B.R. Andharia, et al.

/ (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES

Vol No. 4, Issue No. 2, 036 - 041

Mathematical Model Based on Mobility Index for the

Prediction of Flow Resistance
(Case study of Savkheda Gauging Station Using Tapi River Data, India)
B.R. Andharia*1 B.K.Samtani2
* 2
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Prof. & Head,
Civil Engineering Department, Civil Engineering Department,
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology,
Surat, Gujarat - 395 007, India. Surat, Gujarat - 395 007, India
(Corresponding author, E-mail: andharia.bhoomi@gmail.com ) (E-mail:samtanibk@yahoo.com)

Abstract - The friction factor of an open channel flow is generally

affected by the characteristics of the fluid and flow, geometry of II. OBJECTIVES
the channel and the characteristics of the channel boundary. The main objectives of this paper are:
Large research has been carried out for the study of friction

factor using one or more parameters like Froude number,
Relative flow depth, hydraulic mean depth, slope, flow Reynolds
number, size of the particles etc. However, in each study only
limited numbers of the parameters have been considered. In
alluvial rivers depending upon the flow conditions, any of the
above parameters may vary and predominate to change the
friction factor. So, here the attempt has been made to compute
the friction factor following the different methods and
T
 To compute the resistance to flow in alluvial channel
using various methods based on various approaches,
 To establish relation between the non-dimensional
number Mobility Index and friction factor obtained by
different methods.
 To built the mathematical model to predict the friction

monsoon season and study the variation of fiction factor with

Mobility Index. The mathematical model to predict the friction
factor for the Tapi River at Savkheda Gauging station has been
ES
approaches based on the field data of 15 years of Tapi River for factor using Mobility Index.

A. Study Area and Data Collection

developed by using the average value of the friction factor
obtained by various methods based on various approaches and
the multiple regression analysis. The multiple regression analysis
has been carried out by using the non-linear curve fitter of the
origin 7.5 software. The mathematical model has been developed
relating the Mobility Index with the friction factor.
Keywords -Friction factor, Mobility Index, multiple regression
A
analysis, mathematical model, Origin 7.5.
I. INTRODUCTION
Savkheda is one of the gauging stations on river Tapi. In
the present paper, the last 15 year data collected from this
gauging station is used to compute resistance to flow in terms
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Tapi is the second largest westward flowing river of
peninsular India. Total length of the river is 724 kilometers
from origin to Arabian Sea. The Tapi basin (Fig.1) is situated
between latitudes 20o N to 22o N, 80% of the basin lies in
Maharashtra and the balance in the state of Madhya Pradesh
and Gujarat. Central Water Commission, Tapi Division, Surat
is regularly collecting daily data of discharge and sediment at
gauging site Savkheda on river Tapi (Fig.2). Savkheda is
situated at a distance of about 399 kilometers from origin. The
daily data like discharge, area, bed slope, velocity, wetted
perimeter, hydraulic mean depth, Manning‟s and Chezy‟s
constants, average diameter of sediment, mean diameter of
sediment etc. during monsoon are collected for 15 years period
from 1981 to 1995 and 2000-2005 for study from the central
water commission water year books (1980-1995, 2000- 2005).

of friction factor. The friction factor is computed for monsoon

season. There are number of approaches used to compute B. The Mobility Index
friction factor but in this paper three approaches are used to The Mobility Index (MI) is related to the shear velocity and
compute friction factor. The field data of 15 years has been fall valocity of the sediment particle.
analyzed and computer programming in Ms-excel and origin
has been used to carry out analysis of the data. The relationship mean shear velocity (m/sec) u * (1)
MI  
between friction factor and Mobility Index has been fall velocity (m/sec) w
established. The graphs are plotted for the above parameters This dimensionless number is useful to help predict bed
using origin software and on the obtained results, statistical forms and it is encountered in the resistance formulas for the
analysis is carried out. The Mobility Index prediction may help prediction of the height of the bed-forms.
in assessing resistance to the flow in alluvial channel. The
entire analysis is based on average diameters of particles. C. Friction Factor
1
Ms. Bhoomi Andharia, Ph.D. Research Scholar, Civil Engg.Dept, S.V.N.I.T., Surat, Gujarat- From the Darcy-Weisbach relation, the friction
395 007, India.E-mail ID: andharia.bhoomi@gmail.com, Tel: +91-261 201654, (M) +91-
09428489210, +91-09824467655,Fax No. +91-0261-2227334, 2228394
factor f can be defined as

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 B.R. Andharia, et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
Vol No. 4, Issue No. 2, 036 - 041

