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Use of inclined compound triangular notch-weir to improve discharge range

Article in ISH Journal of Hydraulic Engineering · June 2012

DOI: 10.1080/09715010.2009.10514962

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 ISH Journal of Hydraulic Engineering

ISSN: 0971-5010 (Print) 2164-3040 (Online) Journal homepage: [Link]

USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR

NOTCH-WEIR TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

Anand V. Shivapur [Link] , Raviraj H. Mulangi & H. S. Govardhan Swamy

To cite this article: Anand V. Shivapur [Link] , Raviraj H. Mulangi & H. S. Govardhan
Swamy (2009) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR TO
IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE, ISH Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 15:3, 87-96, DOI:
10.1080/09715010.2009.10514962

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Published online: 07 Jun 2012.

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Download by: [The National Library - Kolkata] Date: 03 February 2017, At: 21:25
VOL. 15, (No.3) (87)

THE INDIAN SOCIETY FOR HYDRAULICS

JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING

USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR

TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE
by
Anand V. Shivapur1, [Link] Raviraj H. MulangP and H. S. Govardhan Swamy3

ABSTRACT
The notch-weir having simple geometric shapes is unable to measure small as
well as occasional large flows. In such situation compound weirs find application. In
the present paper authors have reported their study on the use inclined compound
notch-weir consisting of two triangular sections with different vertex angles. The
notch plane is placed inclined to the general flow surface in the channel. The general
discharge equation has been evolved through the semi analytical cum experimental
procedure. Results show a significant improvement in discharging rate compared to
normal weir. The lower triangular portion of the notch-weir handles the smaller flow
whereas the upper part helps to measures the occasional high flows. Further advantages
of the inclined compound weir in reducing afflux near the structure are also discussed.
KEY WORDS: Compound notch-weir, Inclined notch-weir, Discharge coefficient,
Discharge equation.

INTRODUCTION
The demand for water is increasing with the time from all facets of life. Hence the
issue of water measurement is particularly attains importance in the present scenario.
The sharp-crested notch-weirs (USBR., 1997; Bos, M.G., 1976) are the oldest among
the measuring devices known to mankind. These devices are usually placed normal to
the general direction of flow in the channels. Sometimes depending on the purpose
and the site condition they are also placed as oblique or side weir in view of the
advantages they have in a particular situation.
Many researchers have expressed weir discharge coefficient in terms of the fluid

1. Professor, Civil Engg. Dept., and Dean (IPD), S.D. M. College ofEngg. & Tech. Dharwad
-580 002 Karnataka email:av_shivapur@[Link]
2 . Assistant Professor, Dept. of Ci vii Engineering, National Institute of Technology-Kamataka,
Surathkal. email: ravirajmh@[Link]
3. Senior Lecturer, Civil Engineering Department, M.S.R. Institute of Technology, Bangalore,
Karnataka. email:hsgswamy@[Link]
Note : Written discussion of this paper will be open until 31st December 2009.

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING. VOL. 15, No. 3, 2009

(88) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR VOL. 15, (No.3)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

and flow properties. But an effort on improving discharge capacity of weirs has attained
a very little importance. The effort of Lakshamana Rao and J agannadha Rao, 1973 by
modifying the profile of weir crest is one such example. However results were not
very encouraging.
In the present paper authors have proposed to install the compound weir inclined
to the general flow surface in the channel to improve the discharge capacity.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Many investigators have expressed weir discharge coefficient in terms of flow and
fluid properties. The available literature mainly pertains to normal, side or oblique
weir. Few of the researchers have attempted to improve the discharge capacity of
these weirs by modifying their crest profile etc. Therefore there is a need to develop
notch-weir which is simple in design and fabrication and can measure a reasonably
large flow rates with accuracy. Not many studies were reported on inclined sharp
crested notch-weirs.
An analysis of flow over inclined triangular weir has been reported by Shesha
Prakash and A.V. Shivapur (2003) expressing discharge coefficient in terms of head
to crest height ratio for all inclinations studied. The same authors have also reported
that the discharge capacity of Inclined Inverted V -notch, Inclined Rectangular Weirs
(2002a, 2002b) improves with the inclination.
Shesha Prakash and A. V. Shivapur (2004a, 2004b, 2004c) have reported their
study on inclined rectangular weir, triangular weir and inverted triangular weir (llYN)
and expressed discharge as a function of weir plane inclination to the general surface
of flow in the channel. Through the semi theoretical cum experimental approach
Shivapur, A. V. and Shesha Prakash, M. N. (2006) have reported the general discharge
equation for inclined trapezoidal notch. Ismail Aydin et al., (2002) have shown that
small discharge can be measured with accuracy using a slit weir. Martinez, J. et al.,
(2005) have reported the advantages of using compound weirs consisting ofupper
and lower triangular portion with different vertex angle. Though the literature review
reveals that the some work has been carried on simple compound notch-weirs which
are easy to fabricate using unskilled labour, work the inclined compound weir has not
been attempted yet.
In the present study it has been shown that there is improvement in discharge with
the inclination for the compound weir consisting of two triangular portions with
different vertex angle. An expression for the discharge as a function of weir inclination
to the general flow surface in the channel has been established.

