Application of support vector machine techniques for prediction of discharge in triangular form weir

Weirs are engineering structures often used in irrigation, sewer networks and flood protection works. Sharp-crested weirs are the simplest form of over-jlow spillway that commonly used to determine the flow rate in hydraulic laboratories, industry and irrigation systems, where highly accurate discharge measurements are needed. This study aims to obtain discharge coefficients and discharge of the sharp-crested triangular plan form weirs in the straight channel by using SVM (poly & rbj) model based on experimentally collected data. The performance of the SVM (poly & rbj) are compared with linear regression models and equation proposed by Kumar et al. 2011. Root mean square errors (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R) statistics are used for the evaluation of the model performances. A comparison of results indicated that the SVM (poly & rbj) computing techniques could be employed successfully in modeling and predicting discharge and discharge coefficient for triangular form weirs.