Modeling study of free overfall in a rectangular channel with strip roughness

Results from combined laboratory experimental and turbulent numerical modeling studies are presented to investigate the effects of bed roughness (discrete square strips) and slope on the flow over a free overfall in a rectangular channel. A broad range of model parameters such as the bed roughness, channel slope, and incoming upstream Froude number is investigated. The water surface profiles upstream of the brink of the channel, the velocity fields in cavity between two strips, and end depth (water depth at the brink of the channel) are simulated, measured, and discussed for various input conditions. The results show that for a given dimension of bed roughness the relative spacing of roughness (defined as the ratio of the center to center distance to the height of the strip) has a significant effect on the flow. The computational results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements.