Open Channel Flow

School of Civil and

Monroe L. Weber-Shirk Environmental Engineering
 Open Channel Flow

 Liquid (water) flow with a (interface between water

and air)
relevant for:
natural channels: rivers, streams
engineered channels: canals, sewer
lines or culverts (partially full), storm drains
Geometric Parameters :
A
1) Hydraulic Radius (Rh) Rh 
P
2) Channel Length (l)
3) Roughness (e)
 TYPES OF FLOWS
Steady and Unsteady:
Steady: velocity at a given point does not change with
time
Uniform, Gradually Varied, and Rapidly Varied
Uniform: velocity at a given time does
Gradually varied: gradual changes in velocity with
distance
Laminar and Turbulent
Laminar: No mixing of layers.
Turbulent: Mixing of layers
 Chezy Equation (1768)

Introduced by the French engineer Antoine

Chezy in 1768 while designing a canal for
the water-supply system of Paris
V C Rh S f
where C = Chezy coefficient
For a pipe
C=(8g/f)^(1/2) d  4 Rh
 Robert –Manning improved Work
Upon Chezy’s Equation and gave:

V(m/s)=1/n[Rh]^(2/3) S^(1/2)

V(ft/s)=1.486/n [Rh]^(2/3) S^(1/2)

Where “n” is manning co-efficent

These are emprical formulas
 Values of Manning “n”
Lined Canals n
Cem ent plaster 0.011
Untreated gu nite 0.016
n = f(surface roughness,
Wood , planed 0.012 channel irregularity,
Wood , u nplaned 0.013
Concrete, trow led 0.012 stage...)
Concrete, w ood form s, u nfinished 0.015
Ru bble in cem ent 0.020
Asphalt, sm ooth 0.013
Asphalt, rou gh 0.016
N atural Channels
Gravel bed s, straight 0.025
Gravel bed s plu s large bou ld ers 0.040
Earth, straight, w ith som e grass 0.026
Earth, w ind ing, no vegetation 0.030
Earth , w ind ing w ith vegetation 0.050

n  0.031d 1 / 6 d in ft d = median size of bed material

n  0.038d 1 / 6 d in m
 1
Trapezoidal Channel Q  ARh2 / 3 S o1 / 2
n

Derive P = f(y) and A = f(y) for a

trapezoidal channel

A  yb  y 2 z
1 y
z
2 1/ 2
P 2 y2 yz b b
2 1/ 2
P 2y 1 z b

!
 Flow in Round
m Conduits

r  y r sin r cos
.   arccos 
 r 

radians
A  r 2   sin  cos  
r
T  2r sin 

P  2 r A y
Maximum discharge
when y = ______
0.938d T
 Critical Flow:
Rectangular channel
Q 2Tc T
1  T  Tc
3
gA c

Q  qT Ac  ycT Ac yc

q 2T 3 q2
1 
3 3
gy T
c gyc3
1/ 3
q 2 
yc    Only for rectangular channels!
g 
 

q  gyc3 Given the depth we can find the flow!

 Critical Flow Relationships:
Rectangular Channels
q 2
1/ 3
  Vc2 yc2 
yc    yc3    because q  Vc yc
g   g 
   

Vc inertial force Kinetic energy

 1 Froude number
yc g gravity force Potential energy

Vc2 yc Vc2
yc   velocity head = 0.5 (depth)
g 2 2g
V2 yc 2
E  y  E  yc  yc  E
2g 2 3
 Critical Depth

Minimum energy for a given q

dE
Occurs when =___
0
dy Vc2 yc
When kinetic = potential! ________
2g 2
Fr=1 4

Vc q T 3
Fr Q
yc g gyc3 gA3

y
2

Fr>1 = ______critical
Super 1

Fr<1 = ______critical
Sub 0
0 1 2 3 4
E
 4

y
Critical Flow 1

0
0 1 2 3 4
E

dE
 Characteristics  0
dy
 Unstable surface
 Series of standing waves Difficult to measure depth
 Occurrence
 Broad crested weir (and other weirs)
 Channel Controls (rapid changes in cross-section)
 Over falls
 Changes in channel slope from mild to steep
 Used for flow measurements
 ___________________________________________
Unique relationship between depth and discharge
 Water Surface Profiles:
Putting It All Together

reservoir Sluice gate

2m

10 cm

1 km downstream from gate there is a broad crested

weir with P = 1 m. Draw the water surface profile.
 Wave Celerity
Vw

y y+y y y+y
V V+V V-Vw V+V-Vw

unsteady flow steady flow

M1 M 2 W Fp1 Fp2 Fss
Per unit width
1 1 2 Fp1 Fp2
Fp1 gy 2 Fp2 g y y
2 2 V-Vw V+V-Vw
1 2
Fp1 Fp2 g y2 y y
2
 Wave Celerity:
Momentum Conservation
M 1    V  Vw  y
2
M2 V V Vw V Vw y Per unit width

