Journal of Hydraulic Research

ISSN: 0022-1686 (Print) 1814-2079 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjhr20

A New ‘Baseless’ Proportional Weir

N. S. Lakshmana Rao & D. Chandrasekaran

To cite this article: N. S. Lakshmana Rao & D. Chandrasekaran (1970) A New

‘Baseless’ Proportional Weir, Journal of Hydraulic Research, 8:3, 341-355, DOI:
10.1080/00221687009500314

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221687009500314

Published online: 01 Feb 2010.

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 A W 'BAS LESS' PROPORTIO AL WEIR
U 0 VE U DEV R orR DE E URE A S PROFIL DE BAS

by

. LAK H 1A A RAO,
A ociate Profe or
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and

D. IlANDRA EKARA
Re earch chotar
Civil and Hydraulic Engineering. Department Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

ynopsis R' ume

Thi paper present the de ign detail ofa new On pre ente un nouveau profil de dever oir
weir termed 'a new ba cles proportional de me ure qui ati fait a la relation:
weir' which ati fie the head-di charge
relation:

where
Q = the di charge
II = the head mea ured from the crest of
the weir,
K, m = arbitrary dimen ional parameter.
AI 0, it is shown that the propo ed new weir
ha ome definite advantage over other type
of weir uch a the exponential, logarithmic.
utro, quadratic, rectangular, triangular and
parabolic weir.
xperimental verification of the head
di charge relation i made for a typical weir
and the coefficient of di charge i found to
be 0.60.
ou:
Q = debit
h = hauteur de f1uide me ureeit partir de
la crete du de er oir
K, m = con tante dimen ionnelle arbi-
traires
On demontre que ce nouveau protil pre ente
un certain nombre d'avantage par rapport
aux dever oir de forme exponentielle, loga-
rithmique utro, quadratique, rectangulaire,
triangulaire ou parabolique.
La relation entre debit et charge a ete
verifiee it ('aide d'experiences ur un protil
bien repre entatif et Ie coefficient de debit
re ortait it 0,60.

R« j",d D«emb<:r 30, 1969 R~u Ie 30 decembre 1969

 342 Journal of Hydraulic Research I Journal de Recherches I-fydroulique
Introduction
Weir ean be cia ified broadly under two
major categorie , namely the sharp-ere ted
and the broad-crested types. The harp
ere ted weir can be further subdivided into
tho e \ hich need a ba e weir and tho e which
do not. The exponential weir with Q e' [I],
the logalithmic weir with Q InH [2], the
utro \ eir with QrxH [3] and the quadrati
weir with Qoc 11 1 [4], in which Hi the head
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measured from a certain datum, are among
the weir needing a ba e weir. On the other
hand, weirs of the rectangular, triangular
and parabolic type are among tho e which
do not require a ba e weir.
Weirs with ba e weir are generally u d
for pecific purpo e . But when they are u ed
for ordinary ftow mea urement, they face a
~ w objection common to all of them. In
the'e weir-, the de ired proportionality of
discharge with head can only obtain if the
dischargeju t pas es through the proportional
part of the weir. But, thi tage being reached,
a con iderable amount of di charge will
already be flowing through the ba e weir,
depending on it i7e and hape.
Further, the entire di charge approaching
the \ eir may only ju t be ufficient to fill the
ba-e weir and 0 one cannot just arbitrarily
fix the dimension of the latter without
knowing beforehand the approximate di -
charge to be handled. AI 0, i.n the ab ence of
prior knowledge of the amount of di charge
to be taken into account in de igning the ba e
weir, it ize cannot be indefinitely reduced
in an eft'ort to reduce the flow pa ing through
it, without reducing the apacity of the weir
it elf. Thi i e pecially 0 in the ca e of the
logarithmic weir. A the head i mea ured
from a certain datum, one i likely to make
errors in computation of quantitie such as
discharge and velocity, jf one take the head
(1970) flO. 3
Introduction
Les dever oirs pcuvent etre cia es grosso
modo en deux grande categorie uivant que
repais 'cur de la crete e t fai ble ou, au con-
traire, importante. Les dever oir a crete
mince peuvent, a leur tour etre reparti en
deux famille, elon qu'il leur faut ou non un
profil de ba e pour a urer la me ure correcte
de debit faible. Parmi Ie profil exigeant
un tel profil econdaire a la ba e, on trou\e
I'exponentiel [I] (Qoce"), Ie logarithmique [2]
(QoclnH), Ie Sutro [3] (Qocll) ain i que Ie
de er-oirquadratiquc[4](Qocll l )ou !!repre-
ente la charge me uree a partir d'un certain
niveau de reference. Par contre, Ie dever oir
de forme rectangulaire, trianglllaire ou para-
bolique !l'ont pa besoin de prolll econdaire.
Le- dever oir a profil e ondaire, gene-
ralement employe dans de but bien precis.
pre entent to us de inconvenient· lorsqu'il
s'agit d'une simple meslIre de debit. En effet,
la relation hauteur-debit voulue ne aurait
etre reo pectee que i I'ecoulement traver e
exclu'ivement la ection du dever oir Oll
cette relation -'applique. Toutefoi , lor que
I'on en arrive I~I, il e t bien evident qu'une
fraction non negligeable du debit, fonction
de a forme et de -e dimen ion, 'ecouJera
deja au traver du profil econdaire a la ba e
du dever oir.
En outre, Ie debit incident peut tre" bien
ne uffire qu'a peine a remplir Ie profil de
base de orte qu'il ne aurait ctre que ·tion d
fixer arbitrairement Ie dimen ion de ce
dernier: il importe, au contraire, de connaitre
au prealable I'ordre de grandeur du debit a
me urer. De urcroit, i un telle information
fait defaut, il n'e t pa po ible, en cherchant
a rendre negligeable Ie debit traver ant Ie
profit de ba e, de reduire indefiniment Ie di-
mensions de ce dernier sans diminuer, du
meme coup, la capacite du dever oir pro-
 Lak hmana Rao and Chandrasekaran / A new 'ha eless' proportional weir 343

