Numerical Investigation of Developing Velocity Distributions in Open Channel Flows

The velocity profiles in open channel flows start developing after entering into the channel for quite some length. All types of laboratory experiments for open channel flows are carried out in the fully developed flow regions which exist at some length downstream the inlet. In this research work an attempt has been made to investigate the impact of roughness and slope of the channel bed on the length required for establishment of fully developed flow in an open channel. A range of different roughness values along with various slopes were considered for this purpose. It was observed that an increase in roughness results in reduction of development length; and development length reduces drastically when roughness reaches to the range normally encountered in open channel flows with emergent vegetation or natural river flows. However, it was observed that the change of slope did not have any noticeable effect on development length. This work suggests that CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technique can be used for getting a reliable development length before performing an experimental work