Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering PDF

Preface

Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering is intended first and foremost as a textbook for the senior-level introductory course in hydraulic engineering required in most civil engineering curricula. The length and depth of coverage is satisfactory for a two-semester sequence; however, in the more usual one-semester course, the instructor may freely select the portions that they wish to cover. While intended primarily for civil engineering students, the text is appropriate for agricultural engineering students and others interested in the subject of hydraulics. Because of the depth of coverage in many of the chapters, the book should be useful in senior elective courses or an introductory course at the masters level and provide a practical reference for the practicing engineer as well.

One of my goals in writing this text was to clearly present hydraulic engineering fundamentals based on the students' previous engineering and mathematics preparation, so that they could directly apply sound hydraulic principles in their professional practice. Many instructors will find this approach beneficial to their students because a number of current, similar textbooks tend toward theoretical concepts at the expense of realistic engineering applications.

A broad coverage of much of the field of hydraulic engineering is included in the book, with as much depth as possible within reasonable length constraints. Briefly, Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering provides a review of fluid mechanics principles, coverage of hydrologic principles and their application, a thorough development of the fundamentals of pipe and open channel flow, followed by coverage of sedimentation mechanics, modeling, hydraulic machinery, and drainage hydraulics. Extensive attention is not given to more advanced and specialized topics such as river engineering or dam design; however, many aspects of these topics are treated in the applications of hydrologic and hydraulic principles.

My goal is to provide all civil engineering students with some exposure to hydraulic engineering, an understanding of the basic principles, and an ability to apply those principles. It is also my hope that the book will spark an interest in some students to undertake further studies and plan for a career in what the author has found to be the fascinating and rewarding field of hydraulic engineering.

Although some of the latter chapters build on earlier chapters, in many cases chapters, sections, or subsections can be skipped without detriment to a logical development of the subject. The prerequisite for the course for which this book is intended is a one-semester, usually junior-level course in fluid mechanics. Although a review of fluid mechanics is included, it is assumed that the reader has a working understanding of the basic fluid flow principles. Some civil engineering curricula offer separate courses in hydrology and hydraulic engineering. For those wishing to use a different textbook for hydrology, chapters 3, 4, and 5 can be skipped with more than enough material to fill a one-semester course in hydraulics. Those institu-tions that offer only a single course, such as water resources engineering, will find that chapters 3, 4, and 5 provide a concise introduction to the practical aspects of hydrology.

Chapters 6 and 7 on pipeline and open channel hydraulics, respectively, provide a strong foundation in hydraulics. The remaining chapters on sediment transport, modeling, hydraulic machinery, and drainage can be chosen in any combination desired by the instructor. In addition, various sections or subsections can be deleted to fit the time available for the course.

The author has attempted to provide a balanced mix between hydraulic theory on the one hand and practical applications on the other. Considerable emphasis is placed the development of the principles of hydraulic engineering. As stated, the only starting assumptions are the basic principles of fluid mechanics. The theoretical development is followed by ample applications of the theory to engineering problems.

Clarity has been treated as the first priority. When felt necessary, a lucid explanation has been included, even at the expense of some conciseness. A greater than usual number of illustrative engineering examples are included. It has been the author's observation that students rarely feel that a textbook has enough worked-out examples.

The knowledgeable reader should find that the book is up to date. While the classic and fundamental procedures are stressed, the author includes selected recent innovations. Discussions of comprehensive computer models are included. Each of the governmental agencies and some of the larger consulting firms have their own standard procedures for computer analysis and design. It is neither practical nor appropriate to include exhaustive descriptions of these procedures. However, to place a greater emphasis on the practicalities of hydraulic engineering, a limited number of these procedures will be included, at least in a general way.

Six hydraulic engineering programs in BASIC are included in Appendix E. These programs are useful in their own right, or as a helpful programming guide for students. In addition, some of these programs may be useful as subroutines in more comprehensive programs.

The book also provides frequent opportunities for individual programming by the students. A number of chapter-ending problems refer to computer programs. Some of these computer programs can be assigned as homework for additional challenge in lieu of the more conventional problems. An instructor may also decide to use these computer problems for in-class discussion.

An extensive set of problems is provided at the end of each chapter. An ample number of problems is provided so that an instructor can freely choose between those in English and SI units and also go for three or more semesters without excessive repeating. The text makes almost equal use of both U.S. customary and SI units. I strongly feel that the engineering students of today should be equally competent in both sets of units.