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Some basic characteristics of a classic hydraulic jump flow over a pebbled rough bed, as well as on a smooth bed as a reference, are presented in this experimental study. For the experiments, an inflow Froude number Fr1 from 1.54 to 4.94 and inflow Reynolds number Re1 from 42 000 to 230 000 were considered. Visual observations and measurements suggested some differences between the formation of a hydraulic jump on rough and smooth bed configurations, including different air entrainment processes, larger vortical structures in the roller length and stronger backward flow in the upper layer. Furthermore, the jump roller and aerated flow lengths were shorter on a pebbled rough bed than on a smooth bed, while the dimensionless advection velocity of large vortices was the same for both bed types. The instantaneous jump toe perimeter showed the largest variation at the largest Fr1 and was generally larger on rough bed than on smooth bed. Larger oscillations of the free-surface profile were observed on smooth bed, highlighting that roughness resulted in smaller free-surface oscillations, suggesting the higher rate of energy dissipation.

At hydraulic structures, some strong interactions may develop between fast flowing waters and the air adjacent to the water in motion that enhance the air-water transfer of atmospheric and volatile gases in the flow. In turn, in-stream structures may contribute to the aeration and re-oxygenation during overflow. The present study aims to characterize the aeration performance of a steep stepped weir, based upon a detailed physical investigation of air-water interfacial properties across a relatively wide range of discharges. The data showed a strong fragmentation of the air-water flows, a very broad range of entrained bubbles and drops, and a large amount of particle clustering. The results implied a monotonic increase in re-aeration with increasing rate of energy dissipation, while the largest aeration efficiency was observed on the horizontal step weir chute, with the smallest on the 1V:2.33H inclined downward steps. Altogether, the study showed that a steep stepped chute can make a sizeable contribution to the re-oxygenation of the waters, although the downward inclined steps reduce the re-aeration performances.

Partially-filled pipe flows are commonly observed in urban hydraulics, sewers and road crossings. The occurrence of a compression wave in the confined space may result from flash flooding, transient operation or accidental blockage, inducing explosive conditions. In this study, the propagation of a compression wave was studied in a relatively large-size laboratory flume with a semi-circular cross-section. The unsteady flow properties were recorded to understand how the circular cross-sectional shape impacted onto the surging water propagation. Both free-surface and velocity data indicated a marked impact of the compression wave passage, with large instantaneous fluctuations comparable and sometimes larger than observations of compression waves in rectangular channels.

During the recent decades, a number of overflow embankment protection systems were implemented. One design is the Minimum Energy Loss (MEL) weir, developed to pass large flood events with minimum energy loss and low erosion. Several MEL weirs have successfully operated for decades in Australian catchments affected by heavy tropical and sub-tropical rainfalls with very flat gradients. Their historical performances are discussed and confirmed the design capability to pass large floods with small afflux and very small energy loss and little environmental impact including no significant erosion at the abutments. During a major flood, visual and quantitative observations were undertaken at the Chinchilla MEL weir. On the smooth converging chute, the observations showed that the inception of self‐aeration was a three‐dimensional process with a gradual change in free‐surface roughness, from a smooth glassy free-surface to a very-rough choppy surface. An optical technique (OF) was implemented to derive the contour maps of surface velocities based upon video movies taken from a sturdy tripod. The self-aerated flow velocity data were close to the backwater equation in the self‐aerated region, while highlighting regions of high- and low-velocities across the chute. The OF data showed large streamwise surface velocity fluctuations in the aerated flow region, consistent with the broad literature on self-aerated flow measurements. The ratio of transverse to streamwise surface turbulence intensity indicated a strong anisotropy of the free-surface turbulence.

