Gradually varied flow

Arturo S. Leon, PhD, PE, D.WRE

Gradually varied flow (GVF)
● Steady non-uniform flow in a prismatic channel with gradual
changes in its water surface elevation
● For example,
– backwater produced by a dam or weir across a river
– drawdown produced at a sudden drop in a channel

● In GVF
– velocity varies along the
channel
– bed slope, water surface
slope, and energy slope will
all differ from each other
Gradually varied flow (GVF)
● Two basic assumptions in GVF analysis
– Pressure distribution at any section is assumed to be
hydrostatic
• Gradual changes in the surface curvature give rise
to negligible normal accelerations

– Resistance to flow at any depth is assumed to be

given by the corresponding uniform flow equation,
such as the Manning’s formula
• with the condition that the slope term to be used in
the equation is the energy slope (Se) and not the
bed slope
Hence, Se is often replaced by Sf (SI units)
Differential equation of GVF

Where:
Se = energy grade line slope
Sf = friction slope
So = bed slope
Classification of Water Surface Profiles

● Process of identification of possible flow profiles as a

prelude to quantitative computations
● As y  y0, dy/dx  0 , i.e. the water surface
approaches the normal depth line asymptotically.
● As y  yc, dy/dx  ∞, i.e. the water surface meets the
critical depth line vertically.
– high curvatures at critical depth zones violate the
assumption of gradually-varied nature of the flow
• Hence, GVF computations have to end or
commence a short distance away from the
critical-depth location.
Classification of Water Surface Profiles

Source: Hydraulic notes, David Apsley

Examples of Gradually Varied Flows

Typical surface configurations for nonuniform depth flow with a mild

slope
Examples of Gradually Varied Flows (Cont.)

Typical surface configurations for nonuniform depth flow with a

critical slope
Examples of Gradually Varied Flows (Cont.)

Typical surface configurations for nonuniform depth flow with a steep

slope
Examples of Gradually Varied Flows (Cont.)

Typical surface configurations for nonuniform depth flow with a

horizontal slope
Examples of Gradually Varied Flows (Cont.)

Typical surface configurations for nonuniform depth flow with

adverse slope
Control Sections
● Section in which a fixed relationship exists between the
discharge and depth of flow.
● Weirs, spillways sluice gates are some typical examples of
structures which give rise to control sections.
● Critical depth is also a control point.
However, it is effective in a flow profile which changes
–
from subcritical to supercritical flow.
● Control sections provide a key to the identification of
proper profile shapes.
– Subcritical flows have controls in the downstream end
– Supercritical flows have controls in the upstream end
– Hence, the direction of computation of subcritical
profiles is upstream, and for supercritical, it is
downstream.
Control Sections Due to curvature of the streamlines,
critical depth actually occurs at a distance
of about 4.0 yc upstream of the drop

Bold squares show the control sections

Example
Sketch the water surface profile for the two-reach open-channel
system below. A gate is located between the two reaches and
the second reach ends with a sudden fall.

Mild
Example
Sketch the water surface profile for the
open-channel system below.

Reservoir

Reservoir
Example
Sketch the water surface profile for
the open-channel system below.
Example
Sketch the water surface profile for the
open-channel system below.
Example
Sketch the water surface profile for
the open-channel system below.
Lake Discharge
Problem
Difficult to know discharge,
because it is unclear whether
slope is mild or steep
Lake Discharge Problem (Cont.)
Lake Discharge Problem (Cont.)
Water surface profile computation
Se = Sf
● Two types of methods
1. Explicit or direct step method: distance is determined for a
specified depth change
• Mostly for prismatic channels where cross-sectional
properties don’t change with distance x.
2. Implicit methods: depth is computed from distance changes
• Unknown appears on both sides of the equation dy = f(y)
dx
• For natural channels for which cross-sectional properties are
determined beforehand at particular locations.
● Assumptions
– slope of the energy grade line, Se, can be evaluated from
Manning's or Chezy's equation using the local value of depth.
Standard Step Method
● This method is used in most practical GVF solvers.
●This method solves sequentially for y1, y2, y3, …
starting at the control section (upstream or
downstream end) with known water depth y0.
●Step size (x) must be small enough so that
changes in water depth aren’t very large. Otherwise
estimates of the friction slope and the velocity head
are inaccurate
1. For subcritical flows, calculations start
downstream.
2. For supercritical flows, calculations start
upstream.
Standard Step Method (cont.)

