Figure 1 | Laboratory channel dimensions.

강화된 조도 계수 및 인버트 레벨 변화가 있는 90도 측면 턴아웃에서의 유동에 대한 실험적 및 수치적 연구

Experimental and numerical study of flow at a 90 degree lateral turnout with enhanced roughness coefficient and invert level changes

Maryam Bagheria, Seyed M. Ali Zomorodianb, Masih Zolghadrc, H. Md. Azamathulla d,*
and C. Venkata Siva Rama Prasade
a Hydraulic Structures, Department of Water Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
b Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
c Department of Water Sciences Engineering, College of Agriculture, Jahrom University, Jahrom, Iran
d Civil & Environmental Engineering, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Port of Spain, Trinidad
e Department of Civil Engineering, St. Peters Engineering College, Hyderabad, India
*Corresponding author. E-mail: azmatheditor@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

측면 분기기(흡입구)의 상류측에서 유동 분리는 분기기 입구에서 맴돌이 전류를 일으키는 중요한 문제입니다. 이는 흐름의 유효 폭, 분기 용량 및 효율성을 감소시킵니다. 따라서 분리구역의 크기를 파악하고 그 크기를 줄이기 위한 방안을 제시하는 것이 필수적이다.

본 연구에서는 분리 구역의 크기를 줄이기 위한 방법으로 분출구 입구에 7가지 유형의 조면화 요소와 4가지 다른 방류가 있는 3가지 다른 베드 인버트 레벨의 설치(총 84회 실험)를 조사했습니다. 또한 3D 전산 유체 역학(CFD) 모델을 사용하여 분리 구역의 흐름 패턴과 치수를 평가했습니다.

결과는 조도 계수를 향상시키면 분리 영역 치수를 최대 38%까지 줄일 수 있는 반면 드롭 구현 효과는 사용된 조도 계수에 따라 이 영역을 다르게 축소할 수 있음을 보여주었습니다. 두 방법을 결합하면 분리 구역 치수를 최대 63%까지 줄일 수 있습니다.

Flow separation at the upstream side of lateral turnouts (intakes) is a critical issue causing eddy currents at the turnout entrance. It reduces the effective width of flow, turnout capacity and efficiency. Therefore, it is essential to identify the dimensions of the separation zone and propose remedies to reduce its dimensions.

Installation of 7 types of roughening elements at the turnout entrance and 3 different bed invert levels, with 4 different discharges (making a total of 84 experiments) were examined in this study as a method to reduce the dimensions of the separation zone. Additionally, a 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model was utilized to evaluate the flow pattern and dimensions of the separation zone.

Results showed that enhancing the roughness coefficient can reduce the separation zone dimensions up to 38% while the drop implementation effect can scale down this area differently based on the roughness coefficient used. Combining both methods can reduce the separation zone dimensions up to 63%.

Key words

discharge ratio, flow separation zone, intake, three dimensional simulation

Experimental and numerical study of flow at a 90 degree lateral turnout with enhanced
roughness coefficient and invert level changes
Experimental and numerical study of flow at a 90 degree lateral turnout with enhanced roughness coefficient and invert level changes
Figure 1 | Laboratory channel dimensions.
Figure 1 | Laboratory channel dimensions.
Figure 2 | Roughness plates.
Figure 2 | Roughness plates.
Figure 4 | Effect of roughness on separation zone dimensions.
Figure 4 | Effect of roughness on separation zone dimensions.
Figure 10 | Comparision of the vortex area (software output) for three roughnesses (0.009, 0.023 and 0.032).
Figure 10 | Comparision of the vortex area (software output) for three roughnesses (0.009, 0.023 and 0.032).
Figure 11 | Comparison of vortex area in 3D mode (tecplot output) with two roughnesses (a) 0.009 and (b) 0.032.
Figure 11 | Comparison of vortex area in 3D mode (tecplot output) with two roughnesses (a) 0.009 and (b) 0.032.
Figure 12 | Velocity vector for flow condition Q¼22 l/s, near surface.
Figure 12 | Velocity vector for flow condition Q¼22 l/s, near surface.

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Figure 3: Wave pattern at sea surface at 20 knots (10.29 m/s) for mesh 1

Flow-3D에서 CFD 시뮬레이션을 사용한 선박 저항 분석

Ship resistance analysis using CFD simulations in Flow-3D

Author

Deshpande, SujaySundsbø, Per-ArneDas, Subhashis

Abstract

선박의 동력 요구 사항을 설계할 때 고려해야 할 가장 중요한 요소는 선박 저항 또는 선박에 작용하는 항력입니다. 항력을 극복하는 데 필요한 동력이 추진 시스템의 ‘손실’에 기여하기 때문에 추진 시스템을 설계하는 동안 선박 저항을 추정하는 것이 중요합니다. 선박 저항을 계산하는 세 가지 주요 방법이 있습니다:

Holtrop-Mennen(HM) 방법과 같은 통계적 방법, 수치 분석 또는 CFD(전산 유체 역학) 시뮬레이션 및 모델 테스트, 즉 예인 탱크에서 축소된 모델 테스트. 설계 단계 초기에는 기본 선박 매개변수만 사용할 수 있을 때 HM 방법과 같은 통계 모델만 사용할 수 있습니다.

수치 해석/CFD 시뮬레이션 및 모델 테스트는 선박의 완전한 3D 설계가 완료된 경우에만 수행할 수 있습니다. 본 논문은 Flow-3D 소프트웨어 패키지를 사용하여 CFD 시뮬레이션을 사용하여 잔잔한 수상 선박 저항을 예측하는 것을 목표로 합니다.

롤온/롤오프 승객(RoPax) 페리에 대한 사례 연구를 조사했습니다. 선박 저항은 다양한 선박 속도에서 계산되었습니다. 메쉬는 모든 CFD 시뮬레이션의 결과에 영향을 미치기 때문에 메쉬 민감도를 확인하기 위해 여러 개의 메쉬가 사용되었습니다. 시뮬레이션의 결과를 HM 방법의 추정치와 비교했습니다.

시뮬레이션 결과는 낮은 선박 속도에 대한 HM 방법과 잘 일치했습니다. 더 높은 선속을 위한 HM 방법에 비해 결과의 차이가 상당히 컸다. 선박 저항 분석을 수행하는 Flow-3D의 기능이 시연되었습니다.

While designing the power requirements of a ship, the most important factor to be considered is the ship resistance, or the sea drag forces acting on the ship. It is important to have an estimate of the ship resistance while designing the propulsion system since the power required to overcome the sea drag forces contribute to ‘losses’ in the propulsion system. There are three main methods to calculate ship resistance: Statistical methods like the Holtrop-Mennen (HM) method, numerical analysis or CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations, and model testing, i.e. scaled model tests in towing tanks. At the start of the design stage, when only basic ship parameters are available, only statistical models like the HM method can be used. Numerical analysis/ CFD simulations and model tests can be performed only when the complete 3D design of the ship is completed. The present paper aims at predicting the calm water ship resistance using CFD simulations, using the Flow-3D software package. A case study of a roll-on/roll-off passenger (RoPax) ferry was investigated. Ship resistance was calculated at various ship speeds. Since the mesh affects the results in any CFD simulation, multiple meshes were used to check the mesh sensitivity. The results from the simulations were compared with the estimate from the HM method. The results from simulations agreed well with the HM method for low ship speeds. The difference in the results was considerably high compared to the HM method for higher ship speeds. The capability of Flow-3D to perform ship resistance analysis was demonstrated.

Figure 1: Simplified ship geometry
Figure 1: Simplified ship geometry
Figure 3: Wave pattern at sea surface at 20 knots (10.29 m/s) for mesh 1
Figure 3: Wave pattern at sea surface at 20 knots (10.29 m/s) for mesh 1
Figure 4: Ship Resistance (kN) vs Ship Speed (knots)
Figure 4: Ship Resistance (kN) vs Ship Speed (knots)

Publisher

International Society of Multiphysics

Citation

Deshpande SR, Sundsbø P, Das S. Ship resistance analysis using CFD simulations in Flow-3D. The International Journal of Multiphysics. 2020;14(3):227-236

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Figure 7. Comparison of Archimedean screw power performances P(W) for Q = 0.15 m3 /s and 0.30m3 /s and angles of orientation 22ο & 32ο .

CFD Simulations of Tubular Archimedean Screw Turbines Harnessing the Small Hydropotential of Greek Watercourses

Alkistis Stergiopoulou 1, Vassilios Stergiopoulos 2
1 Institut für Wasserwirtschaft, Hydrologie und Konstruktiven Wasserbau, B.O.K.U. University, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna, (actually Senior Process Engineer at the VTU Engineering in Vienna, Zieglergasse 53/1/24, 1070 Vienna, Austria).2 School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, Department of Civil Engineering Educators, ASPETE Campus, Eirini Station, 15122 Amarousio, Athens, Greece.

Abstract

이 논문은 최초의 아르키메데스 나사 터빈 CFD 모델링 결과에 대한 간략한 견해를 제시하며, 이는 “그리스에서 아르키메데스의 부활: 수리 역학 및 아르키메데스 달팽이관 물레방아의 유체역학적 거동 연구에 대한 기여”라는 제목의 최근 연구에서 수행되었습니다.
그리스 자연 및 기술 수로의 수력 잠재력”. Flow-3D 코드를 기반으로 하는 이 CFD 분석은 일반적인 TAST(Tubular Archimedean Screw Turbines)와 관련이 있으며 몇 TWh 정도의 그리스 자연 및 기술 수로의 중요한 미개발 수력 잠재력을 활용하는 연간 및 수천 MW 범위의 총 설치 용량인 소규모 수력 발전 시스템에 대한 몇 가지 유망한 성능을 보여줍니다.

This paper presents a short view of the first Archimedean Screw Turbines CFD modelling results, which were carried out within the recent research entitled “Rebirth of Archimedes in Greece: contribution to the study of hydraulic mechanics and hydrodynamic behavior of Archimedean cochlear waterwheels, for recovering the hydraulic potential of Greek natural and technical watercourses”. This CFD analysis, based to the Flow-3D code, concerns typical Tubular Archimedean Screw Turbines (TASTs) and shows some promising performances for such small hydropower systems harnessing the important unexploited hydraulic potential of natural and technical watercourses of Greece, of the order of several TWh / year and of a total installed capacity in the range of thousands MWs.

Keywords

CFD; Flow-3D; TAST; Small Hydro; Renewable Energy; Greek Watercourses.

Figure 1. Photorealistic view of an inclined axis TAST (photo A. Stergiopoulou).
Figure 1. Photorealistic view of an inclined axis TAST (photo A. Stergiopoulou).
Figure 3. The spectrum of all the screw axis orientation cases.
Figure 3. The spectrum of all the screw axis orientation cases.
Figure 4. Creation of the 3bladed Archimedean Screw with Solidworks
Figure 4. Creation of the 3bladed Archimedean Screw with Solidworks
Figure 6. “Meshing & Geometry” tab Operations (Flow 3-D).
Figure 6. “Meshing & Geometry” tab Operations (Flow 3-D).
Figure 7. Comparison of Archimedean screw power performances P(W) for Q = 0.15 m3
/s and 0.30m3
/s
and angles of orientation 22ο & 32ο
.
Figure 7. Comparison of Archimedean screw power performances P(W) for Q = 0.15 m3 /s and 0.30m3 /s and angles of orientation 22ο & 32ο .
Figure 12. Various performances of the Archimedean Screw (MKE/Mean Kinetic Energy, Torque,
Turbulent Kinetic Energy, Turbulent Dissipation) for flow discharge Q = 0.45 m3
/s and an angle of
orientation θ = 32ο
Figure 12. Various performances of the Archimedean Screw (MKE/Mean Kinetic Energy, Torque, Turbulent Kinetic Energy, Turbulent Dissipation) for flow discharge Q = 0.45 m3 /s and an angle of orientation θ = 32ο

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Figure 5. Schematic view of flap and support structure [32]

Design Optimization of Ocean Renewable Energy Converter Using a Combined Bi-level Metaheuristic Approach

결합된 Bi-level 메타휴리스틱 접근법을 사용한 해양 재생 에너지 변환기의 설계 최적화

Erfan Amini a1, Mahdieh Nasiri b1, Navid Salami Pargoo a, Zahra Mozhgani c, Danial Golbaz d, Mehrdad Baniesmaeil e, Meysam Majidi Nezhad f, Mehdi Neshat gj, Davide Astiaso Garcia h, Georgios Sylaios i

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in renewable energies in view of the fact that fossil fuels are the leading cause of catastrophic environmental consequences. Ocean wave energy is a renewable energy source that is particularly prevalent in coastal areas. Since many countries have tremendous potential to extract this type of energy, a number of researchers have sought to determine certain effective factors on wave converters’ performance, with a primary emphasis on ambient factors. In this study, we used metaheuristic optimization methods to investigate the effects of geometric factors on the performance of an Oscillating Surge Wave Energy Converter (OSWEC), in addition to the effects of hydrodynamic parameters. To do so, we used CATIA software to model different geometries which were then inserted into a numerical model developed in Flow3D software. A Ribed-surface design of the converter’s flap is also introduced in this study to maximize wave-converter interaction. Besides, a Bi-level Hill Climbing Multi-Verse Optimization (HCMVO) method was also developed for this application. The results showed that the converter performs better with greater wave heights, flap freeboard heights, and shorter wave periods. Additionally, the added ribs led to more wave-converter interaction and better performance, while the distance between the flap and flume bed negatively impacted the performance. Finally, tracking the changes in the five-dimensional objective function revealed the optimum value for each parameter in all scenarios. This is achieved by the newly developed optimization algorithm, which is much faster than other existing cutting-edge metaheuristic approaches.

Keywords

Wave Energy Converter

OSWEC

Hydrodynamic Effects

Geometric Design

Metaheuristic Optimization

Multi-Verse Optimizer

1Introduction

The increase in energy demand, the limitations of fossil fuels, as well as environmental crises, such as air pollution and global warming, are the leading causes of calling more attention to harvesting renewable energy recently [1][2][3]. While still in its infancy, ocean wave energy has neither reached commercial maturity nor technological convergence. In recent decades, remarkable progress has been made in the marine energy domain, which is still in the early stage of development, to improve the technology performance level (TPL) [4][5]and technology readiness level (TRL) of wave energy converters (WECs). This has been achieved using novel modeling techniques [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] to gain the following advantages [15]: (i) As a source of sustainable energy, it contributes to the mix of energy resources that leads to greater diversity and attractiveness for coastal cities and suppliers. [16] (ii) Since wave energy can be exploited offshore and does not require any land, in-land site selection would be less expensive and undesirable visual effects would be reduced. [17] (iii) When the best layout and location of offshore site are taken into account, permanent generation of energy will be feasible (as opposed to using solar energy, for example, which is time-dependent) [18].

In general, the energy conversion process can be divided into three stages in a WEC device, including primary, secondary, and tertiary stages [19][20]. In the first stage of energy conversion, which is the subject of this study, the wave power is converted to mechanical power by wave-structure interaction (WSI) between ocean waves and structures. Moreover, the mechanical power is transferred into electricity in the second stage, in which mechanical structures are coupled with power take-off systems (PTO). At this stage, optimal control strategies are useful to tune the system dynamics to maximize power output [10][13][12]. Furthermore, the tertiary energy conversion stage revolves around transferring the non-standard AC power into direct current (DC) power for energy storage or standard AC power for grid integration [21][22]. We discuss only the first stage regardless of the secondary and tertiary stages. While Page 1 of 16 WECs include several categories and technologies such as terminators, point absorbers, and attenuators [15][23], we focus on oscillating surge wave energy converters (OSWECs) in this paper due to its high capacity for industrialization [24].

Over the past two decades, a number of studies have been conducted to understand how OSWECs’ structures and interactions between ocean waves and flaps affect converters performance. Henry et al.’s experiment on oscillating surge wave energy converters is considered as one of the most influential pieces of research [25], which demonstrated how the performance of oscillating surge wave energy converters (OSWECs) is affected by seven different factors, including wave period, wave power, flap’s relative density, water depth, free-board of the flap, the gap between the tubes, gap underneath the flap, and flap width. These parameters were assessed in their two models in order to estimate the absorbed energy from incoming waves [26][27]. In addition, Folly et al. investigated the impact of water depth on the OSWECs performance analytically, numerically, and experimentally. According to this and further similar studies, the average annual incident wave power is significantly reduced by water depth. Based on the experimental results, both the surge wave force and the power capture of OSWECs increase in shallow water [28][29]. Following this, Sarkar et al. found that under such circumstances, the device that is located near the coast performs much better than those in the open ocean [30]. On the other hand, other studies are showing that the size of the converter, including height and width, is relatively independent of the location (within similar depth) [31]. Subsequently, Schmitt et al. studied OSWECs numerically and experimentally. In fact, for the simulation of OSWEC, OpenFOAM was used to test the applicability of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solvers. Then, the experimental model reproduced the numerical results with satisfying accuracy [32]. In another influential study, Wang et al. numerically assessed the effect of OSWEC’s width on their performance. According to their findings, as converter width increases, its efficiency decreases in short wave periods while increases in long wave periods [33]. One of the main challenges in the analysis of the OSWEC is the coupled effect of hydrodynamic and geometric variables. As a result, numerous cutting-edge geometry studies have been performed in recent years in order to find the optimal structure that maximizes power output and minimizes costs. Garcia et al. reviewed hull geometry optimization studies in the literature in [19]. In addition, Guo and Ringwood surveyed geometric optimization methods to improve the hydrodynamic performance of OSWECs at the primary stage [14]. Besides, they classified the hull geometry of OSWECs based on Figure 1. Subsequently, Whittaker et al. proposed a different design of OSWEC called Oyster2. There have been three examples of different geometries of oysters with different water depths. Based on its water depth, they determined the width and height of the converter. They also found that in the constant wave period the less the converter’s width, the less power captures the converter has [34]. Afterward, O’Boyle et al. investigated a type of OSWEC called Oyster 800. They compared the experimental and numerical models with the prototype model. In order to precisely reproduce the shape, mass distribution, and buoyancy properties of the prototype, a 40th-scale experimental model has been designed. Overall, all the models were fairly accurate according to the results [35].

Inclusive analysis of recent research avenues in the area of flap geometry has revealed that the interaction-based designs of such converters are emerging as a novel approach. An initiative workflow is designed in the current study to maximizing the wave energy extrication by such systems. To begin with, a sensitivity analysis plays its role of determining the best hydrodynamic values for installing the converter’s flap. Then, all flap dimensions and characteristics come into play to finalize the primary model. Following, interactive designs is proposed to increase the influence of incident waves on the body by adding ribs on both sides of the flap as a novel design. Finally, a new bi-level metaheuristic method is proposed to consider the effects of simultaneous changes in ribs properties and other design parameters. We hope this novel approach will be utilized to make big-scale projects less costly and justifiable. The efficiency of the method is also compared with four well known metaheuristic algorithms and out weight them for this application.

This paper is organized as follows. First, the research methodology is introduced by providing details about the numerical model implementation. To that end, we first introduced the primary model’s geometry and software details. That primary model is later verified with a benchmark study with regard to the flap angle of rotation and water surface elevation. Then, governing equations and performance criteria are presented. In the third part of the paper, we discuss the model’s sensitivity to lower and upper parts width (we proposed a two cross-sectional design for the flap), bottom elevation, and freeboard. Finally, the novel optimization approach is introduced in the final part and compared with four recent metaheuristic algorithms.

2. Numerical Methods

In this section, after a brief introduction of the numerical software, Flow3D, boundary conditions are defined. Afterwards, the numerical model implementation, along with primary model properties are described. Finally, governing equations, as part of numerical process, are discussed.

2.1Model Setup

FLOW-3D is a powerful and comprehensive CFD simulation platform for studying fluid dynamics. This software has several modules to solve many complex engineering problems. In addition, modeling complex flows is simple and effective using FLOW-3D’s robust meshing capabilities [36]. Interaction between fluid and moving objects might alter the computational range. Dynamic meshes are used in our modeling to take these changes into account. At each time step, the computational node positions change in order to adapt the meshing area to the moving object. In addition, to choose mesh dimensions, some factors are taken into account such as computational accuracy, computational time, and stability. The final grid size is selected based on the detailed procedure provided in [37]. To that end, we performed grid-independence testing on a CFD model using three different mesh grid sizes of 0.01, 0.015, and 0.02 meters. The problem geometry and boundary conditions were defined the same, and simulations were run on all three grids under the same conditions. The predicted values of the relevant variable, such as velocity, was compared between the grids. The convergence behavior of the numerical solution was analyzed by calculating the relative L2 norm error between two consecutive grids. Based on the results obtained, it was found that the grid size of 0.02 meters showed the least error, indicating that it provided the most accurate and reliable solution among the three grids. Therefore, the grid size of 0.02 meters was selected as the optimal spatial resolution for the mesh grid.

In this work, the flume dimensions are 10 meters long, 0.1 meters wide, and 2.2 meters high, which are shown in figure2. In addition, input waves with linear characteristics have a height of 0.1 meters and a period of 1.4 seconds. Among the linear wave methods included in this software, RNGk-ε and k- ε are appropriate for turbulence model. The research of Lopez et al. shows that RNGk- ε provides the most accurate simulation of turbulence in OSWECs [21]. We use CATIA software to create the flap primary model and other innovative designs for this project. The flap measures 0.1 m x 0.65 m x 0.360 m in x, y and z directions, respectively. In Figure 3, the primary model of flap and its dimensions are shown. In this simulation, five boundaries have been defined, including 1. Inlet, 2. Outlet, 3. Converter flap, 4. Bed flume, and 5. Water surface, which are shown in figure 2. Besides, to avoid wave reflection in inlet and outlet zones, Flow3D is capable of defining some areas as damping zones, the length of which has to be one to one and a half times the wavelength. Therefore, in the model, this length is considered equal to 2 meters. Furthermore, there is no slip in all the boundaries. In other words, at every single time step, the fluid velocity is zero on the bed flume, while it is equal to the flap velocity on the converter flap. According to the wave theory defined in the software, at the inlet boundary, the water velocity is called from the wave speed to be fed into the model.

2.2Verification

In the current study, we utilize the Schmitt experimental model as a benchmark for verification, which was developed at the Queen’s University of Belfast. The experiments were conducted on the flap of the converter, its rotation, and its interaction with the water surface. Thus, the details of the experiments are presented below based up on the experimental setup’s description [38]. In the experiment, the laboratory flume has a length of 20m and a width of 4.58m. Besides, in order to avoid incident wave reflection, a wave absorption source is devised at the end of the left flume. The flume bed, also, includes two parts with different slops. The flap position and dimensions of the flume can be seen in Figure4. In addition, a wave-maker with 6 paddles is installed at one end. At the opposite end, there is a beach with wire meshes. Additionally, there are 6 indicators to extract the water level elevation. In the flap model, there are three components: the fixed support structure, the hinge, and the flap. The flap measures 0.1m x 0.65m x 0.341m in x, y and z directions, respectively. In Figure5, the details are given [32]. The support structure consists of a 15 mm thick stainless steel base plate measuring 1m by 1.4m, which is screwed onto the bottom of the tank. The hinge is supported by three bearing blocks. There is a foam centerpiece on the front and back of the flap which is sandwiched between two PVC plates. Enabling changes of the flap, three metal fittings link the flap to the hinge. Moreover, in this experiment, the selected wave is generated based on sea wave data at scale 1:40. The wave height and the wave period are equal to 0.038 (m) and 2.0625 (s), respectively, which are tantamount to a wave with a period of 13 (s) and a height of 1.5 (m).

Two distinct graphs illustrate the numerical and experi-mental study results. Figure6 and Figure7 are denoting the angle of rotation of flap and surface elevation in computational and experimental models, respectively. The two figures roughly represent that the numerical and experimental models are a good match. However, for the purpose of verifying the match, we calculated the correlation coefficient (C) and root mean square error (RMSE). According to Figure6, correlation coefficient and RMSE are 0.998 and 0.003, respectively, and in Figure7 correlation coefficient and RMSE are respectively 0.999 and 0.001. Accordingly, there is a good match between the numerical and empirical models. It is worth mentioning that the small differences between the numerical and experimental outputs may be due to the error of the measuring devices and the calibration of the data collection devices.

Including continuity equation and momentum conserva- tion for incompressible fluid are given as [32][39]:(1)

where P represents the pressure, g denotes gravitational acceleration, u represents fluid velocity, and Di is damping coefficient. Likewise, the model uses the same equation. to calculate the fluid velocity in other directions as well. Considering the turbulence, we use the two-equation model of RNGK- ε. These equations are:

(3)��t(��)+����(����)=����[�eff�������]+��-��and(4)���(��)+����(����)=����[�eff�������]+�1�∗����-��2��2�Where �2� and �1� are constants. In addition, �� and �� represent the turbulent Prandtl number of � and k, respectively.

�� also denote the production of turbulent kinetic energy of k under the effect of velocity gradient, which is calculated as follows:(5)��=�eff[�����+�����]�����(6)�eff=�+��(7)�eff=�+��where � is molecular viscosity,�� represents turbulence viscosity, k denotes kinetic energy, and ∊∊ is energy dissipation rate. The values of constant coefficients in the two-equation RNGK ∊-∊ model is as shown in the Table 1 [40].Table 2.

Table 1. Constant coefficients in RNGK- model

Factors�0�1�2������
Quantity0.0124.381.421.681.391.390.084

Table 2. Flap properties

Joint height (m)0.476
Height of the center of mass (m)0.53
Weight (Kg)10.77

It is worth mentioning that the volume of fluid method is used to separate water and air phases in this software [41]. Below is the equation of this method [40].(8)����+����(���)=0where α and 1 − α are portion of water phase and air phase, respectively. As a weighting factor, each fluid phase portion is used to determine the mixture properties. Finally, using the following equations, we calculate the efficiency of converters [42][34][43]:(9)�=14|�|2�+�2+(�+�a)2(�n2-�2)2where �� represents natural frequency, I denotes the inertia of OSWEC, Ia is the added inertia, F is the complex wave force, and B denotes the hydrodynamic damping coefficient. Afterward, the capture factor of the converter is calculated by [44]:(10)��=�1/2��2����gw where �� represents the capture factor, which is the total efficiency of device per unit length of the wave crest at each time step [15], �� represent the dimensional amplitude of the incident wave, w is the flap’s width, and Cg is the group velocity of the incident wave, as below:(11)��=��0·121+2�0ℎsinh2�0ℎwhere �0 denotes the wave number, h is water depth, and H is the height of incident waves.

According to previous sections ∊,����-∊ modeling is used for all models simulated in this section. For this purpose, the empty boundary condition is used for flume walls. In order to preventing wave reflection at the inlet and outlet of the flume, the length of wave absorption is set to be at least one incident wavelength. In addition, the structured mesh is chosen, and the mesh dimensions are selected in two distinct directions. In each model, all grids have a length of 2 (cm) and a height of 1 (cm). Afterwards, as an input of the software for all of the models, we define the time step as 0.001 (s). Moreover, the run time of every simulation is 30 (s). As mentioned before, our primary model is Schmitt model, and the flap properties is given in table2. For all simulations, the flume measures 15 meters in length and 0.65 meters in width, and water depth is equal to 0.335 (m). The flap is also located 7 meters from the flume’s inlet.

Finally, in order to compare the results, the capture factor is calculated for each simulation and compared to the primary model. It is worth mentioning that capture factor refers to the ratio of absorbed wave energy to the input wave energy.

According to primary model simulation and due to the decreasing horizontal velocity with depth, the wave crest has the highest velocity. Considering the fact that the wave’s orbital velocity causes the flap to move, the contact between the upper edge of the flap and the incident wave can enhance its performance. Additionally, the numerical model shows that the dynamic pressure decreases as depth increases, and the hydrostatic pressure increases as depth increases.

To determine the OSWEC design, it is imperative to understand the correlation between the capture factor, wave period, and wave height. Therefore, as it is shown in Figure8, we plot the change in capture factor over the variations in wave period and wave height in 3D and 2D. In this diagram, the first axis features changes in wave period, the second axis displays changes in wave height, and the third axis depicts changes in capture factor. According to our wave properties in the numerical model, the wave period and wave height range from 2 to 14 seconds and 2 to 8 meters, respectively. This is due to the fact that the flap does not oscillate if the wave height is less than 2 (m), and it does not reverse if the wave height is more than 8 (m). In addition, with wave periods more than 14 (s), the wavelength would be so long that it would violate the deep-water conditions, and with wave periods less than 2 (s), the flap would not oscillate properly due to the shortness of wavelength. The results of simulation are shown in Figure 8. As it can be perceived from Figure 8, in a constant wave period, the capture factor is in direct proportion to the wave height. It is because of the fact that waves with more height have more energy to rotate the flap. Besides, in a constant wave height, the capture factor increases when the wave period increases, until a given wave period value. However, the capture factor falls after this point. These results are expected since the flap’s angular displacement is not high in lower wave periods, while the oscillating motion of that is not fast enough to activate the power take-off system in very high wave periods.

As is shown in Figure 9, we plot the change in capture factor over the variations in wave period (s) and water depth (m) in 3D. As it can be seen in this diagram, the first axis features changes in water depth (m), the second axis depicts the wave period (s), and the third axis displays OSWEC’s capture factor. The wave period ranges from 0 to 10 seconds based on our wave properties, which have been adopted from Schmitt’s model, while water depth ranges from 0 to 0.5 meters according to the flume and flap dimensions and laboratory limitations. According to Figure9, for any specific water depth, the capture factor increases in a varying rate when the wave period increases, until a given wave period value. However, the capture factor falls steadily after this point. In fact, the maximum capture factor occurs when the wave period is around 6 seconds. This trend is expected since, in a specific water depth, the flap cannot oscillate properly when the wavelength is too short. As the wave period increases, the flap can oscillate more easily, and consequently its capture factor increases. However, the capture factor drops in higher wave periods because the wavelength is too large to move the flap. Furthermore, in a constant wave period, by changing the water depth, the capture factor does not alter. In other words, the capture factor does not depend on the water depth when it is around its maximum value.

3Sensitivity Analysis

Based on previous studies, in addition to the flap design, the location of the flap relative to the water surface (freeboard) and its elevation relative to the flume bed (flap bottom elevation) play a significant role in extracting energy from the wave energy converter. This study measures the sensitivity of the model to various parameters related to the flap design including upper part width of the flap, lower part width of the flap, the freeboard, and the flap bottom elevation. Moreover, as a novel idea, we propose that the flap widths differ in the lower and upper parts. In Figure10, as an example, a flap with an upper thickness of 100 (mm) and a lower thickness of 50 (mm) and a flap with an upper thickness of 50 (mm) and a lower thickness of 100 (mm) are shown. The influence of such discrepancy between the widths of the upper and lower parts on the interaction between the wave and the flap, or in other words on the capture factor, is evaluated. To do so, other parameters are remained constant, such as the freeboard, the distance between the flap and the flume bed, and the wave properties.

In Figure11, models are simulated with distinct upper and lower widths. As it is clear in this figure, the first axis depicts the lower part width of the flap, the second axis indicates the upper part width of the flap, and the colors represent the capture factor values. Additionally, in order to consider a sufficient range of change, the flap thickness varies from half to double the value of the primary model for each part.

According to this study, the greater the discrepancy in these two parts, the lower the capture factor. It is on account of the fact that when the lower part of the flap is thicker than the upper part, and this thickness difference in these two parts is extremely conspicuous, the inertia against the motion is significant at zero degrees of rotation. Consequently, it is difficult to move the flap, which results in a low capture factor. Similarly, when the upper part of the flap is thicker than the lower part, and this thickness difference in these two parts is exceedingly noticeable, the inertia is so great that the flap can not reverse at the maximum degree of rotation. As the results indicate, the discrepancy can enhance the performance of the converter if the difference between these two parts is around 20%. As it is depicted in the Figure11, the capture factor reaches its own maximum amount, when the lower part thickness is from 5 to 6 (cm), and the upper part thickness is between 6 and 7 (cm). Consequently, as a result of this discrepancy, less material will be used, and therefore there will be less cost.

As illustrated in Figure12, this study examines the effects of freeboard (level difference between the flap top and water surface) and the flap bottom elevation (the distance between the flume bed and flap bottom) on the converter performance. In this diagram, the first axis demonstrates the freeboard and the second axis on the left side displays the flap bottom elevation, while the colors indicate the capture factor. In addition, the feasible range of freeboard is between -15 to 15 (cm) due to the limitation of the numerical model, so that we can take the wave slamming and the overtopping into consideration. Additionally, based on the Schmitt model and its scaled model of 1:40 of the base height, the flap bottom should be at least 9 (cm) high. Since the effect of surface waves is distributed over the depth of the flume, it is imperative to maintain a reasonable flap height exposed to incoming waves. Thus, the maximum flap bottom elevation is limited to 19 (cm). As the Figure12 pictures, at constant negative values of the freeboard, the capture factor is in inverse proportion with the flap bottom elevation, although slightly.

Furthermore, at constant positive values of the freeboard, the capture factor fluctuates as the flap bottom elevation decreases while it maintains an overall increasing trend. This is on account of the fact that increasing the flap bottom elevation creates turbulence flow behind the flap, which encumbers its rotation, as well as the fact that the flap surface has less interaction with the incoming waves. Furthermore, while keeping the flap bottom elevation constant, the capture factor increases by raising the freeboard. This is due to the fact that there is overtopping with adverse impacts on the converter performance when the freeboard is negative and the flap is under the water surface. Besides, increasing the freeboard makes the wave slam more vigorously, which improves the converter performance.

Adding ribs to the flap surface, as shown in Figure13, is a novel idea that is investigated in the next section. To achieve an optimized design for the proposed geometry of the flap, we determine the optimal number and dimensions of ribs based on the flap properties as our decision variables in the optimization process. As an example, Figure13 illustrates a flap with 3 ribs on each side with specific dimensions.

Figure14 shows the flow velocity field around the flap jointed to the flume bed. During the oscillation of the flap, the pressure on the upper and lower surfaces of the flap changes dynamically due to the changing angle of attack and the resulting change in the direction of fluid flow. As the flap moves upwards, the pressure on the upper surface decreases, and the pressure on the lower surface increases. Conversely, as the flap moves downwards, the pressure on the upper surface increases, and the pressure on the lower surface decreases. This results in a cyclic pressure variation around the flap. Under certain conditions, the pressure field around the flap can exhibit significant variations in magnitude and direction, forming vortices and other flow structures. These flow structures can affect the performance of the OSWEC by altering the lift and drag forces acting on the flap.

4Design Optimization

We consider optimizing the design parameters of the flap of converter using a nature-based swarm optimization method, that fall in the category of metaheuristic algorithms [45]. Accordingly, we choose four state-of-the-art algorithms to perform an optimization study. Then, based on their performances to achieve the highest capture factor, one of them will be chosen to be combined with the Hill Climb algorithm to carry out a local search. Therefore, in the remainder of this section, we discuss the search process of each algorithm and visualize their performance and convergence curve as they try to find the best values for decision variables.

4.1. Metaheuristic Approaches

As the first considered algorithm, the Gray Wolf Optimizer (GWO) algorithm simulates the natural leadership and hunting performance of gray wolves which tend to live in colonies. Hunters must obey the alpha wolf, the leader, who is responsible for hunting. Then, the beta wolf is at the second level of the gray wolf hierarchy. A subordinate of alpha wolf, beta stands under the command of the alpha. At the next level in this hierarchy, there are the delta wolves. They are subordinate to the alpha and beta wolves. This category of wolves includes scouts, sentinels, elders, hunters, and caretakers. In this ranking, omega wolves are at the bottom, having the lowest level and obeying all other wolves. They are also allowed to eat the prey just after others have eaten. Despite the fact that they seem less important than others, they are really central to the pack survival. Since, it has been shown that without omega wolves, the entire pack would experience some problems like fighting, violence, and frustration. In this simulation, there are three primary steps of hunting including searching, surrounding, and finally attacking the prey. Mathematically model of gray wolves’ hunting technique and their social hierarchy are applied in determined by optimization. this study. As mentioned before, gray wolves can locate their prey and surround them. The alpha wolf also leads the hunt. Assuming that the alpha, beta, and delta have more knowledge about prey locations, we can mathematically simulate gray wolf hunting behavior. Hence, in addition to saving the top three best solutions obtained so far, we compel the rest of the search agents (also the omegas) to adjust their positions based on the best search agent. Encircling behavior can be mathematically modeled by the following equations: [46].(12)�→=|�→·��→(�)-�→(�)|(13)�→(�+1)=��→(�)-�→·�→(14)�→=2.�2→(15)�→=2�→·�1→-�→Where �→indicates the position vector of gray wolf, ��→ defines the vector of prey, t indicates the current iteration, and �→and �→are coefficient vectors. To force the search agent to diverge from the prey, we use �→ with random values greater than 1 or less than -1. In addition, C→ contains random values in the range [0,2], and �→ 1 and �2→ are random vectors in [0,1]. The second considered technique is the Moth Flame Optimizer (MFO) algorithm. This method revolves around the moths’ navigation mechanism, which is realized by positioning themselves and maintaining a fixed angle relative to the moon while flying. This effective mechanism helps moths to fly in a straight path. However, when the source of light is artificial, maintaining an angle with the light leads to a spiral flying path towards the source that causes the moth’s death [47]. In MFO algorithm, moths and flames are both solutions. The moths are actual search agents that fly in hyper-dimensional space by changing their position vectors, and the flames are considered pins that moths drop when searching the search space [48]. The problem’s variables are the position of moths in the space. Each moth searches around a flame and updates it in case of finding a better solution. The fitness value is the return value of each moth’s fitness (objective) function. The position vector of each moth is passed to the fitness function, and the output of the fitness function is assigned to the corresponding moth. With this mechanism, a moth never loses its best solution [49]. Some attributes of this algorithm are as follows:

  • •It takes different values to converge moth in any point around the flame.
  • •Distance to the flame is lowered to be eventually minimized.
  • •When the position gets closer to the flame, the updated positions around the flame become more frequent.

As another method, the Multi-Verse Optimizer is based on a multiverse theory which proposes there are other universes besides the one in which we all live. According to this theory, there are more than one big bang in the universe, and each big bang leads to the birth of a new universe [50]. Multi-Verse Optimizer (MVO) is mainly inspired by three phenomena in cosmology: white holes, black holes, and wormholes. A white hole has never been observed in our universe, but physicists believe the big bang could be considered a white hole [51]. Black holes, which behave completely in contrast to white holes, attract everything including light beams with their extremely high gravitational force [52]. In the multiverse theory, wormholes are time and space tunnels that allow objects to move instantly between any two corners of a universe (or even simultaneously from one universe to another) [53]. Based on these three concepts, mathematical models are designed to perform exploration, exploitation, and local search, respectively. The concept of white and black holes is implied as an exploration phase, while the concept of wormholes is considered as an exploitation phase by MVO. Additionally, each solution is analogous to a universe, and each variable in the solution represents an object in that universe. Furthermore, each solution is assigned an inflation rate, and the time is used instead of iterations. Following are the universe rules in MVO:

  • •The possibility of having white hole increases with the inflation rate.
  • •The possibility of having black hole decreases with the inflation rate.
  • •Objects tend to pass through black holes more frequently in universes with lower inflation rates.
  • •Regardless of inflation rate, wormholes may cause objects in universes to move randomly towards the best universe. [54]

Modeling the white/black hole tunnels and exchanging objects of universes mathematically was accomplished by using the roulette wheel mechanism. With every iteration, the universes are sorted according to their inflation rates, then, based on the roulette wheel, the one with the white hole is selected as the local extremum solution. This is accomplished through the following steps:

Assume that

(16)���=����1<��(��)����1≥��(��)

Where ��� represents the jth parameter of the ith universe, Ui indicates the ith universe, NI(Ui) is normalized inflation rate of the ith universe, r1 is a random number in [0,1], and j xk shows the jth parameter of the kth universe selected by a roulette wheel selection mechanism [54]. It is assumed that wormhole tunnels always exist between a universe and the best universe formed so far. This mechanism is as follows:(17)���=if�2<���:��+���×((���-���)×�4+���)�3<0.5��-���×((���-���)×�4+���)�3≥0.5����:���where Xj indicates the jth parameter of the best universe formed so far, TDR and WEP are coefficients, where Xj indicates the jth parameter of the best universelbjshows the lower bound of the jth variable, ubj is the upper bound of the jth variable, and r2, r3, and r4 are random numbers in [1][54].

