Abstract:
A layer of fluid with a free-surface which is initially supercritical (local Froude
Fr > 1), displays a near discontinuity in film-thickness at a location where the
Froude number becomes unity. This is better known as the hydraulic jump and
has attracted the attention of civil engineers for a very long time (Bidone [1819]).
The circular analogue of this was first noticed by Rayleigh [1914]. The phenomenon
is robust and occurs in laminar and turbulent flows. It also manifests itself in the
form of tidal bores in rivers where the height discontinuity front travels with a
certain speed, and is thus referred to as a travelling jump.
The objective of this thesis is to study the laminar standing hydraulic jump
in planar and circular geometries. The thesis is divided into seven chapters. The
work and the results pertianing to each of the chapters are as follows