In open channel flows, a hydraulic jump is a rapid shift from a supercritical flow to a subcritical flow with a sharp rise in the elevation of the free surface, which is associated with strong energy dissipation, air entrainment, and spray. The present research aims to investigate the air–water flow properties in a hydraulic jump on rough pebbled bed. A range of discharges from 0.06 to 0.1 m3/s, corresponding to inflow Froude numbers Fr1 between 1.7 and 2.84 and Reynolds numbers Re1 from 140,000 to 220,000 were considered. The basic parameters of two-phase flow such as the void fraction and bubble count rate are presented. Close to the jump toe, the mean void fraction on rough bed was larger than on smooth bed, while farther downstream larger magnitudes were observed on smooth bed. No significant difference was observed between rough and smooth beds in terms of the maximum void fraction. In the turbulent shear layer, the bubble count rate was comparatively larger on rough bed than on smooth bed, while the longitudinal distribution decayed for both bed configurations.

Continuing from the part 1 (Shi et al., 2022) this paper presents an experimental investigation of transient void fraction and bubble statistics in a highly turbulent breaking bore with Fr1=2.4. The measurements were conducted using a combination of dual-tip phase-detection probes and an ultra-high-speed video camera. The enclosed bubble detection technique (EBDT) used the synchronised probe and camera signals to provide the contour of instantaneous void fraction in the bore roller. The ensemble-averaged void fraction was derived, and compared to analytical solutions of air diffusion models. The bubble statistics were characterised by the bubble clustering properties, pseudo bubble count rate and bubble size spectrum. The clustering data showed the non-random bubble grouping in the shear layer, and the bubble size distributions N(r) followed a commonly adopted bubble break-up model: N(r)∝r−m, where r was the equivalent bubble radius in the present study. The comparison indicated that, in the breaking bore, its air diffusion process was similar to that in a stationary hydraulic jump, and the bubble break-up process was comparable to that in breaking waves.

When the Froude number F of a free-surface flow ranges between 0.3 and 3, the flow is unstable and frequently characterised by free surface undulations, with the undular hydraulic jump being a seminal flow in hydro-environmental mechanics. The presence of the free surface undulations significantly affects the flow field, with major velocity and pressure field redistributions between successive crests and troughs. All the current theoretical models to simulate undular hydraulic jumps are limited to two-dimensional flow conditions, ignoring all the relevant three-dimensional flow effects, namely shock-wave drag, turbulent breaking and turbulent stresses. These aspects are critically accounted for in this review article, where a depth-averaged Boussinesq model which approximately accounted for 3D flow effects was presented, constituting the first attempt in this line. The model predictions were compared with experimental results from different sources for F1

Hydraulic structures are man-made waterworks interacting with the rainfall run-off to store and convey water, or mitigate the impact of run-off. Current approaches in hydraulic structure design ten...

Breaking bores are commonly observed in a number of natural processes, often associated with the presence of a transient mixture of air and water, with intense recirculation, air bubble entrainment, and splashing. Two-phase flow measurements in such highly unsteady flows cannot be based on long-duration measurements and require novel ensemble-statistical approaches based on multiple repetitions. Detailed measurements of air–water flow properties were then conducted in a breaking bore with Fr1 = 2.4 using an array of multiple dual-tip phase-detection probes. Based on an extensive experimental program, inclusive of 2000 tests at a single position and 100 tests at multiple elevations, a detailed sensitivity analysis was conducted on the necessary number of repetitions to obtain physically meaningful and statistically reliable air–water flow properties. The results led to a robust methodology to estimate ensemble-statistical values, including confidence intervals and residual error. In addition, these results provided a detailed characterization of the behavior of air–water flow properties in highly unsteady flows, including void fraction, number of interfaces, and bubble chord time/length. Despite the transient nature, all physical processes showed consistent behaviors with theoretical models and other stationary flows, including hydraulic jumps and plunging jets. Overall, this study provided two-phase flow characteristics that go beyond the limitations imposed by the unsteady nature of the flow, proving thoroughly the importance of large datasets for the estimation of air–water flow properties in highly unsteady flows.

The Authors developed an interesting discussion on measurements in highly-unsteady transient free-surface flows. Using the dam break wave propagation on a dry bed as an example, they discussed the ...

