Flow Discharge Modeling in Open Canals Using a New Fuzzy Modeling Technique (SMRGT)

Abstract

AbstractThe main goal of this study was to research the answer to two important questions in flow modeling; i) how to optimally design the cross‐section of an open channel for a given flow, and ii) in the case of selecting the fuzzy method for modeling, how to construct the membership functions (MFs) and fuzzy rules (FRs) such that the system yields the best results. The first question is answered in order to minimize difficulties in excavation and related costs by using the appropriate flow velocity. To provide the best answer researchers use several methods. The second question is answered in order to minimize model error. For this aim, there are many algorithms proposed by researchers in the literature. In this paper, the fuzzy logic method was used for open canal flow modeling. Furthermore, a simple membership function and fuzzy rule generation technique (SMRGT) is introduced, and used for fuzzy modeling. Two fuzzy models, each for different cross‐sectional shape, are presented in this study as an application of SMRGT. The comparison depends on various statistics, mean absolute relative error, and contour maps showed that the fuzzy models were successful in open channel flow modeling and SMRGT is useful for MF (membership function) and FR (fuzzy rule) generation.