Analysis of the hydraulic interference between the baffles and the composite hydraulic structure

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of baffles presence at downstream system on weir gate hydraulic response. Two baffles configuration (triangle and angle shapes) are installed in bed flume. Two different spacing are used between the baffles and two different directions for baffles are also adopted. The study tries to investigate the variation in upstream Froude number, downstream Froude number, Reynolds number, actual discharge, discharge coefficient, downstream average water depth and the hydraulic system efficiency which is expressed as function of downstream water depth. It has been shown that the number of baffles has a direct and significant impact on flow hydraulic characteristics of weir-gate structure regardless of the spacing between baffles and the direction of baffles related to flow. Baffles number and spacing have essential impact on the water flow velocity of system and this impact leads to increase the flow resistance. The results clarify that the upstream Froude number, downstream Froude number, Reynolds number, actual discharge and discharge coefficient are decreased with the increase in baffles number except the average downstream water depth which increases with increase in baffles number. The efficiency of hydraulic system gives a good indicator for using baffles with weir-gate structure. At the end this paper shows a fruitful result of efficiency. This experiment run condense on the baffle’s numbers and directions with respect to the water flow direction at the downstream regime. So, the rises in the water level relies on the numbers and directions of the baffles as compare to the case without using baffles at the flume downstream region. The actual discharge and weir-gate discharge coefficient are more sensitive to the increase in the baffles’ numbers and the baffles direction with respect to the water flow direction