to be mea ured from the ere t; for the head
au ing the eli charge i the 'phy ical head'
over the ere t of the weir. So in such situation
on cannot u e these weirs for the purpo e of
ordinary now mea urement, although they
may exhibit a mailer relative error in di -
charge measurement than rectangular or
triangular weir. Hence, the next alternative
i~ to turn to rectangular, triangular or, occa-
ionally, parabolic weir, \ ithout caring too
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prement die 11 en e t urtout ain i du dever-
oir Jogarithmique. Comme la hauteur de
ftuide e t me uree a partir d'un certain ni-
veau de reference, on ri que de commettre
de erreur lor du calcul de debit et vite e
si on la con idere comme etant mesuree a
partir de la crete du clever oir. II 'en uit que,
dan de telles cir on tance , on n peut pa
utili er ce type de de er oir pour la imple
me ure de debit, bien qu'il oit po ible que

much about the higher percentage error in-
troduced by the triangular weir, the non-
uitability for low-now mea urement (as i
the case for broad rectangular weir) or the
via-media haracteri tic a in parabolic
weir. To pro ide a mailer relative error in
di charge carre ponding to a gi en error in
head mea urement and to enable Iowa well
a relatively high 00\ 'to be treated, the "ne\
ba ele proportional weir" ha been de igned.
I'erreur relati e alTectant la valeur de ceu - i
soit plu faible que celie des profil rectangu-
laire ou trainguJaire. Le nouveau profit san
dever oir econdaire qui fait I'objet de la
presente communication a ete conc;u, d'une
part, pour reduire I'erreur relative de debit
a erreur relative de charge con tante et,
d'autre part, pour perm ttre la m ure de
debit tant faible que relati ement eleve .

:vIathematical analysis Etude theorique

Fig, 1 i a definition ketch of the pro po ed
new \ eir. Referring to the figure, the theoret-
ical di charge pa ing thr ugh the \ eir for
the head di charge relation:
Le nou eau type de deversoir que nou propo-
on e't montre par la figure I. e er ant de
notations de cette figure, on voit que Ie debit
theorique pa ant par Ie dever'oir dans Ie ca
de la relation hauteur-debit:

Q= K"ln(l +~)In
(I)

may be given a : peut 'ecrire ou la forme:

o
j
2(2g)1 x(y)(h - y)tdy = Kh In (1 +~)
m
(2)

v"here 9 = acceleration due to gra ity. ou: 9 = acceleration due a la pe anteur.

Differentiating equation (2) with re pe t to En derivant (2) par rapport a"il ient:
" we have

(2g)1 Jx(y)dy
o (h- y)t
= K{-/-'-
(m+h)
+ In(L + ~)}
In
(3)
 344 Journal of Hydraulic Re earch / Journal de Recherches Hydraulique 8 (1970) /l0. 3

y Fig. I. Definilion kelch.

