Application of large scale PIV in river surface turbulence measurements and water depth estimation

Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) has emerged as a reliable technology to measure river surface flow velocity distribution and can be applied to estimate river discharge. Fewer studies have explored the capability of surface turbulence measurements using LSPIV. In this paper, LSPIV is applied to evaluate statistics of surface turbulence of a natural river. Turbulence measurements including velocity fluctuation, velocity spectra and the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) are validated by comparing with those measured by an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV). Traditionally, estimation of stream discharge through LSPIV needs a secondary measurement to determine river bathymetry and water depth. A new method is presented here to demonstrate that for a fully developed and channel-controlled flow, the cross section geometry can be estimated from the combined measurements of surface mean velocity and the dissipation rate, following the Manning-Strickler formula. Therefore, river discharge can be estimated with LSPIV along with a calibrated Manning's roughness, without additional bathymetry survey. The proposed new method is applied to measure discharge in Milwaukee River (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.), which agreed well with data obtained from a nearby streamgage station.     

Image-based river discharge estimation by merging heterogeneous data with information entropy theory

An information entropy based approach for the discharge measurements is evaluated for the gaging of the Isère river at the Grenoble university campus. Over a four month period, six discharge measurements were made using a vessel-mounted aDcp. Simultaneously, particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) from video images was used to estimate surface velocities. The surface velocities are projected along the regularly surveyed river section of the Isère-Campus gaging station. The vertical velocity profile at each stream-wise location is approximated by a 1D entropy profile. Information entropy 1D velocity vertical profile depends on two parameters which are fitted using aDcp and surface velocity measurements. The inclusion of the surface velocities reduces the dispersion of the estimated entropy parameters. The measurements show that the two parameters are linearly related with a slope that is stage dependent and thus, surface velocity dependent. From there, the information entropy theory for 1D velocity distribution offers a protocol by which surface velocities only are used to compute the discharges. The protocol is calibrated with both aDcp and surface velocity measurements. It is finally validated with several events during which only surface velocities are measured. For the high water flood event the estimated discharge falls within 2% of the one estimated with the rating curve of the gaging station.     

A dip-corrected discharge estimation method for a river system

This work proposes a novel dip corrected velocity distribution model in combination with the entropy theory for discharge estimation in a braided river. A modified form of the dip correction factor is derived by considering the topographical complexities and applied for assessing velocity profiles in river cross-sections. The velocity profiles at different verticals are computed by employing Shanon's entropy theory. The depth-averaged velocities at different cross-sections are estimated from the computed vertical velocity profiles and substituted in the area-velocity method for the discharge calculation. The model is applied to two study areas, Majuli and Umananda of the Brahmaputra River, having both simple and braided sections. The validation of the model is performed using the observed discharge data available at the nearby gauge site for low flow condition. Results indicate that the integration of bed rugosity factor in dip corrected velocity distributions improves the accuracy of discharge estimations.     

Portable unmanned surface vehicle that automatically measures flow velocity and direction in rivers

We developed an automatic measurement system for flow velocity and direction in natural rivers using an autonomously controlled unmanned surface vehicle (USV). Oncoming mainstream velocity was measured by the propulsion force required for the USV in order to preserve the position at a measurement point. To conduct such a field mission, the system runs by changing four characteristic control stages: 1) calculation of the tentative propulsion force, 2) navigation to the target point, 3) velocity measurement by staying at the target, and 4) detection of flow direction by flowing downstream. More than 20 indoor tests were conducted under several hydraulic conditions by varying streamwise velocity, and the calibration formula was obtained by interrelating the oncoming velocity magnitude with the propulsion force required to remain at the target. The attitude control was provided with side thrusters to improve the yaw stability of the USV in the oncoming current. The adjunctive work of the side thrusters was very effective. Field tests were conducted to examine the reliability and accuracy of the present automatic flow measurements in a river. Both local velocity and direction in the river flow were measured well by the USV. Error analysis was conducted by comparing with the existing velocimetry results, and the USV was found to possess a sufficient ability to meet practical performance for the flow measurement in a calm river with about 1 m/s velocity.     

