Antoine de Chézy

Antoine de Chézy, also called Antoine Chézy, was a French physicist and hydraulics engineer who contributed greatly to the study of fluid mechanics and designed a canal for the Paris water supply. He is known for developing a similarity parameter for predicting the flow characteristics of one channel based on the measurements of another, known today as the Chézy formula. The Chézy equation is a pioneering formula in the field of fluid mechanics, and was expanded and modified by Irish engineer Robert Manning in 1889 as the Manning formula. The Chézy formula concerns the velocity of water flowing through conduits and is widely celebrated for its use in open channel flow calculations. By the definition of open channel, the Chézy formula also applies to partially-full pipe flow.