Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Ain Shams Engineering Journal

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Civil Engineering

Improvement of pressurized flushing efficiency by installing a single pile

upstream of the orifice
Ahmad Beyvazpour, Mehdi Daryaee ⇑, Seyed Mahmood Kashefipour
Faculty of Water Sciences Engineering, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Removal of sediments from dam reservoirs is an important task for water resources management. The
Received 22 January 2020 pressurized flushing is a more common way for the evacuation of sediments. The present study experi-
Revised 4 August 2020 mentally investigates a case of a single pile installed upstream of the orifice to improve the pressurized
Accepted 15 August 2020
flushing efficiency. In this regard, five pile cross-section configurations, namely circular, face-on square,
Available online xxxx
corner-on square, corner-on triangular, and side-on triangular, were studied here. The piles were placed
at four different distances (4.9, 8.4, 11.9, and 15.4 cm) upstream of the orifice. The results showed that the
Keywords:
piles were the most effective when installed with a minimum distance. Furthermore, the flushing cone
Pile
Flushing efficiency
expanded in volume by increasing the output discharge. The highest increase in the flushing cone volume
Flushing cone (671% relative to the control configuration without pile) at a fixed discharge rate was obtained with the
Dam reservoirs corner-on triangular pile. The second highest expansion of the flushing cone volume (362% relative to the
control configuration) was obtained with the face-on square pile. Furthermore, at 57% higher than the
control case, the circular pile realized the least increase in the flushing cone volume.
Ó 2020 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams Uni-
versity. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Sedimentation is a severe challenge in reservoirs for shrinking
dam’s storage capacity. According to Basson [1], reservoirs of sev-
eral dams in the world will be congested with deposits over the
next 200–300 years. Bottom flushing is a method of discharging
the sediments accumulating in dam reservoirs and restoring their
capacity [2]. The operation is carried out using gates installed near
the dam hill. During flushing in large dams, the water level is often
maintained practically fixed (or with a negligible variation), with
this operation being called pressurized flushing [3]. In this type of
flushing, the flow jets out of the orifice at a high velocity, removing
and expelling the deposits. Another type is drawdown flushing, in
which this type, the entire reservoir is drained, lowering the water
level [4]. In an attempt to determine an optimal flushing time,
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: M.Daryaee@scu.ac.ir (M. Daryaee), kashefipour@scu.ac.ir (S.M.
Kashefipour).
Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
Moridi and Yazdi [5] carried out studies based on the available
information from pressurized flushing operations at the Dez Dam,
located southwest of Iran, taking into account environmental con-
siderations. The authors proposed a flushing scenario based on the
outflow and sediment concentrations in wet and dry seasons by
considering minimal downstream environmental impacts.
Previous studies on flushing often addressed the mechanisms
and effects of such parameters as the water level over the orifice,
sediment size, and orifice diameter on the resulting flushing cone
upstream of the orifice. Shammaa et al. [6] studied the impacts
of the shape and size of the orifice on the surrounding flow behav-
ior, deciding that the influences of the orifice shape and size over
the flow were limited to a distance. Using an experimental model,
Bryant et al. [7] studied the flow patterns upstream of the bottom
outlet of dams with a single or multiple orifices, developing a new
solution method to solve flow equations upstream of the orifice.
Meshkati et al. [8] carried out studies on the effect of the outlet
dimensions on the size of the flushing cone in reservoirs, drawing
a conclusion that increasing the diameter of the gate could create a
stronger outflow, thus expelling more deposits. Fathi-Moghadam
et al. [9] investigated the pressurized flushing of non-cohesive sed-
iments, showing through a sensitivity analysis that the depth of
water over the orifice and the velocity of the outflow—in order of
significance—were the most effective parameters as regards the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2020.08.011
