Water Surface Profiles Research Articles

MATLAB‐based program for computation of open‐channel flow profiles

AbstractIn engineering practice, open channel water surface profile data frequently serve as the scientific foundation for engineering design, flood forecasting, reservoir scheduling, and the calculation of dam‐break flood evolution. Water surface profiles in open channels (WSPOC), Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB)‐based software was developed to help students better learn and improve their interest in surface line theory. According to the flow characteristics, the program is divided into two modules: steady flow and unsteady flow. The steady flow module guides students to master the judgment methods of various gradually varying flow types and can program independently to explore the solution process of the water surface profiles. The unsteady flow module is designed to help students learn finite difference methods in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and allow students to interact with software in engineering cases to achieve the purpose of effectively integrating theory and practice. This software employs MATLAB graphical user interface(GUI) visualization technology to embed students' autonomous programming in crucial phases and transforms abstract concepts and theories into vivid animation demonstrations using CFD simulation tools. Furthermore, the transformation from theory to practice has been realized by providing a large number of practical engineering examples, which may improve students' ability to solve complex engineering problems. Based on the survey results, the user experience and application effect of the software are satisfactory, and the software's design objective has been achieved.

Effect of anti-vortex structures installed on stepped labyrinth side weirs on discharge capacity

Side weirs are essential structural elements commonly used to control water levels in rivers and canals. If the length of the opening is limited, a labyrinth side weir can be used to increase the amount of water diverted out of the channel and the effective length. This research studied the influence of installing an antivortex structure in stepped labyrinth side weirs on discharge capacity. It has four types of antivortex installed in different hydraulic conditions at different Froude numbers, dimensionless crest height, dimensionless weir opening length, step number, and head angle. Using data from 168 experimental runs without antivortex to allow comparison and 672 experimental runs to determine the best performance of antivortex structures that improved discharge capacity, and 528 runs measured velocity to investigate the intensity of secondary currents generated by lateral flow and other hydraulic conditions, including water surface profiles. According to the research results, installing antivortices regulated the flow, significantly improved the efficiency of the single-cycle stepped labyrinth side weir, and lowered secondary flows caused by interaction with the vertical axis. Finally, the discharge coefficient improves to 18% after analyzing the best type of antivortex, considering shape and height.

Ecogeomorphological condition and hydrological indicators of the self-purification capacity of rivers: A case study of Siminehrood River in Northwestern Iran

Aims: The steady development of human communities and the spread of industrial activities are major contributors to environmental pollution, especially the contamination of water resources. Population growth and thus the acceleration of municipal, industrial, and agricultural wastewater release have adversely affected these inestimable resources and restricted their accessibility. This work attempts to identify the ecogeomorphological condition of rivers in drainage basins emphasizing the Siminehrood River in Northwestern Iran. The purpose is to study all nonpoint source (PS) and PS pollutions and circumstances that weaken and intensify the pollution rate and self-purification capacity of rivers, especially in the Siminehrood River. Materials and Methods: All data and statistics were collected and their seasonal average was calculated. Maps and variables associated with the physical properties of drainage basins were then extracted through ArcGIS. The Schuler diagram was plotted through Chemistry software for all stations and each season to assess the type and chemical quality of the river's drinking water. HEC-RAS model, HEC-GEORAS extension, and ArcGIS were employed for simulation of river flow and calculation and determination of water surface profiles and other hydraulic characteristics of flow including water depth, water flow rate, stream shear stress, and stream power. Results: According to the analyses and results, the improper ecogeomorphological condition of rivers and their low self-purification capacity are directly correlated with the mean river water depth, water flow rate, slope of the river basin, and environmental differences. Conclusions: Within the study area, the highest environmental instability and the least self-purification capacity were observed downstream of the sub-basin in which the mean and maximum depth of water were, respectively, 3.10 m and 8.803 m. Insignificant water flow rate (0.86 m/s on average) and slope of <4% in the area have stagnated water flow in most areas and consequently declined the content of dissolved oxygen and the quality of water. Conclusively, this sub-basin can be reported as a region with an improper ecogeomorphological condition.

