Experimental Study of Subcritical Dividing Flow in an Equal-Width, Four-Branch Junction

Abstract

An experimental study of the subcritical dividing flow in an equal-width, four-branch junction with two inflows and two outflows is presented. A brief description of the flow characteristics is given. From the analysis of test data, a linear relationship among five nondimensional parameters, including inflow ratio, outflow ratio, Froude number of inflow in one direction, outflow depth ratio, and outflow aspect ratio, is proposed and proven to successfully predict the flow distribution in the junction. It can be used to solve the dividing flow problem in a street junction, and it can be included as a part of a numerical model of a street network involving subcritical flows.