Engineering

Hydraulics
OPEN CHANNEL FLOW
 OPEN-CHANNEL FLOW
 Flow in open channels (rivers, canals, guttering)
and partially-full conduits (sewers) is characterized
by the presence of a free surface where the
pressure is atmospheric.

 Since the gauge pressure is zero at the free

surface, the hydraulic grade line (p/ρg + z)
coincides with the free surface. The energy grade
line lies a distance of V2/2g above it.

 Open-channel flows are driven by gravity, not

pressure (unlike pipe flows).
Examples of Open Channels
Examples of Open Channels
Examples of Open Channels
Velocity Profile Distributions in O.C.
Velocity Profile Distributions in O.C.
 Normal Flow
 The flow is uniform if the velocity profile does
not change along the channel.

 The flow is steady if the velocity profile does

not change with time.

 Steady uniform flow is called normal flow

and the depth of water is called normal depth.
Hydraulic Radius and the Drag Law

In both open channels

and partially-full pipes,
wall friction occurs
only along the wetted
perimeter.

A = cross-sectional area
P = wetted perimeter
 Normal Flow
In normal flow:
 the component of weight
down the slope exactly
balances bed friction
 the loss of fluid head is
exactly equal to the loss
on elevation
 the bed slope, hydraulic
grade line and energy
grade line are all parallel
 geometric slope S0 =
friction slope Sf
 Normal Flow
 For steady uniform flow, the
component of weight down
the slope balances wall
friction

( AL) g sin( )   w PL

 where τw is the average wall

friction. Hence
A
 w  g ( ) sin( )
P
basic resistance equation for open-channel flow
 Hydraulic radius

A area
Rh   (1)
P wettedperimeter

Then, for normal flow,

 w  gRh S (2)

where S (= drop / length) is the slope; note that tan(θ) ≈ sin(θ) for small angles.
Example
 (1) For a circular pipe running full,
2
A R R D
Rh    
P 2R 2 4
for a full circular pipe, the hydraulic radius is half the
geometric radius. (Sorry folks, this is just one of those
things!). As a result, it is common to define a hydraulic
diameter Dh by
Dh  4 Rh
Example
 (2) For a very wide channel of uniform
depth h, side walls make negligible
contribution to the wetted perimeter and
hence
Rh  h
Rh is equal to the depth of flow.

To progress we need an expression for the average wall stress τw

Friction Laws – Chézy and Manning’s Formulae

 A skin-friction coefficient could be used to

relate the (average) wall shear stress to the
dynamic pressure:
1 2
wall shear stress τw in terms
 w  c f ( V ) of a resistance coefficient
2
 Hence, substituting the normal-flow relationship (2) for τw
1
c f ( V 2 )  gRh S
2
 or hf cf V 2  V 2
S ( )  ( ) ( ) (3)
L Rh 2 g ( 4 Rh ) 2 g
 This is equivalent to the Darcy-Weisbach head-loss
equation for pipes, with friction factor λ= 4cf and hydraulic
diameter Dh = 4Rh. The friction factor may be obtained
from the Colebrook-White equation, but with Reynolds
number

DhV 4 RhV
Re  
 

 The procedure for solving problems is similar to that for full

pipes, but with the added problem of having to determine
the level of fluid in the conduit as part of the solution.
 Friction factors based on the Colebrook-White
equation, however, are unsatisfactory for open
conduits (in particular, natural water courses such
as rivers) because the shear stress is not
constant around the wetted perimeter.

 In practical problems, engineers tend to use

simpler empirical formulae
Chézy
Manning.
 The formula for the slope (3) can be re-arranged as one for
average velocity:
Chézy’s Formula
V  C Rh S (4)

 C is Chézy’s coefficient. It varies with channel roughness

and hydraulic radius.
C  8g / 
 The most popular correlation for C is that of Manning who
proposed Rh1 / 6
C
n
 in terms of a roughness-dependent coefficient n. Combined
with Chézy’s formula (4), this yields:
1 2 / 3 1/ 2
Manning’s Formula V  R S (5)
n
 Important
 Both Chézy’s C and Manning’s n are
dimensional and depend on the units used.
Typical values of n in SI units are given in a
number of books.

