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Analysis of the Impact of Effective Length of Morning Glory Spillway on Its

Performance (Numerical Study)

Article in Instrumentation Mesure Métrologie · April 2019

DOI: 10.18280/i2m.180217

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 Instrumentation Mesure Metrologie
Vol. 18, No. 2, April, 2019, pp. 211-221
Journal homepage: http://iieta.org/journals/i2m

Analysis of the Impact of Effective Length of Morning Glory Spillway on Its Performance
(Numerical Study)
Parham Sabeti1, Hojat Karami1*, Hamed Sarkardeh2
1
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran
2
Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Sabzevar, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran

Corresponding Author Email: hkarami@semnan.ac.ir

https://doi.org/10.18280/i2m.180217 ABSTRACT

Received: 12 December 2018 The Morning Glory spillway is one of the types of spillways that are used for the passage of
Accepted: 5 April 2019 excess waters and floods from the dams' upstream to the downstream of the dams. Numerical
simulations and examination have been rarely done on the sectoral Morning Glory spillways,
Keywords: which are used due to special conditions in the topography of the construction site. In this
computational fluids dynamics (CFD), research, the simulation of the flow through the sectoral morning glory spillway was done
finite volume method, sectoral morning using the three-dimensional numerical model. The characteristics of flow in this type of
glory spillways, spillway discharge spillways were investigated and a relation was proposed for the rate of water discharge. To do
capacity, 3D modeling this, five sector angles were considered in the geometry of the spillway crest and the
characteristics of the flow, as well as the amount of drainage capacity in them were compared.
Finally, a relation was provided to calculate the discharge flow rate of the sectoral morning
glory spillways. The results obtained from the relation indicated that the maximum error of the
calculations with the help of the relation provided is equal to 7.77 % and occurs at a sector of
62 degrees. This error percentage confirms the reliability of the relation.

1. INTRODUCTION The design of this kind of spillway is done in a specific way

since the hydraulic behavior of this structure is related to the
One of the crises that countries with low rainfall rate and topography of the surroundings, diameter, and geometry of the
abundant drought, including Iran, are now faced with provides crown, the downstream curve or arch and the dimensions of
water for drinking, agriculture, industry, and other uses. the lower discharge tunnel.
One of the ways to collect surface waters is through the use As mentioned, the crest geometry of this type of spillway
of water structures, including dams. Due to the limited influences the flood discharge capacity. Thus, the turbulence
availability of groundwater resources and running out of the and eddy currents while passing the crest can be decreased by
aquifers, the importance of such structures becomes more making changes in the crest geometry, and subsequently,
obvious. increase the discharge capacity of the overflow.
Reservoir dams are one of the most important structures that Morning glory spillways are usually used in embankment
are established to store surface waters. Due to the high volume dams. Due to a high number of embankment dams, a
of water stored in these dams, their proper design as well as significant number of these types of spillways have been used
the design of related structures, such as spillways, which are in dams.
responsible for the passage of destructive flows from the dam So far, some research has been done on the improvement of
reservoir, seems to be of great importance. flood flow capacity in morning glory spillways, including
Each dam has many lateral structures, by operation of which those such as creating steps in the spillway crest, changing the
together, the highest dam efficiency rate can be obtained. shape of the spillway crest to the triangular, pentagon, and
The flood drainage structure is one of the most important seven-faceted funnels, some of which were referred to in the
structures of the dam. These structures can include lower study.
outlets drains and spillways, which are responsible for the Fattor and Bacchiega (2009) conducted some investigations
discharge of excess water resulting from floods. on the Potrerillos dam in Argentina. They were able to
Spillways and bottom outlets need to be designed to determine a better location for locating the morning glory
discharge a volume of water equal to the largest possible flood spillway to provide more suitable hydraulic conditions
in the catchment area of the dam in a proper period time. If compared with the spillway built in this dam. Also, in their
they do not operate well, the excess water passes over the dam studies, they proposed better boundary conditions for the
crest and will cause significant damages to the dam and its surroundings of the morning glory spillway. In this study,
subsidiary facilities. In some cases, it may well destroy the some evaluations were made on vortex breaker blades and
whole dam. their required number to improve the spillway drainage
The morning glory spillway is one of the few structures capacity of this dam. Their proposed model also produced
separate from the dam body, which consists of a funnel-like favorable hydraulic conditions with a significant reduction in
opening and a vertical and horizontal shaft. It is used in places the required excavations around the spillway [1].
where other types of spillway cannot be built. Savic et al. (2014) at the Belgrade University of Serbia

