Open Channel Hydraulics I: Introduction and Energy Balance

This two interactive hour online course is the first of several RedVector.com courses presenting the basic hydraulics of open channel flow, the field of engineering fluid mechanics encompassing free-surface discharge. Open channel applications include flood plain delineation, channel design, spillways, energy dissipaters and bridge piers. Open channel hydraulics provides the basis for analysis of sediment transport and rainfall-runoff hydrology. This first course covers energy concepts. Subsequent RedVector.com courses will carry the subject forth into a variety of applications. There is a multiple choice quiz at the conclusion of this course.

You are presumed to have had an introductory class in fluid mechanics, not for the explicit content which may have faded with disuse, but rather for a general appreciation of what fluid mechanics is about. You will be well served by an open channel hydraulics textbook. Half a dozen such books having similar content are in circulation. You needn't have a reference in hand to do this RedVector.com course, but alternative discussions and illustrations may help clarify concepts. As this course is designed for professional engineering continuing education, practical problems are central to the content. At the same time, this course is not vocational training. The professional knows the foundations beneath the analysis.