Finally, one of the newest optimization algorithms is WOA. The WOA algorithm simulates the movement of prey and the whale’s discipline when looking for their prey. Among several species, Humpback whales have a specific method of hunting [55]. Humpback whales can recognize the location of prey and encircle it before hunting. The optimal design position in the search space is not known a priori, and the WOA algorithm assumes that the best candidate solution is either the target prey or close to the optimum. This foraging behavior is called the bubble-net feeding method. Two maneuvers are associated with bubbles: upward spirals and double loops. A unique behavior exhibited only by humpback whales is bubble-net feeding. In fact, The WOA algorithm starts with a set of random solutions. At each iteration, search agents update their positions for either a randomly chosen search agent or the best solution obtained so far [56][55]. When the best search agent is determined, the other search agents will attempt to update their positions toward that agent. It is important to note that humpback whales swim around their prey simultaneously in a circular, shrinking circle and along a spiral-shaped path. By using a mathematical model, the spiral bubble-net feeding maneuver is optimized. The following equation represents this behavior:(18)�→(�+1)=�′→·�bl·cos(2��)+�∗→(�)

Where:(19)�′→=|�∗→(�)-�→(�)|

X→(t+ 1) indicates the distance of the it h whale to the prey (best solution obtained so far),� is a constant for defining the shape of the logarithmic spiral, l is a random number in [−1, 1], and dot (.) is an element-by-element multiplication [55].

Comparing the four above-mentioned methods, simulations are run with 10 search agents for 400 iterations. In Figure 15, there are 20 plots the optimal values of different parameters in optimization algorithms. The five parameters of this study are freeboard, bottom elevations, number of ribs on the converter, rib thickness, and rib Height. The optimal value for each was found by optimization algorithms, naming WOA, MVO, MFO, and GWO. By looking through the first row, the freeboard parameter converges to its maximum possible value in the optimization process of GWO after 300 iterations. Similarly, MFO finds the same result as GWO. In contrast, the freeboard converges to its minimum possible value in MVO optimizing process, which indicates positioning the converter under the water. Furthermore, WOA found the optimal value of freeboard as around 0.02 after almost 200 iterations. In the second row, the bottom elevation is found at almost 0.11 (m) in all algorithms; however, the curves follow different trends in each algorithm. The third row shows the number of ribs, where results immediately reveal that it should be over 4. All algorithms coincide at 5 ribs as the optimal number in this process. The fourth row displays the trends of algorithms to find optimal rib thickness. MFO finds the optimal value early and sets it to around 0.022, while others find the same value in higher iterations. Finally, regarding the rib height, MVO, MFO, and GWO state that the optimal value is 0.06 meters, but WOA did not find a higher value than 0.039.

4.2. HCMVO Bi-level Approach

Despite several strong search characteristics of MVO and its high performance in various optimization problems, it suffers from a few deficiencies in local and global search mechanisms. For instance, it is trapped in the local optimum when wormholes stochastically generate many solutions near the best universe achieved throughout iterations, especially in solving complex multimodal problems with high dimensions [57]. Furthermore, MVO needs to be modified by an escaping strategy from the local optima to enhance the global search abilities. To address these shortages, we propose a fast and effective meta-algorithm (HCMVO) to combine MVO with a Random-restart hill-climbing local search. This meta-algorithm uses MVO on the upper level to develop global tracking and provide a range of feasible and proper solutions. The hill-climbing algorithm is designed to develop a comprehensive neighborhood search around the best-found solution proposed by the upper-level (MVO) when MVO is faced with a stagnation issue or falling into a local optimum. The performance threshold is formulated as follows.(20)Δ����THD=∑�=1�����TH��-����TH��-1�where BestTHDis the best-found solution per generation, andM is related to the domain of iterations to compute the average performance of MVO. If the proposed best solution by the local search is better than the initial one, the global best of MVO will be updated. HCMVO iteratively runs hill climbing when the performance of MVO goes down, each time with an initial condition to prepare for escaping such undesirable situations. In order to get a better balance between exploration and exploitation, the search step size linearly decreases as follows:(21)��=��-����Ma�iter��+1where iter and Maxiter are the current iteration and maximum number of evaluation, respectively. �� stands for the step size of the neighborhood search. Meanwhile, this strategy can improve the convergence rate of MVO compared with other algorithms.

Algorithm 1 shows the technical details of the proposed optimization method (HCMVO). The initial solution includes freeboard (�), bottom elevation (�), number of ribs (Nr), rib thickness (�), and rib height(�).

5. Conclusion

The high trend of diminishing worldwide energy resources has entailed a great crisis upon vulnerable societies. To withstand this effect, developing renewable energy technologies can open doors to a more reliable means, among which the wave energy converters will help the coastal residents and infrastructure. This paper set out to determine the optimized design for such devices that leads to the highest possible power output. The main goal of this research was to demonstrate the best design for an oscillating surge wave energy converter using a novel metaheuristic optimization algorithm. In this regard, the methodology was devised such that it argued the effects of influential parameters, including wave characteristics, WEC design, and interaction criteria.

To begin with, a numerical model was developed in Flow 3D software to simulate the response of the flap of a wave energy converter to incoming waves, followed by a validation study based upon a well-reputed experimental study to verify the accuracy of the model. Secondly, the hydrodynamics of the flap was investigated by incorporating the turbulence. The effect of depth, wave height, and wave period are also investigated in this part. The influence of two novel ideas on increasing the wave-converter interaction was then assessed: i) designing a flap with different widths in the upper and lower part, and ii) adding ribs on the surface of the flap. Finally, four trending single-objective metaheuristic optimization methods

Empty CellAlgorithm 1: Hill Climb Multiverse Optimization
01:procedure HCMVO
02:�=30,�=5▹���������������������������������
03:�=〈F1,B1,N,R,H1〉,…〈FN,B2,N,R,HN〉⇒lb1N⩽�⩽ubN
04:Initialize parameters�ER,�DR,�EP,Best�,���ite��▹Wormhole existence probability (WEP)
05:��=����(��)
06:��=Normalize the inflation rate��
07:for iter in[1,⋯,���iter]do
08:for�in[1,⋯,�]do
09:Update�EP,�DR,Black����Index=�
10:for���[1,⋯,�]��
11:�1=����()
12:if�1≤��(��)then
13:White HoleIndex=Roulette�heelSelection(-��)
14:�(Black HoleIndex,�)=��(White HoleIndex,�)
15:end if
16:�2=����([0,�])
17:if�2≤�EPthen
18:�3=����(),�4=����()
19:if�3<0.5then
20:�1=((��(�)-��(�))�4+��(�))
21:�(�,�)=Best�(�)+�DR�
22:else
23:�(�,�)=Best�(�)-�DR�
24:end if
25:end if
26:end for
27:end for
28:�HD=����([�1,�2,⋯,�Np])
29:Bes�TH�itr=����HD
30:ΔBestTHD=∑�=1�BestTII��-BestTII��-1�
31:ifΔBestTHD<��then▹Perform hill climbing local search
32:BestTHD=����-�lim��������THD
33:end if
34:end for
35:return�,BestTHD▹Final configuration
36:end procedure

The implementation details of the hill-climbing algorithm applied in HCMPA can be seen in Algorithm 2. One of the critical parameters isg, which denotes the resolution of the neighborhood search around the proposed global best by MVO. If we set a small step size for hill-climbing, the convergence speed will be decreased. On the other hand, a large step size reinforces the exploration ability. Still, it may reduce the exploitation ability and in return increase the act of jumping from a global optimum or surfaces with high-potential solutions. Per each decision variable, the neighborhood search evaluates two different direct searches, incremental or decremental. After assessing the generated solutions, the best candidate will be selected to iterate the search algorithm. It is noted that the hill-climbing algorithm should not be applied in the initial iteration of the optimization process due to the immense tendency for converging to local optima. Meanwhile, for optimizing largescale problems, hill-climbing is not an appropriate selection. In order to improve understanding of the proposed hybrid optimization algorithm’s steps, the flowchart of HCMVO is designed and can be seen in Figure 16.

Figure 17 shows the observed capture factor (which is the absorbed energy with respect to the available energy) by each optimization algorithm from iterations 1 to 400. The algorithms use ten search agents in their modified codes to find the optimal solutions. While GWO and MFO remain roughly constant after iterations 54 and 40, the other three algorithms keep improving the capture factor. In this case, HCMVO and MVO worked very well in the optimizing process with a capture factor obtained by the former as 0.594 and by the latter as 0.593. MFO almost found its highest value before the iteration 50, which means the exploration part of the algorithm works out well. Similarly, HCMVO does the same. However, it keeps finding the better solution during the optimization process until the last iteration, indicating the strong exploitation part of the algorithm. GWO reveals a weakness in exploration and exploitation because not only does it evoke the least capture factor value, but also the curve remains almost unchanged throughout 350 iterations.

Figure 18 illustrates complex interactions between the five optimization parameters and the capture factor for HCMVO (a), MPA (b), and MFO (c) algorithms. The first interesting observation is that there is a high level of nonlinear relationships among the setting parameters that can make a multi-modal search space. The dark blue lines represent the best-found configuration throughout the optimisation process. Based on both HCMVO (a) and MVO (b), we can infer that the dark blue lines concentrate in a specific range, showing the high convergence ability of both HCMVO and MVO. However, MFO (c) could not find the exact optimal range of the decision variables, and the best-found solutions per generation distribute mostly all around the search space.

Empty CellAlgorithm 1: Hill Climb Multiverse Optimization
01:procedure HCMVO
02:Initialization
03:Initialize the constraints��1�,��1�
04:�1�=Mi�1�+���1�/�▹Compute the step size,�is search resolution
05:So�1=〈�,�,�,�,�〉▹���������������
06:�������1=����So�1▹���������ℎ���������
07:Main loop
08:for iter≤���ita=do
09:���=���±��
10:while�≤���(Sol1)do
11:���=���+�,▹����ℎ���ℎ��������ℎ
12:fitness��iter=�������
13:t = t+1
14:end while
15:〈�����,������max〉=����������
16:���itev=���Inde�max▹�������ℎ�������������������������������ℎ�������
17:��=��-����Max��+1▹�����������������
18:end for
19:return���iter,����
20:end procedure

were utilized to illuminate the optimum values of the design parameters, and the best method was chosen to develop a new algorithm that performs both local and global search methods.

The correlation between hydrodynamic parameters and the capture factor of the converter was supported by the results. For any given water depth, the capture factor increases as the wave period increases, until a certain wave period value (6 seconds) is reached, after which the capture factor gradually decreases. It is expected since the flap cannot oscillate effectively when the wavelength is too short for a certain water depth. Conversely, when the wavelength is too long, the capture factor decreases. Furthermore, under a constant wave period, increasing the water depth does not affect the capture factor. Regarding the sensitivity analysis, the study found that increasing the flap bottom elevation causes turbulence flow behind the flap and limitation of rotation, which leads to less interaction with the incoming waves. Furthermore, while keeping the flap bottom elevation constant, increasing the freeboard improves the capture factor. Overtopping happens when the freeboard is negative and the flap is below the water surface, which has a detrimental influence on converter performance. Furthermore, raising the freeboard causes the wave impact to become more violent, which increases converter performance.

In the last part, we discussed the search process of each algorithm and visualized their performance and convergence curves as they try to find the best values for decision variables. Among the four selected metaheuristic algorithms, the Multi-verse Optimizer proved to be the most effective in achieving the best answer in terms of the WEC capture factor. However, the MVO needed modifications regarding its escape approach from the local optima in order to improve its global search capabilities. To overcome these constraints, we presented a fast and efficient meta-algorithm (HCMVO) that combines MVO with a Random-restart hill-climbing local search. On a higher level, this meta-algorithm employed MVO to generate global tracking and present a range of possible and appropriate solutions. Taken together, the results demonstrated that there is a significant degree of nonlinearity among the setup parameters that might result in a multimodal search space. Since MVO was faced with a stagnation issue or fell into a local optimum, we constructed a complete neighborhood search around the best-found solution offered by the upper level. In sum, the newly-developed algorithm proved to be highly effective for the problem compared to other similar optimization methods. The strength of the current findings may encourage future investigation on design optimization of wave energy converters using developed geometry as well as the novel approach.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Erfan Amini: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Mahdieh Nasiri: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Navid Salami Pargoo: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Zahra Mozhgani: Conceptualization, Methodology. Danial Golbaz: Writing – original draft. Mehrdad Baniesmaeil: Writing – original draft. Meysam Majidi Nezhad: . Mehdi Neshat: Supervision, Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Davide Astiaso Garcia: Supervision. Georgios Sylaios: Supervision.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgement

This research has been carried out within ILIAD (Inte-grated Digital Framework for Comprehensive Maritime Data and Information Services) project that received funding from the European Union’s H2020 programme.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

References

Figure 5 A schematic of the water model of reactor URO 200.

Physical and Numerical Modeling of the Impeller Construction Impact on the Aluminum Degassing Process

알루미늄 탈기 공정에 미치는 임펠러 구성의 물리적 및 수치적 모델링

Kamil Kuglin,1 Michał Szucki,2 Jacek Pieprzyca,3 Simon Genthe,2 Tomasz Merder,3 and Dorota Kalisz1,*

Mikael Ersson, Academic Editor

Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer

Associated Data

Data Availability Statement

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Abstract

This paper presents the results of tests on the suitability of designed heads (impellers) for aluminum refining. The research was carried out on a physical model of the URO-200, followed by numerical simulations in the FLOW 3D program. Four design variants of impellers were used in the study. The degree of dispersion of the gas phase in the model liquid was used as a criterion for evaluating the performance of each solution using different process parameters, i.e., gas flow rate and impeller speed. Afterward, numerical simulations in Flow 3D software were conducted for the best solution. These simulations confirmed the results obtained with the water model and verified them.

Keywords: aluminum, impeller construction, degassing process, numerical modeling, physical modeling

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1. Introduction

Constantly increasing requirements concerning metallurgical purity in terms of hydrogen content and nonmetallic inclusions make casting manufacturers use effective refining techniques. The answer to this demand is the implementation of the aluminum refining technique making use of a rotor with an original design guaranteeing efficient refining [1,2,3,4]. The main task of the impeller (rotor) is to reduce the contamination of liquid metal (primary and recycled aluminum) with hydrogen and nonmetallic inclusions. An inert gas, mainly argon or a mixture of gases, is introduced through the rotor into the liquid metal to bring both hydrogen and nonmetallic inclusions to the metal surface through the flotation process. Appropriately and uniformly distributed gas bubbles in the liquid metal guarantee achieving the assumed level of contaminant removal economically. A very important factor in deciding about the obtained degassing effect is the optimal rotor design [5,6,7,8]. Thanks to the appropriate geometry of the rotor, gas bubbles introduced into the liquid metal are split into smaller ones, and the spinning movement of the rotor distributes them throughout the volume of the liquid metal bath. In this solution impurities in the liquid metal are removed both in the volume and from the upper surface of the metal. With a well-designed impeller, the costs of refining aluminum and its alloys can be lowered thanks to the reduced inert gas and energy consumption (optimal selection of rotor rotational speed). Shorter processing time and a high degree of dehydrogenation decrease the formation of dross on the metal surface (waste). A bigger produced dross leads to bigger process losses. Consequently, this means that the choice of rotor geometry has an indirect impact on the degree to which the generated waste is reduced [9,10].

Another equally important factor is the selection of process parameters such as gas flow rate and rotor speed [11,12]. A well-designed gas injection system for liquid metal meets two key requirements; it causes rapid mixing of the liquid metal to maintain a uniform temperature throughout the volume and during the entire process, to produce a chemically homogeneous metal composition. This solution ensures effective degassing of the metal bath. Therefore, the shape of the rotor, the arrangement of the nozzles, and their number are significant design parameters that guarantee the optimum course of the refining process. It is equally important to complete the mixing of the metal bath in a relatively short time, as this considerably shortens the refining process and, consequently, reduces the process costs. Another important criterion conditioning the implementation of the developed rotor is the generation of fine diffused gas bubbles which are distributed throughout the metal volume, and whose residence time will be sufficient for the bubbles to collide and adsorb the contaminants. The process of bubble formation by the spinning rotors differs from that in the nozzles or porous molders. In the case of a spinning rotor, the shear force generated by the rotor motion splits the bubbles into smaller ones. Here, the rotational speed, mixing force, surface tension, and fluid density have a key effect on the bubble size. The velocity of the bubbles, which depends mainly on their size and shape, determines their residence time in the reactor and is, therefore, very important for the refining process, especially since gas bubbles in liquid aluminum may remain steady only below a certain size [13,14,15].

The impeller designs presented in the article were developed to improve the efficiency of the process and reduce its costs. The impellers used so far have a complicated structure and are very pricey. The success of the conducted research will allow small companies to become independent of external supplies through the possibility of making simple and effective impellers on their own. The developed structures were tested on the water model. The results of this study can be considered as pilot.

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2. Materials and Methods

Rotors were realized with the SolidWorks computer design technique and a 3D printer. The developed designs were tested on a water model. Afterward, the solution with the most advantageous refining parameters was selected and subjected to calculations with the Flow3D package. As a result, an impeller was designed for aluminum refining. Its principal lies in an even distribution of gas bubbles in the entire volume of liquid metal, with the largest possible participation of the bubble surface, without disturbing the metal surface. This procedure guarantees the removal of gaseous, as well as metallic and nonmetallic, impurities.

2.1. Rotor Designs

The developed impeller constructions, shown in Figure 1Figure 2Figure 3 and Figure 4, were printed on a 3D printer using the PLA (polylactide) material. The impeller design models differ in their shape and the number of holes through which the inert gas flows. Figure 1Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the same impeller model but with a different number of gas outlets. The arrangement of four, eight, and 12 outlet holes was adopted in the developed design. A triangle-shaped structure equipped with three gas outlet holes is presented in Figure 4.

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Figure 1

A 3D model—impeller with four holes—variant B4.

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Figure 2

A 3D model—impeller with eight holes—variant B8.

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Figure 3

A 3D model—impeller with twelve holes—variant B12.

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Figure 4

A 3D model—‘red triangle’ impeller with three holes—variant RT3.

2.2. Physical Models

Investigations were carried out on a water model of the URO 200 reactor of the barbotage refining process (see Figure 5).

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Figure 5

A schematic of the water model of reactor URO 200.

The URO 200 reactor can be classified as a cyclic reactor. The main element of the device is a rotor, which ends the impeller. The whole system is attached to a shaft via which the refining gas is supplied. Then, the shaft with the rotor is immersed in the liquid metal in the melting pot or the furnace chamber. In URO 200 reactors, the refining process lasts 600 s (10 min), the gas flow rate that can be obtained ranges from 5 to 20 dm3·min−1, and the speed at which the rotor can move is 0 to 400 rpm. The permissible quantity of liquid metal for barbotage refining is 300 kg or 700 kg [8,16,17]. The URO 200 has several design solutions which improve operation and can be adapted to the existing equipment in the foundry. These solutions include the following [8,16]:

  • URO-200XR—used for small crucible furnaces, the capacity of which does not exceed 250 kg, with no control system and no control of the refining process.
  • URO-200SA—used to service several crucible furnaces of capacity from 250 kg to 700 kg, fully automated and equipped with a mechanical rotor lift.
  • URO-200KA—used for refining processes in crucible furnaces and allows refining in a ladle. The process is fully automated, with a hydraulic rotor lift.
  • URO-200KX—a combination of the XR and KA models, designed for the ladle refining process. Additionally, refining in heated crucibles is possible. The unit is equipped with a manual hydraulic rotor lift.
  • URO-200PA—designed to cooperate with induction or crucible furnaces or intermediate chambers, the capacity of which does not exceed one ton. This unit is an integral part of the furnace. The rotor lift is equipped with a screw drive.

Studies making use of a physical model can be associated with the observation of the flow and circulation of gas bubbles. They require meeting several criteria regarding the similarity of the process and the object characteristics. The similarity conditions mainly include geometric, mechanical, chemical, thermal, and kinetic parameters. During simulation of aluminum refining with inert gas, it is necessary to maintain the geometric similarity between the model and the real object, as well as the similarity related to the flow of liquid metal and gas (hydrodynamic similarity). These quantities are characterized by the Reynolds, Weber, and Froude numbers. The Froude number is the most important parameter characterizing the process, its magnitude is the same for the physical model and the real object. Water was used as the medium in the physical modeling. The factors influencing the choice of water are its availability, relatively low cost, and kinematic viscosity at room temperature, which is very close to that of liquid aluminum.

The physical model studies focused on the flow of inert gas in the form of gas bubbles with varying degrees of dispersion, particularly with respect to some flow patterns such as flow in columns and geysers, as well as disturbance of the metal surface. The most important refining parameters are gas flow rate and rotor speed. The barbotage refining studies for the developed impeller (variants B4, B8, B12, and RT3) designs were conducted for the following process parameters:

  • Rotor speed: 200, 300, 400, and 500 rpm,
  • Ideal gas flow: 10, 20, and 30 dm3·min−1,
  • Temperature: 293 K (20 °C).

These studies were aimed at determining the most favorable variants of impellers, which were then verified using the numerical modeling methods in the Flow-3D program.

2.3. Numerical Simulations with Flow-3D Program

Testing different rotor impellers using a physical model allows for observing the phenomena taking place while refining. This is a very important step when testing new design solutions without using expensive industrial trials. Another solution is modeling by means of commercial simulation programs such as ANSYS Fluent or Flow-3D [18,19]. Unlike studies on a physical model, in a computer program, the parameters of the refining process and the object itself, including the impeller design, can be easily modified. The simulations were performed with the Flow-3D program version 12.03.02. A three-dimensional system with the same dimensions as in the physical modeling was used in the calculations. The isothermal flow of liquid–gas bubbles was analyzed. As in the physical model, three speeds were adopted in the numerical tests: 200, 300, and 500 rpm. During the initial phase of the simulations, the velocity field around the rotor generated an appropriate direction of motion for the newly produced bubbles. When the required speed was reached, the generation of randomly distributed bubbles around the rotor was started at a rate of 2000 per second. Table 1 lists the most important simulation parameters.

Table 1

Values of parameters used in the calculations.

ParameterValueUnit
Maximum number of gas particles1,000,000
Rate of particle generation20001·s−1
Specific gas constant287.058J·kg−1·K−1
Atmospheric pressure1.013 × 105Pa
Water density1000kg·m−3
Water viscosity0.001kg·m−1·s−1
Boundary condition on the wallsNo-slip
Size of computational cell0.0034m

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In the case of the CFD analysis, the numerical solutions require great care when generating the computational mesh. Therefore, computational mesh tests were performed prior to the CFD calculations. The effect of mesh density was evaluated by taking into account the velocity of water in the tested object on the measurement line A (height of 0.065 m from the bottom) in a characteristic cross-section passing through the object axis (see Figure 6). The mesh contained 3,207,600, 6,311,981, 7,889,512, 11,569,230, and 14,115,049 cells.

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Figure 6

The velocity of the water depending on the size of the computational grid.

The quality of the generated computational meshes was checked using the criterion skewness angle QEAS [18]. This criterion is described by the following relationship:

QEAS=max{βmax−βeq180−βeq,βeq−βminβeq},

(1)

where βmaxβmin are the maximal and minimal angles (in degrees) between the edges of the cell, and βeq is the angle corresponding to an ideal cell, which for cubic cells is 90°.

Normalized in the interval [0;1], the value of QEAS should not exceed 0.75, which identifies the permissible skewness angle of the generated mesh. For the computed meshes, this value was equal to 0.55–0.65.

Moreover, when generating the computational grids in the studied facility, they were compacted in the areas of the highest gradients of the calculated values, where higher turbulence is to be expected (near the impeller). The obtained results of water velocity in the studied object at constant gas flow rate are shown in Figure 6.

The analysis of the obtained water velocity distributions (see Figure 6) along the line inside the object revealed that, with the density of the grid of nodal points, the velocity changed and its changes for the test cases of 7,889,512, 11,569,230, and 14,115,049 were insignificant. Therefore, it was assumed that a grid containing not less than 7,900,000 (7,889,512) cells would not affect the result of CFD calculations.

A single-block mesh of regular cells with a size of 0.0034 m was used in the numerical calculations. The total number of cells was approximately 7,900,000 (7,889,512). This grid resolution (see Figure 7) allowed the geometry of the system to be properly represented, maintaining acceptable computation time (about 3 days on a workstation with 2× CPU and 12 computing cores).

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Figure 7

Structured equidistant mesh used in numerical calculations: (a) mesh with smoothed, surface cells (the so-called FAVOR method) used in Flow-3D; (b) visualization of the applied mesh resolution.

The calculations were conducted with an explicit scheme. The timestep was selected by the program automatically and controlled by stability and convergence. From the moment of the initial velocity field generation (start of particle generation), it was 0.0001 s.

When modeling the degassing process, three fluids are present in the system: water, gas supplied through the rotor head (impeller), and the surrounding air. Modeling such a multiphase flow is a numerically very complex issue. The necessity to overcome the liquid backpressure by the gas flowing out from the impeller leads to the formation of numerical instabilities in the volume of fluid (VOF)-based approach used by Flow-3D software. Therefore, a mixed description of the analyzed flow was used here. In this case, water was treated as a continuous medium, while, in the case of gas bubbles, the discrete phase model (DPM) model was applied. The way in which the air surrounding the system was taken into account is later described in detail.

The following additional assumptions were made in the modeling:

  • —The liquid phase was considered as an incompressible Newtonian fluid.
  • —The effect of chemical reactions during the refining process was neglected.
  • —The composition of each phase (gas and liquid) was considered homogeneous; therefore, the viscosity and surface tension were set as constants.
  • —Only full turbulence existed in the liquid, and the effect of molecular viscosity was neglected.
  • —The gas bubbles were shaped as perfect spheres.
  • —The mutual interaction between gas bubbles (particles) was neglected.

2.3.1. Modeling of Liquid Flow 

The motion of the real fluid (continuous medium) is described by the Navier–Stokes Equation [20].

dudt=−1ρ∇p+ν∇2u+13ν∇(∇⋅ u)+F,

(2)

where du/dt is the time derivative, u is the velocity vector, t is the time, and F is the term accounting for external forces including gravity (unit components denoted by XYZ).

In the simulations, the fluid flow was assumed to be incompressible, in which case the following equation is applicable:

∂u∂t+(u⋅∇)u=−1ρ∇p+ν∇2u+F.

(3)

Due to the large range of liquid velocities during flows, the turbulence formation process was included in the modeling. For this purpose, the k–ε model turbulence kinetic energy k and turbulence dissipation ε were the target parameters, as expressed by the following equations [21]:

∂(ρk)∂t+∂(ρkvi)∂xi=∂∂xj[(μ+μtσk)⋅∂k∂xi]+Gk+Gb−ρε−Ym+Sk,

(4)

∂(ρε)∂t+∂(ρεui)∂xi=∂∂xj[(μ+μtσε)⋅∂k∂xi]+C1εεk(Gk+G3εGb)+C2ερε2k+Sε,

(5)

where ρ is the gas density, σκ and σε are the Prandtl turbulence numbers, k and ε are constants of 1.0 and 1.3, and Gk and Gb are the kinetic energy of turbulence generated by the average velocity and buoyancy, respectively.

As mentioned earlier, there are two gas phases in the considered problem. In addition to the gas bubbles, which are treated here as particles, there is also air, which surrounds the system. The boundary of phase separation is in this case the free surface of the water. The shape of the free surface can change as a result of the forming velocity field in the liquid. Therefore, it is necessary to use an appropriate approach to free surface tracking. The most commonly used concept in liquid–gas flow modeling is the volume of fluid (VOF) method [22,23], and Flow-3D uses a modified version of this method called TrueVOF. It introduces the concept of the volume fraction of the liquid phase fl. This parameter can be used for classifying the cells of a discrete grid into areas filled with liquid phase (fl = 1), gaseous phase, or empty cells (fl = 0) and those through which the phase separation boundary (fl ∈ (0, 1)) passes (free surface). To determine the local variations of the liquid phase fraction, it is necessary to solve the following continuity equation:

dfldt=0.

(6)

Then, the fluid parameters in the region of coexistence of the two phases (the so-called interface) depend on the volume fraction of each phase.

ρ=flρl+(1−fl)ρg,

(7)

ν=flνl+(1−fl)νg,

(8)

where indices l and g refer to the liquid and gaseous phases, respectively.

The parameter of fluid velocity in cells containing both phases is also determined in the same way.

u=flul+(1−fl)ug.

(9)

Since the processes taking place in the surrounding air can be omitted, to speed up the calculations, a single-phase, free-surface model was used. This means that no calculations were performed in the gas cells (they were treated as empty cells). The liquid could fill them freely, and the air surrounding the system was considered by the atmospheric pressure exerted on the free surface. This approach is often used in modeling foundry and metallurgical processes [24].

2.3.2. Modeling of Gas Bubble Flow 

As stated, a particle model was used to model bubble flow. Spherical particles (gas bubbles) of a given size were randomly generated in the area marked with green in Figure 7b. In the simulations, the gas bubbles were assumed to have diameters of 0.016 and 0.02 m corresponding to the gas flow rates of 10 and 30 dm3·min−1, respectively.

Experimental studies have shown that, as a result of turbulent fluid motion, some of the bubbles may burst, leading to the formation of smaller bubbles, although merging of bubbles into larger groupings may also occur. Therefore, to be able to observe the behavior of bubbles of different sizes (diameter), the calculations generated two additional particle types with diameters twice smaller and twice larger, respectively. The proportion of each species in the system was set to 33.33% (Table 2).

Table 2

Data assumed for calculations.

NoRotor Speed (Rotational Speed)
rpm
Bubbles Diameter
m
Corresponding Gas Flow Rate
dm3·min−1
NoRotor Speed (Rotational Speed)
rpm
Bubbles Diameter
m
Corresponding Gas Flow Rate
dm3·min−1
A2000.01610D2000.0230
0.0080.01
0.0320.04
B3000.01610E3000.0230
0.0080.01
0.0320.04
C5000.01610F5000.0230
0.0080.01
0.0320.04

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The velocity of the particle results from the generated velocity field (calculated from Equation (3) in the liquid ul around it and its velocity resulting from the buoyancy force ub. The effect of particle radius r on the terminal velocity associated with buoyancy force can be determined according to Stokes’ law.

ub=29 (ρg−ρl)μlgr2,

(10)

where g is the acceleration (9.81).

The DPM model was used for modeling the two-phase (water–air) flow. In this model, the fluid (water) is treated as a continuous phase and described by the Navier–Stokes equation, while gas bubbles are particles flowing in the model fluid (discrete phase). The trajectories of each bubble in the DPM system are calculated at each timestep taking into account the mass forces acting on it. Table 3 characterizes the DPM model used in our own research [18].

Table 3

Characteristic of the DPM model.

MethodEquations
Euler–LagrangeBalance equation:
dugdt=FD(u−ug)+g(ϱg−ϱ)ϱg+F.
FD (u − up) denotes the drag forces per mass unit of a bubble, and the expression for the drag coefficient FD is of the form
FD=18μCDReϱ⋅gd2g24.
The relative Reynolds number has the form
Re≡ρdg|ug−u|μ.
On the other hand, the force resulting from the additional acceleration of the model fluid has the form
F=12dρdtρg(u−ug),
where ug is the gas bubble velocity, u is the liquid velocity, dg is the bubble diameter, and CD is the drag coefficient.

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3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Calculations of Power and Mixing Time by the Flowing Gas Bubbles

One of the most important parameters of refining with a rotor is the mixing power induced by the spinning rotor and the outflowing gas bubbles (via impeller). The mixing power of liquid metal in a ladle of height (h) by gas injection can be determined from the following relation [15]:

pgVm=ρ⋅g⋅uB,

(11)

where pg is the mixing power, Vm is the volume of liquid metal in the reactor, ρ is the density of liquid aluminum, and uB is the average speed of bubbles, given below.

uB=n⋅R⋅TAc⋅Pm⋅t,

(12)

where n is the number of gas moles, R is the gas constant (8.314), Ac is the cross-sectional area of the reactor vessel, T is the temperature of liquid aluminum in the reactor, and Pm is the pressure at the middle tank level. The pressure at the middle level of the tank is calculated by a function of the mean logarithmic difference.

Pm=(Pa+ρ⋅g⋅h)−Paln(Pa+ρ⋅g⋅h)Pa,

(13)

where Pa is the atmospheric pressure, and h is the the height of metal in the reactor.

Themelis and Goyal [25] developed a model for calculating mixing power delivered by gas injection.

pg=2Q⋅R⋅T⋅ln(1+m⋅ρ⋅g⋅hP),

(14)

where Q is the gas flow, and m is the mass of liquid metal.

Zhang [26] proposed a model taking into account the temperature difference between gas and alloy (metal).

pg=QRTgVm[ln(1+ρ⋅g⋅hPa)+(1−TTg)],

(15)

where Tg is the gas temperature at the entry point.

Data for calculating the mixing power resulting from inert gas injection into liquid aluminum are given below in Table 4. The design parameters were adopted for the model, the parameters of which are shown in Figure 5.

Table 4

Data for calculating mixing power introduced by an inert gas.

ParameterValueUnit
Height of metal column0.7m
Density of aluminum2375kg·m−3
Process duration20s
Gas temperature at the injection site940K
Cross-sectional area of ladle0.448m2
Mass of liquid aluminum546.25kg
Volume of ladle0.23M3
Temperature of liquid aluminum941.15K

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Table 5 presents the results of mixing power calculations according to the models of Themelis and Goyal and of Zhang for inert gas flows of 10, 20, and 30 dm3·min−1. The obtained calculation results significantly differed from each other. The difference was an order of magnitude, which indicates that the model is highly inaccurate without considering the temperature of the injected gas. Moreover, the calculations apply to the case when the mixing was performed only by the flowing gas bubbles, without using a rotor, which is a great simplification of the phenomenon.

Table 5

Mixing power calculated from mathematical models.

Mathematical ModelMixing Power (W·t−1)
for a Given Inert Gas Flow (dm3·min−1)
102030
Themelis and Goyal11.4923.3335.03
Zhang0.821.662.49

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The mixing time is defined as the time required to achieve 95% complete mixing of liquid metal in the ladle [27,28,29,30]. Table 6 groups together equations for the mixing time according to the models.

Table 6

Models for calculating mixing time.

AuthorsModelRemarks
Szekely [31]τ=800ε−0.4ε—W·t−1
Chiti and Paglianti [27]τ=CVQlV—volume of reactor, m3
Ql—flow intensity, m3·s−1
Iguchi and Nakamura [32]τ=1200⋅Q−0.4D1.97h−1.0υ0.47υ—kinematic viscosity, m2·s−1
D—diameter of ladle, m
h—height of metal column, m
Q—liquid flow intensity, m3·s−1

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Figure 8 and Figure 9 show the mixing time as a function of gas flow rate for various heights of the liquid column in the ladle and mixing power values.

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Figure 8

Mixing time as a function of gas flow rate for various heights of the metal column (Iguchi and Nakamura model).

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Figure 9

Mixing time as a function of mixing power (Szekly model).

3.2. Determining the Bubble Size

The mechanisms controlling bubble size and mass transfer in an alloy undergoing refining are complex. Strong mixing conditions in the reactor promote impurity mass transfer. In the case of a spinning rotor, the shear force generated by the rotor motion separates the bubbles into smaller bubbles. Rotational speed, mixing force, surface tension, and liquid density have a strong influence on the bubble size. To characterize the kinetic state of the refining process, parameters k and A were introduced. Parameters kA, and uB can be calculated using the below equations [33].

k=2D⋅uBdB⋅π−−−−−−√,

(16)

A=6Q⋅hdB⋅uB,

(17)

uB=1.02g⋅dB,−−−−−√

(18)

where D is the diffusion coefficient, and dB is the bubble diameter.

After substituting appropriate values, we get

dB=3.03×104(πD)−2/5g−1/5h4/5Q0.344N−1.48.

(19)

According to the last equation, the size of the gas bubble decreases with the increasing rotational speed (see Figure 10).

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Figure 10

Effect of rotational speed on the bubble diameter.

In a flow of given turbulence intensity, the diameter of the bubble does not exceed the maximum size dmax, which is inversely proportional to the rate of kinetic energy dissipation in a viscous flow ε. The size of the gas bubble diameter as a function of the mixing energy, also considering the Weber number and the mixing energy in the negative power, can be determined from the following equations [31,34]:

  • —Sevik and Park:

dBmax=We0.6kr⋅(σ⋅103ρ⋅10−3)0.6⋅(10⋅ε)−0.4⋅10−2.

(20)

  • —Evans:

dBmax=⎡⎣Wekr⋅σ⋅1032⋅(ρ⋅10−3)13⎤⎦35 ⋅(10⋅ε)−25⋅10−2.

(21)

The results of calculating the maximum diameter of the bubble dBmax determined from Equation (21) are given in Table 7.

Table 7

The results of calculating the maximum diameter of the bubble using Equation (21).

ModelMixing Energy
ĺ (m2·s−3)
Weber Number (Wekr)
0.591.01.2
Zhang and Taniguchi
dmax
0.10.01670.02300.026
0.50.00880.01210.013
1.00.00670.00910.010
1.50.00570.00780.009
Sevik and Park
dBmax
0.10.2650.360.41
0.50.1390.190.21
1.00.1060.140.16
1.50.0900.120.14
Evans
dBmax
0.10.2470.3400.38
0.50.1300.1780.20
1.00.0980.1350.15
1.50.0840.1150.13

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3.3. Physical Modeling

The first stage of experiments (using the URO-200 water model) included conducting experiments with impellers equipped with four, eight, and 12 gas outlets (variants B4, B8, B12). The tests were carried out for different process parameters. Selected results for these experiments are presented in Figure 11Figure 12Figure 13 and Figure 14.

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Figure 11

Impeller variant B4—gas bubbles dispersion registered for a gas flow rate of 10 dm3·min−1 and rotor speed of (a) 200, (b) 300, (c) 400, and (d) 500 rpm.

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Figure 12

Impeller variant B8—gas bubbles dispersion registered for a gas flow rate of 10 dm3·min−1 and rotor speed of (a) 200, (b) 300, (c) 400, and (d) 500 rpm.

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Figure 13

Gas bubble dispersion registered for different processing parameters (impeller variant B12).

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Figure 14

Gas bubble dispersion registered for different processing parameters (impeller variant RT3).

The analysis of the refining variants presented in Figure 11Figure 12Figure 13 and Figure 14 reveals that the proposed impellers design model is not useful for the aluminum refining process. The number of gas outlet orifices, rotational speed, and flow did not affect the refining efficiency. In all the variants shown in the figures, very poor dispersion of gas bubbles was observed in the object. The gas bubble flow had a columnar character, and so-called dead zones, i.e., areas where no inert gas bubbles are present, were visible in the analyzed object. Such dead zones were located in the bottom and side zones of the ladle, while the flow of bubbles occurred near the turning rotor. Another negative phenomenon observed was a significant agitation of the water surface due to excessive (rotational) rotor speed and gas flow (see Figure 13, cases 20; 400, 30; 300, 30; 400, and 30; 500).

Research results for a ‘red triangle’ impeller equipped with three gas supply orifices (variant RT3) are presented in Figure 14.

In this impeller design, a uniform degree of bubble dispersion in the entire volume of the modeling fluid was achieved for most cases presented (see Figure 14). In all tested variants, single bubbles were observed in the area of the water surface in the vessel. For variants 20; 200, 30; 200, and 20; 300 shown in Figure 14, the bubble dispersion results were the worst as the so-called dead zones were identified in the area near the bottom and sidewalls of the vessel, which disqualifies these work parameters for further applications. Interestingly, areas where swirls and gas bubble chains formed were identified only for the inert gas flows of 20 and 30 dm3·min−1 and 200 rpm in the analyzed model. This means that the presented model had the best performance in terms of dispersion of gas bubbles in the model liquid. Its design with sharp edges also differed from previously analyzed models, which is beneficial for gas bubble dispersion, but may interfere with its suitability in industrial conditions due to possible premature wear.

3.4. Qualitative Comparison of Research Results (CFD and Physical Model)

The analysis (physical modeling) revealed that the best mixing efficiency results were obtained with the RT3 impeller variant. Therefore, numerical calculations were carried out for the impeller model with three outlet orifices (variant RT3). The CFD results are presented in Figure 15 and Figure 16.

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Figure 15

Simulation results of the impeller RT3, for given flows and rotational speeds after a time of 1 s: simulation variants (a) A, (b) B, (c) C, (d) D, (e) E, and (f) F.

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Figure 16

Simulation results of the impeller RT3, for given flows and rotational speeds after a time of 5.4 s.: simulation variants (a) A, (b) B, (c) C, (d) D, (e) E, and (f) F.

CFD results are presented for all analyzed variants (impeller RT3) at two selected calculation timesteps of 1 and 5.40 s. They show the velocity field of the medium (water) and the dispersion of gas bubbles.

Figure 15 shows the initial refining phase after 1 s of the process. In this case, the gas bubble formation and flow were observed in an area close to contact with the rotor. Figure 16 shows the phase when the dispersion and flow of gas bubbles were advanced in the reactor area of the URO-200 model.

