The mechanical energy equation for total flow in open channels

The mechanical energy equation is a fundamental equation of a 1-D mathematical model in Hydraulics and Engineering Fluid Mechanics. This equation for the total flow used to be deduced by extending the Bernoulli's equation for the ideal fluid in the streamline to a stream tube, and then revised by considering the viscous effect and integrated on the cross section. This derivation is not rigorous and the effect of turbulence is not considered. In this paper, the energy equation for the total flow is derived by using the Navier-Stokes equations in Fluid Mechanics, the results are as follows: (1) A new energy equation for steady channel flows of incompressible homogeneous liquid is obtained, which includes the variation of the turbulent kinetic energy along the channel, the formula for the mechanical energy loss of the total flow can be determined directly in the deduction process. (2) The theoretical solution of the velocity field for laminar flows in a rectangular open channel is obtained and the mechanical energy loss in the energy equation is calculated. The variations of the coefficient of the mechanical energy loss against the Reynolds number and the width-depth ratio are obtained. (3) The turbulent flow in a rectangular open channel is simulated using 3-D Reynolds averaged equations closed by the Reynolds stress model (RSM), and the variations of the coefficient of the mechanical energy loss against the Reynolds number and the width-depth ratio are discussed.