Statistical approach of contemporary hydrogeomorphological channel changes of the middle Allier River, France: morphostructural controls, human impacts and flow regime

The Allier River, France, known for its very dynamic river sections in its lower course, was nevertheless subjected to human impacts. The present study aims to better explain the recent hydrogeomorphological channel changes of the middle Allier River considering morphostructural constraints, human impacts and flow regime since the second half of the 20th century. Channel changes are analyzed from six historical aerial photographs (1954, 1974, 1992, 2000, 2010 and 2016) and four longitudinal water surface profiles (1934/35, 1999, 2005 and 2020), based on descriptive statistical analyses and a Principal Component Analysis followed by a Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. The influence of morphostructural controls and human impacts are tested using a Correspondence Factor Analysis, whereas temporal trends of the flow regime are analyzed using Mann Kendall and Pettitt tests. Overall, results show that during the last sixty to eighty years the channel bed incised by 0.86 m, narrowed by 25% and that lateral mobility decreased by 68%. Four morphological evolutionary trajectories were identified for the alluvial plain sections, laterally more mobile than the naturally confined section. These evolutionary trajectories were caracterized by a more or less important presence of human impacts on the channel, such as gravel mining activities and, more locally, in-channel engineering works. Moreover, hydrological changes recorded at the end of the 20th century, characterized by a decrease of the frequency, the duration and the intensity of floods, has led to a general increase of annual abandoned surfaces and, conversely, to a decrease of annual eroded surfaces. In conclusion, future river management schemes will have to consider past and present human impacts on channel morphodynamics as well as current climate change and its consequences on the flow regime.

Assessment of water surface profile in nonprismatic compound channels using machine learning techniques

Abstract Accurate prediction of water surface profile in an open channel is the key to solving numerous critical engineering problems. The goal of the current research is to predict the water surface profile of a compound channel with converging floodplains using machine learning approaches, including gene expression programming (GEP), artificial neural networks (ANNs), and support vector machines (SVMs), in terms of both geometric and flow variables, as past studies were more focused on geometric variables. A novel equation was also proposed using gene expression programming to predict the water surface profile. In order to evaluate the performance and efficacy of these models, statistical indices are used to validate the produced models for the experimental analysis. The findings demonstrate that the suggested ANN model accurately predicted the water surface profile, with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.999, root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.003, and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 0.107%, respectively, when compared with GEP, SVM, and previously developed methods. The study confirms the application of machine learning approaches in the field of river hydraulics, and forecasting water surface profile of nonprismatic compound channels using a proposed novel equation by gene expression programming made this study unique.

Theoretical investigation of dam-break waves in frictional channels with power-law sections

Both the hydraulic resistance and the channel cross-sectional geometry have significant effect on the propagation of the dam-break waves. Analytical models including either of them have been available. However, it is not feasible to assess the comprehensive influence using the existing solutions. The present study considers a resistance-dominated wave tip region followed by an ideal fluid flow region in a dry horizontal channel whose cross-sectional shape is controlled by a power-law index n. Laboratory experiments and numerical simulations are conducted to measure/predict the water surface profiles of the dam-break flows in five types of flumes. The water depth, location and celerities of the wave front predicted by the analytical model agree well with the experimental and numerical results. The quantitative effects of the bottom resistance and the channel cross-sectional shape on the wave properties are investigated. Results show that the spatio-temporal variation in the wave feature of the dam-break flows strongly depends on the channel cross-sectional geometry; while the retardation effect of the bottom resistance becomes more significant as n increases. Furthermore, the derived analytic solution as well as the experimental data can be used for evaluating numerical solutions considering the hydraulic resistance and cross-sectional geometry.

Analysis of steady flow in radial porous media

Abstract The outflow depth from the radial porous media (inflow to the well) is very useful as the downstream boundary condition and the starting point for water surface profile calculations. Based on the studies, unlike the Stephenson's hypothesis (the outflow depth is equal to the critical depth), the outflow depth from the rockfill media is a coefficient (Γ) of the critical depth. In the present study, using several (large scale and almost real) experimental data in the radial non-Darcy flow condition, dimensional analysis and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, an equation was presented to calculate the mentioned coefficient based on upstream water depth (h) and distance between the well center and the upstream (R). Then, using the calculated outflow depth and the 1D flow analysis equations, the water surface profile in the radial non-Darcy condition was calculated for the first time. The results showed that considering an outflow depth equal to the critical depth and using the proposed solution in the present study, the mean relative error (MRE) values of 83.43% and 3.53% were obtained, respectively. In addition, using the proposed solution for different experimental conditions, an average MRE of 2.58% was calculated for the water surface profile.

