In the 1960s, researchers at the Utah Water Research Laboratory at Utah State University began investigations into what would become the Cutthroat Flume. The researchers' goal was to develop a flume that overcame the limitations of the Parshall Flume in flat gradient applications.
Rectangular Cutthroat flumes are available in four different lengths (18, 36, 54, and 108-inches L) and four throat widths for each length. Trapezoidal Cutthroat Flumes come in three different throat widths.
Rectangular Cutthroat Flumes have a distinct advantage over similar flumes in that, for a given length, intermediate throat widths can be developed without the need to laboratory or field rate the new flume size! The importance of not needing to rate / rerate a new size cannot be understated!
Cutthroat Flume Materials
Openchannelflow manufactures Cutthroat Flumes in several different materials:
Aluminum is excellent for portable flumes or remotes sites where it is difficult to bring in material. Lightweight and robust construction, aluminum does cost more than most other materials.
Fiberglass hits the sweet spot for many: it is lightweight, cost-competitive, and provides good corrosion resistance. For sewage applications, fiberglass is almost exclusively used.
When measuring surface waters where cost is the concern, galvanized steel is the material of choice. Although heavy, it's easy to repair and withstands abuse well.
Cutthroat Flume Accessories
Openchannelflow has developed a range of accessories for our Cutthroat Flumes to help you customize them to your application needs:
- Piping / end connections
- Flow condition options
- Flowmeter mounts
- Sampler / parameter mounts
- Custom configurations (nesting, extended / reduced sidewalls, etc.)
Cutthroat Flume Applications
Cutthroat Flumes are used in many different applications:
- Proportional Flow Splitting
- Irrigation Canals
- Water Rights
- Sewage Treatment Plants
- Watershed Monitoring
- Dam Seepage
- Stream Gauging
- Industrial Discharge Monitoring
- Mine Discharge
- Spring Discharge Measurement
Developing the Cutthroat Flume
Before the development of the Cutthroat Flume, flow on flat gradients presented a problem. The drop through the Parshall Flume meant that the flume had to either be elevated above the channel's floor – creating upstream ponding and overtopping issues – or using that the flume had to be used in a submerged manner (creating measurement and accuracy issues).
Funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, Drs. Skogerboe, Hyatt, Anderson, and Eggleston at the Utah Water Research Laboratory extensively researched issues related to the problem:
- Flow conditions in flat-bodied Trapezoidal flumes (Robinson et al. 1960), (Hyatt 1965)
- Inlet convergence ratios (Ackers and Harrison 1963)
- Submerged flow in open channel flow measurement structures (Skogerboe, Hyatt, Eggleston 1967)
- Flume discharge in flat-bodied Trapezoidal flumes (Hyatt 1965)
Blogs
Drawings
Downloads
Warranty