COMPOUND WEIR
In certain case compound sharp crested weirs are used in place of single sharp

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING, VOL. 15, No. 3, 2009

VOL. 15, (No. 3) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR (89)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

crested weir (Martinez, J. et al., 2005) to improve the performance. The compound
weirs chosen in the present study consists of two triangular weir with vertex angles cjl
and 9 (Fig.l). The lower triangular notch-weir helps in handling the normal range of
discharges and the upper triangular notch-weir having vertex angle cjl helps is
discharging occasional high flows efficiently. The major inconvenience of this weir
in its normal position is that there is a discontinuity in the transition between the two
parts. The effort of the present work i.e. the study on inclined compound weir is to
explore the possibility of overcoming the above difficulty.

II

1 l
h

- - - - - - - - - · --------""""""""i-'I

FIG. 1 WEIR CROSS SECTION

DESIGN OF WEIR WITH DIFFERENT VERTEX ANGLE

Figure 2 illustrates the proposed sharp crested compound notch-weir. The cross
section of the proposed compound weir results from the composition of three triangular
weir area (see Fig. 2) .
.------------------------------------,

1+2-3

FIG. 2 DEFINITION SKETCH OF COMPOUND NOTCH-WEIR

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING, VOL. IS, No. 3, 2009

(90) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR VOL. 15, (No. 3)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

Therefore, the total discharge can be expressed as the sum of discharge through 1
and 2 minus the discharge through area 3.
When the head over the crest 'H' is less than the height of lower triangular cut 'h'
it behaves as a simple triangular notch-weir. On the other hand when the head 'H' is
more than 'h ', the weir will act as compound weir.
The discharge for the compound weir placed normal to the flow in a channel can
be written as

q, = FK{tan(%1HYz -( H-h)Yz)]+ tan(~ )H- h~}

8
15 (1)

DISCHARGE EQUATION FOR INCLINED COMPOUND NOTCH-WEIR

Let the plane of notch-weir be fixed at an angle 'a' degrees inclined to the plane
normal to the flow axis as shown in Fig. 3.

-----..,,..---r-~:..;....-+----~Inclined
D/S
H

FIG. 3 INCLINED NOTCH-WEIR

The discharge through the compound notch-weir can be considered as the sum of
discharges through the normal weir and the flow through the orifice formed by the
horizontal projection of inclined compound notch-weir.
Therefore, for any length 'dl' considered along the weir plane can be resolved into
two components viz. one along the general direction of flow in channel, i.e. in x-axis
and other in vertical direction, i.e. y-axis.
The discharge through the inclined sharp crested notch-weir can be considered to
be

(2)

where q"=discharge through the vertical projection of inclined compound weir, i.e. x-
axis qY= discharge through the horizontal projection of inclined compound notch-
weir (considering as an orifice), i.e. y-axis.
The discharge through the vertical projection of the inclined compound notch-
weir, i.e. x-axis is given by

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING, VOL. IS, No.3, 2009

VOL. 15, (No.3) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR (91)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

(3)

The discharge through the horizontal projected area of the compound weir (treated
as sharp-edged orifice) in the vertical direction i.e. y-axis is given by

q, =
1~ J2g" tan a{ tan(%1H7L( H- h)X)]+ tan(~ }H -h~} (4)

From Eqs. (2), (3), and (4) we get

q; =qn(l+tana) (5)

where, q. =
1~J2g"{tan(%l HX -( H-h>X)]+tan( ~ )H -h~}
where qn is the discharge through the normal compound notch-weir.
Actualqischarge, qa = Cdq; where Cd is the coefficient of discharge of notch-weir.

