Computational Hydraulics

Course Instructor

Dr. Ghufran Ahmed Pasha

ghufran.ahmed@uettaxila.edu.pk
Ph : 051-9047648
 Recommended Books
Text Book:
‘COMPUTATIONAL HYDRAULICS’
Numerical methods and modelling by IOANA POPESCU
Reference Books:
 ‘Computational Hydraulics’ by C.A. Brebbia and A. J Ferrante

 ‘Computational Hydraulics_ An Introduction’ by Cornelis B.

Vreugdenhil
 ‘Computational Fluid dynamics’ by John D. Anderson, JR.

 ‘Elementary Hydraulics’ by James F. Cruise

 ‘Open channel hydraulics’ by V.T Chow

 Course Outlines
 Hydraulics-An overview
 Modelling theory
 Modelling water related problems
 Discretization of the fluid flow domain
 Finite difference method
 Finite volume method
 Properties of numerical methods
 River system modelling and flood propagation
 Water quality modelling
 Marks Distribution
 Sessionals - 40%
 Assignments – 10%
 Quizes – 20 %

 Class Project/ Presentation – 10%

 Mid Term - 20%

 Final Exam - 40%
 Hydraulics
 The word hydraulics has been derived from the greed word
‘Hudour’, which means water.
 Hydraulics may be defined as the science that deals with the
mechanical behavior of water at rest or in motion.
 The mechanical behavior may entail computing forces and
energy associated with fluids at rest or momentum and energy
of fluids in motion, or computation of water surface elevation
in channels and flood plains, or calculation of discharge,
velocity, an fluid potential, and sediment and pollutant
transport in hydraulic conduits.
 The science of fluids at rest is called hydrostatics, and the
science of moving fluids is called hydrodynamics.
 Hydraulics

 Hydraulics is "That department of science which deals with

the conveyance of water or other liquids through pipes or
other artificial channels, and with the various mechanical
applications of the force exerted by moving liquids. Often
used in a wider sense, corresponding to what is now expressed
by hydrokinetics or hydrodynamics. "
 Basic Concepts

 Open Channel flows deal with flow of water in open channels

 Pressure is atmospheric at the water surface and the pressure is
equal to the specific weight times depth of water at any section
 Pressure head is the ratio of pressure and the specific weight of
water
 Elevation head or the datum head is the height of the section
under consideration above a datum
 Velocity head (=v2/2g) is due to the average velocity of flow in
that vertical section
 Basic Concepts

Total head =p/ + v2/2g + z

Pressure head = p/

Velocity head =v2/2g

Datum head = z

 The flow of water in an open channel is mainly due to head

gradient and gravity

 Open Channels are mainly used to transport water for

irrigation, industry and domestic water supply
Conservation Laws

The main conservation laws used in open channels are

Conservation Laws

Conservation of Mass

Conservation of Momentum

Conservation of Energy
Conservation of Mass

 Conservation of Mass
 In any control volume consisting of the fluid (water) under
consideration, the net change of mass in the control volume
due to inflow and out flow is equal to the net rate of change of
mass in the control volume.

 This leads to the classical continuity equation balancing the

inflow, out flow and the storage change in the control volume.

 Since we are considering only water which is treated as

incompressible, the density effect can be ignored.
Conservation of Momentum and energy

 Conservation of Momentum
 This law states that the rate of change of momentum in the
control volume is equal to the net forces acting on the control
volume.
 Since the water under consideration is moving, it is acted
upon by external forces
 Essentially this leads to the Newton’s second law

 Conservation of Energy
 This law states that neither the energy can be created or
destroyed. It only changes its form.
Conservation of Energy
 Mainly in open channels the energy will be in the form of potential energy
and kinetic energy.
 Potential energy is due to the elevation of the water parcel while the kinetic
energy is due to its movement.
 In the context of open channel flow the total energy due these factors
between any two sections is conserved.
 This conservation of energy principle leads to the classical Bernoulli’s
equation
 P/γ + v2/2g + z = Constant
 When used between two sections this equation has to account for the
energy loss between the two sections which is due to the resistance to the
flow by the bed shear etc.
 Types of Open Channel Flows

