Estudio del perfil de flujo a través de un vertedero lateral en un canal trapezoidal mediante un modelo numérico

Abstract

The Side weirs present in hydraulic projects for the supply of drinking water, hydroelectric generation, treatment plants, among others, are used to measure, control and regulate the flow. They play a significant role in relation to the efficient use of water, so their study and analysis is of vital importance for the proper functioning of this type of structures. The aim of this research is to analysis the flow profile in a trapezoidal channel with the influence of a lateral weir using a numerical model. Conventional methodologies for the design and analysis of this type of weir use simplifications and therefore cannot reflect a real flow due to the three- dimensionality of the fluids. For this purpose, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used with the OpenFOAM software. Numerical modelling of 10 case studies was carried out by varying the inflow in the main channel. The comparative analysis of the flow profile was based on the Dynamic Equation for Spatially Varied Flow with Decreasing Flow, which was solved numerically using the fourth order Runge-Kutta numerical method. The maximum and minimum differences obtained theoretically and through the simulations were established. The maximum differences observed were up to 5.43%, which is permissible. Finally, it was concluded that as the inlet flow rate increases until it reaches the maximum flow rate, the profile obtained from the simulations was close to the theoretical profile.