The measurement of discharge using a commercial digital video camera in irrigation canals

This paper presents measurements of the discharge by image techniques on the surface velocity field and water stage in irrigation canals. The velocity and stage gauge are obtained from a commercial digital video camera. The time series of the surface velocity and stage were collected simultaneously. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to determine the surface velocities in the irrigation canal. PIV proceeds by using bubbles floating on the water surface as tracer particles, and making a cross-correlation analysis between two continuous images. The whole surface velocity distribution in the irrigation canals can be obtained. The water stage of the canal is obtained from the digital video camera images by making use of image segments to separate the stage gauge and the background. The discharge is computed by using the surface velocities and water stage via open channel velocity distribution theory. Comparing the discharge measured using image techniques with Parshall flume data shows that the differences are less then 5%. The results suggest that the image measurement techniques developed can be used in applications to estimate the discharge in irrigation canals effectively.     

时空图像测速法的敏感性分析及不确定度评估

时空图像测速方法(STIV)是一种以测速线为分析区域、通过检测合成时空图像的纹理主方向估计一维时均流速测量方法。由于具有空间分辨率高、实时性强的优点,在河流水面流速、流量的实时监测中具有特别的应用潜力。但鉴于现场环境的复杂性和河道水流的变化性,现有研究在敏感性分析及不确定度评估方面尚存在不足,使得方法的实用性受限。对此设计了一种滚动画幅装置来模拟河流水面运动,并在此基础上全面开展了频域STIV方法的定量评估。相比数值模拟和现场比测的方法,该装置能够提供相对真实的测量环境和稳定的运动参数。实验结果表明:测速线长度和示踪条件是影响测量精度的主要敏感因素。通过合理的参数设置可以将方法的不确定度控制在±1%以内,能够满足水文测验的精度要求。     

Effect of cross-flow velocity on flow and heat transfer characteristics of impinging jet with low jet-to-plate distance

An effect of cross-flow velocity on flow and heat transfer characteristics of impinging jet in the case of low jet-to-plate distance at H = 2D was experimentally and numerically investigated. In the experiments, the air jet from orifice impingement on the wall of wind tunnel while a cross-flow was simultaneously induced normal to the jet flow. The jet velocity was fixed while the cross-flow velocity was varied corresponding to velocity ratios (jet velocity/cross-flow velocity) VR = 3, 5 and 7. The temperature distribution on an impinged surface was visualized by using thermochromic liquid crystal sheet (TLCs), and Nusselt number distribution was evaluated by using image processing method. The flow pattern on impingement surface was visualized by using oil film technique. The numerical simulation was carried out for a better understanding of the jet flow in the cross-flow. The results show that Nusselt number peak shifts downstream and the Nusselt number peak increases with increasing cross-flow velocity.     

River velocity measurements using optical flow algorithm and unoccupied aerial vehicles: A case study

Accurate and reliable measurements of river flow are critical for a multitude of hydrologic engineering applications. However, flow rate measurements using in-situ sensors are uncertain in many applications and physical measurements of velocity may not be practical due to inaccessible sites or flood conditions. Recent advances in remote sensing using unoccupied aerial vehicles have overcome these limitations through non-contact measurements of river velocities; however, existing approaches have several shortcomings, including the need for artificial tracers in the absence of debris and prior knowledge of tracer size, shape, and flow direction. This case study seeks to overcome these shortcomings through the development of a system that utilizes drones, video imaging, and state-of-the-art optical flow algorithms to measure velocity in rivers. This system was applied along Menomonee River in Wauwatosa, WI. To remotely sense river flow, a DJI Matrice 210 RTK drone equipped with a Zenmuse X5S camera was used to capture video. The video data from the drone was analyzed using optical flow algorithms to generate velocity estimations. River velocity was measured directly at point locations using a hand-held velocimeter. Results indicate that the optical flow algorithms estimate the magnitude of surface velocity to within 13–27% of hand-held measurements without the use of artificial seeding. These outcomes suggest that this system could be used as a possible method to measure velocities in rivers.     

频域时空图像测速法的图像滤波器敏感性分析

时空图像测速法是以河流表面图像中测速线为分析区域、通过检测合成时空图像的纹理主方向计算得到一维时均流速的测量方法,具有空间分辨率高、实时性强的特点。在实际应用中纹理主方向的检测精度难免会受到水面紊流、倒影、耀光、障碍物、降雨等环境扰动的影响,导致测量出现粗大误差。频域滤波技术是一种抑制噪声的有效方法,能显著提高时空图像的纹理清晰度。但现有研究在滤波器参数的敏感性分析方面存在不足,使得该方法的适用性受限。对此通过在水文站搭建在线视频测流系统采集了不同条件的河流水面视频数据,分析了6种典型场景下时空图像的空域及频域特性,进而开展了频域扇形滤波器方向角、通带夹角及半径参数的敏感性分析实验。实验结果表明：采用提出的椭圆形积分区域检测方向角优于现有的单像素宽直线;当设置通带夹角为±5.3°且半径为R/2时,滤波器在上述场景下均能有效地滤除噪声干扰。使得时空图像纹理主方向的检测精度在正常场景下达到0.1°,在复杂含噪场景下控制在0.5°以内,表面流速测量的相对误差小于6.2%。     

