EQUATIONS FOR BASIC HYDRAULIC PRINCIPLES

Lesson 1: Fluid Properties

Force = Mass (M) times acceleration (a)
(Newtons Law)
or
Weight (pounds) = mass (slugs) times gravity (g in ft/sec2),
where acceleration, g = 32.2 ft/sec2
Density (r) = Mass of fluid/unit volume, where rwater = 1.94 slugs/ft3
Unit weight (g) = weight of fluid/unit volume = rg
where gwater = 62.4 pounds/ft3
sec lb

v
y

slug
sec ft

Dynamic viscosity of fluid (m, in ------------or ------------ ) is defined by t = m ----- , where t is the shearing
2
ft

stress in lbs/ft2, and the right-hand term is the rate of change of velocity in the fluid.
Kinematic viscosity (n, in ft2/sec) = m/r
Pressure (P) = unit weight of water (gwater) times depth (y),
which says pressure increases linearly with depth.

Lesson 2: Forces on Submerged Objects

Force on a vertical rectangular gate:
2

gWD
F = -------------- , where D = depth, W = width (triangular pressure prism)
2

Force is always equal to volume of pressure prism, and acts through the centroid of the pressure
prism. Force is also equal to the pressure at the centroid of the gate area times the area of the
gate.
To calculate centroid of a complex shape:
S( F y )
F R y R = S ( F y ) or y R = ------------------FR

, were FR is the resultant force

Lesson 3: Similitude and Dimensional Analysis

Reynolds Number, Re = Vlr/m (Velocity, length, density/viscosity)
V
gD

Froude Number, Fr = ----------- where V = velocity, D = depth, g = gravity, 32.2 ft/sec2

Basic Hydraulic Principles

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Lesson 4: Ideal Energy Equation

Continuity

Q = V 1A 1 = V 2A 2

Energy

V1
V2
------ + y 1 + Z 1 = ------ + y 2 + Z 2
2g
2g

Lesson 5: Velocity Profiles

t = g (D - y) sin q = g (D - y) S, where t = shear stress at any level in the fluid
2

g
y
v = --- sin q Dy -----

m
2

Laminar Flow:

velocity at depth y

g
D
q = --- sin q -----m
3

unit discharge
2

Turbulent Flow:

where

g
D
q
V = ---- = --- sin q -----D
m
3

average velocity of section

9yu
v = 5.75u* log -----------*
u

(smooth bed)

30y
v = 5.75u * log ---------
k

(rough bed)

u* =

t 0 r , called the shear velocity or friction velocity

Also, from continuity eqn, Unit discharge, q = Q/W

Lesson 6: Energy Equation for Real Fluids

2

a 1 V2
a 1 V1
------------ + y 1 + Z 1 = ------------ + y 2 + Z 2 + h l ( 1 2 )
2g
2g
3

where a =

( vi ai )
--------------------3

and is called kinetic energy coefficient or Coriolis coefficient, where

V A

vi = average velocity for subarea ai, and V is average velocity for total area A,
and hl(1-2) is the head loss between points 1 and 2

Lesson 7: Flow Resistance

Hydraulic radius,

R = A/P, where A = flow area, P = wetted perimeter

Shear stress at bed,

or

t0 = gRSf (general) where Sf = slope of energy grade line

t0 = gRSo (steady-uniform flow) where So = bed slope

Shear Velocity,

u* =

Basic Hydraulic Principles

t0 r =

gRS

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Mannings equation
or

1.49 2 3
V = ---------- R
Sf
n
1.49 2 3
Q = ---------- AR
Sf = K S f
n

Chezy equation

1.49 1 6
V = C RS f , where C = ---------- R
n

Darcy-Weisbach eqn

V =

8
--- gRS
f

Lesson 8: Uniform Flow

Q
1.49 2 3
K = ---------- AR
= -------n
Sf

Conveyance

Lesson 9: Flow in Channels with Variable Roughness

Total Discharge of channel with overbank flow (floodplain flow):
N

QT =

Qi
3

Ki

S f , where Ki is the conveyance of subarea i

S( Ki ai )
( K1 a1 + K2 a2 + . . . + K N aN )
S ( K i ai )
a = ----------------------=
----------------------------------=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
2
3
2
3
KT A
( SK i ) ( Sa i )
( K1 + K 2 + . . . + KN )
----------------------------------------------------2
( a 1 + a2 + . . . + a N )

Lesson 10: Momentum

Conservation of Momentum SF = Qr ( V 2 V 1 )

Lesson 11: Specific Energy

2

Specific Energy

aV
E = ---------- + D
2g
2

V
D
At critical depth, Fr = 1, or -----c- = ------c , (assuming a = 1.0)
2g
2

Lesson 14: Local Losses

2

Local loss

a 1 V1 a 2 V2
h e = k ---------------------------------- , where kexpansion = 0.0 to 1.0
2g

kcontraction = 0.0 to 0.5

Basic Hydraulic Principles

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Lesson 15: Water-Surface Profile Computations

Water-surface elevation at upstream section:
2

a d Vd a u Vu
h u = h d + ----------- ------------ + h f + h e , where
2g
2g

h f = S f L , and
Sf =

S f d S fu

Lesson 16: Rapidly Varied Flow at Constrictions

Mattais equation 1:
2

A3
a 1 V1

Q = ----------------------------- 2g Dh + ----------- h f ( 1 3 )
2g
a 3 ( 1 + ke )

where

or

Q = CA 3

a1 V1

2g Dh + ----------- h f ( 1 3 )
2g

Dh = (D1 + Z1) - (D3 + Z3), and

C = C kF kf kr
where C is a function of the channel contraction ratio, m = (Q - q)/Q, and the bridge length to
width ratio, L/b, and all other coefficients can be determined from charts.

Lesson 18: Flow over Weirs

General equation:
where

Q = bCH

32

b = width normal to flow

C = discharge coefficient (different for each type of weir and flow conditions)
H = total upstream head

Basic Hydraulic Principles

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