8 gRS f 8u*
2
u 8
f  2
 
u u 2 and u* f (2)
Equation (2) reveals that the friction factor is the value of
the velocity of fluid motion generated by shear stress. When
the effects of form roughness are absent, the main source of
friction factor is the skin roughness which is expressed through
the grain Reynolds number u* R /  [discussed in detail by
Wilcox et al. (2006) who has been working on these two
parameters by using various laboratory flume runs]. This
parameter depends on the Shields parameter; therefore, one
needs to take into account the effect of τ* on the friction factor.
Parameter τ* is non-dimensionalized using the critical value
denoted as τ*c.
The value of the critical Shields parameter was determined
by Lamb et al. (2008) as  *C  0.15 S 0.25
(3)
Equation (3) was obtained by an empirical fit to the data for
slopes less than about 10%.
B. Model II. Modified Manning’s equation based on the
method of multiple regression analysis by considering the
variables like A, R, S, n etc. (f2)
For the different set of the regimes identified using eq.6 (a),
(b), (c) as
Lower Regime or subcritical flow: F  1 (6a)
Transition Regime or critical flow: F  1 (6b)
Upper Regime or Super critical flow: F  1 (6c)
Using the Variables from the Manning‟s equation Multiple
Regression Analysis is done using the Origin 7.5 Software. For
the Multiple Regression Analysis to fining out friction factor
the variables used are discharge Q, Cross sectional area,
Manning‟s n, hydraulic mean depth and slope. Here, Multiple
Regression Analysis by considering the variables like A, R, S,
and n. Equation (7) is used for computing modified „Q‟

T
Q = -364.89 + 1.96*A + 153.93*n - 40.54*R + 95265.31*S
The prediction of flow resistance in alluvial channels is R2=0.98193 (7)
needed for two major purposes:
Manning‟s n is found out from the Manning‟s equation
using the modified Q from above (7). The friction factor f can
 The estimation of stage discharge relationship be calculated from the modified Manning‟s n using relation [6]
 The estimation of sediment transport from the
ES
hydraulic characteristics of the channel by means of transport
formula.
Moreover, knowledge of the resistance characteristics of
alluvial streams is of great value when dealing with the
u R1 / 6
u* n g

8
f
(8)
C. Model III. Relationship based on multiple regressions
location of bridges, training works, flood control works, analysis using factors effecting sediment transportation (f3)
navigation and channel improvement, backwater computation
due to confluences and barrages, mathematical and physical The Shields parameter τ* can be expressed as
modelling of flow, prediction of aggradations and degradation
 u* 2
due to presence of hydraulic structures and so on. *  
 S   gd  S   gd (9)
III. COMPUTATION OF THE FRICTION FACTOR The shear stress combined linearly with the Froude number
has already been considered using limited data [Colosimo et al.
A
The estimation of friction factor has been done by using the
three methods. These methods have been selected as they are 1986; Afzalimehr and Anctil 1998Ref.1,2,5]. In the ranges of
based on different approaches and all the important variables (0.01< τ*c <0.05) and slope (0.00081< S <0.01), using the
affecting the resistance of the flow are included. In order to  h 
 
develop the flow resistance equation for the Tapi river, average relative flow depth  d 50  ,the ratio of Shields parameter to its
of the all the 3 methods have been utilized and then the  * 
 
multiple regression analysis has been carried out for the critical value    , the Froude number (Fr) and bed slope (S) in
*C

developing the final equation of resistance to flow using

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the universal velocity distribution law, the friction factor was

statistical analysis tools of Microcal Origin 7.5 software. expressed from regression analysis as
A. Model I. Keulegan’s Equation (f1) [7] 8 u 1  h  
  0.57 In   18.56  0.0058 *  54.28Fr  22342.12S
For the hydraulic smoothness region, the distribution of the f u* k  d 50   *C
cross-sectional mean velocity in the form of friction factor f is R 2  0.96 (10)
v 8 uR D. Relationship Based on Estimated and Computed
  5.75 lg *  3.25
u* f  (4) Parameters
For the hydraulic roughness region, the distribution of the The method used for estimation of friction factor depends
cross-sectional mean velocity is upon many variables. The seasonal average values of these
parameters calculated by all the three methods are based on
v 8 R different approaches. It is observed that all the three methods
  5.75 lg  6.25
u* f  used for the study involves all-important hydraulic parameters
R2 =0.784 (5)

