Field testing of a simple flume (SMBF) for flow measurement in open channels

In this paper the stage-discharge relationship of a new flume named SMBF (Samani, Magallanex, Baiamonte, Ferro), originally proposed by Samani and Magallanez and tested by Baiamonte and Ferro, for measuring flow discharge in open channels is reviewed. The flume is obtained inserting two semicylinders in a rectangular cross section. The results of some experimental runs carried out using horizontal flumes characterized by different values of the contraction ratio (ranging from 0.17 to 0.81) are used for determining the two coefficients of the power stage-discharge equation. The stage-discharge equation is tested using flow measurements carried out in the period between December 2004 and March 2006 in the Sicilian experimental SPAI basin. Field testing of the SMBF flume is developed using discharge measurements carried out by a Khafagi-Venturi flume placed in the field measurement channel.