Nepheloid layer generation by gas eruption:unexpected experimental results

Knowledge of nepheloid layers is important to improve the understanding of physical,geological,and sedimentary processes from continental shelf to abyssal environments.We had not tried to study the nepheloid layers in a hydrate-associated tank until unexpected results occurred.Tank experimental results show that gas eruptions triggered intermediate nepheloid layers.Thus,we proposed a new mechanism of intermediate nepheloid layer generation by eruptions.The intermediate nepheloid layers were generated in uniform-density fluid,which indicated that stratified fluid is not a necessary condition for intermediate nepheloid layers.Sufficient space for advection and an oblique slope for detachment are the key ingredients for intermediate nepheloid layer generation by eruptions.Our experiments also offer a new experimental evidence for bottom nepheloid layer generation by earthquakes.Given the scale effects of laboratory experiment,it is important to determine whether submarine volcanic eruption or hydrate-associated venting causes intermediate nepheloid layer in the nature.

Sedimentary characteristics and internal architecture of a river-dominated delta controlled by autogenic process:implications from a flume tank experiment

Autogenic processes are widely found in various sedimentary systems and they play an important role in the depositional evolution and corresponding sedimentary architecture.However,autogenic processes are often affected by changing allogenic factors and are difficult to be identified and analyzed from modern and ancient records.Through the flume tank experiment under constant boundary conditions,the depositional process,evolution principles,and the sedimentary architecture of a river-dominated delta was presented,and a corresponding sedimentary architecture model was constructed.The evolution of river-dominated delta controlled only by autogenic process is obviously periodic,and each autogenic cycle can be divided into an initial progradational stage,a middle retrogratational stage,and a late aggradational–progradational stage.In the initial progradational stage,one feeder channel incised into the delta plain,mouth bar(s)was formed in front of the channel mouth,and small-scale crevasse splays were formed on the delta plain.In the middle retrogradational stage,the feeder channel was blocked by the mouth bar(s)which grew out of water at the end of the initial stage,and a set of large-scale distributary splay complexes were formed on the delta plain.These distributary splay complexes were retrogradationally overlapped due to the continuous migration of the bifurcation point of the feeder channel.In the late aggradational–progradational stage,the feeder channel branched into several radial distributary channels,overlapped distributary channels were formed on the delta plain,and terminal lobe complexes were formed at the end of distributary channels.The three sedimentary layers formed in the three stages constituted an autogenic succession.The experimental delta consisted of six autogenic depositional successions.Dynamic allocation of accommodation space and the following adaptive sediments filling were the two main driving factors of the autogenic evolution of deltas.

Migration of Infiltrated NH_4 and NO_3 in a Soil and Groundwater System Simulated by a Soil Tank

The infiltration of water contaminants into soil and groundwater systems can greatly affect the quality of groundwater. A laboratory-designed large soil tank with periodic and continuous infiltration models, respectively, was used to simulate the migration of the contaminants NH4 and NO3 in a soil and groundwater system, including unsaturated and saturated zones. The unsaturated soil zone had a significant effect on removing NH4 and NO3 infiltrated from the surface water. The patterns of breakthrough curves of NH4 and NO3 in the unsaturated zone were related to the infiltration time. A short infiltration time resulted in a single sharp peak in the breakthrough curve, while a long infiltration time led to a plateau curve. When NH4 and NO3 migrated from the unsaturated zone to the saturated zone, an interracial retardation was formed, resulting in an increased contaminant concentration on the interface. Under the influence of horizontal groundwater movement, the infiltrated contaminants formed a contamination-prone area downstream. As the contaminants migrated downstream, their concentrations were significantly reduced. Under the same infiltration concentration, the concentration of NO3 was greater than that of NH4 at every corresponding cross-section in the soil and groundwater tank, suggesting that the removal efficiency of NH4 was greater than that of NO3 in the soil and groundwater system.

Numerical and Experimental Studies on Flow and Pollutant Dispersion in Urban Street Canyons

In this study numerical simulations and water tank experiments were used to investigate the flow and pollutant dispersion in an urban street canyon. Two types of canyon geometry were tested. The studies indicate that in a step-up notch canyon （higher buildings on the downstream side of the canyon）, the height and shape of the upstream lower buildings plays an important role in flow pattern and pollutant dispersion, while in a step-down notch canyon （lower buildings on the downstream side）, the downstream lower buildings have little influence. The studies also show that the substitution of tall towers for parailelepiped buildings on one side of the canyon may enhance the street ventilation and decrease the pollutant concentration emitted by motor vehicles.

Water-Tank Experiment on the Thermal Circulation Induced by the Bottom Heating in an Asymmetric Valley

Water tank experiments were carried out to investigate the thermal convection due to the bottom heating in an asymmetrical valley under neutral and stably stratified approach flows with the Particle Image Velometry (PIV) visualization technique. In the neutral stratification approach flow, the ascending draft induced by bottom heating is mainly located in the center of the valley in calm ambient wind. However, with ambient wind flow, the thermal convection is shifted leeward, and the descending draft is located on the leeward side of the valley, while the ascending draft is located on the windward side. The descending draft is minorly turbulent and organized, while the ascending draft is highly turbulent. With the increase of the towing speed, the descending and ascending drafts induced by the mechanical elevation begin to play a more dominant role in the valley flow, while the role of the thermal convection in the valley airflow becomes limited. In the stable stratification approach flow, the thermal convection is limited by the stable stratification and no distinct circulation is formed in calm ambient wind. With ambient wind, agravity wave appears in the upper layer in the valley. With the increase of the ambient wind speed, a gravity wave plays an important role in the valley flow, and the location and intensity of the thermal convection are also modulated by the gravity internal waves. The thermal convection has difficulty penetrating the upper stable layer. Its exchange is limited between the air in the upper layer and that in the lower layer in the valley, and it is adverse to the diffusion of pollutants in the valley.