M1 M 2 y V Vw V V Vw V Vw
1 2
M1 M 2 y V Vw V Fp1 Fp2 g y2 y y
2
Now equate pressure and momentum
1
g y2 y2 2y y y2 y V Vw V
2

 gy  V  Vw V y V-Vw V+V-Vw y+y

steady flow
 Wave Celerity
y V  Vw    y  y V  V  Vw  Mass conservation
yV  yVw  yV  yV  yV  yV  yVw  yVw
y
V  V  Vw 
y
y
 gy  V  Vw V Momentum V-Vw V+V-Vw y+y

y
gy  V  Vw 
2

y steady flow
V V
gy  V  Vw 
2
c  V  Vw c  gy  Fr 
yg c
 Wave Propagation
 Supercritical flow
 c<V
 waves only propagate downstream
 water doesn’t “know” what is happening downstream
 _________
upstream control
 Critical flow
 c=V
 Subcritical flow
 c>V
 waves propagate both upstream and downstream
 Discharge Measurements
2
Sharp-Crested Weir Q  Cd b 2 g H 3/ 2
3
8  
V-Notch Weir Q Cd 2 g tan   H 5 / 2
15 2

Broad-Crested Weir
3/ 2
2 
Q  Cd b g  H 
3 
Sluice Gate Q  Cd by g 2 gy1

Explain the exponents of H! V  2 gH

 Summary (1)

All the complications of pipe flow plus

additional parameter... _________________
free surface location
Various descriptions of energy loss
Chezy, Manning, Darcy-Weisbach
4

Importance of Froude Number 3

Fr>1 decrease in E gives increase in y

y
2

Fr<1 decrease in E gives decrease in y 0

0 1 2 3 4
E

Fr=1 standing waves (also min E given Q)

 Summary (2)

Methods of calculating location of free

surface (Gradually varying)
Direct step (prismatic channel)
Standard step (iterative)
dy So  S f
Differential equation 
dx 1  Fr 2
Rapidly varying
Hydraulic jump
 Broad-crested Weir: Solution
q  gyc3 E
yc m
q  (9.8m / s )0.3m 
2 3 yc=0.3
0.5 Broad-crested
weir
q  0.5144m 2 / s
3
Q  qL  1.54m 3 / s 2 E2  yc  0.45m
yc  E 2
3 E1  E2  P  0.95m
q2
E1  y1 
2gy12
q2
E1 y1 y1  0.935
2 gE12
H 1  y1  0.5m  0.435
 Summary/Overview

Energy losses V
8g
S f Rh
f
Dimensional Analysis 1 2/3 1/2
V  R h So
Empirical n
 V12 V22
Energy Equation y1
2g
So x y2
2g
Sf x

V2 q2 Q2
Specific Energy E  y  y
2 gy 2
y
2 gA2
2g
Two depths with same energy!
How do we know which depth4
is the right one?
3
Is the path to the new depth

y
2
possible?
1

0
0 1 2 3 4
E
 What next?

Water surface profiles

Rapidly varied flow
A way to move from supercritical to subcritical flow
(Hydraulic Jump)
Gradually varied flow equations
Surface profiles
Direct step
Standard step
 Mild Slope

If the slope is mild, the depth is less than the

critical depth, and a hydraulic jump occurs, 0

what happens next? 0

Rapidly varied flow!

bottom 0
surface
yc 0
yn

When dy/dx is large

0

 then V isn’t normal to cs

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
0

distance upstream (m)

Hydraulic jump! Check conjugate depths

Hydraulic Jump!
 Open Channel Reflections

 Why isn’t Froude number important for describing

the relationship between channel slope, discharge,
and depth for uniform flow?
 Under what conditions are the energy and
hydraulic grade lines parallel in open channel
flow?
 Give two examples of how the specific energy
could increase in the direction of flow.