Influence of Off-Take Angles on Flow Distribution Pattern at Concave Channel Bifurcation

Abstract

A physical model with meandering features was constructed and used to investigate the effect of off-take angles on the flow distribution at a concave channel bifurcation. Seven different off-take angles with varied main channel flow rates were used for the study. Predicting equations for the off-take discharge dependent on the off-take angles, main channel discharges, dispersion coefficients and Reynolds numbers were developed and calibrated statistically. Results of the study and predicting equations showed that the off-take discharge increased positively with increases in off-take angles as well as main channel discharges. The developed empirical predicting equations for the off-take discharge gave correlation coefficient values of 9.9974E-1 for both model equations with corresponding standard errors of 9.754E-5 and 9.42E-5, respectively. It was observed that the predicted off-take discharge values from the model equations compared closely with those of the study suggesting that off-take discharges for concave channel bifurcations could be fairly predicted with the established model equations.