Engineering Hydraulics

(also hydraulics of structures), a division of hydraulics that deals with the theory of calculation of the movement of water through water-supply hydraulic-engineering structures (dam spillways and floodgates, chutes, canals, and so on) and the interaction of the structures with the passing stream.

The most important task of engineering hydraulics is the determination of the basic structural dimensions and rational shapes of the structures. Other problems that are considered are the movement of a fluid in a porous medium (the movement of groundwater, seepage under hydraulic-engineering structures, and so on), the effect of waves on structures, the passage of river flow during the construction of dams and hydraulic-engineering complexes, and the problem of hydraulic transportation of soil and rock. Work has been done in the USSR on the theoretical foundations and methods of calculation for the control of river channels through stimulation of transverse circulation of the current, as well as on problems of the theory and calculations of spanning a river by introducing stone and concrete blocks into the flow.

The development of engineering hydraulics is closely related to technical progress in water management and is determined by the scale of modern hydraulic-engineering construction. Applying the general laws of fluid mechanics, wide use is made of experimental research in engineering hydraulics, both on models in the laboratory and at operating structures under natural conditions.

The pressing problems of engineering hydraulics today include the study of fast-moving water currents, aeration of the water of a stream, cavitation, and hydraulic design of high-pressure structures. The development of engineering hydraulics in the USSR has been associated with the scientific, engineering, and teaching activity of Academician N. N. Pavlovskii and Professors V. D. Zhurin, A. N. Akhutin, M. D. Chertousov, and I. I. Agroskin.