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Briefing: Water Surface Profile over Side Weir in a Trapezoidal Channel

Article in Water Management · May 2012

DOI: 10.1680/wama.11.00065

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Water Management Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Volume 165 Issue WM5 Water Management 165 May 2012 Issue WM5
Pages 247–252 http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/wama.11.00065
Briefing: Water surface profile over side Paper 1100065
weir in a trapezoidal channel Received 02/08/2011 Accepted 31/08/2011
Keywords: hydraulics & hydrodynamics/mathematical modelling/waterways
Vatankhah & canals

ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Briefing: Water surface

profile over side weir in a
trapezoidal channel
Ali R. Vatankhah PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Irrigation and Reclamation Engineering, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran,
Karaj, Iran

Side weirs or lateral weirs are widely used for water level control in water treatment plants and irrigation and
drainage systems. The side weir is a fixed structure installed at one side of a channel to divert flow laterally.
Computation of the water surface profile along the side weir is essential in determination of the discharge over the
side weir. An analytical solution of the dynamic equation for spatially varied flow with decreasing discharge, in
prismatic channels with a side weir, is available in the technical literature only for the special case of a rectangular
channel based on the constant specific energy assumption. However, in irrigation networks, the most common
irrigation channels are of trapezoidal cross-section. This paper presents an elegant analytical solution for establishing
the water surface profile along a side weir in a trapezoidal channel. Since triangular and rectangular cross-sections
are special cases of the trapezoidal cross-section, the proposed analytical solution is also applicable to these cross-
sections. The solution, which yields a direct computation of the flow profile in subcritical and supercritical flow
regimes, should be a useful engineering tool for the evaluation and design of side weirs in open channels.

Notation received considerable attention and has been the subject of many
A cross-sectional area investigations. Most of the previous experimental studies and
Cw discharge coefficient theoretical analyses are limited to the flow over side weirs in
E specific energy rectangular (e.g. Allen, 1957; Coleman and Smith, 1923; Col-
g gravitational acceleration linge, 1957; De Marchi, 1934; Delo and Saul, 1989; Emiroglu et
L side weir length al., 2011; Frazer, 1954; Ranga Raju et al., 1979; Uyumaz and
P side weir height Smith, 1991; Vatankhah and Bijankhan, 2009; Venutelli, 2008;
qs discharge for unit width of the weir Yüksel, 2004) and circular channels (Hager, 1987; Uyumaz and
Q discharge of main channel at distance x Muslu, 1985, 1987).
Q1 discharge at section 1 in the main channel
Qs discharge over the side weir The main focus of the current study is analytical integration of
S0 bed slope of the channel the governing equation for spatially varied flow with decreasing
Sf friction losses discharge over a side weir. It is important to note that a complete
T width of the channel at the water surface analytical solution of the governing equation for a side weir in an
x distance from upstream of the weir open channel is not possible due to the many variables involved.
y depth of flow However, an analytical integration of the governing equation is
z side slope of the channel possible by considering some assumptions.
Æ velocity distribution coefficient
 dimensionless bottom width (¼ b/E) De Marchi (1934) first obtained an analytical solution for
 dimensionless flow depth (¼ y/E) establishing the water surface profile along a side weir in a
k dimensionless weir height (¼ P/E) rectangular channel based on constant specific energy, a constant
º parameter that depends on discharge coefficient weir coefficient and a constant velocity distribution coefficient
(¼ 4Æ1=2 Cw /3) along the side weir. Venutelli (2008) also presented a semi-
 dimensionless distance (¼ x/E) analytical iterative solution for solving the governing dynamic
equation for a side weir in a rectangular channel that allowed the
1. Introduction incorporation of variations along the side weir.
Side weirs are widely used in irrigation, drainage, sewer networks
and flood protection. Flow over side weirs is a typical case of A review of the literature reveals that there are analytical and
spatially varied flow with decreasing flow rate. The side weir has semi-analytical solutions only for rectangular channels. In prac-

247
Water Management Briefing: Water surface profile over side
Volume 165 Issue WM5 weir in a trapezoidal channel
Vatankhah

tice, most irrigation and drainage channels have trapezoidal is friction loss and S0 is bed slope of the channel), is acceptable
cross-sections. Side weirs in trapezoidal channels are used (Muslu, 2001; Muslu et al., 2003; Uyumaz and Smith, 1991).
extensively for water level control in irrigation and drainage
systems. Therefore, investigation of the water surface profile for a Although the direction of the side weir is parallel to the flow, the
trapezoidal cross-section is important for proper estimation of equation of a weir is assumed for discharge along the side weir
discharge over a side weir. In the current study, the governing (Chow, 1959)
equation for a side weir in a trapezoidal channel is analytically
integrated by assuming constant specific energy, a constant weir dQ 2
4:
qs ¼  ¼ Cw (2 g)1=2 ( y  P)3=2
coefficient and a constant velocity distribution coefficient along dx 3
the side weir.

2. Governing dynamic equation where qs is discharge per unit width of the weir, P is the weir
Referring to Figure 1, at any section x, for a small bottom slope height and Cw is the discharge coefficient. A conventional weir
and hydrostatic pressure distribution, the specific energy E can be equation for discharge per unit length is assumed and this
written as (Chow, 1959) assumption is approximately valid (El-Khashab and Smith, 1976;
Smith, 1973).
ÆQ2
E ¼ yþ Assuming that the specific energy E is constant along the length
1: 2 gA2
of the side weir, the discharge in the main channel Q can be
obtained by solving Equation 1 for Q as
where y is the flow depth at a distance x from upstream of the
weir, Æ is the velocity distribution coefficient, Q is the discharge  1=2
2g
of the main channel at a distance x, A is cross-sectional area and Q¼A (E  y)
5: Æ
g is gravitational acceleration. Differentiating both sides of
Equation 1 with respect to x gives
!  
dE d y ÆQ2 T dQ ÆQ Using Equation 5 and knowing the flow depth y, the discharge
¼ 1 þ over the side weir Qs can be determined as Qs ¼ Q1  Q in which
2: dx dx gA3 dx gA2
Q1 is the discharge at section 1 in the main channel. As noted
earlier, determination of the water surface profile along the side
weir is essential to estimate the discharge over the side weir.
in which T is width of the channel at the water surface and x is Substituting the variation of discharge over the side weir (dQ/dx)
horizontal distance from upstream of the weir. Neglecting the from Equation 4 and the discharge Q of the main channel at a
effect of variation of specific energy (dE/dx ¼ 0) along the side distance x from Equation 5 into Equation 3 yields
weir, the water surface slope dy/dx can be expressed as
!
d y 4 1=2 ( y  P)3=2 (E  y)1=2
d y dQ=dx(ÆQ= gA2 ) ¼ Æ Cw
¼ 6: dx 3 A  2(E  y)T
3: dx 1  (ÆQ2 T = gA3 )

For a short side weir, the hypothesis of constant specific energy, For a trapezoidal channel section, the required geometric ele-
which is equivalent to assuming Sf ¼ S0 or Sf ¼ 0 and S0 ¼ 0 (Sf ments are

Energy line
T
Water surface L
z
E
Flow direction y2 1
y1 y
x P Channel bottom

Figure 1. Definition sketch of a rectangular side weir in a

trapezoidal channel

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Water Management Briefing: Water surface profile over side
Volume 165 Issue WM5 weir in a trapezoidal channel
Vatankhah

7: A ¼ (b þ zy) y Using

2 cos2 Ł ¼ 1 þ cos 2Ł
8: T ¼ b þ 2zy

Equation 12 can be rearranged as

in which z is the side slope of the channel (1 vertical to z 

horizontal). Substituting A and T from Equations 7 and 8 into ºd ¼ 3(z  5zk  2)
Equation 6 gives
!  5z(1  k) cos 2Ł
d y 4 1=2 ( y  P)3=2 (E  y)1=2 
¼ Æ Cw 4  10zk2  6k þ 8zk 2
9: dx 3 5zy 2 þ (3b  4zE) y  2Eb þ sec Ł dŁ
13: 1k

Equation 9 can be transformed into the dimensionless form

Integrating both sides of Equation 13 and using

d (  k)3=2 (1  )1=2 ð
¼º
10: d 5z2 þ (3  4z)  2 cos 2Ł dŁ ¼ sin Ł cos Ł

where  ¼ y/E,  ¼ x/E, k ¼ P/E and  ¼ b/E. º represents the

discharge coefficient of the side weir flow and is equal to and
4Æ1=2 Cw /3. Integration of the non-linear ordinary differential
ð
Equation 10 can be analytically determined by assuming a
constant discharge coefficient and a constant velocity distribution sec2 Ł dŁ ¼ tan Ł
coefficient. Equation 10 can be written as
!
5z2 þ (3  4z)  2 gives
ºd ¼ d
11: (  k)3=2 (1  )1=2
º ¼ 3(z  5zk  2)Ł  5z(1  k) sin Ł cos Ł

