Unsteady flow induced by hydropower stations exerts a significant impact on the water level in multi-approach channels, which directly threatens the safe passage of ships. In this study, a one-dimensional and a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model are adopted to simulate the water level fluctuations at the entrance of multi-approach channels and the lower lock head of a ship lift with consideration of initial water surface elevation, base flow, flow amplitude, regulation time, and locations of hydropower stations, unfavorable conditions are successfully identified; and the fluctuations at the approach channel entrance and the lower lock head of a ship lift under single-peak and double-peak regulating mode are analyzed considering the flow regulating of the Gezhouba Hydropower Station (GHS), thus, the water level oscillation process in the multi-approach channels is presented. Results show that the largest wave amplitude in the multi-approach channels manifests under unfavorable conditions including lower initial water surface elevation, smaller base flow, larger flow variation, and shorter regulation time; and water level fluctuation in the multi-approach channel is primarily induced by flow amplitude and net flow between the Three Gorges Hydropower Station (TGHS) and the GHS, with consideration of the counter-regulation process of the GHS. This research contributes to providing a reference for a similar large-scale cascade hydropower station regarding regulation and control of navigation conditions.

Circular drop manholes have been an important device for energy dissipation and reduction of flow velocities in urban drainage networks. The energy dissipation in a drop manhole depends on the manhole flow patterns, the outflow regimes in the exit pipe and the downstream operation conditions, and is closely related to the hydraulic and geometric parameters of the manhole. In the present work, the energy dissipation of a drop manhole with three drop heights was experimentally investigated under free outflow conditions and constrained outflow conditions. The results demonstrate that the local head loss coefficient is solely related to the dimensionless drop parameter for free surface outflow without a downstream backwater effect, whereas it depends on the dimensionless submerge parameter for constrained outflow. Moreover, it is concluded that the energy dissipation is largely promoted when outlet choking occurs.

In this study, the effects of the different conveyance modes of the intermediate channel in decentralized cascade locks on navigation flow conditions were investigated. A new hybrid numerical simulation method was established to evaluate navigable flow conditions in intermediate channels at different water conveyance modes. This hybrid numerical simulation method was reliably compared by physical modeling tests. We used the 33.73 m class high-head intermediate channel filled with water as a study case. The study used the maximum water surface slope and maximum flow velocity as evaluation indexes for navigable flow conditions. The results showed that the navigable flow conditions of the centralized water conveyance mode were worse compared to the decentralized water conveyance mode in the intermediate channel. Especially in the upstream region of the intermediate channel with a centralized outflow, the navigable flow conditions were exceptionally harsh. We recommend the decentralized outflow mode in the high-head intermediate channel. This study provides an effective numerical simulation method for optimizing the water conveyance mode of the high-head intermediate channel of decentralized cascade locks and saving project investment.

Generally, the operation of the horizontally-framed miter gate in a ship lock should consider the effects of hydrodynamic resistance. If over-filling or over-emptying exists and the miter gate opens with reverse head, the hydrodynamic resistance will increase rapidly, endangering the operation safety of the miter gate. In order to study the operating characteristics of the miter gate, a prototype test is introduced in this paper. Results show that, during the filling or emptying process, when water levels at both sides of the miter gate are equal the first time, opening the gate in a timely manner can obviously avoid the influence of reverse head. Furthermore, a three-dimensional numerical model with a dynamic mesh is established for analyzing the hydrodynamic characteristics in different operating conditions. Results show that the peak value of operating load always occurs at the initial time, and the greater the submerged water depth, the larger the peak value. With the increasing of reverse head, the piston rods sustain a great compression, and the peak value appears at an early stage of gate opening. The results have a reference value for the design of a miter gate in the related engineering projects.