2090-4479/Ó 2020 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: A. Beyvazpour, M. Daryaee and S. M. Kashefipour, Improvement of pressurized flushing efficiency by installing a single pile
upstream of the orifice, Ain Shams Engineering Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2020.08.011
A. Beyvazpour et al.
Nomenclature
Q Discharge
ReO Orifice Reynolds number
Hs Sediment level
Hw Water level
w Pile shape
Dp Pile size
d50 Sediment mean diameter
rg Geometric standard deviation
‘Lp Pile distance of orifice
Vc Scour cone volume
Lc Scour cone length
Wc Scour cone width at the orifice
initial development and the balance of the scour. Studying an
experimental model for pressurized flushing, Powell and Khan
[10] learned the general configurations of the scour hole were sim-
ilar with different sediment sizes and upstream water levels.
Emamgholizadeh and Fathi-Moghadam [3] conducted studies on
flushing of cohesive sediments in the reservoirs of large dams,
claiming that the density of the deposits was the most significant
factor in the final size of the scour. Powell and Khan [11] studied
the velocity patterns upstream of the orifice under fixed-bed and
moving-bed conditions and inferred that similar patterns devel-
oped in the two cases.
As shown by previous studies, drawdown flushing generally
offers a superior efficiency to pressurized flushing. Qian [12]
defined the flushing efficiency by Eq. (1).
g ¼ 8S =8W ð1Þ
where 8S is the volume of deposits removed, and 8W is the volume
of water discharged to remove the deposits. Investigating draw-
down flushing, Lai and Shen [4] concluded that flushing efficiency
could be improved by increasing the water surface gradient at the
bottom dam outlet. However, the practice of this method is limited
to small reservoirs due to environmental concerns raised by the
sudden downstream discharge of a large volume of water [13].
According to Morris and Fan [14], the efficiency of pressurized
flushing is in the 0.00017–0.012 range, while that drawdown flush-
ing is variable between 0.04 and 0.13. Furthermore, Emamgholiza-
deh and Fathi-Moghadam [3] determined the efficiency of
pressurized flushing for cohesive sediments at 0.00343. It must be
noted that factors, such as flow conditions, sediment geometry, ori-
fice configuration, and time, are all effective in the efficiency of
flushing [15].
The low efficiency of pressurized flushing calls for improvement
solutions to avoid excessive amounts of water going to waste and
prevent potential environmental impacts upstream and down-
stream of the dam. Nonetheless, a comprehensive study has not
yet been published in this regard. By establishing a rotational flow
upstream of the orifice using four circular jets installed on a hori-
zontal plane, Jenzer Althaus et al. [16] managed to double the
flushing efficiency. Madadi et al. [15] successfully improved the
efficiency of pressurized flushing by up to 250% compared to a ref-
erence configuration by intensifying the vortices developing as a
result of several cylindrical piles installed in a semi-circle arrange-
ment upstream of the orifice. Madadi et al. [17] installed a Project-
ing Semi-Circular (PSC) structure upstream of the orifice, which
enhanced the flushing efficiency by up to 450% relative to the ref-
erence setting. The structure expelled sediments through a con-
stricted axial flow from the conduit. Furthermore, deposits were
also removed by scouring due to the flow running beneath the
structure and along its length.
2
Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx
Zc Scour cone depth at the orifice
qw Density of water
qs Density of sediments
g Gravitational acceleration
UO Water velocity at the orifice
l Dynamic viscosity of water
Fr O Orifice Froude number
8S Volume of deposits remove
8W Volume of water discharged
g Flushing efficiency
U co Velocity along the center of the orifice
X Distance from the orifice to the upstream
As it has been reviewed in recent literature, the possibility of
increasing the pressurized flushing efficiency is an interesting sub-
ject to the researchers and water resources engineers. Therefore, it
seems that any research needs to be carried out for the recognition,
investigation, and evaluation of strategies, ways or hydraulic struc-
tures for this purpose. The present study investigates a solution
that involves placing a single pile upstream of the orifice to
improve the pressurized flushing efficiency. When a pile is placed
against a stream over a bed of sediments, drawdown flows develop
when streamlines reach the upstream side of the pile. The streams,
known as horseshoe vortices, induce scouring around the pile. Fur-
thermore, the separation of streamlines downstream of the pile
creates a low-pressure region that lifts and displaces sediments
[18]. Should the pile be installed upstream of the dam outlet ori-
fice, the flushing efficiency is improved as in addition to the normal
flushing, severe erosion occurs around the pile and the eroded sed-
iments are evacuated through the orifice. In this regard, the pile
shape can have a different impact on scouring around it depending
on the amount of generated flow turbulence. In view of the forego-
ing, the present study aims to investigate the effects of a single pile
installed upstream of the orifice and its shape on the flushing cone
dimensions and pressurized flushing efficiency.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Experimental setup
The experiments were conducted using a 250-cm-long, 120-
cm-wide, and 100-cm-height flume as the reservoir upstream of
the orifice, in the Hydraulic Research Laboratory of the Faculty of
Water Sciences and Engineering, Shahid Chamran University,
Ahvaz, Iran. Fig. 1 presents a schematic view of the experimental
flume and its equipment.
The experiments were carried out at three discharge rates (Q),
including 4.71, 6.38, and 8.34 l s1. An electromagnetic flowmeter
was used for measuring the discharge rate with an accuracy of
0:50%. The sediment level (Hs ) was maintained fixed at the same
level as the bottom edge of the orifice. The water level above the
center of the orifice (Hw ) was considered to be constant at 52 cm
in all the experiments. Furthermore, the diameter of the outlet ori-
fice (DO ) was also set to be constant and equal to 7 cm. Five differ-
ent pile shapes (Table 1) were considered to investigate the effect
of the cross-sectional configuration of the pile (w) on the dimen-
sions of scour cone and the efficiency of pressurized flushing. The
largest side of all piles that stood normal to the flow direction
(Dp ) was assumed to be 3.5 cm long.
The top of the piles in all the experiments remained at the level
with the top of the orifice (Fig. 1). The sediment gradation was
A. Beyvazpour et al.
Fig. 1. A schematic view of the flume.
identical in all the experiments (d50 ¼ 0:5 mm and rg ¼ 1:55).
Each type of the pile was installed with several different distances
upstream of the orifice to investigate the impact of distance
between the pile and orificeðLp ) as well. The distance was deter-
mined by experiments and extended to the point where the pile
did not affect the volume of the flushing cone. In the end, the dis-
tance was defined as a ratio of orifice diameter
(Lp =DO ¼ 0:7; 1:2; 1:7; 2:2). In addition, Powell and Khan (2012)
showed that the effectiveness of pile goes to zero for Lp =DO greater
than 2.0. The experiments started by leveling out the sediments
(Hs ) flush with the bottom of the orifice. Then, valve No. 2 was shut
closed, and water was pumped into the flume. To prevent the sed-
iments from being washed away before reaching the water the
required level, water was first introduced at a low discharge rate.
After reaching the water the required level, and adjusting the input
discharge using valve No. 1 (Fig. 1), valve No. 2 was opened to align
the water level with the center of the orifice at the required level
(52 cm), providing a specific discharge rate during the experiment.
The experiments were terminated at 150 min in all cases, as con-
secutive tests at peak discharge indicated that the dimensions of
the flushing cone did not change considerably after 150 min.
3
Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx
Reference tests were carried out at specific discharge rates without
a pile. Then, piles were installed upstream of the orifice at specific
distances, followed by repeating the experiments. In due time,
valve No. 2 was shut to let the water drain from the upstream out-
let pipe. Then, the topography of the scour cone upstream of the
orifice was recorded after each experiment using a Leica D510 laser
distance meter, making measurements down to the millimeter.
Next, the volume (V c ), length (Lc ), width at the orifice (W c ), and
depth at the orifice (Z c ) of the scour cone were determined using
SURFER-8 software.
2.2. Dimensional analysis
All the possible effective parameters on the efficiency of pres-
surized flushing involved in the present study can be related by
Eq. (2).
f ðDO ; V c ; W c ; Z c ; Dp ; Lp ; Lc ; qw ; qs ; g; d50 ; Hw ; U O ; l; Hs ; wÞ ¼ 0 ð2Þ
where qw denotes the density of water, qs is the density of sedi-
ments, g represents the gravitational acceleration, U O is water
velocity at the orifice, and l shows the dynamic viscosity of water.
A. Beyvazpour et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1 Table 2
The studied pile shapes. The experimental results.

