The nappe profile of a free overfall (Q1195012)

Summary: The phenomenon of the free overfall at the sharp drop of a channel bed has been deeply investigated experimentally since the pioneering work of \textit{H. Rouse} [Civil. Eng. 6, No. 4, 257-260 (1936)]. Its behaviour is well known at least in the usual case of a wide rectangular channel. However, no complete theoretical solution has yet been obtained. Assuming the steady flow to be two-dimensional, irrotational and frictionless, an analytical solution for the flow field is obtained accounting for the presence of two free boundaries. By applying the conservation laws we then derive an equation for the lower nappe profile which is found to fit the observed data satisfactorily.