scholarly journals Performance Advantages of Labyrinth Weir

Weir is a very common structure across water courses to control flow and to release surplus water from water bodies. Simple straight weirs are less efficient compared to labyrinth weir where the weir length is increased by folds. In this research, experiments were conducted in the laboratory to find the increase in discharge due to labyrinth or decrease in coefficient of discharge due to labyrinth. Further two labyrinth weirs were analyzed to understand the efficiency with respect to the shape of the labyrinth weir. Compared to the ogee weir, the labyrinth weir discharges more water (more than 60%) for the same head of flow.

Author(s):  
Mosbah Ben Said ◽  
Ahmed Ouamane

Abstract Labyrinth weirs are commonly used to increase the capacity of existing spillways and provide more efficient spillways for new dams due to their high specific discharge capacity compared to the linear weir. In the present study, experimental and numerical investigation was conducted to improve the rectangular labyrinth weir performance. In this context, four configurations were tested to evaluate the influence of the entrance shape and alveoli width on its discharge capacity. The experimental models, three models of rectangular labyrinth weir with rounded entrance and one with flat entrance, were tested in rectangular channel conditions for inlet width to outlet width ratios (a/b) equal to 0.67, 1 and 1.5. The results indicate that the rounded entrance increases the weir efficiency by up to 5%. A ratio a/b equal to 1.5 leads to an 8 and 18% increase in the discharge capacity compared to a/b ratio equal to 1 and 0.67, respectively. In addition, a numerical simulation was conducted using the opensource CFD OpenFOAM to analyze and provide more information about the flow behavior over the tested models. A comparison between the experimental and numerical discharge coefficient was performed and good agreement was found (Mean Absolute Relative Error of 4–6%).


The article presents methodical proposals concerning replacement of the approved norms for calculation of sanitary releases from reservoirs for ecological flow, proposals for the methods of determination of the ecological flow parameters that could be accepted for Kazakhstan for the river flow regulating. We tried to use the developed methodical principles based on ecological safety for determination of scientifically proved quantitative dependencies and norms of the flow permissible withdrawal for the main rivers of Kazakhstan. Within the framework of the performed studies Kazakhstan as the Chairperson of the Convention on Transboundary Water Courses and Water Bodies of the UN EEC intends to present the methods for determination of ecological flow and permissible river flow withdrawal for discussion.


Author(s):  
Hossein Bonakdari ◽  
Isa Ebtehaj ◽  
Bahram Gharabaghi ◽  
Ali Sharifi ◽  
Amir Mosavi

This paper proposes a model based on gene expression programming for predicting discharge coefficient of triangular labyrinth weirs. The parameters influencing discharge coefficient prediction were first examined and presented as crest height ratio to the head over the crest of the weir (p/y), crest length of water to channel width (L/W), crest length of water to the head over the crest of the weir (L/y), Froude number (F=V/√(gy)) and vertex angle () dimensionless parameters. Different models were then presented using sensitivity analysis in order to examine each of the dimensionless parameters presented in this study. In addition, an equation was presented through the use of nonlinear regression (NLR) for the purpose of comparison with GEP. The results of the studies conducted by using different statistical indexes indicated that GEP is more capable than NLR. This is to the extent that GEP predicts the discharge coefficient with an average relative error of approximately 2.5% in such a manner that the predicted values have less than 5% relative error in the worst model.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Ghaderi ◽  
Rasoul Daneshfaraz ◽  
Mehdi Dasineh ◽  
Silvia Di Francesco

In this work experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to study the influence of the geometric parameters of trapezoidal–triangular labyrinth weirs (TTLW) on the discharge coefficient, energy dissipation, and downstream flow regime, considering two different orientations in labyrinth weir position respective to the reservoir discharge channel. To simulate the free flow surface, the volume of fluid (VOF) method, and the Renormalization Group (RNG) k-ε model turbulence were adopted in the FLOW-3D software. The flow over the labyrinth weir (in both orientations) is simulated as a steady-state flow, and the discharge coefficient is validated with experimental data. The results highlighted that the numerical model shows proper coordination with experimental results and also the discharge coefficient decreases by decreasing the sidewall angle due to the collision of the falling jets for the high value of H/P (H: the hydraulic head, P: the weir height). Hydraulics of flow over TTLW has free flow conditions in low discharge and submerged flow conditions in high discharge. TTLW approximately dissipates the maximum amount of energy due to the collision of nappes in the upstream apexes and to the circulating flow in the pool generated behind the nappes; moreover, an increase in sidewall angle and weir height leads to reduced energy. The energy dissipation of TTLW is largest compared to vertical drop and has the least possible value of residual energy as flow increases.


Fluids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Omed S. Q. Yousif ◽  
Moses Karakouzian

The hydraulic performance of rectangular labyrinth weirs has been investigated by many researchers, however, the effects of the corner shape on the hydraulic performance of rectangular labyrinth weirs have not been addressed in the current literature. Accordingly, this experimental study aims to explore the effect of the corner shape of on discharge efficiency of rectangular labyrinth weirs. Five flat-crested rectangular labyrinth weirs, with five different corner shapes, were made of High-Density Polyethylene Plastic (HDPE) and tested in a rectangular flume. Under different overflow discharges, the discharge coefficients for the rectangular labyrinth weirs were determined. The results showed that the shape of corners for rectangular labyrinth weirs was an effective factor. For example, rounding or beveling the corners can significantly increase the discharge capacity of the rectangular labyrinth weirs. However, the rounded corner shape was slightly better than the beveled corner shape. Among all labyrinth weir models tested in this study, the rectangular labyrinth weir with a semi-circular apex showed the highest hydraulic efficiency, while the one with an acute-angle corner shape showed the lowest hydraulic efficiency. For the rectangular labyrinth weir having a semi-circular shape, although the original effective length reduced by about 14%, the discharge coefficient, CL, increased by 16.7% on average. For the rectangular labyrinth weir that has an acute-angle corner shape, although the effective length (LC) of the weir increased by 23%, its discharge capacity decreased by 35.2% on average. Accordingly, improper folding of the side-walls of the rectangular labyrinth weir led to a significant reduction in the weir’s hydraulic performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 924-938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiyoumars Roushangar ◽  
Mohammad Taghi Alami ◽  
Jalal Shiri ◽  
Mahdi Majedi Asl

Abstract A labyrinth weir is a linear weir folded in plan-view which increases the crest length and the flow rate for a given channel width and an upstream flow depth. The present study aimed at determining discharge coefficients of labyrinth and arced labyrinth weirs using support vector machine (SVM)-based models. A total of 527 laboratory test data of four types of weirs, namely, Normal and Inverted orientation Labyrinth Weirs in flume (NLW, ILW) and Arced Labyrinth Weirs with and without nappe Breakers in reservoir (ALW, ALWB), were captured from the published literature and utilized to feed the SVM-based models. The obtained results revealed the capability of the SVM-based models in determining discharge coefficients. The results showed that the SVM-based model of arced labyrinth weir (ALW) produced the most accurate results when three dimensionless parameters, e.g. (HT/P) head water ratio, (α/θ) angle ratio and (Lc/W) magnification ratio, were introduced as input parameters (Root mean square error [RMSE]= 0.013 and R2 = 0.970 for the test stage). Nonetheless, sensitivity analysis showed that Froude number and head water ratio are the most influential parameters on discharge coefficients of the labyrinth and arced labyrinth weirs, respectively.


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