CE530- OPEN CHANNEL HYDRAULICS
FALL 2003
SECOND MIDTERM
NOVEMBER 24, 2003, 1600-1715

Name: ________________________ S.S. No. _________________ Grade: ____________

Instructions: Closed book, closed notes. Use engineering paper. When you are finished, staple your work in sequence (1 to 3), and return this sheet with your work.

  1. (30%) Calculate the design flow depth and bottom width of a trapezoidal channel to be excavated in noncohesive alluvial material, with the following conditions:

    Discharge: Q = 800 cfs;     Side slope: z = 2;     Manning n = 0.02;
    Bottom slope: So = 0.00065;     Angle of repose: θ = 30o;
    Permissible tractive stress on level ground: τL = 0.2 lb/ft2
    [Hint: Calculate flow depth y based on permissible tractive stress and try several bottom widths b until the design discharge is satisfied].

  2. (30%) A weir is located at the downstream end of a wide rectangular channel with bottom slope So = 0.01 and friction factor (1/8 of Darcy-Weisbach friction factor) f = Sc = 0.002. The upstream flow is supercritical, and the steady discharge is q = 2 m3/s/m. Immediately upstream of the weir, the flow is subcritical, with depth 5 m.

    • Sketch the possible water surface profile and indicate its type.
    • Calculate the upstream flow depth.
    • Calculate the sequent depth using the hydraulic jump equation (Eq. 3-21).
    • Assuming a nearly horizontal profile downstream of the hydraulic jump, calculate the approximate distance from the downstream end of the hydraulic jump to the weir.

  3. (40%) Please answer the following questions in a brief statement.

    • How many types of water surface profiles are they?
    • What are the five upstream/downstream distinct values of depth gradient Sy encountered in water-surface profiles?
    • What is the difference between steady gradually varied flow and uniform flow? Give an example of an application of each.
    • What is the difference between steady gradually varied flow and steady rapidly varied flow? Give an example of an application of each.
    • What is the difference between steady gradually varied flow and unsteady flow? Give an example of an application of each.
      State three differences between the direct-step and standard-step methods of steady gradually varied flow computation.
    • Why you could not route with HEC-2 while you could route with HEC-RAS?
    • What happens when a channel is dredged partially without a change in discharge? What happens when a channel is dredged throughout its length without a change in discharge? Explain the impact of dredging on the hydrology, i.e, on the discharge, particularly in relation to large rivers in humid regions.