ABSTRACT
The study aimed to evaluate the water distribution from a medium-size sprinkler working in solid set sprinkler systems. Water distribution radial curves from the sprinkler operating under four nozzle diameter combinations (4.0 x 4.6; 5.0 x 4.6; 6.2 x 4.6 and; 7.1 x 4.6 mm) and four working pressures (196; 245; 294 and 343 kPa) were evaluated on the sprinkler test bench of the State University of Maringá, in Cidade Gaúcha, Paraná, Brazil. The sixteen water distribution curves were normalized and subjected to clustering analysis (K-Means algorithm), identifying the occurrence of normalized distribution curves with three different geometric shapes. A computer algorithm, in Visual Basic for Applications in Excel spreadsheet, was developed to simulate the water application uniformity (Christiansen's Coefficient - CU) from the sprinklers working with rectangular and triangular layouts in solid set sprinkler systems. For the three geometric shapes of the normalized water distribution curves, digital simulation results of water distribution uniformity for the sprinklers on mainline and lateral line spaced between 10 to 100% of wetted diameter indicated that sprinkler spacings around 50% of the wetted diameter provide acceptable CU values.
Key words:
distribution curve; simulation; distribution uniformity
