Analytical Solution of the Burgers Equation for Simulating Translatory Waves in Conveyance Channels

A Burgers equation model (BEM) for simulating translatory waves in conveyance channels is extracted from the Saint-Venant equations for small perturbations in initial uniform flow. The present study improves upon the previous model and presents analytical solutions for the simulation of translatory waves occurring in conveyance channels. The BEM is reduced to the linear diffusion equation using the Cole-Hopf transformation and then solved by means of the Greenʹs function assuming an infinite domain. The simulation studies performed show that the BEM results are comparable to those of the Saint-Venant equations for small perturbations in the initial uniform flow conditions and for Froude numbers within the subcritical region. The BEM could be useful for flood routing and for simulating release of water from a reservoir into a conveyance channel when the flow perturbation is small.