● Equation of GVF in the form of the energy equation (with  = 1) :

● Solve for y1 (Subcritical flow) or y2 (supercritical flow)

Where:
= mean slope of the energy grade line
= reach length
Mean slope of the energy grade line:

● Average conveyance: Default in HEC-2 and HEC-RAS

● Average EGL slope: Most accurate for M1 profiles

● Geometric mean slope:

Default in WSPRO

● Harmonic mean slope: Most accurate for

M2 profiles

Where: k = 1 (SI units)

k = 1.49 (English units)
n = Manning’s roughness
Mixed-flow regime:
● When there is occurrence of both supercritical and
subcritical depths in a river reach
– For example, a hydraulic jump in a reach
● Intersection of the momentum function for upstream
supercritical and downstream subcritical profile determines
the location of hydraulic jump.
● Several programs are available for modeling mixed
flow regimes
– Annel2 (Arturo Leon)
– HEC-RAS (USACE)
– WSPRO (USGS)
Example
A rectangular concrete-lined channel (n = 0.015) has a
constant bed slope of 0.0001 and a bottom width of
40 m. A control gate at the dam increased the depth at
the dam to 12 m when the discharge is 300 m3/s.
Compute the water surface profile from the dam up to
200 km upstream of the dam. (See Excel spreadsheet
in Canvas).
Solution with Excel Spreadsheet
Solution with Excel Spreadsheet (Cont.)
Show Annel2 demo
Download software from: https://web.eng.fiu.edu/arleon/Annel2.html
Spatially Varied Flow
(Lateral Weir)
Lateral weirs
Velocity (m/s)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WayG2RgOwT8
Lateral inflow
● For the case of lateral inflow, such as a side channel spillway,
the general unsteady momentum equation can be simplified (for
perpendicular entry of lateral flow) to

where Sf = friction slope and qL = lateral inflow

rate per unit of channel length. In the case of the
side channel spillway, qL is a constant, such that the
channel discharge Q(x) = qLx, where x = 0 at the
upstream end of the channel.

● The equation above is solved numerically.

● Critical conditions can occur anywhere,
with subcritical upstream and
supercritical downstream of critical point.
Lateral inflow (cont.)
● Location of the critical section can be shown
to be given by (Henderson, 1966)

in which xc = location of critical section; qL =

lateral inflow per unit channel length; B =
channel top width; S0 = bed slope; P = wetted
perimeter; and C = Chezy resistance coefficient

● Froude number is equal to unity at the critical

section:

where Q(x) = qLx.

● If xc > L, the channel side length, the control is

at the downstream end of the channel with
subcritical flow in the entire channel.
● Otherwise, the flow is subcritical upstream of
xc and supercritical downstream.
Lateral Outflow
● In the case of lateral outflow the
direction of the lateral momentum
flux is unknown
● Since the weir is a local
disturbance, energy losses along
the weir are relatively small
● Where qL = -dQ/dx can be obtained
– the energy approach is used
from the discharge equation for a sharp-
more often
crested weir:
– if we assume that dE/dx = 0,
then for a rectangular channel
of width b

Expression for Cd given by Hager (1999)

that accounts for the lateral outflow
angle and approach velocity
Lateral Outflow (Cont.)
● Because we assume the energy grade line to be horizontal, the energy
equation gives the discharge at any section as

where b = width of the channel and E = known constant specific energy.

● Integrating equation for dy/dx, gives the result obtained by De Marchi

(Benefield, Judkins, and Parr 1984)

C1 = weir discharge coefficient; P = height of weir crest

above channel bottom;
● Hager (1987) showed that the outflow equation used by de Marchi is
exact only for small Froude numbers.
Example
A rectangular side discharge weir has a height of
0.35 m. It is located in a rectangular channel having
a width of 0.7 m. If the downstream depth is 0.52 m
for a discharge of 0.27 m3/s, how long should the
weir be for a lateral discharge of 0.21 m3/s?