Experimental and numerical study of flow at a 90 degree lateral turnout with enhanced roughness coefficient and invert level changes

Flow separation at the upstream side of lateral turnouts (intakes) is a critical issue causing eddy currents at the turnout entrance. It reduces the effective width of flow, turnout capacity and efficiency. Therefore, it is essential to identify the dimensions of the separation zone and propose remedies to reduce its dimensions. Installation of 7 types of roughening elements at the turnout entrance and 3 different bed invert levels, with 4 different discharges (making a total of 84 experiments) were examined in this study as a method to reduce the dimensions of the separation zone. Additionally, a 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model was utilized to evaluate the flow pattern and dimensions of the separation zone. Results showed that enhancing the roughness coefficient can reduce the separation zone dimensions up to 38% while the drop implementation effect can scale down this area differently based on the roughness coefficient used. Combining both methods can reduce the separation zone dimensions up to 63%.