An investigation of turbulent accelerated flow along smooth prismatic chutes

Abstract

AbstractTurbulent chute flow was investigated experimentally and numerically for various flow conditions. The Navier‐Stokes equations are solved with the k − ε turbulence model on a structured non‐orthogonal grid. A method based on water continuity was used to calculate the movement of the water surface. Using an adaptive grid in the vertical direction, the location of the water surface was recalculated from an initially horizontal profile. After several iterations a steady solution emerged. The velocity distribution in longitudinal and vertical directions and pressure distribution along the chute were calculated. The numerical model was calibrated and verified using experimental data model studies. Reasonable agreement was found between the experimental results and that from the numerical model. Multiple‐regression equation was developed for computing the water surface profile along chute.