Experimental Investigation on Influence of Aeration on Plane Jet Scour

A series of experiments was conducted to investigate the influence of aeration on plane jet scour. The scour holes caused by the aerated and the nonaerated jets were compared under the same conditions of jet velocity, water discharge per unit width, and tailwater depth. A quantitative relationship between the air concentration of jet and the relative scour depth was established, which is not affected by jet velocity and water discharge per unit width. The profile of the scour hole was found to mainly depend on the scour depth under the same conditions of bed material and tailwater depth and affected very little by the air concentration itself in the test range. The aeration influences the shape of the scour hole mainly through decreasing the scour depth. The scour holes formed under aerated and nonaerated conditions are self-similar.