Attempt at forming an expression of Manning's 'n' for Open Channel Flow

Study of open channel hydraulics finds application in diverse areas such as design of river banks, bridges and other structures. Principal hydraulic elements used in these applications include surface water profiles and flow velocity and these carry significant influences of fluid properties, channel properties and boundary conditions. As per current practice, friction influences are routinely captured in a single factor and commonly referred to as the roughness coefficient and amongst the most widely used equation of flow that uses the latter coefficient is the Manning's equation. As of now, selection of the Manning's roughness coefficient is made from existing tabulated data and accompanying pictures and, clearly as per these practices, the selection and choice of this coefficient is inevitably very subjective and a source of uncertainty in the application of transport models. In this study, an attempt has been made to develop a more rational and computationally feasible expression of the Manning's constant 'n' so that it partially or fully eliminates the need to refer to a table whenever performing a computation. The development of an equation of the Manning's constant uses the basic parameters of the flow and also consideration for influences such as vegetation and form roughness as well.