Hydraulic Jump

December 2, 2003
By:
Cathy Hartner
Shelly Davis
Michon Hale
Intro:
A hydraulic jump is a sudden rise in water level due to
decreasing velocity. In flowing water, the water before
the jump is moving much faster than the water after the
jump. When the velocity of the water decreases to critical
flow speed a jump occurs. Above this velocity, the water
is moving too quickly to allow gravity waves to move
upstream. At the point where the water reaches critical
flow speed, the gravity waves become unable to move
upstream, and build up at the jump, forming the sudden
increase in water level, called a hydraulic jump.
Froudes Number:
In order for a hydraulic jump to occur, the flow must be
supercritical. The jump becomes more turbulent and more
energy is dissipated as Froudes number increases. A jump
can only occur when the Froudes number is greater than
1.0. Froudes number (Fr) is a ratio relating inertia and
gravity forces.
1
1
gy
V
Fr
V=velocity
g=gravitational constant
y=depth of flow in open channel
Types of Hydraulic Jumps:
Name
Froudes
Number
Energy
dissipation
Characteristics
Undular Jump 1.0-1.7 <5% Standing waves
Weak Jump 1.7-2.5 5-15% Smooth rise
Oscillating
Jump
2.5-4.5 15-45% Unstable; avoid
Steady Jump 4.5-9.0 45-70% Best design range
Strong Jump >9.0 70-85%
Choppy,
intermittent
In standing waves there is only a slight difference in
depths y1 and y2. Near Fr
1
= 1.7 a series of small
rollers develops.
When the Froudes number is between 1.7 and 2.5, the
flow is in the pre-jump condition. The water surface
is quite smooth, the velocity is reasonably uniform,
and the energy loss is low.
The transition region is when the Froudes number is
between 2.5 and 4.5. An oscillating action of the jump
exists. Each oscillation of the jump produces a large
wave of irregular period that can travel downstream
for miles and damage earth banks. It is recommended to
avoid this range of Froude numbers in the design of
stilling basins.
The best range for dissipating energy effectively is
with a Froude number from 4.5-9.0. The jump is well
balanced and the action is at its best. Energy losses
range from 45% to 70%.
Effective, but rough jumps occur at dissipating energy
when Froudes number is greater than 9.0. Energy
losses range from 70% to 85%. Other types of stilling
basins may be more economical.
Reynolds Number:
When a fluid jet falls vertically at high Reynolds number
and strikes a horizontal plate, a circular hydraulic jump
may occur. The fluid is then expelled radially, and the
fluid generally thins until reaching a critical radius at
which the depth increases abruptly, causing a hydraulic
jump (See Figure 1). The Reynolds Number (R) is used to
determine whether the flow of the fluid is laminar or
turbulent. Flow is turbulent at larger Reynolds numbers and
laminar at smaller Reynolds numbers.
v
DV

VD
R
D=diameter of the pipe V=velocity

=fluid density

=fluid viscosity
v=Kinematic viscosity of fluid
Figure 1. A hydraulic jump formed in a sink.
Example Problem for Hydraulic Jumps:
Problem:
Analyze the water-surface profile in a long rectangular
channel lined with concrete (n=0.013). The channel is 10
ft wide, the flow rate is 400 cfs, and the channel slope
changes abruptly from 0.0150 to 0.0016. Find also the
horsepower loss in the resulting jump.
Solution:
( )
1/2
2/3
0
0
0
0.015
2y 10
10y
) (10y
0.013
1.486
400
1
1
1

,
_

y
01
=2.17 ft (normal depth on the upper slope)
Using a similar procedure, the normal depth y
02
on the lower
slope is
4.81 ft.
y
c
= critical flow = 3.68
32.2
10
400
g
q
1/3
2
1/3
2

1
1
1
1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

ft
The flow is supercritical (y
01
<y
c
) before the break in slope
and subcritical (y
02
>y
c
) after the break, so a hydraulic jump
must occur.
The depth conjugate to the 2.17-ft normal depth on the
upper slope is:
77 . 5
32.2(2.17)
8(40)
1 1
2
2.17
y'
1/2
3
2
1

'

1
]
1

+ + ft
Therefore, a jump on the upper slope must rise to 5.77 ft.
When the flow enters the lower slope, the depth would be
greater than y
02
=4.81 ft. A jump cannot occur because the
water surface cannot come down from 5.77 ft to 4.81 ft.
The depth conjugate to the 4.81-ft normal depth on the
lower slope is:
2.74
32.2(4.81)
8(40)
1 1
2
4.81
y'
1/2
3
2
2

'

1
]
1

+ + ft
This lower conjugate depth of 2.74 ft will occur downstream
of the break in slope. The water surface on the lower
slope can rise from 2.16 ft to 2.74 ft and therefore, a
jump will occur.
The location of the jump (its distance below the break in
slope) is:
0
2 1
S S
E E
x