Dissolved Oxygen Variation on the Steps with a Quarter Circle End Sill for Flows over the Stepped Spillways

Determining the aeration efficiency of the stepped spillways is important because the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) concentration helps indicate the water quality. This study investigated the effects of varying step shape and chute slope on the aeration efficiency for stepped spillways. The measured parameters were DO, the inception point of the free surface, and the water surface profile above the crest to evaluate the geometry variation impacts. Several experiments were conducted on a six-step configuration over a stepped spillway with chute angle (θ = 26.6°, 21.8°, and 8.9°). The discharges up to 0.055 m3/s. The step configurations were including flat step, normal end sill, and quarter circle end sill. The results showed when the chute angle changed from 26.6° to 8.9°, the aeration efficiency of E20 improved with 11.51% at the lowest discharge and 6.05% at the highest discharge for the flat step model with 10 steps. Also, E20 improved 11.39% at the lowest discharge and 6.50% at the highest discharge for the flat step model with 6 steps. The performance of the steps with the quarter circle end sill model in terms of aeration efficiency increased by 10%.

Investigation of effect of logjam series for varying channel and barrier physical properties using a sparse input data 1D network model

Targeted design and placement of natural flood management leaky barriers, or engineered logjams, and accurate representation of logjams in hydraulic models across different scales is necessary to generate desired water storage and flood peak attenuation for effective river restoration and natural flood management projects. We systematically assess the effect of varying logjam spacing, extent of logjam-generated change in water surface profile, vertical height of lower gap, overflow to local floodplain, and varying channel slope, representing a series of logjams in a sparse input data 1D network model including the jam-generated backwater, which depends on loss of momentum within the jam. To guide catchment-scale representation, best-fit increased channel resistance was found to increase with number of jams, approaching an analytically determined maximum for close inter-jam spacing, useful for setting an upper envelope for efficacy.

Flow characteristics on the leeside of a geotextile mattress with floating plate

The Geotextile Mattress with Floating Plate (GMFP) is a novel scour prevention structure. This paper provides an insight into the effects on the flow pattern near the GMFP to better understand the GMFP working mechanism. The GMFP design parameters were emphasized, including the sloping angle, the height of the floating plate, and the opening ratio. In most cases, the bottom vortex is located immediately downstream to the GMFP. The near bottom velocity downstream to the bottom vortex is remarkably lower than the undisturbed value. The location variation of the bottom vortex reattachment point with the GMFP design parameters was studied. Within the range of hydrodynamic parameters tested, the reattachment point moves upstream when the opening ratio increases over 0.231, which agrees with previous studies. With the increase of the obstruction height of the floating plate, the reattachment point tends to move downstream when the relative obstruction height is below 0.2, and then retreats to the upstream side, which may be attributed to the variation in the water surface profile and the enhanced flow through the sand-pass gap due to the intensified blockage effect. An equation was proposed to predict the location of the reattachment based on the GMFP obstruction height.

Implementation of heuristic search algorithms in the calibration of a river hydraulic model

In this contribution, two heuristic search algorithms, (1) particle swarm optimization (PSO) and (2) genetic algorithm (GA) are used to calibrate the iRIC, a two-dimensional hydraulic model for a test case on the Green River in Utah. The goal of the search algorithms was to find the combination of roughness values that minimized model error compared to the measured water surface elevation. An artificial neural network (ANN), which was trained based on the simulated water surface profiles obtained from iRIC, was used to measure the fitness of each solution. Implementation of PSO and GA both improved the accuracy of the calibration by 34 and 30 percent respectively relative to the trial and error. This research demonstrates that the implementation of heuristic search models provides an objective methodology for the calibration of hydraulic models with improved performance when compared to models calibrated via trial and error.