The quantitative evaluation of the obtained results of physical and numerical model tests was based on the comparison of the degree of gas dispersion in the model liquid. The degree of gas bubble dispersion in the volume of the model liquid and the areas of strong turbulent zones formation were evaluated during the analysis of the results of visualization and numerical simulations. These two effects sufficiently characterize the required course of the process from the physical point of view. The known scheme of the below description was adopted as a basic criterion for the evaluation of the degree of dispersion of gas bubbles in the model liquid.

  • Minimal dispersion—single bubbles ascending in the region of their formation along the ladle axis; lack of mixing in the whole bath volume.
  • Accurate dispersion—single and well-mixed bubbles ascending toward the bath mirror in the region of the ladle axis; no dispersion near the walls and in the lower part of the ladle.
  • Uniform dispersion—most desirable; very good mixing of fine bubbles with model liquid.
  • Excessive dispersion—bubbles join together to form chains; large turbulence zones; uneven flow of gas.

The numerical simulation results give a good agreement with the experiments performed with the physical model. For all studied variants (used process parameters), the single bubbles were observed in the area of water surface in the vessel. For variants presented in Figure 13 (200 rpm, gas flow 20 and dm3·min−1) and relevant examples in numerical simulation Figure 16, the worst bubble dispersion results were obtained because the dead zones were identified in the area near the bottom and sidewalls of the vessel, which disqualifies these work parameters for further use. The areas where swirls and gas bubble chains formed were identified only for the inert gas flows of 20 and 30 dm3·min−1 and 200 rpm in the analyzed model (physical model). This means that the presented impeller model had the best performance in terms of dispersion of gas bubbles in the model liquid. The worst bubble dispersion results were obtained because the dead zones were identified in the area near the bottom and side walls of the vessel, which disqualifies these work parameters for further use.

Figure 17 presents exemplary results of model tests (CFD and physical model) with marked gas bubble dispersion zones. All variants of tests were analogously compared, and this comparison allowed validating the numerical model.

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Figure 17

Compilations of model research results (CFD and physical): A—single gas bubbles formed on the surface of the modeling liquid, B—excessive formation of gas chains and swirls, C—uniform distribution of gas bubbles in the entire volume of the tank, and D—dead zones without gas bubbles, no dispersion. (a) Variant B; (b) variant F.

It should be mentioned here that, in numerical simulations, it is necessary to make certain assumptions and simplifications. The calculations assumed three particle size classes (Table 2), which represent the different gas bubbles that form due to different gas flow rates. The maximum number of particles/bubbles (Table 1) generated was assumed in advance and related to the computational capabilities of the computer. Too many particles can also make it difficult to visualize and analyze the results. The size of the particles, of course, affects their behavior during simulation, while, in the figures provided in the article, the bubbles are represented by spheres (visualization of the results) of the same size. Please note that, due to the adopted Lagrangian–Eulerian approach, the simulation did not take into account phenomena such as bubble collapse or fusion. However, the obtained results allow a comprehensive analysis of the behavior of gas bubbles in the system under consideration.

The comparative analysis of the visualization (quantitative) results obtained with the water model and CFD simulations (see Figure 17) generated a sufficient agreement from the point of view of the trends. A precise quantitative evaluation is difficult to perform because of the lack of a refraction compensating system in the water model. Furthermore, in numerical simulations, it is not possible to determine the geometry of the forming gas bubbles and their interaction with each other as opposed to the visualization in the water model. The use of both research methods is complementary. Thus, a direct comparison of images obtained by the two methods requires appropriate interpretation. However, such an assessment gives the possibility to qualitatively determine the types of the present gas bubble dispersion, thus ultimately validating the CFD results with the water model.

A summary of the visualization results for impellers RT3, i.e., analysis of the occurring gas bubble dispersion types, is presented in Table 8.

Table 8

Summary of visualization results (impeller RT3)—different types of gas bubble dispersion.

No Exp.ABCDEF
Gas flow rate, dm3·min−11030
Impeller speed, rpm200300500200300500
Type of dispersionAccurateUniformUniform/excessiveMinimalExcessiveExcessive

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Tests carried out for impeller RT3 confirmed the high efficiency of gas bubble distribution in the volume of the tested object at a low inert gas flow rate of 10 dm3·min−1. The most optimal variant was variant B (300 rpm, 10 dm3·min−1). However, the other variants A and C (gas flow rate 10 dm3·min−1) seemed to be favorable for this type of impeller and are recommended for further testing. The above process parameters will be analyzed in detail in a quantitative analysis to be performed on the basis of the obtained efficiency curves of the degassing process (oxygen removal). This analysis will give an unambiguous answer as to which process parameters are the most optimal for this type of impeller; the results are planned for publication in the next article.

It should also be noted here that the high agreement between the results of numerical calculations and physical modelling prompts a conclusion that the proposed approach to the simulation of a degassing process which consists of a single-phase flow model with a free surface and a particle flow model is appropriate. The simulation results enable us to understand how the velocity field in the fluid is formed and to analyze the distribution of gas bubbles in the system. The simulations in Flow-3D software can, therefore, be useful for both the design of the impeller geometry and the selection of process parameters.

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4. Conclusions

The results of experiments carried out on the physical model of the device for the simulation of barbotage refining of aluminum revealed that the worst results in terms of distribution and dispersion of gas bubbles in the studied object were obtained for the black impellers variants B4, B8, and B12 (multi-orifice impellers—four, eight, and 12 outlet holes, respectively).

In this case, the control of flow, speed, and number of gas exit orifices did not improve the process efficiency, and the developed design did not meet the criteria for industrial tests. In the case of the ‘red triangle’ impeller (variant RT3), uniform gas bubble dispersion was achieved throughout the volume of the modeling fluid for most of the tested variants. The worst bubble dispersion results due to the occurrence of the so-called dead zones in the area near the bottom and sidewalls of the vessel were obtained for the flow variants of 20 dm3·min−1 and 200 rpm and 30 dm3·min−1 and 200 rpm. For the analyzed model, areas where swirls and gas bubble chains were formed were found only for the inert gas flow of 20 and 30 dm3·min−1 and 200 rpm. The model impeller (variant RT3) had the best performance compared to the previously presented impellers in terms of dispersion of gas bubbles in the model liquid. Moreover, its design differed from previously presented models because of its sharp edges. This can be advantageous for gas bubble dispersion, but may negatively affect its suitability in industrial conditions due to premature wearing.

The CFD simulation results confirmed the results obtained from the experiments performed on the physical model. The numerical simulation of the operation of the ‘red triangle’ impeller model (using Flow-3D software) gave good agreement with the experiments performed on the physical model. This means that the presented model impeller, as compared to other (analyzed) designs, had the best performance in terms of gas bubble dispersion in the model liquid.

In further work, the developed numerical model is planned to be used for CFD simulations of the gas bubble distribution process taking into account physicochemical parameters of liquid aluminum based on industrial tests. Consequently, the obtained results may be implemented in production practice.

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Funding Statement

This paper was created with the financial support grants from the AGH-UST, Faculty of Foundry Engineering, Poland (16.16.170.654 and 11/990/BK_22/0083) for the Faculty of Materials Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Poland.

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Author Contributions

Conceptualization, K.K. and D.K.; methodology, J.P. and T.M.; validation, M.S. and S.G.; formal analysis, D.K. and T.M.; investigation, J.P., K.K. and S.G.; resources, M.S., J.P. and K.K.; writing—original draft preparation, D.K. and T.M.; writing—review and editing, D.K. and T.M.; visualization, J.P., K.K. and S.G.; supervision, D.K.; funding acquisition, D.K. and T.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

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Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

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Data Availability Statement

Data are contained within the article.

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Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Footnotes

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Figure 4.24 - Model with virtual valves in the extremities of the geometries to simulate the permeability of the mold promoting a more uniformed filling

Optimization of filling systems for low pressure by Flow-3D

Dissertação de Mestrado
Ciclo de Estudos Integrados Conducentes ao
Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica
Trabalho efectuado sob a orientação do
Doutor Hélder de Jesus Fernades Puga
Professor Doutor José Joaquim Carneiro Barbosa

ABSTRACT

논문의 일부로 튜터 선택 가능성과 해결해야 할 주제가 설정되는 매개변수를 염두에 두고 개발 주제 ‘Flow- 3D ®에 의한 저압 충전 시스템 최적화’가 선택되었습니다. 이를 위해서는 달성해야 할 목표와 이를 달성하기 위한 방법을 정의하는 것이 필요했습니다.

충전 시스템을 시뮬레이션하고 검증할 수 있는 광범위한 소프트웨어에도 불구하고 Flow-3D®는 시장에서 최고의 도구 중 하나로 표시되어 전체 충전 프로세스 및 행동 표현과 관련하여 탁월한 정확도로 시뮬레이션하는 능력을 입증했습니다.

이를 위해 관련 프로세스를 더 잘 이해하고 충진 시스템 시뮬레이션을 위한 탐색적 기반 역할을 하기 위해 이 도구를 탐색하는 것이 중요합니다. 지연 및 재료 낭비에 반영되는 실제적인 측면에서 충전 장치의 치수를 완벽하게 만드는 비용 및 시간 낭비. 이러한 방식으로 저압 주조 공정에서 충진 시스템을 설계하고 물리적 모델을 탐색하여 특성화하는 방법론을 검증하기 위한 것입니다.

이를 위해 다음 주요 단계를 고려하십시오.

시뮬레이션 소프트웨어 Flow 3D® 탐색;
충전 시스템 모델링;
모델의 매개변수를 탐색하여 모델링된 시스템의 시뮬레이션, 검증 및 최적화.

따라서 연구 중인 압력 곡선과 주조 분석에서 가장 관련성이 높은 정보의 최종 마이닝을 검증하기 위한 것입니다.

사용된 압력 곡선은 수집된 문헌과 이전에 수행된 실제 작업을 통해 얻었습니다. 결과를 통해 3단계 압력 곡선이 층류 충진 체계의 의도된 목적과 관련 속도가 0.5 𝑚/𝑠를 초과하지 않는다는 결론을 내릴 수 있었습니다.

충전 수준이 2인 압력 곡선은 0.5 𝑚/𝑠 이상의 속도로 영역을 채우는 더 난류 시스템을 갖습니다. 열전달 매개변수는 이전에 얻은 값이 주물에 대한 소산 거동을 확증하지 않았기 때문에 연구되었습니다.

이러한 방식으로 주조 공정에 더 부합하는 새로운 가치를 얻었습니다. 달성된 결과는 유사한 것으로 나타난 NovaFlow & Solid®에 의해 생성된 결과와 비교되어 시뮬레이션에서 설정된 매개변수를 검증했습니다. Flow 3D®는 주조 부품 시뮬레이션을 위한 강력한 도구로 입증되었습니다.

As part of the dissertation and bearing in mind the parameters in which the possibility of a choice of tutor and the subject to be addressed is established, the subject for development ’Optimization of filling systems for low pressure by Flow 3D ®’ was chosen. For this it was necessary to define the objectives to achieve and the methods to attain them. Despite the wide range of software able to simulate and validate filling systems, Flow 3D® has been shown as one of the best tools in the market, demonstrating its ability to simulate with distinctive accuracy with respect to the entire process of filling and the behavioral representation of the fluid obtained. To this end, it is important to explore this tool for a better understanding of the processes involved and to serve as an exploratory basis for the simulation of filling systems, simulation being one of the great strengths of the current industry due to the need to reduce costs and time waste, in practical terms, that lead to the perfecting of the dimensioning of filling devices, which are reflected in delays and wasted material. In this way it is intended to validate the methodology to design a filling system in lowpressure casting process, exploring their physical models and thus allowing for its characterization. For this, consider the following main phases: The exploration of the simulation software Flow 3D®; modeling of filling systems; simulation, validation and optimization of systems modeled by exploring the parameters of the models. Therefore, it is intended to validate the pressure curves under study and the eventual mining of the most relevant information in a casting analysis. The pressure curves that were used were obtained through the gathered literature and the practical work previously performed. Through the results it was possible to conclude that the pressure curve with 3 levels meets the intended purpose of a laminar filling regime and associated speeds never exceeding 0.5 𝑚/𝑠. The pressure curve with 2 filling levels has a more turbulent system, having filling areas with velocities above 0.5 𝑚/𝑠. The heat transfer parameter was studied due to the values previously obtained didn’t corroborate the behavior of dissipation regarding to the casting. In this way, new values, more in tune with the casting process, were obtained. The achieved results were compared with those generated by NovaFlow & Solid®, which were shown to be similar, validating the parameters established in the simulations. Flow 3D® was proven a powerful tool for the simulation of casting parts.

키워드

저압, Flow 3D®, 시뮬레이션, 파운드리, 압력-시간 관계,Low Pressure, Flow 3D®, Simulation, Foundry, Pressure-time relation

Figure 4.24 - Model with virtual valves in the extremities of the geometries to simulate the permeability of the mold promoting a more uniformed filling
Figure 4.24 – Model with virtual valves in the extremities of the geometries to simulate the permeability of the mold promoting a more uniformed filling
Figure 4.39 - Values of temperature contours using full energy heat transfer parameter for simula
Figure 4.39 – Values of temperature contours using full energy heat transfer parameter for simula
Figure 4.40 – Comparison between software simulations (a) Flow 3D® simulation,
(b) NovaFlow & Solid® simulation
Figure 4.40 – Comparison between software simulations (a) Flow 3D® simulation, (b) NovaFlow & Solid® simulation

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Figure 1: Mold drawings

3D Flow and Temperature Analysis of Filling a Plutonium Mold

플루토늄 주형 충전의 3D 유동 및 온도 분석

Authors: Orenstein, Nicholas P. [1]

Publication Date:2013-07-24
Research Org.: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.: DOE/LANL
OSTI Identifier: 1088904
Report Number(s): LA-UR-13-25537
DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type: Technical Report
Country of Publication: United States
Language: English
Subject: Engineering(42); Materials Science(36); Radiation Chemistry, Radiochemistry, & Nuclear Chemistry(38)

Introduction

The plutonium foundry at Los Alamos National Laboratory casts products for various special nuclear applications. However, plutonium’s radioactivity, material properties, and security constraints complicate the ability to perform experimental analysis of mold behavior. The Manufacturing Engineering and Technologies (MET-2) group previously developed a graphite mold to vacuum cast small plutonium disks to be used by the Department of Homeland Security as point sources for radiation sensor testing.

A two-stage pouring basin consisting of a funnel and an angled cavity directs the liquid into a vertical runner. A stack of ten disk castings connect to the runner by horizontal gates. Volumetric flow rates were implemented to limit overflow into the funnel and minimize foundry returns. Models using Flow-3D computational fluid dynamics software are employed here to determine liquid Pu flow paths, optimal pour regimes, temperature changes, and pressure variations.

Setup

Hardcopy drawings provided necessary information to create 3D .stl models for import into Flow-3D (Figs. 1 and 2). The mesh was refined over several iterations to isolate the disk cavities, runner, angled cavity, funnel, and input pour. The final flow and mold-filling simulation utilizes a fine mesh with ~5.5 million total cells. For the temperature study, the mesh contained 1/8 as many cells to reduce computational time and set temperatures to 850 °C for the molten plutonium and 500 °C for the solid graphite mold components (Fig. 3).

Flow-3D solves mass continuity and Navier-Stokes momentum equations over the structured rectangular grid model using finite difference and finite volume numerical algorithms. The solver includes terms in the momentum equation for body and viscous accelerations and uses convective heat transfer.

Simulation settings enabled Flow-3D physics calculations for gravity at 980.665 cm/s 2 in the negative Z direction (top of mold to bottom); viscous, turbulent, incompressible flow using dynamically-computed Renormalized Group Model turbulence calculations and no-slip/partial slip wall shear, and; first order, full energy equation heat transfer.

Mesh boundaries were all set to symmetric boundary conditions except for the Zmin boundary set to outflow and the Zmax boundary set to a volume flow. Vacuum casting conditions and the high reactivity of remaining air molecules with Pu validate the assumption of an initially fluidless void.

Results

The flow follows a unique three-dimensional path. The mold fills upwards with two to three disks receiving fluid in a staggered sequence. Figures 5-9 show how the fluid fills the cavity, and Figure 7 includes the color scale for pressure levels in these four figures. The narrow gate causes a high pressure region which forces the fluid to flow down the cavity centerline.

It proceeds to splash against the far wall and then wrap around the circumference back to the gate (Figs. 5 and 6). Flow in the angled region of the pouring basin cascades over the bottom ledge and attaches to the far wall of the runner, as seen in Figure 7.

This channeling becomes less pronounced as fluid volume levels increase. Finally, two similar but non-uniform depressed regions form about the centerline. These regions fill from their perimeter and bottom until completion (Fig. 8). Such a pattern is counter, for example, to a steady scenario in which a circle of molten Pu encompassing the entire bottom surface rises as a growing cylinder.

Cavity pressure becomes uniform when the cavity is full. Pressure levels build in the rising well section of the runner, where impurities were found to settle in actual casting. Early test simulations optimized the flow as three pours so that the fluid would never overflow to the funnel, the cavities would all fill completely, and small amounts of fluid would remain as foundry returns in the angled cavity.

These rates and durations were translated to the single 2.7s pour at 100 cm 3 per second used here. Figure 9 shows anomalous pressure fluctuations which occurred as the cavities became completely filled. Multiple simulations exhibited a rapid change in pressure from positive to negative and back within the newly-full disk and surrounding, already-full disks.

The time required to completely fill each cavity is plotted in Figure 10. Results show negligible temperature change within the molten Pu during mold filling and, as seen in Figure 11, at fill completion.

Figure 1: Mold drawings
Figure 1: Mold drawings
Figure 2: Mold Assembly
Figure 2: Mold Assembly
Figure 4: Actual mold and cast Pu
Figure 4: Actual mold and cast Pu
Figure 5: Bottom cavity filling
from runner
Figure 5: Bottom cavity filling from runner
Figure 6: Pouring and filling
Figure 6: Pouring and filling
Figure 8: Edge detection of cavity fill geometry. Two similar depressed areas form
about the centerline. Top cavity shown; same pressure scale as other figures
Figure 8: Edge detection of cavity fill geometry. Two similar depressed areas form about the centerline. Top cavity shown; same pressure scale as other figures
Figure 10: Cavity fill times,from first fluid contact with pouring basin, Figure 11:Fluid temperature remains essentially constant
Figure 10: Cavity fill times,from first fluid contact with pouring basin, Figure 11:Fluid temperature remains essentially constant

Conclusions

Non-uniform cavity filling could cause crystal microstructure irregularities during solidification. However, the small temperature changes seen – due to large differences in specific heat between Pu and graphite – over a relatively short time make such problems unlikely in this case.

In the actual casting, cooling required approximately ten minutes. This large difference in time scales further reduces the chance for temperature effects in such a superheated scenario. Pouring basin emptying decreases pressure at the gate which extends fill time of the top two cavities.

The bottom cavity takes longer to fill because fluid must first enter the runner and fill the well. Fill times continue linearly until the top two cavities. The anomalous pressure fluctuations may be due to physical attempts by the system to reach equilibrium, but they are more likely due to numerical errors in the Flow3D solver.

Unsuccessful tests were performed to remove them by halving fluid viscosity. The fine mesh reduced, but did not eliminate, the extent of the fluctuations. Future work is planned to study induction and heat transfer in the full Pu furnace system, including quantifying temporal lag of the cavity void temperature to the mold wall temperature during pre-heat and comparing heat flux levels between furnace components during cool-down.

Thanks to Doug Kautz for the opportunity to work with MET-2 and for assigning an interesting unclassified project. Additional thanks to Mike Bange for CFD guidance, insight of the project’s history, and draft review.

Fig. 1 Geometrical 3D model of Caisson

환기실에서 의도된 삼중수소 방출 후 삼중수소 거동 시뮬레이션

Simulation of Tritium Behavior after Intended Tritium Release in Ventilated Room


Yasunori IWAI
, Takumi HAYASHI, Toshihiko YAMANISHI, Kazuhiro KOBAYASHI & Masataka NISHI

Abstract

일본원자력연구소(JAERI) 산하 삼중수소공정연구소(TPL)에서는 핵융합로의 안전성 확인 및 강화를 위해 12m3의 대형 밀폐용기(Caisson)로 삼중수소 안전 연구(CATS)용 케이슨 조립체를 제작하여 추정 삼중수소 누출 이벤트가 발생해야 하는 경우 삼중수소 거동. 본 연구의 주요 목적 중 하나는 환기실에서 삼중수소 누출 사건이 발생한 후 삼중수소 거동을 예측하기 위한 시뮬레이션 방법을 확립하는 것입니다.

RNG 모델은 허용 가능한 엔지니어링 정밀도로 50m3/h 환기 케이슨에서 맴돌이 흐름 계산에 유효한 것으로 밝혀졌습니다. 의도된 삼중수소 방출 후 계산된 초기 및 제거 삼중수소 농도 이력은 50m3/h 환기 케이슨에서 실험 관찰과 일치했습니다.

환기실의 삼중수소 수송에는 벽 근처의 흐름이 중요한 역할을 하는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 한편, 3,000m3의 삼중수소 취급실에서 의도적으로 방출된 삼중수소 거동은 미일 협력하에 실험적으로 조사되었습니다. 동일한 방법으로 계산된 삼중수소 농도 이력은 실험적 관찰과 일치하였으며, 이는 현재 개발된 방법이 삼중수소 취급실의 실제 규모에 적용될 수 있음을 입증한다.

At the Tritium Process Laboratory (TPL) at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), Caisson Assembly for Tritium Safety study (CATS) with 12 m3 of large airtight vessel (Caisson) was fabricated for confirmation and enhancement of fusion reactor safety to estimate tritium behavior in the case where a tritium leak event should happen. One of the principal objectives of the present studies is the establishment of simulation method to predict the tritium behavior after the tritium leak event should happen in a ventilated room. The RNG model was found to be valid for eddy flow calculation in the 50m3/h ventilated Caisson with acceptable engineering precision. The calculated initial and removal tritium concentration histories after intended tritium release were consistent with the experimental observations in the 50 m3/h ventilated Caisson. It is found that the flow near a wall plays an important role for the tritium transport in the ventilated room. On the other hand, tritium behavior intentionally released in the 3,000 m3 of tritium handling room was investigated experimentally under a US-Japan collaboration. The tritium concentration history calculated with the same method was consistent with the experimental observations, which proves that the present developed method can be applied to the actual scale of tritium handling room.

KEYWORDS: 

Fig. 1 Geometrical 3D model of Caisson
Fig. 1 Geometrical 3D model of Caisson
Fig. 2 Geometrical 3D model of "main cell" of TSTA
Fig. 2 Geometrical 3D model of “main cell” of TSTA

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Development of macro-defect-free PBF-EB-processed Ti–6Al–4V alloys with superior plasticity using PREP-synthesized powder and machine learning-assisted process optimization

Development of macro-defect-free PBF-EB-processed Ti–6Al–4V alloys with superior plasticity using PREP-synthesized powder and machine learning-assisted process optimization

Yunwei GuiabKenta Aoyagib Akihiko Chibab
aDepartment of Materials Processing, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan
bInstitute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan

Received 14 October 2022, Revised 23 December 2022, Accepted 3 January 2023, Available online 5 January 2023.Show lessAdd to MendeleyShareCite

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2023.144595Get rights and content

Abstract

The elimination of internal macro-defects is a key issue in Ti–6Al–4V alloys fabricated via powder bed fusion using electron beams (PBF-EB), wherein internal macro-defects mainly originate from the virgin powder and inappropriate printing parameters. This study compares different types powders by combining support vector machine techniques to determine the most suitable powder for PBF-EB and to predict the processing window for the printing parameters without internal macro-defects. The results show that powders fabricated via plasma rotating electrode process have the best sphericity, flowability, and minimal porosity and are most suitable for printing. Surface roughness criterion was also applied to determine the quality of the even surfaces, and support vector machine was used to construct processing maps capable of predicting a wide range of four-dimensional printing parameters to obtain macro-defect-free samples, offering the possibility of subsequent development of Ti–6Al–4V alloys with excellent properties. The macro-defect-free samples exhibited good elongation, with the best overall mechanical properties being the ultimate tensile strength and elongation of 934.7 MPa and 24.3%, respectively. The elongation of the three macro-defect-free samples was much higher than that previously reported for additively manufactured Ti–6Al–4V alloys. The high elongation of the samples in this work is mainly attributed to the elimination of internal macro-defects.

Introduction

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies can rapidly manufacture complex or custom parts, reducing process steps and saving manufacturing time [[1], [2], [3], [4]], and are widely used in the aerospace, automotive, and other precision industries [5,6]. Powder bed fusion using an electron beam (PBF-EB) is an additive manufacturing method that uses a high-energy electron beam to melt metal powders layer by layer to produce parts. In contrast to selective laser melting, PBF-EB involves the preparation of samples in a high vacuum environment, which effectively prevents the introduction of impurities such as O and N. It also involves a preheating process for the print substrate and powder, which reduces residual thermal stress on the sample and subsequent heat treatment processes [[2], [3], [4],7]. Due to these features and advantages, PBF-EB technology is a very important AM technology with great potential in metallic materials. Moreover, PBF-EB is the ideal AM technology for the manufacture of complex components made of many alloys, such as titanium alloys, nickel-based superalloys, aluminum alloys and stainless steels [[2], [3], [4],8].

Ti–6Al–4V alloy is one of the prevalent commercial titanium alloys possessing high specific strength, excellent mechanical properties, excellent corrosion resistance, and good biocompatibility [9,10]. It is widely used in applications requiring low density and excellent corrosion resistance, such as the aerospace industry and biomechanical applications [11,12]. The mechanical properties of PBF-EB-processed Ti–6Al–4V alloys are superior to those fabricated by casting or forging, because the rapid cooling rate in PBF-EB results in finer grains [[12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18]]. However, the PBF-EB-fabricated parts often include internal macro-defects, which compromises their mechanical properties [[19], [20], [21], [22]]. This study focused on the elimination of macro-defects, such as porosity, lack of fusion, incomplete penetration and unmelted powders, which distinguishes them from micro-defects such as vacancies, dislocations, grain boundaries and secondary phases, etc. Large-sized fusion defects cause a severe reduction in mechanical strength. Smaller defects, such as pores and cracks, lead to the initiation of fatigue cracking and rapidly accelerate the cracking process [23]. The issue of internal macro-defects must be addressed to expand the application of the PBF-EB technology. The main studies for controlling internal macro-defects are online monitoring of defects, remelting and hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The literatures [24,25] report the use of infrared imaging or other imaging techniques to identify defects, but the monitoring of smaller sized defects is still not adequate. And in some cases remelting does not reduce the internal macro-defects of the part, but instead causes coarsening of the macrostructure and volatilization of some metal elements [23]. The HIP treatment does not completely eliminate the internal macro-defects, the original defect location may still act as a point of origin of the crack, and the subsequent treatment will consume more time and economic costs [23]. Therefore, optimizing suitable printing parameters to avoid internal macro-defects in printed parts at source is of great industrial value and research significance, and is an urgent issue in PBF-EB related technology.

There are two causes of internal macro-defects in the AM process: gas pores trapped in the virgin powder and the inappropriate printing parameters [7,23]. Gui et al. [26] classify internal macro-defects during PBF-EB process according to their shape, such as spherical defects, elongated shape defects, flat shape defects and other irregular shape defects. Of these, spherical defects mainly originate from raw material powders. Other shape defects mainly originate from lack of fusion or unmelted powders caused by unsuitable printing parameters, etc. The PBF-EB process requires powders with good flowability, and spherical powders are typically chosen as raw materials. The prevalent techniques for the fabrication of pre-alloyed powders are gas atomization (GA), plasma atomization (PA), and the plasma rotating electrode process (PREP) [27,28]. These methods yield powders with different characteristics that affect the subsequent fabrication. The selection of a suitable powder for PBF-EB is particularly important to produce Ti–6Al–4V alloys without internal macro-defects. The need to optimize several printing parameters such as beam current, scan speed, line offset, and focus offset make it difficult to eliminate internal macro-defects that occur during printing [23]. Most of the studies [11,12,22,[29], [30], [31], [32], [33]] on the optimization of AM processes for Ti–6Al–4V alloys have focused on samples with a limited set of parameters (e.g., power–scan speed) and do not allow for the guidance and development of unknown process windows for macro-defect-free samples. In addition, process optimization remains a time-consuming problem, with the traditional ‘trial and error’ method demanding considerable time and economic costs. The development of a simple and efficient method to predict the processing window for alloys without internal macro-defects is a key issue. In recent years, machine learning techniques have increasingly been used in the field of additive manufacturing and materials development [[34], [35], [36], [37]]. Aoyagi et al. [38] recently proposed a novel and efficient method based on a support vector machine (SVM) to optimize the two-dimensional process parameters (current and scan speed) and obtain PBF-EB-processed CoCr alloys without internal macro-defects. The method is one of the potential approaches toward effective optimization of more than two process parameters and makes it possible for the machine learning techniques to accelerate the development of alloys without internal macro-defects.

Herein, we focus on the elimination of internal macro-defects, such as pores, lack of fusion, etc., caused by raw powders and printing parameters. The Ti–6Al–4V powders produced by three different methods were compared, and the powder with the best sphericity, flowability, and minimal porosity was selected as the feedstock for subsequent printing. The relationship between the surface roughness and internal macro-defects in the Ti–6Al–4V components was also investigated. The combination of SVM and surface roughness indices (Sdr) predicted a wider four-dimensional processing window for obtaining Ti–6Al–4V alloys without internal macro-defects. Finally, we investigated the tensile properties of Ti–6Al–4V alloys at room temperature with different printing parameters, as well as the corresponding microstructures and fracture types.

Section snippets

Starting materials

Three types of Ti–6Al–4V alloy powders, produced by GA, PA, and PREP, were compared. The particle size distribution of the powders was determined using a laser particle size analyzer (LS230, Beckman Coulter, USA), and the flowability was measured using a Hall flowmeter (JIS-Z2502, Tsutsui Scientific Instruments Co., Ltd., Japan), according to the ASTM B213 standard. The powder morphology and internal macro-defects were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM, JEOL JCM-6000) and X-ray 

Comparison of the characteristics of GA, PA, and PREP Ti–6Al–4V powders

The particle size distributions (PSDs) and flowability of the three types of Ti–6Al–4V alloy powders produced by GA, PA, and PREP are shown in Fig. 2. Although the average particle sizes are similar (89.4 μm for GA, 82.5 μm for PA, and 86.1μm for PREP), the particle size range is different for the three types of powder (6.2–174.8 μm for GA, 27.3–139.2 μm for PA, and 39.4–133.9 μm for PREP). The flowability of the GA, PA, and PREP powders was 30.25 ± 0.98, 26.54 ± 0.37, and 25.03 ± 0.22 (s/50

Conclusions

The characteristics of the three types of Ti–6Al–4V alloy powders produced via GA, PA, and PREP were compared. The PREP powder with the best sphericity, flowability, and low porosity was found to be the most favorable powder for subsequent printing of Ti–6Al–4V alloys without internal macro-defects. The quantitative criterion of Sdr <0.015 for even surfaces was also found to be applicable to Ti–6Al–4V alloys. The process maps of Ti–6Al–4V alloys include two regions, high beam current/scan speed 

Uncited references

[55]; [56]; [57]; [58]; [59]; [60]; [61]; [62]; [63]; [64]; [65].

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Yunwei Gui: Writing – original draft, Visualization, Validation, Investigation. Kenta Aoyagi: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Resources, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Akihiko Chiba: Supervision, Funding acquisition.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This study was based on the results obtained from project JPNP19007, commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). This work was also supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Proposal No. 21K03801) and the Inter-University Cooperative Research Program (Proposal nos. 18G0418, 19G0411, and 20G0418) of the Cooperative Research and Development Center for Advanced Materials, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University. It was also supported by the Council for

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Figure 5: 3D & 2D views of simulated fill sequence of a hollow cylinder at 1000 rpm and 1500 rpm at various time intervals during filling.

Computer Simulation of Centrifugal Casting Process using FLOW-3D

Aneesh Kumar J1, a, K. Krishnakumar1, b and S. Savithri2, c 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 2 Computational Modelling& Simulation Division, Process Engineering & Environmental Technology Division CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
a aneesh82kj@gmail.com, b kkk@cet.ac.in, c sivakumarsavi@gmail.com, ssavithri@niist.res.in Key words: Mold filling, centrifugal casting process, computer simulation, FLOW- 3D™

Abstract

원심 주조 공정은 기능적으로 등급이 지정된 재료, 즉 구성 요소 간에 밀도 차이가 큰 복합 재료 또는 금속 재료를 생산하는 데 사용되는 잠재적인 제조 기술 중 하나입니다. 이 공정에서 유체 흐름이 중요한 역할을 하며 복잡한 흐름 공정을 이해하는 것은 결함 없는 주물을 생산하는 데 필수입니다. 금형이 고속으로 회전하고 금형 벽이 불투명하기 때문에 흐름 패턴을 실시간으로 시각화하는 것은 불가능합니다. 따라서 현재 연구에서는 상용 CFD 코드 FLOW-3D™를 사용하여 수직 원심 주조 공정 중 단순 중공 원통형 주조에 대한 금형 충전 시퀀스를 시뮬레이션했습니다. 수직 원심주조 공정 중 다양한 방사 속도가 충전 패턴에 미치는 영향을 조사하고 있습니다.

Centrifugal casting process is one of the potential manufacturing techniques used for producing functionally graded materials viz., composite materials or metallic materials which have high differences of density among constituents. In this process, the fluid flow plays a major role and understanding the complex flow process is a must for the production of defect-free castings. Since the mold spins at a high velocity and the mold wall being opaque, it is impossible to visualise the flow patterns in real time. Hence, in the present work, the commercial CFD code FLOW-3D™, has been used to simulate the mold filling sequence for a simple hollow cylindrical casting during vertical centrifugal casting process. Effect of various spinning velocities on the fill pattern during vertical centrifugal casting process is being investigated.

Figure 1: (a) Mold geometry and (b) Computational mesh
Figure 1: (a) Mold geometry and (b) Computational mesh
Figure 2: Experimental data on height of
vertex formed [8]  / Figure 3: Vertex height as a function of time
Figure 2: Experimental data on height of vertex formed [8]/Figure 3: Vertex height as a function of time
Figure 4: Free surface contours for water model at 10 s, 15 s and 20 s.
Figure 4: Free surface contours for water model at 10 s, 15 s and 20 s.
Figure 5: 3D & 2D views of simulated fill sequence of a hollow cylinder at 1000 rpm and 1500 rpm at various time intervals during filling.
Figure 5: 3D & 2D views of simulated fill sequence of a hollow cylinder at 1000 rpm and 1500 rpm at various time intervals during filling.

References

[1] W. Shi-Ping, L. Chang-yun, G. Jing-jie, S. Yan-qing, L. Xiu-qiao, F. Heng-zhi, Numerical simulation and
experimental investigation of two filling methods in vertical centrifugal casting, Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc.
China 16 (2006) 1035-1040.
10.1016/s1003-6326(06)60373-7
[2] G. Chirita, D. Soares, F.S. Silva, Advantages of the centrifugal casting technique for the production of
structural components with Al-Si alloys, Mater. Des. 29 (2008) 20-27.
10.1016/j.matdes.2006.12.011
[3] A. Kermanpur, Sh. Mahmoudi, A. Hajipour, Numerical simulation of metal flow and solidification in the
multi-cavity casting moulds of automotive components, J. Mater. Proc. Tech. 206 (208) 62-68.
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[4] D. McBride et. al. Complex free surface flows in centrifugal casting: Computational modelling and
validation experiments, Computers & Fluids 82 (2013) 63-72.
10.1016/j.compfluid.2013.04.021

Figure 4. Field gate discharge experiment.

FLOW-3D Model Development for the Analysis of the Flow Characteristics of Downstream Hydraulic Structures

하류 유압 구조물의 유동 특성 분석을 위한 FLOW-3D 모델 개발

Beom-Jin Kim 1, Jae-Hong Hwang 2 and Byunghyun Kim 3,*
1 Advanced Structures and Seismic Safety Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute,
Daejeon 34057, Korea
2 Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water), Daejeon 34350, Korea
3 Department of Civil Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea

  • Correspondence: bhkimc@knu.ac.kr; Tel.: +82-53-950-7819

Abstract

Hydraulic structures installed in rivers inevitably create a water level difference between upstream and downstream regions. The potential energy due to this difference in water level is converted into kinetic energy, causing high-velocity flow and hydraulic jumps in the river. As a result, problems such as scouring and sloping downstream may occur around the hydraulic structures. In this study, a FLOW-3D model was constructed to perform a numerical analysis of the ChangnyeongHaman weir in the Republic of Korea. The constructed model was verified based on surface velocity measurements from a field gate operation experiment. In the simulation results, the flow discharge differed from the measured value by 9–15 m3/s, from which the accuracy was evaluated to be 82–87%. The flow velocity was evaluated with an accuracy of 92% from a difference of 0.01 to 0.16 m/s. Following this verification, a flow analysis of the hydraulic structures was performed according to boundary conditions and operation conditions for numerous scenarios. Since 2018, the ChangnyeongHaman weir gate has been fully opened due to the implementation of Korea’s eco-environmental policy; therefore, in this study, the actual gate operation history data prior to 2018 was applied and evaluated. The evaluation conditions were a 50% open gate condition and the flow discharge of two cases with a large difference in water level. As a result of the analysis, the actual operating conditions showed that the velocity and the Froude number were lower than the optimal conditions, confirming that the selected design was appropriate. It was also found that in the bed protection section, the average flow velocity was high when the water level difference was large, whereas the bottom velocity was high when the gate opening was large. Ultimately, through the reviewed status survey data in this study, the downstream flow characteristics of hydraulic structures along with adequacy verification techniques, optimal design techniques such as procedures for design, and important considerations were derived. Based on the current results, the constructed FLOW-3D-based model can be applied to creating or updating flow analysis guidelines for future repair and reinforcement measures as well as hydraulic structure design.

하천에 설치되는 수력구조물은 필연적으로 상류와 하류의 수위차를 발생시킨다. 이러한 수위차로 인한 위치에너지는 운동에너지로 변환되어 하천의 고속유동과 수압점프를 일으킨다. 그 결과 수력구조물 주변에서 하류의 세굴, 경사 등의 문제가 발생할 수 있다.

본 연구에서는 대한민국 창녕함안보의 수치해석을 위해 FLOW-3D 모델을 구축하였다. 구축된 모델은 현장 게이트 작동 실험에서 표면 속도 측정을 기반으로 검증되었습니다.

시뮬레이션 결과에서 유량은 측정값과 9~15 m3/s 차이가 나고 정확도는 82~87%로 평가되었다. 유속은 0.01~0.16m/s의 차이에서 92%의 정확도로 평가되었습니다.

검증 후 다양한 시나리오에 대한 경계조건 및 운전조건에 따른 수리구조물의 유동해석을 수행하였다. 2018년부터 창녕함안보 문은 한국의 친환경 정책 시행으로 전면 개방되었습니다.

따라서 본 연구에서는 2018년 이전의 실제 게이트 운영 이력 데이터를 적용하여 평가하였다. 평가조건은 50% open gate 조건과 수위차가 큰 2가지 경우의 유수방류로 하였다. 해석 결과 실제 운전조건은 속도와 Froude수가 최적조건보다 낮아 선정된 설계가 적합함을 확인하였다.

또한 베드보호구간에서는 수위차가 크면 평균유속이 높고, 수문개구가 크면 저저유속이 높은 것으로 나타났다. 최종적으로 본 연구에서 검토한 실태조사 자료를 통해 적정성 검증기법과 함께 수력구조물의 하류 유동특성, 설계절차 등 최적 설계기법 및 중요 고려사항을 도출하였다.

현재의 결과를 바탕으로 구축된 FLOW-3D 기반 모델은 수력구조 설계뿐만 아니라 향후 보수 및 보강 조치를 위한 유동해석 가이드라인 생성 또는 업데이트에 적용할 수 있습니다.