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 B.R. Andharia, et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
Vol No. 4, Issue No. 2, 036 - 041

and sediment parameters. Hence, the comparisons of friction
factor calculated for developing the resistance to the flow of
this river are compatible. Looking to the above fact average of
three methods can be used as base without any loss of
accuracy. Therefore, average values of friction factor,
estimated by three methods is considered as a reliable base for
the comparison of data collected and relation between friction
factor and Mobility Index are established.
IV. RESULTS
The value of friction factor obtained by various methods
and their variations with the Mobility Index are shown in Fig.
3(friction factor vs. Mobility Index). Also, the red line with
black dots shows the average friction factor vs. Sediment
diameter in millimeters for Savkheda gauging station for the
analysis (Fig.3).
A. Model IV. Multiple Regression Analysis
A multiple regression analysis is carried out between the
measured and calculated basic data, viz., bed width discharge
per unit width, flow area, hydraulic mean depth, velocity of
flow, bed slope, avg. diameter of sediments with calculated
average values of friction factor by above three approaches
using statistical analysis tool of Origin 7.5 software by using
non-linear curve fitter. Finally, (11) is derived for Savkheda
gauging station of Tapi river.
fMR= Co + C1 Q + C2 A +C3S + C4Bw +C5 V + C6R + C7davg+
C8u* + C9w (11)
In equation (11), C, C1 , C2 , C3 , C4 , C5 , C6 , C7 ,C8,
C9 are multiplying constants for Q,A,S,Bw,V,R,davg, u*and
w are shown in Table I.

T
ES
Figure 1. Tapi Basin

TABLE I. MULTIPLYING CONSTANTS FOR MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF FRICTION FACTOR IN (11)
A
Station Name C0 C1 Q C2 A C3 S C4BW C5 V C6 R C7davg C8u* C9 w R2

Savkheda 0.0306 -1.68E-06 4.73E-05 94.33 -8.83E-05 0.01212 -0.00672 -0.00618 -0.182 0.17291 0.99298

TABLE II. MATHEMATICAL MODELS USING MOBILITY INDEX FOR TAPI SAVKHEDA MONSOON SEASON

Name of Model Equation Chi2 R2 Function

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Weighting
Model- I Keulegan‟s Equation f1 = 0.02867* (MI) 0.23956 0.00016 0.94204 Allometric1 method
Statistical
Model-II Modified Manning‟s equation f2= 0.0411* (MI) 0.77775 0.00114 0.96152 Allometric1 Statistical

Model-III Based on multiple regression using f3 = 0.0312* (MI) 0.51019 0.00046 0.87645 Allometric1 Statistical
factors effecting sediment transportation
Average of f1 to f3 favg = 0.0325* (MI) 0.37474 0.0003 0.94076 Allometric1 Statistical
0.3197
Model-IV Multiple regression Model f MR =0.02978* (MI) 0.00037 0.9776 Allometric1 Statistical

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 B.R. Andharia, et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
Vol No. 4, Issue No. 2, 036 - 041

Figure 2. Savkheda, Sarangkheda gauging stations and Ukai dam

T
TABLE III. VARIATIONS OF FRICTION FACTORS O BTAINED BY ALL THE METHODS AND MOBILITY INDEX

Friction Factors
Mobility Index f1 f2 f3 favg fMR
0.265 to 0.59 0.0208 to 0.0252 00.0146 to 0.027 0.0158 to 0.0238 0.017 to 0.0255 0.0194 to 0.0251
The value of R2(co-efficient of determination) for all the determination (R2) values. The function and the curve which
ES
four models shows that Model IV is best for the prediction of
the friction factor for Tapi river with co-efficient shown in
Table I and the value of R2 for Model IV is 0.99298.
gives near to one value of Co-efficient of determination (R2)
are considered as best curve. Also, the value of Chi2
approximately equals to zero gives the best fitted curve. The
variations of the friction factor with Mobility Index for Tapi
V. DATA ANALYSIS River obtained by all the methods are giver in Table III.
In this paper 15 years field data of Savkheda gauging
station of river Tapi River is analyzed. TAPI SAVKHEDA MONSOON
f1
Allometric

Step: 1 The daily discharge data is converted in to monthly 0.036 f2

data. 0.034 Allometric
f3
0.032
Step: 2 The monthly data is then converted to seasonal data
Allometric
A
0.030

by taking average of monthly data so obtained is converted in

FRICTION FACTOR

0.028

to seasonal data. i.e. monsoon, post monsoon and pre monsoon 0.026

seasons. 0.024

0.022
Step: 3 The seasonal data is converted in to yearly data. 0.020
favg
Allometric

Step: 4 The value of friction factor obtained using three 0.018 fMR
approaches. 0.016 Allometric
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Diamter
0.014 Allometric

Step: 5 After carrying out multiple regressions on this data 0.012

results are obtained for monsoon season.