Hydrodynamic forces on emergent cylinders in non-uniform flow

The main objective of conducting numerical simulations of flows in rivers with vegetation is to investigate the complex flow dynamics involved in non-equilibrium conditions. In such cases, it is inappropriate to apply the drag coefficient CD, which is typically derived based on uniform flows involving groups of infinitely long cylinders. This paper presents a method for evaluating the drag forces acting on emergent obstacles for non-uniform open-channel flows. This method is devised based on two sets of experiments: on flows with small-diameter cylinders, focusing on the water surface profiles through the group; and on flows with large-diameter cylinders, focusing on the local pressure distribution and local water surface profile around a target cylinder. In addition to the conventional drag force expression that includes CD, two new terms are proposed to account for the effects of water surface variation and pressure gradient in non-uniform open-channel flow on the drag. The first of these terms, which introduces the use of the Froude number to account for the effect of water surface variation, is derived theoretically and evaluated against past and present experimental results under uniform-flow conditions. On the other hand, the second of these terms, which includes the representative length of the separation zone to evaluate the effect of pressure gradient, is confirmed to be a necessity through numerical calculation of the longitudinal water surface profile in emergent cylinders. The incorporation of these two terms using a simple unified expression can help improve the accuracy of numerical simulations for practical problems of flows with emergent obstacles.

Effect of Orientation and Vegetation over the Embankment Crest for Energy Reduction at Downstream

Coastal embankments often collapse due to the tremendous destructive energy of an overtopping tsunami flow due to a deep scour by nappe flow. Hence, to clarify the nappe flow formation condition due to the overtopping, a series of tests were carried out within a laboratory flume with immobile settings by lowering the downstream surface angle of an embankment model while keeping the upstream surface slope constant (1:1) with five non-dimensional overtopping depths and six different crest conditions. The conditions imposed on the embankment crest in the flow direction were without vegetation; horizontal crest, (−)4% descending crest slope, (+)4% ascending crest slope, and adding vegetation model with three different densities across the horizontal crest to improve resistance to the flow. The increased resistance provided by the vegetation models were categorized based on the spacing ratio between cylinders to diameter: sparse, intermediate, and dense. Increased vegetation density above the crest results in a significant reduction of flow energy by approximately 30–50% at the downstream brink edge and 40–60% at the downstream plunge basin. In contrast, the maximum energy reduction was found to be by the dense vegetation model. Additionally, owing to the steep slope of the water surface profile and the increasing vegetation density, the impinging jet’s impact point moved closer to the toe of an embankment. This implies that vegetation covers a smaller area while increasing density to mitigate the destructive intensity of flood/tsunami movement. Meanwhile, the descending crest scenario results in a faster nappe flow formation. In contrast, the ascending crest scenario delays the nappe formation while reducing the downstream slope angle. It maintains the sub-critical flow at the crest, except near the downstream brink edge.

The influence of projection angle on nappe stability at low energy heads over the weir crest

Abstract Under certain low head hydraulic conditions, weir discharge under gravity flow can produce an oscillating nappe characterized by horizontal waves and audible low-frequency acoustic energy, which in some cases can have a significant impact on the local environment. In an effort to better understand the mechanism behind nappe oscillation, an experimental investigation was conducted using a linear weir (1.83 m wide, 1.10 m in height, and 0.076 m in thickness) with four different crest shapes (rectangular, quarter-round upstream, half-round, and quarter-round downstream) at a wide range of unit discharge ranging from 8×10−3 m2/s to 36×10−3 m2/s. Using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) techniques, differential pressure measurements, and water surface profiles, the influence of Weber number, angle at which the nappe hits the downstream pool (angle of impact), and nappe projection angle on the nappe oscillation are reported. No significant relationship was found between the Weber number and nappe instability. The results suggest that the nappe is stable for unit discharge between 20×10−3 and 24×10−3m2/s regardless the shape of the weir crest. Also, the stable projection angle is −17° for rectangular and quarter-round upstream weirs and −35° for half-round and quarter-round downstream weirs for the specific tested weir.

