Detecting arbitrarily shaped clusters in origin-destination flows using ant colony optimization

An origin-destination (OD) flow can be defined as the movement of objects between two locations. These movements must be determined for a range of purposes, and strong interactions can be visually represented via clustering of OD flows. Identification of such clusters may be useful in urban planning, traffic planning and logistics management research. However, few methods can identify arbitrarily shaped flow clusters. Here, we present a spatial scan statistical approach based on ant colony optimization (ACO) for detecting arbitrarily shaped clusters of OD flows (AntScan_flow). In this study, an OD flow cluster is defined as a regional pair with significant log likelihood ratio (LLR), and the ACO is employed to detect the clusters with maximum LLRs in the search space. Simulation experiments based on AntScan_flow and SaTScan_flow show that AntScan_flow yields better performance based on accuracy but requires a large computational demand. Finally, a case study of the morning commuting flows of Beijing residents was conducted. The AntScan_flow results show that the regions associated with moderate- and long-distance commuting OD flow clusters are highly consistent with subway lines and highways in the city. Additionally, the regions of short-distance commuting OD flow clusters are more likely to exhibit ‘residential-area to work-area’ patterns.     

Parallelization of the flow-path network model using a particle-set strategy

High-performance simulation of flow dynamics remains a major challenge in the use of physical-based, fully distributed hydrologic models. Parallel computing has been widely used to overcome efficiency limitation by partitioning a basin into sub-basins and executing calculations among multiple processors. However, existing partition-based parallelization strategies are still hampered by the dependency between inter-connected sub-basins. This study proposed a particle-set strategy to parallelize the flow-path network (FPN) model for achieving higher performance in the simulation of flow dynamics. The FPN model replaced the hydrological calculations on sub-basins with the movements of water packages along the upstream and downstream flow paths. Unlike previous partition-based task decomposition approaches, the proposed particle-set strategy decomposes the computational workload by randomly allocating runoff particles to concurrent computing processors. Simulation experiments of the flow routing process were undertaken to validate the developed particle-set FPN model. The outcomes of hourly outlet discharges were compared with field gauged records, and up to 128 computing processors were tested to explore its speedup capability in parallel computing. The experimental results showed that the proposed framework can achieve similar prediction accuracy and parallel efficiency to that of the Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)-based Real-Time Integrated Basin Simulator (tRIBS).     

An efficient hybrid integral-equation method for point-absorber wave energy converters with a vertical axis of symmetry

To assist in the prototyping and controller design of point-absorber wave energy converters (WECs), an easy-to-implement hybrid integral-equation method is presented for computing the frequency-domain hydrodynamic properties of bodies with a vertical axis of symmetry in waves. The current hybrid method decomposes the flow domain into two parts: an inner domain containing the body and an outer domain extending to infinity. The solution in the inner domain is computed using the boundary-element method, and the outer-domain solution is expressed using eigenfunctions. Proper matching at the domain boundary is achieved by enforcing continuity of velocity potential and its normal derivative. Body symmetry allows efficient computation using ring sources in the inner domain. The current method is successfully applied to three different body geometries including a vertical truncated floating cylinder, the McIver toroid, and the coaxial-cylinder WEC being developed in the authors’ laboratory. In particular, the current results indicate that, by replacing the flat bottom of the coaxial-cylinder WEC with the Berkeley-Wedge (BW) shape, viscous effect can be significantly reduced with only minor negative impact on wave-exciting force, thus increasing WEC efficiency. Finally, by comparing to experimental measurements, the current method is demonstrated to accurately predict the heave added mass and wave-exciting force on the coaxial-cylinder WEC with BW geometry. If a viscous damping correction factor is used, the heave motion amplitude can also be accurately computed.     

Nonplanar multi-modal vibrations of fluid-conveying risers under shear cross flows

Risers/pipes conveying fluid are a typical kind of slender structures commonly used in marine engineering. It is of great academic significance and application value for us to evaluate and understand the vibration characteristics and nonlinear responses of these risers under the combined action of internal and external fluid flows. In this paper, the nonplanar vibrations and multi-modal responses of pinned-pinned risers in shear cross flow are numerically studied. With this objective in mind, the van der Pol wake oscillators are used to simulate the dynamical behavior of the vortex shedding in the wake. Two nonlinear equations of motion of the riser are proposed to govern the lateral responses of the riser structure. The nonplanar nonlinear equations for the riser and wake are then discretized by employing Galerkin's method and solved by using a fourth-order Runge–Kutta integration algorithm. Theoretical results show that the coupled frequencies for cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) motions and the corresponding coupled damping ratio could be influenced by the external and/or internal fluid velocities. Based on extensive calculations, the dynamical behavior of the riser with various internal and external flow velocities are presented in the form of bifurcation diagrams, time traces, phase portraits, oscillation trajectories and response spectrum curves. It is shown that some interesting dynamical phenomena, such as ‘lock-in’ state, ‘figure-of-eight’ trajectory and quasi-periodic oscillation, could occur in such a fluid-structure interaction system. Our results also demonstrate that the shear parameter can significantly affect the dynamic responses of the riser. When the shear parameter of the cross flow is large, multi-modal quasi-periodic responses of the riser can be excited, showing some new features undetected in the system of fluid-conveying risers in uniform cross flow.     

