Zhong Tian

A HIGH-SPEED PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF ULTRASONIC CAVITATION NEAR RIGID BOUNDARY

This article investigated an existing steady pattern of collapse and rebound (disintegration and aggregation) of cavitation bubbles near rigid boundary in acoustic field. A deformation process of cavitation bubble was accomplished in two acoustic cycles, namely, a spherical bubble collapsed towards the boundary to its minimum volume and then rebounded and grew into a toroidal bubble (or two individual bubbles) in one acoustic cycle, and the toroidal bubble (or two individual bubbles) collapsed towards the center of ring to its minimum volume, and then rebounded into a spherical bubble in the next acoustic cycle. Inertia force plays a key role in the transition between these two states. The microjet produced during the collapse of spherical bubble and the shock wave produced during the collapse of toroidal bubble (or two individual bubbles) impacts the boundary alternately. A cavitation bubble operating in this pattern can thus be an effective corrosion mechanism of rigid boundary.

Hydraulic characteristics of plug energy dissipater in flood discharge tunnel

The hydraulic characteristics of three types of plugs, namely, the single plug, the stepped plug and the gradually contracted plug were studied by means of experimental and numerical simulations. Main research findings are as follows. For the single plug, the pressure recovery lengths inside and after the plug range from 0.63–1.05 times and 2.02–2.84 times of the tunnel diameter, respectively. For the stepped plug, the lengths are 0.24–0.32 times and 1.62–2.84 times of the tunnel diameter, respectively. The best ratio of the inlet diameter to the outlet diameter of the gradually contracted plug can be expressed by a linear function. The relationship between the head loss coefficient and the area contraction ratio is obtained. The incipient cavitation numbers of different plugs are experimentally and numerically determined, and the incipient cavitation numbers are expressed by a formula. Model experiment with scale of 1:50 was carried out on a pressure tunnel with three-stage gradually contracted plugs. The results show that this type of energy dissipater is suitable for spill tunnels of high head (nearly 200 m) and large flow rate (nearly 2500 m3/s).

Experimental Investigation of Air–Water Flow Properties of Offset Aerators

AbstractAlthough chute aerators have been investigated experimentally by many researchers, only a few studies have been conducted on the comprehensive air–water flow properties of the lower jet dow...

A numerical model for air concentration distribution in self-aerated open channel flows

The self-aeration in open channel flows, called white waters, is a phenomenon seen in spillways and steep chutes. The air distribution in the flow is always an important and fundamental issue. The present study develops a numerical model to predict the air concentration distribution in self-aerated open channel flows, by taking the air-water flow as consisting of a low flow region and an upper flow region. On the interface between the two regions, the air concentration is 0.5. In the low flow region where air concentration is lower than 0.5, air bubbles diffuse in the water flow by turbulent transport fluctuations, and in the upper region where air concentration is higher than 0.5, water droplets and free surface roughness diffuse in the air. The air concentration distributions obtained from the diffusion model are in good agreement with measured data both in the uniform equilibrium region and in the self-aerated developing region. It is demonstrated that the numerical model provides a reasonable description of the self-aeration region in open channel flows.

Laboratory model study of the effect of aeration on axial velocity attenuation of turbulent jet flows in plunge pool

In the laboratory model experiment, the velocities of the jet flow along the axis are measured, using the CQY-Z8a velocity-meter. The velocity attenuations of the jet flow along the axis under different conditions are studied. The effects of the aeration concentration, the initial jet velocity at the entry and the thickness of the jet flow on the velocity attenuation of the jet flow are analyzed. It is seen that the velocity attenuation of the jet flow along the axis sees a regular variation. It is demonstrated by the test results that under the experimental conditions, the velocity along the axis decreases linearly. The higher the air concentration is, the faster the velocity will be decayed. The absolute value of the slope K increases with the rise of the air concentration. The relationship can be defined as K = ACa + Kb. The coefficient A is 0.03 under the experimental conditions. With the low air concentration of the jet flow, the thinner the jet flow is, the faster the velocity will be decayed. With the increase of the air concentration, the influence of the thickness of the jet flow on the velocity attenuation is reduced. When the air concentration is increased to a certain value, the thickness of the jet flow may not have any influence on the velocity attenuation. The initial jet velocity itself at the entry has no influence on the variation of the velocity attenuation as the curves of the velocity attenuation at different velocities at the entry are practically parallel, even coinciding one with another. Therefore, improving the air concentration of the jet flow and dispersing the jet flow in the plunge pool could reduce the influence of the jet flow on the scour.