• roquis de definilion.
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o -x

The di charge equation of any weir hould
ati fy the continuity of di charge and the
, lope di charge continuity theorem' which
tate that "in any weir-notch ha ing a finite
di continuity at a point, the rate of change
of di charge with respect to head hould be
continuou " [2, 5]. When II = 0, the left and
right hand ide of equation (2) and (3) are
zero, the former sati fying the continuity of
di charge and the latter, the lope di charge
continuity theorem. Applying ABEL' integral
equation, the olution of equation (3) i :
La fonction hauteur-debit de n'importe quel
dever oir doit ati faire a la foi a la conti-
nuite du debit etau "theoreme de continuite
de la pente du debit" uivant lequel "pour
tout profil de dever oir pre entant une di -
continuite finie en un point donne, la derivee
du debit par rapport a charge doit etre con-
tinue" [2, 5]. Lor que h = 0, Ie deux mem-
bre de equation (2) et (3) 'annulent, la
a
premiere equation ati fai ant Ja continuite
du debit et la econde, au theoreme de con-
tinuite de la pente du debit. L'emploi de
I'equation integrale d'ABEL permet d'ecrire la
olution de (3) ou la forme:

x(h) = -K- -d [hJ

n(2g)! dh 0
{y
(m + y)(h - y)i
+ In (y)
I + - "- 1 -} dy ]
m (h _ y)i
(4)

Integrating the terms on the right hand ide of Effectuant I'integration du second membre de
equation (4) and simplifying, we can how I'equation (4), on peut montrer que:
that

(5)

Replacing II by y in equation (5), we have: En rempla~ant II par y dan (5) il ient:

 Lakshmana Rao and lIalldrasekarall I A new '00 ell's' proportional weir
which is the profile equation of the 'new
basele proportional weir'.
Selection of' K' and 'm'
In order that equation (I) may be dimen ion-
ally homogeneous, K hould have the dimen-
ion of (Iength)lltime. To en ure a con tant
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value for the term InC I + him) appearing on
the righthand ide of equation (I), for a given
value of hand m, m hould have the same
length unit a h. The alue of K affect the
width of the weir x(y) given by equation (6)
and hence it capacity. The value of m how-
ever, affect the hape of the weir con ider-
ably, which in turn affect it uitability to
mea ure low flow and the preci ion with which
the di charge can be mea ured. The value of
K and m can be arbitrarily cho en, depending
on the quantity of discharge to be mea ured
and the preci ion with which the measure-
ment can be made.
Co-ordinate of the weir profile
suming K = 0.5041 ftll ec in order to
implify the term KI(2g)t occurring in equa-
tion 6) to a convenient alue of 0.02 (ft)! and
a uming m = 0.166 n to minimi e the
relative error in di charge mea urement
without affecting the uitability of the weir
to mea ure Jow flows, and ub tituting their
numerical values in equation (6), the profile
equation become :
x ()
Y = 002[
.
yt
+ -0.1916
(y + 0.1665) (.I' + 0.1665)*
345
---------------
(6)
equation qui repre ente Ie profil du nouveau
dever oir.
Choix de K et m
Pour que I'equation (I) oit homogcne, K
doit a oir Ie dimen ion L 2T- I. D'autre
part, pour que Ie terme In(1 +hfm) du second
membre de (I) oit une constante pour de
valeur donnee de h et de til, I'unite qui
exprime la dimension lineaire de m doit etre
la meme que pour h. La valeur de K influe
ur la largeur x(y) du dever oir (equation (6»
et, partant, ur a capacite. Par contre, la
aleur de m pc e con iderablement ur la
forme du de er oir, ce qui, a on tour deter-
mine la preci ion de me ure de debit ain i
que la po ibilite d'employer Ie profil pour la
me ure de debit faible. On peut choi ir les
valeur de K et de m de fa~on arbitraire en
fonction du debit a me lIrer et de la precision
recherchee.
Coordonnees du profil
En adoptant* une valeur de K = 0,5041 pied l I
afin que Ie terme K/(2g)t dan I'equation (6)
ait la valeur commode de 0,02 (pied)t et en pre-
nant m = 0 1665 pied pour minimi er I'erreur
relative de mesure de debit tout en per-
mettant la mesure convenable de debit rai-
bJe, I'equation (6) montre que Ie profil du
clever oir e t donne par:
{(Y+0.1665)t+ yt}
I
og +
(y + 0.1665)t - yt
2.3026 I {(Y+O.1665)t + yt}] (7)
+ (y+O.l665)t og (y+O.1665)t- yt
• nota: 9 = 32 piedsf 2.
 346 Journal of Hydraulic Re earch I Journal de Recherche HydrO/diques (1970) no. 3

y Fig. 2. Profile of the ba ele proportional weir.

