Abstract
New models for the prediction of laminar and turbulent flow of non-Newtonian fluids in open channels of different cross-sectional shapes are proposed. These models are compared with three previously published models for laminar flow and five previously published models for turbulent flow using a recently extended experimental database for non-Newtonian flow in open channels of different cross-sectional shapes. Flow of three different fluids (aqueous carboxymethylcellulose solutions and kaolin and bentonite suspensions) was investigated in open channels of four different cross sections (rectangular, semicircular, trapezoidal, and triangular) at slopes varying from 1 to 5°. The new laminar model gave a closer fit to the data than those from the previously published models. However, the presence of the yield stress still presents a problem that makes flow prediction in laminar flow for such fluids not very accurate. The new model for turbulent flow gave the best fit to the flow data compared with the five previously published models, which fell within a 30% error margin. A particular advantage of both new models is that they are applicable for all the different fluids tested and the four open channel cross-sectional shapes.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support of this work from the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) is very much appreciated.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 4 • April 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 17, 2014
Accepted: Oct 3, 2014
Published online: Nov 25, 2014
Published in print: Apr 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Apr 25, 2015
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Channel flow
- Channels (waterway)
- Computing in civil engineering
- Cross sections
- Databases
- Engineering fundamentals
- Errors (statistics)
- Flow (fluid dynamics)
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid flow
- Fluid mechanics
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydraulic structures
- Hydrologic engineering
- Information Technology (IT)
- Laminar flow
- Mathematics
- Open channel flow
- Open channels
- Statistics
- Turbulent flow
- Water and water resources
- Waterways
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