Predicting discharge capacity of triangular labyrinth side weir located on a straight channel by using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy technique

Side weirs are widely used for flow diversion in irrigation, land drainage, urban sewage systems and also in intake structures. It is essential to correctly predict the discharge coefficient for hydraulic engineers involved in the technical and economical design of side weirs. In this study, the discharge capacity of triangular labyrinth side weirs is estimated by using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Two thousand five hundred laboratory test results are used for determining discharge coefficient of triangular labyrinth side weirs. The performance of the ANFIS model is compared with multi nonlinear regression models. Root mean square errors (RMSE), mean absolute errors (MAE) and correlation coefficient (R) statistics are used as comparing criteria for the evaluation of the models' performances. Based on the comparisons, it was found that the ANFIS technique could be employed successfully in modeling discharge coefficient from the available experimental data. There are good agreements between the measured values and the values obtained using the ANFIS model. It is found that the ANFIS model with RMSE of 0.0699 in validation stage is superior in estimation of discharge coefficient than the multiple nonlinear and linear regression models with RMSE of 0.1019 and 0.1507, respectively. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.