Profil du nouveau dcversoir.

16~
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12 1

L------=:O.......' - - - ' - -__ X

o
dimenSions In Inches (pouces) Plate 2. Front view of the nappe.
Vue de face de la nappe

Plate I. Photographic view of the new weir Plate 3. Side view of the nappe.
Photographie du nouveau deversoir. Vue laterale de la nappe.
 La/..shmana Rao and Chandrasekara/l I A /lew 'basel£' s' proporlional weir
From equation (7), the co-ordinate of the
new weir 1I ing four figure logarithmic table,
are calculated and shown in Table I. Also, the
profile of the weir i shown in Fig. 2. Plates I,
2 and 3 show photographic views of the new
weir, and the profile of the nappe.
Relative errors in discharge measurement
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For the rectangular, the parabolic and the
triangular weirs, the relative errors in dis-
charge may be expres ed as:
Q
( dQ ) -- 1.5
Q
( dQ ) -_ 2.0
Ci) = 2.5( ~~)
which clearly show that one per cent error in
reading the head will introduce re pectively
1.5%, 2% and 2.5% errors in computing the
di charge with the rectangular, parabolic
and triangular weirs. In the new weir, it can
be hown that the relative error is:
dQ
Q
= +1
which hows that unlike rectangular, para-
bolic and triangular weirs, the relative error
in discharge mea urement depend on the
head h and the parameter 'm'. From equation
(II) it can be seen that the value of (dQIQ)
tends to I a m tend to 0 for (dhlh) = I.
Here one i free to select a suitable value for
347
Au tableau I ont con ignees Ie coordon-
nee du nouveau profil, calculee a partir de
I'equation (7) a I'aide d'une table de loga-
rithme a quatre chiffres. Ce profil e t illu tre
par la figure 2 et sur les photographie I, 2 et 3.
On voit egalement ur ce dernieres Ie profils
de la nappe.
Erreurs relatives des mesures de debit
Le erreurs relative des mesures de debit
effectuee ur de dever oirs rectangulaires
parabolique et triangulaire peuvent 'ecrire:
(d ")
ll
(rectangular/rectangulaire), (8)
(d'lh ) (parabolic/parabolique) (9)
and et
(lriangular/triangulaire) (10)
D'ou I'on voit qu'une erreur de 1% de la va-
leur de charge entrainera une erreur de 1,5%,
2% et 2,5% suivant Ie profil plu classique
que I'on considere. Or, I'erreur relative cor-
respondant au nouveau deversoir 'ecrit:
h
(m+h)ln(l+h/m)
(d/l" ) (11)
ce qui montre que, contralremem au ca de
pronl plu c1assique, I'erreur relative de
debit est fonetion de la hauteur II et de la
valeur du parametre m. D'apres I'equation
(11) (dQIQ) tend ver I'unite lorsque m ~ 0
pour (dlllh) = I. rei on est fibre de ehoi ir
une valeur convenable de m qui permet de
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 16:34 14 June 2016

Co-ordinates of the profile of the new 'baseless' proportional weir Table I Coordonnces du prafil du nou
(Equation (7» Tableau I

~~.I (pied)
~ y t 0.1665 yt (y+0.1665)tf'5) (4) (5) (4) I log (6)
(7)
(4)
(3)
I0.1916 ---.ill
(3) x (5)
2.3026 x
(5)
I (2)
(I) (3) (4), (5) _ ~ (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