EXPERIMENTATION
Compound notch-weir was fabricated in 6 mm thick acrylic sheet. The vertex
angle for the lower triangle 45° and upper triangular portion has a vertex angle of 9()0.
The height of the lower triangular weir is 80 mm. The downstream edge of compound
notch-weir is chamfered to 45° with 1 mm cr~st thickness. Figure 4 shows the
experimental set up for the inclined compound weir.

Gauge ~~~~ona
I

··~->w
II
Outlet
Dive ion
channd
to oump To Sump

Longitudinal Section

Alldimcmionsa"' inmm

FIG. 4 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING. VOL. 15, No. 3, 2009

(92) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR VOL. 15, (No. 3)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

The experiments were carried on compound notch-weirs in its normal, 15°, 30°,
45 °, and 60° inclinations with the general surface of flow in the channel. The volumetric
method of discharge measurement is used for better accuracy instead of using calibrated
notch-weir as followed by many researchers. To minimize the human error, time
required for 100 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm and 400 mm rise of water level in collecting
tank was recorded and average was calculated.

ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The variation of actual discharge with head for various inclinations of compound
notch-weir as obtained through the experiments is as shown in Fig. 5. It shows that as
the inclination increases, discharge rate increases for the same head. It is observed
that as the inclination increases, the lower nappe length decreases. This property may
probably influence the notch to improve the discharge capacity. The additional weight
of water on the inclined weirs draws the suspended silt and hence reduces silt
accumulation on upstream of the weir. It can also be observed from Fig. 5 (head Vs.
discharge curve) that the kink formed corresponding to lower triangular weir and
upper triangular weir portion gets eliminated with 30° inclination for the compound
weir.
The average discharge coefficient for the lower triangular notch-weir and compound
notch-weir in its normal position of the weir are 0.63 and 0.60 respectively. Using the
Eq. 5 the discharge values were estimated corresponding to the measured heads for
all the inclinations studied. One such graph for 30° inclination is shown in Fig. 6. It
can be seen that the measured discharge values deviates from the estimated values of
discharges. This necessitates the introduction of new parameter 'P' as a function of
weir plane inclination 'a' in the Eq. 5 as shown below.

(6)

By regression an expression for ~ is obtained as a function of a (in radians) for

all the inclinations studied as

f3 =1.3072 a 0.6693 (7)

The Fig. 7 shows a variation of ~ with a . The regression coefficient obtained is

0.988.
Then discharge values are estimated for various heads for all the inclinations using
Eq. 7 in Eq. 6. The estimated discharge values are plotted against actual discharge
values (Fig. 8). The percentage error in estimating discharge is found to be within ±1 0%
when compared with actual discharges values. The percentage increase in discharge
capacity of compound notch-weir with the inclination are shown in Table-1.

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING, VOL. 15, No. 3. 2009

VOL. 15, (No. 3) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR (93)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

[Link]
• Norrrallower
4.000 • Norrral carp
• 15 degreeincined _lower
[Link] • 15 degreeincined _carp
o 30 degree inclined_ lower
3.000 • 30 degree incined _ carp
• 45 degree incined _ lower
j [Link] a 45 degree incined _ carp
'l! • 60 degree incined _lower
c.
1i 2.000 • 60 degree incined _carp
0'

[Link]

1.000

[Link]

0.000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
HoMI(cm)

FIG. 5 Qact Vs HEAD

5.0

4.5 "" a act Vs Head for 30 deg.

incl. lower weir
4.0
A a act Vs. Head for 30 deg.
-3.5 Incl._ compound weir
•a theo. \Ai. Head for30 deg.
£3.0 Incl. _lower weir
:D a
c theo. \Ai. Head for30 deg.
12.5 Incl. _compound weir
a 2.0
i 1.5
1
a
1.0

0.5

0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Head (em)

FIG. 6 a_.. AND a,_, Vs HEAD (FOR 30° INCLINED WEIR)

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERJNG, VOL. 15, No. 3, 2009

(94) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR VOL. 15, (No. 3)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

2
1.8
1.6 13 = 1.3072a o.6693

1.4 .; = 0.988

1.2
cc.. 1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
a (radians)

FIG. 7 a Vs ~

4.5

• Nonnal weir
4
• 15 deg. Inclined weir
3.5 • 30 deg Inclined weir
• 45 deg Inclined weir
....... 3 o 60 deg Inclined weir
--!!
.b
~2.5
1
! 2
&
1.5

0.5

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
Q IICIIIII (ltr /1)

FIG. 8 a _ Va a_

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING, VOL. 15, No. 3, 2009

VOL. 15, (No.3) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR (95)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

TABLE-I
PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN DISCHARGE
WITH RESPECT TO NORMAL WEIR
Inclination with the normal (vertical) a=l5° a=300 a=45° a=60°
Percentage increase in discharge with 14.29 48.96 111.24 233.60
respect to its corresponding value at
normal position

CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions derived from the semi theoretical cum experimental approach are as
follows:

1 A compound sharp crested weir composed of two triangular portions with different
vertex angles helps us in measuring wide range of flows. The lower triangular
notch-weir having smaller vertex angle measures discharge more accurately while
the compound notch-weir helps in measuring the occasional large flows.

