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Hydjump PDF
Hydjump PDF
If the flow has characteristic length scale L and velocity scale U then the ratio of “inertial
forces” (mass × acceleration) to gravitational forces (mass × g) is of order
acceleration U (U/L) U 2
≈ =
g g gL
The square root of this quantity is called the Froude number Fr. Since the characteristic
length scale involved in these flows is typically (but not always) the water depth h, the
Froude number is usually written
U
Fr = (1)
gh
Since Fr determines the ratio of inertial to gravitational forces, one might expect very
different behaviour according as Fr < 1 or Fr > 1 and this is indeed the case.
A second interpretation comes from noting that the speed of long waves in a channel of depth
h is given by c = gh . Then the Froude number can be regarded as the ratio
flow velocity
Fr = (2)
wave speed
If Fr > 1 then the flow is moving faster than any disturbance can propagate upstream. Hence
the upstream flow cannot be changed by downstream conditions. If, on the other hand, Fr < 1
then circumstances downstream (e.g. weirs) can control the upstream flow.
The interpretation as a ratio of velocities (equation (2)) is analogous to the situation of sound
waves in a compressible fluid, where the corresponding ratio is the Mach number:
flow velocity
Ma =
sound speed
We don’t usually push the analogy in undergraduate civil-engineering courses, but there is
considerable similarity between the equations governing flow in open channels and those in
high-speed compressible flow.
In other words, since the pressure is hydrostatic, any change in height is exactly offset by a
change in pressure head. Hence:
(i) The piezometric head at any stage is independent of the particular streamline
but depends only on the height of the free surface.
(ii) The hydraulic grade line coincides with the free surface.
At any point in the flow the total head (energy per unit weight) is
p U2
H= +z+
g 2g
Hence
U2
H = z surface + (3)
2g
The height of the surface, zsurface, is the sum of the local height of the bed, zbed, and the
vertical depth of water, h. Hence,
U2
H = z bed + h + (4)
2g
U2
The quantity h + (i.e. the head relative to the local bed height) is called the specific
2g
energy. In this first-year course we will analyse the hydraulic jump in a horizontal channel
(so that zbed can be taken as zero and the specific energy is the same as the total head).
Hydraulics 2 will look at uniform flow in sloping channels and Hydraulics 3 at more general
flow with varying bed heights.
A hydraulic jump is an abrupt change from a shallow high-speed flow to a deep low-speed
flow of lower energy.
It occurs when either the bed slope and changes to water depth are insufficient to compensate
for the high frictional losses associated with rapid flow, or when a height differential is
imposed by upstream and downstream conditions (sluice gates, weirs, ...).
Rapid flow may be created by, for example, a steep spillway or sluice gate. The formation of
a hydraulic jump at the base of a spillway may be desirable to remove surplus energy and
reduce downstream erosion.
Continuity
Momentum
Since streamlines are parallel, the pressure at stations 1 and 2 is hydrostatic and the average
pressure is given by p av = 12 gh . Bed friction may be neglected if the jump region is short.
Energy Change
The total head (energy per unit weight) change in the transition is
u2 u2
H = ( 2 + h2 ) − ( 1 + h1 )
2g 2g
Using the expressions above for u12 and u 22 :
1 2
H = (u 2 − u12 ) + h2 − h1
2g
1 h h
= (h1 + h2 )( 1 − 2 ) + h2 − h1
4 h2 h1
which, after some simple but tedious algebra (exercise), gives
(h − h2 ) 3
H= 1 (9)
4h1 h2
It follows, that:
• Since mechanical energy cannot increase in the transition one must have H < 0 or
h1 < h2
i.e. the jump must be from shallow to deep flow;
• The energy loss rises sharply with difference in depths.
Froude Numbers
Finally, we show that the upstream flow must be supercritical (“rapid”) and the downstream
flow subcritical (“tranquil”) and that the ratio of a downstream quantity (h2 or u2) to the
corresponding upstream quantity is dependent only on the Froude number.
h1 and h2 are called sequent depths or conjugate depths. (10) can be rearranged as a quadratic
h
for their ratio, the jump, r = 2 :
h1
r 2 + r − 2Fr12 = 0
with solution (the negative root is impossible):
h
r = 2 = 12 (−1 + 1 + 8Fr12 ) (12)
h1
A hydraulic jump is a rapid transition from supercritical (Fr > 1) to subcritical (Fr < 1) flow
with consequent loss of mechanical energy.
(a) If the depth before and after the jump are h1 = 10 mm and h2 = 90 mm, what is the net
horizontal force due to the hydrostatic pressure acting on the control volume?
(b) Give an expression for the rate of change of momentum for the fluid passing through
the jump in terms of u1. Hence find the speeds u1 and u2, and thus the volumetric flow
rate.