Numerical Simulation of Debris Impact on Hydrokinetic Infrastructure

Abstract

This thesis studies the impacts of river debris on a hydro-kinetic infrastructure (Research Debris Diversion Platform - RDDP) by coupling Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Discrete Element Method (DEM). Debris under study are wooden logs that have been cut off from the trees and are floating in the river. The fluid in the computational domain is water, so this study only deals with the motion of debris under water and not above it. The logs are injected at different times and from different locations. The impact forces on the RDDP and the logs are studied in these conditions. Further, the flow velocity and the lengths of the logs (maintaining the same volume) are also changed to study their effects on the forces. The objective is to get statistics of debris impact forces for a wide range of current velocity, debris size, and location within the river cross-section. This information can be used to improve the structural strength of the RDDP and also to understand the hydrokinetic effect of the RDDP.