Hydraulic Modeling of an Automatic Upstream Water Level Control Gate for Submerged Flow Conditions

Abstract

The article proposes a mathematical model of an automatic upstream water level control gate designed to operate under free and submerged flow conditions, called the Vlugter gate. This automatic gate controls the upstream level close to a design level, using a counterweight to compensate for the hydraulic pressure on the gate. The proposed gate model is an extension of an existing model for free flow conditions (Begemann gate) to submerged conditions. Submergence effects are introduced both in the discharge law and the equilibrium law. The mathematical model is validated on experimental data from two small-scale gates and on data from literature, in order to show the ability of the model to simulate the behavior of gates of various dimensions.