Experimental Optimization of Gate-Opening Modes to Minimize Near-Field Vibrations in Hydropower Stations

Multi-Horizontal-Submerged Jets are successfully applied to dissipate energy within a large-scale hydropower station. However, notable near-field vibrations are generated when releasing high discharges through the gates, which is generally typical in a flooding case scenario. Under these conditions, the magnitude of the vibrations varies when applying different gate-opening modes. To investigate and find optimized gate-opening modes to reduce the near-field vibration, multiple combinations were tested by varying gate-opening modes and hydraulic conditions. For each of the tests conducted, fluctuating pressures acting on side-walls and bottoms of a stilling basin were measured. The collected datasets were used to determine the maximum and minimum fluctuating pressure values associated with the correspondent gate-opening mode and a detailed comparison between each of the gate-opening modes was completed. The paper presents the quantitative analysis of the discharge ratio’s effect on fluctuating pressures. It also investigates the influence of different gate-opening modes by including side to middle spillways and upper to lower spillways configurations. The flow pattern evolutions triggered by each different gate-opening mode are discussed and optimal configurations that minimize near-field vibrations at high discharges are recommended to support both the design of new systems and assessment of the performance of existing ones.