Figure 1. Effect of downstream riverbed erosion according to the type of weir foundation.
Figure 1. Effect of downstream riverbed erosion according to the type of weir foundation.
Figure 2. Changnyeong-Haman weir depth survey results (June 2015)
Figure 2. Changnyeong-Haman weir depth survey results (June 2015)
Figure 4. Field gate discharge experiment.
Figure 4. Field gate discharge experiment.
Figure 16. Analysis results for Case 7 and Case 8
Figure 16. Analysis results for Case 7 and Case 8

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Serife Yurdagul Kumcu−2−KSCE Journal of Civil Engineeringthe use of CFD for the assessment of a design, as well as screeningand optimizing of hydraulic structures and cofferdam layouts. Theyconclude that CFD has been successful in optimizing the finalconceptual configuration for the hydraulics design of the project,but recommend that physical modeling still be used as a finalconfirmation.This paper provides experimental studies performed on Kav akDam and analyses the stability of spillway design by usingFLOW-3D model. It compares the hydraulic model tests withFLOW-3D simulation results and gives information on howaccurately a commercially available Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD) model can predict the spillway discharge capacity andpressure distribution along the spillway bottom surface. 2. Physical ModelA 1/50-scaled undistorted physical model of the Kavsak Damspillway and stilling basin was built and tested at the HydraulicModel Laboratory of State Hydraulic Works of Turkey (DSI).The model was constructed of plexiglas and was fabricated toconform to the distinctive shape of an ogee crest. The spillwayhas 45.8 m in width and 57 m long with a bottom slope of 125%.The length of the stilling basin is about 90 m. During model tests,flow velocities were measured with an ultrasonic flow meter.Pressures on the spillway were measured using a piezometerssçTable 1. Upstream and Downstream Operating Conditions of theKavsak DamRun Upstream reservoir elevation (m)Downstream tailwater elevation (m)1 306.55 168.002 311.35 174.503 314.00 178.904 316.50 182.55Fig. 1. (a) Original Project Design and Final Project Design after Experimental Investigations and Flow Measurement Sections at theApproach, (b) Top View Experimentally Modified Approach in the Laboratory, (c) Side View of the Experimentally Modified Approachin the Laboratory

Investigation of flow over spillway modeling and comparison between experimental data and CFD analysis

여수로 모델링 및 실험 데이터와 CFD 해석의 비교에 대한 조사

DOI:10.1007/s12205-016-1257-z

Authors:

Serife Yurdagul Kumcu at Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi

Serife Yurdagul Kumcu

Abstract and Figures

As a part of design process for hydro-electric generating stations, hydraulic engineers typically conduct some form of model testing. The desired outcome from the testing can vary considerably depending on the specific situation, but often characteristics such as velocity patterns, discharge rating curves, water surface profiles, and pressures at various locations are measured. Due to recent advances in computational power and numerical techniques, it is now also possible to obtain much of this information through numerical modeling. In this paper, hydraulic characteristics of Kavsak Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant (HEPP), which are under construction and built for producing energy in Turkey, were investigated experimentally by physical model studies. The 1/50-scaled physical model was used in conducting experiments. Flow depth, discharge and pressure data were recorded for different flow conditions. Serious modification was made on the original project with the experimental study. In order to evaluate the capability of the computational fluid dynamics on modeling spillway flow a comparative study was made by using results obtained from physical modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. A commercially available CFD program, which solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, was used to model the numerical model setup by defining cells where the flow is partially or completely restricted in the computational space. Discharge rating curves, velocity patterns and pressures were used to compare the results of the physical model and the numerical model. It was shown that there is reasonably good agreement between the physical and numerical models in flow characteristics.

수력 발전소 설계 프로세스의 일부로 수력 엔지니어는 일반적으로 어떤 형태의 모델 테스트를 수행합니다. 테스트에서 원하는 결과는 특정 상황에 따라 상당히 다를 수 있지만 속도 패턴, 방전 등급 곡선, 수면 프로파일 및 다양한 위치에서의 압력과 같은 특성이 측정되는 경우가 많습니다. 최근 계산 능력과 수치 기법의 발전으로 인해 이제는 수치 모델링을 통해 이러한 정보의 대부분을 얻을 수도 있습니다.

본 논문에서는 터키에서 에너지 생산을 위해 건설 중인 Kavsak 댐과 수력발전소(HEPP)의 수력학적 특성을 물리적 모델 연구를 통해 실험적으로 조사하였다. 1/50 스케일의 물리적 모델이 실험 수행에 사용되었습니다. 다양한 흐름 조건에 대해 흐름 깊이, 배출 및 압력 데이터가 기록되었습니다. 실험 연구를 통해 원래 프로젝트에 대대적인 수정이 이루어졌습니다.

배수로 흐름 모델링에 대한 전산유체역학의 능력을 평가하기 위해 물리적 모델링과 전산유체역학(CFD) 시뮬레이션 결과를 이용하여 비교 연구를 수행하였습니다. RANS(Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes) 방정식을 푸는 상업적으로 이용 가능한 CFD 프로그램은 흐름이 계산 공간에서 부분적으로 또는 완전히 제한되는 셀을 정의하여 수치 모델 설정을 모델링하는 데 사용되었습니다.

물리적 모델과 수치 모델의 결과를 비교하기 위해 배출 등급 곡선, 속도 패턴 및 압력을 사용했습니다. 유동 특성에서 물리적 모델과 수치 모델 간에 상당히 좋은 일치가 있는 것으로 나타났습니다.

Serife Yurdagul Kumcu−2−KSCE Journal of Civil Engineeringthe use of CFD for the assessment of a design, as well as screeningand optimizing of hydraulic structures and cofferdam layouts. Theyconclude that CFD has been successful in optimizing the finalconceptual configuration for the hydraulics design of the project,but recommend that physical modeling still be used as a finalconfirmation.This paper provides experimental studies performed on Kav akDam and analyses the stability of spillway design by usingFLOW-3D model. It compares the hydraulic model tests withFLOW-3D simulation results and gives information on howaccurately a commercially available Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD) model can predict the spillway discharge capacity andpressure distribution along the spillway bottom surface. 2. Physical ModelA 1/50-scaled undistorted physical model of the Kavsak Damspillway and stilling basin was built and tested at the HydraulicModel Laboratory of State Hydraulic Works of Turkey (DSI).The model was constructed of plexiglas and was fabricated toconform to the distinctive shape of an ogee crest. The spillwayhas 45.8 m in width and 57 m long with a bottom slope of 125%.The length of the stilling basin is about 90 m. During model tests,flow velocities were measured with an ultrasonic flow meter.Pressures on the spillway were measured using a piezometerssçTable 1. Upstream and Downstream Operating Conditions of theKavsak DamRun Upstream reservoir elevation (m)Downstream tailwater elevation (m)1 306.55 168.002 311.35 174.503 314.00 178.904 316.50 182.55Fig. 1. (a) Original Project Design and Final Project Design after Experimental Investigations and Flow Measurement Sections at theApproach, (b) Top View Experimentally Modified Approach in the Laboratory, (c) Side View of the Experimentally Modified Approachin the Laboratory
Serife Yurdagul Kumcu−2−KSCE Journal of Civil Engineeringthe use of CFD for the assessment of a design, as well as screeningand optimizing of hydraulic structures and cofferdam layouts. Theyconclude that CFD has been successful in optimizing the finalconceptual configuration for the hydraulics design of the project,but recommend that physical modeling still be used as a finalconfirmation.This paper provides experimental studies performed on Kav akDam and analyses the stability of spillway design by usingFLOW-3D model. It compares the hydraulic model tests withFLOW-3D simulation results and gives information on howaccurately a commercially available Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD) model can predict the spillway discharge capacity andpressure distribution along the spillway bottom surface. 2. Physical ModelA 1/50-scaled undistorted physical model of the Kavsak Damspillway and stilling basin was built and tested at the HydraulicModel Laboratory of State Hydraulic Works of Turkey (DSI).The model was constructed of plexiglas and was fabricated toconform to the distinctive shape of an ogee crest. The spillwayhas 45.8 m in width and 57 m long with a bottom slope of 125%.The length of the stilling basin is about 90 m. During model tests,flow velocities were measured with an ultrasonic flow meter.Pressures on the spillway were measured using a piezometerssçTable 1. Upstream and Downstream Operating Conditions of theKavsak DamRun Upstream reservoir elevation (m)Downstream tailwater elevation (m)1 306.55 168.002 311.35 174.503 314.00 178.904 316.50 182.55Fig. 1. (a) Original Project Design and Final Project Design after Experimental Investigations and Flow Measurement Sections at theApproach, (b) Top View Experimentally Modified Approach in the Laboratory, (c) Side View of the Experimentally Modified Approachin the Laboratory

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Sketch of approach channel and spillway of the Kamal-Saleh dam

CFD modeling of flow pattern in spillway’s approach channel

Sustainable Water Resources Management volume 1, pages245–251 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Analysis of behavior and hydraulic characteristics of flow over the dam spillway is a complicated task that takes lots of money and time in water engineering projects planning. To model those hydraulic characteristics, several methods such as physical and numerical methods can be used. Nowadays, by utilizing new methods in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and by the development of fast computers, the numerical methods have become accessible for use in the analysis of such sophisticated flows. The CFD softwares have the capability to analyze two- and three-dimensional flow fields. In this paper, the flow pattern at the guide wall of the Kamal-Saleh dam was modeled by Flow 3D. The results show that the current geometry of the left wall causes instability in the flow pattern and making secondary and vortex flow at beginning approach channel. This shape of guide wall reduced the performance of weir to remove the peak flood discharge.

댐 여수로 흐름의 거동 및 수리학적 특성 분석은 물 공학 프로젝트 계획에 많은 비용과 시간이 소요되는 복잡한 작업입니다. 이러한 수력학적 특성을 모델링하기 위해 물리적, 수치적 방법과 같은 여러 가지 방법을 사용할 수 있습니다. 요즘에는 전산유체역학(CFD)의 새로운 방법을 활용하고 빠른 컴퓨터의 개발로 이러한 정교한 흐름의 해석에 수치 방법을 사용할 수 있게 되었습니다. CFD 소프트웨어에는 2차원 및 3차원 유동장을 분석하는 기능이 있습니다. 본 논문에서는 Kamal-Saleh 댐 유도벽의 흐름 패턴을 Flow 3D로 모델링하였다. 결과는 왼쪽 벽의 현재 형상이 흐름 패턴의 불안정성을 유발하고 시작 접근 채널에서 2차 및 와류 흐름을 만드는 것을 보여줍니다. 이러한 형태의 안내벽은 첨두방류량을 제거하기 위해 둑의 성능을 저하시켰다.

Introduction

Spillways are one of the main structures used in the dam projects. Design of the spillway in all types of dams, specifically earthen dams is important because the inability of the spillway to remove probable maximum flood (PMF) discharge may cause overflow of water which ultimately leads to destruction of the dam (Das and Saikia et al. 2009; E 2013 and Novak et al. 2007). So study on the hydraulic characteristics of this structure is important. Hydraulic properties of spillway including flow pattern at the entrance of the guide walls and along the chute. Moreover, estimating the values of velocity and pressure parameters of flow along the chute is very important (Chanson 2004; Chatila and Tabbara 2004). The purpose of the study on the flow pattern is the effect of wall geometry on the creation transverse waves, flow instability, rotating and reciprocating flow through the inlet of spillway and its chute (Parsaie and Haghiabi 2015ab; Parsaie et al. 2015; Wang and Jiang 2010). The purpose of study on the values of velocity and pressure is to calculate the potential of the structure to occurrence of phenomena such as cavitation (Fattor and Bacchiega 2009; Ma et al. 2010). Sometimes, it can be seen that the spillway design parameters of pressure and velocity are very suitable, but geometry is considered not suitable for conducting walls causing unstable flow pattern over the spillway, rotating flows at the beginning of the spillway and its design reduced the flood discharge capacity (Fattor and Bacchiega 2009). Study on spillway is usually conducted using physical models (Su et al. 2009; Suprapto 2013; Wang and Chen 2009; Wang and Jiang 2010). But recently, with advances in the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), study on hydraulic characteristics of this structure has been done with these techniques (Chatila and Tabbara 2004; Zhenwei et al. 2012). Using the CFD as a powerful technique for modeling the hydraulic structures can reduce the time and cost of experiments (Tabbara et al. 2005). In CFD field, the Navier–Stokes equation is solved by powerful numerical methods such as finite element method and finite volumes (Kim and Park 2005; Zhenwei et al. 2012). In order to obtain closed-form Navier–Stokes equations turbulence models, such k − ε and Re-Normalisation Group (RNG) models have been presented. To use the technique of computational fluid dynamics, software packages such as Fluent and Flow 3D, etc., are provided. Recently, these two software packages have been widely used in hydraulic engineering because the performance and their accuracy are very suitable (Gessler 2005; Kim 2007; Kim et al. 2012; Milési and Causse 2014; Montagna et al. 2011). In this paper, to assess the flow pattern at Kamal-Saleh guide wall, numerical method has been used. All the stages of numerical modeling were conducted in the Flow 3D software.

Materials and methods

Firstly, a three-dimensional model was constructed according to two-dimensional map that was prepared for designing the spillway. Then a small model was prepared with scale of 1:80 and entered into the Flow 3D software; all stages of the model construction was conducted in AutoCAD 3D. Flow 3D software numerically solved the Navier–Stokes equation by finite volume method. Below is a brief reference on the equations that used in the software. Figure 1 shows the 3D sketch of Kamal-Saleh spillway and Fig. 2 shows the uploading file of the Kamal-Saleh spillway in Flow 3D software.

figure 1
Fig. 1
figure 2
Fig. 2

Review of the governing equations in software Flow 3D

Continuity equation at three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates is given as Eq (1).

vf∂ρ∂t+∂∂x(uAx)+∂∂x(vAy)+∂∂x(wAz)=PSORρ,vf∂ρ∂t+∂∂x(uAx)+∂∂x(vAy)+∂∂x(wAz)=PSORρ,

(1)

where uvz are velocity component in the x, y, z direction; A xA yA z cross-sectional area of the flow; ρ fluid density; PSOR the source term; v f is the volume fraction of the fluid and three-dimensional momentum equations given in Eq (2).

∂u∂t+1vf(uAx∂u∂x+vAy∂u∂y+wAz∂u∂z)=−1ρ∂P∂x+Gx+fx∂v∂t+1vf(uAx∂v∂x+vAy∂v∂y+wAz∂v∂z)=−1ρ∂P∂y+Gy+fy∂w∂t+1vf(uAx∂w∂x+vAy∂w∂y+wAz∂w∂z)=−1ρ∂P∂y+Gz+fz,∂u∂t+1vf(uAx∂u∂x+vAy∂u∂y+wAz∂u∂z)=−1ρ∂P∂x+Gx+fx∂v∂t+1vf(uAx∂v∂x+vAy∂v∂y+wAz∂v∂z)=−1ρ∂P∂y+Gy+fy∂w∂t+1vf(uAx∂w∂x+vAy∂w∂y+wAz∂w∂z)=−1ρ∂P∂y+Gz+fz,

(2)

where P is the fluid pressure; G xG yG z the acceleration created by body fluids; f xf yf z viscosity acceleration in three dimensions and v f is related to the volume of fluid, defined by Eq. (3). For modeling of free surface profile the VOF technique based on the volume fraction of the computational cells has been used. Since the volume fraction F represents the amount of fluid in each cell, it takes value between 0 and 1.

∂F∂t+1vf[∂∂x(FAxu)+∂∂y(FAyv)+∂∂y(FAzw)]=0∂F∂t+1vf[∂∂x(FAxu)+∂∂y(FAyv)+∂∂y(FAzw)]=0

(3)

Turbulence models

Flow 3D offers five types of turbulence models: Prantl mixing length, k − ε equation, RNG models, Large eddy simulation model. Turbulence models that have been proposed recently are based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. This approach involves statistical methods to extract an averaged equation related to the turbulence quantities.

Steps of solving a problem in Flow 3D software

(1) Preparing the 3D model of spillway by AutoCAD software. (2) Uploading the file of 3D model in Flow 3D software and defining the problem in the software and checking the final mesh. (3) Choosing the basic equations that should be solved. (4) Defining the characteristics of fluid. (5) Defining the boundary conditions; it is notable that this software has a wide range of boundary conditions. (6) Initializing the flow field. (7) Adjusting the output. (8) Adjusting the control parameters, choice of the calculation method and solution formula. (9) Start of calculation. Figure 1 shows the 3D model of the Kamal-Saleh spillway; in this figure, geometry of the left and right guide wall is shown.

Figure 2 shows the uploading of the 3D spillway dam in Flow 3D software. Moreover, in this figure the considered boundary condition in software is shown. At the entrance and end of spillway, the flow rate or fluid elevation and outflow was considered as BC. The bottom of spillway was considered as wall and left and right as symmetry.

Model calibration

Calibration of the Flow 3D for modeling the effect of geometry of guide wall on the flow pattern is included for comparing the results of Flow 3D with measured water surface profile. Calibration the Flow 3D software could be conducted in two ways: first, changing the value of upstream boundary conditions is continued until the results of water surface profile of the Flow 3D along the spillway successfully covered the measurement water surface profile; second is the assessment the mesh sensitivity. Analyzing the size of mesh is a trial-and-error process where the size of mesh is evaluated form the largest to the smallest. With fining the size of mesh the accuracy of model is increased; whereas, the cost of computation is increased. In this research, the value of upstream boundary condition was adjusted with measured data during the experimental studies on the scaled model and the mesh size was equal to 1 × 1 × 1 cm3.

Results and discussion

The behavior of water in spillway is strongly affected by the flow pattern at the entrance of the spillway, the flow pattern formation at the entrance is affected by the guide wall, and choice of an optimized form for the guide wall has a great effect on rising the ability of spillway for easy passing the PMF, so any nonuniformity in flow in the approach channel can cause reduction of spillway capacity, reduction in discharge coefficient of spillway, and even probability of cavitation. Optimizing the flow guiding walls (in terms of length, angle and radius) can cause the loss of turbulence and flow disturbances on spillway. For this purpose, initially geometry proposed for model for the discharge of spillway dam, Kamal-Saleh, 80, 100, and 120 (L/s) were surveyed. These discharges of flow were considered with regard to the flood return period, 5, 100 and 1000 years. Geometric properties of the conducting guidance wall are given in Table 1.Table 1 Characteristics and dimensions of the guidance walls tested

Full size table

Results of the CFD simulation for passing the flow rate 80 (L/s) are shown in Fig. 3. Figure 3 shows the secondary flow and vortex at the left guide wall.

figure 3
Fig. 3

For giving more information about flow pattern at the left and right guide wall, Fig. 4 shows the flow pattern at the right side guide wall and Fig. 5 shows the flow pattern at the left side guide wall.

figure 4
Fig. 4
figure 5
Fig. 5

With regard to Figs. 4 and 5 and observing the streamlines, at discharge equal to 80 (L/s), the right wall has suitable performance but the left wall has no suitable performance and the left wall of the geometric design creates a secondary and circular flow, and vortex motion in the beginning of the entrance of spillway that creates cross waves at the beginning of spillway. By increasing the flow rate (Q = 100 L/s), at the inlet spillway secondary flows and vortex were removed, but the streamline is severely distorted. Results of the guide wall performances at the Q = 100 (L/s) are shown in Fig. 6.

figure 6
Fig. 6

Also more information about the performance of each guide wall can be derived from Figs. 7 and 8. These figures uphold that the secondary and vortex flows were removed, but the streamlines were fully diverted specifically near the left side guide wall.

figure 7
Fig. 7
figure 8
Fig. 8

As mentioned in the past, these secondary and vortex flows and diversion in streamline cause nonuniformity and create cross wave through the spillway. Figure 9 shows the cross waves at the crest of the spillway.

figure 9
Fig. 9

The performance of guide walls at the Q = 120 (L/s) also was assessed. The result of simulation is shown in Fig. 10. Figures 11 and 12 show a more clear view of the streamlines near to right and left side guide wall, respectively. As seen in Fig. 12, the left side wall still causes vortex flow and creation of and diversion in streamline.

figure 10
Fig. 10
figure 11
Fig. 11
figure 12
Fig. 12

The results of the affected left side guide wall shape on the cross wave creation are shown in Fig. 13. As seen from Fig. 3, the left side guide wall also causes cross wave at the spillway crest.

figure 13
Fig. 13

As can be seen clearly in Figs. 9 and 13, by moving from the left side to the right side of the spillway, the cross waves and the nonuniformity in flow is removed. By reviewing Figs. 9 and 13, it is found that the right side guide wall removes the cross waves and nonuniformity. With this point as aim, a geometry similar to the right side guide wall was considered instead of the left side guide wall. The result of simulation for Q = 120 (L/s) is shown in Fig. 14. As seen from this figure, the proposed geometry for the left side wall has suitable performance smoothly passing the flow through the approach channel and spillway.

figure 14
Fig. 14

More information about the proposed shape for the left guide wall is shown in Fig. 15. As seen from this figure, this shape has suitable performance for removing the cross waves and vortex flows.

figure 15
Fig. 15

Figure 16 shows the cross section of flow at the crest of spillway. As seen in this figure, the proposed shape for the left side guide wall is suitable for removing the cross waves and secondary flows.

figure 16
Fig. 16

Conclusion

Analysis of behavior and hydraulic properties of flow over the spillway dam is a complicated task which is cost and time intensive. Several techniques suitable to the purposes of study have been undertaken in this research. Physical modeling, usage of expert experience, usage of mathematical models on simulation flow in one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-dimensional techniques, are some of the techniques utilized to study this phenomenon. The results of the modeling show that the CFD technique is a suitable tool for simulating the flow pattern in the guide wall. Using this tools helps the designer for developing the optimal shape for hydraulic structure which the flow pattern through them are important.

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  1. Department of Water Engineering, Lorestan University, Khorram Abad, IranAbbas Parsaie, Amir Hamzeh Haghiabi & Amir Moradinejad

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Correspondence to Abbas Parsaie.

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Parsaie, A., Haghiabi, A.H. & Moradinejad, A. CFD modeling of flow pattern in spillway’s approach channel. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 1, 245–251 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-015-0020-9

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  • Received28 April 2015
  • Accepted28 August 2015
  • Published15 September 2015
  • Issue DateSeptember 2015
  • DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-015-0020-9

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Keywords

  • Approach channel
  • Kamal-Saleh dam
  • Guide wall
  • Flow pattern
  • Numerical modeling
  • Flow 3D software
    Figure 3. FLOW-3D results for Strathcona Dam spillway with all gates fully open at an elevated reservoir level during passage of a large flood. Note the effects of poor approach conditions and pier overtopping at the leftmost bay.

    BC Hydro Assesses Spillway Hydraulics with FLOW-3D

    by Faizal Yusuf, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.
    Specialist Engineer in the Hydrotechnical Department at BC Hydro

    BC Hydro, a public electric utility in British Columbia, uses FLOW-3D to investigate complex hydraulics issues at several existing dams and to assist in the design and optimization of proposed facilities.

    Faizal Yusuf, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., Specialist Engineer in the Hydrotechnical department at BC Hydro, presents three case studies that highlight the application of FLOW-3D to different types of spillways and the importance of reliable prototype or physical hydraulic model data for numerical model calibration.

    W.A.C. Bennett Dam
    At W.A.C. Bennett Dam, differences in the spillway geometry between the physical hydraulic model from the 1960s and the prototype make it difficult to draw reliable conclusions on shock wave formation and chute capacity from physical model test results. The magnitude of shock waves in the concrete-lined spillway chute are strongly influenced by a 44% reduction in the chute width downstream of the three radial gates at the headworks, as well as the relative openings of the radial gates. The shock waves lead to locally higher water levels that have caused overtopping of the chute walls under certain historical operations.Prototype spill tests for discharges up to 2,865 m3/s were performed in 2012 to provide surveyed water surface profiles along chute walls, 3D laser scans of the water surface in the chute and video of flow patterns for FLOW-3D model calibration. Excellent agreement was obtained between the numerical model and field observations, particularly for the location and height of the first shock wave at the chute walls (Figure 1).

    W.A.C에서 Bennett Dam, 1960년대의 물리적 수력학 모델과 프로토타입 사이의 여수로 형상의 차이로 인해 물리적 모델 테스트 결과에서 충격파 형성 및 슈트 용량에 대한 신뢰할 수 있는 결론을 도출하기 어렵습니다. 콘크리트 라이닝 방수로 낙하산의 충격파 크기는 방사형 게이트의 상대적인 개구부뿐만 아니라 헤드워크에 있는 3개의 방사형 게이트 하류의 슈트 폭이 44% 감소함에 따라 크게 영향을 받습니다. 충격파는 특정 역사적 작업에서 슈트 벽의 범람을 야기한 국부적으로 더 높은 수위로 이어집니다. 최대 2,865m3/s의 배출에 대한 프로토타입 유출 테스트가 2012년에 수행되어 슈트 벽을 따라 조사된 수면 프로필, 3D 레이저 스캔을 제공했습니다. FLOW-3D 모델 보정을 위한 슈트의 수면 및 흐름 패턴 비디오. 특히 슈트 벽에서 첫 번째 충격파의 위치와 높이에 대해 수치 모델과 현장 관찰 간에 탁월한 일치가 이루어졌습니다(그림 1).
    Figure 1. Comparison between prototype observations and FLOW-3D for a spill discharge of 2,865 m^3/s at Bennett Dam spillway.
    Figure 1. Comparison between prototype observations and FLOW-3D for a spill discharge of 2,865 m^3/s at Bennett Dam spillway.

    The calibrated FLOW-3D model confirmed that the design flood could be safely passed without overtopping the spillway chute walls as long as all three radial gates are opened as prescribed in existing operating orders with the outer gates open more than the inner gate.

    The CFD model also provided insight into the concrete damage in the spillway chute. Cavitation indices computed from FLOW-3D simulation results were compared with empirical data from the USBR and found to be consistent with the historical performance of the spillway. The numerical analysis supported field inspections, which concluded that deterioration of the concrete conditions in the chute is likely not due to cavitation.

    Strathcona Dam
    FLOW-3D was used to investigate poor approach conditions and uncertainties with the rating curves for Strathcona Dam spillway, which includes three vertical lift gates on the right abutment of the dam. The rating curves for Strathcona spillway were developed from a combination of empirical adjustments and limited physical hydraulic model testing in a flume that did not include geometry of the piers and abutments.

    Numerical model testing and calibration was based on comparisons with prototype spill observations from 1982 when all three gates were fully open, resulting in a large depression in the water surface upstream of the leftmost bay (Figure 2). The approach flow to the leftmost bay is distorted by water flowing parallel to the dam axis and plunging over the concrete retaining wall adjacent to the upstream slope of the earthfill dam. The flow enters the other two bays much more smoothly. In addition to very similar flow patterns produced in the numerical model compared to the prototype, simulated water levels at the gate section matched 1982 field measurements to within 0.1 m.

    보정된 FLOW-3D 모델은 외부 게이트가 내부 게이트보다 더 많이 열려 있는 기존 운영 명령에 규정된 대로 3개의 방사형 게이트가 모두 열리는 한 여수로 낙하산 벽을 넘지 않고 설계 홍수를 안전하게 통과할 수 있음을 확인했습니다.

    CFD 모델은 방수로 낙하산의 콘크리트 손상에 대한 통찰력도 제공했습니다. FLOW-3D 시뮬레이션 결과에서 계산된 캐비테이션 지수는 USBR의 경험적 데이터와 비교되었으며 여수로의 역사적 성능과 일치하는 것으로 나타났습니다. 수치 분석은 현장 검사를 지원했으며, 슈트의 콘크리트 상태 악화는 캐비테이션 때문이 아닐 가능성이 높다고 결론지었습니다.

    Strathcona 댐
    FLOW-3D는 Strathcona Dam 여수로에 대한 등급 곡선을 사용하여 열악한 접근 조건과 불확실성을 조사하는 데 사용되었습니다. 여기에는 댐의 오른쪽 접합부에 3개의 수직 리프트 게이트가 포함되어 있습니다. Strathcona 여수로에 대한 등급 곡선은 경험적 조정과 교각 및 교대의 형상을 포함하지 않는 수로에서 제한된 물리적 수리 모델 테스트의 조합으로 개발되었습니다.

    수치 모델 테스트 및 보정은 세 개의 수문이 모두 완전히 개방된 1982년의 프로토타입 유출 관측과의 비교를 기반으로 했으며, 그 결과 가장 왼쪽 만의 상류 수면에 큰 함몰이 발생했습니다(그림 2). 최좌단 만으로의 접근 흐름은 댐 축과 평행하게 흐르는 물과 흙채움댐의 상류 경사면에 인접한 콘크리트 옹벽 위로 떨어지는 물에 의해 왜곡됩니다. 흐름은 훨씬 더 원활하게 다른 두 베이로 들어갑니다. 프로토타입과 비교하여 수치 모델에서 생성된 매우 유사한 흐름 패턴 외에도 게이트 섹션에서 시뮬레이션된 수위는 1982년 현장 측정과 0.1m 이내로 일치했습니다.

    Figure 2. Prototype observations and FLOW-3D results for a Strathcona Dam spill in 1982 with all three gates fully open.
    Figure 2. Prototype observations and FLOW-3D results for a Strathcona Dam spill in 1982 with all three gates fully open.

    The calibrated CFD model produces discharges within 5% of the spillway rating curve for the reservoir’s normal operating range with all gates fully open. However, at higher reservoir levels, which may occur during passage of large floods (as shown in Figure 3), the difference between simulated discharges and the rating curves are greater than 10% as the physical model testing with simplified geometry and empirical corrections did not adequately represent the complex approach flow patterns. The FLOW-3D model provided further insight into the accuracy of rating curves for individual bays, gated conditions and the transition between orifice and free surface flow.

    보정된 CFD 모델은 모든 게이트가 완전히 열린 상태에서 저수지의 정상 작동 범위에 대한 여수로 등급 곡선의 5% 이내에서 배출을 생성합니다. 그러나 대규모 홍수가 통과하는 동안 발생할 수 있는 더 높은 저수지 수위에서는(그림 3 참조) 단순화된 기하학과 경험적 수정을 사용한 물리적 모델 테스트가 그렇지 않았기 때문에 모의 배출과 등급 곡선 간의 차이는 10% 이상입니다. 복잡한 접근 흐름 패턴을 적절하게 표현합니다. FLOW-3D 모델은 개별 베이, 게이트 조건 및 오리피스와 자유 표면 흐름 사이의 전환에 대한 등급 곡선의 정확도에 대한 추가 통찰력을 제공했습니다.

    Figure 3. FLOW-3D results for Strathcona Dam spillway with all gates fully open at an elevated reservoir level during passage of a large flood. Note the effects of poor approach conditions and pier overtopping at the leftmost bay.
    Figure 3. FLOW-3D results for Strathcona Dam spillway with all gates fully open at an elevated reservoir level during passage of a large flood. Note the effects of poor approach conditions and pier overtopping at the leftmost bay.

    John Hart Dam
    The John Hart concrete dam will be modified to include a new free crest spillway to be situated between an existing gated spillway and a low level outlet structure that is currently under construction. Significant improvements in the design of the proposed spillway were made through a systematic optimization process using FLOW-3D.

    The preliminary design of the free crest spillway was based on engineering hydraulic design guides. Concrete apron blocks are intended to protect the rock at the toe of the dam. A new right training wall will guide the flow from the new spillway towards the tailrace pool and protect the low level outlet structure from spillway discharges.

    FLOW-3D model results for the initial and optimized design of the new spillway are shown in Figure 4. CFD analysis led to a 10% increase in discharge capacity, significant decrease in roadway impingement above the spillway crest and improved flow patterns including up to a 5 m reduction in water levels along the proposed right wall. Physical hydraulic model testing will be used to confirm the proposed design.

    존 하트 댐
    John Hart 콘크리트 댐은 현재 건설 중인 기존 배수로와 저층 배수로 사이에 위치할 새로운 자유 마루 배수로를 포함하도록 수정될 것입니다. FLOW-3D를 사용한 체계적인 최적화 프로세스를 통해 제안된 여수로 설계의 상당한 개선이 이루어졌습니다.

    자유 마루 여수로의 예비 설계는 엔지니어링 수력학 설계 가이드를 기반으로 했습니다. 콘크리트 앞치마 블록은 댐 선단부의 암석을 보호하기 위한 것입니다. 새로운 오른쪽 훈련 벽은 새 여수로에서 테일레이스 풀로 흐름을 안내하고 여수로 배출로부터 낮은 수준의 배출구 구조를 보호합니다.

    새 여수로의 초기 및 최적화된 설계에 대한 FLOW-3D 모델 결과는 그림 4에 나와 있습니다. CFD 분석을 통해 방류 용량이 10% 증가하고 여수로 마루 위의 도로 충돌이 크게 감소했으며 최대 제안된 오른쪽 벽을 따라 수위가 5m 감소합니다. 제안된 설계를 확인하기 위해 물리적 수압 모델 테스트가 사용됩니다.

    Figure 4. FLOW-3D model results for the preliminary and optimized layout of the proposed spillway at John Hart Dam.
    Figure 4. FLOW-3D model results for the preliminary and optimized layout of the proposed spillway at John Hart Dam.

    Conclusion

    BC Hydro has been using FLOW-3D to investigate a wide range of challenging hydraulics problems for different types of spillways and water conveyance structures leading to a greatly improved understanding of flow patterns and performance. Prototype data and reliable physical hydraulic model testing are used whenever possible to improve confidence in the numerical model results.

    다양한 유형의 여수로 및 물 수송 구조로 인해 흐름 패턴 및 성능에 대한 이해가 크게 향상되었습니다. 프로토타입 데이터와 신뢰할 수 있는 물리적 유압 모델 테스트는 수치 모델 결과의 신뢰도를 향상시키기 위해 가능할 때마다 사용됩니다.

    About Flow Science, Inc.
    Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, Flow Science was founded in 1980 by Dr. C. W. (Tony) Hirt, who was one of the principals in pioneering the “Volume-of-Fluid” or VOF method while working at the Los Alamos National Lab. FLOW-3D is a direct descendant of this work, and in the subsequent years, we have increased its sophistication with TruVOF, boasting pioneering improvements in the speed and accuracy of tracking distinct liquid/gas interfaces. Today, Flow Science products offer complete multiphysics simulation with diverse modeling capabilities including fluid-structure interaction, 6-DoF moving objects, and multiphase flows. From inception, our vision has been to provide our customers with excellence in flow modeling software and services.

    Fig. 1. Schematic of the hydrogen storage vessel.

    Simulation and evaluation of a hydrogen storage system using hydrogen storage alloy for a chemical CO2 fixation and utilization system

    화학적 CO 2 고정 및 이용 시스템 을 위한 수소 저장 합금을 이용한 수소 저장 시스템의 시뮬레이션 및 평가

    K.NishimuraaC.InazumiaK.OgurobI.UeharacY.ItohdS.FujitanidI.YonezudaResearch Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth, Ikeda City, Osaka 563-8577, JapanbOsaka National Research Institute, 1-8-31, Midorigaoka, Ikeda City, Osaka 563-8577, JapancToyama Industrial Technology Center, 150, Futagami-machi, Takaoka City, Toyama 933-0981, JapandSanyo Electric Co. Ltd, 1-18-13, Hashiridani, Hirakata-City, Osaka 573-8534, Japan

    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-3199(00)00008-2Get rights and content

    Abstract

    Two-dimensional model and simulation programs for designing a hydrogen storage vessel using hydrogen absorbing alloy with tubular heat exchanger were developed with the “Flow-3D” program in which physical properties of the hydrogen storage alloy were incorporated. The calculated results showed good agreement with experimental data obtained from 10 Nm3 scale hydrogen storage vessel with MmNi4.64Al0.36 alloy. It was concluded that this simulation program could be an adequate tool to design a practical scale hydrogen storage system for hydrogen from solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis and to evaluate its hydrogen storage performance.

    관형 열교환기를 갖는 수소흡수합금을 이용한 수소저장용기 설계를 위한 2차원 모델 및 시뮬레이션 프로그램은 수소저장합금의 물성을 반영한 “Flow-3D” 프로그램으로 개발하였다. 계산된 결과는 MmNi 4.64 Al 0.36 합금 이 있는 10 Nm 3 규모의 수소 저장 용기 에서 얻은 실험 데이터와 잘 일치하는 것으로 나타났습니다. 이 시뮬레이션 프로그램은 고체 고분자 전해질 물 전기분해에서 수소를 위한 실용적인 규모의 수소 저장 시스템을 설계하고 수소 저장 성능을 평가하는 데 적절한 도구가 될 수 있다는 결론을 내렸습니다.

      Keywords

      Hydrogen storage alloy, Chemical CO2 fixation and utilization systems, Simulation, Hydrogen storage vessel

      Fig. 1. Schematic of the hydrogen storage vessel.
      Fig. 1. Schematic of the hydrogen storage vessel.
      Fig. 2. Cross-section of the reaction bed, tube exchangers and thermocouples (A±L).
      Fig. 2. Cross-section of the reaction bed, tube exchangers and thermocouples (A±L).

      References

      [1] Masuda S. In: Book of abstracts of second international conference on carbon dioxide removal, 1994. p. 24±7.
      [2] Mayer U, Groll M, Supper W. J Less-Common Metals 1987;131:235±44.
      [3] Choi H, Mills AF. Int J Heat Mass Transfer 1990;33:1281±8.
      [4] Sun DW, Deng SJ. J Less-Common Metals 1989;155:271±9.
      [5] Sun DW, Deng SJ. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1990;15:807± 16.
      [6] Jemini A, Nasrallah B. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1995;20:43±52.
      [7] Fisher PW, Watson JS. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1983;8:109±19.
      [8] Suda S, Kobayashi N, Morishita E, Takemoto N. J Less-Common Metals 1983;89:325±32.
      [9] Fujitani S, Nakamura H, Furukawa A, Nasako K, Satoh K, Imoto T, Saito T, Yonezu I. Z Phys Chem Bd
      1993;179:27.
      [10] Hahne E, Kallweit J. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1998;23:107±14.
      [11] Pons M, Dantzer P. J Less-Common Metals 1991;172(174):1147±56.
      [12] Pons M, Dantzer P, Guilleminot JJ. Int J Heat Mass Transfer 1993;36:2635±46.
      [13] Evance MJB, Everett DH. J Less-Common Metals 1976;49:13.
      [14] Pons M, Dantzer P. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1994;19:611±6.

      Fig. 8. Comparison of the wave pattern for : (a) Ship wave only; (b) Ship wave in the presence of a following current.

      균일한 해류가 존재하는 선박 파도의 수치 시뮬레이션

      Numerical simulation of ship waves in the presence of a uniform current

      CongfangAiYuxiangMaLeiSunGuohaiDongState Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

      Highlights

      • Ship waves in the presence of a uniform current are studied by a non-hydrostatic model.

      • Effects of a following current on characteristic wave parameters are investigated.

      • Effects of an opposing current on characteristic wave parameters are investigated.

      • The response of the maximum water level elevation to the ship draft is discussed.

      Abstract

      이 논문은 균일한 해류가 존재할 때 선박파의 생성 및 전파를 시뮬레이션하기 위한 비정역학적 모델을 제시합니다. 선박 선체의 움직임을 표현하기 위해 움직이는 압력장 방법이 모델에 통합되었습니다.

      뒤따르거나 반대 방향의 균일한 흐름이 있는 경우의 선박 파도의 수치 결과를 흐름이 없는 선박 파도의 수치 결과와 비교합니다. 추종 또는 반대 균일 전류가 존재할 때 계산된 첨단선 각도는 분석 솔루션과 잘 일치합니다. 추종 균일 전류와 반대 균일 전류가 특성파 매개변수에 미치는 영향을 제시하고 논의합니다.

      선박 흘수에 대한 최대 수위 상승의 응답은 추종 또는 반대의 균일한 흐름이 있는 경우에도 표시되며 흐름이 없는 선박 파도의 응답과 비교됩니다. 선박 선체 측면의 최대 수위 상승은 Froude 수 Fr’=Us/gh의 특정 범위에 대해 다음과 같은 균일한 흐름의 존재에 의해 증가될 수 있음이 밝혀졌습니다.

      여기서 Us는 선박 속도이고 h는 물입니다. 깊이. 균일한 해류를 무시하면 추종류나 반대류가 존재할 때 선박 흘수에 대한 최대 수위 상승의 응답이 과소평가될 수 있습니다.

      본 연구는 선박파의 해석에 있어 균일한 해류의 영향을 고려해야 함을 시사합니다.

      This paper presents a non-hydrostatic model to simulate the generation and propagation of ship waves in the presence of a uniform current. A moving pressure field method is incorporated into the model to represent the movement of a ship hull. Numerical results of ship waves in the presence of a following or an opposing uniform current are compared with those of ship waves without current. The calculated cusp-line angles in the presence of a following or opposing uniform current agree well with analytical solutions. The effects of a following uniform current and an opposing uniform current on the characteristic wave parameters are presented and discussed. The response of the maximum water level elevation to the ship draft is also presented in the presence of a following or an opposing uniform current and is compared with that for ship waves without current. It is found that the maximum water level elevation lateral to the ship hull can be increased by the presence of a following uniform current for a certain range of Froude numbers Fr′=Us/gh, where Us is the ship speed and h is the water depth. If the uniform current is neglected, the response of the maximum water level elevation to the ship draft in the presence of a following or an opposing current can be underestimated. The present study indicates that the effect of a uniform current should be considered in the analysis of ship waves.

