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Mechanics of Fluids

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showing the essential form <strong>of</strong> the relation between depth and discharge even<br />

though the formula so obtained will have to be modified by an experimentally<br />

determined coefficient.<br />

The sheet <strong>of</strong> liquid escaping over the notch or weir is known as the nappe.<br />

If the pressure underneath it is atmospheric, the nappe (except at very low<br />

rates <strong>of</strong> flow) springs clear <strong>of</strong> the notch plate. For a notch extending across<br />

the entire width <strong>of</strong> a channel, atmospheric air may not be able to get under<br />

the nappe, and the liquid then clings to the downstream side <strong>of</strong> the notch<br />

plate and the discharge is unpredictable. So to obtain flow <strong>of</strong> a predictable<br />

and consistent nature, the space underneath the nappe must be ventilated, if<br />

necessary by providing an air vent as shown in Fig. 3.23.<br />

Consider a sharp-edged, rectangular notch as shown in Fig. 3.24. The crest<br />

is horizontal and normal to the general direction <strong>of</strong> flow. The classical analysis,<br />

usually ascribed to the German engineer Julius Weisbach (1806–71),<br />

requires these assumptions:<br />

1. Upstream <strong>of</strong> the notch, the velocities <strong>of</strong> particles in the stream are uniform<br />

and parallel; thus the pressure there varies according to the hydrostatic<br />

equation p = ϱgh. (In practice it is <strong>of</strong>ten necessary to install baffles to<br />

achieve reasonably steady and uniform conditions.)<br />

2. The free surface remains horizontal as far as the plane <strong>of</strong> the notch, and all<br />

particles passing through the notch move horizontally, and perpendicular<br />

to its plane.<br />

3. The pressure throughout the nappe is atmospheric.<br />

4. The effects <strong>of</strong> viscosity and surface tension are negligible.<br />

These assumptions give the idealized pattern <strong>of</strong> flow shown in Fig. 3.24.<br />

At section 1, (p1/ϱg) + z1 = height H <strong>of</strong> the free surface. So for a typical<br />

streamline Bernoulli’s equation gives<br />

H + u2 1 /2g = 0 + u2 2 /2g + z2<br />

∴ u2 ={2g(H − z2 + u2 1 /2g)}1/2<br />

This shows that u2 varies with z2. In the plane <strong>of</strong> the notch the discharge<br />

through a horizontal element <strong>of</strong> depth δz2 is u2bδz2 and so the idealized<br />

Simple applications <strong>of</strong> Bernoulli’s equation 127<br />

Fig. 3.24

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