Air Entrainment and Pressure Fields over Stepped Spillway in Skimming Flow Regime

This paper deals with some aspects of the air entrainment process along the chute of spillway and study of pressure fluctuations. The experimental study has been carried out using stepped spillway model located in the campus of Government College of Engineering, Amravati (India). It is observed that air concentration is increasing with discharge as well as with number of step. Air concentration is increasing along the length of spillway. It is also observed that the bottom mean air concentration increases with step height in the upstream reach of stepped spillway, which is prone to cavitation. The pressure profiles exhibit a wavy pattern down the stepped chute and pressure on each step increases with ratio of critical depth to step height (yc/h).