Depending on the Froude number (Fr) the flow in an open

channel is classified as Sub critical flow, Super Critical flow,
and Critical flow, where Froude number can be defined as:

Open
channel flow

Sub-critical Super critical

Critical flow
flow flow

Fr<1 Fr=1 Fr>1

 Types of Open Channel Flow

Open
Channel Flow

Unsteady Steady

Varied Uniform Varied

Gradually Gradually

Rapidly Rapidly
 Types of Open Channel Flow

 Steady Flow
 Flow is said to be steady when discharge does not
change along the course of the channel flow with
time.
 Unsteady Flow
 Flow is said to be unsteady when the discharge
changes with time.
 Uniform Flow
 Flow is said to be uniform when both the depth and
discharge is same at any two sections of the channel.
Flow Types (All Combinations):
 Steady uniform flow:
Flow at constant rate through a duct of uniform cross-section (The
region close to the walls of the duct is disregarded)
 Steady non–uniform flow:
Flow at constant rate through a duct of non-uniform cross-section
(tapering pipe)
 Unsteady uniform flow:
Flow at varying rates through a long straight pipe of uniform cross-
section. (Again the region close to the walls is ignored.)
 Unsteady non uniform flow:
Flow at varying rates through a duct of non-uniform cross-section.
 Types of Open Channel Flow

 Gradually Varied Flow

 Flow is said to be gradually varied when ever the depth
changes gradually along the channel
 Rapidly varied flow
 Whenever the flow depth changes rapidly along the
channel the flow is termed rapidly varied flow
 Spatially varied flow
 Whenever the depth of flow changes gradually due to
change in discharge the flow is termed spatially varied
flow
 Model?
 Models come in many different forms, some of which we do
not usually refer to as models. Language, for example is a
model, making associations between abstract concepts and
labels (defined by words), using a set of rules for clustering
words together (grammar), as such allowing to describe reality
(i.e., build models of reality).
 A model is a simplified, schematic representation of the real
world.
 Models are meant to help engineers, scientists and decision-
makers to determine what is happening in reality and to
predict what may happen in the future.
 Model

 A classical definition of the model is 'a simplification of

reality over some time period or spatial extent, intended to
promote understanding of the real system' (Bellinger, 2004) or
'A model is a simplification of reality that retains enough
aspects of the original system to make if useful to the
modeller (Chapra and Canale, 2006; Eykhoff, 1974).
 A model is a physical or mathematical description of a
physical system including the interaction with the outside
surrounding environment, which can be used to simulate the
effect of changes in the system itself or the effect of changes
due to conditions imposed on the system.
System
 In this context the system is defined to be a part of reality
(isolated from the rest), which consists of entities that are in
mutual relationships (processes) and have limited interactions
with the reality outside of the system. Examples of systems
are ecosystem or a hydrological system.
Physical modelling

 Building a small prototype of a system, in order to

test theories and design techniques was one of the
first uses of a model in civil engineering and it is
referred to as physical modelling.
Analytical model

 As science and technology progressed, so did the knowledge

about systems and properties of a system could be quantified
by mathematical equations that were either empirical or
derived from basic principles. The exact solution of such
equations is referred to as analytical model.

Find the root of f(x)=x−5 f(x)=x−5.

Analytical solution: f(x)=x−5=0
f(x)=x−5=0, add +5+5 to both sides to get the answer x=5x=5
Numerical model

 Mathematical representations in form of differential equations

do not always have explicit analytical solutions and the use of
approximate numerical approaches, to solve complex
equations, is referred to as numerical modelling.
 Computational fluid dynamics
 Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is defined as the field of
science that uses computers and numerical techniques to solve
problems involving fluid flow.
 The term Computational Hydraulics was defined by Abbot
and Minns (1998) to be 'the reformulation of traditional
hydraulics to suit the possibilities and requirements of
discrete, sequential and recursive processes of digital
computation', and it is a sub-field of CFD.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the simulation of

