. Tab1e2 shawsthat equation (lS)
is the superiorequation of intermediateprecision.
JUNE 1985. Vol. 107/281

1.00

Table 3 Comparison
precisiOD

~ 0.75

of highest.

EQuation
Complexity
no.
index
Avg. Mu.
Reference
---- 0.0000 0.0000
Colebrook. 1939

(.J
a::
1&1
CL

.
a::

16
17
18
19

Eq.1I2)
O

~
0.50
a::
1&1
~
~
~
)(

~ 0.251

Eq.(18)
O

50
FIg.1

Numerically
Prec:isiOD

.~
". :
,
~

75
COMPLEXITY

IQ
INDEX

Derived Expliclt EquatioDS of Highest

Re

0.1400
0.0023
0.1980
0.0300

74
124
99
99

Zigrang.Sylvesler. 1982
Serghides. 1984
Serghides. 1984
Zigrang-Sylvesler. Ihis work

Accaracy Reqllirmleats

EqU8tlon 8CCUr8C)'Y8f8U8compI8Jdty IncIu

[--3.7

0.0300
0.0002
0.0170
0.0040

og---o
[3.7 Re

[-3.7

The explicit fricon factor equations considered have

maximumerrors relative to Colebrook's equation as reat as
13 percentud as low as 0.0023 peleent for tbe ranges of Re
and ElD cOvered.Tables 1, 2, and 3 and Fig. 1 aII show that
acc:uracyand complexity are correlated. The effon required
to use an equuion is proporcional to its complexity. In
.eneraI. one would like to use tbe simplest equation which
provides ure&IODIIbIe"8CC1If8CY..

If me errors in me ap1icit cquations reiative 10Colebrook's

equation were random and if tbe 3. to S peleent error in
(16) Colebrook's cqu8lion was randOm. tbe wk of deciding
+ ~~]]]
whetber a liven ap1icit equation is ureasonably" accur&te
Equations (13) and (16) imply tbat additional iterations are would be re1ativelycuy. In this case, tbe magnitude of the
combined errors would be tbe root-sum-square value.
possible.
Serhides (11) has taken cquation (16) and incorporated However. the errors in the explicit cquations are not random
Steffenson's acc:eIeratedconveqence teclUIique10 mate !be and the errors in Colebrook's cquation relative to"the exresulting solution more accurate than tbat which would result paia-utal data are nOt expected to be random. Since tbe
Colebrook errors are of both sigas tbe errors wiU
from severa! additional suaiht iterations. Serhides' explicitand
add
in
SOlDe
cases and c:anc:eIin otber cases.
cquation is
Consider
the
crfect of usin an explicit equation with a
-2
(B-A)2
17.) muimam error of one perceDt. Solving the Colebrook
f
[A- C-2B+A
(
equation for the friction factor migbt give a maximum error
of fM percent. Using tbe relatively inaccurate equation
where
would. in the WOI'Itcase. add an additional one percent error
EID 12
A
--2101 3.7 Re
(17b) for a total of six percent. On tbe otber hand. if tbe errors were
of differcnt sisa. tbe muimum error would be reduced f1Om
fivepercentto four pel'CCDt.
B e -- 21o EID 2.'IA
(171:)
N",! considertbe crfect of using an explicitcquatio~ haVDg
3.7 Re ]
a lIIUIDI1IID
error of one pel'CCDt
under tbe assumpuon that
the envrs are raadom. In this. case, it is assumed tbat tbe
EID 2.' lB
C
2 108
(17d) Colebrook cqualiDDerfors aIso are random. Here tbe root.
3.7 Re
sum:!9!!!!.Cprocedure app6es ud tbe resulting error would
be ,",S-r.:J2 S.IO percem. Tbe increase in friction factor
Serghides also preseats tbe simpler cquation
unceuaiAti by 0.1 pel'CCDtwould c:enainly be reprd~ as
-2
neaIigible.
4.781(A -4.781)2
(18)
Tbe actual effect of tbe use of an expcit equation with a
B-2A +4.781
muimum
error of one pefceDtes between these extremes.
where A and B are defined as in equation (17).
On the basis of this discussion it is suggested that the higb
Finally. tbe next iteration of equation (16) is of the same accuracies of equations (16) tbrouh (19) are unnecessary in
level of convergcnce as equation (17), and can be written
practice.

[-+-

- c-

[-+[-+-

f-[

'-..

It is of interest to compare tbe accuracies of equations (16)

through (19) with the best of the equatioD,s of intermediate
precision to see if the added precision is wonh the additional
effon. The compuison shown in Table 3 is from Serghides
(11) with the addition of the resulta for equations (16) and (19)
and the complexity index. The accuracies of the equations
compared in Tables 2 and 3 are shown relative to their
complexity in Fig. l. Tbe trend tine shows that cquatiODS(1S),
121 (16), and (19) offer an Cdgein accuracy relative to complexity.