211
examined the discharge flow rate by embedding a deflector at conventional funnel form into other forms.
the downstream of the morning glory spillway crest in several In sectoral spillways, as their name suggests, a sector of the
dams in Serbia with the help of a laboratory prototype made full crest circle is used to discharge the water. Such overflows
from the original model. They finally presented an algorithm are used for various reasons such as the lack of sufficient space
for designing the morning glory spillways containing deflector for constructing a full morning glory spillway or no need to
[2]. build a full-diameter morning glory spillway and the
Nohani (2015) performed a study by using a laboratory sufficiency of a sector of the overflow for passing the probable
physical model to determine the flow rate coefficient passing floods (Figure 1).
through the morning glory spillways under geometric
conditions of the edge of the spillway crest (sharp-crested and
broad-crested). In this study, the morning glory spillways with
different diameters and with and without vortices breakage
elements at the spillway crown were used and investigated [3].
By building a parabolic knee joint not previously used and
placing it at the end of the vertical shaft in the morning glory
spillway, Fais et al. (2015) studied the hydraulic behavior of
this type of knee joint compared to the 90-degree knee joint
and multi-center knee joint. The results showed that the Figure 1. An example of a sectoral morning glory spillway
parabolic knee joint made by them increases the discharge constructed in the Manjil dam (Sefid Rud River Dam) in Iran
capacity of the morning glory spillway [4]. [10-11]
Xianqi (2015) focused on studying the flow profile in the
morning glory spillways of large dams. In this study, the A review of previous studies indicates that most studies
geometric and hydraulic characteristics of several large dams have been done on non-sectoral morning glory spillways and
with morning glory spillways were selected and the maximum improving the discharge conditions. However, there seems to
outflow rates were extracted on each one as a case study. Then, be no research on the radial (sectoral) morning glory spillways.
using a physical model, five different geometric and hydraulic In this paper, the characteristics of flow in the radial (sectoral)
designs were applied [5]. morning glory spillways were studied and a relation was
Alfatlawi and Alshakli (2015) focused on the prediction of proposed to determine the discharge rate of the sectoral
coefficient of discharge for stepped morning glory spillway. morning glory spillway.
For this purpose, two spillway's shapes studied
experimentally, namely, circular and quadrate. Each shape
stepped into 4, 5 and 6 steps experimental models. 2. MATERIALS & METHODS
Experimental results used later to predict the coefficient of
discharge by the benefit of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) An available laboratory model, as well as the numerical
and Multiple Nonlinear Regression (MNLR) approaches. model, was used in this research, which is described in the
Results show that coefficient of discharge of stepped morning following.
glory spillway decreased with the increasing (head/length)
and/or (head/radius) ratios [6]. 2.1 Laboratory model used
Nohani (2015) by using a numerical model, investigated the
hydraulic parameters of the flow such as coefficient of The available laboratory results were used to verify the
discharge, water level profile and pressure distribution and numerical model. It should be noted that the data available on
compared with the data obtained from USACE and USBR the full morning glory spillway were used due to the lack of
models. As the result, he found that, although comparing the laboratory results related to the radial (sectoral) morning glory
parameters shows a good and show agreement between the spillway.
results, however, using the numerical model in real samples
has limitations such as the number and size of the network,
computational time and accurate modeling of the weather [7].
Shemshi and Kabiri (2016) investigated swirling flow at
vertical shaft spillways with an innovative geometry, circular
piano-key (CPK) inlet, based on model experimentation. The
results showed that the swirling flow strength for flow through
the CPK spillway is several times lower than that for simple
shaft spillways [8].
Musavi-Jahromi et al. (2016) conducted 170 experiments
using different numbers and the angle of vortex breakers Figure 2. A view of the model built from the morning glory
which are established on the physical model of this spillway in spillway of Haraz dam before and after impounding [12]
KWP in order to determine their effect on the increment of its
discharge coefficient rate. The results of the tests showed that Haraz Dam is one of the dams under construction in Iran, in
establishing six vortex breakers with the angle of 45 ̊ on the which, the morning glory spillways are used to passing flood
spillway is the most efficient arrangement for this aspect [9]. to downstream. Haraz Dam is located at 20 km from the south
In some cases, due to existing constraints at the site of the of city of Amol on the Haraz River and the goals of its
construction of the spillway or because of increasing the construction include providing agricultural water and power
drainage capacity from the weirs, the spillway crest geometry generation. The laboratory model of the morning glory
is seen to undergo changes and transforms from the spillway of this dam was made in the Laboratory of the Water

