The best hydraulic section of horizontal-bottomed parabolic channel section

Abstract

The best hydraulic channel section makes the maximum flow capacity for the same flow cross-area, and the minimum cross-area and wetted perimeter for the same discharge. The construction cost can be reduced nearly to the minimum at the same time. The horizontal bottom parabolic section (HBP section) is a composite section. It is important for design to find the best combination form of the horizontal bottom and the parabolic sides. This paper studies the best hydraulic section and its hydraulic characteristics. The explicit formulae are proposed to determine the dimensions and the best combination form of the horizontal bottom and the parabolic sides. These explicit formulae and the parameters make it easy to design the channel. It is shown that the ratios of the surface width to the depth and the bottom width to the depth are constant for the best hydraulic section. The comparisons with the classic parabolic, rectangular, trapezoid, triangular, semi-cubic and horizontal-bottomed semi-cubic sections show that the HBP section has the largest flow capacity and the shortest wetted perimeter for the same flow area, and has the smallest flow area for the same discharge. It is indicated that the parabolic side parts of the best hydraulic HBP section are different from those of the classic section. The results of the best hydraulic section of the classic parabolic channel cannot be applied directly to the HBC section.