      Keywords

      Ship waves, Non-hydrostatic model, Following current, Opposing current, Wave parameters

      1. Introduction

      Similar to wind waves, ships sailing across the sea can also create free-surface undulations ranging from ripples to waves of large size (Grue, 20172020). Ship waves can cause sediment suspension and engineering structures damage and even pose a threat to flora and fauna living near the embankments of waterways (Dempwolff et al., 2022). It is quite important to understand ship waves in various environments. The study of ship waves has been conducted over a century. A large amount of research (Almström et al., 2021Bayraktar and Beji, 2013David et al., 2017Ertekin et al., 1986Gourlay, 2001Havelock, 1908Lee and Lee, 2019Samaras and Karambas, 2021Shi et al., 2018) focused on the generation and propagation of ship waves without current. When a ship navigates in the sea or in a river where tidal flows or river flows always exist, the effect of currents should be taken into account. However, the effect of currents on the characteristic parameters of ship waves is still unclear, because very few publications have been presented on this topic.

      Over the past two decades, many two-dimensional (2D) Boussinesq-type models (Bayraktar and Beji, 2013Dam et al., 2008David et al., 2017Samaras and Karambas, 2021Shi et al., 2018) were developed to examine ship waves. For example, Bayraktar and Beji (2013) solved Boussinesq equations with improved dispersion characteristics to simulate ship waves due to a moving pressure field. David et al. (2017) employed a Boussinesq-type model to investigate the effects of the pressure field and its propagation speed on characteristic wave parameters. All of these Boussinesq-type models aimed to simulate ship waves without current except for that of Dam et al. (2008), who investigated the effect of currents on the maximum wave height of ship waves in a narrow channel.

      In addition to Boussinesq-type models, numerical models based on the Navier-Stokes equations (NSE) or Euler equations are also capable of resolving ship waves. Lee and Lee (20192021) employed the FLOW-3D model to simulate ship waves without current and ship waves in the presence of a uniform current to confirm their equations for ship wave crests. FLOW-3D is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software based on the NSE, and the volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to capture the moving free surface. However, VOF-based NSE models are computationally expensive due to the treatment of the free surface. To efficiently track the free surface, non-hydrostatic models employ the so-called free surface equation and can be solved efficiently. One pioneering application for the simulation of ship waves by the non-hydrostatic model was initiated by Ma (2012) and named XBeach. Recently, Almström et al. (2021) validated XBeach with improved dispersive behavior by comparison with field measurements. XBeach employed in Almström et al. (2021) is a 2-layer non-hydrostatic model and is accurate up to Kh=4 for the linear dispersion relation (de Ridder et al., 2020), where K=2π/L is the wavenumber. L is the wavelength, and h is the still water depth. However, no applications of non-hydrostatic models on the simulation of ship waves in the presence of a uniform current have been published. For more advances in the numerical modelling of ship waves, the reader is referred to Dempwolff et al. (2022).

      This paper investigates ship waves in the presence of a uniform current by using a non-hydrostatic model (Ai et al., 2019), in which a moving pressure field method is incorporated to represent the movement of a ship hull. The model solves the incompressible Euler equations by using a semi-implicit algorithm and is associated with iterating to solve the Poisson equation. The model with two, three and five layers is accurate up to Kh= 7, 15 and 40, respectively (Ai et al., 2019) in resolving the linear dispersion relation. To the best of our knowledge, ship waves in the presence of currents have been studied theoretically (Benjamin et al., 2017Ellingsen, 2014Li and Ellingsen, 2016Li et al., 2019.) and numerically (Dam et al., 2008Lee and Lee, 20192021). However, no publications have presented the effects of a uniform current on characteristic wave parameters except for Dam et al. (2008), who investigated only the effect of currents on the maximum wave height in a narrow channel for the narrow relative Froude number Fr=(Us−Uc)/gh ranging from 0.47 to 0.76, where Us is the ship speed and Uc is the current velocity. To reveal the effect of currents on the characteristic parameters of ship waves, the main objectives of this paper are (1) to validate the capability of the proposed model to resolve ship waves in the presence of a uniform current, (2) to investigate the effects of a following or an opposing current on characteristic wave parameters including the maximum water level elevation and the leading wave period in the ship wave train, (3) to show the differences in characteristic wave parameters between ship waves in the presence of a uniform current and those without current when the same relative Froude number Fr is specified, and (4) to examine the response of the maximum water level elevation to the ship draft in the presence of a uniform current.

      The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The non-hydrostatic model for ship waves is described in Section 2. Section 3 presents numerical validations for ship waves. Numerical results and discussions about the effects of a uniform current on characteristic wave parameters are provided in Section 4, and a conclusion is presented in Section 5.

      2. Non-hydrostatic model for ship waves

      2.1. Governing equations

      The 3D incompressible Euler equations are expressed in the following form:(1)∂u∂x+∂v∂y+∂w∂z=0(2)∂u∂t+∂u2∂x+∂uv∂y+∂uw∂z=−∂p∂x(3)∂v∂t+∂uv∂x+∂v2∂y+∂vw∂z=−∂p∂y(4)∂w∂t+∂uw∂x+∂vw∂y+∂w2∂z=−∂p∂z−gwhere t is the time; u(x,y,z,t), v(x,y,z,t) and w(x,y,z,t) are the velocity components in the horizontal x, y and vertical z directions, respectively; p(x,y,z,t) is the pressure divided by a constant reference density; and g is the gravitational acceleration.

      The pressure p(x,y,z,t) can be expressed as(5)p=ps+g(η−z)+qwhere ps(x,y,t) is the pressure at the free surface, η(x,y,t) is the free surface elevation, and q(x,y,z,t) is the non-hydrostatic pressure.

      η(x,y,t) is calculated by the following free-surface equation:(6)∂η∂t+∂∂x∫−hηudz+∂∂y∫−hηvdz=0where z=−h(x,y) is the bottom surface.

      To generate ship waves, ps(x,y,t) is determined by the following slender-body type pressure field (Bayraktar and Beji, 2013David et al., 2017Samaras and Karambas, 2021):

      For −L/2≤x’≤L/2,−B/2≤y’≤B/2(7)ps(x,y,t)|t=0=pm[1−cL(x′/L)4][1−cB(y′/B)2]exp⁡[−a(y′/B)2]where x′=x−x0 and y′=y−y0. (x0,y0) is the center of the pressure field, pm is the peak pressure defined at (x0,y0), and L and B are the lengthwise and breadthwise parameters, respectively. cL, cB and a are set to 16, 2 and 16, respectively.

      2.2. Numerical algorithms

      In this study, the generation of ship waves is incorporated into the semi-implicit non-hydrostatic model developed by Ai et al. (2019). The 3D grid system used in the model is built from horizontal rectangular grids by adding horizontal layers. The horizontal layers are distributed uniformly along the water depth, which means the layer thickness is defined by Δz=(η+h)/Nz, where Nz is the number of horizontal layers.

      In the solution procedure, the first step is to generate ship waves by implementing Eq. (7) together with the prescribed ship track. In the second step, Eqs. (1)(2)(3)(4) are solved by the pressure correction method, which can be subdivided into three stages. The first stage is to compute intermediate velocities un+1/2, vn+1/2, and wn+1/2 by solving Eqs. (2)(3)(4), which contain the non-hydrostatic pressure at the preceding time level. In the second stage, the Poisson equation for the non-hydrostatic pressure correction term is solved on the graphics processing unit (GPU) in conjunction with the conjugate gradient method. The third stage is to compute the new velocities un+1, vn+1, and wn+1 by correcting the intermediate values after including the non-hydrostatic pressure correction term. In the discretization of Eqs. (2)(3), the gradient terms of the water surface ∂η/∂x and ∂η/∂y are discretized by means of the semi-implicit method (Vitousek and Fringer, 2013), in which the implicitness factor θ=0.5 is used. The model is second-order accurate in time for free-surface flows. More details about the model can be found in Ai et al. (2019).

      3. Model validation

      In this section, we validate the proposed model in resolving ship waves. The numerical experimental conditions are provided in Table 1 and Table 2. In Table 2, Case A with the current velocity of Uc = 0.0 m/s represents ship waves without current. Both Case B and Case C correspond to the cases in the presence of a following current, while Case D and Case E represent the cases in the presence of an opposing current. The current velocities are chosen based on the observed currents at 40.886° N, 121.812° E, which is in the Liaohe Estuary. The measured data were collected from 14:00 on September 18 (GMT + 08:00) to 19:00 on September 19 in 2021. The maximum flood velocity is 1.457 m/s, and the maximum ebb velocity is −1.478 m/s. The chosen current velocities are between the maximum flood velocity and the maximum ebb velocity.

      Table 1. Summary of ship speeds.

      CaseWater depth h (m)Ship speed Us (m/s)Froude number Fr′=Us/gh
      16.04.570.6
      26.05.350.7
      36.06.150.8
      46.06.900.9
      56.07.0930.925
      66.07.280.95
      76.07.4760.975
      86.07.861.025
      96.08.061.05
      106.08.2431.075
      116.08.451.1
      126.09.201.2
      136.09.971.3
      146.010.751.4
      156.011.501.5
      166.012.301.6
      176.013.051.7
      186.013.801.8
      196.014.601.9
      206.015.352.0

      Table 2. Summary of current velocities.

      CaseABCDE
      Current velocity
      Uc (m/s)
      0.00.51.0−0.5−1.0

      Notably, the Froude number Fr′=Us/gh presented in Table 1 is defined by the ship speed Us only and is different from the relative Froude number Fr when a uniform current is presented. According to the theory of Lee and Lee (2021), with the same relative Froude number, the cusp-line angles in the presence of a following or an opposing uniform current are identical to those without current. As a result, for the test cases presented in Table 1Table 2, all calculated cusp-line angles follow the analytical solution of Havelock (1908), when the relative Froude number Fr is introduced.

      As shown in Fig. 1, the dimensions of the computational domain are −420≤x≤420 m and −200≤y≤200 m, which are similar to those of David et al. (2017). The ship track follows the x axis and ranges from −384 m to 384 m. The ship hull is represented by Eq. (7), in which the length L and the beam B are set to 14.0 m and 7.0 m, respectively, and the peak pressure value is pm= 5000 Pa. In the numerical simulations, grid convergence tests reveal that the horizontal grid spacing of Δx=Δy= 1.0 m and two horizontal layers are adequate. The numerical results with different numbers of horizontal layers are shown in the Appendix.

      Fig. 1

      Fig. 2Fig. 3 compare the calculated cusp-line angles θc with the analytical solutions of Havelock (1908) for ship waves in the presence of a following uniform current and an opposing uniform current, respectively. The calculated cusp-line angles without current are also depicted in Fig. 2Fig. 3. All calculated cusp-line angles are in good agreement with the analytical solutions, except that the model tends to underpredict the cusp-line angle for 0.9<Fr<1.0. Notably, a similar underprediction of the cusp-line angle can also be found in David et al. (2017).

      Fig. 2
      Fig. 3

      4. Results and discussions

      This section presents the effects of a following current and opposing current on the maximum water level elevation and the leading wave period in the wave train based on the test cases presented in Table 1Table 2. Moreover, the response of the maximum water level elevation to the ship draft in the presence of a uniform current is examined.

      4.1. Effects of a following current on characteristic wave parameters

      To present the effect of a following current on the maximum wave height, the variations of the maximum water level elevation ηmax with the Froude number Fr′ at gauge points G1 and G2 are depicted in Fig. 4. The positions of gauge points G1 and G2 are shown in Fig. 1. The maximum water level elevation is an analogue to the maximum wave height and is presented in this study, because maximum wave heights at different positions away from the ship track vary throughout the wave train (David et al., 2017). In general, the variations of ηmax with the Froude number Fr′ in the three cases show a similar behavior, in which with the increase in Fr′, ηmax increases and then decreases. The presence of the following currents decreases ηmax for Fr′≤0.8 and Fr′≥1.2. Specifically, the following currents have a significant effect on ηmax for Fr′≤0.8. Notably, ηmax can be increased by the presence of the following currents for 0.9≤Fr′≤1.1. Compared with Case A, at location G1 ηmax is amplified 1.25 times at Fr′=0.925 in Case B and 1.31 times at Fr′=1.025 in Case C. Similarly, at location G2 ηmax is amplified 1.15 times at Fr′=1.025 in Case B and 1.11 times at Fr′=1.075 in Case C. The fact that ηmax can be increased by the presence of a following current for 0.9≤Fr′≤1.1 implies that if a following uniform current is neglected, then ηmax may be underestimated.

      Fig. 4

      To show the effect of a following current on the wave period, Fig. 5 depicts the variation of the leading wave period Tp in the wave train at gauge point G2 with the Froude number Fr′. Similar to David et al. (2017), Tp is defined by the wave period of the first wave with a leading trough in the wave train. The leading wave periods for Fr′= 0.6 and 0.7 were not given in Case B and Case C, because the leading wave heights for Fr′= 0.6 and 0.7 are too small to discern the leading wave periods. Compared with Case A, the presence of a following current leads to a larger Tp for 0.925≤Fr′≤1.1 and a smaller Tp for Fr′≥1.3. For Fr′= 0.8 and 0.9, Tp in Case B is larger than that in Case A and Tp in Case C is smaller than that in Case A. In all three cases, Tp decreases with increasing Fr′ for Fr′>1.0. However, this decreasing trend becomes very gentle after Fr′≥1.4. Notably, as shown in Fig. 5, Fr′=1.2 tends to be a transition point at which the following currents have a very limited effect on Tp. Moreover, before the transition point, Tp in Case B and Case C are larger than that in Case A (only for 0.925≤Fr′≤1.2), but after the transition point the reverse is true.

      Fig. 5

      As mentioned previously, the cusp-line angles for ship waves in the presence of a following or an opposing current are identical to those for ship waves only with the same relative Froude number Fr. However, with the same Fr, the characteristic parameters of ship waves in the presence of a following or an opposing current are quite different from those of ship waves without current. Fig. 6 shows the variations of the maximum water level elevation ηmax with Fr at gauge points G1 and G2 for ship waves in the presence of a following uniform current. Overall, the relationship curves between ηmax and Fr in Case B and Case C are lower than those in Case A. It is inferred that with the same Fr, ηmax in the presence of a following current is smaller than that without current. Fig. 7 shows the variation of the leading wave period Tp in the wave train at gauge point G2 with Fr for ship waves in the presence of a following uniform current. The overall relationship curves between Tp and Fr in Case B and Case C are also lower than those in Case A for 0.9≤Fr≤2.0. It can be inferred that with the same Fr, Tp in the presence of a following current is smaller than that without current for Fr≥0.9.

      Fig. 6
      Fig. 7

      To compare the numerical results between the case of ship waves only and the case of ship waves in the presence of a following current with the same Fr, Fig. 8 shows the wave patterns for Fr=1.2. To obtain the case of ship waves in the presence of a following current with Fr=1.2, the ship speed Us=9.7 m/s and the current velocity Uc=0.5 m/s are adopted. Fig. 8 indicates that both the calculated cusp-line angles for the case of Us=9.2 m/s and Uc=0.0 m/s and the case of Us=9.7 m/s and Uc=0.5 m/s are equal to 56.5°, which follows the theory of Lee and Lee (2021)Fig. 9 depicts the comparison of the time histories of the free surface elevation at gauge point G2 for Fr=1.2 between the case of ship waves only and the case of ship waves in the presence of a following current. The time when the ship wave just arrived at gauge point G2 is defined as t′=0. Both the maximum water level elevation and the leading wave period in the case of Us=9.2 m/s and Uc=0.0 m/s are larger than those in the case of Us=9.7 m/s and Uc=0.5 m/s, which is consistent with the inferences based on Fig. 6Fig. 7.

      Fig. 8
      Fig. 8. Comparison of the wave pattern for Fr=1.2: (a) Ship wave only; (b) Ship wave in the presence of a following current.
      Fig. 9
      Fig. 9. Comparison of the time histories of the free surface elevation at gauge point G2 for between case of ship waves only and case of ship waves in the presence of a following current.

      Fig. 10 shows the response of the maximum water level elevation ηmax to the ship draft at gauge point G2 for Fr′= 1.2 in the presence of a following uniform current. pm ranges from 2500 Pa to 40,000 Pa with an interval of Δp= 2500 Pa pm0= 2500 Pa represents a reference case. ηmax0 denotes the maximum water level elevation corresponding to the case of pm0= 2500 Pa. The best-fit linear trend lines obtained by linear regression analysis for the three responses are also depicted in Fig. 10. In general, all responses of ηmax to the ship draft show a linear relationship. The coefficients of determination for the three linear trend lines are R2= 0.9901, 0.9941 and 0.9991 for Case A, Case B and Case C, respectively. R2 is used to measure how close the numerical results are to the linear trend lines. The closer R2 is to 1.0, the more linear the numerical results tend to be. As a result, the relationship curve between ηmax and the ship draft in the presence of a following uniform current tends to be more linear than that without current. Notably, with the increase in pmpm0, ηmax increases faster in Case B and Case C than Case A. This implies that neglecting the following currents can lead to the underestimation of the response of ηmax to the ship draft.

      Fig. 10

      4.2. Effects of an opposing current on characteristic wave parameters

      Fig. 11 shows the variations of the maximum water level elevation ηmax with the Froude number Fr′ at gauge points G1 and G2 for ship waves in the presence of an opposing uniform current. The presence of opposing uniform currents leads to a significant reduction in ηmax at the two gauge points for 0.6≤Fr′≤2.0. Especially for Fr′=0.6, the decrease in ηmax is up to 73.8% in Case D and 78.4% in Case E at location G1 and up to 93.8% in Case D and 95.3% in Case E at location G2 when compared with Case A. Fig. 12 shows the variations of the leading wave period Tp at gauge point G2 with the Froude number Fr′ for ship waves in the presence of an opposing uniform current. The leading wave periods for Fr′= 0.6 and 0.7 were also not provided in Case D and Case E due to the small leading wave heights. In general, Tp decreases with increasing Fr′ in Case D and Case E for 0.8≤Fr′≤2.0. Tp in Case D and Case E are larger than that in Case A for Fr′≥1.0.

      Fig. 11
      Fig. 12

      Fig. 13 depicts the variations of the maximum water level elevation ηmax with the relative Froude number Fr at gauge points G1 and G2 for ship waves in the presence of an opposing uniform current. Similar to Case B and Case C shown in Fig. 6, the overall relationship curves between ηmax and Fr in Case D and Case E are lower than those in Case A. This implies that with the same Fr, ηmax in the presence of an opposing current is also smaller than that without current. Fig. 14 depicts the variations of the leading wave period Tp in the wave train at gauge point G2 with Fr for ship waves in the presence of an opposing uniform current. Similar to Case B and Case C shown in Fig. 7, the overall relationship curves between Tp and Fr in Case D and Case E are lower than those in Case A for 0.9≤Fr≤2.0. This also implies that with the same Fr, Tp in the presence of an opposing current is smaller than that without current.

      Fig. 13
      Fig. 14

      Fig. 15 shows a comparison of the wave pattern for Fr=1.2 between the case of ship waves only and the case of ship waves in the presence of an opposing current. The case of the ship wave in the presence of an opposing current with Fr=1.2 is obtained by setting the ship speed Us=8.7 m/s and the current velocity Uc=−0.5 m/s. As expected (Lee and Lee, 2021), both calculated cusp-line angles are identical. Fig. 16 depicts the comparison of the time histories of the free surface elevation at gauge point G2 for Fr=1.2 between the case of ship waves only and the case of ship waves in the presence of an opposing current. The maximum water level elevation in the case of Us=9.2 m/s and Uc=0.0 m/s is larger than that in the case of Us=8.7 m/s and Uc=−0.5 m/s, while the reverse is true for the leading wave period. Fig. 16 is consistent with the inferences based on Fig. 13Fig. 14.

      Fig. 15
      Fig. 16

      Fig. 17 depicts the response of the maximum water level elevation ηmax to the ship draft at gauge point G2 for Fr′= 1.2 in the presence of an opposing uniform current. Similarly, the response of ηmax to the ship draft in the presence of an opposing uniform current shows a linear relationship. The coefficients of determination for the three linear trend lines are R2= 0.9901, 0.9955 and 0.9987 for Case A, Case D and Case E, respectively. This indicates that the relationship curve between ηmax and the ship draft in the presence of an opposing uniform current also tends to be more linear than that without current. In addition, ηmax increases faster with increasing pmpm0 in Case D and Case E than Case A, implying that the response of ηmax to the ship draft can also be underestimated by neglecting opposing currents.

      Fig. 17

      5. Conclusions

      A non-hydrostatic model incorporating a moving pressure field method was used to investigate characteristic wave parameters for ship waves in the presence of a uniform current. The calculated cusp-line angles for ship waves in the presence of a following or an opposing uniform current were in good agreement with analytical solutions, demonstrating that the proposed model can accurately resolve ship waves in the presence of a uniform current.

      The model results showed that the presence of a following current can result in an increase in the maximum water level elevation ηmax for 0.9≤Fr′≤1.1, while the presence of an opposing current leads to a significant reduction in ηmax for 0.6≤Fr′≤2.0. The leading wave period Tp can be increased for 0.925≤Fr′≤1.2 and reduced for Fr′≥1.3 due to the presence of a following current. However, the presence of an opposing current leads to an increase in Tp for Fr′≥1.0.

      Although with the same relative Froude number Fr, the cusp-line angles for ship waves in the presence of a following or an opposing current are identical to those for ship waves without current, the maximum water level elevation ηmax and leading wave period Tp in the presence of a following or an opposing current are quite different from those without current. The present model results imply that with the same Fr, ηmax in the presence of a following or an opposing current is smaller than that without current for Fr≥0.6, and Tp in the presence of a following or an opposing current is smaller than that without current for Fr≥0.9.

      The response of ηmax to the ship draft in the presence of a following current or an opposing current is similar to that without current and shows a linear relationship. However, the presence of a following or an opposing uniform current results in more linear responses of ηmax to the ship draft. Moreover, more rapid responses of ηmax to the ship draft are obtained when a following current or an opposing current is presented. This implies that the response of ηmax to the ship draft in the presence of a following current or an opposing current can be underestimated if the uniform current is neglected.

      The present results have implications for ships sailing across estuarine and coastal environments, where river flows or tidal flows are significant. In these environments, ship waves can be larger than expected and the response of the maximum water level elevation to the ship draft may be more remarkable. The effect of a uniform current should be considered in the analysis of ship waves.

      The present study considered only slender-body type ships. For different hull shapes, the effects of a uniform current on characteristic wave parameters need to be further investigated. Moreover, the effects of an oblique uniform current on ship waves need to be examined in future work.

      CRediT authorship contribution statement

      Congfang Ai: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Writing – original draft, Funding acquisition. Yuxiang Ma: Conceptualization, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Writing – review & editing. Lei Sun: Conceptualization, Methodology. Guohai Dong: Supervision, Funding acquisition.

      Declaration of competing interest

      The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

      Acknowledgments

      This research is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 521712485172010501051979029), LiaoNing Revitalization Talents Program (Grant No. XLYC1807010) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. DUT21LK01).

      Appendix. Numerical results with different numbers of horizontal layers

      Fig. 18 shows comparisons of the time histories of the free surface elevation at gauge point G1 for Case B and Fr′= 1.2 between the three sets of numerical results with different numbers of horizontal layers. The maximum water level elevations ηmax obtained by Nz= 3 and 4 are 0.24% and 0.35% larger than ηmax with Nz= 2, respectively. Correspondingly, the leading wave periods Tp obtained by Nz= 3 and 4 are 0.45% and 0.55% larger than Tp with Nz= 2, respectively. In general, the three sets of numerical results are very close. To reduce the computational cost, two horizontal layers Nz= 2 were chosen for this study.

      Fig. 18

      Data availability

      Data will be made available on request.

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      Abstract

      이 연구에서 FLOW 3D 전산 유체 역학(CFD) 소프트웨어를 사용하여 파키스탄 Mirani 댐 방수로에 대한 에너지 소산 옵션으로 미국 매립지(USBR) 유형 II 및 USBR 유형 III 유역의 성능을 추정했습니다. 3D Reynolds 평균 Navier-Stokes 방정식이 해결되었으며, 여기에는 여수로 위의 자유 표면 흐름을 캡처하기 위해 공기 유입, 밀도 평가 및 드리프트-플럭스에 대한 하위 그리드 모델이 포함되었습니다. 본 연구에서는 5가지 모델을 고려하였다. 첫 번째 모델에는 길이가 39.5m인 USBR 유형 II 정수기가 있습니다. 두 번째 모델에는 길이가 44.2m인 USBR 유형 II 정수기가 있습니다. 3번째와 4 번째모델에는 길이가 각각 48.8m인 USBR 유형 II 정수조와 39.5m의 USBR 유형 III 정수조가 있습니다. 다섯 번째 모델은 네 번째 모델과 동일하지만 마찰 및 슈트 블록 높이가 0.3m 증가했습니다. 최상의 FLOW 3D 모델 조건을 설정하기 위해 메쉬 민감도 분석을 수행했으며 메쉬 크기 0.9m에서 최소 오차를 산출했습니다. 세 가지 경계 조건 세트가 테스트되었으며 최소 오류를 제공하는 세트가 사용되었습니다. 수치적 검증은 USBR 유형 II( L = 48.8m), USBR 유형 III( L = 35.5m) 및 USBR 유형 III 의 물리적 모델 에너지 소산을 0.3m 블록 단위로 비교하여 수행되었습니다( L= 35.5m). 통계 분석 결과 평균 오차는 2.5%, RMSE(제곱 평균 제곱근 오차) 지수는 3% 미만이었습니다. 수리학적 및 경제성 분석을 바탕으로 4 번째 모델이 최적화된 에너지 소산기로 밝혀졌습니다. 흡수된 에너지 백분율 측면에서 물리적 모델과 수치적 모델 간의 최대 차이는 5% 미만인 것으로 나타났습니다.

      In this study, the FLOW 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software was used to estimate the performance of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) type II and USBR type III stilling basins as energy dissipation options for the Mirani Dam spillway, Pakistan. The 3D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations were solved, which included sub-grid models for air entrainment, density evaluation, and drift–flux, to capture free-surface flow over the spillway. Five models were considered in this research. The first model has a USBR type II stilling basin with a length of 39.5 m. The second model has a USBR type II stilling basin with a length of 44.2 m. The 3rd and 4th models have a USBR type II stilling basin with a length of 48.8 m and a 39.5 m USBR type III stilling basin, respectively. The fifth model is identical to the fourth, but the friction and chute block heights have been increased by 0.3 m. To set up the best FLOW 3D model conditions, mesh sensitivity analysis was performed, which yielded a minimum error at a mesh size of 0.9 m. Three sets of boundary conditions were tested and the set that gave the minimum error was employed. Numerical validation was done by comparing the physical model energy dissipation of USBR type II (L = 48.8 m), USBR type III (L =35.5 m), and USBR type III with 0.3-m increments in blocks (L = 35.5 m). The statistical analysis gave an average error of 2.5% and a RMSE (root mean square error) index of less than 3%. Based on hydraulics and economic analysis, the 4th model was found to be an optimized energy dissipator. The maximum difference between the physical and numerical models in terms of percentage energy absorbed was found to be less than 5%.

      Keywords

      • Numerical modeling
      • Spillway
      • Hydraulic jump
      • Energy dissipation
      • FLOW 3D

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      이종 금속 인터커넥트의 펄스 레이저 용접을 위한 가공 매개변수 최적화

      Optimization of processing parameters for pulsed laser welding of dissimilar metal interconnects

      본 논문은 독자의 편의를 위해 기계번역된 내용이어서 자세한 내용은 원문을 참고하시기 바랍니다.

      NguyenThi TienaYu-LungLoabM.Mohsin RazaaCheng-YenChencChi-PinChiuc

      aNational Cheng Kung University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tainan, Taiwan

      bNational Cheng Kung University, Academy of Innovative Semiconductor and Sustainable Manufacturing, Tainan, Taiwan

      cJum-bo Co., Ltd, Xinshi District, Tainan, Taiwan

      Abstract

      워블 전략이 포함된 펄스 레이저 용접(PLW) 방법을 사용하여 알루미늄 및 구리 이종 랩 조인트의 제조를 위한 최적의 가공 매개변수에 대해 실험 및 수치 조사가 수행됩니다. 피크 레이저 출력과 접선 용접 속도의 대표적인 조합 43개를 선택하기 위해 원형 패킹 설계 알고리즘이 먼저 사용됩니다.

      선택한 매개변수는 PLW 프로세스의 전산유체역학(CFD) 모델에 제공되어 용융 풀 형상(즉, 인터페이스 폭 및 침투 깊이) 및 구리 농도를 예측합니다. 시뮬레이션 결과는 설계 공간 내에서 PLW 매개변수의 모든 조합에 대한 용융 풀 형상 및 구리 농도를 예측하기 위해 3개의 대리 모델을 교육하는 데 사용됩니다.

      마지막으로, 대체 모델을 사용하여 구성된 처리 맵은 용융 영역에 균열이나 기공이 없고 향상된 기계적 및 전기적 특성이 있는 이종 조인트를 생성하는 PLW 매개변수를 결정하기 위해 세 가지 품질 기준에 따라 필터링됩니다.

      제안된 최적화 접근법의 타당성은 최적의 용접 매개변수를 사용하여 생성된 실험 샘플의 전단 강도, 금속간 화합물(IMC) 형성 및 전기 접촉 저항을 평가하여 입증됩니다.

      결과는 최적의 매개변수가 1209N의 높은 전단 강도와 86µΩ의 낮은 전기 접촉 저항을 생성함을 확인합니다. 또한 용융 영역에는 균열 및 기공과 같은 결함이 없습니다.

      An experimental and numerical investigation is performed into the optimal processing parameters for the fabrication of aluminum and copper dissimilar lap joints using a pulsed laser welding (PLW) method with a wobble strategy. A circle packing design algorithm is first employed to select 43 representative combinations of the peak laser power and tangential welding speed. The selected parameters are then supplied to a computational fluidic dynamics (CFD) model of the PLW process to predict the melt pool geometry (i.e., interface width and penetration depth) and copper concentration. The simulation results are used to train three surrogate models to predict the melt pool geometry and copper concentration for any combination of the PLW parameters within the design space. Finally, the processing maps constructed using the surrogate models are filtered in accordance with three quality criteria to determine the PLW parameters that produce dissimilar joints with no cracks or pores in the fusion zone and enhanced mechanical and electrical properties. The validity of the proposed optimization approach is demonstrated by evaluating the shear strength, intermetallic compound (IMC) formation, and electrical contact resistance of experimental samples produced using the optimal welding parameters. The results confirm that the optimal parameters yield a high shear strength of 1209 N and a low electrical contact resistance of 86 µΩ. Moreover, the fusion zone is free of defects, such as cracks and pores.

      Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of Al-Cu lap-joint arrangement
      Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of Al-Cu lap-joint arrangement
      Fig. 2. Machine setup (MFQS-150W_1500W
      Fig. 2. Machine setup (MFQS-150W_1500W
      Fig. 5. Lap-shear mechanical tests: (a) experimental setup and specimen dimensions, and (b) two different failures of lap-joint welding.
N. Thi Tien et al.
      Fig. 5. Lap-shear mechanical tests: (a) experimental setup and specimen dimensions, and (b) two different failures of lap-joint welding. N. Thi Tien et al.
      Fig. 9. Simulation and experimental results for melt pool profile. (a) Simulation results for melt pool cross-section, and (b) OM image of melt pool cross-section.
(Note that laser processing parameter of 830 W and 565 mm/s is chosen.).
      Fig. 9. Simulation and experimental results for melt pool profile. (a) Simulation results for melt pool cross-section, and (b) OM image of melt pool cross-section. (Note that laser processing parameter of 830 W and 565 mm/s is chosen.).

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      Effect of tailwater depth on non-cohesive earth dam failure due to overtopping

      Effect of tailwater depth on non-cohesive earth dam failure due to overtopping

      범람으로 인한 비점착성 흙댐 붕괴에 대한 테일워터 깊이의 영향

      ShaimaaAmanaMohamedAbdelrazek RezkbRabieaNasrc

      Abstract

      본 연구에서는 범람으로 인한 토사댐 붕괴에 대한 테일워터 깊이의 영향을 실험적으로 조사하였다. 테일워터 깊이의 네 가지 다른 값을 검사합니다. 각 실험에 대해 댐 수심 측량 프로파일의 진화, 고장 기간, 침식 체적 및 유출 수위곡선을 관찰하고 기록합니다.

      결과는 tailwater 깊이를 늘리면 고장 시간이 최대 57% 감소하고 상대적으로 침식된 마루 높이가 최대 77.6% 감소한다는 것을 보여줍니다. 또한 상대 배수 깊이가 3, 4, 5인 경우 누적 침식 체적의 감소는 각각 23, 36.5 및 75%인 반면 최대 유출량의 감소는 각각 7, 14 및 17.35%입니다.

      실험 결과는 침식 과정을 복제할 때 Flow 3D 소프트웨어의 성능을 평가하는 데 활용됩니다. 수치 모델은 비응집성 흙댐의 침식 과정을 성공적으로 시뮬레이션합니다.

      The influence of tailwater depth on earth dam failure due to overtopping is investigated experimentally in this work. Four different values of tailwater depths are examined. For each experiment, the evolution of the dam bathymetry profile, the duration of failure, the eroded volume, and the outflow hydrograph are observed and recorded. The results reveal that increasing the tailwater depth reduces the time of failure by up to 57% and decreases the relative eroded crest height by up to 77.6%. In addition, for relative tailwater depths equal to 3, 4, and 5, the reduction in the cumulative eroded volume is 23, 36.5, and 75%, while the reduction in peak discharge is 7, 14, and 17.35%, respectively. The experimental results are utilized to evaluate the performance of the Flow 3D software in replicating the erosion process. The numerical model successfully simulates the erosion process of non-cohesive earth dams.

      Keywords

      Earth dam, Eroded volume, Flow 3D model, Non-cohesive soil, Overtopping failure, Tailwater depth

      Notation

      d50

      Mean partical diameterWc

      Optimum water contentZo

      Dam height (cm)do

      Tailwater depth (cm)Zeroded

      Eroded height of the dam measured at distance of 0.7 m from the dam heel (cm)t

      Total time of failure (sec)t1

      Time of crest width erosion (sec)Zcrest

      The crest height (cm)Vtotal

      Total volume of the dam (m3)Veroded

      Cumulative eroded volume (m3)RMSE

      The statistical variable root- mean- square errord

      Degree of agreement indexyu.s.

      The upstream water depth (cm)yd.s

      The downstream water depth (cm)H

      Water surface elevation over sharp crested weir (cm)Q

      Outflow discharge (liter/sec)Qpeak

      Peak discharge (liter/sec)

      1. Introduction

      Earth dams are compacted structures composed of natural materials that are usually mined or quarried from local locations. The failures of the earth dams have proven to be deadly, destructive, and costly. According to People’s Daily, two earthen dams, Yong’an Dam and Xinfa Dam located in Hulun Buir City in North China’s Inner Mongolia failed on 2021, due to a surge in the water level of the Nuomin River caused by heavy rain. The dam breach affected 16,660 people, flooded 325,622 mu of farmland (21708.1 ha), and destroyed 22 bridges, 124 culverts, and 15.6 km of roadways. Also, the failure of south fork dam (earth and rock fill dam) near Johnstown on 1889 is considered the worst U.S dam disaster in terms of loss of life. The dam was overtopped and washed away due to unexpected heavy rains, releasing 20 million tons of water which destroyed Johnstown and resulted in 2209 deaths, [1][2]. Piping or shear sliding, failure due to natural factors, and failure due to overtopping are all possible causes of earth dam failure. However, overtopping failure is the most frequent cause of dam failure. According to The International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD, 1995), and [3], more than one-third of the total known dam failures were caused by dam overtopping.

      Overtopping occurs as the result of insufficient flood design or freeboard in some cases. Extreme rainstorms can cause floods which can overtop the dam and cause it to fail. The size and geometry of the reservoir or the dam (side slopes, top width, height, etc.), the homogeneity of the material used in the construction of the dam, overtopping depth, and the presence or absence of tailwater are all elements that influence this type of failure which will be illustrated in the following literature. Overtopping failures of earth dams may be divided into several failure mechanisms based on the material composition and the inner structure of the dam. For cohesive earth dams because of low permeability, no seepage exists on the slopes. Erosion often begins at the earth dam toe during turbulent erosion and moves upstream, undercutting the slope, causing the removal of large chunks of materials. While for non-cohesive earth dams the downstream face of the dam flattens progressively and is often said to rotate around a point near the downstream toe [4][5][6] In the last few decades, the study of failures due to overtopping has gained popularity among researchers. The overtopping failure, in fact, has been widely investigated in coastal and river hydraulics and morpho dynamic. In addition, several laboratory experimental studies have been conducted in this field in order to better understand different involved factors. Also, many numerical types of research have been conducted to investigate the process of overtopping failure as well as the elements that influence this type of failure.

      Tabrizi et al. [5] conducted a series of embankment overtopping tests to find the effect of compaction on the failure of a homogenous sand embankment. A plane breach process occurred across the flume width due to the narrow flume width. They measured the downstream hydrographs and embankment surface profile for every case. They concluded that the peak discharge decreased with a high compaction level, while the time to peak increased. Kansoh et al. [6] studied experimentally the failure of compacted homogeneous non-cohesive earthen embankment due to overtopping. They investigated the influence of different shape parameters including the downstream slope, the crest width, and the height of the embankment on the erosion process. The erosion process was initiated by carving a pilot channel into the embankment crest. They evaluated the time of embankment failure for different shape parameters. They concluded that the failure time increases with increasing the downstream slope and the crest width. Zhu et al. [7] investigated experimentally the breaching of five embankments, one constructed with pure sand, and four with different sand-silt–clay mixtures. The erosion pattern was similar across the flume width. They stated that for cohesive soil mixtures the head cut erosion was the most important factor that affected the breach growth, while for non-cohesive soil the breach erosion was affected by shear erosion.

      Amaral et al. [8] studied experimentally the failure by overtopping for two embankments built from silt sand material. They studied the effect of the degree of compaction of the embankment and the geometry of the pilot channel carved at the centre of the dam crest. They studied two shapes of pilot channel a rectangular shape and triangular shape. They stated that the breach development is influenced by a higher degree of compaction, however, the pilot channel geometry did not influence the breach’s final form. Bereta et al. [9] studied experimentally the breach formation of five dam models, three of them were homogenous clay soil while two were sandy-clay mixtures. The erosion process was initiated by cutting a pilot channel at the centre of the dam crest. They observed the initiation of erosion, flow shear erosion, sidewall bottom erosion, and distinguished the soil mechanical slope mass failure from the head cut vertically and laterally during these tests. Verma et al. [10] investigated experimentally a two-dimensional erosion phenomenon due to overtopping by using a wooden fuse plug model and five different soils. They concluded that the erosion process was affected mostly by cohesiveness and degree of compaction. For cohesive soils, a head cut erosion was observed, while for non-cohesive soils surface erosion occurred gradually. Also, the dimensions of fuse plug, type of fill material, reservoir capacity, and inflow were found to affect the behaviour of the overall breaching process.

      Wu and Qin [11] studied the effect of adding coarse grains to the downstream face of a non-cohesive dam as a result of tailings deposition. The process of overtopping during tailings dam failures is analyzed and its effect on delaying the dam-break process and disaster mitigation are investigated. They found that the tested protective measures decreased the breach area, the maximum breaching flow discharge and flow velocity, and the downstream inundated area. Khankandi et al. [12] studied experimentally the effect of reservoir geometry on dam break flow in case of dry and wet bed conditions. They considered four different reservoir shapes, a long reservoir, a wide, a trapezoidal shaped and one with a 90◦ bend all with identical water volume and horizontal bed. The dam break is simulated by the sudden gate removal using a pneumatic jack. They measured the variation of water level over time with ultrasonic sensors and flow velocity component with an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. Also, the experimental results of water level variation are compared with Ritters solution (1892) [13]. They stated that for dry bed condition the long and 90 bend reservoirs results are close to the analytical solution by ritter also in these two shapes a 1D flow is noticed. However, for wide and trapezoidal reservoirs a 2D effect is significant due to flow contraction at channel entrance.

      Rifai et al. [14] conducted a series of experiments to investigate the effect of tailwater depth on the outflow discharge and breach geometry during non-cohesive homogenous fluvial dikes overtopping failure. They cut an initial notch in the crest at 0.8 m from the upstream end of the dike to initiate overtopping. They compared their results to previous experiments under different main channel inflow discharges combined with a free floodplain. They divided the dike breaching process into three stages: gradual start of overtopping flow resulting in slow initiation of dike erosion, deepening and widening breach due to large flow depth and velocity, finally the flow depth starts stabilizing at its minimal level with or without sustained breach expansion. They stated that breach discharge has lower values than in free floodplain tests. Jiang [15] studied the effect of bed slope on breach parameters and peak discharge in non-cohesive embankment failure. An initial triangular breach with a depth and width of 4 cm was pre-set on one side of the dam. He stated that peak discharge increases with the increase of bed slope and then decreases.

