Numerical simulation of hydraulic force on the impeller of reversible pump turbines in generating mode

The hydraulic force on the reversible pump turbine might cause serious problems（e.g., the abnormal stops due to large vibrations of the machine）, affecting the safe operations of the pumped energy storage power plants. In the present paper, the hydraulic force on the impeller of a model reversible pump turbine is quantitatively investigated through numerical simulations. It is found that both the amplitude of the force and its dominant components strongly depend on the operating conditions（e.g., the turbine mode, the runaway mode and the turbine brake mode） and the guide vane openings. For example, the axial force parallel with the shaft is prominent in the turbine mode while the force perpendicular to the shaft is the dominant near the runaway and the turbine brake modes. The physical origins of the hydraulic force are further revealed by the analysis of the fluid states inside the impeller.

Force Control Compensation Method with Variable Load Stiffness and Damping of the Hydraulic Drive Unit Force Control System

Each joint of hydraulic drive quadruped robot is driven by the hydraulic drive unit（HDU）, and the contacting between the robot foot end and the ground is complex and variable, which increases the difficulty of force control inevitably. In the recent years, although many scholars researched some control methods such as disturbance rejection control, parameter self-adaptive control, impedance control and so on, to improve the force control performance of HDU, the robustness of the force control still needs improving. Therefore, how to simulate the complex and variable load characteristics of the environment structure and how to ensure HDU having excellent force control performance with the complex and variable load characteristics are key issues to be solved in this paper. The force control system mathematic model of HDU is established by the mechanism modeling method, and the theoretical models of a novel force control compensation method and a load characteristics simulation method under different environment structures are derived, considering the dynamic characteristics of the load stiffness and the load damping under different environment structures. Then, simulation effects of the variable load stiffness and load damping under the step and sinusoidal load force are analyzed experimentally on the HDU force control performance test platform, which provides the foundation for the force control compensation experiment research. In addition, the optimized PID control parameters are designed to make the HDU have better force control performance with suitable load stiffness and load damping, under which the force control compensation method is introduced, and the robustness of the force control system with several constant load characteristics and the variable load characteristics respectively are comparatively analyzed by experiment. The research results indicate that if the load characteristics are known, the force control compensation method presented in this paper has positive compensation effects on the load characteristics variation, i.e., this method decreases the effects of the load characteristics variation on the force control performance and enhances the force control system robustness with the constant PID parameters, thereby, the online PID parameters tuning control method which is complex needs not be adopted. All the above research provides theoretical and experimental foundation for the force control method of the quadruped robot joints with high robustness.

Hydraulic Characteristics Analysis for Spacer Grid with Flow Openings on Outer Straps

In advanced nuclear fuel design, the outer strap of a spacer grid plays an important role on fuel assembly mechanical and thermal-hydraulic performance, e.g., precluding the risk of hang-up and improvement on the mixing of the coolant. The communication of the outer strap affects the hydraulic force exerted by the spacer grid of the fuel assembly which could induce fuel assembly bow. In present study, in order to understand the influencing factors of hydraulic force exerted by the spacer grid, outer straps with various flow opening design features, different location and size are investigated by a commercially CFD （computational fluid dynamics） code, ANSYS CFX 12.1. Three dimensional rod bundles including the outer strap without and with different openings are modelled for simulation. The analysis results show that the openings on the spacer grid outer strap can reduce the lateral hydraulic loadings perpendicular to the centerline of the fuel rods exerted by the spacer grids obviously because of the pressures inside and outside the spacer grids being balanced. Besides, influences of the opening design features on the hydraulic force, resistance characteristics and lateral flow factor are investigated in details.

Anchoring mechanism and application of hydraulic expansion bolts used in soft rock roadway floor heave control

Comparing with the resin bolt, the hydraulic expansion bolt has different anchoring mechanism and application advantage. According to the working mechanism of the hydraulic expansion bolt, its anchoring force is expressed in four forms including support anchoring force, tension anchoring force, expansion anchoring force and tangent anchoring force, and their values can be obtained on the basis of each calculation formula. Among them, the expansion anchoring force, which is the unique anchoring force of the hydraulic expansion bolt, can provide confining pressure to increase the strength of rock. Aiming at solving the problem of stability control in the soft rock roadway in Jinbaotun Coal Mine which has a double layer of 40 U-type sheds and cannot provide enough resistance support to control floor heave, the study reveals the mechanism of floor heave in the soft rock roadway, and designs the reasonable support parameters of the hydraulic expansion bolts. The observed results of floor convergence indicate that the hydraulic expansion bolts can prevent the development and flow of the plastic zone in the floor rock to control floor heave. Research results enrich the control technology in the soft rock roadway.

