Segment V10.2: Merging Channels

(Related to Textbook Section 10.4.1 - Uniform Flow Approximations)

The simplest type of open channel flow is one for which the channel cross-sectional size and shape and the water depth remain constant along the length of the channel. In many situations these conditions are not met.

Although the flow in each of the two merging channels of the model study shown may be essentially uniform flow upstream of their confluence, the actual merging of the two streams is quite complex and far from uniform flow. How the two streams mix to produce a single stream may be of considerable importance to downstream locations. (Video courtesy of U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station.)