轴流透平级优化设计方法的理论研究

本文在分别研究轴流途平级设计中各个环节优化设计方法的基础上,提出了一个轴流透平级优化设计的方法,并给出了研制化透平级的技术路线。其中主要优化设计环节如：透平级子午通道形状以及叶片几何参数的最优选择;叶片扭曲规律的最优选择;叶型表面最优流速分布的理论计算方法;叶栅璧面边界层以及叶栅损失的理论计算法;由背弧最优流优流速分布以及叶型截面厚度分布求叶型的计算方法;给定叶栅壁面流速分布求叶型坐标的理论计算方法。     

基于 Fluent 的球柱式结构绕流数值模拟

应用计算流体力学软件Fluent ,采用分块网格划分,选择层流模型和不可压缩的N -S方程,对低雷诺数下不同流速的球柱模型黏性绕流场进行仿真计算。结果表明：圆柱杆与来流方向的绝对倾角越大,对圆球绕流场的影响越大,圆球表面的受力越不对称。建立了模型圆球表面所受作用力与来流速度、流向间的关系曲线,说明来流速度越大,圆球表面所受阻力越大;带有较细的圆柱杆的模型使其圆球表面受力发生了微小变化;圆柱杆的摆放位置对圆球表面受力影响不大。圆柱杆在 XZ平面内与X轴正向夹角θ越小,圆球表面受到的阻力就越小,更接近单个圆球绕流场。     

Prediction of stage–discharge curves in open-channels using a fixed-point velocity measurement

The single-point measurement method for discharge estimation, which was first introduced by Maghrebi, can be implemented to obtain the discharge at different stages of a river during a flood event. As an advantage of this method, discharge can be estimated automatically with a fixed measurement location in the river section or on the water surface, which is associated with minimum energy and cost consumptions. For the proposed model, we determine the isovel contours in a normalized form for the cross section of the flow. To do so, we need to apply the field or experimental data, concerning the cross sectional geometry at different stages and its roughness variation along the wetted perimeter to the model. Then we collect the data of the single fixed-point of velocity measurement at the flow section using a velocity current meter. To validate the method, it is applied to a flume with different cases of roughened walls. The obtained results of stage–discharge curves using the single point of measurement in comparison to the observed experimental ones show that this method can quickly and accurately estimate the flood discharges. The maximum deviation between the observed and calculated discharges for most of observations is less than 5%.     

Velocity analysis for layered viscosity model under thin film lubrication

The lubrication of bearings is directly affected by the flow properties of the liquid lubricant. One key feature of lubricant is its viscosity distribution in the bearing. The distribution is dependent on the adsorbent properties of the surface and the velocity distribution of the lubricant. This paper is only connected with the velocity analysis on the cross-gap flow. Because of increasing the speed, apart from increasing the temperature, the other features of lubricant will be changed. When fluid film is thin, the speed effects become important due to the increased shear rate. This paper describes the fluid velocity profiles produced for the case where layers of greater viscosity than the bulk occur on the bearing surfaces.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of velocity distribution in a compound meandering channel with double layered rigid vegetated flood plains

Vegetation is one of the major topographic features that is encountered along and across the margins and flood plains of many rivers systems. This vegetation creates a most complex flow mechanism in the compound river bed channels; therefore, a detailed analysis is required to observe the flow and vegetation interactions to understand the hydrodynamic aspects in the river systems. This paper studies the effect of double-layered rigid vegetation in a meandering channel on the flow characteristics at two relative depth conditions, of 0.34, 0.45 which creates an alternate emergent and submerged flow situation. The three-dimensional velocity distribution was captured using micro-ADV. The concept of two relative depth conditions allowed us to capture record and classify the velocity zones between the short and tall vegetation. Compared to the flow in the main channel, flood plains registered relatively lower velocity values due to the resistance offered by the vegetation along the flood plains, which consequently led to the increase in main channel flow velocities. Velocities compared to the non-vegetated meandering channels; the highest velocity readings were recorded at the centerline of the main channel. Numerical analysis was also conducted using the CFD codes in fluent. The vegetation geometry is modelled as cylindrical dowels of diameter 10 mm and two-variable heights of 7.5 cm and 15 cm at two relative depth flow conditions. The experimental results were numerically compared using the k-ϵ model along with grid sensitivity tests. The final simulated numerical results were found to be close and in good agreement with experimental values.     