A culvert is a covered road structure constructed to pass flood and drainage. The engineering design principle of culverts focuses on optimising flood capacity at the lowest possible cost, resulting in high flow velocity through the barrel. With modern engineering design being more environmentally aware, culverts are considered common barriers for fish migrating upstream due to the excessive barrel velocity. The migration of fish upriver is important for their breeding and feeding activities, contributing to a stable population and species diversity. Improved or novel design for a fish-friendly culvert is needed to ensure well-being of local fish community. This article is a review of recent developments in seeking a solution for a better fish-friendly culvert design. A major common feature of the reviewed studies is the application of hybrid modelling, combining laboratory experiments and numerical Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling together. Various design alternatives were compared for pros and cons: channel roughening, installation of speed-reducing structures (e.g., baffles or beams), and simply widening the channel by adding more culvert units (boxes). Overall, channel widening stands to be a better design choice due to its suitability for both flood passage and fish passage, with little impact on operation safety and a reduced maintenance cost.

Culverts are important hydraulic structures for delivering a range of valuable socioeconomic services; however, they are also known to have negative impacts on freshwater and estuarine river system...

Low-level river crossings and culverts deliver valuable transportation and hydraulic control services to the society, but have negative impacts in terms of upstream fish passage. Recently, full-hei...

The water waves resulting from the collapse of a dam are important unsteady free surface flows in civil and environmental engineering. Considering the basic case of ideal dam break waves in a horizontal and rectangular channel the wave patterns observed experimentally depends on the initial depths downstream (hd) and upstream (ho) of the dam. For r = hd/ho above the transition domain 0.4–0.55, the surge travelling downstream is undular, a feature described by the dispersive Serre–Green–Naghdi (SGN) equations. In contrast, for r below this transition domain, the surge is broken and it is well described by the weak solution of the Saint–Venant equations, called Shallow Water Equations (SWE). Hybrid models combining SGN–SWE equations are thus used in practice, typically implementing wave breaking modules resorting to several criteria to define the onset of breaking, frequently involving case-dependent calibration of parameters. In this work, a new set of higher-order depth-averaged non-hydrostatic equations is presented. The equations consist in the SGN equations plus additional higher-order contributions originating from the variation with elevation of the velocity profile, modeled here with a Picard iteration of the potential flow equations. It is demonstrated that the higher-order terms confer wave breaking ability to the model without using any empirical parameter, such while, for r > 0.4–0.55, the model results are essentially identical to the SGN equations but, for r

A positive surge is an unsteady open channel flow motion characterised by a sudden rise in water surface elevation. The literature is focused primarily on rectangular channels. Herein, the free-surface features of positive surges propagating upstream were investigated in an asymmetrical canal. The surge propagation was a three-dimensional unsteady flow motion, resulting in a complicated transient secondary motion compared to positive surge propagating in rectangular canals. The present results may be relevant to surge propagation in man-made trapezoidal canals and natural irregular-shaped channels.

In plunging jets and at hydraulic jumps, large amounts of air bubbles are entrained at the impingement of the liquid jet into the receiving body. Air is entrapped and advected into a turbulent shear layer with strong interactions between the air bubble advection process and momentum shear flow. In this new physical study, air–water flow measurements were systematically repeated with identical inflow length, inflow depth and inflow velocity in a vertical supported jet (PJ) and a horizontal hydraulic jump (HJ). Detailed measurements were conducted with the same instrumentation. Both similarities and differences were observed between the two multiphase gas–liquid shear flows. Visual observations showed a key difference in the outer region, with a buoyancy-driven flow in the plunging jet with negligible void fraction, versus a strong recirculation motion with uncontrolled interfacial aeration in the hydraulic jump. Differences were also observed at the impingement perimeter, in terms of fluctuation frequencies and amplitudes, for identical inflow conditions. Both flow conditions yielded intense local singular air entrainment and close results were observed in terms of void fraction, bubble count rate, bubble chord sizes and interfacial area in the shear layer, in both the plunging jet and hydraulic jump. The transfer of momentum between impinging jet and receiving water, as well as the effect of buoyancy, were however affected by the flow geometry.

