This paper describes experiments aimed at improving the understanding of vortices that form in water-pump intake bays. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory model of a simple intake bay comprising a vertical intake pipe with a bell mouth in a rectangular channel under conditions for which surface tension and free-surface elevation effects were small. The experiments comprised flow visualization followed by detailed measurements of the velocity field with particle-image velocimetry (PIV) in selected sections across the free- surface and wall-attached (subsurface) vortices. All vortices were found to meander in space. Depending on the submergence of the intake pipe and its position relative to the channel walls, some vortices had well-defined mean positions, while others were intermittent or exhibited bimodal behavior. The subsurface vortex strength depended on the distance between the wall or floor to which the vortex was attached and the intake pipe, with smaller distances promoting stronger vortices. The experiments clearly demonstrate the usefulness of PIV in obtaining the quantitative information that is required about the number, location, size, and strength of the vortices to develop and validate numerical models of pump intake flows.
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