Experimental study on flow over arced-plan porous weirs

Unlike conventional impermeable weirs, porous weirs without clogging the flow and passage of aquatic life with increased aeration and aerobic reactions with minimal negative effects on the environment are known as environmentally friendly structures. This study experimentally investigates the hydraulic performance of Arced-Plan Porous Weirs (APPWs) in different hydraulic and geometric conditions. For this purpose, four different porous and two solid weirs were examined. Experiments were conducted in a horizontal laboratory flume with length, width, and height of 20, 0.6, and 0.5 m, respectively, for a wide range of flow rates, particle sizes, and three arc lengths. Results showed that increasing filling material sizes increases the free discharge coefficient and reduces the submerged Discharge Reduction Factor (DRF). It was also concluded that the weirs' effective length significantly impacts the free discharge coefficient and has no significant effect on the threshold submergence index and submerged DRF. Unlike solid weirs, the threshold submergence of porous weirs occurs at a downstream depth lower than the weir's height. Finally, according to the dimensional analysis and Gene-Expression Programming (GEP) approach, three relations were extracted to calculate the free discharge coefficient, threshold submergence index, and submerged discharge reduction factor for APPWs.