Best Hydraulic Section of a Composite Channel
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 6
Abstract
The half-circle is the ideal shape of the best hydraulic section of open channels, but semicircular channels are not practical to construct. The semicircular section is approximated by a composite section that is composed of a trapezoidal section at the bottom and a rectangular section at the top. Such a composite channel can be easily constructed in rocks. This technical note presents an analysis for determining the channel proportions that yield a minimum wetted perimeter for a given flow area of the composite channel. The results of the analysis show that the best hydraulic section has the shape of a half-octagon for composite channel and a composite section is more efficient than a trapezoidal section.
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Acknowledgments
The writer gratefully acknowledges Professor Subhash C. Jain, University of Iowa, for his valuable comments and help in the preparation of this paper. The writer is also grateful to the reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions.
References
Douglas, E. J. F., Gasiorek, J. M., and Swaffield, J. A. (2001). Fluid mechanics, 4th Ed., Pearson, Edinburgh Gate, U.K.
Fox, R. W., and McDonald, A. T. (1994). Introduction to fluid mechanics, 4th Ed., Wiley, New York.
Guo, J. C. Y., and Hughes, W. (1984). “Optimal channel cross section with freeboard.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 110(3), 304–314.
Jain, S. C. (2001). Open-channel flow, Wiley, New York.
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© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 8, 2005
Accepted: Aug 9, 2006
Published online: Jun 1, 2007
Published in print: Jun 2007
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