Formation of air-entraining vortices at horizontal intakes without approach flow induced circulation

The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the effects of hydraulic parameters on the formation of air-entraining vortices at horizontal intake structures without approach flow induced circulation. Six intake pipes of different diameters were tested in the study. The intake pipe to be tested was horizontally mounted to the front side of a large reservoir and then for a wide range of discharges experiments were conducted and critical submergences were detected with adjustable approach channel sidewalls. Empirical equations were derived for the dimensionless critical submergence as a function of the relevant dimensionless parameters. Available data is also checked for the possible scale effect. Then, these obtained equations were compared with the similar ones in the literature which showed a quite good agreement.