212
Research Institute of the Ministry of Energy. The hydraulic spillway in the model were measured at a distance of 4 meters
behavior of this structure has been examined in the reports of (120 meters in the actual sample) from the axis of the spillway
this laboratory (Figure 2). crest in the dam reservoir lake [12]. The details and
In laboratory modeling, the studied sample was made with specifications of the dam and the morning glory spillway of
a scale of 1:30. According to the scale mentioned, the levels of Haraz Dam are presented in Table 1.
the lake water surface for flood discharge rate passing over the

Table 1. Details and specifications of the dam and the morning glory spillway of Haraz dam [13]

Dimensi
Characteristic Dimension Characteristic
on
Height (from base) 150 m Spillway inlet diameter 33.76 m
Dam crest length 377 m Spillway vertical shaft diameter 8.3 m
Height from the bed 120 m Height from the crest edge to the spillway vertical shaft 26.92 m
6.10 million cubic Height from the beginning of the vertical shaft to the beginning of
Dam body volume 48.17 m
meters the knee joint
Reservoir volume at normal 240 million cubic
Knee joint height 18.74 m
water level meters
151 million cubic
Useful (in service) volume Length of the horizontal tunnel (horizontal shaft) 544.05 m
meters
Spillway horizontal tunnel slope 0.0389 Vertical diameter of the horizontal tunnel 7.5 m

The results extracted from the experimental model included the reservoir section. The smaller mesh blocks were used in
discharge capacity (stage-discharge) where the water of the the section of the vertical shaft, transform section, the knee
lake was recorded at 502.51 to 507.40 levels at 22 different joint, and the airing tube for a more accurate solution as shown
altitude levels and the flow rates (discharges) corresponding to in Figures 4 and 5.
these altitude values were recorded (Figure 3).

Figure 3. The results of discharge capacity (stage-discharge)

of the morning glory spillway of Haraz Dam [12]

Figure 4. The formation of the mesh blocks in the model

3. NUMERICAL MODEL

The numerical simulation of the morning glory spillway of

Haraz Dam was performed based on the reference laboratory
model [6]. The geometry of the model, including the crest,
vertical shaft, conversion (turning) section and knee joint, the
primary section of the horizontal tunnel, the aeration tube as
well as the topography of the area adjacent to the morning
glory spillway were recalled to the Flow Analyzer Software
(FLOW-3D) after drawing for hydraulic analysis.

3.1 Model meshing

For this simulation, the conditions of viscose and

incompressible fluid, the entry of air with a density of 1.2
kg/m3 and the shear stress coefficient of 0.073 were considered.
The mesh blocks were used to mesh the model in the FLOW-
3D software where the dimensions of the mesh cells can be Figure 5. A view of the size of the mesh cells in the mesh
chosen in them. In this model, a large mesh block was used for block No. 2

