Experimental and Numerical Study on Flow Control Using 3-Array Submerged Vane in Laboratory Channel Bend

Abstract

Regulation structures such as submerged vane are needed to reduce and eliminate environmental damage due to increased flooding in rivers. In particular, scours on the outer bank due to increased flow velocities cause the river bed to change and deteriorate. In this study, the effect on flow velocities was investigated experimentally by using 3-array submerged vane structures in areas close to the outer bank. The experimental vane results were performed in the open channel setup. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) results obtained with the numerical model were also verified and compared with experimental results. It has been observed that the CFD model gives results close to the real experimental results. The standard-based k-ε model was used as the turbulence model. In the outer meander, the 3-array submerged vane with a 3-vane structure was found to affect the flow velocity by 16–27% in the region behind the vane. The flow velocities were investigated along with depth using the CFD and found that the mean velocity was reduced by 14–21% along the depth. It is also recommended that submerged vane structures can be applied as an effective method in reducing flow velocities and directing flows.