3D Numerical Simulation of the Process of Draining into a Lock

Abstract:

In some textbooks, the Steady-flow Integral Method (SIM) was used to compute the full time of Draining into a Ship Lock, although this method is simple, it only provides a coarse estimation and somehow misleads the students due to approximating the unsteady problem as a steady one and ignoring the inertia effect. The more complex CFD-based model, FLUENT, was used to compensate these shortcomings, the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method was utilized to calculate the free-surface, and the turbulence closure was obtained by the realizable k-ε turbulence model. The values of draining time derived from the two different methods have the same order of magnitude. By CFD, a more precise estimation of the draining time and abundant details about the draining process were obtained. In practical engineering, the geometry of a lock is far more complex than here, the SIM is hard to satisfy the demands for a optimal design, while the CFD method is a nice choice for this purpose.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 838-841)
• Pages: 1667-1670
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.838-841.1667
• Online since: November 2013
• Authors: Ming Hua Deng, Zhu Gao*, Da Wei Mao
• Keywords: Draining, Lock, Numerical Simulation

References

[1] MENG Xiang-wei, ZHOU Hua-xing, GAO Xue-ping, Application of basic equation of water filling-emptying for ship lock. Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering. 39 (2008) 45- 47. (In Chinese).

[2] E. John Finnemore, Joseph B. Franzini, Fluid Mechanics with Engineering Applications (10th Edition), McGraw Hill Higher Education, Columbus, Ohio, USA, (2001).

[3] Melvyn Kay, Practical Hydraulics (Second Edition), Taylor & Francis, New York, (2008).

[4] Fluent Inc., FLUENT 6. 3 User's Guide, Fluent Inc., Lebanon, NH, 2006).