213
3.2 Boundary conditions where, variables u, v, and w are velocities in the x-, y-, and z-
directions, VF is fluid volume fraction in each cell, Ax, Ay and
The boundary conditions in the mesh block 1 were applied Az are fractional areas that the flow can pass through in the
to the hydraulic model according to the coordinate axis mentioned directions, ρ is Density, ρ' is Pressure, gi is the
indicated in Figure 4 in the Y Max and Y Min directions in the gravitational force in the mentioned directions, fi is Reynolds
experimental model with the impermeable wall. Therefore, in stresses which needs a turbulence model to create the closure.
this numerical model, the boundary conditions of the wall As seen, the VF and Aj (cell face areas) are equivalent to one
were chosen for the walls, which are quite similar to the real in cells filled completely with fluid. Hence, the equations are
conditions. reduced to the basic incompressible RANS equations.
The boundary conditions of the Z min floor were considered
symmetrical in the mesh block. The reason for considering
these boundary conditions for this side of the mesh block is 5. MODEL PREPARATION FOR FLOW ANALYSIS
that in the FLOW-3D software, due to the FAVOR feature, the
rigid sections of the model geometry are detected. Thus, there In the studied numerical model, increasing the flow analysis
is no need to consider the boundary conditions of Wall for this time in the software settings made the flow approaching an
side. To apply boundary conditions for the Z Max mode in the almost steady mode after 140 seconds; but, the analysis time
numerical model, given the fact that in the actual model, the in model calibration was set to 200 seconds to reduce the error
flow has a free surface in direct contact with the air, the and lower the fluctuations in the flow rate.
symmetrical boundary conditions must be used for this mode.
In this case, the gradient of changes in the air pressure is 5.1 Turbulence model
considered zero inside and outside.
Since in the FLOW-3D model, we do not need to define the A comparison was done between LES, k-ε, and RNG
air phase as a new phase in hydraulic problems, the free turbulence models to select the appropriate turbulence model
surface flow conditions and direct contact with the relative for simulation. In this comparison, the reservoir water level
pressure of the air are quite established. To correctly select and was considered in the elevation of 503.86 m (Figure 3) to
apply the input and output boundary conditions in the X Min compare the distortion rate of the results in each of these
and X Max sections, steady flow with a specific height from disturbance models with the reported amounts in the
the fluid over the spillways has to be introduced into a laboratory as shown in Figure 6.
numerical model according to real studies. Therefore, using
the boundary conditions in the FLOW-3D numerical model,
the fluid height for the X Min mode with the Fluid Height
boundary conditions is applied to this section, which exactly
conforms to the laboratory model, using which, the results are
verified.
On the other hand, after the flow passes over the spillway,
the flow must be directed to the outlet boundary and outside
the numerical model. The outlet flow in the downstream was
applied as Outflow as in the case of the hydraulic model
conditions. It should be noted that all of the above boundary
conditions were applied to the larger block that encompasses
the entire computational space. The internal blocks and the
conversion and knee joint part have symmetrical boundary
conditions to prevent any effect on the model in terms of
boundary conditions.

4. GOVERNING EQUATIONS AND THE

COMPUTATIONAL SCHEME

The equations of RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier–

Stokes) and continuity used generally in case of
incompressible flow, involving VOF and FAVOR variables
are described in Eq. (1) and (2):
• Continuity:

  
(uA x ) + (vA y ) + (wA z ) = 0 (1)
x y z Figure 6. Comparison of RNG, k-eps and LES models in
calculating the discharge flow rate of the morning glory
• Momentum: spillway

As shown in Figure 6, the results of the software analysis

U i 1  U i  1 P  are almost the same for the turbulence models and there is no
+ U j A j  = + g i + f i (2)
t V F    dx i
dx j significant difference in the results. Given the similar results
in these three models of turbulence, the RNG model was

214
selected for calibrating the model since the calculations made
by the software ended in this turbulence model in a period time
about 20 % less than two other turbulence models.

5.2 Mesh sensitivity measurement

Mesh sensitivity measurement in the model was conducted

using the stage-discharge results provided by the Laboratory
of the Water Research Institute of the Ministry of Energy [11],
in which the outlet flow rates from the morning glory spillway
have been reported in 22 different water elevation of the dam
reservoir. To this end, the water level of 503.86 m was
considered (Figure 3) and the sensitivity is measured by
resizing the mesh cells. For measuring the mesh sensitivity,
the dimensions of the mesh cells were initially chosen equal to
1.15 m with a number of 365666 cells (as the largest
dimension of mesh cells). Then, the size of the cells was
lowered. These dimensions were considered as primary
dimensions as size larger than these values for mesh cells did Figure 7. Evaluation of the mesh sensitivity by shrinking
not cover the small thicknesses like the walls of the vertical mesh cell dimensions
shafts and the geometry of the model in the FAVOR section
was not identified by the software. Then, respectively, By shrinking the size of the mesh cells (Figure 7), it is
dimensions of 1 meter (428501 cells), 0.92 m (478462 cells), known that the discharge flow rate of the morning glory
0.85 m (538491 cells), 0.75 m (674784 cells) and 0.65 m spillway is modified and tends to match with the value
(892457 cells) were considered for mesh cells. The simulation reported by the lab. The discharge rate in the cell's dimensions
results for these sizes are shown in Figure 7. of 1.15 m. has a very high error and moves toward the
laboratory value by lowering the mesh size up to 0.75 meters
and remains intact in smaller amounts than that and lowering
the cells dimensions will not affect the discharge flow rate
anymore. Therefore, given the ineffectiveness of lowering
mesh dimensions and increased model analysis time in smaller
cells size, the 0.75 meters size was used in the calibration of
the model for mesh cells. The mesh blocks of this model with
this mesh size will include 674784 cells.

