HYDRAULIC STRUCTURE FAIRING WITH VORTEX GENERATOR

摘要

Discussed are several practical cost-effective refinements, extensions, additions, and improvements to the manufactured three-dimensional convex-concave fairing with attached vortex generators that was disclosed by Simpson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 8,348,553). Extensions are disclosed for bridge piers and abutments at larger angles of attack of up to 45°, for piers and abutments downstream of a bend in a river where there is large-scale swirling approach flow, and for piers in close proximity to an adjacent pier of abutment.

主权项

1. A convex-concave fairing for a hydraulic structure comprising:
a piece-wise continuous streamlined fairing surface installed around a perimeter of the hydraulic structure and extending from near the height above a river on the hydraulic structure to a bed of said river surrounding the hydraulic structure, said piece-wise continuous fairing completely enveloping the hydraulic structure and providing a piece-wise continuous faired shape in a direction of flow of the river, wherein the piece-wise continuous streamlined fairing surface comprises a plurality of continuous surfaces that are assembled together to form the piece-wise continuous streamlined fairing surface, and wherein the discontinuity in the piece-wise continuous streamlined fairing surface occurs at the intersection of the plurality of the continuous surfaces; at least one vortex generator attached to the piece-wise continuous fairing surface along a longitudinal distance of a stern to stern dimension of said piece-wise continuous fairing surface, and being proximal to the bed of the river in a flow region void of adverse pressure gradients that would persist downstream of said vortex generator for at least one length of said generator, so as to energize a portion of near wall flow with higher-momentum outer layer flow to produce a steady, compact separation and wake and prevent formation of scouring vortices within river flow.