OPEN CHANNEL HYDRAULICS

Course instructor: Engr. Intezar Hussain

1
 BASIC CONCEPTS

 
• CLOSED CONDUIT
• A flow passage with closed top is called a closed
conduit, e.g., tunnels, pipes and aqueducts etc.

• OPEN CHANNEL
• A flow passage with open top is known as an open
channel, e.g., rivers, streams, estuaries etc.
 .
FREE SURFACE OR OPEN CHANNEL FLOW:

• A flow in an open channel or in a closed conduit

having a free surface is called as free-surface flow or
open channel flow as shown below. The free surface
is usually subjected to atmospheric pressure and the
flow is under the action of gravity.

Open Channel
 Closed - conduit flow with free surface

• PIPE OR PRESSURISED FLOW

• The flow in a closed conduit with no free surface, i.e.,
flowing full, is called pipe flow or pressurized flow as
shown below. The pressure in the conduit will be
more than atmospheric pressure. 
 COMBINED FREE-SURFACE AND
PRESSURIZED FLOW

• A closed conduit may have free-surface flow in part

of the length, e.g., at section A-A and pipe flow in the
remaining length, e.g., at section B-B.

A B

Section A-A

A B

Section B-B
 TERMINOLOGY

• A channel may be natural or artificial. Various names

have been used for artificial channels as follows:
 
• Canal
• A long channel having mild slope excavated in ground is
called a canal.
 
• Flume
• A channel supported above ground and built of wood,
metal or concrete is called a flume.
 
Tunnel
A tunnel is a channel excavated through a hill or
a mountain.
Culvert
A short channel flowing partly full is known as
culvert.
Prismatic Channel
A channel having the same cross section and bottom slope
is referred to as a prismatic channel.
Non-Prismatic Channel
A channel having varying cross section and/or bottom slope
is called a non-prismatic channel.
SOME TERMS RELATED TO OPEN CHANNELS

Channel Section
A cross section taken normal to the direction of flow is
called a channel section.
 
Depth of Flow Section ‘y’
It is the vertical distance of the lowest point of the
channel section from the free surface.
Depth of Flow Section ‘d ’
It is the depth of flow normal to the direction of flow. 
• Stage ‘Z’
• It is the vertical distance of free surface above a
specified datum.
• Flow Area ‘A’
• It is cross-sectional area of flow normal to the
direction of flow.
B

A y

Z
P

Datum
• Wetted Perimeter ‘P’
• It is the length of line of intersection of channel wetted surface
with a cross-sectional plane normal to the flow direction.
 
• Hydraulic Radius ‘R’
• It is the ratio of flow area to wetted perimeter, i.e., R=A/P.
 
• Top Width ‘B’
• It is the width of the channel section at the free surface.
 
• Hydraulic Depth ‘D’
• It is the ratio of flow area to top width, i.e., D=A/B.
 HYDRAULIC GRADE LINE (HGL)
• A line joining the top of the liquid surface in the
piezometers in a closed conduit or an open channel
is called hydraulic grade line. In pipe flow, the
height of HGL above a specified datum is called the
piezometric head at that location.
Energy-grade line (EGL)

Hydraulic-grade line (HGL)

Datum
Pipe flow
 ENERGY GRADE LINE (EGL)

• If the velocity head is added to the top of the HGL

and the resulting points are joined by a line, then
this line is called energy grade line. EGL represents
the total head at different sections of a closed
conduit or an open channel.
Energy-grade line (EGL)

Hydraulic-grade line (HGL)

Datum
Free - surface flow
Classification of flow 13
• STEADY AND UNSTEADY FLOWS
• If the flow velocity at a given point does not change
with respect to time, then the flow is called steady
flow. However, if the velocity at a given location
changes with respect to time, then the flow is called
unsteady flow.

• UNIFORM AND NON-UNIFORM FLOWS

• If the flow velocity at a given instant of time does not
change within a given length of channel, then the flow
is called uniform flow. However, if the flow velocity at
a time varies with respect to distance, then the flow is
called non-uniform flow or varied flow. 
• GRADUALLY & RAPIDLY VARIED FLOW
• If the flow depth varies at a slow rate with respect to
distance, then the flow is called gradually varied flow
(GVF) whereas if the flow depth varies significantly in a
short distance then the flow is called rapidly varied flow.

• LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOWS

• If the liquid particles appear to move in definite smooth
paths and flow appears to be as a movement of thin layers
on top of each other, then the flow is called laminar flow.
• In turbulent flow, the liquid particles move in irregular
paths which are not fixed with respect to either time or
space.
REYNOLDS NUMBER
• The ratio of viscous and inertial forces is defined as the Reynolds number,

i.e.
(Re=VL/)
• R=Reynolds number
• V=mean flow velocity
• L=characteristic length
• =kinematic viscosity of the liquid.
• The value of Reynolds number (Re=VL/) determines whether the flow is
laminar or turbulent.
• So for open channel
laminar Re channel <500
turbulent Re channel >1000
• SUBCRITICAL, SUPERCRITICAL AND
CRITICAL FLOWS
 
• A critical flow is defined as that for which the value of
Froude number (Fr=V/√gy) is equal to 1.
• If the value of Froude number is less than 1 then the
flow is called subcritical.
• If the value of Froude number is more than 1 then the
flow is said to be supercritical. 
 VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION

• The flow velocity in a channel section varies from

one point to another. This is due to shear stress at
the bottom and the sides of the channel and due to
the presence of free surface. Following figures show
typical velocity distributions in different channel
cross-sections.
 Uniform flow formulas
• Water depth, width, flow area does not change with
distance

• For uniform flow following formulas are used to compute

different properties of flow in channel
1. Chezy’s formula
2. Manning's formula
 Chezy formula
•  
 V = C
Is the Chezy’s formula
R=Hydraulic radius
S=channel slope

Robert Manning (1890) found that value of C varied

approximately as Rh1/6 while others observed that the
proportionality was close to 1/n.
 Manning's formula

 
Most widely used formula for uniform flow in open
channels.
 Discharge –Depth given

 
The normal depth of flow in a trapezoidal concrete lined channel
is 2m. The channel has a base width of 5m and side slopes of 1V
to 2H. Manning’s n is 0.015 and the bed slope is 0.001. Determine
the discharge Q and mean velocity V.