Expt. No.

DETERMINATION OF ROUGHNESS COEFFICENT OF AN

EXPERIMENTAL FLUME (OPEN CHANNEL)

Aim
To determine the roughness coefficient (Manning’s n) of an open channel

Apparatus
Open channel of 5.0 m long, scale, stop-watch, rough surface bed 1, rough surface bed 2 etc.

Theory
Manning’s formula for flow computation is given by

1 2/3 1/2
V R S
n
(1)
where, V = Q/A, mean velocity in m/s
R = A/P, hydraulic radius in m
n = Manning’s roughness coefficient or rugosity coefficient
S = channel bed slope
P = Wetted perimeter, b + 2y, in which b is the bottom width and y is the water depth.

Procedure:
1. Fix the channel to a certain slope, take the width of channel by a slide calipers.
2. Measure the depth of flow.
3. Measure the slope of the channel.
4. Calculate the discharge by taking the known quantity of water divided by time taken to fill
up.
5. Calculate the velocity by simply dividing the discharge by cross-sectional area.
6. ‘n’ can be calculated by using Eq. (1).
7. Change the bed slope by changing the position of the rod set for changing bed slope.
8. Repeat the process for several times and for different bed slope.

Observations:

Bed width (b) = 0.075 m

I. Glass channel without rough bed

a) Constant discharge – varying slope

Weight loaded on the weighing device =

Weight of water collected at the bucket =
Slope Depth at 2m H1= h1-h2 Depth at 3m H2=h1-h2 Avg. normal
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) depth, yn
(mm)
h1 h2 h1 h2 (m)

1
Average time taken to balance the weight in seconds =
Discharge Depth c/s area Avg. Wetted Hyd. mean Slope Manning’s
Q yn A velocity perimeter radius, Sb Roughness
(m3/sec) (m) (m2) V (m) R(m) coefficient
(m/sec) ‘n’

b) Constant slope but varying discharge

slope =

Weight Depth at 2m H1= h1-h2 Depth at 4m H2=h1-h2 Time taken to Avg. normal
(kg) (mm)
h1 h2 (mm) (mm)
h1 h2 (mm) balance the depth, yn
weight(secs) (mm)

Discharge Depth c/s area Avg. Wetted Hyd. mean Slope Manning’s
Q yn A velocity perimeter radius, R Sb Roughness
3
(m /sec) (m) (m2) V (m) (m) coefficient
(m/sec) ‘n’

II. Glass channel with rough bed 1

a) Constant discharge – varying slope

Weight loaded on the weighing device =
Weight of water collected at the bucket =

Slope Depth at 2m H1= h1-h2 Depth at 3m H2=h1-h2 Avg. normal

(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) depth, yn
(mm)
h1 h2 h1 h2 (m)

2
Average time taken to balance the weight in seconds =

Discharge Depth c/s area Avg. Wetted Hyd. mean Slope Manning’s
Q yn A velocity perimeter radius, Sb Roughness
(m3/sec) (m) (m2) V (m) R(m) coefficient
(m/sec) ‘n’

b) Constant slope but varying discharge

slope =

Weight Depth at 2m H1= h1-h2 Depth at 4m H2=h1-h2 Time taken to Avg. normal
(kg) h(mm)
1 h2 (mm) (mm)
h 1 h2 (mm) balance the depth, yn
weight(secs) (mm)

Discharge Depth c/s area Avg. Wetted Hyd. mean Slope Manning’s
Q yn A velocity perimeter radius, R Sb Roughness
(m3/sec) (m) (m2) V (m) (m) coefficient
(m/sec) ‘n’

III. Glass channel without rough bed 2

a) Constant discharge – varying slope

Weight loaded on the weighing device =

Weight of water collected at the bucket =

Slope Depth at 2m H1= h1-h2 Depth at 3m H2=h1-h2 Avg. normal

(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) depth, yn
h(mm)
1 h2 h1 h2 (m)

3
Average time taken to balance the weight in seconds =

Discharge Depth c/s area Avg. Wetted Hyd. mean Slope Manning’s
Q yn A velocity perimeter radius, Sb Roughness
(m3/sec) (m) (m2) V (m) R(m) coefficient
(m/sec) ‘n’

b) Constant slope but varying discharge

slope =

Weight Depth at 2m H1= h1-h2 Depth at 4m H2=h1-h2 Time taken to Avg. normal
(kg) (mm)
h1 h2 (mm) (mm)
h1 h2 (mm) balance the depth, yn
weight(secs) (mm)

Discharge Depth c/s area Avg. Wetted Hyd. mean Slope Manning’s
Q yn A velocity perimeter radius, R Sb Roughness
3
(m /sec) (m) (m2) V (m) (m) coefficient
(m/sec) ‘n’

Results and Discussion

Application