Discharge Coefficients for Sluice Gates Set in Weirs at Different Upstream Wall Inclinations

Abstract

Laboratory experiments and numerical simulations are performed to measure discharge coefficients in the case of a gate located on the upstream wall of a weir for flood storage. The effect of the gate slope and the side contraction have been taken into account. The study was first performed experimentally, when three series of tests were carried out with (and without) a broad crested weir located under the gate, at different values of the inclination angle of the weir upstream wall, and at different values of the shape ratio and the relative opening. In order to provide useful suggestions for those involved in sluice gate construction and management, three equations were obtained based on multiple regression, relating the discharge coefficient to different parameters that characterize the phenomenon at hand, separating the case when the broad-crested weir was present. Then numerical simulations were executed by means of the Reynolds-averaged Navier−Stokes (RANS) equations with the k-ε turbulence closure model and in conjunction with the volume of fluid (VOF) method, to validate the numerical results against the experimental and to possibly investigate phenomena not caught by the experimental measurements. Simulated discharges were very close to the observed ones showing that the proposed three-dimensional numerical procedure is a favorable option to correctly reproduce the phenomenon.

Keywords

• weir
• sluice gate
• discharge coefficients
• laboratory experiments
• numerical simulations