0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Diameter
Step:6 Origin software is used to develop mathematical MOBILITY INDEX

model to co-relate Mobility Index and friction factor for each

approach, average and multiple regression friction factor Figure 3. Friction factor Vs Mobility Index For Savkheda Station

VI. RESULT ANALYSIS
The results of the mathematical model which has been
developed relating the Mobility Index with the friction factor
are shown in Table II for the friction factor obtained by each
method. The Performance of each model (as shown in Table II)
is in terms of goodness of fit Chi2 and Co-efficient of
As shown in Fig. 3, when the value of mobility index varies
from 0.181 to 0.527, the diameter varies from 1.16 to 3.52
mm, the friction factor f1 obtained by Keulegan‟s equation is
highest and friction factor f3 obtained by Based on multiple
regression using factors effecting sediment transportation is
lowest. The pattern of variation for f1 to f3 and favg and fMR

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 B.R. Andharia, et al. / (IJAEST) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES
are similar. The Non linear curve fitter of Origin 7.5 has been
used for establishing relation between mobility index and
friction factor using Allometric1 function. When the diameter
increases from 1.16 to 3.52 mm, the friction factor obtained by
all the methods increases ( Fig.3) and Mobility Index also
increases from 0.181 to 0.527 (Table III).
Almost for all the methods, the variation of friction factor
calculated at particular station is almost uniform. An attempt is
made under this study to develop simple equations which are
best suited for the river under consideration the values used on
the basis of average of three different methods can be used
without much loss of accuracy. The variation of hydraulic
parameters is such that friction factor shows very large
variation during monsoon. Looking to such distribution, the
best-fit curve based on least square method does not give the
satisfactory results or very good value of co-efficient of
determination on yearly basis. Therefore, an attempt is made to
study seasonal variation of friction factor. Friction factor takes
into account the effect of non- uniformity of flow. This non-
uniformity can be correlated with bed conditions, flow
conditions, dynamic conditions etc. and the relation between
friction factor and various non dimensional parameters can be
established for given conditions of specific weight of sediment,
diameter and sediment characteristics. However, it is very
difficult to correlate all the parameters affecting the friction
factor. But depending upon local conditions the correlation can
be made between friction factor and the variables affecting the
ES
sediment transportation. Table II represents the developed
mathematical models. The statistical analysis of curve plotted
between friction factor and Mobility Index is done by using
non-linear-square-fitter to obtain the best fit curve. From the
figure 3 depicting Mobility Index vs. friction factor, it is
observed that the pattern of variation is same for all methods.
Comparison of all the three methods shows that f1 obtained by
Kelegun‟s equation and f3 obtained by multiple regreesions
using sediment transportation variables deviate maximum.
Comparison of all the three methods with corrected averaged
friction factor curve and multiple regression curves shows that
friction factor by f2 and f3 gives more deviation. An extremely
A
large deviation is observed in case of friction factor f3 curve.
VII. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Following findings can be summarized from above study.
A mathematical model is presented to estimate the fraction
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coefficient in open channel flows. The application of
mathematical model may be generalized to in smooth channel
as well as in rough channels with free surface flow.
The value of R2(co-efficient of determination) for all the
four models shows that Model IV is best for the prediction of
the friction factor for Tapi river with co-efficient shown in
Table I and the value of R2 for Model IV is 0.9776, which is
much higher than other three methods. So, (11) can be used
successfully for the prediction of resistance to flow for Tapi
River.
The pattern of variation of Mobility Index with friction
factor is same for all methods.
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Vol No. 4, Issue No. 2, 036 - 041
The variation of friction factor with Mobility Index for
averaged and multiple regression friction factor curves appear
similar.
The friction factor f2 obtained by Modified Manning‟s
method give higher value in comparison to the f3 because in
computation of f2 the effect of Q, A, n, R, S are considered but
the parameters like u/u*, τ*/τ*c, u*/w, Fr, S and R/davg are not
considered.
When Mobility Index varies from 0.265 to 0.369, the f1
gives highest value of friction factor and the f3 gives lowest
value of friction factor. The favg and fMR are higher than f2. f2 is
higher than f3.
Mobility Index increases with increase in diameter and
friction factor during monsoon indicating increased sediment
transportation due to increased flow. Friction factor show
almost nonlinear relationship with Mobility Index (Fig.3).
When the particle diameter increases the Mobility Index (MI)
increases and the friction factor also increases. So, when
Mobility Index increases the friction factor increases.
T
By comparing the curve of friction factor by multiple
regressions with all other curves at Savkheda station, it can be
seen that the multiple regression model gives the maximum
value of R2 as 0.9789 and minimum value of Chi2 as 0.00005
using Mobility Index, giving best fit curve. Therefore, the
curves obtained by multiple Regression analysis can be used
successfully for predicting friction factor of Tapi River at
Savkheda as given here. The equations obtained for the
prediction of friction factor give relation as
f MR =0.02978* (MI) 0.3197 (12)
Mobility Index varies from 0.265 to 0.369 when the
diameter increases from 1.16 to 3.52 mm.
Present work also tries in formulating an equation for
resistance in alluvial channel comprising all the major
parameters affecting the resistance. Mathematically, friction
factor can be expressed as a function of Mobility Index. The
mathematical model was successfully used to predict the
complex non-linear relationship between the friction factor of
an open channel flow and its influencing factors. In case of
open channel with rigid and movable boundary, Mobility
Index affects the flow resistance considerably. So, in any
formulation of friction factor, Mobility Index can be included
for prediction. Present work shows a way for inclusion of
Mobility Index in the analysis and prediction of friction factor.
Present work tries in showing a way for formulation of friction
factor equation in movable channel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
It is to be acknowledging that without the permission given
by Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission C.W.C.,
Narmada and Tapi River Basin Organization Baroda; this paper
would not have seen the light of the day. The enormous
assistance provided by the office of the Executive Engineer
Central Water Commission (Tapi Division, C.W.C., Surat)
during the preparation of this paper is duly acknowledged.
REFERENCES
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Vol No. 4, Issue No. 2, 036 - 041

