Vibration Study based on Hydroelastic Models of Radial Gates

Ling YU D.Y. XU J.F. WU L.R. ZHANG C.L. PENG L.X. GAO*

The Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute

23 Huangpu Street, Wuhan, Hubei, 430010, P. R. China
Tel: +86-27-82829793; Fax: +86-27-82829882
E-mail: yuling@public.wh.hb.cn

*The Changjiang Water Resources Commission

1863 Libration Avenue, Wuhan, Hubei, 430010, P.R.China

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces some practical experiences about use of hydroelastic scale model experiments to evaluate
the dynamic performance of a series of hydraulic radial gates built and/or designed in China. For this purpose, a
new kind of hydroelastic model material is developed first based on the similitude requirements of both hydraulics
and structural dynamics between model and prototype gates. Both static and dynamic properties of this kind of
hydroelastic model material are evaluated by 3D finite element method and experimental modal analysis technique.
Thirdly, the flow-induced vibration responses are measured under several operational conditions and the
characteristics of vibration resources analyzed. Gate safety during discharge flow is finally assessed in terms of
the model test results. The results clearly show that the scale hydroelastic models of radial gates are a successful
physical model with good properties in structural dynamics and hydrodynamics. It can effectively reproduce the
vibration conditions of large radial gates in the prototype and can be used to investigate the dynamic
characteristics of radial gates.

1. INTRODUCTION
In China, a few large hydraulic projects have been built successfully in the last decades and a series of projects are
constructing and/or will be constructed subsequently. There are many hydraulic structures in each project. One of
important hydraulic structures is gates and valves which designed for different operation purposes in each project.
For example, there are 23 bottom outlet gates and 22 temporary diversion bottom outlet gates in the constructing
Three Gorges Project [1]. Hydraulic gates control the flow of water and form an important - often vital part of
reservoirs, barrages and river control structures [2]. They play an important role in the development of modern
design of hydraulic projects. A great of attention has been paid to the dynamic safety of gates during design phase
and under opening conditions, in which the experiment study is main tool for gate vibration investigation [3-4]. The
flow-induced vibration phenomena of hydraulic steel structures composed of plate elements with an intricate
geometry belong without doubt to that group therefore their understanding to an acceptable level should be
expected only from model experiments. A reliable model tests, however, calls for a knowledge of the criteria of
hydroelastic similitude as well as for the exploration of the possibilities for realizing such tests.

Since the 1970s many research work has been carried out on gate vibration with a hydroelastic model [5].
However, because the hydroelastic model material of gate was unavailable in the past, plastic materials, PVC were
widely used to fabricate a hydroelastic gate model where the mass similarity was satisfied by the additional mass
and the stiffness similarity was satisfied by changes in the cross section of the plate. Strictly speaking, this kind of
hydroelastic model does not completely satisfy the similitude requirements of both hydraulics and structural
dynamics between model and prototype gates, they are just approximately hydroelastic model. However, their
applicability has been increased with the requirements of dynamic safety of gates in the forthcoming construction
in China. We have carried out a large number of studies on making the hydroelastic material and made a great
success in the last decade [1, 6]. A series of hydroelastic model materials have been developed for investigation on
flow-induced vibration of hydraulic structures [1, 7-8]. Here, we used it to make the hydroelastic models of the
gates, and called this kind of model as a complete hydroelastic model.

In this paper, the research work for the gate vibrations is reported only. The hydroelastic similitude is briefly
described first, the hydroelstic model with a specific scale is made then and the experimental modal analysis is
used to get the dynamic properties of the model. At the same time, the 3D finite element method is employed to
show the static and dynamic properties of the model and compare to the experimental results respectively. Finally,
the response experiments of the model are conducted for assessment of the dynamic safety of the gate under
discharge flow conditions, some measures to reduce the gate vibration are suggested if there exists strong gate
vibration.

