HYDRAULICS
The Chezy formula can be used to calculate mean flow velocity in conduits and is expressed as
v = c (R S)1/2 (1)
where
v = mean velocity (m/s, ft/s)
c = the Chezy roughness and conduit coefficient
R = hydraulic radius of the conduit (m, ft)
S = slope of the conduit (m/m, ft/ft)
In general the Chezy coefficient - c - is a function of the flow Reynolds Number - Re - and the relative
roughness - ε/R - of the channel.
ε is the characteristic height of the roughness elements on the channel boundary.
The Manning formula, known also as the Gauckler-Manning formula, or Gauckler-
Manning-Strickler formula in Europe, is an empirical formula for open channel flow,
or free-surface flow driven by gravity. It was first presented by the French engineer
Philippe Gauckler[1] and later re-developed by the Irish engineer Robert Manning in
1890. For more than a hundred years, this formula lacked a theoretical derivation.
Recently this formula was derived theoretically[2] using the phenomenological theory of
turbulence.
The Gauckler-Manning formula states:
where:
V is the cross-sectional average velocity (ft/s, m/s)
k is a conversion constant equal to 1.486 for U.S. customary units or 1.0 for SI
units
n is the Gauckler-Manning coefficient (independent of units)
Rh is the hydraulic radius (ft, m)
S is the slope of the water surface or the linear hydraulic head loss (ft/ft, m/m) (S
= hf / L)
The discharge formula, , can be used to manipulate Gauckler-Manning's
equation by substitution for V. Solving for Q then allows an estimate of the volumetric
flow rate (discharge) without knowing the limiting or actual flow velocity.
The Gauckler-Manning Formula is used to estimate flow in open channel situations
where it is not practical to construct a weir or flume to measure flow with greater
accuracy. Error rates of +/- 30% or more are common using the Gauckler-Manning
Formula while error rates within +/- 10% are possible with properly constructed weirs or
flumes.
Hydraulic radius
The hydraulic radius is a measure of a river-channel flow efficiency. Water speed along
the channel depends on its cross-sectional shape (among other factors), and the hydraulic
radius is a characterisation of the channel that intends to capture such efficiency. It is
defined as the ratio of the channel's cross-sectional area to its perimeter:
where:
Rh is the hydraulic radius (m)
A is the cross sectional area of flow (m2)
P is wetted perimeter (m)
The greater the hydraulic radius, the greater the efficiency of the channel and the less
likely the river is to flood. The highest values occur when channels are deep, narrow, and
semi-circular in shape.
The hydraulic radius is not half the hydraulic diameter as the name may suggest. It is a
function of the shape of the pipe, channel, or river in which the water is flowing. In wide
rectangular channels, the hydraulic radius is approximated by the flow depth. The
measure of a river's channel efficiency (its ability to move water and sediment) is used by
water engineers to assess the likelihood of flooding. The hydraulic radius of a channel is
defined as the ratio of its cross-sectional area to its wetted perimeter (the part of the
cross-section – bed and bank – that is in contact with the water).
Gauckler-Manning coefficient
The Gauckler-Manning coefficient, often denoted as n, is an empirically derived
coefficient, which is dependent on many factors, including river-bottom roughness and
sinuosity[3]. Often the best method is to use photographs of river channels where n has
been determined using Gauckler-Manning's formula.
Values vary greatly in natural stream channels and will even vary in a given reach of
channel with different stages of flow. Most research shows that n will decrease with
stage, at least up to bank-full. Overbank n values for a given reach will vary greatly
depending on the time of year and the velocity of flow. Summer vegetation will typically
have a significantly higher n value due to leaves and seasonal vegetation. High velocity
flows will cause some vegetation (such as grasses and forbs) to lay flat, where a lower
velocity of flow through the same vegetation will not. [4]
In open channels, the Darcy-Weisbach equation is valid using the hydraulic diameter as
equivalent pipe diameter. It is the only sound method to estimate the energy loss in man-
made open channels. For various reasons (mainly historical reasons), empirical resistance
coefficients (e.g. Chézy, Gauckler-Manning-Strickler) were and are still used. The Chézy
coefficient was introduced in 1768 while the Gauckler-Manning coefficient was first
developed in 1865, well before the classical pipe flow resistance experiments in the 1920-
1930s. Historically both the Chézy and the Gauckler-Manning coefficients were expected
to be constant and functions of the roughness only. But it is now well recognised that
these coefficients are only constant for a range of flow rates. Most friction coefficients
(except perhaps the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor) are estimated 100% empirically and
they apply only to fully-rough turbulent water flows under steady flow conditions.
