Transition flow regime on stepped spillways: air-water flow characteristics and step-cavity fluctuations

Stepped spillways are man-made hydraulic structures designed to control the release of flow and to achieve a high energy dissipation. The flow pattern for a given stepped chute geometry can be distinguished into different regimes. Herein, the transition flow regime occurs at a range of intermediate discharges and is characterised by strong hydrodynamic fluctuations and intense splashing next to the free-surface. Up to date, only minimal experimental data is available for the transition flow. As this flow regime is likely to occur on stepped spillways designed for skimming flow operation, a knowledge of the transition flow characteristics is important to ensure safe operation. The present article investigates the hydraulics of the transition flow regime on a laboratory spillway, presenting a detailed characterisation of air-water flow properties and an image-based analysis of pool depth fluctuations within successive step-cavities. The results show two different void fraction and turbulence intensity profiles, indicating the existence of an upper and a lower transition flow sub-regime. The image-based analysis suggests the presence of a rapidly and a gradually varied flow region downstream of the inception point for both sub-regimes, whereas full equilibrium flow was not reached in the physical model. Overall, the study contributes towards improving the characterisation of the transition flow by assembling analytical solutions for different two-phase flow parameters, including void fraction, interfacial velocity and step-cavity pool height.