Investigating the Hydraulic Efficiency of the Labyrinth Weir Using the Flow3D Numerical Method

Weirs play a crucial role in flood management and dam safety, accounting for a significant portion of the construction costs of dams.The selection of floods with long return periods for flood design is of utmost importance.However, in some cases, increasing the weir capacity by widening it may be impossible due to topographical limitations.One solution to enhance the flow capacity of weirs is the application of labyrinth weirs.These weirs increase the effective length of the weir crest within a given width, allowing for the passage of higher flow rates while maintaining similar hydraulic conditions.In this study, the hydraulic performance of labyrinth weirs is investigated using the Flow3D numerical model and laboratory data.Since laboratory experiments are time-consuming and costly, employing numerical simulations to achieve more accurate and reliable results for evaluating the hydraulic behavior of labyrinth weirs is prioritized.The results of the simulations indicate that the Flow3D software, utilizing statistical parameters such as R, DC, and RMSE, achieves values of (0.9805, 0.9725, and 0.0142), respectively.This demonstrates its capability to model the flow passing through weirs with high accuracy.The obtained values of the discharge coefficient in Flow3D show a high agreement with the laboratory data from Crookston.The approximate alignment of these results indicates the high accuracy of the numerical model.Additionally, in comparison to different discharges, the relative computational error observed for flow rates of 0.35, 0.6, and 0.44 (cubic meters per second) was approximately 0.5 percent, while for flow rates of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.57, the corresponding errors were 8, 6, and 4 percent, respectively.The results indicate that these tools can be effectively utilized in precise hydraulic analyses and the optimization of weir designs, irrigation systems, and fluid dynamics phenomena.