w Type Description Exp. Type LP/DO Q (l/s) VC (cm3) Lc (cm) Zc (cm) Wc (cm)
A circular Reference – 4.17 138 6 2.8 15
configuration – 6.38 332 9 3.7 22
– 8.34 534 10 4.4 24
A 0.7 4.17 216 9 3.3 20
6.38 519 14 4.1 22
8.34 628 15 4.2 24
B face-on square
1.2 4.17 191 9 2.8 19
6.38 410 12 4.1 22
8.34 582 15 4.3 24
1.7 4.17 154 7 2.3 18
6.38 360 11 3.7 22
C corner-on square 8.34 553 13 4 24
2.2 4.17 141 6 3.3 15
6.38 340 10 4.1 22
8.34 540 12 4.2 24
B 0.7 4.17 638 13 6.5 24
6.38 1075 15 7.8 25
D side-on triangular 8.34 1270 16 8.3 26
1.2 4.17 350 9 3.2 23
6.38 825 16 3.9 27
8.34 1057 16 5.5 27
1.7 4.17 211 11 3.1 19
6.38 412 15 3.7 26
8.34 619 17 3.7 27
E corner-on triangular
2.2 4.17 165 7 3.1 20
6.38 382 14 3.3 24
8.34 589 15 3.7 26
C 0.7 4.17 450 10 3.9 17
6.38 677 12 4 22
8.34 740 11 5 23
1.2 4.17 343 11 2.8 17
6.38 491 13 4 22
8.34 620 12 4.4 24
The other variables were introduced earlier. Considering qw , U O , and 1.7 4.17 210 10 2.8 17
DO as repeating variables, Eq. (3) was obtained relying on the Buck- 6.38 374 14 3.7 22
ingham’s p theorem.
8.34 580 15 4.4 24
2.2 4.17 140 7 2.8 15
V c Dp Lp Lc Z c W c Hw U O d50 qs qw U O DO 6.38 344 15 3.7 22
fð 3 ; ; ; ; ; ; ; pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ; ; ; ; wÞ ¼ 0 8.34 540 17 3.7 24
DO DO DO DO DO DO Hs gDO DO qw l D 0.7 4.17 436 12 4.2 19
ð3Þ 6.38 516 13 4.4 22
8.34 776 14 4.7 24
Vc
D3O
is the dimensionless volume of the scour cone. qw UlO DO is the outlet 1.2 4.17 235 9 2.8 15
6.38 480 14 3.5 22
Reynolds number (ReO ), which was ignored due to the turbulent 8.34 653 16 4.7 24
conditions in all experiments in this study (ReO > 75; 880). pUffiffiffiffiffiffi
O
is 1.7 4.17 190 6 1.9 15
gDO 6.38 398 14 3.3 22
orifice Froude number (FrO ) [19]. Given that Hw , Hs , qw , qs , Dp , and 8.34 563 14 4 24
Hw d50 Dp qs 2.2 4.17 140 6 2.6 15
d50 remained fixed throughout the experiments, , , ,
Hs DO DO
and qw 6.38 334 11 3.7 22
Lp 8.34 540 15 4.1 24
were also ignored. DO
was defined as the relative distance between
E 0.7 4.17 1064 14 6.6 27
the pile and the orifice. In the end, Eq. (3) was simplified as follows. 6.38 1406 16 8.1 28
8.34 2195 17 8.5 29
V c Lc Z c W c Lp UO
; ; ; ¼ f ð ; pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ; wÞ ð4Þ 1.2 4.17 176 9 2.7 17
D3O DO DO DO DO gDO 6.38 456 13 3.3 22
8.34 1092 16 3.3 24
This suggests that under a constant head at upstream of the ori- 1.7 4.17 174 9 2.8 16
fice in this study, the scour cone dimensions and volume are func- 6.38 444 14 3.3 22
tions of the outlet water velocity from the orifice, the orifice 8.34 756 15 3.8 24
2.2 4.17 145 9 2.7 15
diameter, the pile shape, and distance between the pile and the
6.38 340 11 3.7 22
orifice. 8.34 575 14 4 24