~ 0.00 0.1665 0.0000 004081 004081 004081 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.000
I : 0.05 0.2165 0.2237 004652 0.6889 0.2415 004553 1.0330 0.8662 2.253
3 0.10 0.2665 0.3162 0.5162 0.8324 0.2000 0.6193 1.1870 0.8630 2.7630
4 0.15 0.3165 0.3873 0.5626 0.9499 0.1753 0.7340 1.2240 0.7900 3.0030
5 0.20 0.3665 004472 0.6053 1.0525 0.1581 0.8230 1.2200 0.7109 3.130
6 0.30 0.4665 I 0.5476 0.6831 1.2307 0.1355 0.9580 1.1740 0.5762 3.229
700400.5665 0.6324 0.7526 1.3850 0.1202 1.0616 1.1160 004768 3.245
80.500.6665 0.7071 0.8164 1.5235 0.1093 1.1440 1.0610 004029 3.225
9 0.60 0.7665 0.7747 0.8756 1.6503 0.1009 1.2138 1.0100 0.3465 3.189
JO 0.70 0.8665 0.8368 0.9309 1.7674 0.0941 1.2736 0.9656 0.3024 3.148
II 0.80 0.9665 0.8945 0.9831 1.8776 0.0886 1.3260 0.9255 0.2674 3.105
12 0.90 1.0665 0.9486 1.0320 1.9806 0.0834 1.3755 0.8898 0.2394 3.066
13 1.00 1.1665 1.0000 1.0800 2.0800 0.0800 104150 0.8574 0.2153 3.016
141.101.2665 1.0490 1.1260 2.1750 0.0770 1045.10 0.8283 0.1952 2.9690
15 1.20 1.3665 I m50 1.1 690 2,2640 0.0740 1.4857 0.8021 0.1783 2.9250
16 1.30 1.4665 1.1400 1.2110 2.3510 0.0710 1.5200 0.7775 0.1641 2.8890
17 lAO 1.5665 1.1830 1.2510 204340 0.0680 1.5538 0.7554 0.1518 2.8560
18 1.50 1.6665 1.2250 1.2900 2.5150 0.0650 1.5877 0.7350 0.1415 2.8310
19 1.60 1.7665 1.2650 1.3290 2.5940 0.0640 1.6078 0.7161 0.1312 2.7830
20 1.80 1.9665 1.3420 1.4030 2.7450 0.0610 1.6533 0.6823 0.1149 2.7140
21 2.00 2.1665 1.4142 1.4720 2.8862 0.0578 1.6984 0.6528 0.1021 2.6570
 Lak hmana Rao and Chandra ('karan I A new 'baseless' proportional weir 349

m in order to reduce the relati e error. Taking
value of m equal to J0 ft, 0.1665 ft and
0.000 I ft and dhlll = I. for purpo e of com-
pari on with the triangular, parabolic and
re tangular weir, the value of (dQIQ) al-
culated from equation (II) for ariou value
of II are plotted a hown in Fig. 3. By a uit-
able choice of m it can be hown that the
new weir ha a mailer relative error in di -
charge than the other three types a can be
een from Fig. 3. Further, a the head in-
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 16:34 14 June 2016
reduire I'erreur relative. De valeur de m de
10 0,1665 et 0,0001 pied ont ete adoptee
pour etablir Ja figure 3ft partirde I'equation(il)
pour dllill = I. eette figure, OU dQIQ e t
porte en fonction de II, permet de com parer Ie
nouveau profiJ aux deversoir triangulaire
parabolique et rectangulaire. On ait que i
I'on choi it m de maniere judicieuse I'erreur
relative du nouveau de er oir e t plu faible
que celie de troi autre profil . De urcroit,
a me ure que la charge 'accroit I'erreur rela-

crea e , the relative error in di harge de- tive du debit diminue defa~on continue quel-
crea es continuously for all values of m. que oit m.

Com pari on of relative error. Fig. 3. Comparai on des erreurs relatives.

cy 2.75 - r- - -
cy triJngular weir
'0
d~verSOlr trlangulalrc

/ dQ
Q
= 2.5-
dh
h
-

2.25 f - .- ~

parabolic weir
- -- r-

dthersolr P3(3boIIQYC

/
--
dQ dh
Q =2.0 h
2.00 -
r---- r----
m -10 (t

-
175 f - - - - f-
rectangular weir ~ fA-- baseless proportional weir
nouvC1U dCVCrsOl'

