Abstract: Data support for wetland protection function evaluation can be provided by quantitatively analyzing the ability of regulating the regional climate of the wetland ecosystem. In this study, the cold-humid effect of the Baiyangdian wetland was analyzed by comparing the meteorological conditions of the Baiyangdian wetland and its surrounding areas. Meanwhile, the regulatory functions of the Baiyangdian wetland for the processes and magnitudes of temperature and relative humidity from August to October 2008 were evaluated. The results show that daily mean temperatures in the Baiyangdian wetland were lower than in the surrounding areas, and that temperature differences mainly occurred in the daytime but were not obvious at night. Diurnal temperature ranges in the Baiyangdian wetland were lower than in the surrounding areas, and the higher the diurnal temperature range in the surrounding areas was, the stronger the regulation ability of the Baiyangdian wetland. Compared with the surrounding areas, the decline of the daily minimum temperature in the Baiyangdian wetland was gentler, and the mean relative humidity there was higher. The present findings indicate that effects of the Baiyangdian wetland on climate and humidity regulation are significant.
Abstract: This paper describes a numerical simulation in the Amazon water system, aiming to develop a quasi-three-dimensional numerical tool for refined modeling of turbulent flow and passive transport of mass in natural waters. Three depth-averaged two-equation turbulence closure models, , , and , were used to close the non-simplified quasi-three-dimensional hydrodynamic fundamental governing equations. The discretized equations were solved with the advanced multi-grid iterative method using non-orthogonal body-fitted coarse and fine grids with collocated variable arrangement. Except for steady flow computation, the processes of contaminant inpouring and plume development at the beginning of discharge, caused by a side-discharge of a tributary, have also been numerically investigated. The three depth-averaged two-equation closure models are all suitable for modeling strong mixing turbulence. The newly established turbulence models such as the model, with a higher order of magnitude of the turbulence parameter, provide a possibility for improving computational precision.
Abstract: A circular sharp-crested weir is a circular control section used for measuring flow in open channels, reservoirs, and tanks. As flow measuring devices in open channels, these weirs are placed perpendicular to the sides and bottoms of straight-approach channels. Considering the complex patterns of flow passing over circular sharp-crested weirs, an equation having experimental correlation coefficients was used to extract a stage-discharge relation for weirs. Assuming the occurrence of critical flow over the weir crest, a theoretical stage-discharge relation was obtained in this study by solving two extracted non-linear equations. To study the precision of the theoretical stage-discharge relation, 58 experiments were performed on six circular weirs with different diameters and crest heights in a 30 cm-wide flume. The results show that, for each stage above the weirs, the theoretically calculated discharge is less than the measured discharge, and this difference increases with the stage. Finally, the theoretical stage-discharge relation was modified by exerting a correction coefficient which is a function of the ratio of the upstream flow depth to the weir crest height. The results show that the modified stage-discharge relation is in good agreement with the measured results.
Abstract: Flow in tidal rivers periodically propagates upstream or downstream under tidal influence. Hydrodynamic models based on the Saint-Venant equations (the SVN model) are extensively used to model tidal rivers. A force-corrected term expressed as the combination of flow velocity and the change rate of the tidal level was developed to represent tidal effects in the SVN model. A momentum equation incorporating with the corrected term was derived based on Newton’s second law. By combing the modified momentum equation with the continuity equation, an improved SVN model for tidal rivers (the ISVN model) was constructed. The simulation of a tidal reach of the Qiantang River shows that the ISVN model performs better than the SVN model. It indicates that the corrected force derived for tidal effects is reasonable; the ISVN model provides an appropriate enhancement of the SVN model for flow simulation of tidal rivers.
Abstract: Power generation dispatching is a large complex system problem with multi-dimensional and nonlinear characteristics. A mathematical model was established based on the principle of reservoir operation. A large quantity of optimal scheduling processes were obtained by calculating the daily runoff process within three typical years, and a large number of simulated daily runoff processes were obtained using the progressive optimality algorithm (POA) in combination with the genetic algorithm (GA). After analyzing the optimal scheduling processes, the corresponding scheduling rules were determined, and the practical formulas were obtained. These rules can make full use of the rolling runoff forecast and carry out the rolling scheduling. Compared with the optimized results, the maximum relative difference of the annual power generation obtained by the scheduling rules is no more than 1%. The effectiveness and practical applicability of the scheduling rules are demonstrated by a case study. This study provides a new perspective for formulating the rules of power generation dispatching.
