ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to present an experience of coarse sediment drawdown flushing tests carried out in a reduced scale model for Palomino Hydroelectric Project (Dominican Republic). It characterizes the volume of reservoir recovered over time after the opening of the bottom outlet gate. Tests were performed with a movable bed composed by non-cohesive graded material. Its gradation was controlled according to the Froude similarity in term of the shear stresses that cause the entrainment according to Shields criterion. The purged volume was measured by the sediment concentration of released discharge and by the topographic measurement in the reservoir and both results achieved similar values. The model tests proved to be highly appropriate for showing the region where the volume recovery is more intense, i.e. whether flushing is really useful for the reservoir.