Equation (16) is the sccond iteration of cquation (13) obtained by Zigrangand Sylvester(8).
1
lID
S.02
EID
S.02
EID
21 og
1
1

vf

factor equations

PerceDt
absolUte
devia1ion

of frimon

'-

dD
S.02
EID
S.02
EID
1
~=-210g---01
---lo
-3.7
[
[
[
vf
3.7
Re
3.7
Re

S.02

El D

--og
Re ( -+3.7
1

282/ Vol. 107. JUNE 1985

13

Re)]]]

Condasioas

Rec:olDlllendations

Based on tbis l'CVewando particularly. in view of the

(19) inaa:uracy of the Colebrook equation. the following conclusionsand recommcndtionsare prescnted:
Tranaactiona of the ASME

'-

,.

;."

",:'

1 Until more accurate experimental data is available or a

more accurate correlation of existing data is obtained. the
Colcbrook equaUODshould cODunue tO scrve as the standard.
.. 2 Additioaal c:xplicit fric:tion factor eqlWiODS are DOt
needed.
3 Numerical solutions for friction factors based on the
Colebrook equation can be obtained by iteration to any
desired degree of precision.
4 For many applications. the simple explicit expressions of
equations (S). (6), (7) or (11) will suffice.
S 1f more predsion is required. any of equations (12)
through (19) are adequate for turbulent flows.
6 1f the application is exclusively in the region of higher
Reynold' s numbers (Re> 10000) and higher roughness ratios
(dD> .004). equation (S) is recommended. In this regioD it is
nearly as accurate as equauon (7) 8Od substantially simpler.
7 Equation (lS), which offers a reasonable compromise
between complexity 8Od accuracy, is recommended for
calculation of all friction factors for turbulent flows for all
roughness ratios 804 Reynold's numbers,
References
1 CoIebrook. C. F.. "Turbulent FIows in Pipa. With Panicular Rcfercnce
to the Transition Rttion Bctwcen Smooth ud Roup Pipc Laws," JOllmill 01
ItUl. 01 Civil EII,illftnll"
LondoD, Vol. 11, 1939. pp. 133-U6.
2 MoocIy. L. F.. "Friction Factors for Pipc Aow," TaANs. ASME, Vol. 66.
1964, p. 641.

3 MoocIy. L. F.. .. An Approximate Formula for Pipc Frictlon Fac:tors."

TUNS. ASME. Vol. 69. 1947. p. IOO~.
4 WoocI. D. J., "An Explicil Friction Factor Relationship." CivIl EII'IIIftr.
,",. Dec. 1966. pp. 60-61.
~ JIiD. A, K., "A.cl:anle Explicil EQualion for Friction Fac:tor." JOllfllolol
Hydrrvlics Dill_II, ASCE. Vol. 102. HY~. May 1976.
6 Churchill. S. W.. "Fric:tion.factor EQuatioa Spans all Fluid Aow
Rqimes." CIt~micrll EII,i_,.
Vol. 91. Novcmber 7,1977.
7 Chm, N. H.. "An Explicil Equation for Friction Faclor ID Pipc." In.
dlUlnol En,illftrill' CItmI. FIIII.m~II"IIs. Vol. 18(3), 1979. pp. 296-297.
8 Zi8l'U8, D. J.. ud Sylvestcr, N. D., "Explicit ApproJUmauons 10 the
Solulion of Colebrook Friction Factor Equation," AICItE JOII,,",I. Vol. 28.
No, '" 1982.
9 Shacham. M.. IndllSlruzl EII,illftnll'
CIt~mislry, FUlldilm""ols, May
1980, pp. 228-229.
10 Olujic. Z.. "Compute Friction Factors FUI for Pipc F\ow." Cltrmicrll
EII,illftnll,. December 14. 1981.
11 Scr.hides. C. K.. "Eslimale Friction FaCtolS Ac:curalel~'." Clt,mintl
EII,iJtfwill" Match 5. 1984; pp. 63-64.
12 Wnnams. C. L.. EIec:uic Power Research Institute. penoaal c:ommunic:alion. Jllae 17. 1982.
13 Chen. J. J. J.. "TechDic:aJ Note 400: A Simple Explicit Formula for the
Estimation of Pipc Fric:tioa F8CtOl," Protftd'II,S 01 lit, 1""11. 01 Cillil
E",iMm,
Pan 2, Vol. 77, Mar. 1984. pp. 49-55.
14 Huland. S. E.. "Simple ud Explicit F_uIu
for the Friction Factor in
Turbolent Pipc FIow," ASMEJOfImtlloIFlllitbEtrrillftnll,.
Vol. lOS, 1983. p.
89.
I~ Ziaran., D. J.. ud N. D. Sylvestcr. "Comments on Technical Note
400: A Simple Explicit Formula for the Estimation of Pipc Friaioa Factar."
Prot.ftdillrs 01 III~ ItUIII. 01 Cillil EtI,inrs, Vol. 79. Mar. 198~. pp. 215-221.
16 Barr. D. 1. H.. "Solutions of the CoIebrook.White Funaion for
ResiSlance tO Uniform Turbulent A-."
Protftdill" 01 1M IIUIII. 01 Cillil
EtlriMm. Pan 2, Vol. 71. 1981. pp. 529-S3S.

J-

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T.chnology

JUNE 1985, Vol. 107/283