Numerical Simulation and Application of Radial Steel Gate Structure Based on Building Information Modeling under Different Opening Degrees
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1. Introduction
A hydraulic steel gate is the core component of large-scale water conservancy projects, and its safety and stability are the basic guarantee for the operation of water conservancy projects [1]. A radial gate is a typical space frame structure; it is widely used in various hydraulic projects because it has the advantages of light weight, small opening and closing force, no gate groove at the bottom edge, and easy operation [2]. In addition, radial gates play a key role in flood control, regulation of upstream and downstream water levels, ecological recharge, and energy transformation [3]. However, under the different opening and closing operations of the spillway surface orifice radial gate, the flow pattern is complex and the mixed phenomenon is serious, which leads to complex and variable fluid-induced vibrations [4]. Simultaneously, because of the uncertainty of the fluid–structure coupling effect and the instability of water flow, it is difficult to obtain the distribution law of the load acting on the radial gate [5]. At present, scholars have adopted field prototype observation, hydraulic model tests [6], and numerical simulation [7] to solve this problem [8]. Field prototype observation requires image velocimetry equipment, high-precision digital pressure sensors, and a multi-channel vibrating data acquisition system, and it is obviously affected by the environment, sensors are expensive, and there is a complex sensor layout, which makes the field prototype observation of radial gates difficult and it cannot predict the dynamic changes of the gate [9]. Hydraulic model tests are difficult and expensive to design and perform; they are limited by the similarity of the scaled physical models made with related materials, structures, geometry, physics, and mechanics; and their analysis cannot meet the accuracy requirements. The numerical simulation method has a low calculation cost and strong operability [10], which can reduce the number of tests [11], cycles, and costs [12]. Moreover, compared with the field prototype observation and model tests, numerical simulation provides a more specific and insightful understanding of fluid motion processes [13], which can not only obtain simulation results that are similar to the field prototype observation data but can also understand detailed motion trajectories [14]. Therefore, numerical simulation has been widely used and promoted in the water conservancy industry [15].
Scholars have achieved satisfactory results with respect to the structural calculation response of gates by using numerical simulation. Zhang C et al. [16] conducted finite element simulations and field measurement and monitoring and obtained the stress and deformation of the open-top radial gate with different opening degrees at a water depth of 0–6.5 m. Jafari A et al. [17] used Ansys-CFX2020 to simulate the coupling of the horizontal and vertical flow-induced vibration of sluice gates; they obtained the optimal dip angle of the sluice bottom edge under the condition of the minimum flow-induced vibration of the sluice gate; and they concluded that the horizontal and vertical synchronous vibration of the sluice gate can be achieved by changing the lifting height of the sluice gate. Through finite element analysis, Oh LS et al. [18] found that the vertical acceleration and vibration strength of the gate can be increased by 70% and 57%, respectively, when the auxiliary plate is installed behind the radial gate. Ng CF et al. [19] studied the effect of radial gate elevation on the loading of the gate wall under the action of water flow, and they obtained numerical results similar to the experimental results by using the numerical simulation and experimental comparison of the three-dimensional model of the shrinkage dam. Shen C et al. [20] carried out numerical simulation and field prototype observation on a plane gate and found that the numerical simulation’s results were not much different from the prototype observation results. In summary, many researchers have studied the structural calculation of the gate, mainly using the combination of model tests and numerical simulation. These methods require long test cycles and are limited by issues such as model size. Therefore, numerical simulation is used in the present study as the method for the structure analysis of radial gates. However, traditional pre-processing functions for numerical simulations are weak, especially for some complex and large assembly components, pre-processing is not convenient, and the operability is poor [21].
Building information modeling (BIM) technology is the carrier of building three-dimensional spatial information, which has the characteristics of more detailed and convenient modeling information [22]. BIM technology is characterized by its physical properties and intuition [23], and it has been rapidly applied and developed in the bridge and road industries [24]. Moreover, with the construction of the digital twin project, more and more industries are using BIM technology as a digital base for digital and intelligent transformation and upgrading [25], and the water industry is also actively transforming and upgrading to the digital base [26]. Simultaneously, different from the plane gate, there are many different complexity components inside the radial gate, and the force transfer and distribution are more complicated and the regularity is poor. Therefore, it is particularly important to explore a BIM-based numerical simulation analysis method for the structural calculation of a radial gate’s structure to analyze the strength, stiffness, and stability of a radial gate with different opening degrees. This can not only improve the modeling efficiency but also contribute to the digital development of the water industry.