( )
45 . 7
) 2 . 32 ( 2
17 . 2 / 40
17 . 2 E
2
1
+ ft
( )
05 . 6
) 2 . 32 ( 2
74 . 2 / 40
74 . 2 E
2
2
+ ft
53 . 16
74 . 2
40
17 . 2
40
2
1
V
,
_

+ fps
641 . 1
47 . 15
4 . 27
34 . 14
7 . 21
2
1
R
h

,
_

+ ft
( ) ( )
( )
01081 . 0
641 . 1 486 . 1
53 . 16 013 . 0
R 1.486
V n
S
2
3 / 2
2
2/3
h

1
]
1

,
_

8 . 151
00160 . 0 01081 . 0
054 . 6 452 . 7
x

ft
ANS: Thus, the depth on the upper slope is 2.17 ft;
downstream of the break the depth increases gradually
to 2.74 ft over a distance of approximately 152 ft;
then a hydraulic jump occurs from a depth of 2.74 ft
to 4.81 ft; downstream of the jump the depth remains
constant at 4.81 ft.
To find the horsepower loss in the jump:
( )
( )
1695 . 0
74 . 2 81 . 4 4
74 . 2 81 . 4
h
3
L
j

ft
ANS: P loss =
( )
( )
69 . 7
550
1695 . 0 400 4 . 62
550
Qh
j
L

hp
Momentum:
The momentum principle is an important concept in flow
problems where we need to determine forces. Such forces
occur whenever the velocity of a stream of fluid changes in
either direction or magnitude. The momentum principle from
Newtons second law states that the sum of the external
forces F on a body of fluid or system S is equal to the
rate of change of linear momentum mV of that body or
system. Since the symbols F and V represent vectors the
change in momentum must be in the same direction as the
force.
In steady flow, conditions within the control volume do not
change, so d(mV)
cv
/dt=0 Thus, for steady flow the vectorial
summation of all forces acting on the fluid mass in the
control volume is equal to the net rate of outflow of
momentum across the control surface.
F= d(m V )
out

cv
- d(m V )
in

cv

dt dt
When supercritical flow has its velocity reduced to
subcritical in the hydraulic jump the momentum principle
may be applied. Consider the fixed control volume shown in
Fig. 2 the volume of fluid before and after the hydraulic
jump with end forces included can be written as:
F
x
=P
1
A
1
P
2
A
2
=Q(V
2
-V
1
)
P is equal to

h
c
(h
c
is the depth to the centroid)
A is the area
is the density of the flow
Q is flow rate or discharge
V is the velocity
So that,
Fx=

h
C1
A
1
-

h
C2
A
2
=Q(V
2
-V
1
)
For rectangular channels, the momentum equation is
y
1
and y
2
are the flow depths before and after the hydraulic
jump
q is the flow rate per unit width
The equation relating the depth ration y
2
/y
1
and the
upstream Froude number is given by
Energy Loss:
The hydraulic jump is natures energy dissipation device. A
hydraulic jump occurs whenever fluid transitions from
supercritical to subcritical flow. This phenomena is marked
by a great deal of turbulence and consequently, high-energy
losses. Since energy losses are non-trivial, they must be
included in the expression that also relates water depths
upstream and downstream of a hydraulic jump. Therefore, the
head losses are found by using the momentum balance
equation. Energy losses across a jump can be computed once
the depths are known.
The equation that can be used to find the drop in energy
for any channel is:
H
L
= E = E1 E2 =

,
_

,
_

+
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
1
2 2 gy
q
y
gy
q
y
Or
H
L
= E = E1 E2 =

,
_

,
_

+
g
V
y
g
V
y
2 2
2
2
2
2
1
1
The equation used for a flat channel bed is:
2 1 2 1
H H E E

; where E is equal to energy
The equation used for a rectangular channel is:
( )
2
1
3
1 2
4
y
L
y
y y
h

; where h
L
is equal to the head loss
Would you like to see a few examples of the different types
of hydraulic jumps? The following pictures show what a
hydraulic jump looks like when one occurs at a base of a
dam, at the water surface when Froudes number is less than
one and one that occurs upstream when Froudes number is
greater than one.
Check out Website:
http://taylor.math.ualberta.ca/~bruce/imagelinks/teaching/h
ydjump.pdf
References:
Finnemore, John E. and Joseph B. Franzini. Fluid Mechanics
with Engineering Applications. 10
th
ed. Boston:
McGraw-Hill, 2002.
http://gore.ocean.washington.edu/people/clare/jump.html
http://www.tam.uiuc.edu/courses/TAM235/Lab_manual/Y.pdf
http://web.mit.edu/jeffa/Public/web/jump.htm
http://taylor.math.ualberta.ca/~bruce/imagelinks/teaching/hydjump.pdf
http://agrolink.moa.my/did/river/stormwater/Chapter_12.htm
http://www.aeromech.usyd.edu.au/MECH3211/docs/channels/html
/node11.html