3. Results and discussion

Table 2 presents the experimental results. As it is evident, a
287% increase in V c (from 138 cm3 to 534 cm3) is observed for
the reference configuration by boosting the discharge rate from
4.17 to 8.34 l s1. Furthermore, Lc , W c , and Z c were improved by
67, 60, and 57%, respectively. According to Powell and Khan [20],
the pressurized flushing of deposits is carried out in two steps.
The first step involves the development of shear stress in the bed
induced by the outflow, and the second step includes the formation
4
of two vortices (one clockwise and the other counter-clockwise)
upstream of the orifice, lifting and removing the deposits. By
increasing the discharge, sediment removal from the bed is pro-
moted by stronger shear stresses in the initial stage of flushing.
Moreover, increasing the discharge in the second stage reinforces
the vortices, lifting and removing more deposits from the orifice,
resulting in a larger flushing cone. Fig. 2 shows the flushing cone
at two discharge rates, 4.17 l s1 and 8.34 l s1. The bed topography
was plotted for both cases using SURFER-8 software.
A. Beyvazpour et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx

Q=4.17 L/s Q=8.34 L/s

Fig. 2. The flushing cone in the reference configuration at Q = 4.17 l s1 and Q = 8.34 l s1.

3.1. Effect of pile installation distance from the orifice
Fig. 3 illustrates the variations of the dimensionless flushing
cone volume at different discharge rates at various relative dis-
tances for different types of pile placement. It is evident from
Fig. 3 that the pile is the most effective in expanding the flushing
cone at a relative distance of Lp =DO ¼ 0:7, and that increasing
Lp =DO diminishes the impact of installing piles on increasing the
volume of the flushing cone. At a distance of Lp =DO ¼ 2:2, the pile
becomes practically ineffective. According to Powell and Khan
(2012), the relative velocity (U co =U O , U co denotes the velocity along
the center of the orifice at any distance upstream of it) decreases

Type A Type B
7 Q= 4.17 L/s Q= 6.38 L/s Q= 8.34 L/s 7 Q= 4.17 L/s Q= 6.38 L/s Q= 8.34 L/s
6 6
5 5
Vc/DO3
Vc/DO3

4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
0 0
Refrence 0.7 1.2 1.7 2.2 Refrence 0.7 1.2 1.7 2.2
test test
Lp/DO Lp/DO

Type C Type D
7 Q=4.17 L/s Q=6.38 L/s Q=8.34 L/s 7 Q= 4.17 L/s Q= 6.38 L/s Q= 8.34 L/s
6 6
5 5
Vc/DO3

Vc/DO3

4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
0 0
Refrence 0.7 1.2 1.7 2.2 Refrence 0.7 1.2 1.7 2.2
test test
Lp/DO Lp/DO

Type E
7 Q= 4.17 L/s Q= 6.38 L/s Q=8.34 L/s
6
5
Vc/DO3

4
3
2
1
0
Refrence 0.7 1.2 1.7 2.2
test
Lp/DO

Fig. 3. Variations of the dimensionless flushing cone volume at different discharge rates vs. various relative distances for different types of pile.

5
A. Beyvazpour et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx

upstream at further relative distances from the orifice (X=DO , X is
the distance from the orifice to the upstream). For X=DO > 2, the
relative velocity effectively tends to zero [10]. In consequence,
reducing the velocity of the flow striking the pile diminishes the
downward flows at the upstream and the vortices at the down-
stream, reducing the effect of piles on the expansion of the flushing
cone. In addition, it can be concluded that when the pile is closer to
the orifice, the vortices forming downstream of the pile overlap
with those developing by the flow leaving the orifice, creating
stronger vortices. However, the overlap may fail to materialize
when the pile is installed further from the orifice.
Based on the above explanation, the largest scour volume
among all pile types was achieved with the minimum relative dis-
tance (Lp =DO ¼ 0:7). Accordingly, the effects of the pile shape on
the scour volume and dimensions were investigated at the same
relative distance in the following.
3.2. Effect of pile shape
Fig. 4 shows the effect of the pile type on the flushing cone at
specific discharge rates and a relative distance of Lp =DO ¼ 0:7. As
it is evident, the largest flushing cone corresponds to Type E pile.
By placing this pile at Lp =DO ¼ 0:7, the volume of the scour
increased by 671% relative to the reference configuration at
Q ¼ 4:17 l s1 discharge rate. At the same discharge rate and rela-
tive distance, Type B pile offered the next highest increase (362%) in
the flushing cone second to Type E. Type C and Type D piles
expanded the flushing cone, relatively similarly, by 226 and
216%, respectively. The least expansion of the flushing cone (56%)
at the above discharge and relative distance corresponded to Type
A pile.
7 cone for different types of pile at a relative distance of
Q=4.17 l/s Q=6.38 l/s Q=8.34 l/s
6
5 According to Fig. 7, for a relative distance of Lp =DO ¼ 0:7 and a dis-
4
Vc/DO3
According to Powell and Khan [10], the flow is radial upstream
of the orifice. As a result, considering the edge configuration of the
Type E pile, the angle of incidence between the streamlines and the
pile, in this case, promotes the strongest downward flow among all
studied types. One consequence is promoted by scouring around
the pile, which drives more deposits out through the orifice.
Besides, Type E pile induces a sudden separation of streamlines
downstream; as a result, the low-pressure zone downstream of
the pile, in this case, is both broader and has a lower pressure than
the other configurations. Therefore, more sediments are lifted and
ejected through the orifice (Fig. 5).
Comparison of the scour cone volume and dimensions for piles
E and C shows that the flow separation phenomenon in down-
stream of pile is much more effective than the downward flow at
upstream of the pile on lifting and removing sediments. As seen
in Table 1, because the upstream geometries of two piles are the
same, the shape of pile Type C in downstream produces less flow
separation and, as a result, less created vortices. In Type C, the
expansion amount of the low-pressure zone in downstream
becomes smaller than what happens for Type E, hence the power
of lifting vortices reduces in Type C. For the circular pile, i.e. Type
A, minimum flow separation from the pile body occurs in down-
stream due to the form of the pile and being matched with the
streamlines. As a result, this type of pile has a minimum effect
on increasing scour cone volume and dimensions between all the
studied pile forms. Fig. 6 shows the plots, made by SURFER-8 soft-
ware, for the flushing cones of different types of pile at Lp =DO ¼ 0:7
and Q ¼ 4:17 l s1 .
3.3. Effect of pile installation on dimensions of the flushing cone
Fig. 7 presents the longitudinal profile of the flushing or scour
Lp =DO ¼ 0:7 and a discharge rate of Q ¼ 4:17 l s1 . Accordingly,
installing the piles extended the length of the flushing cone (Lc).
charge of Q ¼ 4:17 l s1 , the highest increase in the length of the