Effect of corrugated side-walls on plane turbulent wall jets in narrow channels

An experimental study is presented to investigate the effect of corrugated sidewalls on submerged wall jets in narrow channels. Experiments were performed in a flume 0.3 m wide, 0.5 m deep, and 13.5 m long. Jets issued under the gate with a fixed thickness of 2.5 cm and the tailwater depth was adjusted to 37.5 cm, giving a fixed tailwater depth ratio yt/bo = 15. Experiments were conducted for five slot Froude numbers 2, 3, 4. 5, and 6. The Reynolds number ranged between 24712 and 74136. Three sets of experiments of five runs each, were performed. In Set A, the experiments were performed with smooth sidewalls whereas in Sets B and C, two arrangements of corrugated sidewalls (with gaps and with no gaps) were used, respectively. Velocity profiles along the centerline of the flume, water surface profile and the eddy length were measured for each experiment. It was found that the corrugations with gaps caused the largest decay in the maximum velocity; however, the effect of the presence of the sidewall corrugations on the velocity decay diminishes with the Froude number. Furthermore, the corrugated sidewalls with no gaps were observed to induce more flow entrainment and therefore cause a steep increase in the jet discharge and momentum flux near the slot. However, the corrugated sidewalls with gaps induced more mixing and diffusion, farther downstream from the slot, and caused a faster decay in the jet discharge and momentum. The use of corrugated sidewalls is introduced in this study as an alternative technique, to corrugated beds, to be used for energy dissipation in narrow channels. The sidewall corrugations are easier to maintain as less debris/sediments are trapped in between the corrugations. In addition, if channel maintenance is required, the movement of the maintenance facilities on a smooth bed would be much easier than that on a corrugated bed. Moreover, the sidewall corrugations will not be damaged during the maintenance process.

Flood hazard and susceptibility assessment in a semi-arid environment: A case study of Seyad basin, south of Morocco

Flood, is a constant phenomenon, especially in semi-arid and flood plain regions are one of the most destructive natural hazards endangering a people's life, property, and physical and economic well-being. This paper focuses on hydraulic modelling using the HEC-RAS model in combination with the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) tools and compares the results to the Flood Hazard Index (FHI) method using GIS in the Seyad Basin situated in the southwestern region of Morocco with an area of 1512.85 km2. The goal of the study is to evaluate flood hazards in the Seyad Basin in which the cities of Taghjijt, Aday, Amtoudi, and Tagriante are located. The HEC-RAS approach combines the hydraulic surface water flow model and the digital terrain model data. This combination allows the mapping of the flood zones by using the WMS tools. This approach predicts flood occurrence probability for different times and determines the intensity of the flood (depth and velocity of floodwater) using the existing hydrological data.On the other hand, the Flood Hazard Index method (FHI) presents a multi-criteria index to assess areas prone to flood hazards, using six physical parameters: permeability, slope, distance from rivers, land use, drainage density, and flow accumulation. A weight is calculated from the analytic hierarchy process method and applied to each parameter. HEC-RAS method allows the mapping of a flood with a flood water surface profile that shows the flood depth for Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP). At the same time, FHI permits establishing flood hazard levels without showing the water depth. In both approaches, six simulations were performed with the return periods of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 years. The simulation revealed that the most susceptible areas to flooding are the areas along the Wadi Seyad.

Flow over embankment gabion weirs in free flow conditions

In this study, a series of laboratory tests were performed to investigate the effects of side ramp slope, crest length, and porous media properties on the flow regimes, water-surface profiles, discharge coefficients, and energy dissipation in embankment gabion weirs with upstream and downstream slopes. 24 physical models of solid and gabion weirs with three different upstream/downstream slopes (90°, 45° and 26.5°) were created. To investigate the complexity of flow over the porous-fluid interface and through the porous material, three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations were developed. In numerical simulation, the standard k-ε turbulence model was utilized. A structured mesh domain was used to simulate the physical model. Water surface profiles above the porous weirs were used for comparison between the numerical simulations and measured data. These comparisons helped determine variables in the numerical simulations. Numerical simulation enables visualization of streamlines around and through the gabion weirs. In addition, mean stream wise velocity profiles above and within the porous structures were obtained. Numerical simulations showed that a reduction in the slope of the upstream face leads to an increased curvature of streamlines and the velocity distribution exhibits a non-uniform wavy shape due to the geometrical properties of the weirs. As the velocity profiles move downstream, the velocity distribution within the porous structures were more affected by the presence of the pores. The experimental results show that decreasing upstream slopes, from 90° to 26.5°, leads to decreased discharge coefficients. However, in all cases, gabion weirs lead to greater discharge coefficients than those of similar solid weirs. For milder side slopes, discharge ratios (flow passing through all faces of the gabion weirs over the inlet discharge) decreased nonlinearly. Moreover, with increasing the inlet discharge, relative energy dissipation was reduced up to 45% in gabion weirs.

