Modern predictions of dam break wave rely often on numerical predictions validated with limited data sets. Basic theoretical studies were rare during the past decades. Herein simple solutions of the dam break wave are developed using the Saint-Venant equations for an instantaneous dam break with a semi-infinite reservoir in a wide rectangular channel initially dry. New analytical equations are obtained for both turbulent flow and laminar flow motion on horizontal and sloping inverts with non-constant friction factor. The results are validated by successful comparisons between theoretical results and several experimental data sets. The theoretical developments yield simple explicit analytical expressions of the dam break wave with flow resis-tance. The results compare well with experimental data and more advanced theoretical solutions. The devel-opments are simple, yielding nice pedagogical applications of the method of characteristics for horizontal and sloping channels. These analytical solutions may be used to validate numerical solutions, while the simplicity of the equations allows some extension to more complex fluid flows (e.g. non-Newtonian fluids).
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