Characteristics of pressure fluctuations downstream from clamshell-type hydraulic energy dissipators with a 45° angle

ABSTRACT This paper presents the distribution of pressure fluctuations measured downstream from 12 different clamshell-type hydraulic energy dissipators. Data were collected resulting in a battery of 78 tests with Froude numbers varying from 3.2 to 7.6 at the device inlets (Ft), under different water level conditions above the clamshell. These tests provided the basis for the analysis of the minimum conditions required to initiate a submerged flow (acting as a roller bucket device), and also to develop equations to predict where the maximum pressure fluctuation occurs, its value and estimates of the pressure fluctuation at the device outlets.