5.3 Calibrating the model

To calibrate the model with respect to the elevation of

reservoir water considered in the laboratory, five water
elevation were considered for the numerical model, which
were analyzed and are shown in Table 2. The results of the
numerical analysis of the model at these five levels in
comparison with the quantities extracted in the laboratory are
given in Figure 8.

215
 output discharge rates taken from the software and lab suggest
that the simulation is reliable and the numerical model is
calibrated. Using the results obtained in the validation stage,
the radial (sectoral) morning glory spillway was then modeled.

Figure 9. Correlation analysis (R2) of the flow rates obtained

from the software and the laboratory

6. MODELING OF RADIAL (SECTORAL) MORNING

GLORY SPILLWAY

To draw the radial (sectoral) morning glory spillway, the

complete radial (sectoral) morning glory spillway was initially
Figure 8. Flow (discharge) rate changes based on time in five
considered from the plan view (without a sector) as shown in
selected water elevation in the software and their comparison
Figure 10. Then, to select the sections of the morning glory
with laboratory values
spillway, first, the hypotenuse ab was drawn a tangent to the
horizontal section of the vertical shaft to determine the largest
Table 2. Hydraulic properties of the numerical model
sector on the crest of spillway overflow (choosing the larger
simulated from the morning glory of Haraz Dam
hypotenuses blocks the vertical shaft, which is not the subject
of this study). Drawing the ab hypotenuse, the aôb angle is
Run Elv h Q Exp Q Num Err
No. (m) (m) (m3/s) (m3/s) (%)
formed. Then, to draw three other sectors, a line segment was
1 502.51 0.51 70.5 77.1 -9.36 drawn from the middle of the ab hypotenuse perpendicular to
2 503.2 1.2 253.25 263 -3.85 the spillway circumference, which cut the spillway crest
3 503.86 1.86 501.22 489.8 2.28 circumference at the point i. This line segment was divided
4 504.76 2.76 908.46 924 -1.71 into four equal parts and the hypotenuses of cd, ef and gh were
5 505.48 3.48 1172.37 1139.85 2.77 drawn parallel to the hypotenuse ab at these points to form
angles of côd, eôf and gôh (point o is the center of the circle).
The values of the flow height over the spillway crest and the
discharge flow rates in the numerical and laboratory models i
are provided in Table 2. In this table, Elv is the elevation of
the free surface of the fluid and h the spillway crest distance g h
from the free flow surface, while QExp and QNum are the flow
e
(discharge) rates extracted from the experimental and f
numerical models, respectively. The error rate (% Err) was c d
also calculated from Eq. (3).
a b
Q Exp − Q Num
Error % = 100* (3)
Q Exp o

According to Table 2 and Figure 9, one can conclude that

the present numerical model has calculated the outflow
discharge values from the spillway with a maximum error of
9.36 % and the discharge correlation obtained from the
laboratory and the numerical model (R2=0.9987) is almost
linear. It should be noted that the maximum simulation error
occurs in lower discharge rates as the flow, in general, is not
formed on the bed of the ovoid profile as in the real model. Figure 10. A view of the morning glory spillway crest plan
The percentage of errors obtained from comparing the and how to choose the crest sectors

216
 The angles of the sectors considered for the morning glory
spillway geometry are given in Table 3.

Table 3. The values of selected angles for the drawing of the

morning glory spillway sectors

Row Angle name (θ) Value (Degree)

1 aôb 152
2 côd 127
3 eôf 99 Figure 12. Side view of the morning glory spillway; (A) By
4 gôh 62 applying the elevation levels of 503.86 m for the water of the
lake (control at the crest); (B) by applying a height value of
According to the selected angles shown in Table 3, the 505.09 meters for the lake water (Tube or orifice control);
geometry of the sectoral morning glory spillways was drawn (C) by applying a height value of 505.48 meters for the lake
and transmitted to the FLOW-3D software for hydraulic water (Pipe control)
analysis. In Figure 11, the geometry of the sectoral morning
glory spillways is shown.
7. RESULTS ANALYSIS

In this section, some hydraulic characteristics of sectorial

(radial) morning glory spillway, including spillway discharge
capacity and velocity vector, are investigated, and an equation
for calculating the discharge rate is presented.

