Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010

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Stilling Basins
The basins are usually provided with special appurtenances including chute blocks, sills and
baffles piers.
Chute blocks: are used to form a serrated device at the entrance to the stilling basin. Their
function is to furrow the incoming jet and lift a portion of it from the floor producing a shorter
length of jump than would be possible without them.
The sill: is usually provided at the end of stilling basin. Its function is to reduce further the
length of the jump and to control scour. The sill has additional function of diffusing the residual
portion of high velocity jet that may reach the end of the basin.
Baffle piers: are blocks placed in the intermediate position across the basin floor. Their function
is to dissipate energy mostly by impact action. They are useful in small structures with low
incoming velocities. They are unsuitable where high velocities make cavitation possible.
Classification of Stilling Basins
Stilling basins can be classified into:
1. Stilling basins in which
1
4.5 F < . This is generally encountered on weirs and barrages.
2. Stilling basins in which
1
4.5 F > . This is a general feature for medium and high dams.
Stilling Basin Design for Low Froude Numbers F
1
<4.5
i. R.S. Varshney
ii. Indian Standard Stilling Basin
iii. U.S.B.R. Stilling Basin IV
iv. S.A.F. (Saint Anthony Falls) Stilling Basin.
I. The S.A.F. Stilling Basin
This stilling basin was developed at the St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, University of
Minnesota.
The design rules are:
1. The stilling basin can be designed for Froude numbers F
1
=1.7 and 17. Length of basin
0.76
2 1
4.5
B
L D F = (3.7)
2. The height of chute blocks and floor blocks= D
1
and the width and spacing= 0.75 D
1
.
3. The distance from chute blocks to floor blocks= 3
B
L
4. No floor blocks should be placed closer to side wall than
1
3 / 8 D
5. The floor blocks should be placed downstream from the openings between chute blocks.
6. The floor blocks should occupy between 40-55% of basin width.
7. The height of end sill
2
0.07 C D =
8. Tailwater depth above stilling basin floor is given by
( )
2
1 2 1
1.1 120 For 1.7 to 5.5
w
T F D F = = (3.8)
2 1
0.85 For 5.5 to 11
w
T D F = = (3.9)
Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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( )
2
1 2 1
1.1 800 For 11 to 17
w
T F D F = = (3.10)
9. Height of side wall above tailwater
2
3 Z D = .
10. Wing walls should be equal in height to stilling basin side walls. The top of the wing wall
should have a slope of 1:1.
11. The wing wall should be placed at an angle 45 to the outlet centerline.
12. Cutoff wall of normal depth should be used at the end of stilling basin
13. The effect of entrained air should be neglected in the design of stilling basin. See Fig.
3.20, Varshney.

II. Indian Standard Stilling Basin I
Definition sketches are given in Figs 3.16 and 3.17, Varshney.

III. U.S.B.R. Stilling Basin IV
This stilling basin is recommended for F
1
= 2.5-4.5 which usually occur on canal structures and
diversion dams. For this range of Froude number an oscillating jump will be produced in the
stilling basin generating a wave that is difficult to dampen. U.S.B.R. Stilling Basin IV is
designed to solve this problem. See Figure 22. For better performance, it is desirable to make the
blocks narrower than D
1
preferable 0.75D
1
and to set the tailwater (T
w
)= (1.05-1.1)D
2
. The
length of basin equals the length of the jump. Basin IV is applicable to rectangular cross-sections
only.
Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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Stilling Basin Design for Froude Numbers F
1
>4.5
i. S.A.F. Stilling Basin.
ii. Indian Standard Stilling Basin II. The dimension sketches are given in Fig. 3.21,
Varshney.
iii. U.S.B.R Stilling Basin II.
This design is recommended for large and medium spillways and large canal
structures. The length of basin is 33% reduced with the use of appurtenances. The
basin contains chute locks and dentated sill. No baffle piers are used because high
velocities might cause cavitation on piers. See fig 15-16 (Chow) or Fig. 3.22,
Varshney.




Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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Design Steps
1. Set apron elevation to use tailwater depth (T
w
) plus an added factor of safety (use Fig. 15-
16b, Chow) on the figure there is a minimum T
w
depth line which indicates the point at
which the front of the jump moves away from the chute blocks. Any lowering would
cause the jump to leave the basin. Bureau recommends a minimum safety margin of 5%
of D
2
be added to sequent depth.
2. Basin II maybe effective down to Froude No. 4.
3. Length of the basin can be obtained from Fig. 15-16c, Chow.
4. Height of chute blocks= D
1
, width and spacing= D
1
. Space of 0.5D
1
is preferable along
each wall to reduce spray and maintain desirable pressure.
5. Height of the dentated sill= 0.2 D
2
. Maximum width and spacing= 0.15 D
2
. The block is
placed adjacent to each side wall. The slope of the continuous portion of the end sill is
2H:1V.
6. The slope of the chute varies from 0.6H:1V to 2H:1V.
7. This type of basin is suitable for spillways with fall up to 200 ft and flows 500 cfs/ft of
basin width.
8. Water surface and pressure profiles of a jump in the basin are shown in Fig. 15-16d,
Chow.
Example
Design a U.S.B.R. Stilling Basin II for the overflow spillway of crest length 250 ft (at El. 982.3
ft) and design flow rate 75 000 ft
3
/s. The upstream water surface at design flow rate is at El. 1000
ft, the average channel floor is at elevation El. 880 and tailwater at El. 920.

Solution
Head above crest1000 982.3 17.7ft =
Total fall 1000 880 120ft = =
From Fig. 14-15 (Chow) the velocity of flow at toe of spillway= 79 ft/s.
Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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1
1
1
75000
3.8
79 250
79
7.14
32.2 3.8
Q
D ft
L V
V
F
gD
= = =

= = =

From Fig. 15-16b (Chow), F
1
=7.14
The solid line
2
1
w
T D = gives
2
9.7
w
T D =
1
2
2
9.7 9.7 3.8 36.9
1, 36.9
w
w
T D ft
D
D ft
T
= = =
= =

The elevation of the basin is placed at= 920-36.9=883.1 ft,
The total fall=1000-883.1=116.9 ft, but this will not change the flow velocity.
Length of basin (from Fig 15-16c)
2
4.16
L
D
=
4.16 36.9 154 L ft = =
From min. curve
1
9.2
w
T D =
1
9.2 9.2 3.8 35
with 8% margin of safety 37.8
w
w
T D ft
T ft
= = =
=

Height= width= spacing of chute blocks= D
1
= 3.8 ft= 3ft 10 inches
Width= spacing of dentated sill
2
0.15
0.15 36.9 5.5 or 5 6
D
ft ft inches
=
= =

Top thickness of sill
2
0.02 0.02 36.9 0.738 D ft = = =
Angle of water surface ( ) 9 o = from Fig. 15-16d, Chow.

Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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Design Example: R.S. Varshney Stilling Basin
Water flows under a sluice gate discharges into a rectangular plain stilling basin. Determine the
stilling basin parameters for the following data.
3
34 / / , 1 , tailwater depth 8.3 , width of basin 20
L
q m s m H m m m = = = =
Design
From Blench Curves (Fig. 3.5, Varshney),
2
8.5 Ef m =

1 2
8.5 1 9.5
L
Ef Ef H m = + = + =

From Energy of flow curves, Fig. 2.7
1 2
3
2.9 , 7.3
8.3
w
D m D m
D T m
= =
= =

1
1
1
1
1
2 2
3
3
34
11.72 /
2.9
11.72
2.2 4.5 O.K.
9.81 2.9
34
4.9
9.81
c
q
V m s
D
V
Fr
gD
q
D m
g
= = =
= = = <

= = =

Length of Cistern
a. Length ( ) ( )
2 1
6 6 7.3 2.9 26.4 L D D m = = =
b. From Fr and L/D
1
relation, Fig. 3.15:
1
12, 12 2.9 34.8
L
L m
D
= = =
.
26.4 34.8
30.6 31
2
av
L m
+
= = ~
Blocks
a. Chute blocks
i. Height
From h
c
and Fr relation in Fig. 3.14,
h
c
=0.9 m
ii. Width and spacing 0.75
0.75 0.9 0.675 0.7
c
h
m
=
= = ~

b. Floor blocks
i. Position
Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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From
3 3
and relation,
B
L L
D D
Fig. 3.14

