Controlling the flow of water is one of the
fundamental objectives of modern infrastructure,
from flooding rivers to irrigation canals,
stormwater drainage facilities to aqueducts,
and even the spillways of dams.
So, engineers need to be able to predict how
water will behave in order to design structures
that manage or control it.
And fluids don’t always behave the way you’d
expect.
Hey, I’m Grady, and this is Practical Engineering.
On today’s episode, we’re talking about
one of the most interesting phenomena in open-channel
flow: the hydraulic jump.
This video is sponsored by Nord VPN.
Feel safe online: anywhere, anytime.
More on that later.
Fluid dynamics might sound as complicated
as rocket science, but unlike rockets, you
probably already have some intuitions about
how water flows.
The study of how water with a free surface
behaves, that is not confined within a pipe,
is known as open channel hydraulics.
This field is especially useful in civil engineering
where structures can’t usually be tested
at scale.
We can’t build a dam, cause a flood to see
how well the spillway works, and then rebuild
it if the performance isn’t up to standards.
Instead, engineers need to be able to predict
how how well hydraulic structures will perform
before they’re ever constructed.
This is the definition of engineering: to
take theoretical knowledge of science and
physics (in this case fluid dynamics), and
apply that information to make decisions about
the real world.
One of the most important parameters in fluid
dynamics is velocity, or how quickly the water
flows.
Sometimes velocity is a good thing, like when
you’re trying to move a lot of water quickly,
for example in a flood.
Sometimes velocity is a bad thing, like if
you’re trying to avoid erosion.
Either way, it’s almost always a key criterion
when designing hydraulic structures.
But the velocity of flow isn’t the only
velocity that’s important in fluid dynamics.
We also care about the velocity of waves or
how quickly pressure disturbances in a fluid
can travel.
If the flow velocity is exactly equal to the
wave speed, we call the flow critical.
But it’s more likely that these two velocities
are different.
Slow, tranquil flow conditions are called
subcritical.
In this case, the wave speed is faster than
the flow velocity.
You can see that the waves can travel against
the flow direction.
Because of this, the depth is controlled by
downstream conditions.
You can see that anything I do upstream isn’t
changing the depth of this flow.
Fast moving flow is called supercritical.
In this case, the flow velocity is faster
than the wave speed.
You can see that waves aren’t able to propagate
upstream.
Supercritical flow is controlled on the upstream
side, so nothing I do downstream affects the
depth of the supercritical flow above.
A flow profile can naturally transition from
subcritical to supercritical (that is from
slow to fast), for example if a channel changes
to a steeper slope or a cliff.
Many types of flow measurement devices rely
on forcing a flow to transition from sub-
to supercritical because there will be a unique
relationship between flow rate and depth for
a given geometry.
Maybe we’ll talk more about flow measurement
in a future video.
But, when flow transitions the other direction
- when a fast-moving supercritical flow transitions
to a more tranquil subcritical condition - something
much more interesting happens: a hydraulic
jump.
The classic demonstration of a hydraulic jump
can be seen at the bottom of your sink.
Open the faucet and watch how the flow behaves.
You can see the fast moving water right as
the flow hits the sink and the abrupt transition
of the hydraulic jump to a slower moving flow.
But the sink demo isn’t the best example
because it happens due to surface tension,
not gravity.
Plus it’s kind of a boring.
So I built this flume in my garage to give
you a better look at the hydraulics.
If I open the upstream gate by just a little
bit, I can create supercritical flow in the
flume.
Now, if I obstruct the area downstream, I
can force the flow to transition into subcritical.
Right where the flow transitions, you can
clearly see the hydraulic jump.
This phenomenon happens naturally in certain
locations.
Steep mountain streams often have supercritical
flow crashing into rocks and changing slopes,
creating whitewater and turbulence and the
occasional hydraulic jump.
Also, a tidal bore occurs when an incoming
tide forms a wave that travels upstream against
a river.
These events only occur in a few places across
the world, but it’s fascinating if you get
to see it in person.
In many cases, the bore travels as a moving
hydraulic jump, similar to what you see here
in my flume.
But, jumps aren’t just natural phenomena.
They’re important in hydraulic structures
as well, especially for energy dissipation.
A major part of the job of a civil engineer
working in the field of hydraulics is designing
against erosion from the flow of water.
When we try to control flow of water, it often
leads to the potential of having fast moving,
erosive conditions.
For example, when we put water in a culvert
rather than allowing to flow over a roadway,
it can pick up speed in the pipe.
When we line a ditch or creek with concrete,
the smoothness speeds up the flow compared
to natural conditions.
And when we make releases from a reservoir
behind a dam into a spillway, the water can
come roaring down at extremely high velocities.
This supercritical flow can cause erosion
and eventually lead to failure of the structure.
So, most hydraulic structures will be equipped
with some form of energy dissipator on the
downstream end to reduce the velocity of flow
and protect against erosion.
There are all kinds of hydraulic energy dissipators,
but for large structures like spillways, the
most common types rely on the formation of
a hydraulic jump.
Because a hydraulic jump causes so much turbulence,
it is able to effectively dissipate hydraulic
energy as heat.
So many energy dissipators, also called stilling
basins, are designed to force a hydraulic
jump to occur.
There are many types of stilling basins, but
most use different combinations of blocks,
end sills, and overall geometry to control
how the hydraulic jump forms.
The turbulence stays within the stilling basin
with the objective of having smooth, tranquil,
subcritical flow leaving downstream, minimizing
the potential for erosion which would otherwise
threaten the integrity of the structure.
Hydraulic jumps don’t just serve utilitarian
purposes.
Recreational whitewater courses can be found
across the world, and many of these courses
make use of hydraulic jumps as artificial
rapids.
In fact, many kayak parks started out as obsolete
dams in need of removal, a perfect opportunity
for replacement with something more beneficial
to the community and the environment.
Freestyle kayaking, also known as playboating,
involves performing tricks in a single spot.
Playboaters use natural and artificial hydraulic
jumps to stay in one spot.
I’ve never tried this myself but it looks
like a lot of fun.
Next time you see water flowing in a open
channel, try to identify if it’s sub- or
supercritical, and keep your eye out for hydraulic
jumps.
Thanks to Nord VPN for sponsoring this video.
I’m really happy to share this sponsor,
because, in a small way at least, I owe my
marriage to VPNs.
If you're not familiar, a Virtual Private Network, or VPN,
is a way to tunnel your web traffic so it can't be seen or recorded from the outside.
Well before my wife and I were married, she
spent 2 years living and working in Beijing,
China.
China’s heavy-handed regulation of the internet,
sometimes known as the Great Firewall, made
it difficult for us to stay in touch during
this time.
We used a VPN to get around the censorship
of certain websites and services we used to
communicate.
I remember then it was so complicated and
complex to get running.
Now I use NordVPN, and they’re offering
a big discount to you at NordVPN.com/practicalengineering.
Watch how simple and quick it is for me to
completely protect my internet traffic.
It’s so easy there’s almost never a time
I’m not connected through a VPN these days.
There’s also an extension for Chrome and
an app for your phone as well.
If your privacy and security online is important
to you, visit NordVPN.com/practicalengineering
or click the link in the description below
to get 75% off a 3-year plan.
Use promo code PracticalEngineering to get
an extra month for free.
Thank you for watching, and let me know what
you think!