2. HYDROELASTIC SIMILITUDE

2.1 Criteria of Similitude

Geometrically similarity will only be abandoned for sizes whose exact value does not modify only marginally the
similitude of the phenomena. The phenomena themselves, if necessary, will be distinguished by the attributes
model or prototype or by some other means of recognition. With regard to the characteristics of the phenomena,
it will be required that their dimension should be the same both in the model and the prototype, i.e. the quotients
(the so-called scale ratios) of the corresponding quantities in the prototype and in the model will be dimensionless
constants. Because of practical causes it is assumed that the fluid used in the model is the same as that in the
prototype, i.e. water. In principle, modeling of hydroelastic vibrations can also be carried out in other ways,
nevertheless, for the time being hydroelastic modeling can be considered as being satisfactorily elaborated both
generally and in details, with only the above-mentioned restrictions observed.

The flow-induced gate vibration due to the discharge flow is a random flow-solid joint vibration of the gate system.
The hydroelastically similar model is an advance technique of investigation on the flow-induced vibration of
hydraulic structures, so it must satisfy both the hydraulic similarity and structural dynamics similarity in order to
reproduce behavior of the prototype structure. The key core of the hydraulic conditions is to simulate the fluctuating
pressure according to the gravity similarity law [4-5].

2.1.1 Similarity in Hydraulics

For the hydraulic model with gravity similarity, the research ever since on the fluctuating pressure indicates that in
the flow field with a free surface the fluctuating pressure on the wall obeys the gravity similarity criteria. If the length
scale ratio between the model and prototype is L r , the scale ratios of the other hydrodynamics variables, such as
flow velocity Vr , time Tr , fluctuating pressure Pr , fluid density wr and fluctuating frequency Fr can be derived as
follows respectively,

Vr = L1r/ 2 Tr = L1r/ 2 Pr = Lr wr = 1 f wr = Lr 1 / 2 (1)

2.1.2 Similarity in Structural Dynamics

The structural dynamics similarity condition requires the time, frequency and damping ratio scales to be satisfied
respectively,

Tr' = L'r 1sr/ 2 E r1 / 2

f sr = Tr'
1 sr = 1 (2)
Where
Er and
sr are the Youngs modulus and structural mass density scales respectively.

2.1.3 Hydroelastic Similitude

The hydroelastic similitude model requires that both the hydrodynamic and the structural dynamics condition must
be similar in the same all scale ratio. It means that the following dominant relationships hold,

wr = st = 1 E r = Lr Pr = Lr f sr = f wr = Lr 1 / 2 sr = 1 (3)

2.2 Hydroelastically Similar Material and Model Design

The foregoing description of model similitude has led to the following main requirements to be met by the
hydroelastically similar model material,

E r = Lr sr = wr = 1 sr = 1 (4)

For hydroelastic similitude of the model to the prototype, the numerical value of the scale ratios of the
aforementioned must be identical within a permissible error limit. It should provide a model size that could be
constructed and tested conveniently in laboratory. It makes the scale effect very small and the experimental
accuracy sufficient either. According to the above considerations, we selected and set the scale ratios of four
specific gates studied respectively as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Gate Description

Gate Gate Dimensions Operating Location Scale Ratio Project Phase

No. (Width-Highness-Radius) Water Head
1 7m-10m-16m <66m Dam bottom outlet 1:20 constructed
2 6m-8.5m-18m 79.5m (design) Dam bottom outlet 1:20 constructed
for diversion
3 14m-12m-23m 55m Discharge tunnel 1:25 designed
outlet
4 5m-6m-12m 91m Dam bottom outlet 1:20 designed
th
All the above gates are made of the 16 manganese steel materials in prototype. Its Youngs modulus and mass
density are 210 GPa and 7800 kg / m 3 respectively. If the scale ratio is 1:20, their expected values are 10.5 GPa
and 7800 kg / m 3 respectively according the similitude requirements of hydroelastic model. Unfortunately, we
cannot found this kind of material in the real world up to now. After having carried out a lot of experiments on the
model materials, we have developed a new kind of hydroelastic material of gate models and used to fabricate the
hydroelastic model of gates in laboratory. The measured Youngs modulus and mass density of the model material
can be reached to about 11 GPa and 7550 kg / m 3 respectively. It is suitable for fabrication of gate model, easy to
machining and convenient to glue structural members into a whole structure of gate.

