Gradually Varied Flow Profiles
Gradually Varied Flow Profiles
ABSTRACT
Gradually varied flow water-surface
profiles are expressed in terms of the
critical slope Sc. In this way, the flowdepth gradient dy/dx is shown to be
strictly limited to values outside the range
encompassed by Sc andSo, in which So is
the bed slope. This new approach
improves and completes the definition of
flow-depth-gradient ranges in the analysis
of water surface profiles. Online
calculators are provided to round up the
experience.
1. INTRODUCTION
Computations of gradually varied flow (GVF) are part of
the routine practice of hydraulic engineering. The GVF
equation describes steady gradually varied flow in open
channels (Chow 1959; Henderson 1966). The
conventional GVF equation is expressed in terms of bed
slopeSo, friction slope Sf, and Froude number F. Herein,
the GVF equation is alternatively expressed in terms of
bed slope So, critical slope Sc, and Froude number F.
Analysis of this equation reveals that the flow-depth
gradient dy/dx is strictly limited to values outside the
range encompassed by So and Sc. This improves and
completes the definition of flow-depth-gradient ranges in
the analysis of water surface profiles.
130523
http://ponce.sdsu.edu/gvfprofiles_criticalslope.html