[1] H. Afzalimehr, “Friction factor for gravel-bed channel with high boulder
concentration,” J. Hydraul. Eng., 126(11), 2000, pp. 856- 858.
[2] H. Afzalimehr, and F. Anctil, “Estimation of gravel-bed river flow f1 Friction factor obtained using Keulegan‟s eq.
resistance,” J. Hydraul. Engg., 124(10),1998, pp.1054 -1058.
f2 Friction factor obtained by Mul. Reg. by considering the
[3] A. Bilgil, and H..Altun, “Investigation of flow resistance in smooth open
variables like A, R, S, n etc.
channels using artificial neural networks,”Flow Measurement and
Instrumentation, 19, 2008, pp.404-408.
f3 Friction factor obtained by multiple regression analysis
[4] V.T.Chow, “Open channel Hydrulics,” Mc Graw Hill Book Co., 1959. using sediment transport variables
[5] C. Colosimo, V. A..Copertino, and M.Veltri, “Average velocity in favg Friction factor obtained by Average of f1 to f3
gravel-bed rivers.” Proc., 5th Congress Asian and Pacific Division of fMR Friction factor obtained by multiple regression analysis
IAHR , 1986,Seoul, Korea, 2. using all the basic data of Tapi River
[6] R.J. Garde, and K.G. Ranga Raju, “Mechanics of sediment transport and Fr Froude number
alluvial stream problems,” Third Edition, New Age International MI Mobility Index
Publisher, 2000, New Delhi, India.  's Submerged specific weight of particle
[7] G.H. Keulegan, “laws of Terbulent flow in open channels,” U.S.Dept. of
Commerce, NBS, vol. 21, Dec 1938,.
h depth of the flow
[8] B. Kumar, and A.R. Rao, “Metamodeling approach to predict friction ln(h/davg) Log of Relative flow depth
factor of alluvial channel,” Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 70, R Hydraulic Mean depth
2010, pp. 144–150. Ss Specific gravity of submerge grain
[9] M. P. Lamb, W. E. Dietrich, and J. Venditti, “Is the critical Shields Re Reynolds number
stress for incipient sediment dependent on channel-bed slope,”Proc., At υ Kinematic viscosity of water (m2/sec)

T
JGR-Earth Surfaces, 2008, pp.1- 40. v Mean velocity of the cross-section
[10] A. Wilcox, J. M. Nelson, and E. E. Wohl, “Flow resistance dynamics in w Fall velocity of the particle
Step-pool channels. 2: Partitioning between grain, spill and woody
u* Shear velocity
debris resistance,” Water Resour. Res., 42, 2006, W05419.
τ*c Critical shear stress
ABBREVIATIONS τ* Shield Entrainment function
 Relative roughness
A Wetted cross section area
Bw Width of the channel
davg Average diameter of sediment in m
ES
A
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