Non-expert summaryThe prediction of flow behaviour in complex geometries representative of industrial and other practical systems often requires the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Two important pipe geometries are considered in this paper: a sudden and a gradual expansion or contraction. Steady state simulations using the STAR-CD package were used to predict the distribution of the mean shear stress imposed by a turbulent liquid flow from 1 inch to 2 inch cylindrical geometries (Reynolds number in the 1 inch pipe of 50,000), and the fluctuations in the shear stress. These calculated values are compared with estimates based on electrochemical mass transfer measurements. The data sets provide useful benchmarking results for other studies.