At present, some scholars have investigated the combined application of BIM and numerical simulation technology. Moreover, model transformation is the core of the combination of BIM and numerical simulation technology. In terms of the conversion of a BIM model to a finite element model, Jing J et al. [27] proposed a technical route and software framework for converting an APDL statement BIM model into a finite element model based on JAVA and C #. Relying on Revit2018 and the Midas/Civil2018 software platform, He X P et al. [28] proposed an automatic conversion method from a BIM model to a finite element model under the VS development environment of Revit API and the c# language, and they realized the conversion program from the Revit model to the Midas/Civil model, which improved the efficiency of manual modeling. Zhang X Y et al. [29] extracted BIM geometric parameter information of a continuous beam with corrugated steel webs based on Dynamo programming, and they completed the transformation from a BIM model to a finite element model through the secondary development of Python programming, which improved the accuracy of the finite element simulation. At the same time, the combination of BIM technology and numerical simulation is more and more frequently applied in various fields, such as the construction of bridges and roads. Muhammad F et al. [30] used the visual programming language script to generate the BIM-based finite element model, completed the automatic conversion of the bridge BIM model to the finite element model, deployed the Structure Health Monitoring (SHM) device into the bridge BIM model, and then used the BIM model to monitor and manage the SHM system. Tang F et al. [31] constructed a three-dimensional visualization model of asphalt pavement in Revit2018, converted it into .inp format files through format conversion software, and then imported it into Abaqus2018 for structural calculation and analysis, which significantly enhanced the computing power of BIM in road structures.
However, the existing research has hardly applied the combination of BIM and numerical simulation to the structural calculation analysis of hydraulic radial steel gates, and there is a lack of a complete analysis process based on BIM and simulation technology. Therefore, this paper attempts to use BIM and numerical simulation methods to study the structural calculation of hydraulic radial steel gates. The main research questions in this paper are as follows: (1) How can we conduct numerical simulation based on a BIM model? (2) How can we judge the safety and stability of a radial gate structure by the BIM and numerical simulation method? (3) How can we obtain an effective data set of gate information through the established BIM and numerical simulation analysis method? In this paper, BIM technology was used to establish the 3D model of a radial gate, and the data conversion from a BIM model to a finite element model was completed. The finite element analysis of the flow-induced vibrations of the open-top radial gate was performed by combining the VOF method and the fluid–structure coupling method. The results were obtained separately from the flow rate, water pressure, stress, deformation, and frequency of the radial gate under different opening degrees. Overall, the structure of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 gives a brief introduction to the relevant basic theory. Section 3 describes the process of constructing the simulation model by combining BIM and Ansys. In Section 4, a case study of the simulation of a radial gate is provided and the results are highlighted through discussion. Section 5 establishes an information management process to expand the application of the simulation results. Section 6 summarizes the present study and outlines the future work preliminaries.
6. Conclusions
The radial steel gate is an important adjustment mechanism for water conservancy projects, and its hydraulic performance is very important for the safety of water conservancy projects. According to the characteristics of BIM technology and finite element simulation, the numerical simulation model of radial gate based on BIM is proposed in this paper, and the mechanical properties of a radial gate with different opening degrees were simulated by use of an engineering example. In terms of strength, the maximum equivalent stress value of the gate occurs at the connection between the lower part of the gate panel and the longitudinal beam when the gate is closed. The maximum equivalent stress value is 142.19 MPa. The maximum equivalent stress value of the other components is less than the allowable stress value. In terms of stiffness, the maximum value of the deformation of the gate is 3.46 mm. The maximum deformation value was less than the allowable deformation value, and the stiffness shift rate is largest when the gate is open from 1.5 to 2.0 m. In terms of stability, the value of the natural vibrational frequency gradually increases with the gate opening. At a partial opening, the value of the natural vibrational frequency is close to 10 Hz. In this situation, the gate is prone to vibration damage. The main radial gate vibration types include swing resonances of the support arms, bending resonances of the gate blades, and swing resonances of the longitudinal beam. The numerical simulation results show that the ratio between the simulated value and the theoretical value of the outflow value is no more than 4 percent, which proves that the numerical simulation model based on BIM is feasible. Finally, the information management process is constructed, which served as a guide for the safety assessment and project management study of the radial steel gate.
Regarding the applicability of the developed framework, the proposed framework can be replicated and applied to other hydraulic gate types. The combined use of BIM and numerical simulation has a wide range of applications and can exert its value in optimizing the design, operation, and maintenance management of gates. This method can improve the efficiency of traditional finite element numerical simulation and analysis and help decision makers in the whole process of gate management.
Significant as it is, this study still has limitations that should not be overlooked. The numerical simulation results are not compared with the field observation data. Therefore, it is recommended that future studies should be combined with the field observation methods to evaluate the validity of the model in this study. In future research, it is planned to expand the number of numerical simulation experiments to improve the reliability of numerical simulation experiments and to collect better cases to further validate the conclusions. In the meantime, realizing the automatic synchronous coupling between the numerical simulation results and the BIM model is also a meaningful research direction in the future.
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