CE 356: Elements of hydraulic engineering

Catalog Description

Analysis and design of civil engineering hydraulic systems, including piping and pipe networks, pumps, open channel flow, hydraulic jumps, and weirs.

Prerequisites

Elementary Mechanics of Fluids, CE 319F, or equivalent.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define fundamental concepts in hydraulics
• Apply conservation of mass and momentum principles to solve hydraulic design problems
• Evaluate hydraulic system performance by computing numerical solutions to systems of nonlinear equations
• Analyze data from laboratory experiments and quantify uncertainty in experimental results

Required reference material

Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering Systems, 5th Ed. (or older versions), Prentice Hall, 2010. Robert J. Houghtalen, A. Osman Akan, and Ned H.C. Hwang, ISBN: 0136016383

Course structure

The course is divided into 5 modules. For each module, students can expect 2 homework assignments, 1 lab and lab report, and multiple examples solved in class as well as self-assessment exercises. Student mastery will be evaluated using 3 midterms and 1 final exam. The 5 modules are as follows:

• Module 1: Flow in pipes (Chapters 1,2,3)
• Module 2: Pipe networks (Chapter 4)
• Module 3: Pumps (Chapter 5)
• Module 4: Open channel flow (Chapter 6)
• Module 5: Gradually varied flow and hydraulic structures (Chapters 6, 8)

General class policies and procedures

• Class attendance is strongly encouraged.
• Lab attendance is mandatory.
• Homework and lab reports must be submitted on or prior to their due dates. Late homework will not be accepted. Late lab reports will not be accepted unless an extension is requested at least 24 hours prior to the due date (see extension policy below).
• Extension policy: for lab reports, each student will be granted 2 extensions per semester (with a maximum of 1 extension per report). Extensions are automatically granted by notifying your lab TA via email a full 24 hours prior to the due date. If the notification email is timestamped at least 24 hours before the due date, an extension is automatically granted, and the lab report must be submitted no more than 5 days after the original due date.
• Your lowest homework assignment score will be dropped.
• Lectures are recorded and will be made available for students with excused absences. To request an excused absence and access the lecture recording, message your lab session TA with an explanation for your absence prior to the start of the class that you will miss.

Hydraulic labs

Students are required to enroll in a laboratory session. Attendance at laboratory sessions is mandatory and laboratory sessions will be graded based on attendance, participation and lab reports. Make-up labs will not be conducted. Missing a lab session will result in a 20% penalty on the corresponding grade for that lab. If students are unable to attend their scheduled lab session they may check with the TA ahead of time to see if it is possible to attend a different session. You will not get credit for attending a lab outside your normal session without prior approval from the TA. Additional lab policy will be provided in the general lab notes in the beginning of the semester.

Homework

Homework will be assigned approximately every week. Homework will be submitted as automated assessments on Canvas using the Canvas Quizzes module and multiple attempts will be given. Automated grades may be appealed if reasonable justification is given. Your lowest homework assignment grade will be dropped.

In-class activities

In-class work will be assigned and submitted via Canvas Quizzes. Like homework, these in-class activities will be automatically graded—either for completion or for correctness, depending on the assignment. Your total score for all in-class activities will be weighted equal to one homework assignment in your final grade.

Midterm exams and final exam

There will be three midterm exams during the semester along with a comprehensive final exam. Midterms will include the material covered during the corresponding module. The final exam will be cumulative. Missed examinations may be made up only if the reason for missing was illness or another emergency. Two of the exams will be in-person and two will be take-home exams.

Grading policy

The approximate grade breakdown for the course is as follows:

Based on your final percent score x, letter grades will be assigned using the following scale:

Recordings

1. Course introduction:
2. Conservation of mass and momentum: [2025]
3. Conservation of energy: [2025]
4. Introduction to friction models: [2025]
5. Computing frictional losses: [2025]
6. Empirical friction loss models: [2025]
7. Minor losses: [2025]
8. Energy equation practice: [2025]
9. Introduction to pipe networks: [2025]
10. Looped pipe networks: [2025]
11. Pipe network design:
12. Introduction to pumps:
13. Pump power and efficiency: [2025]
14. Pump speed and pumps in combination: [2025]
15. Pump combinations practice: [2025]
16. Modeling pumps within pipe networks: [2025]
17. Intro to open channel flow: [2025]
18. Uniform flow: [2025]
19. Compound channels / gradual transitions: [2025]
20. Subcritical and supercritical flow: [2025]
21. Hydraulic jumps: [2025]
22. Energy Dissipators / Weirs: [2025]
23. Gradually-varied flow 1: [2025]
24. Gradually-varied flow 2: [2025]