Experiment # 1

To Determine the Manning’s Roughness Co-efficient “n” & Chezy’s “c”

in a Laboratory Flume:
Objectives:

 Physically measure “n” and “c”.

 To study the relationship between “n” and “c”.
 To find the relationship between “n” & “c”.
 To study the variation of “n” and “c” as the function of velocity.

Apparatus:

 Glass sided tilting lab flum.

 Point gauge for measuring depth of channel

(Point gauge) (Orifice meter)

Related Theory:

Flume:
Open channel in laboratory supported above the ground level. The sides of the flume are made
of glass while the bed is made of steel. Changing the water depth changes the contribution of

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the sides in the computed average roughness while the bed contribution remains the same. It’s
required to compute an average value of (n) and (c) for different water depths and discharges.

Uniform Flow:
Flow in which flow parameters the depth, water area, velocity and discharge are constant at
two or more under considered sections and for the channel reach between these sections.

The energy line, water surface and channel bed all are parallel i.e. their slopes are equal. For
uniform flow, flow possess a constant velocity at every point on the channel section for flow
reach. In other words, the velocity distribution across the channel section is unaltered in the
reach. Such a stable pattern of velocity distribution can be attained when the so called
“Boundary Layer” is fully developed.

Non-Uniform Flow:
Flow in which flow parameters are not constant at two or more under considered sections and
for the channel reach between these sections.

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Steady Flow:
Flow in which the flow parameters do not changes with time.

Unsteady flow:
Flow in which the flow parameters changes with time.

Manning’s Formula:

1 2⁄ 1⁄
𝑉= 𝑅ℎ 3 𝑆 2A
𝑛

Where

V = Cross sectional average velocity

K = conversion factor o 1 in SI units
n= Manning’s Roughness co-efficient/Resistance to flow/Measure of roughness
R = Hydraulic radius
S = Slope of the energy line
Manning’s equation is an impirical equation that applies to the open channel flow and is a
function of velocity flow area and the channel bed slope. The Manning’s coefficient represents
the roughness or the applied friction by the channel bed

Hydraulic Radius:
Hydraulic radius is a measure of channel flow efficiency.
𝐴
𝑅ℎ =
𝑃
Where

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R = Hydraulic radius

A = Cross sectional area of flow

P = Wetted Parameter

Greater the hydraulic radius, greater will be the efficiency of channel and less likely the river is
to flood. For channels of a given width, the hydraulic radius is greater for deeper channels.
It is a function of shape of pipe or channel or river in which the water is flowing. In wide
rectangular channels the hydraulic radius is approximated by flow depth. The measure of
channels efficiency i.e. its ability to move water and sediment is used by water engineers to
assess the channel’s capacity.

Manning’s Roughness Co-efficient “n”:

It is an empirically derived co-efficient, which is dependent on many factors including surface
roughness and sinuosity.

For different surface materials “n” values are given in the table below:

Manning's Roughness
Surface Material Coefficient
-n-

Asbestos cement 0.011

Brickwork 0.015

Clay tile 0.014

Concrete – finished 0.012

Concrete - wooden forms 0.015

Earth channel – clean 0.022

Earth channel - gravelly 0.025

Earth channel - weedy 0.030

Earth channel - stony, 0.035

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 Manning's Roughness
Surface Material Coefficient
-n-
cobbles

Floodplains - heavy brush 0.075

Floodplains – trees 0.15

Gravel 0.029

Masonry 0.025

Natural streams - clean and

0.030
straight

Natural streams - major

0.035
rivers

Natural streams - sluggish

0.040
with deep pools

Chezy’s Formula:
Chezy’s formula can be used to calculate mean flow velocity in conduits and is expressed as:
𝑉 = 𝐶 √𝑅𝑆
Where
V = Mean velocity
C= chezy’s roughness co-efficient
R=hydraulic radius of conduit
S= slope of the energy line

Relationship between “c” & “n”:

𝑉 = 𝐶 √𝑅𝑆 1)

1 2⁄3 1⁄
𝑉= 𝑅 𝑆 2 2)
𝑛 ℎ

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Comparing equation 1 and 2 we will have

1 1⁄6
𝐶= 𝑅
𝑛 ℎ
Relationship between Chezy’s “c” & friction factor “f”:
1
𝐶𝛼
𝑓
Where f = friction factor

Measurement of Discharge in the lab:

Discharge is measured by using flow measurement chart i.e. by seeing the value of discharge
corresponding to manometric reading difference.

Relationship between velocity & depth:

Velocity and depth are inversely proportional to each other.

Procedure:
I. Measure the width of the channel (B)
II. Adjust suitable value of the slope
III. For constant values of slope, vary discharge “Q” and measure depth of flow of water at
three different locations and take the average depth.
IV. Calculate the values of “c” & “n”

Precautions:
 The height measuring needle must be adjusted precisely
 The depth should not be measured near joints or at points where there is turbulence in
flume
 The tip of needle must be just touching the water surface while taking observations.

Observations & Calculations:

Width of the channel = 300 mm
Slope of the channel = 1/500

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 Observations & Calculations

Area of Wetted Hydraulic Avg.

Discharge Depth of flow
Manometric flow perimeter radius Velocity Chezy's Manning's
S#
Diff. constant constant
Q y1 y2 y3 Yaverage A=bh P=b+2h R=A/P V=Q/A
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m /s mm mm mm mm m2 m m m/s
1 65 0.008942 58 53 45 52.00 0.01560 0.404 0.0386 0.573 65.226 0.0089
2 45 0.011619 65 64 51 60.00 0.01800 0.420 0.0429 0.646 69.722 0.0085
3 90 0.013853 71.5 70 60 67.17 0.02015 0.434 0.0464 0.687 71.372 0.0084
4 120 0.016244 80 73.3 64.8 72.70 0.02181 0.445 0.0490 0.745 75.261 0.0080
5 150 0.017884 84 81.5 68 77.83 0.02335 0.456 0.0512 0.766 75.656 0.0081
6 175 0.019990 91.4 91 74 85.47 0.02564 0.471 0.0544 0.780 74.714 0.0082
Avg 71.992 0.0084

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Comments:
o As we increase the discharge, Chezy’s “c” also increases. There is a direct relationship
between discharge and Chezy’s “c”.
o There is a direct relationship between Chezys coefficient and velocity.
o Manning’s Roughness Co-efficient decreases with the increase in discharge. This has a
inverse relationship with the discharge.
o Thre is a inverse relationship between Mannings roughness coefficient and velocity
o There is a inverse relationship between Chezy’s “c” & Manning’s “n”.
o Average value of “c” is 71.992 and average value of “n” 0.0084.