Laboratory Study of the Effect of Bottom Outlet Dimensions on the Amount of Sediment Discharge Behind the Dam in Pressure Flushing

The operation of reservoir dams has so far been done with emphasis on the goals of meeting water needs and controlling flood energy and improving environmental conditions, and less attention has been paid to the issue of sediment removal from the reservoir of the dam. In this study, a semi-cylindrical structure in front of the lower discharge was tested to determine a method to improve sediment discharge. The experiments were performed by constructing 16 physical models with different lengths and widths of gaps in four water heights, three half-cylinder diameters and a total of 208 experiments. The results of the experiments showed that by placing a semi-cylindrical structure in front of the lower discharge, the volume of leaching sediment increases. In other words, a pair of rotating vortices is created inside the semi-cylindrical structure on both sides of the central axis of the valve, in which case the installation of a half-cylinder with different diameters increases the volume and length of scale washing compared to the model without a cylinder. . So that by increasing the height of the gap four times, the volume and length of sedimentation increase by 101.3 and 27.2 percent. The results of this study showed that the installation of semi-cylinders with diameters of 12.7, 15.2 and 19.2 on average will result in an average of 587, 732 and 829 percent increase in sediment volume compared to the model without cylinders. Also, installing semi-cylinders with diameters of 12.7, 15.2 and 19.2 on average will increase the length of scouring by 94, 106 and 111 percent, respectively, compared to the model without cylinders