A two-dimensional analytical model of vertical water entry for asymmetric bodies with flow separation

The vertical water entry of asymmetric two-dimensional bodies with flow separation is considered. As long as there is no flow separation, linearised Wagner's theory combined with the modified Logvinovich model has been shown to provide computationally fast and reliable estimates of slamming loads during water entry. Tassin et al. [11] introduced the fictitious body continuation (FBC) concept as a way to extend the use of Wagner's model to separated flow configurations, but they only considered symmetric bodies. In the present study, we investigate the ability of the FBC concept to provide accurate estimates of slamming loads for asymmetric bodies. In this case, flow separation may not occur simultaneously on both sides of the body. During an intermediate phase, slamming loads are governed by a competition between the local drop in pressure due to partial flow separation and the ongoing expansion of the wetted area. As a first benchmark for the model, we consider the water entry of an inclined flat plate and compare the FBC estimates with the results of a nonlinear model. Then, we consider the case of a foil and compare the FBC results with computational fluid dynamics predictions. In both cases, we find that the FBC model is able to provide reliable estimates of the slamming loads.     

Numerical Simulation on Flow Past Two Side-by-Side Inclined Circular Cylinders at Low Reynolds Number

A series of three-dimensional numerical simulations is carried out to investigate the effect of inclined angle on flow behavior behind two side-by-side inclined cylinders at low Reynolds number Re=100 and small spacing ratio T/D=1.5 (T is the center-to-center distance between two side-by-side cylinders, D is the diameter of cylinder). The instantaneous and time-averaged flow fields, force coefficients and Strouhal numbers are analyzed. Special attention is focused on the axial flow characteristics with variation of the inclined angle. The results show that the inclined angle has a significant effect on the gap flow behaviors behind two inclined cylinders. The vortex shedding behind two cylinders is suppressed with the increase of the inclined angle as well as the flip-flop gap flow. Moreover, the mean drag coefficient, root-mean-square lift coefficient and Strouhal numbers decrease monotonously with the increase of the inclined angle, which follows the independent principle at small inclined angles.     

江河入海流量在线监测不确定度评估方法研究与应用

鉴于国内目前缺少流量在线监测不确定性评估方面的研究,针对江河入海流量在线监测过程中可能产生的各种不确定性,本文采用不确定度概念对不确定性进行评估,给出了不确定度的主要来源、各来源不确定度的评估方法,以及江河入海流量在线监测总不确定度评估模型,并应用该模型对辽河入海流量在线监测的不确定度进行了评估。     

含沙浑水体的黏度测量及应用分析

含沙浑水体的高速冲击会对海底构筑物造成破坏,在计算浑水体对构筑物的作用力时,黏度是一项重要参数。本文利用落球试验和流变仪测试试验,测定了不同浓度含沙浑水体的黏度,给出其起始黏度与动力作用后的稳定黏度。结果表明:含沙量在大于400g/L时,浑水体为可用赫巴模型描述的非牛顿流体,并可简化为宾汉体;在含沙量小于400g/L时,浑水体仍可用宾汉体模型描述,在忽略较小的初始剪切应力时,可简化为牛顿流体。浓度大于400g/L的浑水体的起始黏度约为稳定黏度的100倍。文中讨论了含沙浑水体起始黏度与稳定黏度在工程计算应用中的适用情况。     

不同水位垂直流人工湿地中植物及微生物特征

利用4个连续进水的垂直流人工湿地,比较分析水位对污染物去除效果的影响,研究湿地中植物对氮磷去除的贡献,阐析湿地中脱氮功能菌数量的演变规律。3个湿地栽种黄花鸢尾,水位分别控制在19、51和84cm,另一个湿地不栽种植物,水位为51cm。结果表明,水位对氮和有机物的去除有显著影响(p<0.05),栽种植物的湿地中,51cm水位时总氮去除率(67.4%～79.2%)最高,19cm水位时氨氮(85.3%～93.0%)和COD(81.8%～92.9%)去除效果最好。试验中黄花鸢尾均生长良好,植物吸收对总氮(Total nitrogen,简称TN)和总磷(Total phosphorus,简称TP)去除的贡献分别为19.2%～27.3%和14.7%～19.2%;植物地上部分发挥更重要作用,其TN和TP含量及对TN和TP的吸收量均高于地下部分。湿地表层基质中3种脱氮功能菌数量均随运行时间的增加而显著提高,亚硝化细菌和硝化细菌数量分别为10~4～10~6和10~5～10~7 MPN/g,随水位升高而减少;反硝化细菌数量为10~3～10~6 MPN/g,随水位升高而增加。