scour corresponds to Type E pile at 133%, whereas the least

3 increase (50%) is achieved with Type A compared to the reference
configuration. Thus, installing a pile upstream of the orifice has
2 strongly extended the dimensions of flushing cone. As mentioned
earlier, the main reason for such a difference can be traced back
1
to the differences in the turbulences, vortices, and flow separation
0 forming around piles due to their distinct shapes.
Reference A B C D E Furthermore, Fig. 7 shows that installing the pile increases the
test
Shape type depth of the scour hole at the orifice (Zc). At the same discharge
rate and relative distance of installing pile, the highest increases
Fig. 4. A comparison of the different pile types in terms of the dimensionless in Zc was achieved with Type B and Type E at 132 and 136%, respec-
flushing cone volume (Lp =DO ¼ 0:7). tively, relative to the reference configuration. This outcome can be

Fig. 5. A schematic view of the flow patterns resulting from Type E pile (Lp =DO ¼ 0:7, Q = 8.34 l s1).

6
A. Beyvazpour et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx

Reference
test Type A

Type B Type C

Type D Type E

Fig. 6. Flushing cones of different types of pile at Lp =DO ¼ 0:7 and Q ¼ 4:17l s1 made by SURFER-8 software.

X/Do Y/DO
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
0
0

-0.2 -0.2 Refrence test

Reference test
A
-0.4 A -0.4
B
Z/DO

B C
Z/DO

-0.6 -0.6
D
C
-0.8 E
D -0.8

-1 E
-1
-1.2
-1.2
Fig. 7. The longitudinal profile of the flushing cone for different types of pile
(Lp =DO ¼ 0:7, Q = 4.17 l s1). Fig. 8. The cross-section of the flushing cone at the orifice for different pile
configurations (Lp =DO ¼ 0:7, Q = 4.17 l s1).

the further separation of streamlines as a result of the specific pile

type and the formation an area downstream of the pile with a
lower pressure than in the other configurations.
Fig. 8 shows the transverse profile or cross-section of the flush-
ing cone at the orifice for different types of pile at Q = 4.17 l s1 dis-
charge and Lp =DO ¼ 0:7 relative distance. As it is evident, the pile
expanded the width of the cone at the orifice (Wc), and the highest
increases in Wc at the specified discharge and relative distance cor-
respond to the cases of Type B and Type E (at 60 and 80%, respec-
tively), whereas the least increase (14%) belongs to Type C.
Fig. 9 shows the changes in Zc, Lc, and Wc for different pile con-
figurations and discharges.
By installing a PSC structure upstream of the orifice, Madadi
et al. [17] managed to increase the dimensionless length, width,
and depth of the flushing cone by 280, 45, and 14% relative to

7
A. Beyvazpour et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal xxx (xxxx) xxx

Q=4.17 L/s Q=6.38 L/s Q=8.34 L/s 3.5. Discussion

3
2.5 It is clear that more sediments are released and expelled from
2 the bed of a reservoir with increasing turbulence and vortices at
Lc/DO

