Ludovic Cassan

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Flow under Sluice Gates

AbstractThe flow characteristics upstream and downstream of sluice gates are studied experimentally and numerically using Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes two-dimensional simulations with a volume of fluid method. Special attention was brought to large opening and submergence, a frequent situation in distribution canals that is little seldom addressed in the literature. Experimental results obtained by ADV measurements provide mean velocity distributions and turbulence characteristics. The flow is shown to be mostly two-dimensional. Velocity fields were simulated using renormalization group k-epsilon and Reynolds stress model turbulence models, leading to an estimation of energy and momentum correction coefficients, head loss, and bed friction. The contraction coefficient is also shown to increase with gate opening at large submergence, which is consistent with the energy-momentum balance. This result can be used to derive accurate discharge equations.

Calculation of Contraction Coefficient under Sluice Gates and Application to Discharge Measurement

The contraction coefficient under sluice gates on flat beds is studied for both free flow and submerged conditions based on the principle of momentum conservation, relying on an analytical determination of the pressure force exerted on the upstream face of the gate together with the energy equation. The contraction coefficient varies with the relative gate opening and the relative submergence, especially at large gate openings. The contraction coefficient may be similar in submerged flow and free flow at small openings but not at large openings, as shown by some experimental results. An application to discharge measurement is also presented.

Modelling nature-like fishway flow around unsubmerged obstacles using a 2D shallow water model

In the scope to create efficient nature like fish ramps using large-scale roughness elements, the present study is an audit of modelling such complex 3D free surface flows using an industrial 2D code solving shallow water equations. Validation procedure is based upon the comparison between numerous experimental measurements and numerical runs around large-scale roughness patterns disposed on the flume bottom in order to determine what 2D reliable numerical results can be expected. In this paper, we focused on cases of unsubmerged obstacles. The results demonstrate that 2D shallow water modelling using an industrial code such as TELEMAC-2D can be a convenient way for the hydraulic engineer to help design a nature-like fishway. This article emphasizes the limitations due to 2D depth integration of velocities and turbulence modelling and gives the domain of validity of the method.

Hydraulic Resistance of Emergent Macroroughness at Large Froude Numbers: Design of Nature-Like Fishpasses

The mean flow in a nature-like fishpass can be highly modified by the Froude number. It is important to understand this evolution to correctly design the structure. The studied configuration is an emergent staggered arrangement of obstacles. The hydraulic resistance of a fishpass is experimentally investigated that depends on several geometric parameters: block shape, ramp slope, block density, and bed roughness. An analytical model based on the balance momentum allows one to quantify the influence of each hydraulic parameter. The bed roughness has a weak influence, whereas the block shape and the Froude number are significant. The variation of the drag coefficient was analyzed to improve the stage-discharge relationship. To this end, a correlation with the block diameter and water level is proposed. The maximal velocity reached in the fishpass can also be estimated. These results have to be compared with the fish swimming ability to assess the fishpass passability.

Discussion of “Revisiting the Energy-Momentum Method for Rating Vertical Sluice Gates under Submerged Flow Conditions” by Oscar Castro-Orgaz, Luciano Mateos, and Subhasish Dey

The discussers really appreciated the efforts to make more solid some usual assumptions used to derive reliable stage-discharge relationships, and the confrontation with field measurements. Energy and momentum equations are generally applied in their standard form, as presented in most hydraulic engineering books. The authors are right to point out that some of these assumptions are simplistic, which introduces biases in the derived relationships. Velocity distribution is one of these assumptions, and trying to improve this distribution is commendable. Head loss is another crucial issue, especially for submerged gates where the presence of the roller above the jet induced large dissipation. The authors also neglected the friction forces and assumed that contraction coefficient (Cc) is the same in submerged flow as in free flow. This assumption was questioned by Henderson (1989), and Belaud et al. (2009) showed how to derive a continuous relationship for Cc between low submergence (Cc about 0.61) and fully open gate (Cc ¼ 1). For submerged gates, there have been a limited number of experimental studies that explored the validity of the most sensitive assumptions. Compared to free flow, much more phenomena need to be quantified, such as head loss due to jet–roller interaction, velocity distributions at the contracted section and downstream measuring section, friction forces between these two sections. The effect of submergence introduces another dimension when trying to elaborate generic relationships. As the practical objectives are to obtain accurate discharge predictions, a common approach is to calibrate corrections using measured discharges, water levels, and openings. This may not be sufficient to validate physically based improvements since several phenomena compensate for each other. The pioneer experimental works used by the authors provided very useful data sets to perform this analysis. This discussion is based on recent experimental and numerical results presented by Cassan and Belaud (2012). Experiments used acoustic Doppler velocimetry at selected locations, for three configurations in free flow and three in submerged flow. Computational fluid dynamics was used in complement, with the objective to interpolate flow characteristics between measuring points and to explore other configurations than those measured. Experiments were essential to verify the validity of the numerical results, based on Reynolds–Average Navier–Stokes simulations with the volume-of-fluid method and Reynolds stress model as turbulence closure model. Notations are those of the discussed paper.