Lecture 2

Open Channel Flows

- Basic Concepts

1. Properties of Water
Density: It is the mass per unit volume of water with the

unit of slug/ft3 (in English units) or kg/m3 (in SI units). It is

denoted by .
At 4oC, equals 1.94 slugs/ft3 or 1,000 kg/m3.

Specific weight: It is the weight per unit volume of water

with the unit of lb/ft3 (in English units) or N/m3 (in SI

units). It is denoted by . It has the following relationship
with density:
g
where g is gravitational acceleration and is equal to 32.2 ft/s2
or 9.81m/s2.
At 4oC, equals 62.4 lb/ft3 or 9,810 N/m3.

Properties of Water
Specific gravity: It is the ratio of specific weight of a fluid to the

specific weight of water.

Viscosity: It is the proportional constant between the shear stress
() and the velocity gradient (du/dy):

du

dy
Viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its
resistance to gradual deformation by shear stress.
is called dynamic viscosity. It has the unit of lb-s/ft2 or N-s/m2.
is called kinematic viscosity defined as = /. It has the unit of
ft2/s or m2/s.
Ideal fluid: A fluid with equal to 0.
Real fluid: A fluid with not equal to 0.
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Properties of Water
Elasticity: It is a property that reflects the deformability

(compressibility) of water induced by a pressure change.

It is represented by the bulk modulus of elasticity, E, defined

as follows:
E

dp
dV / V

dp
d /

or

where p is pressure and V is the volume of a water body.

Properties of Water
Pressure: It is the force by water acting in perpendicular on

a unit area of a surface (See next slide).

The pressure p for a point at a depth y below water surface is:

p y

where is the specific weight of water.

The pressure force P acting on a plane area A can be

expressed as follows:
P pdA ydA yc A

where yc is the vertical depth of water above centroid of the area.

For a vertical surface of a unit width and height h, the

pressure force P can be expressed as follows:
h

pdA ydA
0

1 2
h
2
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Pressure distribution

Properties of Water
Hydrostatic pressure
The pressure for static water is called hydrostatic pressure. It
varies with the elevation z as follows:
dp

dz

p z constant
The equation can be converted to:

z constant piezometric head

For any two points in static water:

p1

z1

p2

z2
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Properties of Water
Gauge pressure:
It is the pressure that

uses atmospheric
pressure as the
datum.
Absolute pressure:
It is the pressure
above the absolute
zero.

Properties of Water
Surface tension (): It is caused by the cohesive forces

among liquid molecules at the surface, where the molecules

do not have molecules on all sides to balance the cohesive
force, resulting inward pulling forces at the surface.

4 cos
d

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2. Discharge and Velocity

Discharge (Q) is the volume of

water per unit time that passes a

given cross section. It can be
expressed as follows:
Q vdA
A

A = Cross sectional area

Average velocity (V) is the

discharge divided by the cross

sectional area:
V

Q
A
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3. Classification of Flow
Space Criterion:
Uniform Flow - Flow characteristics do not change in the

longitudinal direction. For example, Vx 0

Non-uniform Flow - Flow characteristics change in the
longitudinal direction. For example, V 0
x

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Classification of Flow
Time Criterion:
Steady Flow Flow characteristics do not change with time.

For example, Vt 0
Unsteady Flow Flow characteristics change with time. For
V
example, t 0

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4. State of Flow
Reynolds Number Criterion Re VD /
V = velocity, D = pipe diameter, = kinematic viscosity
Laminar Flow: Water particles move in parallel in a
definite path without lateral/vertical mixing due to
eddies. Laminar flow occurs when Re < 500.
Turbulent Flow: Water particles follow irregular and

erratic paths with strong mixing due to eddies. Turbulent

flow occurs when Re > 2,000
Transition: It occurs when 500 < Re <2,000.

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State of Flow
Reynolds Number Criterion

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State of Flow
Froude Number Criterion
Froude Number Criterion F V / gD
V = velocity, D = hydraulic depth
Subcritical Flow when F < 1
Critical flow when F = 1
Super critical flow when F > 1

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