\
dcversol' recungulalrc
1d h
/ dQ
Q
=1.5-
dh

h /
1/ d Q = [ 1+
Q
h
(m+h)lnl1+~) h

/11
15 0

---
~
~ m = 0.1665 ft

I
1 25f--- l-

m - 0.0001 ft

100
o 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-----<~ h In ft(p,ed)
 350 Journal of Hydraulic Re earch / Journal de Recherches Hydrau/iques
E 'periment
E periment were performed with the new
\ eir hown in Fig. 2 in order to determine the
value of the coefficient of di charge 0 and
to in e tigate it variation with II. The profile
of the weir wa carefully cut out from a J /~"
thick mild teel plate. The weir wa gi en a
45° chamfer on the do\ n tream face, with a
crest thickne of 1/ 12 ". The weir wa fi ed
at the end of a masonry rectangular channel
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48' long, 4.02' wide and 3.41' high. The ur-
face of the channel wa moothly fini hed
with cement plaster. The crest of the weir
wa 0.87' above the bed of the channel. The
bead over the ere t wa mea ured with a
hook-gauge ha ing a lea t count of 0.001' et
1 up tream from the notch. The di charge
I mesuree a ± 0,3 mm pre a ('aide d'une
wa measured volumetrically in a uitable
tank.
Value of the coefficient of discharge
A graph of Q vs. h log (1 + 11/0.1665) i plotted
in Fig. 4 with the carefully recorded experi-
mental value of the head over the cre t and
the corre ponding mea ured value of the dis-
c
0'
-;:;- 1.2
..,
:0
~
'"~ 0.8
..c
.~
"
0.4
0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0
- -__ h log (1 +h 0.1665) in f[(pied)
(1970) /l0. 3
Lcs experienc
Le coefficient de debit Co du profil de Ja
figure 2 a ete determine e perimentalement en
fonction de II. La forme a reali er fut oig-
neu ement decoupee dan une plaque d'acier
ordinaire d'une epai eur de 6 mm. La face
aval du profil a ete biseautee uivant un
angle de 45, I'epais eur a la crete etant
ramenee a 2 mm. Le dever oir a ete in talle a
I'extremite d'un canal rectangulaire en beton
ayant Ie dimensions uivante: longueur
15 m, largeur 1,2 m, profondeur 1,0 m.
La surface du canal a ete rendue Ii e par
I'application d'un pHitre approprie. La crete
du dever oir etait ituee it 27 cm au-de us
du fond du canal. La charge ur la crete est
pointe de me ure plaeee a 5 5 m en amont du
dever oir. Le debit e t releve par capacite
jaugee.
Valeur du coefficient de debit
A la figure 4, Ie debit me ure Q e t porte en
fonction de h log (I +11/0,1665), oil II e t la
charge ur la crete et ('on con tate que Ie
experience ont permi de verifier la relation
Fig. 4. Experimental verification of
Q ~ Kh 1n (I +hfm)
Verification eXpCrimentale de la relation
Q = Kh In I ,him)
 Lakshma/la Rao and Chandrasekaran / A /lew 'ba ele s' proportio/lal weir 351

charge. It may be een from the figure that the
proposed head di charge relation is verified
by experiments. The value of Co calculated
from the graph i found to be 0.60. Fig. 5
hows the variation of Co with h. It may by
een from Fig. 5 that CD varies rapidly below
0.70', lightly between 0.70' and 1.00' and
remains fairly constant (= 0.60) beyond
1.00' of head. Since urface tension and vis-
co ity effects on flow are greater at lower
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hauteur-debit proposee. D'apre Je graphique,
Ja valeur du coefficient de debit re sort a
0,60. La figure 5 montre comment Co varie en
fonction d 11: la variation est importante en
de ou de 0,70 pied, faible entre 0,70 et 1,00
pied et a peu pres con tante (= 0,60) a partir
de cette derniere valeur. L'influence sur
I'ecoulement de la ten ion superficielle et de
la viscosite e fait surtout entir a faible
charge, ce qui explique Ja plu faible valeur de

head, the value of CD is mailer as one might CD dans cette zone. Dans Ja pratique, cette
expect. The deviation of the values of CD at diminution de CD a faible charge par rapport
lower head from the constant value of 0.60 a Ja valeur constante de 0,60 ne porte guere
is of little practical ignificance. a consequence.

I
I
I 0.65
I i
Ii
I
I
0.60 -- I 0
V
I r\ I .r..o
I
0 10
1
0

0.55
c j t
I I
g,..-:) 0
I
I I
0.50 j I I I
o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
---.-,.~ head on weir in ft

Variation of CD with head. Fig. 5. CD en fonction de la charge.

Relative and absolute experimenlal errors Erreur de mesure re/alives et abso/ues

The expre ion for the ab olute and relative e ervant de la relation de ba e [6, 7] :
errors in di charge may be derived from the
fundamental relation [6, 7),