      Ozmen-cagatay et al. [16] studied experimentally flood wave propagation resulted from a sudden dam break event. For dam-break modelling, they used a mechanism that permitted the rapid removal of a vertical plate with a thickness of 4 mm and made of rigid plastic. They conducted three tests, one with dry bed condition and two tests with tailwater depths equal 0.025 m and 0.1 m respectively. They recorded the free surface profile during initial stages of dam break by using digital image processing. Finally, they compared the experimental results with the with a commercially available VOF-based CFD program solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier –Stokes equations (RANS) with the k– Ɛ turbulence model and the shallow water equations (SWEs). They concluded that Wave breaking was delayed with increasing the tailwater depth to initial reservoir depth ratio. They also stated that the SWE approach is sufficient more to represent dam break flows for wet bed condition. Evangelista [17] investigated experimentally and numerically using a depth-integrated two-phase model, the erosion of sand dike caused by the impact of a dam break wave. The dam break is simulated by a sudden opening of an upstream reservoir gate resulting in the overtopping of a downstream trapezoidal sand dike. The evolution of the water wave caused from the gate opening and dike erosion process are recorded by using a computer-controlled camera. The experimental results demonstrated that the progression of the wave front and dike erosion have a considerable influence on each other during the process. In addition, the dike constructed from fine sands was more resistant to erosion than the one built with coarse sand. They also stated that the numerical model can is capable of accurately predicting wave front position and dike erosion. Also, Di Cristo et al. [18] studied the effect of dam break wave propagation on a sand embankment both experimentally and numerically using a two-phase shallow-water model. The evolution of free surface and of the embankment bottom are recorded and used in numerical model assessment. They stated that the model allows reasonable simulation of the experimental trends of the free surface elevation regardeless of the geofailure operator.

      Lots of numerical models have been developed over the past few years to simulate the dam break flooding problem. A one-dimensional model, such as Hec-Ras, DAMBRK and MIKE 11, ect. A two-dimensional model such as iRIC Nay2DH is used in earth embankment breach simulation. Other researchers studied the failure process numerically using (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, such as FLOW-3D, and FLUENT. Goharnejad et al. [19] determined the outflow hydrograph which results from the embankment dam break due to overtopping. Hu et al. [20] performed a comparison between Flow-3D and MIKE3 FM numerical models in simulating a dam break event under dry and wet bed conditions with different tailwater depths. Kaurav et al. [21] simulated a planar dam breach process due to overtopping. They conducted a sensitivity analysis to find the effect of dam material, dam height, downstream slope, crest width, and inlet discharge on the erosion process and peak discharge through breach. They concluded that downstream slope has a significant influence on breaching process. Yusof et al. [22] studied the effect of embankment sediment sizes and inflow rates on breaching geometric and hydrodynamic parameters. They stated that the peak outflow hydrograph increases with increasing sediment size and inflow rates while time of failure decreases.

      In the present work, the effect of tailwater depth on earth dam failure during overtopping is studied experimentally. The relation between the eroded volume of the dam and the tailwater depth is presented. Also, the percentage of reduction in peak discharge due to tailwater existence is calculated. An assessment of Flow 3D software performance in simulating the erosion process during earth dam failure is introduced. The statistical variable root- mean- square error, RMSE, and the agreement degree index, d, are used in model assessment.

      2. Material and methods

      The tests are conducted in a straight rectangular flume in the laboratory of Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulics Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt. The flume dimensions are 10 m long, 0.86 m wide, and 0.5 m deep. The front part of the flume is connected to a storage basin 1 m long by 0.86 m wide. The storage basin is connected to a collecting tank for water recirculation during the experiments as shown in Fig. 1Fig. 2. A sharp-crested weir is placed at a distance of 4 m downstream the constructed dam to keep a constant tailwater depth in each experiment and to measure the outflow discharge.

      To measure the eroded volume with time a rods technique is used. This technique consists of two parallel wooden plates with 10 cm distance in between and five rows of stainless-steel rods passing vertically through the wooden plates at a spacing of 20 cm distributed across flume width. Each row consists of four rods with 15 cm spacing between them. Also, a graph board is provided to measure the drop in each rod with time as shown in Fig. 3Fig. 4. After dam construction the rods are carefully rested on the dam, with the first line of rods resting in the middle of the dam crest and then a constant distance of 15 cm between rods lines is maintained.

      A soil sample is taken and tested in the laboratory of the soil mechanics to find the soil geotechnical parameters. The soil particle size distribution is also determined by sieve analysis as shown in Fig. 5. The soil mean diameter d50,equals 0.38 mm and internal friction angle equals 32.6°.

      2.1. Experimental procedures

      To investigate the effect of the tailwater depth (do), the tailwater depth is changed four times 5, 15, 20, and 25 cm on the sand dam model. The dam profile is 35 cm height, with crest width = 15 cm, the dam base width is 155 cm, and the upstream and downstream slopes are 2:1 as shown in Fig. 6. The dam dimensions are set as the flume permitted to allow observation of the dam erosion process under the available flume dimensions and conditions. All of the conducted experiments have the same dimensions and configurations.

      The optimum water content, Wc, from the standard proctor test is found to be 8 % and the maximum dry unit weight is 19.42 kN/m3. The soil and water are mixed thoroughly to ensure consistency and then placed on three horizontal layers. Each layer is compacted according to ASTM standard with 25 blows by using a rammer (27 cm × 20.5 cm) weighing 4 kg. Special attention is paid to the compaction of the soil to guarantee the repeatability of the tests.

      After placing and compacting the three layers, the dam slopes are trimmed carefully to form the trapezoidal shape of the dam. A small triangular pilot channel with 1 cm height and 1:1 side slopes is cut into the dam crest to initiate the erosion process. The position of triangular pilot channel is presented in Fig. 1. Three digital video cameras with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels and a frame rate of 60 fps are placed in three different locations. One camera on one side of the flume to record the progress of the dam profile during erosion. Another to track the water level over the sharp-crested rectangular weir placed at the downstream end of the flume. And the third camera is placed above the flume at the downstream side of the dam and in front of the rods to record the drop of the tip of the rods with time as shown previously in Fig. 1.

      Before starting the experiment, the water is pumped into the storage basin by using pump with capacity 360 m3/hr, and then into the upstream section of the flume. The upstream boundary is an inflow condition. The flow discharge provided to the storage basin is kept at a constant rate of 6 L/sec for all experiments, while the downstream boundary is an outflow boundary condition.

      Also, the required tailwater depth for each experiment is filled to the desired depth. A dye container valve is opened to color the water upstream of the dam to make it easy to distinguish the dam profile from the water profile. A wooden board is placed just upstream of the dam to prevent water from overtopping the dam until the water level rises to a certain level above the dam crest and then the wooden board is removed slowly to start the experiment.

      2.2. Repeatability

      To verify the accuracy of the results, each experiment is repeated two times under the same conditions. Fig. 7 shows the relative eroded crest height, Zeroded / Zo, with time for 5 cm tailwater depth. From the Figure, it can be noticed that results for all runs are consistent, and accuracy is achieved.

      3. Numerical model

      The commercially available numerical model, Flow 3D is used to simulate the dam failure due to overtopping for the cases of 15 cm, 20 cm and 25 cm tailwater depths. For numerical model calibration, experimental results for dam surface evolution are used. The numerical model is calibrated for selection of the optimal turbulence model (RNG, K-e, and k-w) and sediment scour equations (Van Rin, Meyer- peter and Muller, and Nielsen) that produce the best results. In this, the flow field is solved by the RNG turbulence model, and the van Rijn equation is used for the sediment scour model. A geometry file is imported before applying the mesh.

      A Mesh sensitivity is analyzed and checked for various cell sizes, and it is found that decreasing the cell size significantly increases the simulation time with insignificant differences in the result. It is noticed that the most important factor influencing cell size selection is the value of the dam’s upstream and downstream slopes. For example, the slopes in the dam model are 2:1, thus the cell size ratio in X and Z directions should be 2:1 as well. The cell size in a mesh block is set to be 0.02 m, 0.025 m, and 0.01 m in X, Y and Z directions respectively.

      In the numerical computations, the boundary conditions employed are the walls for sidewalls and the channel bottom. The pressure boundary condition is applied at the top, at the air–water interface, to account for atmospheric pressure on the free surface. The upstream boundary is volume flow rate while the downstream boundary is outflow discharge.

      The initial condition is a fluid region, which is used to define fluid areas both upstream and downstream of the dam. To assess the model accuracy, the statistical variable root- mean- square error, RMSE, and the agreement degree index, d, are calculated as(1)RMSE=1N∑i=1N(Pi-Mi)2(2)d=1-∑Mi-Pi2∑Mi-M¯+Pi-P¯2

      where N is the number of samples, Pi and Mi are the models and experimental values, P and M are the means of the model and experimental values. The best fit between the experimental and model results would have an RMSE = 0 and degree of agreement, d = 1.

      4. Results of experimental work

      The results of the total time of failure, t (defined as the time from when the water begins to overtop the dam crest until the erosion reaches a steady state, when no erosion occurs), time of crest width erosion t1, cumulative eroded volume Veroded, and peak discharge Qpeak for each experiment are listed in Table 1. The case of 5 cm tailwater depth is considered as a reference case in this work.

      Table 1. Results of experimental work.

      Tailwater depth, do (cm)Total time of failure, t (sec)Time of crest width erosion, t1 (sec)cumulative eroded volume, Veroded (m3)Peak discharge, Qpeak (liter/sec)
      5255220.2113.12
      15165300.1612.19
      20140340.1311.29
      25110390.0510.84

      5. Discussion

      5.1. Side erosion

      The evolution of the bathymetry of the erosion line recorded by the video camera1. The videos are split into frames (60 frames/sec) by the Free Video to JPG Converter v.5.063 build and then converted into an excel spreadsheet using MATLAB code as shown in Fig. 8.

      Fig. 9 shows a sample of numerical model output. Fig. 10Fig. 11Fig. 12 show a dam profile development for different time steps from both experimental and numerical model, for tailwater depths equal 15 cm, 20 cm and 25 cm. Also, the values of RMSE and d for each figure are presented. The comparison shows that the Flow 3D software can simulate the erosion process of non-cohesive earth dam during overtopping with an RMSE value equals 0.023, 0.0218, and 0.0167 and degree of agreement, d, equals 0.95, 0.968, and 0.988 for relative tailwater depths, do/(do)ref, = 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The low values of RMSE and high values of d show that the Flow 3D can effectively simulate the erosion process. From Fig. 10Fig. 11Fig. 12, it can be noticed that the model is not capable of reproducing the head cut, while it can simulate well the degradation of the crest height with a minor difference from experimental work. The reason of this could be due to inability of simulation of all physical conditions which exists in the experimental work, such as channel friction and the grain size distribution of the dam soil which is surely has a great effect on the erosion process and breach development. In the experimental work the grain size distribution is shown in Fig. 5, while the numerical model considers that the soil is uniform and exactly 50 % of the dam particles diameter are equal to the d50 value. Another reason is that the model is not considering the increased resistance of the dam due to the apparent cohesion which happens due to dam saturation [23].

      It is clear from both the experimental and numerical results that for a 5 cm tailwater depth, do/(do)ref = 1.0, erosion begins near the dam toe and continues upward on the downstream slope until it reaches the crest. After eroding the crest width, the crest is lowered, resulting in increased flow rates and the speeding up of the erosion process. While for relative tailwater depths, do/(do)ref = 3, 4, and 5 erosion starts at the point of intersection between the downstream slope and tailwater. The existence of tailwater works as an energy dissipater for the falling water which reduces the erosion process and prevents the dam from failure as shown in Fig. 13. It is found that the time of the failure decreases with increasing the tailwater depth because most of the dam height is being submerged with water which decreases the erosion process. The reduction in time of failure from the referenced case is found to be 35.3, 45, and 57 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref equals 3, 4, and 5, respectively.

      The relation between the relative eroded crest height, Zeroded /Zo, with time is drawn as shown in Fig. 14. It is found that the relative eroded crest height decreases with increasing tailwater depth by 10, 41, and 77.6 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref equals 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The time required for the erosion of the crest width, t1, is calculated for each experiment. The relation between relative tailwater depth and relative time of crest width erosion is shown in Fig. 15. It is found that the time of crest width erosion increases linearly with increasing, do /Zo. The percent of increase is 36.4, 54.5 and 77.3 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref = 3, 4 and 5, respectively.

      Crest height, Zcrest is calculated from the experimental results and the Flow 3D results for relative tailwater depths, do/(do)ref, = 3, 4, and 5. A relation between relative crest height, Zcrest/Zo with time from experimental and numerical results is presented in Fig. 16. From Fig. 16, it is seen that there is a good consistency between the results of numerical model and the experimental results in the case of tracking the erosion of the crest height with time.

      5.2. Upstream and downstream water depths

      It is noticed that at the beginning of the erosion process, both upstream and downstream water depths increase linearly with time as long as erosion of the crest height did not take place. However, when the crest height starts to lower the upstream water depth decreases with time while the downstream water depth increases. At the end of the experiment, the two depths are nearly equal. A relation between relative downstream and upstream water depths with time is drawn for each experiment as shown in Fig. 17.

      5.3. Eroded volume

      A MATLAB code is used to calculate the cumulative eroded volume every time interval for each experiment. The total volume of the dam, Vtotal is 0.256 m3. The cumulative eroded volume, Veroded is 0.21, 0.16, 0.13, and 0.05 m3 for tailwater depths, do = 5, 15, 20, and 25 cm, respectively. Fig. 18 presents the relation between cumulative eroded volume, Veroded and time. From Fig. 18, it is observed that the cumulative eroded volume decreases with increasing the tailwater depth. The reduction in cumulative eroded volume is 23, 36.5, and 75 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref = 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The relative remained volume of the dam equals 0.18, 0.375, 0.492, and 0.8 for tailwater depths = 5, 15, 20, and 25 cm, respectively. Fig. 19 shows a relation between relative tailwater depth and relative cumulative eroded volume from experimental results. From that figure, it is noticed that the eroded volume decreases exponentially with increasing relative tailwater depth.

      5.4. The outflow discharge

      The inflow discharge provided to the storage tank is maintained constant for all experiments. The water surface elevation, H, over the sharp-crested weir placed at the downstream side is recorded by the video camera 2. For each experiment, the outflow discharge is then calculated by using the sharp-crested rectangular weir equation every 10 sec.

      The outflow discharge is found to increase rapidly until it reaches its peak then it decreases until it is constant. For high values of tailwater depths, the peak discharge becomes less than that in the case of small tailwater depth as shown in Fig. 20 which agrees well with the results of Rifai et al. [14] The reduction in peak discharge is 7, 14, and 17.35 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref = 3, 4, and 5, respectively.

      The scenario presented in this article in which the tailwater depth rises due to unexpected heavy rainfall, is investigated to find the effect of rising tailwater depth on earth dam failure. The results revealed that rising tailwater depth positively affects the process of dam failure in terms of preventing the dam from complete failure and reducing the outflow discharge.

      6. Conclusions

      The effect of tailwater depth on earth dam failure due to overtopping is investigated experimentally in this work. The study focuses on the effect of tailwater depth on side erosion, upstream and downstream water depths, eroded volume, outflow hydrograph, and duration of the failure process. The Flow 3D numerical software is used to simulate the dam failure, and a comparison is made between the experimental and numerical results to find the ability of this software to simulate the erosion process. The following are the results of the investigation:

      The existence of tailwater with high depths prevents the dam from completely collapsing thereby turning it into a broad crested weir. The failure time decreases with increasing the tailwater depth and the reduction from the reference case is found to be 35.3, 45, and 57 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref = 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The difference between the upstream and downstream water depths decreases with time till it became almost negligible at the end of the experiment. The reduction in cumulative eroded volume is 23, 36.5, and 75 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref = 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The peak discharge decreases by 7, 14, and 17.35 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref = 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The relative eroded crest height decreases linearly with increasing the tailwater depth by 10, 41, and 77.6 % for relative tailwater depth, do /(do)ref = 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The numerical model can reproduce the erosion process with a minor deviation from the experimental results, particularly in terms of tracking the degradation of the crest height with time.

      Declaration of Competing Interest

      The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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      My name is Shaimaa Ibrahim Mohamed Aman and I am a teaching assistant in Irrigation and Hydraulics department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. I graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University in 2013. I had my MSc in Irrigation and Hydraulic Engineering in 2017. My research interests lie in the area of earth dam Failures.

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      Extratropical cyclone damage to the seawall in Dawlish, UK: eyewitness accounts, sea level analysis and numerical modelling

      영국 Dawlish의 방파제에 대한 온대 저기압 피해: 목격자 설명, 해수면 분석 및 수치 모델링

      Extratropical cyclone damage to the seawall in Dawlish, UK: eyewitness accounts, sea level analysis and numerical modelling

      Natural Hazards (2022)Cite this article

      Abstract

      2014년 2월 영국 해협(영국)과 특히 Dawlish에 영향을 미친 온대 저기압 폭풍 사슬은 남서부 지역과 영국의 나머지 지역을 연결하는 주요 철도에 심각한 피해를 입혔습니다.

      이 사건으로 라인이 두 달 동안 폐쇄되어 5천만 파운드의 피해와 12억 파운드의 경제적 손실이 발생했습니다. 이 연구에서는 폭풍의 파괴력을 해독하기 위해 목격자 계정을 수집하고 해수면 데이터를 분석하며 수치 모델링을 수행합니다.

      우리의 분석에 따르면 이벤트의 재난 관리는 성공적이고 효율적이었으며 폭풍 전과 도중에 인명과 재산을 구하기 위해 즉각적인 조치를 취했습니다. 파도 부이 분석에 따르면 주기가 4–8, 8–12 및 20–25초인 복잡한 삼중 봉우리 바다 상태가 존재하는 반면, 조위계 기록에 따르면 최대 0.8m의 상당한 파도와 최대 1.5m의 파도 성분이 나타났습니다.

      이벤트에서 가능한 기여 요인으로 결합된 진폭. 최대 286 KN의 상당한 임펄스 파동이 손상의 시작 원인일 가능성이 가장 높았습니다. 수직 벽의 반사는 파동 진폭의 보강 간섭을 일으켜 파고가 증가하고 최대 16.1m3/s/m(벽의 미터 너비당)의 상당한 오버탑핑을 초래했습니다.

      이 정보와 우리의 공학적 판단을 통해 우리는 이 사고 동안 다중 위험 계단식 실패의 가장 가능성 있는 순서는 다음과 같다고 결론을 내립니다. 조적 파괴로 이어지는 파도 충격력, 충전물 손실 및 연속적인 조수에 따른 구조물 파괴.

      The February 2014 extratropical cyclonic storm chain, which impacted the English Channel (UK) and Dawlish in particular, caused significant damage to the main railway connecting the south-west region to the rest of the UK. The incident caused the line to be closed for two months, £50 million of damage and an estimated £1.2bn of economic loss. In this study, we collate eyewitness accounts, analyse sea level data and conduct numerical modelling in order to decipher the destructive forces of the storm. Our analysis reveals that the disaster management of the event was successful and efficient with immediate actions taken to save lives and property before and during the storm. Wave buoy analysis showed that a complex triple peak sea state with periods at 4–8, 8–12 and 20–25 s was present, while tide gauge records indicated that significant surge of up to 0.8 m and wave components of up to 1.5 m amplitude combined as likely contributing factors in the event. Significant impulsive wave force of up to 286 KN was the most likely initiating cause of the damage. Reflections off the vertical wall caused constructive interference of the wave amplitudes that led to increased wave height and significant overtopping of up to 16.1 m3/s/m (per metre width of wall). With this information and our engineering judgement, we conclude that the most probable sequence of multi-hazard cascading failure during this incident was: wave impact force leading to masonry failure, loss of infill and failure of the structure following successive tides.

      Introduction

      The progress of climate change and increasing sea levels has started to have wide ranging effects on critical engineering infrastructure (Shakou et al. 2019). The meteorological effects of increased atmospheric instability linked to warming seas mean we may be experiencing more frequent extreme storm events and more frequent series or chains of events, as well as an increase in the force of these events, a phenomenon called storminess (Mölter et al. 2016; Feser et al. 2014). Features of more extreme weather events in extratropical latitudes (30°–60°, north and south of the equator) include increased gusting winds, more frequent storm squalls, increased prolonged precipitation and rapid changes in atmospheric pressure and more frequent and significant storm surges (Dacre and Pinto 2020). A recent example of these events impacting the UK with simultaneous significant damage to coastal infrastructure was the extratropical cyclonic storm chain of winter 2013/2014 (Masselink et al. 2016; Adams and Heidarzadeh 2021). The cluster of storms had a profound effect on both coastal and inland infrastructure, bringing widespread flooding events and large insurance claims (RMS 2014).

      The extreme storms of February 2014, which had a catastrophic effect on the seawall of the south Devon stretch of the UK’s south-west mainline, caused a two-month closure of the line and significant disruption to the local and regional economy (Fig. 1b) (Network Rail 2014; Dawson et al. 2016; Adams and Heidarzadeh 2021). Restoration costs were £35 m, and economic effects to the south-west region of England were estimated up to £1.2bn (Peninsula Rail Taskforce 2016). Adams and Heidarzadeh (2021) investigated the disparate cascading failure mechanisms which played a part in the failure of the railway through Dawlish and attempted to put these in the context of the historical records of infrastructure damage on the line. Subsequent severe storms in 2016 in the region have continued to cause damage and disruption to the line in the years since 2014 (Met Office 2016). Following the events of 2014, Network Rail Footnote1 who owns the network has undertaken a resilience study. As a result, it has proposed a £400 m refurbishment of the civil engineering assets that support the railway (Fig. 1) (Network Rail 2014). The new seawall structure (Fig. 1a,c), which is constructed of pre-cast concrete sections, encases the existing Brunel seawall (named after the project lead engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel) and has been improved with piled reinforced concrete foundations. It is now over 2 m taller to increase the available crest freeboard and incorporates wave return features to minimise wave overtopping. The project aims to increase both the resilience of the assets to extreme weather events as well as maintain or improve amenity value of the coastline for residents and visitors.

      figure 1
      Fig. 1

      In this work, we return to the Brunel seawall and the damage it sustained during the 2014 storms which affected the assets on the evening of the 4th and daytime of the 5th of February and eventually resulted in a prolonged closure of the line. The motivation for this research is to analyse and model the damage made to the seawall and explain the damage mechanisms in order to improve the resilience of many similar coastal structures in the UK and worldwide. The innovation of this work is the multidisciplinary approach that we take comprising a combination of analysis of eyewitness accounts (social science), sea level and wave data analysis (physical science) as well as numerical modelling and engineering judgement (engineering sciences). We investigate the contemporary wave climate and sea levels by interrogating the real-time tide gauge and wave buoys installed along the south-west coast of the English Channel. We then model a typical masonry seawall (Fig. 2), applying the computational fluid dynamics package FLOW3D-Hydro,Footnote2 to quantify the magnitude of impact forces that the seawall would have experienced leading to its failure. We triangulate this information to determine the probable sequence of failures that led to the disaster in 2014.

      figure 2
      Fig. 2

      Data and methods

      Our data comprise eyewitness accounts, sea level records from coastal tide gauges and offshore wave buoys as well as structural details of the seawall. As for methodology, we analyse eyewitness data, process and investigate sea level records through Fourier transform and conduct numerical simulations using the Flow3D-Hydro package (Flow Science 2022). Details of the data and methodology are provided in the following.

      Eyewitness data

      The scale of damage to the seawall and its effects led the local community to document the first-hand accounts of those most closely affected by the storms including residents, local businesses, emergency responders, politicians and engineering contractors involved in the post-storm restoration work. These records now form a permanent exhibition in the local museum in DawlishFootnote3, and some of these accounts have been transcribed into a DVD account of the disaster (Dawlish Museum 2015). We have gathered data from the Dawlish Museum, national and international news reports, social media tweets and videos. Table 1 provides a summary of the eyewitness accounts. Overall, 26 entries have been collected around the time of the incident. Our analysis of the eyewitness data is provided in the third column of Table 1 and is expanded in Sect. 3.Table 1 Eyewitness accounts of damage to the Dawlish railway due to the February 2014 storm and our interpretations

      Full size table

      Sea level data and wave environment

      Our sea level data are a collection of three tide gauge stations (Newlyn, Devonport and Swanage Pier—Fig. 5a) owned and operated by the UK National Tide and Sea Level FacilityFootnote4 for the Environment Agency and four offshore wave buoys (Dawlish, West Bay, Torbay and Chesil Beach—Fig. 6a). The tide gauge sites are all fitted with POL-EKO (www.pol-eko.com.pl) data loggers. Newlyn has a Munro float gauge with one full tide and one mid-tide pneumatic bubbler system. Devonport has a three-channel data pneumatic bubbler system, and Swanage Pier consists of a pneumatic gauge. Each has a sampling interval of 15 min, except for Swanage Pier which has a sampling interval of 10 min. The tide gauges are located within the port areas, whereas the offshore wave buoys are situated approximately 2—3.3 km from the coast at water depths of 10–15 m. The wave buoys are all Datawell Wavemaker Mk III unitsFootnote5 and come with sampling interval of 0.78 s. The buoys have a maximum saturation amplitude of 20.5 m for recording the incident waves which implies that every wave larger than this threshold will be recorded at 20.5 m. The data are provided by the British Oceanographic Data CentreFootnote6 for tide gauges and the Channel Coastal ObservatoryFootnote7 for wave buoys.

      Sea level analysis

      The sea level data underwent quality control to remove outliers and spikes as well as gaps in data (e.g. Heidarzadeh et al. 2022; Heidarzadeh and Satake 2015). We processed the time series of the sea level data using the Matlab signal processing tool (MathWorks 2018). For calculations of the tidal signals, we applied the tidal package TIDALFIT (Grinsted 2008), which is based on fitting tidal harmonics to the observed sea level data. To calculate the surge signals, we applied a 30-min moving average filter to the de-tided data in order to remove all wind, swell and infra-gravity waves from the time series. Based on the surge analysis and the variations of the surge component before the time period of the incident, an error margin of approximately ± 10 cm is identified for our surge analysis. Spectral analysis of the wave buoy data is performed using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of Matlab package (Mathworks 2018).

      Numerical modelling

      Numerical modelling of wave-structure interaction is conducted using the computational fluid dynamics package Flow3D-Hydro version 1.1 (Flow Science 2022). Flow3D-Hydro solves the transient Navier–Stokes equations of conservation of mass and momentum using a finite difference method and on Eulerian and Lagrangian frameworks (Flow Science 2022). The aforementioned governing equations are:

      ∇.u=0∇.u=0

      (1)

      ∂u∂t+u.∇u=−∇Pρ+υ∇2u+g∂u∂t+u.∇u=−∇Pρ+υ∇2u+g

      (2)

      where uu is the velocity vector, PP is the pressure, ρρ is the water density, υυ is the kinematic viscosity and gg is the gravitational acceleration. A Fractional Area/Volume Obstacle Representation (FAVOR) is adapted in Flow3D-Hydro, which applies solid boundaries within the Eulerian grid and calculates the fraction of areas and volume in partially blocked volume in order to compute flows on corresponding boundaries (Hirt and Nichols 1981). We validated the numerical modelling through comparing the results with Sainflou’s analytical equation for the design of vertical seawalls (Sainflou 1928; Ackhurst 2020), which is as follows:

      pd=ρgHcoshk(d+z)coshkdcosσtpd=ρgHcoshk(d+z)coshkdcosσt

      (3)

      where pdpd is the hydrodynamic pressure, ρρ is the water density, gg is the gravitational acceleration, HH is the wave height, dd is the water depth, kk is the wavenumber, zz is the difference in still water level and mean water level, σσ is the angular frequency and tt is the time. The Sainflou’s equation (Eq. 3) is used to calculate the dynamic pressure from wave action, which is combined with static pressure on the seawall.

      Using Flow3D-Hydro, a model of the Dawlish seawall was made with a computational domain which is 250.0 m in length, 15.0 m in height and 0.375 m in width (Fig. 3a). The computational domain was discretised using a single uniform grid with a mesh size of 0.125 m. The model has a wave boundary at the left side of the domain (x-min), an outflow boundary on the right side (x-max), a symmetry boundary at the bottom (z-min) and a wall boundary at the top (z-max). A wall boundary implies that water or waves are unable to pass through the boundary, whereas a symmetry boundary means that the two edges of the boundary are identical and therefore there is no flow through it. The water is considered incompressible in our model. For volume of fluid advection for the wave boundary (i.e. the left-side boundary) in our simulations, we utilised the “Split Lagrangian Method”, which guarantees the best accuracy (Flow Science, 2022).

      figure 3
      Fig. 3

      The stability of the numerical scheme is controlled and maintained through checking the Courant number (CC) as given in the following:

      C=VΔtΔxC=VΔtΔx

      (4)

      where VV is the velocity of the flow, ΔtΔt is the time step and ΔxΔx is the spatial step (i.e. grid size). For stability and convergence of the numerical simulations, the Courant number must be sufficiently below one (Courant et al. 1928). This is maintained by a careful adjustment of the ΔxΔx and ΔtΔt selections. Flow3D-Hydro applies a dynamic Courant number, meaning the program adjusts the value of time step (ΔtΔt) during the simulations to achieve a balance between accuracy of results and speed of simulation. In our simulation, the time step was in the range ΔtΔt = 0.0051—0.051 s.

      In order to achieve the most efficient mesh resolution, we varied cell size for five values of ΔxΔx = 0.1 m, 0.125 m, 0.15 m, 0.175 m and 0.20 m. Simulations were performed for all mesh sizes, and the results were compared in terms of convergence, stability and speed of simulation (Fig. 3). A linear wave with an amplitude of 1.5 m and a period of 6 s was used for these optimisation simulations. We considered wave time histories at two gauges A and B and recorded the waves from simulations using different mesh sizes (Fig. 3). Although the results are close (Fig. 3), some limited deviations are observed for larger mesh sizes of 0.20 m and 0.175 m. We therefore selected mesh size of 0.125 m as the optimum, giving an extra safety margin as a conservative solution.

      The pressure from the incident waves on the vertical wall is validated in our model by comparing them with the analytical equation of Sainflou (1928), Eq. (3), which is one of the most common set of equations for design of coastal structures (Fig. 4). The model was tested by running a linear wave of period 6 s and wave amplitude of 1.5 m against the wall, with a still water level of 4.5 m. It can be seen that the model results are very close to those from analytical equations of Sainflou (1928), indicating that our numerical model is accurately modelling the wave-structure interaction (Fig. 4).

      figure 4
      Fig. 4

      Eyewitness account analysis

      Contemporary reporting of the 4th and 5th February 2014 storms by the main national news outlets in the UK highlights the extreme nature of the events and the significant damage and disruption they were likely to have on the communities of the south-west of England. In interviews, this was reinforced by Network Rail engineers who, even at this early stage, were forecasting remedial engineering works to last for at least 6 weeks. One week later, following subsequent storms the cascading nature of the events was obvious. Multiple breaches of the seawall had taken place with up to 35 separate landslide events and significant damage to parapet walls along the coastal route also were reported. Residents of the area reported extreme effects of the storm, one likening it to an earthquake and reporting water ingress through doors windows and even through vertical chimneys (Table 1). This suggests extreme wave overtopping volumes and large wave impact forces. One resident described the structural effects as: “the house was jumping up and down on its footings”.

      Disaster management plans were quickly and effectively put into action by the local council, police service and National Rail. A major incident was declared, and decisions regarding evacuation of the residents under threat were taken around 2100 h on the night of 4th February when reports of initial damage to the seawall were received (Table 1). Local hotels were asked to provide short-term refuge to residents while local leisure facilities were prepared to accept residents later that evening. Initial repair work to the railway line was hampered by successive high spring tides and storms in the following days although significant progress was still made when weather conditions permitted (Table 1).

      Sea level observations and spectral analysis

      The results of surge and wave analyses are presented in Figs. 5 and 6. A surge height of up to 0.8 m was recorded in the examined tide gauge stations (Fig. 5b-d). Two main episodes of high surge heights are identified: the first surge started on 3rd February 2014 at 03:00 (UTC) and lasted until 4th of February 2014 at 00:00; the second event occurred in the period 4th February 2014 15:00 to 5th February 2014 at 17:00 (Fig. 5b-d). These data imply surge durations of 21 h and 26 h for the first and the second events, respectively. Based on the surge data in Fig. 5, we note that the storm event of early February 2014 and the associated surges was a relatively powerful one, which impacted at least 230 km of the south coast of England, from Land’s End to Weymouth, with large surge heights.

      figure 5
      Fig. 5
      figure 6
      Fig. 6

      Based on wave buoy records, the maximum recorded amplitudes are at least 20.5 m in Dawlish and West Bay, 1.9 m in Tor Bay and 4.9 m in Chesil (Fig. 6a-b). The buoys at Tor Bay and Chesil recorded dual peak period bands of 4–8 and 8–12 s, whereas at Dawlish and West Bay registered triple peak period bands at 4–8, 8–12 and 20–25 s (Fig. 6c, d). It is important to note that the long-period waves at 20–25 s occur with short durations (approximately 2 min) while the waves at the other two bands of 4–8 and 8–12 s appear to be present at all times during the storm event.

      The wave component at the period band of 4–8 s can be most likely attributed to normal coastal waves while the one at 8–12 s, which is longer, is most likely the swell component of the storm. Regarding the third component of the waves with long period of 20 -25 s, which occurs with short durations of 2 min, there are two hypotheses; it is either the result of a local (port and harbour) and regional (the Lyme Bay) oscillations (eg. Rabinovich 1997; Heidarzadeh and Satake 2014; Wang et al. 1992), or due to an abnormally long swell. To test the first hypothesis, we consider various water bodies such as Lyme Bay (approximate dimensions of 70 km × 20 km with an average water depth of 30 m; Fig. 6), several local bays (approximate dimensions of 3.6 km × 0.6 km with an average water depth of 6 m) and harbours (approximate dimensions of 0.5 km × 0.5 km with an average water depth of 4 m). Their water depths are based on the online Marine navigation website.Footnote8 According to Rabinovich (2010), the oscillation modes of a semi-enclosed rectangle basin are given by the following equation:

      Tmn=2gd−−√[(m2L)2+(nW)2]−1/2Tmn=2gd[(m2L)2+(nW)2]−1/2

      (5)

      where TmnTmn is the oscillation period, gg is the gravitational acceleration, dd is the water depth, LL is the length of the basin, WW is the width of the basin, m=1,2,3,…m=1,2,3,… and n=0,1,2,3,…n=0,1,2,3,…; mm and nn are the counters of the different modes. Applying Eq. (5) to the aforementioned water bodies results in oscillation modes of at least 5 min, which is far longer than the observed period of 20–25 s. Therefore, we rule out the first hypothesis and infer that the long period of 20–25 s is most likely a long swell wave coming from distant sources. As discussed by Rabinovich (1997) and Wang et al. (2022), comparison between sea level spectra before and after the incident is a useful method to distinguish the spectrum of the weather event. A visual inspection of Fig. 6 reveals that the forcing at the period band of 20–25 s is non-existent before the incident.

      Numerical simulations of wave loading and overtopping

      Based on the results of sea level data analyses in the previous section (Fig. 6), we use a dual peak wave spectrum with peak periods of 10.0 s and 25.0 s for numerical simulations because such a wave would be comprised of the most energetic signals of the storm. For variations of water depth (2.0–4.0 m), coastal wave amplitude (0.5–1.5 m) (Fig. 7) and storm surge height (0.5–0.8 m) (Fig. 5), we developed 20 scenarios (Scn) which we used in numerical simulations (Table 2). Data during the incident indicated that water depth was up to the crest level of the seawall (approximately 4 m water depth); therefore, we varied water depth from 2 to 4 m in our simulation scenarios. Regarding wave amplitudes, we referred to the variations at a nearby tide gauge station (West Bay) which showed wave amplitude up to 1.2 m (Fig. 7). Therefore, wave amplitude was varied from 0.5 m to 1.5 m by considering a factor a safety of 25% for the maximum wave amplitude. As for the storm surge component, time series of storm surges calculated at three coastal stations adjacent to Dawlish showed that it was in the range of 0.5 m to 0.8 m (Fig. 5). These 20 scenarios would help to study uncertainties associated with wave amplitudes and pressures. Figure 8 shows snapshots of wave propagation and impacts on the seawall at different times.

      figure 7
      Fig. 7

      Table 2 The 20 scenarios considered for numerical simulations in this study

      Full size table

      figure 8
      Fig. 8

      Results of wave amplitude simulations

      Large wave amplitudes can induce significant wave forcing on the structure and cause overtopping of the seawall, which could eventually cascade to other hazards such as erosion of the backfill and scour (Adams and Heidarzadeh, 2021). The first 10 scenarios of our modelling efforts are for the same incident wave amplitudes of 0.5 m, which occur at different water depths (2.0–4.0 m) and storm surge heights (0.5–0.8 m) (Table 2 and Fig. 9). This is because we aim at studying the impacts of effective water depth (deff—the sum of mean sea level and surge height) on the time histories of wave amplitudes as the storm evolves. As seen in Fig. 9a, by decreasing effective water depth, wave amplitude increases. For example, for Scn-1 with effective depth of 4.5 m, the maximum amplitude of the first wave is 1.6 m, whereas it is 2.9 m for Scn-2 with effective depth of 3.5 m. However, due to intensive reflections and interferences of the waves in front of the vertical seawall, such a relationship is barely seen for the second and the third wave peaks. It is important to note that the later peaks (second or third) produce the largest waves rather than the first wave. Extraordinary wave amplifications are seen for the Scn-2 (deff = 3.5 m) and Scn-7 (deff = 3.3 m), where the corresponding wave amplitudes are 4.5 m and 3.7 m, respectively. This may indicate that the effective water depth of deff = 3.3–3.5 m is possibly a critical water depth for this structure resulting in maximum wave amplitudes under similar storms. In the second wave impact, the combined wave height (i.e. the wave amplitude plus the effective water depth), which is ultimately an indicator of wave overtopping, shows that the largest wave heights are generated by Scn-2, 7 and 8 (Fig. 9a) with effective water depths of 3.5 m, 3.3 m and 3.8 m and combined heights of 8.0 m, 7.0 m and 6.9 m (Fig. 9b). Since the height of seawall is 5.4 m, the combined wave heights for Scn-2, 7 and 8 are greater than the crest height of the seawall by 2.6 m, 1.6 m and 1.5 m, respectively, which indicates wave overtopping.

      figure 9
      Fig. 9

      For scenarios 11–20 (Fig. 10), with incident wave amplitudes of 1.5 m (Table 2), the largest wave amplitudes are produced by Scn-17 (deff = 3.3 m), Scn-13 (deff = 2.5 m) and Scn-12 (deff = 3.5 m), which are 5.6 m, 5.1 m and 4.5 m. The maximum combined wave heights belong to Scn-11 (deff = 4.5 m) and Scn-17 (deff = 3.3 m), with combined wave heights of 9.0 m and 8.9 m (Fig. 10b), which are greater than the crest height of the seawall by 4.6 m and 3.5 m, respectively.

      figure 10
      Fig. 10

      Our simulations for all 20 scenarios reveal that the first wave is not always the largest and wave interactions, reflections and interferences play major roles in amplifying the waves in front of the seawall. This is primarily because the wall is fully vertical and therefore has a reflection coefficient of close to one (i.e. full reflection). Simulations show that the combined wave height is up to 4.6 m higher than the crest height of the wall, implying that severe overtopping would be expected.

