Variation of Pressure Coefficient Along Bottom of Dam Vertical Lift Gates

Abstract

The vertical lift gates are exposed to hydrodynamic forces that arise as a result of pressurized flow established by the large-scale effect of the water levels in the dam reservoirs. The most influential forces are those that are applied on the gate vertically upward due to the intensity of the flow under the gate and downward as a result of passage flow above the gate. The difference between these two forces generates a downpull force that is the most important gate stability indicator. In this research, an arbitrary hydraulic model was constructed to investigate the effects of many gate lip shapes with and without extensions on the magnitudes and distribution of bottom pressure coefficient when the values of flow and shaft gap width ratio (b2/bl) are constant. The results indicate that the bottom pressure coefficient appears to vary uniformly with gate openings and seem to be influenced effectively by the gate lip geometry. So, for the given value of (b2/bl), the top pressure coefficient regarding the downward force will mostly be with uniform changes and hence the downpull coefficient depends on the magnitudes and distribution of bottom pressure coefficient. An attempt by using the correlation coefficient of Statistical Package of Social Sciences was made to determine whether the pressure fluctuation is significantly shown at the bottom pressure distribution curve, which in turn is considered as appropriate indicator for the vibration occurrence. Full range of maximum bottom pressure coefficients in a matrix form is made to assist in design purposes. The results are analyzed and many conclusions are obtained.