FlowControlandMeasurement

Weirs
i.Broadcrestedweir
ii.Sharpcrestedweir
Spillways
SluiceGates
ThroatedFlumes

BroadCrestedWeir

SharpCrestedWeir

V-notch Weir

Weirs
y The primary purpose is to measure discharge
y Broad crested weirs are robust structures spanning
width of a channel, can be rectangular, triangular,
trapezoidal and round crested
y Sharp crested weirs (plate weirs) are generally limited to
laboratories, small channels and streams that do not
carry debris and sediments
y The V-notch weir overcomes the problem of loss of
accuracy at low flows in rectangular weirs

BroadCrestedWeir
Iftheheightofweirpissufficienttocausecriticalflowthen
thereisadirectrelationshipbetweenH1 andQthatcanbeused
todeterminetheflowrateQ.
v12/2g
D1

vc2/2g
H1

Dc
p

Minimumheightofweircanbeobtainedfrom:

v12 / 2g + D1 = vc2 / 2g + Dc + p

BroadCrestedWeir

D1

H1

Dc
p

D3

Modularflow:freedischarge occursi.e.H1Qrelationshipnot
upsetbydownstreamlevels.
Drowned/submergedflow:tailwaterlevelaffectsupstream
levels.
ModularLimit:definedbyparticularvalueoftailwaterdepth
D3 whichbeginstoaffectflowovertheweir.

BroadCrestedWeir
Modularflow
Drowned/submerged
flow!

EnvironmentAgency

Broadcrestedweirdischargeformodularflow
V1
widthb

D1

H1

Ifb=B
Q=AcVc =BDcVc
Atcriticalflow,
V2 = Vc = gDc

Vc

weir

Dc

Q = BDc gDc = B g (Dc )

3/ 2

2Ec
Dc =
3
2Ec
Q = B g

3/ 2

2
2g
3/ 2
(Ec )
= B
3
3

Broadcrestedweirdischargeformodularflow
ApplyBernoullisEquationfrom1toc

E1 = Ec + p
V12
2g

+ D1 = Ec + p

V12
V12
+ D1 p =
+ H1
Ec =
2g
2g

2 2g V
Q = B
+ H1

3
3 2g

2
1

= 1.705B + H1
2g

2
1

V1 isnotknownbutcanbe
incorporatedintoacoefficient,so
toocannonparallelstreamlines
andenergylosses,givingthe
stagedischarge(QH1)
relationship:

3/ 2

2
2g 3 / 2
Q = C d Cv B
H1
3
3

3/ 2

coefficientof
discharge

upstream
velocity
correction

Dischargeoverasharpcrestedweir
Dischargeperunitwidthofthe
weir
H

q = V2dh =
H/3

(2gh + V )

2 1/ 2
1

dh

H/3

(1)

H/3

H
h1

(2)
h

V1

h2

3/ 2
3/ 2
2
2

H V1
2
V1
1/ 2
= (2g ) H + +
3
2g
3 2g

2
1/ 2
2
0.81 (2g ) H3/ 2 (whereV1 is neglected.)
3

Inpractice,thecoefficient0.81isreplacedbyconstant
coefficientCw.

Dischargeoveravnotchweir
Duetonatureoftriangularslot:
Asdischargedecreasessodoeswidth,preservingaccuracy
Foraparticulardischargelargerheadthanovera
rectangularweir V1 0
Butforlargerdischargesupstreamwaterlevelsincreased
considerably

1/ 2
Q = C D tan (2 g ) H 5 / 2
15
2

/2
H

whereCD istypically0.58for45< <120

Spillways
Structurethatsafelyenables
watertoflowfromadamtoa
lowerlevel(river,stillingbasin
etc).
Overflowspillway commonfor
concretedamsbutnotearth
whichwoulderode,sometimes
ejectswaterfarfrombaseofdam
walltoavoidscour
Chutespillway steep,veryfast
flow
Shaftspillway bellmouth
entranceletswaterfallvertically
down

wwwgeoimages.berkeley.edu

Sluicegate
AlsocalledUnderflowgate
Controlflowinrivers/manmadechannels
Canbeusedtomeasuredischarge,ifcalibrated
Freeordrowned

Hamillp315

Throated
Flume
Flow passes through
critical depth in the throat.
Hydraulic jump in
diverging channel.
Same equation as a
broad-crested weir but a
slightly higher coefficient.
Tarsuswastewatertreatmentplant

Example1
Waterflowsalongarectangularchannelataadepthof1.3m
whenthedischargeis8.74m3/s.Thechannelwidthis5.5m,
thesameastheweir.
Ignoringenergylosses,whatistheminimumheightofa
rectangularbroadcrestedweirifitistofunctionwithcritical
depthonthecrest?
HamillEx9.6
[0.42m]

Example2
Waterflowsoverabroadcrestedweir0.5mhighthat
completelyspansarectangularchannel10.0mwide.
Whenthedischargeis19.0m3/s,estimatethedepthofflow
upstreamoftheweir.
Assumenolossofenergyandthatcriticaldepthoccurson
theweircrest.
HamillEx9.7
[1.49m]

Example3
Arectangularchannel4mwidehasaManningscoefficientof
0.015s/m1/3.Abroadcrestedweirhasbeenconstructedacross
thefullwidthofthechannel.
Assumethattheflowconditionsdownstreamoftheweirdo
notaffecttheflowprofileattheweir.
Ifthebedslopeis1:500andthenormaldepthofflowis2m
determinetheminimumheightoftheweircrestabovethe
channelbedforcriticalflowtooccur.