Gradually Varied Flow Equation Is
Gradually Varied Flow Equation Is
Where:
Fr = Froude number
Where:
= Constant equal to 1.49 for English units and 1.00 for SI units.
FishXing primarily uses the Standard Step Method of numerical integration. The following form
of the equation is used:
Where:
E = Change in specific energy from one end of the reach to the other
Q = Flow rate
g = Gravitational acceleration
Since the friction slope and wetted area are functions of depth, solving for depth at a given
distance (x) requires an iterative solution. FishXing uses a bisection method to find the
solution.
The water surface profile can be calculated from downstream going upstream (backwater
calculations) or from upstream going downstream (frontwater calculations). The direction
depends on the classification of the water surface profile (hydraulic slope and type of curve). For
Mild, Critical, Adverse, and Horizontal slopes FishXing performs a backwater calculation
beginning at the downstream boundary. Frontwater calculations are performed for Steep slopes,
beginning at the upstream boundary. If a Steep slope culvert is backwatered (S1 curve), Fishing
also performs a backwater calculation and identifies the location of the hydraulic jump (if one
occurs).
Other Considerations
If only a portion of the culvert becomes pressurized, FishXing will switch between the GVF and
full flow equations.
Hydraulic Jumps
Whenever the flow profile changes from supercritical to subcritical, hydraulic jumps will occur.
A hydraulic jump represents a significant head loss that manifests in available energy for scour
and creation of turbulence. Hydraulic jumps are one of the three occurrences of Rapidly Varied
Flow that FishXing approximates. Hydraulic jumps are generally an undesirable condition for
fish passage and erosion control.
In FishXing a hydraulic jump can only occur if the following two conditions are satisfied:
2. The tailwater depth is greater than critical depth (yTW > yc)
If both of these conditions exist FishXing checks for the possibility of a jump occurring within
the culvert. FishXing solves the Gradually Varied Flow equations in the downstream direction
(frontwater calculations) starting from critical depth at the inlet. This gives a supercritical water
surface profile. Next, FishXing performs backwater calculations starting at the outlet with the
water depth equal to the tailwater depth. Proceeding upstream, the backwater calculations
produces a subcritical water surface profile. At any given point in the culvert there is now both a
supercritical and subcritical depth. To determine which depth is correct, at each node (point) the
corresponding momentum (or specific force) is calculated for both of the depths. When the
upstream momentum and downstream momentum values are equal a jump occurs.
FishXing does not locate the exact location of the jump but determines the up and downstream
nodes of the jump and connects sub and supercritical flow between these nodes.
1. Compute the upstream supercritical water surface profile by solving the
Gradually Varied Flow equations from the inlet depth equal to critical depth.
Calculations proceeding in the downstream direction are called "frontwater
calculations".
2. Starting at the downstream boundary condition at the outlet, compute the
subcritical water surface profile in the upstream direction. Calculations
proceeding in the upstream direction are called "backwater calculations".
3. At each node, compute the momentum (specific force) for associated with the
two depths (supercritical and subcritical).
Where:
Q = Flow rate
zbar = is the distance from the water surface to the centroid of the cross sectional area of flow.
4. Beginning at the outlet and proceeding towards the inlet, compare the momentum
associated with the corresponding supercritical and subcritical depths. When the
momentum associated with the subcritical profile becomes less than the
momentum associated with the supercritical profile, a hydraulic jump is assumed
to have occurred between the two nodes.