Using Hydraulic Engineering Model Experiment to Study the Sediment Trapping Efficiency of Adjustable Check Dam

The construction of fully closed check dam (CD) is a conventional flood prevention mechanism implemented on rivers. Fully closed CDs trap large amounts of sediments in rivers to stabilize the river slopes and control erosion. However, fully closed CDs cannot selectively trap sediment and may easily overflow, causing them to losing their ability to mediate and hold sediments. Previous studies proposed the concept of “breathable CDs”. The researcher introduced metal slit dam (SD) that could be assembled and disassembled quickly and conveniently. Once a CD reaches maximum capacity, operators must ensure that the water channels of the dam are free from blockage. Moreover, they must inspect the internal accumulation conditions of the dam periodically or immediately following heavy typhoon rains. When necessary, either the sediment buildup in the upriver blockage must be cleared, or the transverse structure of the dam must be removed to allow fine particles to be discharged along with a moderate amount of water. These actions can free up the sediment-storing capacity of the dam for the next heavy typhoon rains. In addition, operators should also inspect the damages inflicted on the dam, such as erosion, wear and tear, and deformation conditions. Damaged components should be disassembled and repaired if possible, or recycled and reused. The present study performed channel tests to simulate closed CDs, SDs, steel pipe dam (SPDs), and steel pipe plus slit dam (SPSDs) for 50-year and 100-year frequency floods. Results were then analyzed to determine the sediment trapping (ST) effects of various CDs, the effects of “adjustable CDs”, and the changes of moderated riverbeds.

Experimental study of drag reduction in flumes and spillway tunnels

Experiments in an open flume model and spillway tunnel model were carried out using drag reduction techniques. Two drag reduction techniques were adopted in the experiments： polymer addition and coating. The drag reduction effect of a polyacrylamide （PAM） solution and dimethyl silicone oil coating were studied in the flume model experiments, and the results were analyzed. Experiments were then carded out with a model of the Xilnodu Hydropower Station, the second largest dam in China. In order to reduce the resistance, the spillway tunnels were internally coated with dimethyl silicone oil. This is the first time that these drag reduction techniques have been applied to so large a hydraulic model. The experimental results show that the coating technique can effectively increase flood discharge. The outlet velocity and the jet trajectory distance are also increased, which enhances the energy dissipation of the spillway tunnel.

LABORATORY STUDIES ON WAVE FORCE OF COASTAL STRUCTURES MADE OF FLAT GEOTUBES

Flat geotubes are widely used for coastal structures such as seawalls, breakwaters and sightseeing groins, etc.. However, the understanding of the stable mechanism involved in the wave-structure interactions should be deepened, and one of the important work is to clarify the stress state of the structure under the wave action. In this article, wave force acting on coastal structures made of flat geotube is experimentally investigated. The required drag, inertia and lift coefficients are especially analyzed from the results of hydraulic model experiments specially designed for geotube structure. Several types of structures made of flat geotubes under wave action have been tested in order to understand the stress state of the geotube fixed to force transducer within different structures. Experimental results show that the wave-induced forces on the instrumented geotube are markedly influenced by wave elements. Meanwhile, the magnitude of horizontal force of adjoining geotube is different at the same time.