References
1. ^ Gauckler, P. (1867), Etudes Théoriques et Pratiques sur l'Ecoulement et le
Mouvement des Eaux, Comptes Rendues de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris,
France, Tome 64, pp. 818-822
2. ^ [Link]
3. ^ Chanson, H. (2004), The Hydraulics of Open Channel Flow, Butterworth-
Heinemann, Oxford, UK, 2nd edition, 630 pages (ISBN 978 0 7506 5978 9)
4. ^ Hardy, Panja and Mathias, [Link]
• Walkowiak,D (Ed.) Open Channel Flow Measurement Handbook, 6th Ed.
Teledyne ISCO; 2006 ISBN 0962275735.
Darcy's law
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In fluid dynamics and hydrology, Darcy's law is a phenomenologically derived
constitutive equation that describes the flow of a fluid through a porous medium. The law
was formulated by Henry Darcy based on the results of experiments[1] on the flow of
water through beds of sand. It also forms the scientific basis of fluid permeability used in
the earth sciences.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Background
• 2 Description
o 2.1 In 3D
o 2.2 Assumptions
• 3 Derivation
• 4 Additional forms of Darcy's law
o 4.1 Time derivative of flux
o 4.2 Brinkman term
o 4.3 Multiphase flow
o 4.4 Forchheimer equation for non-Darcy flow
o 4.5 In membrane operations
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links
Background
Although Darcy's law (an expression of conservation of momentum) was determined
experimentally by Henri Darcy, it has since been derived from the Navier-Stokes
equations via homogenization. It is analogous to Fourier's law in the field of heat
conduction, Ohm's law in the field of electrical networks, or Fick's law in diffusion
theory.
One application of Darcy's law is to water flow through an aquifer. Darcy's law along
with the equation of conservation of mass are equivalent to the groundwater flow
equation, one of the basic relationships of hydrogeology. Darcy's law is also used to
describe oil, water, and gas flows through petroleum reservoirs.
Description
Diagram showing definitions and directions for Darcy's law.
Darcy's law is a simple proportional relationship between the instantaneous discharge rate
through a porous medium, the viscosity of the fluid and the pressure drop over a given
distance.
The total discharge, Q (units of volume per time, e.g., m³/s) is equal to the product of the
permeability (κ units of area, e.g. m²) of the medium, the cross-sectional area (A) to flow,
and the pressure drop (Pb − Pa), all divided by the dynamic viscosity µ (in SI units e.g.
kg/(m·s) or Pa·s), and the length L the pressure drop is taking place over. The negative
sign is needed because fluids flow from high pressure to low pressure. So if the change in
pressure is negative (in the x-direction) then the flow will be positive (in the x-direction).
Dividing both sides of the equation by the area and using more general notation leads to
where q is the flux (discharge per unit area, with units of length per time, m/s) and is
the pressure gradient vector. This value of flux, often referred to as the Darcy flux, is not
the velocity which the water traveling through the pores is experiencing[2].
The pore velocity (v) is related to the Darcy flux (q) by the porosity (φ). The flux is
divided by porosity to account for the fact that only a fraction of the total formation
volume is available for flow. The pore velocity would be the velocity a conservative
tracer would experience if carried by the fluid through the formation.
In 3D
In three dimensions, gravity must be accounted for, as the flow is not affected by the
vertical pressure drop caused by gravity when assuming hydrostatic conditions. The
solution is to subtract the gravitational pressure drop from the existing pressure drop in
order to express the resulting flow,
where the flux is now a vector quantity, is a tensor of permeability, is the gradient
operator in 3D, g is the acceleration due to gravity, is the unit vector in the vertical
direction, pointing downwards and ρ is the density.
Effects of anisotropy in three dimensions are addressed using a symmetric second-order
tensor of permeability:
where the magnitudes of permeability in the x, y, and z component directions are
specified. Since this a symmetric matrix, there are at most six unique values. If the
permeability is isotropic (equal magnitude in all directions), then the diagonal values are
equal, , while all other components are 0. The permeability
tensor can be interpreted through an evaluation of the relative magnitudes of each
component. For example, rock with highly permeable vertical fractures aligned in the x-
direction will have relatively higher values for than other component values.
