Author(s): Hubert Chanson
Linked Author(s): Hubert Chanson
Keywords: Jean-Baptiste BeLANGER; Open channel flows; Backwater equation; Gradually-varied flows; Critical flow conditions; Hydraulic jumps; Momentum equation; Mechanicscurriculum; Hydraulic engineering; Fluid dynamics
Abstract: Jean-Baptiste BeLANGER (1790-1874) worked as a hydraulic engineer at the beginning of his career. He developed the backwater equation to calculate gradually-varied open channel flow properties for steady flow conditions. Later, as an academic at the leading French engineering schools (Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees, and Ecole Polytechnique), he developed a new university curriculum in mechanics and several textbooks including a seminal text in hydraulic engineering. His influence on his contemporaries was considerable, and his name is written on the border of one of the four facades of the Eiffel Tower. BeLANGER's leading role demonstrated the dynamism of practicing engineers at the time, and his contributions paved the way to many significant works in hydraulics.
Year: 2009