ExperimentNo.

1
Determinationof state of flow and critical depth in open channel

1.1General
Open channel flow is generally affected by different fluid properties such as viscosity, density,
surface tension etc .and also the gravity. These effects result different state of flow in open
channel. This experiment mainly deals with determination of the state of flow in an open channel
at a particular section. The state of flow is very important, as the flow behavior depends on it .In
order to construct different tructures in river sand canal sand to predict the
riverresponse,thestateofflow mustbeknown. Theexperimentalsodealswithdeterminationofcritical
depth,which isveryusefulindeterminingdifferentflowphenomena.

1.2Theory
1.2.1Stateofflow:
Stateofflowisanopenchannelisbasedonthecombinedeffectofviscosityand gravity.
Dependingontheeffectofviscosityrelativetothe inertia,theflow maybelaminar,turbulent or
transition.Theeffectofviscosityrelativetotheinertiaisexpressedby theReynold’snumbergiven by,

VR
Re = .............................................................. (1.1)
ν

where,
V = mean velocity
R = Hydraulic radius = A/P
P = Wetted perimeter
ν = Kinematic viscosity of water

Kinematic viscosity varies with temperature. The value of ν at different temperature is given in
table1.1.

When
Re< 500 the flow is laminar
500 ≤ Re ≤ 12,500 the flow is transitional
Re> 12500 the flow is turbulent

Most open channel flows including those in rivers and canals are turbulent. The Reynold’s
number of most open channel flows is high of the order of 106, indicating that the viscous forces
are weak relative to the inertia forces and do not play a significant role in determining the flow
behavior.

Depending on the effect of gravity the flow is classified as supercritical, critical and subcritical
flow. The effect of gravity relative to the internal force is expressed by the Froude number,
defined as

1
 V
Fr = ........................................................ (1.2)
gD

where,
V = mean velocity
D = Hydraulic mean depth = A/T
T = Top width
g = Gravitational acceleration

When
Fr> 1 the flow is supercritical
Fr = 1 the flow is critical
Fr< 1 the flow is subcritical

Generally, the flow in most rivers and canals is subcritical. Since the state of open channel flow
is primarily governed by the gravity forces relative to the inertia force, the Froude number is the
most important parameter to indicate the state of flow.
Depending on Froude number and Reynold’s number, the following four states of flow are
possible.
(i) Subcritical Laminar Fr< 1, Re< 500
(ii) Supercritical laminar Fr> 1, Re< 500
(iii)Subcritical turbulent Fr< 1, Re< 12,500
(iv) Supercritical turbulent Fr> 1, Re> 12,500

The first two states of flow,subcritical laminar and super critical laminar are not commonly
encountered in applied open channel hydraulics. Since the flow is generally turbulent is open
channel, the last two states of flow are considered in engineering problem.

Table: 1.1 Physical properties of water

Temperature, °C Kinematic viscosity v×l0-6, m2/s
0 1.781
5 1.518
10 1.307
15 1.139
20 1.002
25 0.890
30 0.798
40 0.653
50 0.547
60 0.466
70 0.404
80 0.354
90 0.315
100 0.282

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1.2.2 Critical depth:
Critical depth is the depth at which the velocity is such that the Froude number is equal to unity
for a give discharge and channel section.
V2 D
So, putting Fr = 1in Eq. (1.2) using 2g = 2 and simplifying, one gets, for rectangular section
3 Q2
yc = ......................................................... (1.3)
gB 2

where,
yc = Critical depth
Q = Discharge
B = Width of the channel

1.3Objectivesoftheexperiment

(i)To measurewaterdepthat bothu/sandd/sofa weir.

(ii)TodeterminetheRe and Fr
(iii)Todetermineandobservethestate offlow.
(iv)Todeterminecriticaldepth
(v)Toobservethesubcriticalandsupercriticalflow.

1.4 Experimental Setup

Todevelopdifferentstate offlow,thefollowinglaboratorysetupisused.

Fig1.1:Schematicdiagramofexperimentalsetup

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1.5Procedure
(i) Measurethe depthofflowat section1andsection2bypointgage.
(ii) Takethereadingofdischargefromwatermeter.
(iii) Calculatevelocityat bothsections.
(iv) CalculateRe andFrforbothsectionusingEq. (l.l) and (1.2) and determine the state of flow.
(v) CalculatecriticaldepthycusingEq.(1.3)

1.6 Assignment

1. Why the state of flow and critical depth of a river need to be determined?
2. How can you determine that the flow in a river is subcritical, critical or supercritical without
taking any measurement?
3. Reynolds no and .Froudeno,which one is more significant indetermining flow behavior of a
river? Why?

1.7 References

i ) Chapter-1(Openchannelflowanditsclassification),
Chapter-4(CriticalFlow:ItsComputationandApplications),OpenChannelHydraulics
by,VenTeChow.
ii) Chapter-l(Conceptoffluidflow),OpenChannelHydraulics-By,RichardH.French.

1.8 Data sheet

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 Determination of state of flow and critical depth

Initialpointgaugereading = cm
Finalpointgauge reading= cm
Difference inreading= cm
Area ofthereservoirtank = cm2
VolumeofWater= cm3
Collectiontime = sec.
3
Discharge, Q = Cm /s
Flume width,B = cm
Criticaldepth,yc = cm
Temperature,=0c
Kinematic viscosity of water, ν = cm2/s

Area Hydraulic Hydraulic

Depthof Perimeter Froude Reynolds
section A=B Radius Depth Velocity Stateof
flow P=(B+2y) number number
y R=A/P D=A/T (cm/s) flow
y(cm) 2
(cm) Fr Re
(cm ) (cm) (cm)

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Signature of the Teacher