v
Q=- (12)
t
 352 Journal of Hydraulic Re torch / Journa/ de Recherches Hydrauliqul! 8 (1970)
a on peut ecrire Ie erreur relative et ab olue
IdQI = Id VI + ~2 Id/l
t t
and
IdQI Id VI Idtl
-=-+-
Q V t
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 16:34 14 June 2016
where:
V = volume of water collected in time I.
The error in mea urement of volumc and
time can be either po iti e or negative. But
in order to increa e the reliability of the com-
putation, we combine them a in equation
(13) and (14), taking the po itive value of
d V and the negative value of d/. As uming
dVIV = 0.002 and ell = 0.4 ec, the ab olute
and relative error in di charge are calculated
and gi en in Table 2. From thi table it may
been that the maximum value of the ab 0-
lute error in di charge i 0.00 f and that of
the relative error i 0.65 per cent; thi i well
within the allowable limit of 2%.
naly i and conclusion
rectangular weir ~ hich ha a mailer rel-
ative error in eli charge than the triangular
weir cannot be u ed to mea ure mall Row
without reducing it length and hence its
capacity. However, if the ame I ngth of weir
i maintained, the nappe will cling to it cre t.
On the other hand if a parabolic or a trian-
gular weir, which icon idered more en itive
to mall flow by irtue of it mailer bottom
width, i u ed to handle either large or mall
flo\ , there will till be a greater relative
error in di charge. I 0, if a compound \ eir
like a rectangular weir having a mall triangu-
110. 3
comme uit:
(ab olute/ab olue) (13)
et
(rela ti velrelati ve) (14)
ou
V = volume d'eau re ueilli en un temp /.
L'erreur entachant la me ure du volume
ou du temp peut etre oit po itive, oit nega-
tive. Le equation (13) et (14) tradui ent Ie
plu mau ai ca , ou Ie erreur e renfor ent,
d V etant pri po itif et dl, negatif. i I'on
uppo e d VI V = 0,002 et ell = 0,4, Ie
erreur ab olue et relative du debit ont
comme indiquee au tableau 2. On ob erve
que la valeur maximale de I'erreur ab olue du
debit e t de 0,00 piedcubel (0,23 lIs environ)
et que I'erreur relative ne depa e pa 0,65%,
ce qui e t nettement inferieur a Ja valeur
ma imale admi ible (2%).
Conclusions
Le dever oir rectangulaire, dont I'erreur rela-
tive en debit e t inferieure a celie du dever-
oir triangulaire, ne aurait etre employe pour
la me ure de debit faible an que a largeur
et, partant. a capacite n'aient cte diminuee .
ependant, i I'on con erve la largeur initiale.
la nappe uura tendance a 'accrocher a la
crete. D'autre part, i, pour de debits faible
ou cleve, I'on envi age l'empl i d'un dever-
oir parab lique ou triangulaire (ce dernier
etantjuge plu apte a me urer Ie debit faible
en rai n de a plu faible largeur au fond),
il y aura toujours une erreur relative plu gran-
 Lakshmana Rao and Chandrasekaran I A new'baseles ' proportional weir 353

Relative and absolute experimental error' Table 2 Erreur de m ure relativ et ab olues
(Eq . (13) and (14» Tableau 2 (Equations (13) el (14»
rca of the measuring tank = 221.3 sq.ft Surface de la cuve de mesure = 221, pied!
II Ri e Q dQ dQ
I. (ft) (in) t (d) (cf) Q
o. (pied) Elevation (sees) (pied31) (pied'ls) (%)
(police)

I 1.695 6 88.6 1.2490 0.0081 0.65

2 1.662 6 91.2 1.2130 0.007 0.64
3 1.630 6 96.8 1.1430 0.0070 0.61
4 1.570 6 98.9 1.1190 0.0067 0.60
5 1.4 9 6 106.4 1.0400 0.005 0.56
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 16:34 14 June 2016

6 1.399 5 98.9 0.9324 0.0055 0.60

7 1.322 5 105.8 0.8716 0.0051 0.58
8 1.191 5 125.1 0.7372 0.0038 0.52
9 1.034 5 148.8 0.6195 0.0029 0.47
JO 0.971 3 95.9 O. 769 0.0036 0.62
11 0.800 3 130.0 0.4256 0.0022 0.51
J2 0.688 2 112.7 0.3273 0.0018 0.55
13 0.633 2 123.5 0.2986 0.0016 0.52
14 0.519 1.5 J26.6 0.2185 0.0011 0.52
15 0.418 1.0 122.1 0.1510 0.0008 0.53
16 0.33 0.5 74.0 0.1247 0.0009 0.54
17 0.256 0.5 127.0 0.0726 0.0004 0.51
1 0.201 0.5 212.5 0.0434 0.0002 0.39
19 0.118 0.5 530.5 0.0174 0.0005 0.27