      Results of wave loading calculations

      The pressure calculations for scenarios 1–10 are given in Fig. 11 and those of scenarios 11–20 in Fig. 12. The total pressure distribution in Figs. 1112 mostly follows a triangular shape with maximum pressure at the seafloor as expected from the Sainflou (1928) design equations. These pressure plots comprise both static (due to mean sea level in front of the wall) and dynamic (combined effects of surge and wave) pressures. For incident wave amplitudes of 0.5 m (Fig. 11), the maximum wave pressure varies in the range of 35–63 kPa. At the sea surface, it is in the range of 4–20 kPa (Fig. 11). For some scenarios (Scn-2 and 7), the pressure distribution deviates from a triangular shape and shows larger pressures at the top, which is attributed to the wave impacts and partial breaking at the sea surface. This adds an additional triangle-shaped pressure distribution at the sea surface elevation consistent with the design procedure developed by Goda (2000) for braking waves. The maximum force on the seawall due to scenarios 1–10, which is calculated by integrating the maximum pressure distribution over the wave-facing surface of the seawall, is in the range of 92–190 KN (Table 2).

      figure 11
      Fig. 11
      figure 12
      Fig. 12

      For scenarios 11–20, with incident wave amplitude of 1.5 m, wave pressures of 45–78 kPa and 7–120 kPa, for  the bottom and top of the wall, respectively, were observed (Fig. 12). Most of the plots show a triangular pressure distribution, except for Scn-11 and 15. A significant increase in wave impact pressure is seen for Scn-15 at the top of the structure, where a maximum pressure of approximately 120 kPa is produced while other scenarios give a pressure of 7–32 kPa for the sea surface. In other words, the pressure from Scn-15 is approximately four times larger than the other scenarios. Such a significant increase of the pressure at the top is most likely attributed to the breaking wave impact loads as detailed by Goda (2000) and Cuomo et al. (2010). The wave simulation snapshots in Fig. 8 show that the wave breaks before reaching the wall. The maximum force due to scenarios 11–20 is 120–286 KN.

      The breaking wave impacts peaking at 286 KN in our simulations suggest destabilisation of the upper masonry blocks, probably by grout malfunction. This significant impact force initiated the failure of the seawall which in turn caused extensive ballast erosion. Wave impact damage was proposed by Adams and Heidarzadeh (2021) as one of the primary mechanisms in the 2014 Dawlish disaster. In the multi-hazard risk model proposed by these authors, damage mechanism III (failure pathway 5 in Adams and Heidarzadeh, 2021) was characterised by wave impact force causing damage to the masonry elements, leading to failure of the upper sections of the seawall and loss of infill material. As blocks were removed, access to the track bed was increased for inbound waves allowing infill material from behind the seawall to be fluidised and subsequently removed by backwash. The loss of infill material critically compromised the stability of the seawall and directly led to structural failure. In parallel, significant wave overtopping (discussed in the next section) led to ballast washout and cascaded, in combination with masonry damage, to catastrophic failure of the wall and suspension of the rails in mid-air (Fig. 1b), leaving the railway inoperable for two months.

      Wave Overtopping

      The two most important factors contributing to the 2014 Dawlish railway catastrophe were wave impact forces and overtopping. Figure 13 gives the instantaneous overtopping rates for different scenarios, which experienced overtopping. It can be seen that the overtopping rates range from 0.5 m3/s/m to 16.1 m3/s/m (Fig. 13). Time histories of the wave overtopping rates show that the phenomenon occurs intermittently, and each time lasts 1.0–7.0 s. It is clear that the longer the overtopping time, the larger the volume of the water poured on the structure. The largest wave overtopping rates of 16.1 m3/s/m and 14.4 m3/s/m belong to Scn-20 and 11, respectively. These are the two scenarios that also give the largest combined wave heights (Fig. 10b).

      figure 13
      Fig. 13

      The cumulative overtopping curves (Figs. 1415) show the total water volume overtopped the structure during the entire simulation time. This is an important hazard factor as it determines the level of soil saturation, water pore pressure in the soil and soil erosion (Van der Meer et al. 2018). The maximum volume belongs to Scn-20, which is 65.0 m3/m (m-cubed of water per metre length of the wall). The overtopping volumes are 42.7 m3/m for Scn-11 and 28.8 m3/m for Scn-19. The overtopping volume is in the range of 0.7–65.0 m3/m for all scenarios.

      figure 14
      Fig. 14
      figure 15
      Fig. 15

      For comparison, we compare our modelling results with those estimated using empirical equations. For the case of the Dawlish seawall, we apply the equation proposed by Van Der Meer et al. (2018) to estimate wave overtopping rates, based on a set of decision criteria which are the influence of foreshore, vertical wall, possible breaking waves and low freeboard:

      qgH3m−−−−√=0.0155(Hmhs)12e(−2.2RcHm)qgHm3=0.0155(Hmhs)12e(−2.2RcHm)

      (6)

      where qq is the mean overtopping rate per metre length of the seawall (m3/s/m), gg is the acceleration due to gravity, HmHm is the incident wave height at the toe of the structure, RcRc is the wall crest height above mean sea level, hshs is the deep-water significant wave height and e(x)e(x) is the exponential function. It is noted that Eq. (6) is valid for 0.1<RcHm<1.350.1<RcHm<1.35. For the case of the Dawlish seawall and considering the scenarios with larger incident wave amplitude of 1.5 m (hshs= 1.5 m), the incident wave height at the toe of the structure is HmHm = 2.2—5.6 m, and the wall crest height above mean sea level is RcRc = 0.6–2.9 m. As a result, Eq. (6) gives mean overtopping rates up to approximately 2.9 m3/s/m. A visual inspection of simulated overtopping rates in Fig. 13 for Scn 11–20 shows that the mean value of the simulated overtopping rates (Fig. 13) is close to estimates using Eq. (6).

      Discussion and conclusions

      We applied a combination of eyewitness account analysis, sea level data analysis and numerical modelling in combination with our engineering judgement to explain the damage to the Dawlish railway seawall in February 2014. Main findings are:

      • Eyewitness data analysis showed that the extreme nature of the event was well forecasted in the hours prior to the storm impact; however, the magnitude of the risks to the structures was not well understood. Multiple hazards were activated simultaneously, and the effects cascaded to amplify the damage. Disaster management was effective, exemplified by the establishment of an emergency rendezvous point and temporary evacuation centre during the storm, indicating a high level of hazard awareness and preparedness.
      • Based on sea level data analysis, we identified triple peak period bands at 4–8, 8–12 and 20–25 s in the sea level data. Storm surge heights and wave oscillations were up to 0.8 m and 1.5 m, respectively.
      • Based on the numerical simulations of 20 scenarios with different water depths, incident wave amplitudes, surge heights and peak periods, we found that the wave oscillations at the foot of the seawall result in multiple wave interactions and interferences. Consequently, large wave amplitudes, up to 4.6 m higher than the height of the seawall, were generated and overtopped the wall. Extreme impulsive wave impact forces of up to 286 KN were generated by the waves interacting with the seawall.
      • We measured maximum wave overtopping rates of 0.5–16.1 m3/s/m for our scenarios. The cumulative overtopping water volumes per metre length of the wall were 0.7–65.0 m3/m.
      • Analysis of all the evidence combined with our engineering judgement suggests that the most likely initiating cause of the failure was impulsive wave impact forces destabilising one or more grouted joints between adjacent masonry blocks in the wall. Maximum observed pressures of 286 KN in our simulations are four times greater in magnitude than background pressures leading to block removal and initiating failure. Therefore, the sequence of cascading events was :1) impulsive wave impact force causing damage to masonry, 2) failure of the upper sections of the seawall, 3) loss of infill resulting in a reduction of structural strength in the landward direction, 4) ballast washout as wave overtopping and inbound wave activity increased and 5) progressive structural failure following successive tides.

      From a risk mitigation point of view, the stability of the seawall in the face of future energetic cyclonic storm events and sea level rise will become a critical factor in protecting the rail network. Mitigation efforts will involve significant infrastructure investment to strengthen the civil engineering assets combined with improved hazard warning systems consisting of meteorological forecasting and real-time wave observations and instrumentation. These efforts must take into account the amenity value of coastal railway infrastructure to local communities and the significant number of tourists who visit every year. In this regard, public awareness and active engagement in the planning and execution of the project will be crucial in order to secure local stakeholder support for the significant infrastructure project that will be required for future resilience.

      Notes

      1. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/..
      2. https://www.flow3d.com/products/flow-3d-hydro/.
      3. https://www.devonmuseums.net/Dawlish-Museum/Devon-Museums/.
      4. https://ntslf.org/.
      5. https://www.datawell.nl/Products/Buoys/DirectionalWaveriderMkIII.aspx.
      6. https://www.bodc.ac.uk/.
      7. https://coastalmonitoring.org/cco/.
      8. https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@8&key=iactHlwfP.

      References

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      Acknowledgements

      We are grateful to Brunel University London for administering the scholarship awarded to KA. The Flow3D-Hydro used in this research for numerical modelling is licenced to Brunel University London through an academic programme contract. We sincerely thank Prof Harsh Gupta (Editor-in-Chief) and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive review comments.

      Funding

      This project was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through a PhD scholarship to Keith Adams.

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      Authors and Affiliations

      1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UKKeith Adams
      2. Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UKMohammad Heidarzadeh

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      Correspondence to Keith Adams.

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      Adams, K., Heidarzadeh, M. Extratropical cyclone damage to the seawall in Dawlish, UK: eyewitness accounts, sea level analysis and numerical modelling. Nat Hazards (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-022-05692-2

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      • Received17 May 2022
      • Accepted17 October 2022
      • Published14 November 2022
      • DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-022-05692-2

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      Keywords

      • Storm surge
      • Cyclone
      • Railway
      • Climate change
      • Infrastructure
      • Resilience
      Dissipating Culvert End Design for Erosion Control Using CFD Platform FLOW-3D Numerical Simulation Modeling

      CFD 플랫폼 FLOW-3D 수치 시뮬레이션 모델링을 사용한 침식 제어를 위한 분산 암거 종단 설계

      Dissipating Culvert End Design for Erosion Control Using CFD Platform FLOW-3D Numerical Simulation Modeling

      Saman Mostafazadeh-Fard

      Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil Engineering, New Mexico State Univ., P.O. Box 30001, MSC 3CE, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 (corresponding author). Email: samanmzf@nmsu.edu

      Zohrab Samani

      Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, New Mexico State Univ., P.O. Box 30001, MSC 3CE, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001. Email: zsamani@nmsu.edu

      Abstract

      추상적인
      암거 끝에서 나오는 고속 흐름으로 인한 하류 침식 및 세굴은 수력 엔지니어가 직면한 주요 문제 중 하나입니다. 본 논문의 주요 목적은 일반적인 암거 단부에서 나오는 고속 흐름으로 인한 하류 침식 및 세굴의 위험을 줄일 수 있는 분산 암거 단부 설계를 개발하는 것이었습니다. 이를 위해 전산 유체 역학(CFD) 플랫폼 FLOW-3D 버전 11.1.0 코드를 실험 실행[결정 계수 R2>0.90 및 평균 제곱근 오차(RMSE)<1.9 cm]을 기반으로 보정 및 검증했습니다. 그런 다음 코드를 사용하여 두 가지 대안적인 소멸 암거 끝 설계(ALT 1 및 ALT 2)를 개발하고 하류 침식 및 세굴 완화 가능성을 분석했습니다. 각각의 출수유속과 운동에너지를 측정하여 전형적인 암거단부(대조)유량과 비교하였다. 결과에 따르면 제어 흐름에서의 질량 평균 유체 평균 운동 에너지는 1.37 j/kg2로 기록되었으며, ALT 1 및 ALT 2 흐름에서 각각 0.83 및 0.73 j/kg2로 측정되었습니다. 따라서 제어 흐름 하에서 하류 샌드박스 매스의 제거는 ALT 1 및 ALT 2 흐름에 비해 각각 약 11.1% 및 4.2% 더 높았습니다. FLOW-3D 코드는 암거 끝 흐름과 하류 침식을 예측하고 하류 침식을 줄일 수 있는 잠재적 소산 암거 끝을 설계하는 데 사용할 수 있습니다.

      Downstream erosion and scouring caused by high-velocity flow issuing from culvert ends are one of the main problems faced by hydraulic engineers. The main objective of this paper was to develop a dissipating culvert end design that can reduce the risk of downstream erosion and scour caused by high-velocity flow issuing from typical culvert ends. For this purpose, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) platform FLOW-3D version 11.1.0 code was calibrated and validated based on the experimental runs [coefficient of determination R2>0.90R2>0.90 and root mean square error (RMSE)<1.9  cm(RMSE)<1.9  cm]. Two alternative dissipating culvert end designs (ALT 1 and ALT 2) were then developed using the code, and their potential in mitigation of downstream erosion and scouring was analyzed. The issuing flow velocity and kinetic energy for each were measured and compared with typical culvert end (control) flow. According to the results, mass averaged fluid mean kinetic energy in the control flow was recorded at 1.37  j/kg21.37  j/kg2 and was measured at 0.83 and 0.73  j/kg20.73  j/kg2 in ALT 1 and ALT 2 flows, respectively. Accordingly, the removal of downstream sandbox mass under control flow was approximately 11.1% and 4.2% higher compared with ALT 1 and ALT 2 flows, respectively. FLOW-3D code can be used to predict culvert end flow and downstream erosion and to design potential dissipating culvert ends that can reduce downstream erosion.

      Dissipating Culvert End Design for Erosion Control Using CFD Platform FLOW-3D Numerical Simulation Modeling
      Dissipating Culvert End Design for Erosion Control Using CFD Platform FLOW-3D Numerical Simulation Modeling
      Nanoparticle-enabled increase of energy efficiency during laser metal additive manufacturing

      레이저 금속 적층 제조 중 나노 입자로 에너지 효율 증가

      Minglei Quo bQilin Guo a bLuis IzetEscano a bAli Nabaa a bKamel Fezzaa cLianyi Chen a b

      레이저 금속 적층 제조(AM) 공정의 낮은 에너지 효율은 대규모 산업 생산에서 잠재적인 지속 가능성 문제입니다. 레이저 용융을 위한 에너지 효율의 명시적 조사는 용융 금속의 불투명한 특성으로 인해 매우 어려운 용융 풀 치수 및 증기 내림의 직접적인 특성화를 요구합니다. 

      여기에서 우리는 현장 고속 고에너지 x-선 이미징에 의해 Al6061의 레이저 분말 베드 융합(LPBF) 동안 증기 강하 및 용융 풀 형성에 대한 TiC 나노 입자의 효과에 대한 직접적인 관찰 및 정량화를 보고합니다. 정량 결과를 바탕으로, 우리는 Al6061의 LPBF 동안 TiC 나노 입자가 있거나 없을 때 레이저 용융 에너지 효율(여기서 재료를 용융하는 데 필요한 에너지 대 레이저 빔에 의해 전달되는 에너지의 비율로 정의)을 계산했습니다. 

      결과는 TiC 나노 입자를 Al6061에 추가하면 레이저 용융 에너지 효율이 크게 증가한다는 것을 보여줍니다(평균 114% 증가, 312에서 521% 증가). W 레이저 출력, 0.4m  /s 스캔 속도). 체계적인 특성 측정, 시뮬레이션 및 x-선 이미징 연구를 통해 우리는 처음으로 세 가지 메커니즘이 함께 작동하여 레이저 용융 에너지 효율을 향상시킨다는 것을 확인할 수 있었습니다.

      (1) TiC 나노 입자를 추가하면 흡수율이 증가합니다. (2) TiC 나노입자를 추가하면 열전도율이 감소하고, (3) TiC 나노입자를 추가하면 더 낮은 레이저 출력에서 ​​증기 억제 및 다중 반사를 시작할 수 있습니다(즉, 키홀링에 대한 레이저 출력 임계값을 낮춤). 

      여기서 보고한 Al6061의 LPBF 동안 레이저 용융 에너지 효율을 증가시키기 위해 TiC 나노입자를 사용하는 방법 및 메커니즘은 보다 에너지 효율적인 레이저 금속 AM을 위한 공급원료 재료의 개발을 안내할 수 있습니다.

      The low energy efficiency of the laser metal additive manufacturing (AM) process is a potential sustainability concern for large-scale industrial production. Explicit investigation of the energy efficiency for laser melting requires the direct characterization of melt pool dimension and vapor depression, which is very difficult due to the opaque nature of the molten metal. Here we report the direct observation and quantification of effects of the TiC nanoparticles on the vapor depression and melt pool formation during laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of Al6061 by in-situ high-speed high-energy x-ray imaging. Based on the quantification results, we calculated the laser melting energy efficiency (defined here as the ratio of the energy needed to melt the material to the energy delivered by the laser beam) with and without TiC nanoparticles during LPBF of Al6061. The results show that adding TiC nanoparticles into Al6061 leads to a significant increase of laser melting energy efficiency (114% increase on average, 521% increase under 312 W laser power, 0.4 m/s scan speed). Systematic property measurement, simulation, and x-ray imaging studies enable us, for the first time, to identify that three mechanisms work together to enhance the laser melting energy efficiency: (1) adding TiC nanoparticles increases the absorptivity; (2) adding TiC nanoparticles decreases the thermal conductivity, and (3) adding TiC nanoparticles enables the initiation of vapor depression and multiple reflection at lower laser power (i.e., lowers the laser power threshold for keyholing). The method and mechanisms of using TiC nanoparticles to increase the laser melting energy efficiency during LPBF of Al6061 we reported here may guide the development of feedstock materials for more energy efficient laser metal AM.

      Nanoparticle-enabled increase of energy efficiency during laser metal additive manufacturing
      Nanoparticle-enabled increase of energy efficiency during laser metal additive manufacturing

      Keywords

      Additive manufacturing

      laser powder bed fusion

      energy efficiency

      keyhole

      melt pool

      x-ray imaging

      metal matrix nanocomposites

      The failure propagation of weakly stable sediment: A reason for the formation of high-velocity turbidity currents in submarine canyons

      약한 안정 퇴적물의 실패 전파: 해저 협곡에서 고속 탁도 흐름이 형성되는 이유

      Abstract

      Abstract해저 협곡에서 탁도의 장거리 이동은 많은 양의 퇴적물을 심해 평원으로 운반할 수 있습니다. 이전 연구에서는 5.9~28.0m/s 범위의 다중 케이블 손상 이벤트에서 파생된 탁도 전류 속도와 0.15~7.2m/s 사이의 현장 관찰 결과에서 명백한 차이가 있음을 보여줍니다. 따라서 해저 환경의 탁한 유체가 해저 협곡을 고속으로 장거리로 흐를 수 있는지에 대한 질문이 남아 있습니다. 연구실 시험의 결합을 통해 해저협곡의 탁류의 고속 및 장거리 운동을 설명하기 위해 약안정 퇴적물 기반의 새로운 모델(약안정 퇴적물에 대한 파손 전파 모델 제안, 줄여서 WSS-PFP 모델)을 제안합니다. 및 수치 아날로그. 이 모델은 두 가지 메커니즘을 기반으로 합니다. 1) 원래 탁도류는 약하게 안정한 퇴적층의 불안정화를 촉발하고 연질 퇴적물의 불안정화 및 하류 방향으로의 이동을 촉진하고 2) 원래 탁도류가 협곡으로 이동할 때 형성되는 여기파가 불안정화로 이어진다. 하류 방향으로 약하게 안정한 퇴적물의 수송. 제안된 모델은 심해 퇴적, 오염 물질 이동 및 광 케이블 손상 연구를 위한 동적 프로세스 해석을 제공할 것입니다.

      The long-distance movement of turbidity currents in submarine canyons can transport large amounts of sediment to deep-sea plains. Previous studies show obvious differences in the turbidity current velocities derived from the multiple cables damage events ranging from 5.9 to 28.0 m/s and those of field observations between 0.15 and 7.2 m/s. Therefore, questions remain regarding whether a turbid fluid in an undersea environment can flow through a submarine canyon for a long distance at a high speed. A new model based on weakly stable sediment is proposed (proposed failure propagation model for weakly stable sediments, WSS-PFP model for short) to explain the high-speed and long-range motion of turbidity currents in submarine canyons through the combination of laboratory tests and numerical analogs. The model is based on two mechanisms: 1) the original turbidity current triggers the destabilization of the weakly stable sediment bed and promotes the destabilization and transport of the soft sediment in the downstream direction and 2) the excitation wave that forms when the original turbidity current moves into the canyon leads to the destabilization and transport of the weakly stable sediment in the downstream direction. The proposed model will provide dynamic process interpretation for the study of deep-sea deposition, pollutant transport, and optical cable damage.

      Keyword

      • turbidity current
      • excitation wave
      • dense basal layer
      • velocity
      • WSS-PFP model

      References

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      Acknowledgment

      We thank Hanru WU from Ocean University of China for his help in thesis writing, and Hao TIAN and Chenxi WANG from Ocean University of China for their helps in the preparation of the experimental materials. Guohui XU is responsible for the development of the initial concept, processing of test data, and management of coauthor contributions to the paper; Yupeng REN for the experiment setup and drafting of the paper; Yi ZHANG and Xingbei XU for the simulation part of the experiment; Houjie WANG for writing guidance; Zhiyuan CHEN for the experiment setup.

      Author information

      Authors and Affiliations

      1. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Qingdao, 266100, ChinaYupeng Ren, Yi Zhang, Guohui Xu, Xingbei Xu & Zhiyuan Chen
      2. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, ChinaYupeng Ren & Houjie Wang
      3. Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266100, ChinaYi Zhang, Guohui Xu, Xingbei Xu & Zhiyuan Chen

      Corresponding author

      Correspondence to Guohui Xu.

      Additional information

      Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41976049, 41720104001) and the Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province (No. TS20190913), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 202061028)

      Data Availability Statement

      The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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      Cite this article

      Ren, Y., Zhang, Y., Xu, G. et al. The failure propagation of weakly stable sediment: A reason for the formation of high-velocity turbidity currents in submarine canyons. J. Ocean. Limnol. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-022-1285-0

      Fig. 1. (a) Dimensions of the casting with runners (unit: mm), (b) a melt flow simulation using Flow-3D software together with Reilly's model[44], predicted that a large amount of bifilms (denoted by the black particles) would be contained in the final casting. (c) A solidification simulation using Pro-cast software showed that no shrinkage defect was contained in the final casting.

      AZ91 합금 주물 내 연행 결함에 대한 캐리어 가스의 영향

      TianLiabJ.M.T.DaviesaXiangzhenZhuc
      aUniversity of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
      bGrainger and Worrall Ltd, Bridgnorth WV15 5HP, United Kingdom
      cBrunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology, Brunel University London, Kingston Ln, London, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, United Kingdom

      Abstract

      An entrainment defect (also known as a double oxide film defect or bifilm) acts a void containing an entrapped gas when submerged into a light-alloy melt, thus reducing the quality and reproducibility of the final castings. Previous publications, carried out with Al-alloy castings, reported that this trapped gas could be subsequently consumed by the reaction with the surrounding melt, thus reducing the void volume and negative effect of entrainment defects. Compared with Al-alloys, the entrapped gas within Mg-alloy might be more efficiently consumed due to the relatively high reactivity of magnesium. However, research into the entrainment defects within Mg alloys has been significantly limited. In the present work, AZ91 alloy castings were produced under different carrier gas atmospheres (i.e., SF6/CO2, SF6/air). The evolution processes of the entrainment defects contained in AZ91 alloy were suggested according to the microstructure inspections and thermodynamic calculations. The defects formed in the different atmospheres have a similar sandwich-like structure, but their oxide films contained different combinations of compounds. The use of carrier gases, which were associated with different entrained-gas consumption rates, affected the reproducibility of AZ91 castings.

      연행 결함(이중 산화막 결함 또는 이중막이라고도 함)은 경합금 용융물에 잠길 때 갇힌 가스를 포함하는 공극으로 작용하여 최종 주물의 품질과 재현성을 저하시킵니다. Al-합금 주물을 사용하여 수행된 이전 간행물에서는 이 갇힌 가스가 주변 용융물과의 반응에 의해 후속적으로 소모되어 공극 부피와 연행 결함의 부정적인 영향을 줄일 수 있다고 보고했습니다. Al-합금에 비해 마그네슘의 상대적으로 높은 반응성으로 인해 Mg-합금 내에 포집된 가스가 더 효율적으로 소모될 수 있습니다. 그러나 Mg 합금 내 연행 결함에 대한 연구는 상당히 제한적이었습니다. 현재 작업에서 AZ91 합금 주물은 다양한 캐리어 가스 분위기(즉, SF6/CO2, SF6/공기)에서 생산되었습니다. AZ91 합금에 포함된 연행 결함의 진화 과정은 미세 조직 검사 및 열역학 계산에 따라 제안되었습니다. 서로 다른 분위기에서 형성된 결함은 유사한 샌드위치 구조를 갖지만 산화막에는 서로 다른 화합물 조합이 포함되어 있습니다. 다른 동반 가스 소비율과 관련된 운반 가스의 사용은 AZ91 주물의 재현성에 영향을 미쳤습니다.

      Keywords

      Magnesium alloy, Casting, Oxide film, Bifilm, Entrainment defect, Reproducibility

      1. Introduction

      As the lightest structural metal available on Earth, magnesium became one of the most attractive light metals over the last few decades. The magnesium industry has consequently experienced a rapid development in the last 20 years [1,2], indicating a large growth in demand for Mg alloys all over the world. Nowadays, the use of Mg alloys can be found in the fields of automobiles, aerospace, electronics and etc.[3,4]. It has been predicted that the global consumption of Mg metals will further increase in the future, especially in the automotive industry, as the energy efficiency requirement of both traditional and electric vehicles further push manufactures lightweight their design [3,5,6].

      The sustained growth in demand for Mg alloys motivated a wide interest in the improvement of the quality and mechanical properties of Mg-alloy castings. During a Mg-alloy casting process, surface turbulence of the melt can lead to the entrapment of a doubled-over surface film containing a small quantity of the surrounding atmosphere, thus forming an entrainment defect (also known as a double oxide film defect or bifilm) [7][8][9][10]. The random size, quantity, orientation, and placement of entrainment defects are widely accepted to be significant factors linked to the variation of casting properties [7]. In addition, Peng et al. [11] found that entrained oxides films in AZ91 alloy melt acted as filters to Al8Mn5 particles, trapping them as they settle. Mackie et al. [12] further suggested that entrained oxide films can act to trawl the intermetallic particles, causing them to cluster and form extremely large defects. The clustering of intermetallic compounds made the entrainment defects more detrimental for the casting properties.

      Most of the previous studies regarding entrainment defects were carried out on Al-alloys [7,[13][14][15][16][17][18], and a few potential methods have been suggested for diminishing their negative effect on the quality of Al-alloy castings. Nyahumwa et al.,[16] shows that the void volume within entrainment defects could be reduced by a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process. Campbell [7] suggested the entrained gas within the defects could be consumed due to reaction with the surrounding melt, which was further verified by Raiszedeh and Griffiths [19].The effect of the entrained gas consumption on the mechanical properties of Al-alloy castings has been investigated by [8,9], suggesting that the consumption of the entrained gas promoted the improvement of the casting reproducibility.

      Compared with the investigation concerning the defects within Al-alloys, research into the entrainment defects within Mg-alloys has been significantly limited. The existence of entrainment defects has been demonstrated in Mg-alloy castings [20,21], but their behaviour, evolution, as well as entrained gas consumption are still not clear.

      In a Mg-alloy casting process, the melt is usually protected by a cover gas to avoid magnesium ignition. The cavities of sand or investment moulds are accordingly required to be flushed with the cover gas prior to the melt pouring [22]. Therefore, the entrained gas within Mg-alloy castings should contain the cover gas used in the casting process, rather than air only, which may complicate the structure and evolution of the corresponding entrainment defects.

      SF6 is a typical cover gas widely used for Mg-alloy casting processes [23][24][25]. Although this cover gas has been restricted to use in European Mg-alloy foundries, a commercial report has pointed out that this cover is still popular in global Mg-alloy industry, especially in the countries which dominated the global Mg-alloy production, such as China, Brazil, India, etc. [26]. In addition, a survey in academic publications also showed that this cover gas was widely used in recent Mg-alloy studies [27]. The protective mechanism of SF6 cover gas (i.e., the reaction between liquid Mg-alloy and SF6 cover gas) has been investigated by several previous researchers, but the formation process of the surface oxide film is still not clearly understood, and even some published results are conflicting with each other. In early 1970s, Fruehling [28] found that the surface film formed under SF6 was MgO mainly with traces of fluorides, and suggested that SF6 was absorbed in the Mg-alloy surface film. Couling [29] further noticed that the absorbed SF6 reacted with the Mg-alloy melt to form MgF2. In last 20 years, different structures of the Mg-alloy surface films have been reported, as detailed below.(1)

      Single-layered film. Cashion [30,31] used X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger Spectroscopy (AES) to identify the surface film as MgO and MgF2. He also found that composition of the film was constant throughout the thickness and the whole experimental holding time. The film observed by Cashion had a single-layered structure created from a holding time from 10 min to 100 min.(2)

      Double-layered film. Aarstad et. al [32] reported a doubled-layered surface oxide film in 2003. They observed several well-distributed MgF2 particles attached to the preliminary MgO film and grew until they covered 25–50% of the total surface area. The inward diffusion of F through the outer MgO film was the driving force for the evolution process. This double-layered structure was also supported by Xiong’s group [25,33] and Shih et al. [34].(3)

      Triple-layered film. The triple-layered film and its evolution process were reported in 2002 by Pettersen [35]. Pettersen found that the initial surface film was a MgO phase and then gradually evolved to the stable MgF2 phase by the inward diffusion of F. In the final stage, the film has a triple-layered structure with a thin O-rich interlayer between the thick top and bottom MgF2 layers.(4)

      Oxide film consisted of discrete particles. Wang et al [36] stirred the Mg-alloy surface film into the melt under a SF6 cover gas, and then inspect the entrained surface film after the solidification. They found that the entrained surface films were not continues as the protective surface films reported by other researchers but composed of discrete particles. The young oxide film was composed of MgO nano-sized oxide particles, while the old oxide films consist of coarse particles (about 1  µm in average size) on one side that contained fluorides and nitrides.

      The oxide films of a Mg-alloy melt surface or an entrained gas are both formed due to the reaction between liquid Mg-alloy and the cover gas, thus the above-mentioned research regarding the Mg-alloy surface film gives valuable insights into the evolution of entrainment defects. The protective mechanism of SF6 cover gas (i.e., formation of a Mg-alloy surface film) therefore indicated a potential complicated evolution process of the corresponding entrainment defects.

      However, it should be noted that the formation of a surface film on a Mg-alloy melt is in a different situation to the consumption of an entrained gas that is submerged into the melt. For example, a sufficient amount of cover gas was supported during the surface film formation in the studies previously mentioned, which suppressed the depletion of the cover gas. In contrast, the amount of entrained gas within a Mg-alloy melt is finite, and the entrained gas may become fully depleted. Mirak [37] introduced 3.5%SF6/air bubbles into a pure Mg-alloy melt solidifying in a specially designed permanent mould. It was found that the gas bubbles were entirely consumed, and the corresponding oxide film was a mixture of MgO and MgF2. However, the nucleation sites (such as the MgF2 spots observed by Aarstad [32] and Xiong [25,33]) were not observed. Mirak also speculated that the MgF2 formed prior to MgO in the oxide film based on the composition analysis, which was opposite to the surface film formation process reported in previous literatures (i.e., MgO formed prior to MgF2). Mirak’s work indicated that the oxide-film formation of an entrained gas may be quite different from that of surface films, but he did not reveal the structure and evolution of the oxide films.

      In addition, the use of carrier gas in the cover gases also influenced the reaction between the cover gas and the liquid Mg-alloy. SF6/air required a higher content of SF6 than did a SF6/CO2 carrier gas [38], to avoid the ignition of molten magnesium, revealing different gas-consumption rates. Liang et.al [39] suggested that carbon was formed in the surface film when CO2 was used as a carrier gas, which was different from the films formed in SF6/air. An investigation into Mg combustion [40] reported a detection of Mg2C3 in the Mg-alloy sample after burning in CO2, which not only supported Liang’s results, but also indicated a potential formation of Mg carbides in double oxide film defects.

      The work reported here is an investigation into the behaviour and evolution of entrainment defects formed in AZ91 Mg-alloy castings, protected by different cover gases (i.e., SF6/air and SF6/CO2). These carrier gases have different protectability for liquid Mg alloy, which may be therefore associated with different consumption rates and evolution processes of the corresponding entrained gases. The effect of the entrained-gas consumption on the reproducibility of AZ91 castings was also studied.

      2. Experiment

      2.1. Melting and casting

      Three kilograms AZ91 alloy was melted in a mild steel crucible at 700 ± 5 °C. The composition of the AZ91 alloy has been shown in Table 1. Prior to heating, all oxide scale on the ingot surface was removed by machining. The cover gases used were 0.5%SF6/air or 0.5%SF6/CO2 (vol.%) at a flow rate of 6 L/min for different castings. The melt was degassed by argon with a flow rate of 0.3 L/min for 15 min [41,42], and then poured into sand moulds. Prior to pouring, the sand mould cavity was flushed with the cover gas for 20 min [22]. The residual melt (around 1 kg) was solidified in the crucible.

      Table 1. Composition (wt.%) of the AZ91 alloy used in this study.

      AlZnMnSiFeNiMg
      9.40.610.150.020.0050.0017Residual

      Fig. 1(a) shows the dimensions of the casting with runners. A top-filling system was deliberately used to generate entrainment defects in the final castings. Green and Campbell [7,43] suggested that a top-filling system caused more entrainment events (i.e., bifilms) during a casting process, compared with a bottom-filling system. A melt flow simulation (Flow-3D software) of this mould, using Reilly’s model [44] regarding the entrainment events, also predicted that a large amount of bifilms would be contained in the final casting (denoted by the black particles in Fig. 1b).

      Fig. 1. (a) Dimensions of the casting with runners (unit: mm), (b) a melt flow simulation using Flow-3D software together with Reilly's model[44], predicted that a large amount of bifilms (denoted by the black particles) would be contained in the final casting. (c) A solidification simulation using Pro-cast software showed that no shrinkage defect was contained in the final casting.

      Shrinkage defects also affect the mechanical properties and reproducibility of castings. Since this study focused on the effect of bifilms on the casting quality, the mould has been deliberately designed to avoid generating shrinkage defects. A solidification simulation using ProCAST software showed that no shrinkage defect would be contained in the final casting, as shown in Fig. 1c. The casting soundness has also been confirmed using a real time X-ray prior to the test bar machining.

      The sand moulds were made from resin-bonded silica sand, containing 1wt. % PEPSET 5230 resin and 1wt. % PEPSET 5112 catalyst. The sand also contained 2 wt.% Na2SiF6 to act as an inhibitor [45]. The pouring temperature was 700 ± 5 °C. After the solidification, a section of the runner bars was sent to the Sci-Lab Analytical Ltd for a H-content analysis (LECO analysis), and all the H-content measurements were carried out on the 5th day after the casting process. Each of the castings was machined into 40 test bars for a tensile strength test, using a Zwick 1484 tensile test machine with a clip extensometer. The fracture surfaces of the broken test bars were examined using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM, Philips JEOL7000) with an accelerating voltage of 5–15 kV. The fractured test bars, residual Mg-alloy solidified in the crucible, and the casting runners were then sectioned, polished and also inspected using the same SEM. The cross-section of the oxide film found on the test-bar fracture surface was exposed by the Focused Ion Beam milling technique (FIB), using a CFEI Quanta 3D FEG FIB-SEM. The oxide film required to be analysed was coated with a platinum layer. Then, a gallium ion beam, accelerated to 30 kV, milled the material substrate surrounding the platinum coated area to expose the cross section of the oxide film. EDS analysis of the oxide film’s cross section was carried out using the FIB equipment at accelerating voltage of 30 kV.

      2.2. Oxidation cell

      As previously mentioned, several past researchers investigated the protective film formed on a Mg-alloy melt surface [38,39,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. During these experiments, the amount of cover gas used was sufficient, thus suppressing the depletion of fluorides in the cover gas. The experiment described in this section used a sealed oxidation cell, which limited the supply of cover gas, to study the evolution of the oxide films of entrainment defects. The cover gas contained in the oxidation cell was regarded as large-size “entrained bubble”.

      As shown in Fig. 2, the main body of the oxidation cell was a closed-end mild steel tube which had an inner length of 400 mm, and an inner diameter of 32 mm. A water-cooled copper tube was wrapped around the upper section of the cell. When the tube was heated, the cooling system created a temperature difference between the upper and lower sections, causing the interior gas to convect within the tube. The temperature was monitored by a type-K thermocouple located at the top of the crucible. Nie et al. [53] suggested that the SF6 cover gas would react with the steel wall of the holding furnace when they investigated the surface film of a Mg-alloy melt. To avoid this reaction, the interior surface of the steel oxidation cell (shown in Fig. 2) and the upper half section of the thermocouple were coated with boron nitride (the Mg-alloy was not in contact with boron nitride).

      Fig. 2. Schematic of the oxidation cell used to study the evolution of the oxide films of the entrainment defects (unit mm).

      During the experiment, a block of solid AZ91 alloy was placed in a magnesia crucible located at the bottom of the oxidation cell. The cell was heated to 100 °C in an electric resistance furnace under a gas flow rate of 1 L/min. The cell was held at this temperature for 20 min, to replace the original trapped atmosphere (i.e. air). Then, the oxidation cell was further heated to 700 °C, melting the AZ91 sample. The gas inlet and exit valves were then closed, creating a sealed environment for oxidation under a limited supply of cover gas. The oxidation cell was then held at 700 ± 10 °C for periods of time from 5 min to 30 min in 5-min intervals. At the end of each holding time, the cell was quenched in water. After cooling to room temperature, the oxidised sample was sectioned, polished, and subsequently examined by SEM.

      3. Results

      3.1. Structure and composition of the entrainment defects formed in SF6/air

      The structure and composition of the entrainment defect formed in the AZ91 castings under a cover gas of 0.5%SF6/air was observed by SEM and EDS. The results indicate that there exist two types of entrainment defects which are sketched in Fig. 3: (1) Type A defect whose oxide film has a traditional single-layered structure and (2) Type B defect, whose oxide film has two layers. The details of these defects were introduced in the following. Here it should be noticed that, as the entrainment defects are also known as biofilms or double oxide film, the oxide films of Type B defect were referred to as “multi-layered oxide film” or “multi-layered structure” in the present work to avoid a confusing description such as “the double-layered oxide film of a double oxide film defect”.

      Fig. 3. Schematic of the different types of entrainment defects found in AZ91 castings. (a) Type A defect with a single-layered oxide film and (b) Type B defect with two-layered oxide film.

      Fig. 4(a-b) shows a Type A defect having a compact single-layered oxide film with about 0.4 µm thickness. Oxygen, fluorine, magnesium and aluminium were detected in this film (Fig. 4c). It is speculated that oxide film is the mixture of fluoride and oxide of magnesium and aluminium. The detection of fluorine revealed that an entrained cover gas was contained in the formation of this defect. That is to say that the pores shown in Fig. 4(a) were not shrinkage defects or hydrogen porosity, but entrainment defects. The detection of aluminium was different with Xiong and Wang’s previous study [47,48], which showed that no aluminium was contained in their surface film of an AZ91 melt protected by a SF6 cover gas. Sulphur could not be clearly recognized in the element map, but there was a S-peak in the corresponding ESD spectrum.

      Fig. 4. (a) A Type A entrainment defect formed in SF6/air and having a single-layered oxide film, (b) the oxide film of this defect, (c) SEM-EDS element maps (using Philips JEOL7000) corresponding to the area highlighted in (b).

      Fig. 5(a-b) shows a Type B entrainment defect having a multi-layered oxide film. The compact outer layers of the oxide films were enriched with fluorine and oxygen (Fig. 5c), while their relatively porous inner layers were only enriched with oxygen (i.e., poor in fluorine) and partly grew together, thus forming a sandwich-like structure. Therefore, it is speculated that the outer layer is the mixture of fluoride and oxide, while the inner layer is mainly oxide. Sulphur could only be recognized in the EDX spectrum and could not be clearly identified in the element map, which might be due to the small S-content in the cover gas (i.e., 0.5% volume content of SF6 in the cover gas). In this oxide film, aluminium was contained in the outer layer of this oxide film but could not be clearly detected in the inner layer. Moreover, the distribution of Al seems to be uneven. It can be found that, in the right side of the defect, aluminium exists in the film but its concentration can not be identified to be higher than the matrix. However, there is a small area with much higher aluminium concentration in the left side of the defect. Such an uneven distribution of aluminium was also observed in other defects (shown in the following), and it is the result of the formation of some oxide particles in or under the film.

      Fig. 5. (a) A Type B entrainment defect formed in SF6/air and having a multi-layered oxide film, (b) the oxide films of this defect have grown together, (c) SEM-EDS element maps (using Philips JEOL7000) corresponding to the area shown in (b).

      Figs. 4 and 5 show cross sectional observations of the entrainment defects formed in the AZ91 alloy sample cast under a cover gas of SF6/air. It is not sufficient to characterize the entrainment defects only by the figures observed from the two-dimensional section. To have a further understanding, the surface of the entrainment defects (i.e. the oxide film) was further studied by observing the fracture surface of the test bars.