Development of a Hydrokinetic Turbine Backwater Prediction Model for Inland Flow through Validated CFD Models

Hydrokinetic turbine deployment in inland water reticulation systems such as irrigation canals has potential for future renewable energy development. Although research and development analysing the hydrodynamic effects of these turbines in tidal applications has been carried out, inland canal system applications with spatial constraints leading to possible blockage and backwater effects resulting from turbine deployment have not been considered. Some attempts have been made to develop backwater models, but these were site-specific and performed under constant operational conditions. Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop a generic and simplified method for calculating the backwater effect of HK turbines in inland systems. An analytical backwater approximation based on assumptions of performance metrics and inflow conditions was tested using validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. For detailed prediction of the turbine effect on the flow field, CFD models based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations with Reynolds stress closure models were employed. Additionally, a multiphase model was validated through experimental results to capture the water surface profile and backwater effect with reasonable accuracy. The developed analytical backwater model showed good correlation with the experimental results. The model’s energy-based approach provides a simplified tool that is easily incorporated into simple backwater approximations, while also allowing the inclusion of retaining structures as additional blockages. The model utilizes only the flow velocity and the thrust coefficient, providing a useful tool for first-order analysis of the backwater from the deployment of inland turbine systems.

Analytical solution for supercritical flow in rectangular channel contraction

Abstract Analysis of the supercritical flow pattern in nonprismatic open channels is an important issue in engineering practice and often a challenging question principally due to the oblique standing wave structure. In this paper, an original analytical solution for supercritical free-surface flow in rectangular channel contraction is proposed. The two-dimensional steady depth-averaged shallow water equations are simplified to an asymptotic one-dimensional (1D) unsteady flow problem in the transverse direction. A first-order approximation is then obtained using small perturbation theory, and the 1D asymptotic model is solved analytically using the Laplace integral transformation. The two-dimensional flow field solution is obtained following a compilation of sequence planes in the time domain. Free-surface profiles along the side wall and the channel axis were compared against experimental data. For this, laboratory tests were performed in addition to a comparison with classical experimental results available in the literature. Within the limits underlying the model, good agreement in water surface profiles is obtained by comparing experimental and theoretical predictions. Principal flow features, such as wave amplitude and positions, are well captured, which makes the solution model of interest for the design and analysis of contracted open channels.

Physics-Informed Neural Network water surface predictability for 1D steady-state open channel cases with different flow types and complex bed profile shapes

The behavior of many physical systems is described by means of differential equations. These equations are usually derived from balance principles and certain modelling assumptions. For realistic situations, the solution of the associated initial boundary value problems requires the use of some discretization technique, such as finite differences or finite volumes. This research tackles the numerical solution of a 1D differential equation to predict water surface profiles in a river, as well as to estimate the so-called roughness parameter. A very important concern when solving this differential equation is the ability of the numerical model to capture different flow regimes, given that hydraulic jumps are likely to be observed. To approximate the solution, Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINN) are used. Benchmark cases with different bed profile shapes, which induce different flows types (supercritical, subcritical, and mixed) are tested first. Then a real mountain river morphology, the so-called Step-pool, is studied. PINN models were implemented in Tensor Flow using two neural networks. Different numbers of layers and neurons per hidden layer, as well as different activation functions (AF), were tried. The best performing model for each AF (according to the loss function) was compared with the solution of a standard finite difference discretization of the steady-state 1D model (HEC-RAS model). PINN models show good predictability of water surface profiles for slowly varying flow cases. For a rapid varying flow, the location and length of the hydraulic jump is captured, but it is not identical to the HEC-RAS model. The predictability of the tumbling flow in the Step-pool was good. In addition, the solution of the estimation of the roughness parameter (which is an inverse problem) using PINN shows the potential of this methodology to calibrate this parameter with limited cross-sectional data. PINN has shown potential for its application in open channel studies with complex bed profiles and different flow types, having in mind, however, that emphasis must be given to architecture selection.