7.1 Flow characteristics analysis in the morning glory

spillway, considering sectors

7.1.1 Calculating discharge capacity of the morning glory

spillway
The three-dimensional sectoral models made with three
height levels (Table 4) in the FLOW-3D software were
impounded and analyzed. The discharge rate flow results for
these spillways are shown in Table 5.
Where, θ is the angle of the sector, Le is effective length of
the sectoral spillway, Elv is elevation of the fluid free surface,
h is distance between the spillway crest to the flow free surface,
Q is spillway discharge flow rate.
Figure 11. A view of the geometry of the sectoral morning
glory spillways modeled in this study Table 5. Specifications and discharge values obtained from
sectoral spillways
As shown in Figure 11, five angles were selected to
investigate the sectoral morning glory spillways in this Run No. θ (degree) Le (m) Elv (m) h (m) Q (m3/s)
research. In these five geometries formed, after impounding at R1 0 106.09 503.86 1.86 503.36
three different water elevations in the dam reservoir, the R2 0 106.09 505.09 3.09 1104.44
effects of changing the geometry of spillway on its hydraulic R3 0 106.09 505.48 3.48 1139.76
behavior were investigated. R4 62 105.33 503.86 1.86 502.02
R5 62 105.33 505.09 3.09 1101.61
These three elevations for the dam reservoir were selected
R6 62 105.33 505.48 3.48 1136.25
in such a way to cover three modes of flow by the crest control R7 99 102.52 503.86 1.86 478.24
(area (1)), tube or orifice control (area (2)) and pipe control R8 99 102.52 505.09 3.09 1053.42
(area (3)). To this end, three water elevations were considered R9 99 102.52 505.48 3.48 1141.95
with the mentioned conditions as described in Table 4. Figure R10 127 98.84 503.86 1.86 455.77
12 also shows a view of the spillway with water. R11 127 98.84 505.09 3.09 993.30
R12 127 98.84 505.48 3.48 1137.78
Table 4. Selected altitude levels for the numerical model R13 152 94.03 503.86 1.86 438.96
R14 152 94.03 505.09 3.09 941.98
Discharge controlling Altitude values of the lake R15 152 94.03 505.48 3.48 1123.30
conditions water (m)
Control at crest 503.86 As shown in the table, by increasing the angle of the sector,
Tube or orifice control 505.09 the discharge rate of the equatorial height levels has decreased
Pipe control 505.48 (Figure 13).

217
 Due to the effective length reduction values, it can be
demonstrated that in the modes of crest control and orifice
control, there is a meaningful relationship between effective
length reduction and reduction in the discharge capacity of the
spillway. It should be noted that such a relationship is not
found in the pipe control mode and the amount of spillway
discharge capacity is independent of the effective length in this
case.

