Hydraulics
Undergraduate · Engineering
Syllabus focus
Topics typically covered
Standard syllabus
Closed conduit flow
- Continuity and energy principles for pipe flow
- Major losses: Darcy-Weisbach and Hazen-Williams
- Minor losses and equivalent length method
- Pipe networks: Hardy Cross method (intro)
- Pumps in series and parallel configurations
- Cavitation and net positive suction head (NPSH)
- Transient flow: water hammer concepts
- Pipe materials, aging, and roughness changes
- Valve selection and throttling behavior
- Surge tanks and air chambers for protection
Open-channel flow
- Uniform flow and Manning's equation
- Hydraulic radius and channel geometry
- Specific energy and critical depth
- Froude number and flow regimes
- Hydraulic jump and energy dissipation
- Gradually varied flow profiles (qualitative)
- Weirs and flumes for flow measurement
- Sediment transport intro for channels
- Flood routing and storage routing (overview)
- Dam spillway hydraulics (survey)
STEM / applied
Water resources and design
- Watershed hydrology and rainfall-runoff intro
- Rational method for peak discharge estimation
- Reservoir storage and yield analysis
- Urban stormwater management and detention
- Irrigation canal design basics
- Hydraulic structures: gates and energy dissipators
- Groundwater wells and pumping (intro)
- Environmental flows and habitat maintenance
- HEC-RAS or similar modeling tools (lab intro)
- Capstone: design a culvert or channel reach
Infrastructure and practice
- Levee and floodwall design awareness
- Bridge hydraulics and scour
- Coastal engineering wave basics (overview)
- Hydropower penstock and turbine selection
- Municipal water distribution system hydraulics
- Fire flow requirements in water mains
- Field surveying tie-in for hydraulic grades
- Climate change effects on design storms
- FE civil hydraulics topic drills
- Professional ethics in flood hazard mapping
Study units
Each unit includes a study guide, worksheets, review, practice test, and answer key. One unit is free; subscribe for the full class.
- Closed conduit flow
Continuity and energy principles for pipe flow
Coming soon - Open-channel flow
Uniform flow and Manning's equation
Coming soon
Notes
Topics reflect common engineering syllabi at US colleges and universities. Exact order, depth, and applied emphasis vary by institution, department, and instructor.