Emergence angle of flow over an aerator*

Aerator is an important device for release works of hydraulic structures with high-speed flow in order to protect them from cavitation damage. This kind of protecting effect is related closely to cavity length below the aerator, while the cavity length is dominated by the emergence angle over the aerator. Therefore it is crucial to determine this angle accurately. In the present paper the affecting intensities of flow depth and the fluctuating velocity on this angle were analyzed through two introduced parameters. Furthermore, the improved expressions of emergence angle estimation, for both ramp-type and step-type aerators, were presented by means of 68 sets of experimental data from 6 projects based on error theory. The results showed that the present method has higher accuracy than the previously reported methods.