An Accurate and Computationally Efficient Explicit Friction Factor Model

Abstract

The implicit Colebrook equation has been the standard for estimating pipe friction factor in a fully developed turbulent regime. Several alternative explicit models to the Colebrook equation have been proposed. To date, most of the accurate explicit models have been those with three logarithmic functions, but they require more computational time than the Colebrook equation. In this study, a new explicit non-linear regression model which has only two logarithmic functions is developed. The new model, when compared with the existing extremely accurate models, gives rise to the least average and maximum relative errors of 0.0025% and 0.0664%, respectively. Moreover, it requires far less computational time than the Colebrook equation. It is therefore concluded that the new explicit model provides a good trade-off between accuracy and relative computational efficiency for pipe friction factor estimation in the fully developed turbulent flow regime.