fluids engineering systems using modeling (mathematical
physical problem formulation) and numerical methods
(discretization methods, solvers, numerical parameters, and
grid generations, etc.)
Brief description of CFD
 Firstly, we have a fluid problem. To solve this problem, we
should know the physical properties of fluid by using Fluid
Mechanics.
 Then we can use mathematical equations to describe these
physical properties. This is Navier-Stokes Equation and it is
the governing equation of CFD. As the Navier-Stokes
Equation is analytical, human can understand it and solve
them on a piece of paper.
 But if we want to solve this equation by computer, we have to
translate it to the discretized form. The translators are
numerical discretization methods, such as Finite Difference,
Finite Element, Finite Volume methods.
Brief description of CFD
 Consequently, we also need to divide our whole problem
domain into many small parts because our discretization is
based on them. Then, we can write programs to solve them.
The typical languages are Fortran and C. Normally the
programs are run on workstations or supercomputers.
 At the end, we can get our simulation results. We can compare
and analyze the simulation results with experiments and the
real problem.
 If the results are not sufficient to solve the problem, we have
to repeat the process until find satisfied solution. This is the
process of CFD.
Importance of CFD
 There are three methods in study of Fluid: theory analysis,
experiment and simulation (CFD). As a new method, CFD has
many advantages compared to experiments.
Application of CFD
 As CFD has so many
advantages, it is already
generally used in
industry such as
aerospace, automotive,
biomedicine, chemical
processing, heat
ventilation air condition,
hydraulics, power
generation, sports and
marine etc.
Navier-Stokes Equation
Conservation Laws
 Navier-Stokes equations are the governing equations of
Computational Fluid Dynamics. It is based on the
conservation law of physical properties of fluid. The principle
of conservational law is the change of properties, for example
mass, energy, and momentum, in an object is decided by the
input and output. For example, the change of mass in the
object is as follows:
Continuity Equation

 Applying the mass, momentum and energy conservation, we

can derive the continuity equation, momentum equation and
energy equation as follows.
Momentum Equation
Energy Equation
Discretization
 The Navier-Stokes equations are analytical equations. Human
can understand and solve them, but if we want to solve them
by computer, we have to transfer them into discretized form.
This process is discretization.
 The typical discretization methods are finite difference, finite
element and finite volume methods. Here we introduce finite
volume method.
Example
Grids
Boundary conditions
 To solve the equation system, we also need boundary
conditions. The typical boundary conditions in CFD are No-
slip boundary condition, Axisymmetric boundary condition,
Inlet, outlet boundary condition and Periodic boundary
condition.
Example
 Computational Hydraulics
 Computational hydraulics is one of the many fields of
science in which the application of computers gives rise to a
new way of working, which is intermediate between purely
theoretical and experimental.
 It is concerned with simulation of the flow of water, together
with its consequences, using numerical methods on
computers.
 There is not a great deal of difference with computational
hydrodynamics or computational fluid dynamics, but these
terms are too much restricted to the fluid as such.
 Computational Hydraulics

 It seems to be typical of practical problems in hydraulics that

they are rarely directed to the flow by itself, but rather to
some consequence of it, such as forces on obstacles,
transport of heat, sedimentation of a channel or decay of a
pollutant.
 Computational Hydraulics

 Fluid movement in hydraulic systems are generally governed

by ordinary differential equations (ODE) or partially
differential equations (PDE).
 ODEs/PDEs represent conservation laws (i.e., mass,
momentum and energy) in general or simplified form.
 Computational hydraulics is the art of representing complex
ODEs/PDEs in the form of algebraic equations.
 Overall aim is to reduce the experimental (physical) cost by
solving the algebraic equations.
 Solution can be analytical (closed), semi analytical, or
numerical (approximate).
 Computational Hydraulics

 Provides a quantitative description of hydraulic system by

means of numerical method.

Objective
 It empowers scientist/ engineers to perform numerical

experiments in a ‘virtual laboratory’ before experimenting

physically.
Classification of Model
 Classification of models is done in order to understand the
type and level of mathematics involved in developing a model
and it helps understanding how the simulation is done (Lane
& Nichols, 1993).
 Model classification helps users to select the appropriate
model for a particular problem solving need.