1.5 the upstream of an orifice. Laboratory experiments in this study

showed that the installation of a single pile at the upstream of
1
an orifice increased the flushing efficiency significantly. An
0.5
increase in this parameter means that more sediments can be dis-
0 charged with less water (see Eq. (1)). It is evident that the pile
Reference A B C D E should be installed before reservoir impoundment during dam
test
construction in the face of and close to the bottom outlet, which
Shape type is a form of orifice. However, the cost of pile installation must be
justified in increasing the useful life of the dam. Thus, it seems that
Q=4.17 L/s Q=6.38 L/s Q=8.34 L/s this method for increasing flushing efficiency is not very practical
1.4 for large dams, but it can be easily installed for small dams (i.e.
1.2 smaller than 20 m). Even this pile can be a very good help for dis-
1 charging out the density current by means of the produced turbu-
Zc/DO

0.8 lence. Nonetheless, the use of this method should be evaluated for
0.6 practical aspects.
0.4 Another point of debate is that producing turbulence and vor-
0.2 tices plays a key role for pressurized flushing and evacuating sed-
0 iments around the bottom outlet. In this regard, the flow
Reference A B C D E separation phenomenon is an essential parameter for producing
test vortices and turbulence; for this reason, the corner-on triangular
Shape type shape was found to be the best shape for the pile.

Q=4.17 L/s Q=6.38 L/s Q=8.34 L/s

5 4. Conclusion

4 The present study aimed to investigate that an improvement in

3 the pressurized flushing efficiency could be possible by installing a
Wc/DO

single pile upstream of the orifice. For this purpose, five piles of
2 different shapes were considered and installed separately at differ-
1 ent distances at upstream of the orifice. The results were indicative
of an overall improvement of flushing efficiency by installing piles,
0 regardless of their shapes. In this investigation, the highest impact
Reference A B C D E
test (Lp =DO ¼ 0:7; Q ¼ 4:17 l s1 ) corresponded to the pile with a
corner-on triangular shape (Type E). This configuration improved
Shape type
the flushing efficiency by 750% relative to the reference case. In
Fig. 9. Changes of the flushing cone dimensionless values for various types of pile. other words, by installing a pile with Type E shape, considerably
higher volumes of deposit can be removed with the same water
discharge as in the reference configuration. In this case, the dimen-
sionless length, depth, and width of the flushing cone increased by
the reference configuration. The mentioned structure was more 133, 136, and 80%, respectively. The least impact on the efficiency
successful than Type E of the present study in extending the cone (40% improvement relative to the reference configuration) under
by length. However, Type E piles were more effective than the identical conditions was achieved by the pile with a circular shape
PSC structure on the width, depth, and the volume of the flushing (Type A). It was also found that increasing the upstream distance
cone. between the pile and the orifice undermined its effect on the scour
volume. With Type E at Q = 4.17 l s1, increasing the Lp =DO from 0.7
3.4. Flushing efficiency to 2.2 rendered the installed pile practically ineffective.

As defined by Eq. (1), flushing efficiency states the amount of Acknowledgment

water that needs to be discharged for expelling deposits from the
dam reservoir. This parameter is very important in terms of the
environmental and water consumption views and is considered
as the key factor in this study. Eq. (1) was used to calculate the
flushing efficiency. By 1000 s into the reference experiment, an
efficiency of 0.00002 was obtained at a discharge rate of Q = 4.17
l s1. Under the same conditions, a flushing efficiency of 0.00017
was obtained with Type E pile at Q = 4.17 l s1 and a relative dis-
tance of Lp =DO ¼ 0:7, suggesting a 750% improvement in the flush-
ing efficiency compared to the reference configuration. In
conclusion, installing Type E pile had a significant impact on the
flushing efficiency. It is evident that more significant improvement
of efficiency was achieved in this case than the approaches pro-
posed by Madadi et al. [15,17].
We are grateful to the Research Council of Shahid Chamran
University of Ahvaz, Iran, for financial support (GN: SCU.
WH98.31370). The authors are also grateful to the Center of Excel-
lence for Improvement and Maintenance of the Irrigation and Drai-
nage Network for provision a part of data.
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Mr. Ahmad Beyvazpour He has been graduated in civil

engineering from faculty of water sciences engineering-
Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. He is cur-
rently working in a consulting engineer company.