Novel Approach to Computing Critical and Normal Depth in Circular Channels

Abstract

The critical depth and normal depth computation are essential for hydraulic engineers to understanding the characteristics of varied flow in open channels. These depths are fundamental to analyze the flow for irrigation, drainage, and sewer pipes. Several explicit solutions to calculate critical and normal depths in different shape open channels were discovered over time. Regardless of the complexity of using these explicit solutions, these formulas have a significant error percentage compared to the exact solution. Therefore, this research explicitly calculates the normal and critical depth in circular channels and finds simple, fast, and accurate equations. First, the dimensional analysis was used to propose an analytical equation for measuring the circular channels' critical and normal depths. Then, regression analysis has been carried for 2160 sets of discharge versus critical and normal depths data in a circular open channel. The results show that this study's proposed equation for measuring the circular channels' critical and normal depths overcomes the error percentage in previous studies. Furthermore, the proposed equation offers efficiency and precision compared with other previous solutions.