No abstract

Bottom-hinged flap gates on side weirs are often used for the regulation of flow diversion in case of water abstraction for a variety of needs. In this study, a new equation for the discharge coefficient of a bottom-hinged flap gate on a side weir was proposed on the basis of discharge measurements. The equation was divided into two parts. The first part covers the impact of the sharp-crested side weir and the second the influence of the position and the width of the flap gate. In this manner, the discharge coefficient can be calculated with other authors' equations for a sharp-crested side weir, which then must be multiplied by the new proposed coefficient. Very good agreement was found between the obtained discharge coefficients and the one calculated with the proposed equation. Furthermore, the results were compared with the equations of other authors for the discharge coefficients of sharp-and broad crested side weirs. The agreement was found to be very good. Additionally, measurements of water levels along the edge of the flap gate and measurements of the velocity field were carried out with a computer-aided visualization method. From these measurements, it was possible to show that the contraction of the water jet varies with the gate-opening angle. It was also found that the side weir with a flap gate has the most favorable hydrodynamic shape around the gate-opening angle of 33°, where the discharge coefficient reaches its maximum.