Numerical simulation of hydraulic characteristics of plate-column compound flow meter with U-shaped channel
LI Yongye1, GAO Yuan1, SUN Xihuan1*, ZHANG Xuelan1, LU Yifan1, JIA Xiaomeng1, ZHANG Chunjin2
1. College of Hydro Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030024, China; 2. Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, Zhengzhou, Henan 450003, China
Abstract:In order to develop water-saving agriculture, promote efficient use of water in irrigated areas and allocate rationally water resources, a portable, accurate and movable flow meter with U-shaped channel, i.e. plate-column compound flow meter was innovated. Based on Flow-3D software, the hydraulic characteristics of the plate-column compound flow meter were numerically simulated with the RNG k-ε turbulence model, and the simulated results were validated with the experimental data. The results showed that the transverse, vertical velocity distributions and the relationship between the mea-sured flow rate and the rotational angle of the measuring device were consistent with the experimental observation with the maximum relative error less than 5.4%. The transverse velocity of water in channel free surface was increased first from the center of the channel and then decreased towards the channel wall. The vertical velocity in the symmetrical plane upstream was increased steadily from the bottom of the channel to the free surface, while the velocity downstream was increased first and then decreased from the bottom of the channel to the free surface, i.e. the maximum vertical velocity was located at somewhere underneath the free surface. The maximum influence range of the plate-column compound flow meter in the channel was in the flow field extended from the meter to 0.35 m upstream and 0.94 m downstream.