3. EXPERIMENTS OF HYDROELASTIC MODELS

Three kinds of experiments have been carried out for the hydroelastic models of gates. They are dynamic
properties, static deflection and vibration response measurements of hydroealstic gate models respectively. The
two former measurements aim to check whether the hydroelastic models of gates are satisfied the similitude
requirements between the models and prototypes of gates by comparing the experimental results to the analytical
solutions of 3D finite element method. The latter is for assessment of the dynamic safety of gates under discharge
flow conditions if the hydroelastic models are succeed in simulation of dynamic properties of gates.
3.1 Dynamic Properties
In order to understand the dynamic properties of hydroelastic gate models, the experimental modal analysis
technique and 3D finite element method are employed here respectively.

According to the features of gates, some measurement points are placed at the gate flap and the gate arm in three
directions respectively before the modal experiments are carried out. The identification of the modal parameters of
the model is based on the measured frequency response function (FRF) of the structure. A SIMO method is used
in the experimental modal analysis of the model. A relationship between the modal parameters and the FRF can
be written as follows,

n qi pi
H qp ( ) = (5)
i =1 M i + j i + K i
2

where, H qp ( ) is FRF of the q-th point response under excitation at the p-th point of the structure. M i , i , K i are the
i-th modal mass, modal damping and modal stiffness respectively. i is the i-th mode shape vector. If sufficient
FRFs are measured, the modal parameters can be estimated accordingly. The software package is the Data Auto
Sample and Process system provided by the China Orient Institute of Noise & Vibration (INV-DASP). The data
acquisition adopted the time-varying base method in order to improve the accuracy of the FRF calculation. The
curve fitting method employed the multiple degree of freedoms model of the complex modes. As an example, the
satisfactory identified results can be obtained as listed in Table 2 for the gate No.2. The first two measured and
analytical mode shapes are compared in Figure 1.

st nd
Measured 1 mode: 2.86 Hz Measured 2 mode: 5.05 Hz

st nd
Calculated 1 mode: 2.78 Hz Calculated 2 mode: 5.63 Hz

Figure 1. Comparison of Measured and Calculated Mode Shapes

Modal analysis results show that the fundamental frequency of gate model is 12.8 Hz. By converting the measured
frequencies of the model gate into ones of the prototype gate in terms of the similarity law, and comparing them
with analytical results by the 3D finite element method, a satisfactory agreement can be found as sown in Table 2.
It illustrated a mode shape of bending transversely of the gate arm but the gate flap does not deform and just
moves rigidly together with the gate arms transversely. The relative percentage error between the fundamental
frequencies is just 2.8%. The first two mode shapes also show a good agreement between the measured and the
calculated mode shapes. All these show that the physical hydroelastic model of the gate can well reproduce the
dynamic characteristics of the prototype gate.

Table 2. Comparison of Dynamic Properties of Gate No.2

Frequency (Hz) Measured

Order Measured Calculated Relative per. damping ratio (%) Mode shape description
No. (prototype*) by 3D FEM Error (%)
1 12.8 (2.86) 2.78 2.80 10.18 Bending transversely
2 22.6 (5.05) 5.63 -11.49 6.35 torsion
3 43.9 (9.60) 12.97 2.38 Rotation around pivot
4 64.8 (14.3) 19.53 2.79 Bending and torsion
* Note: values in the parentheses are for prototype ones converted from measured frequencies of model gate.

3.2 Static Deflection Properties

For the purpose of complete evaluation of the model gate made of the hydroelastic materials, static deflection
measurements have also been conducted by experiments under different water levels, furthermore, they are
compared to the static results of the 3D finite element method at some corresponding nodes. As an example of
static deflection of gate due to upstream water pressure, the gate No.4 was selected and reported here. Its
corresponding measured and calculated static stresses at the same point (Y9) which near to the root of the gate
arm are illustrated in Figure 2. The measured static stress value is -140.3 MPa, which very close to the calculated
static stress value of -136.27 MPa. It shows that the static stresses at the point Y9 have a good agreement
between from the experiment of the hydroelastic model gate and from the analytical static stress of the prototype
gate. It also indicates that the hydroelastic model materials developed have a good elasticity, and they can
reproduce the elastically static properties of the prototype gate.