Assumptions
Darcy's law is a simple mathematical statement which neatly summarizes several familiar
properties that groundwater flowing in aquifers exhibits, including:
• if there is no pressure gradient over a distance, no flow occurs (this is hydrostatic
conditions),
• if there is a pressure gradient, flow will occur from high pressure towards low
pressure (opposite the direction of increasing gradient - hence the negative sign in
Darcy's law),
• the greater the pressure gradient (through the same formation material), the
greater the discharge rate, and
• the discharge rate of fluid will often be different — through different formation
materials (or even through the same material, in a different direction) — even if
the same pressure gradient exists in both cases.
A graphical illustration of the use of the steady-state groundwater flow equation (based
on Darcy's law and the conservation of mass) is in the construction of flownets, to
quantify the amount of groundwater flowing under a dam.
Darcy's law is only valid for slow, viscous flow; fortunately, most groundwater flow
cases fall in this category. Typically any flow with a Reynolds number less than one is
clearly laminar, and it would be valid to apply Darcy's law. Experimental tests have
shown that flow regimes with values of Reynolds number up to 10 may still be Darcian.
Reynolds number (a dimensionless parameter) for porous media flow is typically
expressed as
where ρ is the density of the fluid (units of mass per volume), v is the specific discharge
(not the pore velocity — with units of length per time), d30 is a representative grain
diameter for the porous medium (often taken as the 30% passing size from a grain size
analysis using sieves), and µ is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.
Derivation
Assuming stationary, creeping, incompressible flow, the Navier-Stokes equation becomes
where µ is the viscosity, ui is the velocity in the i direction, gi is the gravity component in
the i direction and p is the pressure. Assuming the viscous resisting force is proportional
to the velocity, and opposite in direction, we may write
where φ is the [Link] gives the velocity
which gives Darcy's law
Additional forms of Darcy's law
Time derivative of flux
For very short time scales, a time derivative of flux may be added to Darcy's law, which
results in valid solutions at very small times (in heat transfer, this is called the modified
form of Fourier's law),
where τ is a very small time constant which causes this equation to reduce to the normal
form of Darcy's law at "normal" times (> nanoseconds). The main reason for doing this is
that the regular groundwater flow equation (diffusion equation) leads to singularities at
constant head boundaries at very small times. This form is more mathematically rigorous,
but leads to a hyperbolic groundwater flow equation, which is more difficult to solve and
is only useful at very small times, typically out of the realm of practical use.
Brinkman term
Another extension to the traditional form of Darcy's law is the Brinkman term, which is
used to account for transitional flow between boundaries (introduced by Brinkman in
1947),
where β is an effective viscosity term. This correction term accounts for flow through
medium where the grains of the media are porous themselves, but is difficult to use, and
is typically neglected.
Multiphase flow
For multiphase flow, an approximation is to use Darcy's law for each phase, with
permeability replaced by phase permeability, which is the permeability of the rock
multiplied with relative permeability. This approximation is valid if the interfaces
between the fluids remain static, which is not true in general, but it is still a reasonable
model under steady-state conditions.
Assuming that the flow of a phase in the presence of another phase can be viewed as
single phase flow through a reduced pore network, we can add the subscript i for each
phase to Darcy's law above written for Darcy flux, and obtain for each phase in
multiphase flow
where κi is the phase permeability for phase i. From this we also define relative
permeability κri for phase i as
κri = κi / κ
where κ is the permeability for the porous medium, as in Darcy's law.
Forchheimer equation for non-Darcy flow
For a sufficiently high flow velocity, the flow is nonlinear, and Dupuit and Forchheimer
has proposed to generalize the flow equation to
where V is the flow velocity and β is a factor to be experimentally deduced.
In membrane operations
In pressure-driven membrane operations, Darcy's law is often used in the form,
where,
• J is the volumetric flux (m.s − 1),
• ∆P is the hydraulic pressure difference between the feed and permeate sides of the
membrane (Pa),
• ∆Π is the osmotic pressure difference between the feed and permeate sides of the
membrane (Pa),
• µ is the dynamic viscosity (Pa.s),
• Rf is the fouling resistance (m − 1), and
• Rm is the membrane resistance (m − 1).
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Darcy's Law
• The darcy unit of fluid permeability
• Hydrogeology
• Groundwater discharge
• Groundwater flow equation
• Groundwater energy balance
• Richards equation
• Darcy friction factor
References
1. ^ H. Darcy, Les Fontaines Publiques de la Ville de Dijon, Dalmont, Paris (1856).
2. ^ See Stauffer, Philip H. (2006). "Flux Flummoxed: A Proposal for Consistent
Usage". Ground Water 44 (2): 125–128. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2006.00197.x.
for a discussion of the many, sometimes confusing names given to (q) in the
ground water literature.