A compression wave is an unsteady rapidly-varied open channel flow motion, characterised by an increase in water depth. A detailed investigation was conducted in a prismatic asymmetrical channel, to better understand the physical processes observed in tidal/tsunami-bore affected estuaries with irregular topography. The prismatic channel was equipped with a 1 V:5H transverse slope across the full channel width. The free-surface data presented three-dimensional unsteady flow features, and the velocity measurements showed a drastic impact of the surge on the flow field, with strong three-dimensional features. With the arrival of the surge front, the transverse velocity component became large in the shallow-water section, indicating some unsteady secondary motion and recirculation during and shortly after the passage of the surge. The Reynolds shear stress data were associated with large turbulent stresses and shear stress fluctuations. For d1/D

Channels with longitudinal beams have been studied for decades in chemical engineering, environmental and sanitary engineering, aeronautics, astronautics, biology and geology. In the current study, a combination of physical and numerical Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling was undertaken to test whether an asymmetrical channel equipped with a sidewall longitudinal rib could provide flow conditions conducive to upstream fish passage. The study focused on small‐bodied fish and juveniles of larger fish, typically less than 100 mm in total length. A detailed hydrodynamic study was conducted in an asymmetrical rectangular channel equipped with a sidewall square rib in a culvert barrel channel. Both free‐surface velocity and boundary shear stress measurements showed strong secondary currents of Prandtl's second kind. The channel asymmetry contributed to intense secondary motion, associated with turbulent dissipation. The channel design provided a small well‐defined highly turbulent low‐velocity zone beneath the rib. In the context of hydraulic structure designs, uttermost care must be considered because of manufacturing, installation and operational practices. In many instances, alternative engineering designs with small baffles and asymmetrical appurtenance should be preferred to assist with fish passage in hydraulic structures.

A hydraulic jump is a stationary transition from an upstream supercritical to a downstream subcritical flow. Hydraulic jumps with relatively low Froude numbers may be observed downstream of low-head hydraulic structures and their flow properties have not been not well documented. In this study, the hydraulic properties were investigated experimentally in weak hydraulic jumps with an inflow Froude number Fr1 = 2.1 and inflow depths 0.012 m

On a stepped spillway, the staircase invert profile generates some intense turbulent dissipation during the spill, associated with a significant reduction of kinetic energy, as well as strong self-aeration. The present study focused on the effects of inclined downward steps on the air-water flow properties, flow resistance, and head losses because these mostly relate to spillway design. Some physical modeling was conducted in a relatively large facility with a 45° stepped chute (1V:1H) operating with Reynolds numbers 2.8×103

Abstract Hydraulic jumps are commonly employed as energy dissipators to guarantee long-term operation of hydraulic structures. A comprehensive and in-depth understanding of their main features is therefore fundamental. In this context, the current study focused on hydraulic jumps with low Froude numbers, i.e. Fr1 = 2.1 and 2.4, at relatively high Reynolds number: Re ~2 × 105. Experimental tests employed a combination of dual-tip phase-detection probes and ultra-high-speed video camera to provide a comprehensive characterisation of the main air-water flow properties of the hydraulic jump, including surface flow features, void fraction, bubble count rate and interfacial velocities. The current research also focused on the transverse distributions of air-water flow properties, i.e. across the channel width, with the results revealing lower values of void fraction and bubble count rate next to the sidewalls compared to the channel centreline data. Such a spatial variability in the transverse direction questions whether data near the side walls may be truly representative of the behaviour in the bulk of the flow, raising the issue of sidewall effects in image-based techniques. Overall, these findings provide new information to both researchers and practitioners for a better understanding of the physical processes inside the hydraulic jump with low Froude numbers, leading to an optimised design of hydraulic structures. Article Highlights Experimental investigation of air-water flow properties in hydraulic jumps with low Froude numbers Detailed description of the main air-water surface features on the breaking roller Transversal distribution of the air-water flow properties across the channel width and comparison between centreline and sidewall.

Transient motion, turbulence and bubble dynamics make any velocity quantification extremely difficult in unsteady gas–liquid flows. In the present study, novel Eulerian and Lagrangian techniques of velocimetry were developed, using both intrusive and non-intrusive measurements. The selected unsteady gas–liquid flow was a breaking bore, featured with a transient motion, air entrainment and coherent structures. Intrusively, Eulerian probe measurements resulted to the development of a single bubble event detection (SBED) technique in unsteady air–water flows. Non-intrusively, the motion of air–water pattern was detected using a novel particle tracking velocimetry (PTV). Both velocities obtained using SBED and PTV techniques were validated against the established optical flow (OF) results, achieving consistent velocity data among the three techniques. The filtering criteria of the SBED and PTV techniques were discussed, showing the best options in the breaking bore. It is concluded that the most robust velocity measurements in gas–liquid flow are achieved with consistent velocity data between the SBED, PTV and OF techniques.

