Development of a computational tool to determine the flow regime in a rectangular hydraulic channel with experimental validation Renato de Marchi Vieira dos Santos, Dorotéa Vilanova Garcia, Deovaldo de Moraes Júnior, Marlene Silva de Moraes

Abstract

: The hydraulic flow channels are open conduits at atmospheric pressure which flow along a free surface. The hydraulic channel is a flow in free conduit, subject to the atmospheric pressure and can be realized in two ways: permanent and uniform and not permanent. The hydraulic conditions of flow and flow are determined through a systematic set of calculations and mathematical operations that will define the variable characteristics involved in the system. The motivation of the study of this relevant topic can be increased with the use of mathematical software used in engineering. The aim of the research was to study a rectangular hydraulic flow channel with the use of a computational tool. In this work the development of the program was through the App Designer of Matlab. A Pitot tube was used to determine the average flow velocity as a method of experimental validation. These data were obtained from the use of an experimental unit equipment in the ESAMC Santos hydraulics laboratory. This channel allows to vary the flow through a scalar potentiometer and to change the slope with the aid of a hydraulic jack. The flow velocity data were  obtained  by calculation from the wet area and height of the water level of the channel. The software was developed to analyze the channel geometry, flow regimes and hydraulic conditions. The software also generated the mean velocity curves which enabled a more qualitative analysis of the flow profile. It has been shown that the velocity reduction towards the bed for the flows of 0.04855 to 0.001086 cubic meters per second and inclinations of 0 to 20 cm. The critical flow conditions indicate minimum values ​​of energy ranging from 0.063 to 0.027 meters, reaching a section of the channel of better hydraulic yield when the flow is adjusted for this condition. The software performed the simultaneous calculations that could determine the behavior of the flow regime for a range of flow and slope of the channel.