0.9 8.3 7.5
B
L m = =
From and relation, 6.7
6.7 7.5
Average 7.1
2
B B
B
L L L m
L m
=
+
= =

ii. Height h
B

From
2
3 3
and
B
D h
D D
relation given in Fig. 3.14,

2
3
3
7.3
0.88
8.3
0.22, 0.22 8.3 1.83
B
B
D
D
h
h m
D
= =
= = =

From
2
and
B
c c
D h
D D

in Fig. 3.15

2
7.3
1.49, 0.31
4.9
0.31 4.9 1.52
B
c c
B
D h
D D
h m
= = =
= =

Adopt mean value
1.83 1.52
1.67say 1.7
2
m
+
= =
iii. Width and spacing w
B

0.8
0.8 1.7 1.36 say 1.4
B
B
B
w
h
w m
=
= =

Top width 0.2 0.34 say 0.4
B
h m = =
c. End sill
i. Height, H
e

From Fig. 3.15, relation between
3
and
e
H
Fr
D
,

3
0.18, 0.18 8.3 1.5
e
e
H
H m
D
= = =
From
3
and
e
c c
H D
D D
in Fig. 3.15,
3
8.3
1.7, 0.3, 1.47
4.9
e
e
c c
D H
H
D D
= = = =
Average
1.5 1.47
1.485 say 1.5
2
e
H m
+
= =
ii. Top width
2
0.02 0.02 7.3 0.146 say 0.15 D m = = =
iii. Width and spacing of dents
2
0.15 1.1 D m = =
iv. Width of basin=20 m
Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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Design of S.A.F.
1 2
2
0.76
1
0.76
2.2 1.7 O.K., 7.3
4.5
4.5 7.3
18.04 say 18.5
2.2
B
F D m
D
L
F
m
= > =

= =

Height of chute blocks= D
1
=2.9 m
Width and spacing= 0.752.9= 2.18 m Say 2.2 m
Distance from chute blocks to floor blocks
18.5
6.2
3 3
B
L
m = = =
Minimum distance between floor blocks and wall
3 2.9
1.1
8
m

= =
Distance between wall and chute blocks= 1 m
Length of end sill= 0.077.3=0.5 m
2
1
2
2
1.1
120
2.2
1.1 7.3 8.32
120
w
F
T D
m
| |
= +
|
\ .
| |
= + =
|
\ .

Height of side wall above
2
7.3
2.4
3 3
w
D
T m = = =

Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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Design Example: S.A.F. Stilling Basin
Water flows under a sluice gate discharges into a rectangular plain stilling basin. Determine the
stilling basin parameters for the following data.
3
34 / / , 1 , tailwater depth 8.3 , width of basin 21.8
L
q m s m H m m m = = = =
Design
From Blench curve (Fig. 2.5),
2
8.5 Ef m =
1 2
1 2
3
1
1
1
1
1
8.5 1 9.5
2.9 , 7.3
8.3
34
11.72 /
2.9
11.72
2.2
9.81 2.9
L
w
Ef Ef H m
D m D m
D T m
q
V m s
D
V
Fr
gD
= + = + =
= =
= =
= = =
= = =

1
1.7 17 Fr < < , we can design SAF Stilling Basin.
Length of Basin (L
B
)

( )
2
0.76 0.76
1
4.5 4.5 7.3
18.04 say 18
2.2
B
D
L m
F

= = =
Blocks
a. Chute blocks
1. Height
1
2.9
c
H D m = =
2. Width and spacing
( )
1
0.75
0.75 2.9 2.175 say 2.18
c
W D
m m
=
= =

No. of blocks
2.18
5
2.18 2
= =

Distance adjacent to wall 0.5 0.5 2.18
1.09
c
W
m
= =
=

Min. distance
1
3 3
2.9 1.087 1.09 O.K.
8 8
D m = = = <
b. Floor blocks
1. Position
18
3 6
3
B
L m = =
Hydraulic Structures Stilling Basins December 4, 2010
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2. Height
1
2.9
B
H D m = =
3. Width and spacing
1
0.75 0.75 2.9
2.175 say 2.18
D
m m
= =
=

Top width 0.2
0.2 2.9 0.58say 0.6
B
H
m
=
= =

% Width of floor

4 2.18
100 40% O.K. between (40-55)%
2.18

= =
c. End sill
2
0.07 0.07 7.3 0.51 say 0.6 C D m m = = =
Top thickness 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.42 say 0.5 C m m = = =
d. Side wall
2
7.3
2.43 say 2.5
3 3
D
Z m m = = =