Investigation of Fluid Flow Behavior in Fixed and Adjustable Hydraulic Channels

Challenges of open-channel flow are discussed, with emphasis on energy dissipation and the difficulties brought by channel design for hydraulic pressure and velocity measure. The influence of the rheology of the slurry on channel design is also complicated. The objective of this work is to study the flow behavior in open channels of different shapes and with variable wall stability (fixed and movable). ANSYS Fluent (Release 2, 2021) Computational Fluit Dynamic (CFD) simulations were performed for the velocity distribution and pressure profiles in four configurations of channels: parallel, zigzag, wavy and curved. The study examines the effects of channel height variations and various inlet velocity (6, 3, and 0.3 m/s) on flow behavior. Findings indicate that increasing channel height reduces internal pressure, while lowering the height increases it, with pressure also varying by channel geometry. The curved channel shows the maximum pressure at a height of 0.5 m, and the channel with wavy shape exhibits the maximum pressure at 2831.92 MPa, with the curved channel reaching 3384.85 MPa under fixed-wall conditions