Y9

a) Measured value: -140.3 MPa b) Calculated value: -136.27 MPa

Figure 2. Comparison between Measured and Calculated Maximum Static Stresses at Point Y9

3.3 Flow-induced Vibration Responses

The flow-induced vibration response measurements have been carried out based on the successful hydroelastic
models of gates fabricated in the laboratory. Firstly, some accelerometers, dynamic pressure meters and strain
gauges were installed at the specific points of gate model to measure the responses of gate during the gate closing
and opening period. The measured results were then analyzed and reported. As an example, the following data
only provide the results of the gate No.2 which is a submerged radial gate of the bottom outlet for temporary flow
diversion. The experimental conditions were as follows: the upstream water level is 135.0 m and the downstream
water level 75.8 m. The main measured results are listed in Tables 3, which only show the maximum acceleration
and dynamic stress responses. It occurred under the condition of 0.2-0.3 opening of the gate. The maximum
acceleration is located at the bottom measurement point of the gate flap in three directions. The maximum dynamic
stress is located at the measurement point (Y9), as shown in Figure 2, which near to the root of gate arm.

Table 3. Main Measured Results of Gate No.2 under Discharge Flow Conditions

Maximum Accelerations ( m / s )
2 Maximum dynamic
Cases Tangential Transverse Radial Stress (MPa)
Without side seals 63.7 231.4 26.4 155.25
With side seals 9.8 7.9 4.9 5.67
Modified gate model 11.5 7.25 11.76

a) In transversal direction b) In tangential direction

Figure 3. Power Spectrum Diagram of Acceleration

a) at back plate of gate b) at face plate of gate

Figure 4. Spectrum of Fluctuating Pressure on Bottom Edge of Gate Flap

3.3.1 Experiments without Side Seals

As a usual, the two side seals of gate were not simulated for good investigation on possibly harmful vibration of the
gate. The experiments showed that in the whole closing or opening process of the gate, two different vibration
phenomena appeared. As the gate was moved down from full opening until the lower part of the gate was
submerged the gate was subjected to a weak vibration. However, when the lower part of the gate was submerged
the gate model was suffering a severe vibrations even impacted the walls of gate shaft periodically. The maximum
responses were listed as in Table 3. The power spectrum diagram of the acceleration in the two directions revealed
several peaks as shown in Figure 3 in which peak frequencies 10.73 Hz and 20.49 Hz were the wet modes
frequencies of the gate, which are usually lower than the corresponding dry modes frequencies [9] but close to
the first and second natural dry mode frequencies of the gate model as listed in Table 2. The corresponding mode
shapes of the two frequencies were the lateral bending and torsion respectively. The highest peaks in two
directions mean the gate vibrated mainly at this frequency respectively. The power spectrum diagram of the
fluctuating pressure as shown in Figure 4 also showed main several peaks appeared at the same frequencies
mentioned above. It seems that the gate was in a resonance conditions. However, the real reason for the
occurrence of severe vibration is the coupling effect results from both the side leakage flow and downstream
turbulent flow. The coupling effect of the flows results in a self-excited vibration of the gate system.

3.3.2 Vibration Control Measures

From the results in Table 3, the maximum accelerations and dynamic stresses are very high, which cannot be
accepted by the designer. There are two vibration control measures taken for reduction of vibration of the gate
model. One is to change the hydraulic condition of model gate, the other modify the structure of model gate. The
corresponding measured results refer to the data in Table 3 respectively.

