Estimation of Critical Submergence at Single Horizontal Intakes Under Asymmetric Flow Conditions

Abstract

Air-entraining vortices are one of the serious hydraulic phenomena which can create various problems during the operation of intakes. Generally, air-entraining vortices start to form when the intake submergence is insufficient and less than a critical value. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the formation of air-entraining vortices and determine the critical submergences at single horizontal intake under asymmetrical approach flow conditions by conducting experiments with four different pipe diameters. In the experiments, various sidewall clearances with a series of discharges were tested for a given pipe diameter to examine the effect of dimensionless flow and geometric parameters on the critical submergence. Based on dimensional analysis, empirical equations were derived to predict critical submergence by performing regression analyses of relevant dimensionless parameters. Scale effect analysis was also carried out to investigate the effect of neglected flow parameters on the critical submergence in the application of model similitude law. A formula that makes it possible to transform model results into prototype results in the range of tested parameters was derived and compared with similar studies mostly based on existing installations. Eventually, it was pointed out that the result of the model study underestimates critical submergence compared to others due to the scale effects. Moreover, it was determined that critical submergences at intakes having asymmetrical approach flow conditions are higher than those of symmetrical approach flows.