Probabilistic hydraulic design: A next step to experimental hydraulics

Abstract

Hydraulic engineers conduct experiments based on which empirical laws are developed for the physical processes involved. However, during the design and analysis stage, the step often falls short of recognizing the inherent uncertainty associated with the developed empirical laws. This paper discusses the presence of various uncertainties in the empirical equations derived from hydraulic experiments and illustrates how to incorporate such uncertainties in probabilistic design of hydraulic structures.