Lagrangian field data in tidal shallow waters are rare, but valuable for the understanding of the spatiotemporal structure of flow and particle transport. The response of drifters to the wind and water flow in tidal shallow water was examined using correlation, spectral, and coherence analyses. Under moderate wind conditions (0–4 m/s), floating drifter motions in bounded sheltered water are affected by wind through low-frequency induced wind current rather than direct wind drag, when only a small portion of the drifter is unsubmerged. The field validation of both high- and low-resolution drifters with surface measured velocity from a fixed acoustic Doppler current profiler is good in the streamwise direction. The correlation between the drifter and fixed instrument velocities is low in the cross-stream direction due to strong spatial variability of the flow field. The evaluation shows that drifters are applicable to studying the flow dynamics of tidal water bodies in relation to small-scale processes.

A culvert is a covered channel designed to pass water through an embankment. The recognition of the adverse ecological impacts of culverts on upstream fish passage is driving the development of new culvert design guidelines, with a focus on small-bodied fish species seeking low velocity zones to minimise energy expenditure. Herein a hybrid modelling technique was applied, combining physical modelling, one-dimensional theoretical calculation and three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics modelling. The results reveal fundamental turbulent processes that may affect small-body-mass fish navigability and provide new insights for the development of standard box culvert design guidelines. Systematic validations were performed to a wide range of initial conditions and smooth barrel geometries. A physical relationship was derived from numerical and experimental data of past and present studies, correlating the dimensionless flow area with a normalised local velocity V/Vmean.

Quantitative real-time observations of a tidal bore in a macro-tidal estuary are difficult and dangerous, particularly in large estuaries. Mathematical and numerical models have been used to predict tidal bore advances; however, to date, there have been no validations of large-scale flow patterns. A marine radar can provide valuable real-time information on tidal bore propagation. In this paper, a template matching method using a cross-correlation algorithm was explored to estimate the evolution and celerity of a tidal bore with medium resolution marine radar images. The Qiantang River tidal bore was recorded at two different geographical locations. Characteristic flow patterns were derived and analysed, including temporal changes over a relatively large-scale area. The experimental results showed that the radar-derived celerity and calculated height of the tidal bore were consistent with visual observations in this estuarine zone.

Low-level river crossings can have negative impacts on freshwater ecosystems, including blocking upstream fish passage. In order to restore upstream fish passage in culverts, we developed physically-based design methods to yield cost-effective culvert structures in order to maintain or restore waterway connectivity for a range of small-bodied fish species. New guidelines are proposed for fish-friendly multi-cell box culvert designs based upon two basic concepts: (1) the culvert design is optimised for fish passage for small to medium water discharges, and for flood capacity for larger discharges, and (2) low-velocity zones in the culvert barrel are defined in terms of a percentage of the wetted flow area where the local longitudinal velocity component is less than a characteristic fish speed linked to swimming performances of targeted fish species. This approach is novel and relies upon an accurate physically-based knowledge of the entire velocity field in the barrel, specifically the longitudinal velocity map, because fish tend to target low-velocity zone (LVZ) boundaries. The influence of the relative discharge threshold Q1/Qdes, characteristic fish swimming speed Ufish, and percentage of flow area on the size of box culvert structures was assessed. The results showed that the increase in culvert size and cost might become significant for a smooth culvert barrel with Ufish 0.3, when providing 15% flow area with 0

Image-based velocimetry captured a great interest in physical modelling of highly-aerated flows, for example in stepped spillways. The present study investigated the performance of a novel filtering technique based upon a detailed systematic comparison with intrusive phase-detection probe data. All measurements were conducted in a large-size stepped spillway. A sensitivity analysis provided recommendations in terms of optimum sampling and processing parameters for optical flow measurements in high-velocity air-water flows.