      Fig. 6(a) shows fracture surfaces of an AZ91 alloy tensile test bar produced in SF6/air. Symmetrical dark regions can be seen on both sides of the fracture surfaces. Fig. 6(b) shows boundaries between the dark and bright regions. The bright region consisted of jagged and broken features, while the surface of the dark region was relatively smooth and flat. In addition, the EDS results (Fig. 6c-d and Table 2) show that fluorine, oxygen, sulphur, and nitrogen were only detected in the dark regions, indicating that the dark regions were surface protective films entrained into the melt. Therefore, it could be suggested that the dark regions were an entrainment defect with consideration of their symmetrical nature. Similar defects on fracture surfaces of Al-alloy castings have been previously reported [7]Nitrides were only found in the oxide films on the test-bar fracture surfaces but never detected in the cross-sectional samples shown in Figs. 4 and 5. An underlying reason is that the nitrides contained in these samples may have hydrolysed during the sample polishing process [54].

      Fig. 6. (a) A pair of the fracture surfaces of a AZ91 alloy tensile test bar produced under a cover gas of SF6/air. The dimension of the fracture surface is 5 mm × 6 mm, (b) a section of the boundary between the dark and bright regions shown in (a), (c-d) EDS spectrum of the (c) bright regions and (d) dark regions, (e) schematic of an entrainment defect contained in a test bar.

      Table 2. EDS results (wt.%) corresponding to the regions shown in Fig. 6 (cover gas: SF6/air).

      Empty CellCOMgFAlZnSN
      Dark region in Fig. 6(b)3.481.3279.130.4713.630.570.080.73
      Bright region in Fig. 6(b)3.5884.4811.250.68

      In conjunction with the cross-sectional observation of the defects shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the structure of an entrainment defect contained in a tensile test bar was sketched as shown in Fig. 6(e). The defect contained an entrained gas enclosed by its oxide film, creating a void section inside the test bar. When the tensile force applied on the defect during the fracture process, the crack was initiated at the void section and propagated along the entrainment defect, since cracks would be propagated along the weakest path [55]. Therefore, when the test bar was finally fractured, the oxide films of entrainment defect appeared on both fracture surfaces of the test bar, as shown in Fig. 6(a).

      3.2. Structure and composition of the entrainment defects formed in SF6/CO2

      Similar to the entrainment defect formed in SF6/air, the defects formed under a cover gas of 0.5%SF6/CO2 also had two types of oxide films (i.e., single-layered and multi-layered types). Fig. 7(a) shows an example of the entrainment defects containing a multi-layered oxide film. A magnified observation to the defect (Fig. 7b) shows that the inner layers of the oxide films had grown together, presenting a sandwich-like structure, which was similar to the defects formed in an atmosphere of SF6/air (Fig. 5b). An EDS spectrum (Fig. 7c) revealed that the joint area (inner layer) of this sandwich-like structure mainly contained magnesium oxides. Peaks of fluorine, sulphur, and aluminium were recognized in this EDS spectrum, but their amount was relatively small. In contrast, the outer layers of the oxide films were compact and composed of a mixture of fluorides and oxides (Fig. 7d-e).

      Fig. 7. (a) An example of entrainment defects formed in SF6/CO2 and having a multi-layered oxide film, (b) magnified observation of the defect, showing the inner layer of the oxide films has grown together, (c) EDS spectrum of the point denoted in (b), (d) outer layer of the oxide film, (e) SEM-EDS element maps (using Philips JEOL7000) corresponding to the area shown in (d).

      Fig. 8(a) shows an entrainment defect on the fracture surfaces of an AZ91 alloy tensile test bar, which was produced in an atmosphere of 0.5%SF6/CO2. The corresponding EDS results (Table 3) showed that oxide film contained fluorides and oxides. Sulphur and nitrogen were not detected. Besides, a magnified observation (Fig. 8b) indicated spots on the oxide film surface. The diameter of the spots ranged from hundreds of nanometres to a few micron meters.

      Fig. 8. (a) A pair of the fracture surfaces of a AZ91 alloy tensile test bar, produced in an atmosphere of SF6/CO2. The dimension of the fracture surface is 5 mm × 6 mm, (b) surface appearance of the oxide films on the fracture surfaces, showing spots on the film surface.

      To further reveal the structure and composition of the oxide film clearly, the cross-section of the oxide film on a test-bar fracture surface was onsite exposed using the FIB technique (Fig. 9). As shown in Fig. 9a, a continuous oxide film was found between the platinum coating layer and the Mg-Al alloy substrate. Fig. 9 (b-c) shows a magnified observation to oxide films, indicating a multi-layered structure (denoted by the red box in Fig. 9c). The bottom layer was enriched with fluorine and oxygen and should be the mixture of fluoride and oxide, which was similar to the “outer layer” shown in Figs. 5 and 7, while the only-oxygen-enriched top layer was similar to the “inner layer” shown in Figs. 5 and 7.

      Fig. 9. (a) A cross-sectional observation of the oxide film on the fracture surface of the AZ91 casting produced in SF6/CO2, exposed by FIB, (b) a magnified observation of area highlighted in (a), and (c) SEM-EDS elements map of the area shown in (b), obtained by CFEI Quanta 3D FEG FIB-SEM.

      Except the continuous film, some individual particles were also observed in or below the continuous film, as shown in Fig. 9. An Al-enriched particle was detected in the left side of the oxide film shown in Fig. 9b and might be speculated to be spinel Mg2AlO4 because it also contains abundant magnesium and oxygen elements. The existing of such Mg2AlO4 particles is responsible for the high concentration of aluminium in small areas of the observed film and the uneven distribution of aluminium, as shown in Fig. 5(c). Here it should be emphasized that, although the other part of the bottom layer of the continuous oxide film contains less aluminium than this Al-enriched particle, the Fig. 9c indicated that the amount of aluminium in this bottom layer was still non-negligible, especially when comparing with the outer layer of the film. Below the right side of the oxide film shown in Fig. 9b, a particle was detected and speculated to be MgO because it is rich in Mg and O. According to Wang’s result [56], lots of discrete MgO particles can be formed on the surface of the Mg melt by the oxidation of Mg melt and Mg vapor. The MgO particles observed in our present work may be formed due to the same reasons. While, due to the differences in experimental conditions, less Mg melt can be vapored or react with O2, thus only a few of MgO particles formed in our work. An enrichment of carbon was also found in the film, revealing that CO2 was able to react with the melt, thus forming carbon or carbides. This carbon concentration was consistent with the relatively high carbon content of the oxide film shown in Table 3 (i.e., the dark region). In the area next to the oxide film.

      Table 3. EDS results (wt.%) corresponding to the regions shown in Fig. 8 (cover gas: SF6/ CO2).

      Empty CellCOMgFAlZnSN
      Dark region in Fig. 8(a)7.253.6469.823.827.030.86
      Bright region in Fig. 8(a)2.100.4482.8313.261.36

      This cross-sectional observation of the oxide film on a test bar fracture surface (Fig. 9) further verified the schematic of the entrainment defect shown in Fig. 6(e). The entrainment defects formed in different atmospheres of SF6/CO2 and SF6/air had similar structures, but their compositions were different.

      3.3. Evolution of the oxide films in the oxidation cell

      The results in Section 3.1 and 3.2 have shown the structures and compositions of entrainment defects formed in AZ91 castings under cover gases of SF6/air and SF6/CO2. Different stages of the oxidation reaction may lead to the different structures and compositions of entrainment defects. Although Campbell has conjectured that an entrained gas may react with the surrounding melt, it is rarely reported that the reaction occurring between the Mg-alloy melt and entrapped cover gas. Previous researchers normally focus on the reaction between a Mg-alloy melt and the cover gas in an open environment [38,39,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52], which was different from the situation of a cover gas trapped into the melt. To further understand the formation of the entrainment defect in an AZ91 alloy, the evolution process of oxide films of the entrainment defect was further studied using an oxidation cell.

      Fig. 10 (a and d) shows a surface film held for 5 min in the oxidation cell, protected by 0.5%SF6/air. There was only one single layer consisting of fluoride and oxide (MgF2 and MgO). In this surface film. Sulphur was detected in the EDS spectrum, but its amount was too small to be recognized in the element map. The structure and composition of this oxide film was similar to the single-layered films of entrainment defects shown in Fig. 4.

      Fig. 10. Oxide films formed in the oxidation cell under a cover gas of 0.5%SF6/air and held at 700 °C for (a) 5 min; (b) 10 min; (c) 30 min, and (d-f) the SEM-EDS element maps (using Philips JEOL7000) corresponding to the oxide film shown in (a-c) respectively, (d) 5 min; (e) 10 min; (f) 30 min. The red points in (c and f) are the location references, denoting the boundary of the F-enriched layer in different element maps.

      After a holding time of 10 min, a thin (O, S)-enriched top layer (around 700 nm) appeared upon the preliminary F-enriched film, forming a multi-layered structure, as shown in Fig. 10(b and e). The thickness of the (O, S)-enriched top layer increased with increased holding time. As shown in Fig. 10(c and f), the oxide film held for 30 min also had a multi-layered structure, but the thickness of its (O, S)-enriched top layer (around 2.5 µm) was higher than the that of the 10-min oxide film. The multi-layered oxide films shown in Fig. 10(b-c) presented a similar appearance to the films of the sandwich-like defect shown in Fig. 5.

      The different structures of the oxide films shown in Fig. 10 indicated that fluorides in the cover gas would be preferentially consumed due to the reaction with the AZ91 alloy melt. After the depletion of fluorides, the residual cover gas reacted further with the liquid AZ91 alloy, forming the top (O, S)-enriched layer in the oxide film. Therefore, the different structures and compositions of entrainment defects shown in Figs. 4 and 5 may be due to an ongoing oxidation reaction between melt and entrapped cover gas.

      This multi-layered structure has not been reported in previous publications concerning the protective surface film formed on a Mg-alloy melt [38,[46][47][48][49][50][51]. This may be due to the fact that previous researchers carried out their experiments with an un-limited amount of cover gas, creating a situation where the fluorides in the cover gas were not able to become depleted. Therefore, the oxide film of an entrainment defect had behaviour traits similar to the oxide films shown in Fig. 10, but different from the oxide films formed on the Mg-alloy melt surface reported in [38,[46][47][48][49][50][51].

      Similar with the oxide films held in SF6/air, the oxide films formed in SF6/CO2 also had different structures with different holding times in the oxidation cell. Fig. 11(a) shows an oxide film, held on an AZ91 melt surface under a cover gas of 0.5%SF6/CO2 for 5 min. This film had a single-layered structure consisting of MgF2. The existence of MgO could not be confirmed in this film. After the holding time of 30 min, the film had a multi-layered structure; the inner layer was of a compact and uniform appearance and composed of MgF2, while the outer layer is the mixture of MgF2 and MgO. Sulphur was not detected in this film, which was different from the surface film formed in 0.5%SF6/air. Therefore, fluorides in the cover gas of 0.5%SF6/CO2 were also preferentially consumed at an early stage of the film growth process. Compared with the film formed in SF6/air, the MgO in film formed in SF6/CO2 appeared later and sulphide did not appear within 30 min. It may mean that the formation and evolution of film in SF6/air is faster than SF6/CO2. CO2 may have subsequently reacted with the melt to form MgO, while sulphur-containing compounds accumulated in the cover gas and reacted to form sulphide in very late stage (may after 30 min in oxidation cell).

      Fig. 11. Oxide films formed in the oxidation cell under a cover gas of 0.5%SF6/CO2, and their SEM-EDS element maps (using Philips JEOL7000). They were held at 700 °C for (a) 5 min; (b) 30 min. The red points in (b) are the location references, denoting the boundary between the top and bottom layers in the oxide film.

      4. Discussion

      4.1. Evolution of entrainment defects formed in SF6/air

      HSC software from Outokumpu HSC Chemistry for Windows (http://www.hsc-chemistry.net/) was used to carry out thermodynamic calculations needed to explore the reactions which might occur between the trapped gases and liquid AZ91 alloy. The solutions to the calculations suggest which products are most likely to form in the reaction process between a small amount of cover gas (i.e., the amount within a trapped bubble) and the AZ91-alloy melt.

      In the trials, the pressure was set to 1 atm, and the temperature set to 700 °C. The amount of the cover gas was assumed to be 7 × 10−7 kg, with a volume of approximately 0.57 cm3 (3.14 × 10−8 kmol) for 0.5%SF6/air, and 0.35 cm3 (3.12 × 10−8 kmol) for 0.5%SF6/CO2. The amount of the AZ91 alloy melt in contact with the trapped gas was assumed to be sufficient to complete all reactions. The decomposition products of SF6 were SF5, SF4, SF3, SF2, F2, S(g), S2(g) and F(g) [57][58][59][60].

      Fig. 12 shows the equilibrium diagram of the thermodynamic calculation of the reaction between the AZ91 alloy and 0.5%SF6/air. In the diagram, the reactants and products with less than 10−15 kmol have not been shown, as this was 5 orders of magnitude less than the amount of SF6 present (≈ 1.57 × 10−10 kmol) and therefore would not affect the observed process in a practical way.

      Fig. 12. An equilibrium diagram for the reaction between 7e-7 kg 0.5%SF6/air and a sufficient amount of AZ91 alloy. The X axis is the amount of AZ91 alloy melt having reacted with the entrained gas, and the vertical Y-axis is the amount of the reactants and products.

      This reaction process could be divided into 3 stages.

      Stage 1: The formation of fluorides. the AZ91 melt preferentially reacted with SF6 and its decomposition products, producing MgF2, AlF3, and ZnF2. However, the amount of ZnF2 may have been too small to be detected practically (1.25 × 10−12 kmol of ZnF2 compared with 3 × 10−10 kmol of MgF2), which may be the reason why Zn was not detected in any the oxide films shown in Sections 3.13.3. Meanwhile, sulphur accumulated in the residual gas as SO2.

      Stage 2: The formation of oxides. After the liquid AZ91 alloy had depleted all the available fluorides in the entrapped gas, the amount of AlF3 and ZnF2 quickly reduced due to a reaction with Mg. O2(g) and SO2 reacted with the AZ91 melt, forming MgO, Al2O3, MgAl2O4, ZnO, ZnSO4 and MgSO4. However, the amount of ZnO and ZnSO4 would have been too small to be found practically by EDS (e.g. 9.5 × 10−12 kmol of ZnO,1.38 × 10−14 kmol of ZnSO4, in contrast to 4.68 × 10−10 kmol of MgF2, when the amount of AZ91 on the X-axis is 2.5 × 10−9 kmol). In the experimental cases, the concentration of F in the cover gas is very low, whole the concentration f O is much higher. Therefore, the stage 1 and 2, i.e, the formation of fluoride and oxide may happen simultaneously at the beginning of the reaction, resulting in the formation of a singer-layered mixture of fluoride and oxide, as shown in Figs. 4 and 10(a). While an inner layer consisted of oxides but fluorides could form after the complete depletion of F element in the cover gas.

      Stages 1- 2 theoretically verified the formation process of the multi-layered structure shown in Fig. 10.

      The amount of MgAl2O4 and Al2O3 in the oxide film was of a sufficient amount to be detected, which was consistent with the oxide films shown in Fig. 4. However, the existence of aluminium could not be recognized in the oxide films grown in the oxidation cell, as shown in Fig. 10. This absence of Al may be due to the following reactions between the surface film and AZ91 alloy melt:(1)

      Al2O3 + 3Mg + = 3MgO + 2Al, △G(700 °C) = -119.82 kJ/mol(2)

      Mg + MgAl2O4 = MgO + Al, △G(700 °C) =-106.34 kJ/molwhich could not be simulated by the HSC software since the thermodynamic calculation was carried out under an assumption that the reactants were in full contact with each other. However, in a practical process, the AZ91 melt and the cover gas would not be able to be in contact with each other completely, due to the existence of the protective surface film.

      Stage 3: The formation of Sulphide and nitride. After a holding time of 30 min, the gas-phase fluorides and oxides in the oxidation cell had become depleted, allowing the melt reaction with the residual gas, forming an additional sulphur-enriched layer upon the initial F-enriched or (F, O)-enriched surface film, thus resulting in the observed multi-layered structure shown in Fig. 10 (b and c). Besides, nitrogen reacted with the AZ91 melt until all reactions were completed. The oxide film shown in Fig. 6 may correspond to this reaction stage due to its nitride content. However, the results shows that the nitrides were not detected in the polished samples shown in Figs. 4 and 5, but only found on the test bar fracture surfaces. The nitrides may have hydrolysed during the sample preparation process, as follows [54]:(3)

      Mg3N2 + 6H2O =3Mg(OH)2 + 2NH3↑(4)

      AlN+ 3H2O =Al(OH)3 + NH3

      In addition, Schmidt et al. [61] found that Mg3N2 and AlN could react to form ternary nitrides (Mg3AlnNn+2, n= 1, 2, 3…). HSC software did not contain the database of ternary nitrides, and it could not be added into the calculation. The oxide films in this stage may also contain ternary nitrides.

      4.2. Evolution of entrainment defects formed in SF6/CO2

      Fig. 13 shows the results of the thermodynamic calculation between AZ91 alloy and 0.5%SF6/CO2. This reaction processes can also be divided into three stages.

      Fig. 13. An equilibrium diagram for the reaction between 7e-7 kg 0.5%SF6/CO2 and a sufficient amount of AZ91 alloy. The X axis denotes the amount of Mg alloy melt having reacted with the entrained gas, and the vertical Y-axis denotes the amounts of the reactants and products.

      Stage 1: The formation of fluorides. SF6 and its decomposition products were consumed by the AZ91 melt, forming MgF2, AlF3, and ZnF2. As in the reaction of AZ91 in 0.5%SF6/air, the amount of ZnF2 was too small to be detected practically (1.51 × 10−13 kmol of ZnF2 compared with 2.67 × 10−10 kmol of MgF2). Sulphur accumulated in the residual trapped gas as S2(g) and a portion of the S2(g) reacted with CO2, to form SO2 and CO. The products in this reaction stage were consistent with the film shown in Fig. 11(a), which had a single layer structure that contained fluorides only.

      Stage 2: The formation of oxides. AlF3 and ZnF2 reacted with the Mg in the AZ91 melt, forming MgF2, Al and Zn. The SO2 began to be consumed, producing oxides in the surface film and S2(g) in the cover gas. Meanwhile, the CO2 directly reacted with the AZ91 melt, forming CO, MgO, ZnO, and Al2O3. The oxide films shown in Figs. 9 and 11(b) may correspond to this reaction stage due to their oxygen-enriched layer and multi-layered structure.

      The CO in the cover gas could further react with the AZ91 melt, producing C. This carbon may further react with Mg to form Mg carbides, when the temperature reduced (during solidification period) [62]. This may be the reason for the high carbon content in the oxide film shown in Figs. 89. Liang et al. [39] also reported carbon-detection in an AZ91 alloy surface film protected by SO2/CO2. The produced Al2O3 may be further combined with MgO, forming MgAl2O4 [63]. As discussed in Section 4.1, the alumina and spinel can react with Mg, causing an absence of aluminium in the surface films, as shown in Fig. 11.

      Stage 3: The formation of Sulphide. the AZ91 melt began to consume S2(g) in the residual entrapped gas, forming ZnS and MgS. These reactions did not occur until the last stage of the reaction process, which could be the reason why the S-content in the defect shown Fig. 7(c) was small.

      In summary, thermodynamic calculations indicate that the AZ91 melt will react with the cover gas to form fluorides firstly, then oxides and sulphides in the last. The oxide film in the different reaction stages would have different structures and compositions.

      4.3. Effect of the carrier gases on consumption of the entrained gas and the reproducibility of AZ91 castings

      The evolution processes of entrainment defects, formed in SF6/air and SF6/CO2, have been suggested in Sections 4.1 and 4.2. The theoretical calculations were verified with respect to the corresponding oxide films found in practical samples. The atmosphere within an entrainment defect could be efficiently consumed due to the reaction with liquid Mg-alloy, in a scenario dissimilar to the Al-alloy system (i.e., nitrogen in an entrained air bubble would not efficiently react with Al-alloy melt [64,65], however, nitrogen would be more readily consumed in liquid Mg alloys, commonly referred to as “nitrogen burning” [66]).

      The reaction between the entrained gas and the surrounding liquid Mg-alloy converted the entrained gas into solid compounds (e.g. MgO) within the oxide film, thus reducing the void volume of the entrainment defect and hence probably causing a collapse of the defect (e.g., if an entrained gas of air was depleted by the surrounding liquid Mg-alloy, under an assumption that the melt temperature is 700 °C and the depth of liquid Mg-alloy is 10 cm, the total volume of the final solid products would be 0.044% of the initial volume taken by the entrapped air).

      The relationship between the void volume reduction of entrainment defects and the corresponding casting properties has been widely studied in Al-alloy castings. Nyahumwa and Campbell [16] reported that the Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) process caused the entrainment defects in Al-alloy castings to collapse and their oxide surfaces forced into contact. The fatigue lives of their castings were improved after HIP. Nyahumwa and Campbell [16] also suggested a potential bonding of the double oxide films that were in contact with each other, but there was no direct evidence to support this. This binding phenomenon was further investigated by Aryafar et.al.[8], who re-melted two Al-alloy bars with oxide skins in a steel tube and then carried out a tensile strength test on the solidified sample. They found that the oxide skins of the Al-alloy bars strongly bonded with each other and became even stronger with an extension of the melt holding time, indicating a potential “healing” phenomenon due to the consumption of the entrained gas within the double oxide film structure. In addition, Raidszadeh and Griffiths [9,19] successfully reduced the negative effect of entrainment defects on the reproducibility of Al-alloy castings, by extending the melt holding time before solidification, which allowed the entrained gas to have a longer time to react with the surrounding melt.

      With consideration of the previous work mentioned, the consumption of the entrained gas in Mg-alloy castings may diminish the negative effect of entrainment defects in the following two ways.

      (1) Bonding phenomenon of the double oxide films. The sandwich-like structure shown in Fig. 5 and 7 indicated a potential bonding of the double oxide film structure. However, more evidence is required to quantify the increase in strength due to the bonding of the oxide films.

      (2) Void volume reduction of entrainment defects. The positive effect of void-volume reduction on the quality of castings has been widely demonstrated by the HIP process [67]. As the evolution processes discussed in Section 4.14.2, the oxide films of entrainment defects can grow together due to an ongoing reaction between the entrained gas and surrounding AZ91 alloy melt. The volume of the final solid products was significant small compared with the entrained gas (i.e., 0.044% as previously mentioned).

      Therefore, the consumption rate of the entrained gas (i.e., the growth rate of oxide films) may be a critical parameter for improving the quality of AZ91 alloy castings. The oxide film growth rate in the oxidization cell was accordingly further investigated.

      Fig. 14 shows a comparison of the surface film growth rates in different cover gases (i.e., 0.5%SF6/air and 0.5%SF6/CO2). 15 random points on each sample were selected for film thickness measurements. The 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was computed under an assumption that the variation of the film thickness followed a Gaussian distribution. It can be seen that all the surface films formed in 0.5%SF6/air grew faster than those formed in 0.5%SF6/CO2. The different growth rates suggested that the entrained-gas consumption rate of 0.5%SF6/air was higher than that of 0.5%SF6/CO2, which was more beneficial for the consumption of the entrained gas.

      Fig. 14. A comparison of the AZ91 alloy oxide film growth rates in 0.5%SF6/air and 0.5%SF6/CO2

      It should be noted that, in the oxidation cell, the contact area of liquid AZ91 alloy and cover gas (i.e. the size of the crucible) was relatively small with consideration of the large volume of melt and gas. Consequently, the holding time for the oxide film growth within the oxidation cell was comparatively long (i.e., 5–30 min). However, the entrainment defects contained in a real casting are comparatively very small (i.e., a few microns size as shown in Figs. 36, and [7]), and the entrained gas is fully enclosed by the surrounding melt, creating a relatively large contact area. Hence the reaction time for cover gas and the AZ91 alloy melt may be comparatively short. In addition, the solidification time of real Mg-alloy sand castings can be a few minutes (e.g. Guo [68] reported that a Mg-alloy sand casting with 60 mm diameter required 4 min to be solidified). Therefore, it can be expected that an entrained gas trapped during an Mg-alloy melt pouring process will be readily consumed by the surrounding melt, especially for sand castings and large-size castings, where solidification times are long.

      Therefore, the different cover gases (0.5%SF6/air and 0.5%SF6/CO2) associated with different consumption rates of the entrained gases may affect the reproducibility of the final castings. To verify this assumption, the AZ91 castings produced in 0.5%SF6/air and 0.5%SF6/CO2 were machined into test bars for mechanical evaluation. A Weibull analysis was carried out using both linear least square (LLS) method and non-linear least square (non-LLS) method [69].

      Fig. 15(a-b) shows a traditional 2-p linearized Weibull plot of the UTS and elongation of the AZ91 alloy castings, obtained by the LLS method. The estimator used is P= (i-0.5)/N, which was suggested to cause the lowest bias among all the popular estimators [69,70]. The casting produced in SF6/air has an UTS Weibull moduli of 16.9, and an elongation Weibull moduli of 5.0. In contrast, the UTS and elongation Weibull modulus of the casting produced in SF6/CO2 are 7.7 and 2.7 respectively, suggesting that the reproducibility of the casting protected by SF6/CO2 were much lower than that produced in SF6/air.

      Fig. 15. The Weibull modulus of AZ91 castings produced in different atmospheres, estimated by (a-b) the linear least square method, (c-d) the non-linear least square method, where SSR is the sum of residual squares.

      In addition, the author’s previous publication [69] demonstrated a shortcoming of the linearized Weibull plots, which may cause a higher bias and incorrect R2 interruption of the Weibull estimation. A Non-LLS Weibull estimation was therefore carried out, as shown in Fig. 15 (c-d). The UTS Weibull modulus of the SF6/air casting was 20.8, while the casting produced under SF6/CO2 had a lower UTS Weibull modulus of 11.4, showing a clear difference in their reproducibility. In addition, the SF6/air elongation (El%) dataset also had a Weibull modulus (shape = 5.8) higher than the elongation dataset of SF6/CO2 (shape = 3.1). Therefore, both the LLS and Non-LLS estimations suggested that the SF6/air casting has a higher reproducibility than the SF6/CO2 casting. It supports the method that the use of air instead of CO2 contributes to a quicker consumption of the entrained gas, which may reduce the void volume within the defects. Therefore, the use of 0.5%SF6/air instead of 0.5%SF6/CO2 (which increased the consumption rate of the entrained gas) improved the reproducibility of the AZ91 castings.

      However, it should be noted that not all the Mg-alloy foundries followed the casting process used in present work. The Mg-alloy melt in present work was degassed, thus reducing the effect of hydrogen on the consumption of the entrained gas (i.e., hydrogen could diffuse into the entrained gas, potentially suppressing the depletion of the entrained gas [7,71,72]). In contrast, in Mg-alloy foundries, the Mg-alloy melt is not normally degassed, since it was widely believed that there is not a ‘gas problem’ when casting magnesium and hence no significant change in tensile properties [73]. Although studies have shown the negative effect of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of Mg-alloy castings [41,42,73], a degassing process is still not very popular in Mg-alloy foundries.

      Moreover, in present work, the sand mould cavity was flushed with the SF6 cover gas prior to pouring [22]. However, not all the Mg-alloy foundries flushed the mould cavity in this way. For example, the Stone Foundry Ltd (UK) used sulphur powder instead of the cover-gas flushing. The entrained gas within their castings may be SO2/air, rather than the protective gas.

      Therefore, although the results in present work have shown that using air instead of CO2 improved the reproducibility of the final casting, it still requires further investigations to confirm the effect of carrier gases with respect to different industrial Mg-alloy casting processes.

      7. Conclusion

      Entrainment defects formed in an AZ91 alloy were observed. Their oxide films had two types of structure: single-layered and multi-layered. The multi-layered oxide film can grow together forming a sandwich-like structure in the final casting.2.

      Both the experimental results and the theoretical thermodynamic calculations demonstrated that fluorides in the trapped gas were depleted prior to the consumption of sulphur. A three-stage evolution process of the double oxide film defects has been suggested. The oxide films contained different combinations of compounds, depending on the evolution stage. The defects formed in SF6/air had a similar structure to those formed in SF6/CO2, but the compositions of their oxide films were different. The oxide-film formation and evolution process of the entrainment defects were different from that of the Mg-alloy surface films previous reported (i.e., MgO formed prior to MgF2).3.

      The growth rate of the oxide film was demonstrated to be greater under SF6/air than SF6/CO2, contributing to a quicker consumption of the damaging entrapped gas. The reproducibility of an AZ91 alloy casting improved when using SF6/air instead of SF6/CO2.

      Acknowledgements

      The authors acknowledge funding from the EPSRC LiME grant EP/H026177/1, and the help from Dr W.D. Griffiths and Mr. Adrian Carden (University of Birmingham). The casting work was carried out in University of Birmingham.

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      Fig. 1. Schematic of lap welding for 6061/5182 aluminum alloys.

      알루미늄 합금 겹침 용접 중 용접 형성, 용융 흐름 및 입자 구조에 대한 사인파 발진 레이저 빔의 영향

      린 첸 가오 양 미시 옹 장 춘밍 왕
      Lin Chen , Gaoyang Mi , Xiong Zhang , Chunming Wang *
      중국 우한시 화중과학기술대학 재료공학부, 430074

      Effects of sinusoidal oscillating laser beam on weld formation, melt flow and grain structure during aluminum alloys lap welding

      Abstract

      A numerical model of 1.5 mm 6061/5182 aluminum alloys thin sheets lap joints under laser sinusoidal oscillation (sine) welding and laser welding (SLW) weld was developed to simulate temperature distribution and melt flow. Unlike the common energy distribution of SLW, the sinusoidal oscillation of laser beam greatly homogenized the energy distribution and reduced the energy peak. The energy peaks were located at both sides of the sine weld, resulting in the tooth-shaped sectional formation. This paper illustrated the effect of the temperature gradient (G) and solidification rate (R) on the solidification microstructure by simulation. Results indicated that the center of the sine weld had a wider area with low G/R, promoting the formation of a wider equiaxed grain zone, and the columnar grains were slenderer because of greater GR. The porosity-free and non-penetration welds were obtained by the laser sinusoidal oscillation. The reasons were that the molten pool volume was enlarged, the volume proportion of keyhole was reduced and the turbulence in the molten pool was gentled, which was observed by the high-speed imaging and simulation results of melt flow. The tensile test of both welds showed a tensile fracture form along the fusion line, and the tensile strength of sine weld was significantly better than that of the SLW weld. This was because that the wider equiaxed grain area reduced the tendency of cracks and the finer grain size close to the fracture location. Defect-free and excellent welds are of great significance to the new energy vehicles industry.

      온도 분포 및 용융 흐름을 시뮬레이션하기 위해 레이저 사인파 진동 (사인) 용접 및 레이저 용접 (SLW) 용접에서 1.5mm 6061/5182 알루미늄 합금 박판 랩 조인트 의 수치 모델이 개발되었습니다. SLW의 일반적인 에너지 분포와 달리 레이저 빔의 사인파 진동은 에너지 분포를 크게 균질화하고 에너지 피크를 줄였습니다. 에너지 피크는 사인 용접의 양쪽에 위치하여 톱니 모양의 단면이 형성되었습니다. 이 논문은 온도 구배(G)와 응고 속도 의 영향을 설명했습니다.(R) 시뮬레이션에 의한 응고 미세 구조. 결과는 사인 용접의 중심이 낮은 G/R로 더 넓은 영역을 가짐으로써 더 넓은 등축 결정립 영역의 형성을 촉진하고 더 큰 GR로 인해 주상 결정립 이 더 가늘다는 것을 나타냅니다. 다공성 및 비관통 용접은 레이저 사인파 진동에 의해 얻어졌습니다. 그 이유는 용융 풀의 부피가 확대되고 열쇠 구멍의 부피 비율이 감소하며 용융 풀의 난류가 완만해졌기 때문이며, 이는 용융 흐름의 고속 이미징 및 시뮬레이션 결과에서 관찰되었습니다. 두 용접부 의 인장시험 은 융착선을 따라 인장파괴형태를인장강도사인 용접의 경우 SLW 용접보다 훨씬 우수했습니다. 이는 등축 결정립 영역이 넓을수록 균열 경향이 감소하고 파단 위치에 근접한 입자 크기가 미세 하기 때문입니다. 결함이 없고 우수한 용접은 신에너지 자동차 산업에 매우 중요합니다.

      Fig. 1. Schematic of lap welding for 6061/5182 aluminum alloys.
      Fig. 1. Schematic of lap welding for 6061/5182 aluminum alloys.
      Fig. 2. Finite element mesh.
      Fig. 2. Finite element mesh.
      Fig. 3. Weld morphologies of cross-section and upper surface for the two welds: (a) sine pattern weld; (b) SLW weld.
      Fig. 3. Weld morphologies of cross-section and upper surface for the two welds: (a) sine pattern weld; (b) SLW weld.
      Fig. 4. Calculation of laser energy distribution: (a)-(c) sine pattern weld; (d)-(f) SLW weld.
      Fig. 4. Calculation of laser energy distribution: (a)-(c) sine pattern weld; (d)-(f) SLW weld.
      Fig. 5. The partially melted region of zone A.
      Fig. 5. The partially melted region of zone A.
      Fig. 6. The simulated profiles of melted region for the two welds: (a) SLW weld; (b) sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 6. The simulated profiles of melted region for the two welds: (a) SLW weld; (b) sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 7. The temperature field simulation results of cross section for sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 7. The temperature field simulation results of cross section for sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 8. Dynamic behavior of the molten pool at the same time interval of 0.004 s within one oscillating period: (a) SLW weld; (b) sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 8. Dynamic behavior of the molten pool at the same time interval of 0.004 s within one oscillating period: (a) SLW weld; (b) sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 9. The temperature field and flow field of the molten pool for the SLW weld: (a)~(f) t = 80 ms~100 ms.
      Fig. 9. The temperature field and flow field of the molten pool for the SLW weld: (a)~(f) t = 80 ms~100 ms.
      Fig. 10. The temperature field and flow field of the molten pool for the sine pattern weld: (a)~(f) t = 151 ms~171 ms.
      Fig. 10. The temperature field and flow field of the molten pool for the sine pattern weld: (a)~(f) t = 151 ms~171 ms.
      Fig. 11. The evolution of the molten pool volume and keyhole depth within one period.
      Fig. 11. The evolution of the molten pool volume and keyhole depth within one period.
      Fig. 12. The X-ray inspection results for the two welds: (a) SLW weld, (b) sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 12. The X-ray inspection results for the two welds: (a) SLW weld, (b) sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 13. Comparison of the solidification parameters for sine and SLW patterns: (a) the temperature field simulated results of the molten pool upper surfaces; (b) temperature gradient G and solidification rate R along the molten pool boundary isotherm from weld centerline to the fusion boundary; (c) G/R; (d) GR.
      Fig. 13. Comparison of the solidification parameters for sine and SLW patterns: (a) the temperature field simulated results of the molten pool upper surfaces; (b) temperature gradient G and solidification rate R along the molten pool boundary isotherm from weld centerline to the fusion boundary; (c) G/R; (d) GR.
      Fig. 14. The EBSD results of equiaxed grain zone in the weld center of: (a) sine pattern weld; (b) SLW weld; (c) grain size.
      Fig. 14. The EBSD results of equiaxed grain zone in the weld center of: (a) sine pattern weld; (b) SLW weld; (c) grain size.
      Fig. 15. (a) EBSD results of horizontal sections of SLW weld and sine pattern weld; (b) The columnar crystal widths of SLW weld and sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 15. (a) EBSD results of horizontal sections of SLW weld and sine pattern weld; (b) The columnar crystal widths of SLW weld and sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 16. (a) The tensile test results of the two welds; (b) Fracture location of SLW weld; (b) Fracture location of sine pattern weld.
      Fig. 16. (a) The tensile test results of the two welds; (b) Fracture location of SLW weld; (b) Fracture location of sine pattern weld.

      Keywords

      Laser welding, Sinusoidal oscillating, Energy distribution, Numerical simulation, Molten pool flow, Grain structure

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      Fig. 8. Variation of water surface profile (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.

      Numerical study of the dam-break waves and Favre waves down sloped wet rigid-bed at laboratory scale

      WenjunLiuaBoWangaYakunGuobaState Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, ChinabFaculty of Engineering & Informatics, University of Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK

      Highlights

      경사진 습윤층에서 댐파괴유동과 FFavre 파를 수치적으로 조사하였다.
      수직 대 수평 속도의 비율이 먼저 정량화됩니다.
      유동 상태는 유상 경사가 큰 후기 단계에서 크게 변경됩니다.
      Favre 파도는 수직 속도와 수직 가속도에 큰 영향을 미칩니다.
      베드 전단응력의 변화는 베드 기울기와 꼬리물의 영향을 받습니다.

      Abstract

      The bed slope and the tailwater depth are two important ones among the factors that affect the propagation of the dam-break flood and Favre waves. Most previous studies have only focused on the macroscopic characteristics of the dam-break flows or Favre waves under the condition of horizontal bed, rather than the internal movement characteristics in sloped channel. The present study applies two numerical models, namely, large eddy simulation (LES) and shallow water equations (SWEs) models embedded in the CFD software package FLOW-3D to analyze the internal movement characteristics of the dam-break flows and Favre waves, such as water level, the velocity distribution, the fluid particles acceleration and the bed shear stress, under the different bed slopes and water depth ratios. The results under the conditions considered in this study show that there is a flow state transition in the flow evolution for the steep bed slope even in water depth ratio α = 0.1 (α is the ratio of the tailwater depth to the reservoir water depth). The flow state transition shows that the wavefront changes from a breaking state to undular. Such flow transition is not observed for the horizontal slope and mild bed slope. The existence of the Favre waves leads to a significant increase of the vertical velocity and the vertical acceleration. In this situation, the SWEs model has poor prediction. Analysis reveals that the variation of the maximum bed shear stress is affected by both the bed slope and tailwater depth. Under the same bed slope (e.g., S0 = 0.02), the maximum bed shear stress position develops downstream of the dam when α = 0.1, while it develops towards the end of the reservoir when α = 0.7. For the same water depth ratio (e.g., α = 0.7), the maximum bed shear stress position always locates within the reservoir at S0 = 0.02, while it appears in the downstream of the dam for S0 = 0 and 0.003 after the flow evolves for a while. The comparison between the numerical simulation and experimental measurements shows that the LES model can predict the internal movement characteristics with satisfactory accuracy. This study improves the understanding of the effect of both the bed slope and the tailwater depth on the internal movement characteristics of the dam-break flows and Favre waves, which also provides a valuable reference for determining the flood embankment height and designing the channel bed anti-scouring facility.

      Fig. 1. Sketch of related variables involved in shallow water model.
      Fig. 1. Sketch of related variables involved in shallow water model.
      Fig. 2. Flume model in numerical simulation.
      Fig. 2. Flume model in numerical simulation.
      Fig. 3. Grid sensitivity analysis (a) water surface profile; (b) velocity profile.
      Fig. 3. Grid sensitivity analysis (a) water surface profile; (b) velocity profile.
      Fig. 4. Sketch of experimental set-up for validating the velocity profile.
      Fig. 4. Sketch of experimental set-up for validating the velocity profile.
      Fig. 5. Sketch of experimental set-up for validating the bed shear stress.
      Fig. 5. Sketch of experimental set-up for validating the bed shear stress.
      Fig. 6. Model validation results (a) variation of the velocity profile; (b) error value of the velocity profile; (c) variation of the bed shear stress; (d) error value of the bed shear stress.
      Fig. 6. Model validation results (a) variation of the velocity profile; (b) error value of the velocity profile; (c) variation of the bed shear stress; (d) error value of the bed shear stress.
      Fig. 7. Schematic diagram of regional division.
      Fig. 7. Schematic diagram of regional division.
      Fig. 8. Variation of water surface profile (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 8. Variation of water surface profile (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 8. (continued).
      Fig. 8. (continued).
      Fig. 8. (continued).
      Fig. 8. (continued).
      Fig. 8. (continued).
      Fig. 8. (continued).
      Fig. 9. Froude number for α = 0.1 (a) variation with time; (b) variation with wavefront position.
      Fig. 9. Froude number for α = 0.1 (a) variation with time; (b) variation with wavefront position.
      Fig. 10. Characteristics of velocity distribution (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 10. Characteristics of velocity distribution (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 11. Average proportion of the vertical velocity (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 11. Average proportion of the vertical velocity (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 12. Bed shear stress distribution (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 12. Bed shear stress distribution (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 12. (continued).
      Fig. 12. (continued).
      Fig. 13. Variation of the maximum bed shear stress position with time (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 13. Variation of the maximum bed shear stress position with time (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 14. Time when the maximum bed shear stress appears at different positions (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      Fig. 14. Time when the maximum bed shear stress appears at different positions (a) α = 0.1; (b) α = 0.3; (c) α = 0.5; (d) α = 0.7.
      <