Momentum–depth relationship in a rectangular channel Momentum–depth relationship in a rectangular channel In classical physics, momentum is the product of mass and velocity and is a vector quantity, but in fluid mechanics it is treated as a longitudinal quantity (i.e. one dimension) evaluated in the direction of flow. Additionally, it is evaluated as momentum per unit time, corresponding to the product of mass flow rate and velocity, and therefore it has units of force. The momentum forces considered in open channel flow are dynamic force – dependent of depth and flow rate – and static force – dependent of depth – both affected by gravity. The
Superficial velocity and subject to assumptions. Superficial velocity can be expressed as: where: Using the concept of porosity, the dependence between the advection velocity and the superficial velocity can be expressed as (for one-dimensional flow): where: The local physical velocity can still be different than the average fluid velocity because the vector of the local fluid flow does not have to be parallel to that of average flow. Also, there may be local constriction in the flow channel. Superficial velocity Superficial velocity (or superficial flow velocity), in engineering of multiphase flows and flows in porous media, is a hypothetical (artificial) flow velocity