What is the difference between super critical and subcritical flow?

Subcritical flow is deep, slow flow with a low energy state and has a Froude number less than one (F<1). Supercritical flow is shallow, fast flow with a high energy state and has a Froude number greater than one (F>1).

What is supercritical flow in a pipe?

Supercritical flow is “fast flow” and is impacted by upstream conditions. It flows faster than the wave speed and is unimpacted by downstream conditions. As water flows down a culvert, the depth may change and pass through the critical depth if the bottom slope, geometry, or pipe material changes.

What is the difference between normal depth and uniform depth?

It is the depth at the minimum energy for the conduit. The normal depth is the depth in the conduit if the flow is steady and hydraulic characteristics are uniform.

Why there is no hydraulic communication between upstream and downstream in a supercritical flow?

Upstream and downstream controls A control mechanism (e.g. sluice gate) can make its influence on the flow upstream of the control. Conversely, a disturbance cannot travel upstream in a supercritical flow because the celerity is less than the flow velocity (i.e. V/C > 1).

When so SC and yn YC it is called?

Explanation: When the slopes have a condition of So > 0 and Yn < Yc, it is called as steep slope.

Can a channel with a step change from subcritical to supercritical flow?

Open channel flow can transition smoothly from subcritical to supercritical flow, but there is no way for a smooth transition from supercritical to subcritical flow to take place in open channel flow.

What is meant by subcritical flow?

Subcritical flow is dominated by gravitational forces and behaves in a slow or stable way. It is defined as having a Froude number less than one. Supercritical flow is dominated by inertial forces and behaves as rapid or unstable flow.

What is supercritical flow?

A supercritical flow is a flow whose velocity is larger than the wave velocity. The analogous condition in gas dynamics is supersonic.

What is critical depth flow?

Critical depth is a quantity of fundamental importance to understanding the flow characteristics. If the actual depth is greater than critical depth, then the flow is considered “subcritical”. Subcritical flow is “slow flow” and is impacted by downstream conditions.