Theory 39/Transport & flow/Open-channel flow
Regime Is Inertia Against Viscosity
The claim
Whether open-channel flow is laminar or turbulent is set by the Reynolds number, so scale and velocity together decide the regime.
01Mechanism
Inertia promotes instability while viscosity damps it.
02Prediction
Transition should occur at a fixed Reynolds number.
03Refutation
Transition at a fixed velocity would remove the length scale.