Research Assistant University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, United States
Abstract Submission: Energy dissipation at culvert outlets is necessary for preventing excessive scour that can result in damage to the outlet structure, adjacent roadway, or downstream channel. Energy dissipation basins have long been used for this purpose because of their simple design and effectiveness, but these basins take a lot of space and often have stagnant water pools during low flows. In this project, we are designing and testing an energy dissipation structure with a much smaller footprint than an energy dissipation basin – a structure designed for round culverts that effectively dissipates flow energy to limit downstream erosion. The 1:5 scale model structure that we are testing consists of a rectangular dissipation chamber with two rows of baffles that can be repositioned while water is flowing through the structure so that baffle positions can be optimized. During the experiments, optimal baffle positions will be determined for different inflow Froude numbers. Different baffle geometries and configurations are also being tested to improve their effectiveness and reduce cost.