2 The equation derived through semi theoretical cum experimental procedure can
estimate discharge within ± 10 error.

3 The discharge capacity of such an inclined notch-weir is much higher (233.60 %

for 6QO inclination) when compared to normal weir for the same head and is evident
from Fig. 5 and Table 1.

4 The major hurdle in the measurement of discharge in compound notch-weir at the

junction between the two weir sections is eliminated as the kink formed in the Fig.
5 disappears at 300 inclination of the notch-weir.

5 Since the flow area for compound notch-weir is larger for the same head relative
to the conventional normal weir, the afflux on upstream of the weir gets reduced.

6 As the discharge capacity increases with the inclination, the free board requirement
for the channel reduces thereby sections can be designed economically.

7 The property of increase in discharge of compound notch-weir can be best used to

discharge fluid more quickly without increasing afflux on upstream side in the
existing channels.

8 The compound notch-weir can help in drawing suspended silt and reduce silting
on upstream of notch-weir position when compared to the normal notch-weir
especially in unlined channels.

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING. VOL. IS, No. 3, 2009

(96) USE OF INCLINED COMPOUND TRIANGULAR NOTCH-WEIR VOL. 15, (No. 3)
TO IMPROVE DISCHARGE RANGE

REFERENCES
Shesha Prakash, M. N. and Shivapur, A. V. (2002a). Design and Experimentation on
an Inclined Inverted V-notch. Proceedings ofthe 2nd International Conference on
"Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power" liT, Roorkee-67, 12-14 Dec, Vol. II, pp. 65-
72.
Shesha Prakash, M. N. and Shivapur, A. V. (2002b). Study on Inclined Rectangular
Weirs -A New Approach. Proceedings of the Conference on "Hydro- 2002", liT,
Mumbai-76, 6-17 Dec, pp. 70-74.
Shesha Prakash, M. N. and Shivapur, A. V. (2003). Study on Flow Characteristic of
Inclined Triangular Weir. ISH JI of Hydraulic Engineering. Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 80-
88.
Shesha Prakash, M. N. and Shivapur, A. V. (2004a). Use of Inclined Rectangular
Notch- Weir for Flow Measurement with Lesser Afflux. Jl. of Hydrology, Vol. XVII,
No. 1, pp. 43-53.
Shesha Prakash, M. N. and Shivapur, A. V. (2004b). Discharge Characteristics for
Flow Through Inclined Triangular Notch- Weir. Jl of Hydrology, Vol. 27, No.1-2,
pp. 43-53.
Shesha Prakash, M. N. and Shivapur, A. V. (2004c). Generalized Head-Discharge
Equation for Flow Over Sharp Crested Inclined Inverted Triangular Notch- Weir.
Jl. of Irrigation and Drainage, Vol. 130 (4), pp. 325-330.
Shivapur, A. V. and Shesha Prakash, M. N. (2006). Study on Discharge Characteristics
ofSharp Crest Inclined Trapezoidal Notch-Weir. ISHJI. of Hydraulic Engineering.
Vol. 12, No.2, pp. 118-129.
Martinez, J. et al., (2005). Design and Calibration of a Compound Sharp-Crested
Weir. Jl. of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 131, No.2.
United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) (1997).
Water Measurement Manual. 3n1 Ed., Denver.
Ismail Aydin, et al., (2002). Measurement of Small Discharges in Open Channels by
Slit Weir. Jl. of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 128, No. 2.
Bos, M.G. (1976). Discharge Measurement Structures. Oxford and IBH Publishing
Company, New Delhi, pp. 426-428.
Lakshana Rao, N. S. and Jagannadha Rao, M. V. (1973). Characteristics ofHydrofoil
Weirs. Jl. of Hydraulic Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 99(2), pp. 259-283.

ISH JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING, VOL. 15, No. 3, 2009

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