Measurement of transitional flow in pipes using ultrasonic flowmeters

The accuracy of an ultrasonic flowmeter depends on the ratio k of average profile velocity of pipe and average velocity of an ultrasonic propagation path. But there is no appropriate method of calculating k for transition flow. In this paper, the velocity field of the transition flow in a pipe is measured by particle image velocimetry. On this basis, the k of U-shaped and V-shaped ultrasonic flowmeter is obtained when Reynolds number is between 2000 and 20 000. It is shown that the k is constant when the Reynolds number is in the range of 2000-2400 and 5400-20 000, and the k decreases with the increasing of Re when the Reynolds number is 2400-5400. The results of study can be used to improve the measurement accuracy of ultrasonic flowmeters when flow is transition flow and can provide help for the study of pipe flow.