Table 6. Estimation of the variation rate in the capacity of

discharge of the sectoral morning glory spillway by
increasing the sector angle (reducing the effective length of
the spillway)
Figure 13. The effect of the sector angle in the discharge
flow rate of the morning glory spillway Angle Reduction Percentage
Run of percentage h Elv of decrease
In Figure 13, small drop in the discharge rate at the level of No. Sector of effective (m) (m) in the flow
505.48 meters (h=3.448 m) has occurred due to the fact the (θ) length rate
spillway is submerged at this elevation levels of the lake water R1 0° 1.86 503.86
and reached the maximum discharge capacity. Thus, the R2 0° _ 3.09 505.09 _
change in the geometry of the spillway crest will not have R3 0° 3.48 505.48
much effect on the discharge rate. Hence, one can say that the R4 62° 1.86 503.86 0.27%
overflow in the pipe control mode does not follow the pattern R5 62° 0.72% 3.09 505.09 0.26%
R6 62° 3.48 505.48 0.31%
of behavior in the crest control and orifice control modes in R7 99° 1.86 503.86 4.99%
terms of the hydraulic behavior. R8 99° 3.36% 3.09 505.09 4.62%
Changing the geometry of the spillway crest inlet opening R9 99° 3.48 505.48 -0.19%
changes the behavior of the water while overflowing from the R10 127° 1.86 503.86 9.45%
crest edge. Due to the created sectors, some turbulence occurs R11 127° 6.83% 3.09 505.09 10.06%
when water enters the vertical shaft. This phenomenon occurs R12 127° 3.48 505.48 0.17%
as the water hits the edges of the sector when overflowing the R13 152° 1.86 503.86 12.79%
edges of the spillway and causes turmoil in the flow. R14 152° 11.37% 3.09 505.09 14.71%
One can say that the created turbulence is the explaining R15 152° 3.48 505.48 1.44%
factor for reducing the discharge rate observed in Figure 13. In
7.2 Investigating the effects of considering radial sections
addition, reducing the length of the watershed in the spillway
on the velocity vectors
crest caused by the creation of the sectors reduces the spillway
discharge rate due, since according to Eq. (4), the discharge
rate of the spillways is directly proportional to parameters C 0
(spillway discharge coefficient), L (spillway length) and H 0
(water heights on the crown). Since the creation of the sector
reduces the length of the spillway, one can conclude that the
decrease in length has reduced the amount of discharge.

3
Q = C 0 LH 0 2 (4)

7.1.2 Investigating the effect of effective length reduction on

the capacity of the spillway discharge
In the morning glory spillways without a sector, the θ = 99° θ = 62°
effective length is equal to the circumference of the circle that
covers the surrounding of the spillway (in this research, Le =
106.09 m). Obviously, by creating the sector and cutting the
geometry of the morning glory spillway from the hypotenuses
shown in Figure 10, the effective length of the catchment will
be reduced. In Table 6, the values of discharge obtained from
the software for the spillway without a sector for three water
levels of the dam reservoir (respectively, the water levels
related to the crest control, orifice control and pipe control) in
simulation are given with the codes R1, R2 and R3
respectively as 503.36 (m3/s), 1104.44 (m3/s) and 1139.76
(m3/s).
In Table 6, the effective length reduction rate of the sectoral θ = 152° θ = 127°
morning glory spillway is examined compared to a non-
sectoral spillway by increased sector angle. Also, the effect of Figure 14. Velocity vectors in the sectoral morning glory
reducing effective length on the spillway discharge capacity is spillway; θ=62°, θ=99°, θ=127°and θ=152°in conditions the
shown. lake water is at a height of 505.48 m (pipe control)

218
 The velocity vectors show the direction of flow movement And also:
in different points of the water. Based on these vectors, the
direction of the water flow movement can be seen at different K H 0 = (H 0 )b (10)
depths. In Figure 14, the velocity vector at the water surface is
shown when entering the spillway to determine the formation
Finally, according to relations (7) to (10), one can show that
of water flow vortices at the time of entering the morning glory
the discharge flow rate in the morning glory spillways is
spillway.
obtained by relation (11):
As seen in the Figure, the inflow from spillway upstream
has a tangent velocity when entering the vertical shaft due to

a
topographic conditions around the spillway. Thus, a rotary  
Q = c d  2sin( )R + (2 −  ) R  ( H 0 )b (11)
mode is created for the flow of water inside the vertical shaft  2 
and the water does not flow directly into the spillway.
As the angle of the sector increases, due to the loss of With the help of the least squares of errors, the exponents a
curvature inside the shaft at the site of the sector and creating and b as well as the coefficient of cd are extracted as follows:
corners inside the spillway, the rotation of the water flow is
prevented to some point and the tangential velocity decreases.
cd = 3.52 a = 0.88 b = 1.39
Finally, the water flow path will be shorter for discharge.
As the angle of the sector increases, the flow vortices
gradually decrease and the depth of submergence reduces so Finally, the equation proposed for calculating the discharge
that at the sectoral spillway (θ=152°), the flow submergence flow rate in the morning glory spillways will be as follows:
occurs within the shaft and lower than the spillway crest levels.

0.88
 
7.3 Regression analysis to find discharge rate equation Q = 3.52  2sin( )R + (2 −  ) R  ( H 0 )1.39
 2  (12)

Investigating the flow of water in the non-sectoral morning

The statistical error measurement parameters can be used to
glory spillway along with the sectors created in this research,
more accurately examine the measurement error. To this end,
one can show that, according to the nature of the problem, the
the data correlation rate (R2) has been investigated in Figure
discharge flow rate of the morning glory spillway is a function
15.
of the angle of the sector, the discharge coefficient and the
height of the water passing over the spillway as seen in Eq. (5).

