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Theoretical Background: Weirs

Weirs are barriers across rivers designed to change flow characteristics. Broad crested weirs are solid structures that span channels and are more reliable for measuring discharge than sharp crested weirs. Sharp crested weirs consist of a vertical flat plate with a sharp edge. Crump weirs come in triangular, trapezoidal, or rectangular shapes and have a nearly constant discharge coefficient over a wide range of flows. Overshot weirs provide upstream level control in open channels with intuitive and precise control of flows. Venturi flumes have converging, throat, and diverging sections and create critical depth through contraction, with smaller head losses than weirs and no areas for sediment buildup.

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Arjun Mullu
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114 views3 pages

Theoretical Background: Weirs

Weirs are barriers across rivers designed to change flow characteristics. Broad crested weirs are solid structures that span channels and are more reliable for measuring discharge than sharp crested weirs. Sharp crested weirs consist of a vertical flat plate with a sharp edge. Crump weirs come in triangular, trapezoidal, or rectangular shapes and have a nearly constant discharge coefficient over a wide range of flows. Overshot weirs provide upstream level control in open channels with intuitive and precise control of flows. Venturi flumes have converging, throat, and diverging sections and create critical depth through contraction, with smaller head losses than weirs and no areas for sediment buildup.

Uploaded by

Arjun Mullu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Theoretical background

WEIRS
The simplest of definition of weir is that it is a barrier across a river or dam which is designed to
change the flow characteristics. In most of the cases, weirs take the form of a barrier across the river
that causes water to pool behind the structure but allows water to flow over the top. Weirs are most
frequently used to change the flow of the river, preventing floods, and to measure discharge, Q, and to
assist in rendering a river navigable. They allows engineers and hydrologists the simplicity in
measuring the volumetric flow rate in small to medium sized streams since the geometry of the top of
the weir is known and all water flows over the weir, the depth of the water behind the weir can be
converted to a rate of flow.
1st Test
BROAD CRESTED WEIR
Broad crested weirs are solid structures that are generally constructed from reinforced concrete and
usually span the full width of the channel. They are mostly used to measure the discharge of rivers
and are much more reliable for this purpose than sharp crested weirs. The broad crested weir has the
advantage that it operates effectively with higher downstream water levels than a sharp crested weir.


2nd Test
SHARP CRESTED WEIR
A sharp crested weir is made up of a vertical flat plate (usually made of metal plates) with a sharp
edge at the top symmetrically located in a thin plate which is placed perpendicular to the sides and
bottom of an open channel so that the liquid flows over the crest in order to drop into the pool below
the weir. Sharp crested weirs come in many different shapes such as rectangular, v- notch and
cipolleti weirs.


3rd Test
CRUMP WEIR
A crump weir is most commonly used to predict or measure discharge in open flow channels. The
cross-section of a crump weir can be of various shapes such as triangular, trapezoidal and rectangular
and there slopes can be made to specific angles. In this laboratory test, the crump weir used was
triangular in sharp. Since the crump weir is a fixed weir, the water flows over the weir without
downstream level being below the weir crest and the discharge coefficient is nearly constant over a
wide range of discharges.

4th Test
OVER SHOT WEIR
Overshot weirs are designed for use in open-channel flows where upstream level control is required.
When an over shot weir is applied in basic irrigation (open channel flow) it features the following
capabilities;
Intuitive control- changes in upstream water level are achieved with weir adjustments of the
same amount and direction
Precise control - increment or control with a stop log style of structure is limited by the depth
of the flow
Inherent safety- the surge flows and debris pass over and carry on downstream

5th Test
VENTURI FLUME
A venturi flume is a critical flow flume wherein the critical depth is created by a contraction in width
of the channel. Thus the contracted section serves as a control. Venturi flumes have two advantages
over weirs where the critical depth is created by a vertical constriction. First, the head loss is smaller
in flumes than in weirs. Second, there is no dead zone in flumes where sediment and debris can
accumulate; such a dead exist upstream of the weirs.
A venture flume consists of three sections: a converging section, a throat section and a diverging
section. The flow upstream and downstream of the throat is subcritical and supercritical respectively.
A hydraulic jump forms in the diverging section.

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