The characterization of high-velocity air–water flows is crucial for the design of hydraulic structures including stepped spillways. Recent experimental advances have shown that LIDAR technology ca...

A compression wave in a canal is an unsteady motion characterised by a rapid rise of water surface elevation, resulting in an unsteady turbulent flow. In the present study, the hydrodynamics of unsteady compression wave flows were experimentally investigated using an array of two profiling velocimeters, sampled simultaneously. The two-dimensional cross-correlation data in the y-z plane, formed by the two sampling profiles, showed the existence of large scale coherent structures underneath the free-surface, resembling the shape of hairpin vortex. The length scales tended to increase during and after the compression wave passage compared to those during the initially steady flows. Both strain rate and vorticity showed larger values at lower water column near the channel bed, and during the rapid deceleration phase associated with immediate wave passage. The propagation of the compression wave was a dynamically-active process, with large scale transient coherent motions, vortical structures and intensive turbulent mixing occurring underneath.

During the last decades, concerns regarding the ecological impact of standard culverts have led to some design evolution. The installation of baffles along the culvert barrel yields smaller velocities and larger water depths in the barrel, potentially more suitable for upstream fish passage, albeit with a decrease in discharge capacity. Small triangular corner baffles were proposed to facilitate the upstream passage of small-body-mass fish, without compromising the discharge capacity of the culvert at design flow. Although fish benefited from low velocity regions for resting and sheltering, a small fraction of small-body-mass fish were observed to become disoriented by the adverse effect of flow reversal regions in the wake of plain baffles. This study presents the hydrodynamic testing of small ventilated triangular corner baffles for standard box culverts. The baffle ventilation was introduced to reduce the impact of negative wake behind the baffles. Two designs were tested: a baffle with three holes and a brush baffle. Detailed modelling in a near-full-scale culvert barrel showed that the ventilated corner baffles created a smaller negative wake region. A lesser negative velocity magnitude was observed behind the ventilated baffles, in comparison to plain baffles, for the same flow rate, baffle height and spacing. With ventilated corner baffles, the longitudinal distribution of low-velocity zone was more uniform, yielding a better longitudinal connectivity for upstream passage, compared to plain baffles. A comparison between various boundary treatments suggested however that the requirements for continuous, sizeable low positive velocity zone suitable to small-bodied fish might be better fulfilled with an asymmetrically roughened culvert barrel than with triangular baffles, even with ventilation.

Small tide dominated estuaries are affected by both large scale flow structures manifested as oscillatory residual currents and small scale bed generated turbulence. The present understanding of the effects and relative contributions of these factors are inadequate due to limited systematic observations. A field study was conducted in a small sub-tropical estuary in which high frequency (50 Hz) turbulence data were recorded continuously for about 48 h. A triple decomposition technique was introduced to isolate the contributions of tides, slow fluctuations and ‘true’ turbulence in the flow field. A striking feature of the data set was the slow fluctuations which exhibited large velocity amplitudes up to 50% of the tidal amplitude under neap tide conditions. The skewness of the fast ‘true’ turbulence were within the range of −4 and +2. The analysis of the fast fluctuations revealed that variation in the turbulence characteristics are linked with the tidal velocity suggesting that the dispersion and mixing are dependent on some large scale flow properties. The results also indicated enhanced mixing associated with the slow fluctuation in the flow field. The results provided useful sets of information about the properties of slow and fast fluctuating components and their variations through tidal cycles in a micro-tidal estuary.

In free-surface flows, the interactions between high-velocity liquid and atmosphere may lead to strong gas-liquid mixing and complex multiphase flow interactions. In this study, the void fraction power spectrum density (PSD) is used to provide an alternative view of the air-water flow composition. The high frequency range of the PSD curve reflects contributions of small chord times, while the low frequency range contains contributions of both small and large chord times. Likewise, the interactions between the smallest bubbles contribute approximately uniformly to the entire frequency range of the spectrum, while any interaction involving large bubbles/drops will be modulated by 1/f2. It is shown that the void fraction spectra are a powerful tool in providing an alternative view of the air-water flow composition.