Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of mechanical energy loss and wall resistance of steady open channel flow

Abstract The mechanical energy loss and the wall resistance are very important in practical engineering. These problems are investigated through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation in this paper. The results are as follows. (1) A new mechanical energy equation for the total flow is obtained, and a general formula for the calculation of the mechanical energy loss is proposed. (2) The general relationship between the wall resistance and the mechanical energy loss for the steady channel flow is obtained, the simplified form of which for the steady uniform channel flow is in consistent with the formula used in Hydraulics deduced by π theorem and dimensional analysis. (3) The steady channel flow over a backward facing step with a small expansion ratio is numerically simulated, and the mechanical energy loss, the wall resistance as well as the relationship between the wall resistance and the mechanical energy loss are calculated and analyzed.