Experimental study of hydraulic losses in linear and nonlinear weirs: A comparative analysis

Abstract

With increased length of the crest in a certain width range, the labyrinth weirs increase the discharge capacity. In this study, a laboratory flume was used with a length of 8 m and a width and height of 0.6 m, in which the hydraulic loss of linear/non-linear, labyrinth, triangular, and trapezoidal weirs were investigated. Dimensional analysis using the Buckingham methodology showed that the discharge coefficient (Cd) is a function of parameters such as hydraulic head ratio (Ht/P), weir shape factor (Sf), and hydraulic loss ratio (Hf/P). The results showed that the ATRL weir has a lower discharge coefficient than the ALR by 44% and ATPL a lower discharge coefficient than ALR by 50%. The ATRL weir has a higher hydraulic loss than ALR by 2300% and a higher hydraulic loss than ATPL by 2000%. The TRL weir has a higher hydraulic loss than LR by 4900% and a higher hydraulic loss than TPL by 5700%. The TRL weir has a lower discharge coefficient than LR by 41% and TPL by 43%. The best correlation with the Cubic statistical model was obtained in the TPL weir in terms of discharge coefficient and in the ALR weir in terms of hydraulic loss.

Keywords

• Trapezoidal labyrinth weir
• triangular labyrinth weir
• discharge coefficient
• hydraulic loss
• hydraulic head