Vortex drop shafts are used to transport water or wastewater from over-stressed existing sewer systems to underground tunnels. During the plunge a large amount of air is entrained into the water and released downstream of the drop shaft into the tunnel. This air is unwanted and becomes costly to treat and move back to the surface. Determining the amount of air that will be entrained is a difficult task. A common method is to build a scale model and measure the air discharge and scale it back to prototype. This study investigated a possible relationship between the geometry of the drop structure, the water discharge and the amount of air entrained. The results have shown that air entrainment is still not entirely understood, however we are close to a solution. Using a relationship of the air core diameter, drop shaft length and terminal velocity of the water, a likely exponential relationship has been developed.

The development flow region of stepped chutes was studied experimentally. Three configuration of chute bed slopes 3.5H:1V, 5H:1V, and 10H:1V were used to study the flow characteristics. Each model had five horizontal steps and with constant step height of 15 cm. Constant temperature anemometry was used to investigate the velocity field characteristics as well as local void fraction. Pressure transducers were used to examine the pressure distribution. The conditions of aerated and non-aerated cavity were studied. It was found that the temperature anemometry is a valuable tool in the study of water flow problems due to its good spatial and temporal resolution. It is recommended that the constant overheat ratio procedure should be used in dealing with non-isothermal water flows. Flow conditions along the development flow region were found to be quite complex with abrupt changes between steps depending whether or not the flow jet has disintegrated. The flow on this region does not resemble a drop structure and after the first step, the step cavity condition does not affect the flow parameters. Pressure distribution was also found to be complex. It was found that there are no conclusive pressure profiles either on the step treads nor on step risers. No correlation was observed with the values of pool depth. The instantaneous characteristics of the velocity field along the jet of a drop structure were also studied. It was concluded that the cavity condition does not affect the velocity field of the sliding jet. The shear stress layer at the jet/pool interface was quantified. / May 2006

The development flow region of stepped chutes was studied experimentally. Three configuration of chute bed slopes 3.5H:1V, 5H:1V, and 10H:1V were used to study the flow characteristics. Each model had five horizontal steps and with constant step height of 15 cm. Constant temperature anemometry was used to investigate the velocity field characteristics as well as local void fraction. Pressure transducers were used to examine the pressure distribution. The conditions of aerated and non-aerated cavity were studied. It was found that the temperature anemometry is a valuable tool in the study of water flow problems due to its good spatial and temporal resolution. It is recommended that the constant overheat ratio procedure should be used in dealing with non-isothermal water flows. Flow conditions along the development flow region were found to be quite complex with abrupt changes between steps depending whether or not the flow jet has disintegrated. The flow on this region does not resemble a drop structure and after the first step, the step cavity condition does not affect the flow parameters. Pressure distribution was also found to be complex. It was found that there are no conclusive pressure profiles either on the step treads nor on step risers. No correlation was observed with the values of pool depth. The instantaneous characteristics of the velocity field along the jet of a drop structure were also studied. It was concluded that the cavity condition does not affect the velocity field of the sliding jet. The shear stress layer at the jet/pool interface was quantified.

The development flow region of stepped chutes was studied experimentally. Three configuration of chute bed slopes 3.5H:1V, 5H:1V, and 10H:1V were used to study the flow characteristics. Each model had five horizontal steps and with constant step height of 15 cm. Constant temperature anemometry was used to investigate the velocity field characteristics as well as local void fraction. Pressure transducers were used to examine the pressure distribution. The conditions of aerated and non-aerated cavity were studied. It was found that the temperature anemometry is a valuable tool in the study of water flow problems due to its good spatial and temporal resolution. It is recommended that the constant overheat ratio procedure should be used in dealing with non-isothermal water flows. Flow conditions along the development flow region were found to be quite complex with abrupt changes between steps depending whether or not the flow jet has disintegrated. The flow on this region does not resemble a drop structure and after the first step, the step cavity condition does not affect the flow parameters. Pressure distribution was also found to be complex. It was found that there are no conclusive pressure profiles either on the step treads nor on step risers. No correlation was observed with the values of pool depth. The instantaneous characteristics of the velocity field along the jet of a drop structure were also studied. It was concluded that the cavity condition does not affect the velocity field of the sliding jet. The shear stress layer at the jet/pool interface was quantified.