 Typical figures of manning’s n for artificially-

lined channels and natural water courses are
about 0.011 and 0.03 respectively.
 Uniform-Flow Calculations
Assuming that the channel slope, shape and lining material
are known, there are two main classes of problem:

(Type A - easy) Given the depth (h) determine the quantity of flow (Q)

 (1) Calculate the area A and wetted perimeter P from geometry.

 (2) Calculate the hydraulic radius
A
Rh 
P
 (3) Calculate the average velocity from Manning’s formula:
1 2 / 3 1/ 2
V  R S
n
 (4) Calculate the quantity of flow as velocity X area: Q = VA.
(Type B - harder) Given the quantity of flow (Q) determine the depth (h)

 (1) Follow the steps for Type A above to write

algebraic expressions for, successively, A, P, Rh, V
and Q in terms of depth h.

 (2) Invert the Q vs h relationship graphically or

numerically.
 Example

 A smooth concrete-lined channel has

trapezoidal cross-section with base width 6m
and sides of slope 1V:2H. If the bed slope is
1 in 500 and the normal depth is 2 m
calculate the quantity of flow, Q.
 Solution
We are given slope S = 0.002. From the Appendices, Manning’s n is 0.012.

Break the trapezoidal

section into rectangular
and triangular
elements to obtain,
successively:
Example

 For the channel above, if the quantity

of flow is 40 m3 s–1, what is the normal
depth?
 Solution
This time we need to leave all quantities as functions of height h.

Note. Microsoft
Excel is good for
inverting Q(h)

We can now try a few values of h.

Optimal Shape of Cross-Section
 The most hydraulically-efficient shape of
channel is the one which can pass the
greatest quantity of flow for any given area
or, equivalently,
the smallest area for a given quantity of flow.

 From Manning’s formula and the corresponding

expression for quantity of flow we see that this
occurs for the minimum wetted perimeter.
 A semi-circle is the most hydraulically-efficient of
all channel cross-sections.

 However, hydraulic efficiency is not the only

consideration and one must also consider, for
example,

 fabrication costs, excavation and, for loose granular

linings, the maximum slope of the sides.

 Many applications favour trapezoidal channels.

Expressions for A, P and Rh for important channel
shapes are given in the table below.
Trapezoidal Channels
B
 For a trapezoidal
channel we have,
from the table
What depth of flow and what angle of side should
we choose for maximum hydraulic efficiency?????

 To minimize the wetted perimeter for maximum

hydraulic efficiency, we substitute for b in terms of
the fixed area A:

(6)
 To minimize P with respect to water depth we set

 and, on substituting the bracketed term into the expression (6)

for P, we obtain

 The hydraulic radius is then

 In other words, for maximum hydraulic efficiency, a trapezoidal channel

should be so proportioned that its hydraulic radius is half the depth of flow.
 Similarly, to minimize P with respect to the
angle of slope of the sides, α, we set

This occurs when cosα = ½. i.e. the most efficient side angle
for a trapezoidal channel is 60°.

Substituting these results for h and α into the general expression

for Rh one obtains h/b = (√3)/2 ; i.e. the most hydraulically-
efficient trapezoidal channel shape is half a regular hexagon.
Shape of a regular hexagon
 Circular Ducts

 In similar fashion it can be shown that the

maximum quantity of flow for a circular duct
(pipe) actually occurs when the duct is not full
–in fact for a depth about 95% of the diameter
 Area of flow, A = Sector AOB – Triangle AOB
1 2
O  R 2  R 2 SinCos
R
θ
R 2
A B
y
1
Z  R 2 (  Sin 2 )
2

Wetted perimeter P  2 R

For maximum velocity;

Taking the first derivative of Rh (=A/P) with respect to θ

Z  1.62 R  0.81D
For maximum discharge;
The result will depend on the choice of resistance formula

Using the Chezy formula

1 1 1 1 1 1
Q  ACR S  AC ( A / P) S  C ( A 3 / P) S
2 2 2 2 2 2

Differentiating with respect to θ and equating to zero;

Z  0.95 D
Discharge running full

= 0.933 X Maximum discharge