ABSTRACT

Open channel hydraulics, a subject of great importance to civil engineers, deals with flows having a free surface in channels constructed for water supply, irrigation, drainage, and hydroelectric power generation; in sewers, culverts, and tunnels flowing partially full; and in natural streams and rivers. Open channel hydraulics includes steady flows that are unchanging in time, varied flows that have changes in depth and velocity along the channel, and transient flows that are time dependent. This chapter deals only with rigidboundary channels without sediment deposition or erosion. In addition, this chapter assumes that wind and surface tension stresses exerted on the free surface are negligible, and that velocities are low enough that air is not entrained. The emphasis is on the one-dimensional treatment of uniform and nonuniform flows which are common in civil engineering practice. Design aspects of structures involving free surface flows are discussed in Chapter 35. Sediment transport in open channels is covered in Chapter 33.