Hydraulic Jump

                Hydraulic jump in a rectangular channel, also known as classical jump, is a natural phenomenon that occurs whenever flow changes from supercritical to subcritical flow. In this transition, the water surface rises abruptly, surface rollers are formed, intense mixing occurs, air is entrained, and often a large amount of energy is dissipated. In other words, a hydraulic jump happens when a higher velocity , supercritical flow upstream is met by a subcritical downstream flow with a decreased velocity , and sufficient depth. Numeric models created using the Standard Step Method or HEC-RAS are used to track supercritical and subcritical flows to determine where in a specific reach a hydraulic jump will form.

There are common hydraulic jumps that occur in everyday situations such as during the use of a household sink. There are also man-made hydraulic jumps created by devices like weirs or sluice gates. In general, a hydraulic jump may be used to dissipate energy, to mix chemicals, or to act as an aeration device.

           The hydraulic jump is the most commonly used choice of design engineers for energy dissipation below spillways and outlets. A properly designed hydraulic jump can provide for 60-70% energy dissipation of the energy in the basin itself, limiting the damage to structures and the streambed. Even with such efficient energy dissipation, stilling basins must be carefully designed to avoid serious damage due to uplift, vibration, cavitation, and abrasion. An extensive literature has been developed for this type of engineering.