4  10zk2  6k þ 8zk

Three main types of flow profile are possible along the side weir – þ tan Ł
1k
wholly subcritical, wholly supercritical and a mixed regime sepa-
rated by a hydraulic jump. The latter case is not considered here. 14: þ constant

3. Proposed analytical solution for water

surface profile
Taking into account
Let
 1=2
 ¼ k þ (1  k) cos2 Ł 1
tan Ł ¼ (sec2 Ł  1)1=2 ¼
15: k

in which Ł is a dummy variable (0 < Ł < =2). Equation 11 then

becomes
   
   k 1=2   k 1=2
sin Ł cos Ł ¼ 1 
ºd ¼ 2(4z  10kz  3) 1k 1k

[(1  )(  k)]1=2

 10z(1  k) cos2 Ł 16:
¼
 1k
4  10zk2  6k þ 8zk 2
þ sec Ł dŁ
12: 1k
and substituting Equations 15 and 16 into Equation 14 yields

249
Water Management Briefing: Water surface profile over side
Volume 165 Issue WM5 weir in a trapezoidal channel
Vatankhah

 
1   1=2 This solution and that presented by De Marchi (1934) are
º ¼ 3(z  5zk  2) tan1
k equivalent.

 5z[(1  )(  k)]1=2 For a side weir in a triangular channel,  ¼ 0, thus Equation 18
  reduces to
4  10zk2  6k þ 8zk 1   1=2
þ
1k k 22: ºL=E ¼ złt (2 )  złt (1 )

17: þ constant
in which łt () is defined as

 
Equation 17 gives the length of the side weir for a trapezoidal 1   1=2
channel when the water depth varies from y1 to y2 along the side łt () ¼ 3(1  5k) tan 1
k
weir at the main channel axis in the flow direction. Equations 5
and 17 are used to determine the discharge over the side weir.  5[(1  )(  k)]1=2
These equations can also be used for designing a side weir to
 
pass a certain discharge into a side channel. 8k  10k2 1   1=2
þ
23: 1k k
The integration constant in Equation 17 can be eliminated as

The discharge coefficient º is generally not constant. There are

18: ºL=E ¼ ł(2 )  ł(1 )
many expressions to compute the discharge coefficient of side
weirs. The proposed analytical solution in the current research is
based on constant specific energy, a constant weir coefficient and
in which L is the length of the side weir and ł() is defined as
a constant velocity distribution coefficient along the side weir.
The solution can also incorporate variations, along the side weir,
 1=2
1 in specific energy, weir coefficient and velocity distribution
ł() ¼ 3(z  5zk  2) tan1 coefficient. By dividing the length of the weir L into short
k
elements, the corresponding average values for the specific
 5z[(1  )(  k)]1=2 energy E, weir coefficient Cw and velocity distribution coefficient
  Æ in each element are used in the proposed analytical solution.
4  10zk2  6k þ 8zk 1   1=2
þ
19: 1k k 4. Slope of water surface profile along a
side weir
Rearranging Equation 11 yields
Obviously, Equation 17 is also valid for rectangular and triangular
!
cross-sections, which are special cases of the trapezoidal cross-
d (  k)3=2 (1  )1=2
section. Indeed, Equation 17 is an extension of De Marchi’s ¼º
solution. 24: d 5z2 þ (3  4z)  2

For a side weir in a rectangular channel, z ¼ 0, Equation 18 takes

the form The numerator of Equation 24 is positive (k ,  , 1 and 0 , º)
and the denominator has two roots
20: ºL=E ¼ łr (2 )  łr (1 )
(3  4z) þ [(3  4z)2 þ 40z]1=2
25:
c ¼
10z
in which łr () is defined as

  (3  4z)  [(3  4z)2 þ 40z]1=2

4  6k 1   1=2 9 ¼
łr () ¼ 26: 10z
1k k
 
1   1=2
 6 tan1 9 is negative and c represents the critical flow condition.
21: k
Thus, d/d is negative in the range 0 ,  , c (supercritical