a) Experiments with Side Seals

As mentioned above, the strong vibration results from the coupling effect of the two flows from the side leakage
flow and from downstream turbulence flow respectively. It is necessary to destroy the coupling of the two flows.
First measure is the elimination of the side leakage. Blocking the two side gaps of the gate from the upstream of
the gate in order to eliminate the side leakage and to allow the gate vibrate without constraints in the transverse
and tangential directions. Then the experiment was accomplished under the same water level. The measured
results showed that in a whole closing or opening process the gate vibration level was much smaller than that
occurred in the experiments without side seal condition. The maximum dynamic stress was reduced from 155.25
MPa to 5.67 MPa as listed in Table 3. The maximum acceleration in transverse direction was reduced from 231.4
m / s 2 to 7.9 m / s 2 . The corresponding power spectrum is illustrated in Figure 5, in which the two frequencies 10.73
Hz and 20.49 Hz cannot be found out anymore. This proves that the reason analysis of the gate vibration is correct.
The power spectrum diagram of the fluctuating pressure on the gate back plate as showed in Figure 6 was
absolutely different from that one in the experiment without side seal condition. Its main peak frequencies were
lower than 9 Hz. This indicated that the fluctuating pressures on the back plate were low frequency dynamic load.
Its dominate frequency cannot make the gate model into a resonant condition

Figure 5. Power Spectrum Diagram of Acceleration Figure 6. Power Spectrum of Fluctuating Pressure

b) Experiments by Modified Model Structure

If the side seals are installed on the two sides of the gate, they block the side leakage flow of the gate, the
self-excited vibration of the gate can be avoided effectively as mentioned above. However, when the seals failed or
partially failed in use, the self-excited vibration would also take place. In order to avoid the occurrence of the
self-excited vibration of the submerged redial gate, it is necessary to modify the gate structure to destroy the
self-excited vibration system in between the shaft walls and the gate. Therefore, five holes throughout the main
vertical beams along its central line were drilled. The area of the five holes was approximately 1/6 of the lateral
area of a vertical beam. The experiments were also carried out by the modified model under the same condition as
mentioned above. The results revealed that in a whole closing or opening process the gate only suffered a weak
vibration even when the lower edge of the gate was submerged. The vibration was a random vibration induced by
water jumps and turbulent flow behind the gate. The maximum accelerations of the gate are 7.25 m / s 2 in
transverse direction and 11.5 m / s 2 in tangential direction respectively. The maximum dynamic stress was 11.76
MPa as listed in Table 3. This is a good indication for the submerged radial gate design. Such modification of gate
structure can be used as a designer guide for reduction of vibration of gate structure.
4. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a series of the hydroelastic scale models of radial gates have been used to evaluate the dynamic
performance and vibration of radial gates in the prototype. Experimental and analytical studies on the vibration of
hydroelastic model gates have been conducted. The following conclusions can be drawn: 1) A new kind of
complete hydroelastic model material of the gate is developed and proved to have a good performance of elasticity
in either static or dynamic condition. 2) The scale hydroelastic models of radial gates are perfectly physical models
with good integrated properties in structural dynamics and hydrodynamics. It can effectively reflect the dynamic
characteristics of the flow-solid interactive system of gates and can reproduce flow-induced vibration responses
during discharge flow. 3) When a submerged radial model gate is employed to investigate the vibration of gate
without side seals, a strong vibration appeared under the condition of 0.2-0.3 opening of gate. The maximum
transversal acceleration reaches up to 231.4 m / s 2 and the maximum dynamic stress 155.25 MPa respectively,
which cannot be accepted by the designer. 4) The reason for the occurrence of severe vibration of the submerged
radial gate is the coupling effect results from both the side leakage flow and downstream turbulent flow after careful
investigation. The coupling effect of the flows results in a self-excited vibration of the gate system. 5) Installing the
two side seals of gate can effectively control and reduce the vibration level. The maximum dynamic stress is
reduced from 155.25 MPa to 5.67 MPa. The maximum acceleration in transverse direction is reduced from 231.4
m / s 2 to 7.9 m / s 2 . 6) Modifying the gate structure is another effective measure of reduction of gate vibration level,
i.e. drilling a few holes in the vertical beam of gate in practice, the maximum transversal accelerations of the gate is
7.25 m / s 2 and the maximum dynamic stress is 11.76 MPa. Such modification of gate structure can be used as a
designer guide for reduction of vibration of gate structure.

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The project is supported by the Innovative Funding of the Ministry of Water Resources of P. R. China.

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