Q = f (cd , , H 0 ) (5)

By extracting the regression model according to Eq. (6), we

can show:

Q = cd K  K H 0 (6)

To calculate the Kθ, it is worth mentioning that the effective

length of the spillway affects the discharge of the morning Figure 15. A schematic view of the morning glory spillway
glory spillway; thus, considering the θ as the angle of the plan to calculate the effective length
sector, the effective length is calculated according to the
relation (7):

Le = L1 + L2 (7)

and,

 (L1 / 2) 
sin( ) =  L1 = 2sin( )R L 2 = (2 −  )R
2 R 2

So,


 Le = 2sin( )R + (2 −  ) R (8)
2 Figure 16. Display of correlation of discharge flow rate
obtained from the numerical model and the Eq. (12)
Regarding Eq. (7) and (8), we can say:
The results of the correlation diagram (R2) between the
discharge rate obtained from Eq. (12) and the numerical model

a
 
K  =  2sin( )R + (2 −  )R  (9)
shown in Figure 16 indicate that an acceptable correlation is
 2  established between the outputs of the numerical model and
the Eq. (12). The parameters of MAE (mean absolute error)

219
and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) obtained also confirm Table 7. Statistical parameters of error evaluation
the conformity of the results obtained from Eq. (12) (Table (7)).
In Table (8), the error rate of the sectoral morning glory θ = 0° θ = 62° θ = 99° θ = 127° θ = 152°
spillway has been investigated at different sectors angles
separately. The maximum error rate is 7.77 % that has RMSE 0.34 0.61 0.39 0.21 0.26
occurred at the elevation of 505.09 m (h=3.09 m) and in the MAE 0.29 0.49 0.34 0.18 0.25
spillway with a 62 degrees sector.

Table 8. Review of hydraulic properties and evaluating the error of sectoral morning glory spillway modeled in the software and
obtained from the Eq. (12)

Run No. Angle of Sector (θ) Elv (m) h (m) Q Num (m3/s) Q Eq (m3/s) Err (%)
1 _ 503.86 1.86 501.22 505.42 -0.84
2 _ 505.09 3.09 1070.00 1023.46 4.35
3 _ 505.48 3.48 1172.37 1207.32 -2.98
4 62° 503.86 1.86 502.02 501.73 0.06
5 62° 505.09 3.09 1101.61 1016.00 7.77
6 62° 505.48 3.48 1136.25 1198.52 -5.48
7 99° 503.86 1.86 478.24 490.73 -2.61
8 99° 505.09 3.09 1053.42 993.72 5.67
9 99° 505.48 3.48 1141.95 1172.24 -2.65
10 127° 503.86 1.86 455.77 475.09 -4.24
11 127° 505.09 3.09 993.30 962.04 3.15
12 127° 505.48 3.48 1137.78 1134.87 0.26
13 152° 503.86 1.86 438.96 454.64 -3.57
14 152° 505.09 3.09 941.98 920.63 2.27
15 152° 505.48 3.48 1123.30 1086.02 3.32

In Table (8), Elv is elevation of the fluid free surface, h is water height from the edge of the spillway crest increases.
height of water on the spillway, QNum is discharge rate Thus, in the sectoral spillway, with increasing water height
obtained from the numerical model, QEq is discharge rate from H0=1.86m to H0=3.48 m, 134 % increase occurs in the
obtained from the Eq. (12), Err is error rate obtained from Eq. discharge rate, while in the sectoral spillway of θ=152°, with
(3). the same increase in water height, we see a 160 % increase in
the discharge rate. This difference, reflects the fact that by
creating a sector in the morning glory spillway, we witness a
8. CONCLUSIONS wider range of discharge rates. In the sectoral spillways, with
the rise in the elevation of the dam reservoir water, the distance
In this study, we tried to model the flow by a three- between the minimum and maximum discharge rates is higher
dimensional approach around the sectoral morning glory than the non-sectoral morning glory spillway.
spillway using the Flow-3D numerical model.
Using the results extracted from the numerical model, the
curve charts of the spillway performance were compared with REFERENCES
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