Hydrodynamic Characteristics of the Biplane-Type Otter Board with the Canvas Through Flume−Tank Experiment

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a biplane-type otter board,equipped with nylon canvas of 2 mm in thickness was investigated through flume-tank experiment in this study.A series of predesigned structures with different gap-chord ratios G/c(0.75,0.90,1.05),stagger anglesθ(30°,45°,60°),and proportions of flexible area relative to the whole wing areaƒr(0,55%,65%,75%),at an aspect ratio of 2.0 and a camber ratio of 15%,were experimentally carried out.The results showed the solution referring to the usage of flexible canvas replacing part of rigid structure for the biplane-type otter board was efficient for the trawling in the middle or shallow water area.The improvement of lift and stability for the biplane-type otter board was concluded,and drag of the structure was reduced by 1.9%atƒr=55%.In addition,the coefficient of variation of the lift and drag coefficient at different current velocities were 2.69%and 2.28%,respectively,which was smaller than those at relatively large proportion of the flexible area.Compared with the other tested structures,the frame-type flexible structure with the gap-chord ratio of 0.9 and a stagger angle of 45°and the proportion of the flexible area of 55%,performed best,and its drag was reduced by 5.72%and lift increased by 4.8%,compared with the rigid biplane-type otter board at the angles of attack from 18°to 28°.

A Comparative Study on Hydrodynamic Performance of Double Deflector Rectangular Cambered Otter Board

In the present work,the hydrodynamic performance of the double deflector rectangular cambered otter board was studied using wind tunnel experiment,flume tank experiment and numerical simulation.Results showed that the otter board had a good hydrodynamic performance with the maximum lift-to-drag ratio(K_(MAX) = 3.70).The flow separation occurred when the angle of attack(AOA) was at 45?,which revealed that the double deflector structure of the otter board can delay the flow separation.Numerical simulation results showed a good agreement with experiment ones,and could predict the critical AOA,which showed that it can be used to study the hydrodynamic performance of the otter board with the advantage of flow visualization.However,the drag coefficient in flume tank was much higher than that in wind tunnel,which resulted in a lower lift-to-drag ratio.These may be due to different fluid media between flume tank and wind tunnel,which result in the big difference of the vortexes around the otter board.Given the otter boards are operated in water,it was suggested to apply both flume tank experiment and numerical simulation to study the hydrodynamic performance of otter board.

Use of Helical Strakes for FIV Suppression of Two Inclined Flexible Cylinders in A Side-by-Side Arrangement

The experimental studies on flow-induced vibrations(FIV) reduction of two side-by-side flexible cylinders inclined at 45° by using the helical strakes were carried out in a towing tank. The main aim of the experiment is to check whether the helical strakes with a pitch of 17.5 D and a height of 0.25 D, which is considered as the most effective vibration suppression device for the isolated cylinder undergoing vortex-shedding, still perform very well to reduce FIV of two inclined flexible cylinders in a side-by-side arrangement. The vibration of two identical inclined cylinders with a mass ratio of 1.90 and an aspect ratio of 350 was tested in the experiment. The center-to-center distance between the two cylinders was 3.0 D. The uniform flow was simulated by towing the cylinder models along the tank.The towing velocity varied from 0.05 to 1.0 m/s with an interval of 0.05 m/s. The maximum Reynolds number can be up to 1.6×104. Three cases were experimentally studied in this paper, including two side-by-side inclined smooth cylinders, only one smooth cylinder fitted with helical strakes in the two side-by-side inclined cylinders system and both two cylinders attached with helical strakes. The variations of displacement amplitude, dominant frequency, FIV suppression efficiency and dominant mode for the two side-by-side inclined cylinders with reduced velocity were shown and discussed.

Experimental Study on Hydrodynamic Response of Semisubmersible Platform-Based Bottom-Hinged Flap Wave Energy Converter

A semisubmersible platform-based(SPB)bottom-hinged flap(BHF)wave energy converter(WEC)concept is presented in this paper,and its platform hydrodynamic response was studied experimentally.Aimed at studying the special WEC-mounted platform response problem,both regular and irregular wave experiments were conducted.The frequency domain results of regular wave experiments are described in the form of response amplitude operators.The time domain results of irregular wave experiments are treated by statistical analysis and fast Fourier transformation.Regular wave experiments and irregular wave experiments show good consistency.The mooring system strongly affects the whole system,which is a considerable factor for WEC design.The influences of BHF mounted on the platform are revealed in both statistic and frequency spectral ways.The results of experiments give a guide for SPB design aiming to support BHF-WEC.

The effect of free surface on cloud cavitating flow around a blunt body

In this study, the effect of the free surface on the cloud cavitating flow around a blunt body is investigated based on the water tank experiment and the CFD method. Numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data, and the mesh independence of the methods is verified. The cavity evolution process includes the cavity growth, the re-entrant jet, the cavity shedding, and the collapse, which can all be observed from the water tank experiment. The effects of the free surface on the cavity length, the thickness, and the cavity evolution period are analyzed by comparing the difference between the cavitating flows on the upper and lower sides of the body. This study also examines the effect of the distance between the free surface and the model through a series of water tank experiments and numerical simulations. The cavity stability and asymmetry, as well as the thickness and the velocity of the re-entrant jet inside the cavity, which varies with the submerged depth, are discussed with consideration of the effect of the free surface. The effect of the free surface on the cavitating flow around the blunt body is enhanced with the decrease of the submerged depth.