An improvement of the Space-Time Image Velocimetry combined with a new denoising method for estimating river discharge

The Space-Time Image Velocimetry (STIV) is a time-averaged velocity measurement method, which takes river surface images as the analysis object, and detects the Main Orientation of Texture (MOT) in a generated Space-Time Image (STI) to obtain one-dimensional velocities on the water surface. The STIV has great potential in real-time monitoring of river flow owing to its high spatial resolution and low time complexity. However, the generated STI contains a lot of noise and interference texture, which is inevitable in practical applications. The practicality of the STIV is severely limited by the low-quality STI. To solve this problem, a denoising method based on the filtering technology is proposed and combined with different texture detection algorithms in this paper. The accuracy of this method is verified through a comparative field experiment with an impellor-style current meter. The experimental results show: (1) By using this new denoising method, the robustness and accuracy of the STIV are significantly improved no matter what kind of texture detection algorithm is adopted; (2) Among all the texture detection algorithms, the FFT-based STIV combined with the new denoising method performs best. The relative errors of the surface velocities are controlled within 6%, and the relative errors of the discharges are controlled within ±4%.     

变叶片高度环列叶栅的逆命题设计

在文献 [1 ]研究的基础上 ,提出了一种新的基于奇点法的变叶片高度环列叶栅逆命题设计方法。此方法利用叶片给定表面速度分布求解叶片形线。数值验证显示出本方法可有效地克服文献 [1 ]中方法存在的叶片形线上法向速度振荡现象 ,更便于工程应用     

风机叶片的剖面翼型反设计优化技术

使用反方法进行风机叶片的翼型设计，采用了一种非线性优化速度分布的方法，分别针对吸、压力面的初始速度分布采用不同的优化手段，可以有效地调节翼型的厚度。并且在设计中可以自由给定攻角、落后角，通过速度分布的优化得到符合工程应用要求的风机叶片的翼型。并依据探索出的速度分布优化准则，设计出了三种风机叶片的翼型。     

Measurement of velocity profiles in multiphase flow using a multi-electrode electromagnetic flow meter

This paper describes an electromagnetic flow meter for velocity profile measurement in single phase and multiphase flows with non-uniform axial velocity profiles. A Helmholtz coil is used to produce a near-uniform magnetic field orthogonal to both the flow direction and the plane of an electrode array mounted on the internal surface of a non-conducting pipe wall. Induced voltages acquired from the electrode array are related to the flow velocity distribution via variables known as ‘weight values’ which are calculated using finite element software. Matrix inversion is used to calculate the velocity distribution in the flow cross section from the induced voltages measured at the electrode array. This paper presents simulations and experimental results including, firstly the effects of the velocity profile on the electrical potential distribution, secondly the induced voltage distribution at the electrode pair locations, and thirdly the reconstructed velocity profile calculated using the weight values and the matrix inversion method mentioned above. The flow pipe cross-section is divided into a number of pixels and, in the simulations, the mean flow velocity in each of the pixels in single phase flow is calculated from the measured induced voltages. Reference velocity profiles that have been investigated in the simulations include a uniform velocity profile and a linear velocity profile. The results show good agreement between the reconstructed and reference velocity profiles. Experimental results are also presented for the reconstructed velocity profile of the continuous water phase in an inclined solids-in-water multiphase flow for which the axial water velocity distribution is highly non-uniform. The results presented in this paper are most relevant to flows in which variations in the axial flow velocity occur principally in a single direction.     

轴流压气机抽气对下游叶排流场影响的数值研究

本文采用三维流动数值模拟方法研究了轴流压气机级问环形槽抽气对下游叶排流场的影响.计算表明:抽气使下游叶排S1和S2流面的速度、压力分布以及叶片表面压力分布发生变化;靠近叶顶区域的流场变化尤为明显;随着抽气量的增大,流场受影响程度增大.     

Influence of surface roughness on pressure distribution and film thickness in EHL-contacts

To better understand the effect of surface roughness and texture on the formation of a lubricating oil film the mean film thickness and pressure distribution in the Hertzian contact zone were systematically investigated with an FZG twin-disk test rig. The pressure distribution was measured using thin film sensors. The influence of roughness and surface texture was investigated as a function of load and sum velocity. Different types of surfaces were produced by circumferential and transverse grinding as well as structuring by etching.