Water blocking effect caused by the use of hydraulic methods for permeability enhancement in coal seams and methods for its removal

To research techniques for removing the water blocking effect caused by hydraulic applications in coal seams,the use of surfactants is proposed,based on the mechanics of the water blocking effect.Centrifugal experiments were used to validate the effects of using surfactants;the results show that after dealing with vacuum saturation with water,the volume of micropores decreases,which results in a larger average pore size,and the volume of transitional pores,mesopores,macropores and total pores increases.Based on the distribution of pore size,the operation mode of ‘‘water infusion after gas extraction,then continuing gas extraction" is recommended to improve the volume of coal mine gas drainage.When the reflectance of vitrinite in coal samples is less than 1,using the surfactants Fast T,1631,APG,BS can mitigate the damage caused by the water blocking effect.But when the reflectance of vitrinite is larger than 1.4,the damage caused by the water blocking effect can be increased.When the surfactant CMC is used in hydraulic applications,the capillary forces of coal samples are almost negative,which means the capillary force is in the same direction as the gas extraction.The direction of capillary forces benefits the gas flow.So,using CMC can play an active role in removing the water blocking effect.Centrifugal experiments confirm that using CMC can effectively remove the water blocking effect,which has a beneficial effect on improving the gas drainage volume.

Test and application of hydraulic expansion bolts in a roadway under goaf with ultra-close separation

The roof of a roadway under goal with ultra-close separation consists of thin rock strata and rocks caving in upper goal. Influenced by the mining of the upper coal seam, the roof is loose and broken, and its integ- rity is poor. Resin anchored bolts cannot provide an effective anchoring force in such roof conditions. By conducting free expansion tests and field pull-out tests on a hydraulic expansion bolt, this study has ana- lyzed the influencing factors and laws of radial expansion and anchoring force changes in the rod body. This has revealed the anchoring mechanism of such bolts, and has obtained reasonable water injection pressures and suitable drilling diameters （which are 20-25 MPa and 32-35 mm respectively） for the hydraulic expansion bolt （cR28 mm） used in these tests. Based on pull-out tests at different interlayer spacing, the applicability of hydraulic expansion bolts had been verified for controlling the roof of road- ways under goal with ultra-close distance. Combined with the deformation and failure characteristics of the test roadway roof, this paper proposes a united roof-control technology based on the use of hydraulic expansion bolts and advancing intubation for the roof. Engineering practice indicated that the roof of the test roadway did not generate leaking and caving phenomenon, and the amount of roof deformation was controlled to within 150 mm. Maintenance of the roadway roof has been improved significantly, which ensures safe mining in coal seams with ultra-close separation.

Evaluation of the use of surrogate Laminaria digitata in eco-hydraulic laboratory experiments

Inert surrogates can avoid husbandry and adaptation problems of live vegetation in laboratories. Surrogates are generally used for experiments on vegetation-hydrodynamics interactions, but it is unclear how well they replicate field conditions. Here, surrogates for the brown macroalgae Laminaria digitata were developed to reproduce its hydraulic roughness. Plant shape, stiffness and buoyancy of L. digitata were evaluated and compared to the properties of inert materials. Different surrogate materials and shapes were exposed to unidirectional flow. It is concluded that buoyancy is an important factor in low flow conditions and a basic shape might be sufficient to model complex shaped plants resulting in the same streamlined shape.

REDUCTION OF STILLING BASIN LENGTH WITH TALL END SILL

Experiments were conducted to characterize forced hydraulic jumps in stilling basins for enforced cases due to tail water level or dam site arrangement and construction. The case with a single tall sill was simulated in a horizontal flume downstream of a sluice gate. Results of experiments are compared with the classical hydraulic jump, and significant effect of tall sill on dissipation of energy in shorter distance was confirmed. Furthermore, the generated jumps were classified based on the ratio of sill height to basin length, and a simple design criterion was proposed to estimate the basin length for a desired jump and particular inflow.