Jar bottom i u ed, it may introduce a greater
relati e error than the rectangular weir, de-
pending on the height of the triangular por-
tion. The ignificant fealure of the new weir
which ha a considerably mailer relative
error j that it combine the advantage of
both the triangular and the rectangular
type. Fig. 6 clearly how the feature of the
new weir which ha a reduced profil width
at the bottom compared to a rectangular weir.
Hence, to mea ure small a well a rea onably
large flow with a mailer relative error, the
propo ed new weir will be an ideal choice.
de. En outre, i !'on utili e un dever oir 001-
po e tel qu'un prolll re tangulaire compor-
tant au fond un triangle de petite dimen-
ions, I'erreur relative, fonction de la hauteur
de la partie triangulaire, pourra etre upe-
rieu rea celie d u im pie deversoi r rectangu-
laire. La principale caracteri tique du nou-
veau prolll, dont I'erreur relative e t nettc-
ment moindre, re ide dan Ie fait qu'il reunit
Ie avantage de profil triangulaire et rectan-
gulaire, ce qui re ort nettement de la figure 6,
ou I'on voit que la largeur du profil a la partie
inferieure c t plu faible que celie du profil
rectangulaire. Par consequent, chaque foi
que I'on a interet a reduire !'erreur relati e,
Ie nouveau dever oir pro po e parai't particu-
lierement bien ada pte a la me ure de debit
tant faible que relativement eleve .
 354 Journal of Hydraulic Research I Journal de Recherches Hydrauliques 8 ( 1970J'no. 3
--------------

24
,,
"
20
V'
, I
CD /'1,
I

16 I
/@ 1
\
\
\
\ I ,
I
I
(3)1
\ I '
\\ '" 12 ,/ I
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 16:34 14 June 2016

\ I

,'
\ I
\\
\
\
\

\
I

r8 /
I
,I
I
, I
I®
'' ,
\
\\
\
\
\ /'
I
' " I
\ ,
\
1- 4
I
,,'
I
/
I
I

---- --------- ",,/. ,/--- ------

\ I
\ ' /
/
/"

! !

4 0 4 8 12
dimensions in inches (pouces)

Typical profiles of weir. Fig. 6. Divers profil de dever oir.

,. Basel proportional weir. 1. ouveau profit.

2. Triangular weir. 2. Deversoir triangulaire.
3. Parabolic weir. 3. Deversoir parabolique.
4. Rectangular weir. 4. De ersoir rectangulaire.
5. Rectangular weir with triang\llar base. 5. Deve oir rectangulairc avec profil de ba e
triangulaire.

cknowledgment Remerciements

The authors record their In ere thank to Les auteurs remercient yivement Ie Dr. K.
Dr. K. KE HAYA MURTHY for hi helpful KESHAVA MURTHY qui a bien YOUILl leur
comment. apporter es con eil precieux.
 Lak hmal1a R"o and Chwu!r" ekaran I A new 'basele 'proporrio/lal weir 355

References Bibliographie

I. BA:-Ks, W. H. H. et ai, The design of proportional and logarithmic weirs. Journal of Hydraulic Research.
Vol. 6, o. 2, 196 . pp. 75-95.
2. GOVINDA RA. . S. and K. K HAV MURTHY, On the design of logarithmic weir. Journal of Hydraulic
Research, Vol. 4. 0.3, 1966. pp. 51-59.
3. PRATT E. A., Another proportional flow weir; Sutro weir. Eng. cws Rccord. Vol. 72, Augu t 27, 1914,
pp. 462-463.
4. HASPRA, 0., The problem of quadratic weir, Acta Te hni a (Hungary), 01. 51, o. 1,1965, pp. 121-131.
5. KESHAVA M RTHY, K., On the de ign of quadratic weirs. Journal of Franklin Institute, Vol. 287, I 0.2, 1969,
pp. 159-174.
6. TRosKoLA KI, A. T., Hydrometr . Oxford, ew York. Pergamon Press, 1960, p. 71.
a
7. HLAVEK. R., ontribUlion ['etude theorique et experimentale de deversoirs a ariation lineaire. La Houille
Blanche, 01. 16, 0.4, Aout-Sepl. 1961, pp. 488-490.
Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 16:34 14 June 2016

otations --,

Coefficient of di charge CD Coefficient de debit

Ba e of natural logarithm (=2.7183) e Ba e de logarithme neperien (=2,7183)
cceleration due to gravity g Acceleration due a la pc anteur
(=32 ftf ec. 2 ) ( = 32 piedsf ec. 2 )
Head mea ured from the cre t
Head mea ured from a certain datum "H
Charge au-de u de la crete
Charge a partir d'une cote de referance
donnee
Dimen ional parameter K Para metre dimen ionnel
atural logarithm In Logarithme neperien
Dimen ional parameter m Para metre dimen ionnel
Di charge Q Debit
Time taken Temp
Volume of water collected v olume d'eau recueilli
Half width of the weir profile at any xC}') Demi-Iargeur du dever oir a la hauteur )'
height y
Height of any point on the weir profile y Hauteur d'un point quelconque du profil
elu deversoir