Experimental and numerical investigation of wave propagation in ıopen channels

In this study, the wave propagation in open channels is investigated for the case of motionless water. The wave characteristics are first determined experimentally followed by the comparison with theoretical results obtained from numerical solutions. The method of characteristics, explicit and implicit finite differences approaches are used to carry out numerical solutions. Experimental set-up contains a rectangular channel equipped with registration devices and reservoirs at upstream and downstream ends. The water depths are measured at two different sections; one of them being located near the upstream end, and the other one at midpoint. In order to get water depths as functions of time, a conductivity meter is used and conductivity values are translated to those of water depth. Experimental results are stored in the computer by using Activedaq ( Data acquisition and data control card ). A shock wave and a hydrograph are applied to generate the wave in the channel. The agreement between the numerical and experimental results is better in the case of hydrograph. In the case of the shock wave, the numerical results obtained from the method of characteristics agree more with the experimental ones when compared with those found from explicit and implicit finite difference schemes.