Abstract: After the Three Gorges Reservoir starts running, it can not only take into consideration the interest of departments such as flood control, power generation, water supply, and shipping, but also reduce or eliminate the adverse effects of pollutants by discharge regulation. The evolution of pollutant plumes under different operation schemes of the Three Gorges Reservoir and three kinds of pollutant discharge types were calculated with the MIKE 21 AD software. The feasibility and effectiveness of the reservoir emergency operation when pollution accidents occur were investigated. The results indicate that the emergency operation produces significant effects on the instantaneous discharge type with lesser effects on the constant discharge type, the impact time is shortened, and the concentration of pollutant is reduced. Meanwhile, the results show that the larger the discharge is and the shorter the operation duration is, the more favorable the result is.
Abstract: A two-dimensional numerical model based on the Navier-Stokes equations and computational Lagrangian-Eulerian advection remap-volume of fluid (CLEAR-VOF) method was developed to simulate wave and flow problems. The Navier-Stokes equations were discretized with a three-step finite element method that has a third-order accuracy. In the CLEAR-VOF method, the VOF function F was calculated in the Lagrangian manner and allowed the complicated free surface to be accurately captured. The propagation of regular waves and solitary waves over a flat bottom, and shoaling and breaking of solitary waves on two different slopes were simulated with this model, and the numerical results agreed with experimental data and theoretical solutions. A benchmark test of dam-collapse flow was also simulated with an unstructured mesh, and the capability of the present model for wave and flow simulations with unstructured meshes, was verified. The results show that the model is effective for numerical simulation of wave and flow problems with both structured and unstructured meshes.
Abstract: This paper introduces a slurry suspension settlement prediction model for cohesive sediment in a still water environment. With no sediment input and a still water environment condition, control forces between settling particles are significantly different in the process of sedimentation rate attenuation, and the settlement process includes the free sedimentation stage, the log-linear attenuation stage, and the stable consolidation stage according to sedimentation rate attenuation. Settlement equations for sedimentation height and time were established based on sedimentation rate attenuation properties of different sedimentation stages. Finally, a slurry suspension settlement prediction model based on slurry parameters was set up with a foundation being that the model parameters were determined by the basic parameters of slurry. The results of the settlement prediction model show good agreement with those of the settlement column experiment and reflect the main characteristics of cohesive sediment. The model can be applied to the prediction of cohesive soil settlement in still water environments.
Abstract: The directional dependency of the acoustic emission (AE) and deformation rate analysis (DRA) methods was analyzed, based on the contact bond model in the two-dimensional particle flow code (PFC2D) in two types of rocks, the coarse-grained sandstone and Aue granite. Each type of rocks had two shapes, the Brazilian disk and a square shape. The mechanical behaviors of the numerical model had already been verified to be in agreement with those of the physical specimens in previous research. Three loading protocols with different loading cycles in two orthogonal directions were specially designed in the numerical tests. The results show that no memory effect is observed in the second loading in the orthogonal direction. However, both the cumulative crack number of the second loading and the differential strain value at the inflection point are influenced by the first loading in the orthogonal direction.
Abstract: The seismic stability of a cracked dam was examined in this study. Geometric nonlinearity and large deformations, as well as the contact condition at the crack site, were taken into consideration. The location of penetrated cracks was first identified using the concrete plastic-damage model based on the nonlinear finite element method (FEM). Then, the hard contact algorithm was used to simulate the crack interaction in the normal direction, and the Coloumb friction model was used to simulate the crack interaction in the tangential direction. After verification of numerical models through a case study, the seismic stability of the Koyna Dam with two types of penetrated cracks is discussed in detail with different seismic peak accelerations, and the collapse processes of the cracked dam are also presented. The results show that the stability of the dam with two types of penetrated cracks can be ensured in an earthquake with a magnitude of the original Koyna earthquake, and the cracked dam has a large earthquake-resistant margin. The failure processes of the cracked dam in strong earthquakes can be divided into two stages: the sliding stage and the overturning stage. The sliding stage ends near the peak acceleration, and the top block slides a long distance along the crack before the collapse occurs. The maximum sliding displacement of the top block will decrease with an increasing friction coefficient at the crack site.
