Numerical Simulation on the Interaction of an Internal Solitary Wave with a Step-Type Topography

Based on a nonhydrostatic numerical ocean model developed by one of the authors, the interaction of an intemal solitary wave with a step-type topography was investigated. Over the step topography, the flow pattern could be classified into three categories： 1） the propagation and spatial structure of the internal solitary wave was little influenced by the bottom topography, 2） the internal solitary wave was significantly distorted by the blocking effect of the topography without the occurrence of wave breaking and 3） the internal solitary wave was broken as it encountered and passed over the bottom topography. A detailed description of the processes leading to wave breaking is given in this paper together with energy budget analysis. The results revealed that the maximum of the energy dissipation rate is no more than 40%, which is consistent with available experimental data.

Design of Parallel Electrical Resistance Tomography System for Measuring Multiphase Flow

ERT(electrical resistance tomography) is effective method for visualization of multiphase flows,offering some advantages of rapid response and low cost,so as to explore the transient hydrodynamics.Aiming at this target,a fully programmable and reconfigurable FPGA(field programmable gate array)-based Compact PCI(peripheral component interconnect) bus linked sixteen-channel ERT system has been presented.The data acquisition system is carefully designed with function modules of signal generator module;Compact PCI transmission module and data processing module(including data sampling,filtering and demodulating).The processing module incorporates a powerful FPGA with Compact PCI bus for communication,and the measurement process management is conducted in FPGA.Image reconstruction algorithms with different speed and accuracy are also coded for this system.The system has been demonstrated in real time(1400 frames per second for 50 kHz excitation) with signal-noise-ratio above 62 dB and repeatability error below 0.7%.Static experiments have been conducted and the images manifested good resolution relative to the actual object distribution.The parallel ERT system has provided alternative experimental platform for the multiphase flow measurements by the dynamic experiments in terms of concentration and velocity.

Use of Non-uniform Rational B-splines for Discharge Calculation in the Velocity Area Method

The velocity area method belongs to the group of primary methods for discharge measurement in hydropower plants. The measurements require an appropriate application of measuring devices and carrying out correctly the process of data analyzing including integration technique. The authors present their own experiences gathered during many years of utilizing the current meter method for discharge measurement in many hydropower plants. They have developed the special integration techniques using the progressive numerical algorithms. The techniques differ from the recommendations contained in the relevant international standards. The authors＇ own software for calculating the discharge from the measured local velocity distribution （obtained using current meters） adopts advanced spline functions, the so-called NURBS （non-uniform rational B-splines）. Nowadays, this kind of splines is commonly used in modeling of the complex geometrical shapes because of their smoothness. It is assessed that it represents much better quality of interpolation than the classic spline functions （classic cubic spline technique）. Particularly, the better properties of the NURBS splines can be observed for velocity profile area characterized by very strong velocity gradients where boundary layers meet the core regions of the flow （mainstream）. In the developed software the boundary layer thickness and exponent of von Karman function is calculated in accordance with the ISO 3354 standard. The software has been successfully used during many performance tests of the hydraulic turbines in Poland for several years. Paper presents the results of flow rate measurements for two different flow systems of Kaplan turbines. First case concerns the application of the current meters in a long circular penstock whereas the second one in short rectangular turbine intake. A comparative analysis of three flow calculation procedures applied for these two cases is presented in the paper-（1） the integration procedure according to the ISO 3354 standard; （2） the integration procedure based on the NS （natural splines）; and （3） the integration procedure based on the NURBS. The results obtained using these three procedures for the first case （intake via long circular penstock） were compared with the results of discharge measurements conducted using the pressure-time method.