On the hydraulic performance of the inclined drops: the effect of downstream macro-roughness elements

Abstract

Abstract The main goal of the present study is to investigate the effects of macro-roughnesses downstream of the inclined drop through numerical models. Due to the vital importance of geometrical properties of the macro-roughnesses in the hydraulic performance and efficient energy dissipation downstream of inclined drops, two different geometries of macro-roughnesses, i.e., semi-circular and triangular geometries, have been investigated using the Flow-3D model. Numerical simulation showed that with the flow rate increase and relative critical depth, the flow energy consumption has decreased. Also, relative energy dissipation increases with the increase in height and slope angle, so that this amount of increase in energy loss compared to the smooth bed in semi-circular and triangular elements is 86.39 and 76.80%, respectively, in the inclined drop with a height of 15 cm, and 86.99 and 65.78% in the drop with a height of 20 cm. The Froude number downstream on the uneven bed has been dramatically reduced, so this amount of reduction has been approximately 47 and 54% compared to the control condition. The relative depth of the downstream has also increased due to the turbulence of the flow on the uneven bed with the increase in the flow rate.