AERATED FLOW CHARACTERISTICS IN STEPPED CHANNELS FOR NONUNIFORM FLOW REGION

Abstract

Stepped channels are effective for dissipating the energy of supercritical flow that occurs at steep channels. Generally, stepped channel flows are characterized as aerated flows. For design purposes, it is important to know the aerated flow characteristics such as the aerated flow depth, the air-concentration ratio, the aerated flow velocity, and the energy head in skimming flows. Recently, the authors showed the aerated flow characteristics for the quasi-uniform flow region of skimming flows under a wide range of channel slopes. However, for the nonuniform flow region, the aerated flow characteristics have not yet been shown clearly. In this paper, an equation for the calculation of the aerated flow depth has been developed in the nonuniform aerated flow region. Also, the aerated flow characteristics have been clarified in the nonuniform aerated flow region for a channel slope of Θ=55°.