Course overview
Closed conduit flows: hydraulic engineering design. Elements of pipeline and network design; pipes in series; pipes in parallel; Hardy Cross method for solving pipe networks; unsteady flow and water hammer in closed conduits; method of characteristics; water hammer control devices; hydraulic machine basics and selection including pumps and turbines; water distribution system computer simulation modelling, EPANET. Design of water distribution systems. Open channel flow: non-uniform flow in open channels; gradually varied flow in compound channels; rapidly varied flow in open channels; flow control structures; environmental factors affecting river basins.
Course learning outcomes
- Explain and apply pipeline network theory to the analysis of simple systems (pipes in parallel, and pipes in series), the three-reservoir problem and looped systems (using the Hardy-Cross method)
- Explain and apply the steady-state theory of pumps to the analysis of pumping systems (e.g. pump and system curves, operating points, efficiency curves, dimensionless numbers, affinity laws)
- Employ hydraulic distribution network software (e.g. EPANET 2.0) for the simulation of complex pipe systems (involving pipes, pumps, reservoirs, valves, storage tanks and time varying demands by extended period simulation)
- Apply water engineering design principles to a semi-structured design problem (e.g. design of transmission, storage, and distribution system to satisfy comsumer demands, and hydraulic performance criteria) and write a comprehensive design report
- Explain fundamental physics of water hammer, and the application of mathematical techniques to analyse water hammer events (i.e. wave speed calculations, Joukowsky pressure rise, and the method of characteristics)
- Explain and apply open channel flow theory to the analysis of gradually varied flow scenarios (prismatic and compound channels), hydraulic structures (weirs, spillways, and sluice gates), hydraulic jumps and channels involving a series of prismatic sections and hydraulic structures
- Undertake laboratory experiments (physical and virtual) on a range of hydraulic systems (flume, pump system, and pipe/open channel systems), and employ appropriate hydraulics theory to analyse measured data.