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Water Management Briefing: Water surface profile over side
Volume 165 Issue WM5 weir in a trapezoidal channel
Vatankhah

flow regime), which means that the flow depth decreases with
distance (falling water surface profile), and is positive in the
range c ,  , 1 (subcritical flow regime), meaning that the
flow depth increases with distance (raising water surface
profile).
For this cross-section, d/d is negative in the range 0 ,  , 2/3,
and hence the flow depth decreases with distance in the super-
critical flow regime, and is positive in the range 2/3 ,  , 1,
meaning that the flow depth increases with distance in the
subcritical flow regime.

For a side weir in a rectangular channel, z ¼ 0, and thus Equation For a side weir in a triangular channel,  ¼ 0, and Equation 24
24 takes the form reduces to
! !
d º (  k)3=2 (1  )1=2 d º (  k)3=2 (1  )1=2
¼ ¼
27: d  3  2 28: d z 52  4

κ ⫽ 0·8 κ ⫽ 0·8
0·9 Subcritical 0·9 Subcritical
0·7 0·7
flow regime flow regime
0·8 0·8
0·730 0·723
0·7 0·7
0·6 0·6
0·6 Supercritical 0·6 Supercritical
η flow regime 0·5 η flow regime 0·5
0·5 0·5
0·4 0·4
0·4 0·4
0·3 0·3
0·3 0·2 0·3 0·2

0·2 0·1 0·2 0·1

0·1 0·1
⫺30 ⫺24 ⫺18 ⫺12 ⫺6 0 6 12 18 24 30 ⫺30 ⫺24 ⫺18 ⫺12 ⫺6 0 6 12 18 24 30
Ψ (η) Ψ (η)
(a) (b)
κ ⫽ 0·8 κ ⫽ 0·8
Subcritical 0·9 Subcritical
0·9 0·75 0·75
flow regime flow regime
0·8 0·7
0·8 0·8
0·7
0·7 0·7 0·667
0·6 0·6
0·6 Supercritical 0·6
η flow regime η Supercritical
0·5 flow regime 0·5
0·5 0·5
0·4 0·4
0·4 0·4
0·3 0·3
0·3 0·3
0·2 0·2
0·2 0·2 0·1
0·1
0·1 0·1
⫺10 ⫺8 ⫺6 ⫺4 ⫺2 0 2 4 6 8 10 ⫺10 ⫺8 ⫺6 ⫺4 ⫺2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Ψt (η) Ψr (η)
(c) (d)
Figure 2. Flow function ł for a side weir in channels of different
shapes: (a) trapezoidal channel, z ¼ 1.5,  ¼ 2.0; (b) trapezoidal
channel, z ¼ 1.5,  ¼ 2.5; (c) triangular channel; (d) rectangular
channel. Values next to the curves are values of dimensionless
weir height k

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Water Management
Volume 165 Issue WM5
For this triangular cross-section, d/d is negative in the range
0 ,  , 4/5 (flow depth decreases with distance in the super-
critical flow regime) and is positive in the range 4/5 ,  , 1 (flow
depth increases with distance in the subcritical flow regime).
The flow function ł for different channel shapes is illustrated in
Figure 2. In the figure, the dashed line (critical flow condition)
separates the flow into subcritical and supercritical regimes.
5. Conclusions
An analytical solution for calculating flow profiles along a side
weir in a trapezoidal channel has been presented. The solution is
based on constant specific energy, a constant weir coefficient and
a constant velocity distribution coefficient along the side weir,
and allows the calculation of wholly subcritical or wholly super-
critical flow profiles.
The proposed solution can also consider variations along a side
weir by considering the specific energy, the weir coefficient and
the velocity distribution coefficient as local variables and using
the respective average values along short elements of the side
weir. Moreover, the proposed analytical solution is valid for
rectangular and triangular cross-sections, which are special cases
of the trapezoidal cross-section. It is hoped that the efficient
analytical method presented in this paper will be useful in the
evaluation and design of side weirs in open channels.
Acknowledgement
The author gratefully acknowledges the research facilities pro-
vided by the Center of Excellence for Evaluation and Rehabilita-
tion of Irrigation and Drainage Networks, University of Tehran.
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Briefing: Water surface profile over side
weir in a trapezoidal channel
Vatankhah
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