Journal of Hydroelectric Engineering

水力发电学报

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2025 Vol. 44, No. 5 Published: 2025-05-25

	1	Influence of sediment-laden flow impact parameters on abrasion and erosion characteristics of hydraulic machinery materials ^Hot!
		SUN Shuaihui, REN Zuiyou, DUAN Hongjiang, GUO Pengcheng, MA Duo
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250501
		Hydraulic machinery operating on sediment-laden rivers suffers from sediment erosion, which causes the deformation of flow passages, reduction of hydraulic efficiency, and even shutdown of the unit. By taking advantage of a rotary jet device, this study conducts a sediment abrasion and erosion experiment on materials used for hydraulic turbines under different impact velocities and impact angles, and investigated the measured sediment abrasion characteristics using the weight loss method along with microstructure analysis. The results indicated that for three types of materials, the weight loss and the facilitation of cavitation on sediment abrasion take an exponential increase with impact velocity, along with the increase in the surface roughness, the size of cutting scratches as well as cavitation pits. For all materials, the impact angles that maximize weight loss are roughly 40° and 45° for abrasion and erosion respectively. The vertical impact effect and horizontal removal of particles match best at 45° impact angle, and the particle impact forms disc-shaped pits of which the surface lip edges are removed by horizontal cutting, resulting in significant weight loss. At 45° impact angle, cavitation induced by the jet nappe is the most severe, and the combined abrasion-erosion damage causes relatively deep pits on the material surface, which leads to the weight loss twice of that in abrasion test.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 1-9 [Abstract] ( 50 ) PDF (4337 KB) ( 133 )

	10	Numerical simulations of cavitation flow characteristics of centrifugal pump impeller under large flow conditions
		ZHANG Renjie, CHEN Luyang, ZENG Yun, MIAO Yingjia, LIU Huajun
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250502
		To study the cavitation characteristics of a centrifugal pump under the condition of large flow rates with a head decrease by 3%, the numerical simulation result of flow characteristics and pressure pulsation in the impeller section was discussed, and the reason of pressure on the blades fluctuates was analyzed. The results show that under cavitation, significant differences occur in the vortex structure in the impeller channel, especially obvious flow separation at the diaphragm, and an increase in the flow rate reduces the nonuniformity of the impeller channel flow. Under different cavitation conditions, pressure pulsation at the impeller outlet is dominated by the blade frequency, and its low-frequency and wide-frequency components vary with an increasing flow rate. Under the rated working conditions, pressure pulsations in the low band of 0-290 Hz are significant at each monitoring point. An increase in the flow significantly inhibits the low frequency and broadband pulsations, and fluctuations in other frequencies such as double and triple blade passing frequencies also weaken with the increasing flow. Through a certain orthogonal decomposition of the blade load, the dynamic and static interference between the tongue and the impeller can be considered the main cause of large pressure fluctuations on the blades, and vortex shedding in the flow channel is also a factor that strengthens the pulsations. An in-depth analysis of the characteristics of flows in the impeller section of a centrifugal pump under large flow conditions is provided, which is useful for improvement and optimization of its structure.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 10-21 [Abstract] ( 41 ) PDF (5297 KB) ( 100 )

	22	Study on influence of blade inclination angle on disc pump performance and internal flow field
		TU Yunchuan, HENG Yaguang, JIANG Qifeng, ZHANG Weibin, LUO Xipeng, LIU Tielin
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250503
		This study investigates the influence of blade inclination angle θ on the performance and internal flow characteristics of a disc pump. Nineteen impeller models with blade angles ranging from -45° to 45° were developed, and a combined approach of numerical simulation and experimental validation was employed. Simulations reveal that θ significantly influences both pump head and efficiency, and the positive θ models have better performance than the negative ones. The fitted head and efficiency curves reveal the pump performance reaches its optimum at a θ of around 30°, with the head of 22.37 m and the efficiency of 37.5%. By comparing the internal flow fields between the original model and the optimized model of θ = 30°, we find the latter enjoys a more uniform pressure distribution on the front cover plate in both the blade and non-blade zones, resulting in lower energy loss. And, the pressure-boosting capability in the blade zone near the rear cover plate is stronger. Analysis on turbulence kinetic energy and vortex distribution further indicates that modification on the blade angle decreases turbulence kinetic energy in the flow, and effectively suppresses vortex formation and flow instability, thereby improving pump performances. Flow patterns in the impeller section shows that the design of inclined vanes reduces the local impact angle to the vane working surface, which brings about improvement on the local flow state and a considerable reduction of energy loss.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 22-32 [Abstract] ( 22 ) PDF (3814 KB) ( 112 )

	33	Database imputation and stability evaluation for landslide dams
		TAN Longjin, FENG Zhenyu, ZHOU Jiawen, YANG Xingguo, LIAO Haimei
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250504
		Landslide damming and subsequent flood breaches pose significant threats to the human lives and property of the downstream communities, and quantitative analysis of dam stability is essential for downstream risk assessment and disaster prevention. However, incomplete, imbalanced landslide dam databases severely impact the development of data-driven models. This study develops a stability assessment model for landslide dams that integrates five machine learning algorithms－Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), and K Nearest Neighbor (KNN)－and accounts for geomorphological parameters, hydrological conditions, dam materials, and climate factors. We identify optimal methods for imputation of various factors, then apply three sampling techniques (oversampling, undersampling, and hybrid sampling) to balance the data and mitigate model bias while examining their combined effects on model performance. Five-fold cross-validation results indicate the oversampling combined with LightGBM achieves an average accuracy of 0.84, a bias of 0.24, and a comprehensive evaluation index (CEI) of 1.32, outperforming other algorithms. Validation in typical landslide dam cases shows that our new model outperforms previous models, offering a novel approach to emergency response planning.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 33-43 [Abstract] ( 29 ) PDF (5538 KB) ( 152 )

	44	Short-term dispatch model for hybrid pumped storage-wind-solar power considering uncertainty of combined wind and solar outputs
		LIU Xinyu, LUO Bin, CHEN Yongcan, ZHOU Can, LONG Xin, NIE Zhuang
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250505
		The formation of cascaded hybrid pumped storage through expanding pumped storage units is an effective means to enhance the regulating capacity of traditional hydropower and promote new energy consumption. To consider the correlation and uncertainty of wind and solar power outputs, this paper develops a short-term optimal dispatch model for the operation of a cascaded hybrid pumped storage-wind-solar complementary system, with the Copula function used to construct scenarios for the two outputs combined. Aimed at maximizing the expected return of this system, this model raises the level of large-scale wind and solar grid-connected consumption through introducing a penalty cost for power abandonment. In addition to the conventional hydropower constraints, it accounts for the more complicated hydropower-electricity coupling relationship of the hybrid storage. With the unit as a scheduled object, various new constraints are modeled including the number of fluctuation-regulating runs for a pumped storage unit, the operating states of the hybrid storage station and unit mutual exclusion, and switching between a unit’s pumping and generating conditions. To solve the dispatch model, we construct a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming model by adding new 0-1 variables and auxiliary variables, and use the Java-language Cplex solver. Application in a case study of the Wujiang River cascaded hydropower stations and related wind and solar energy demonstrates that our new dispatch model fully utilizes the flexible regulation capability of the hybrid storage stations, and it succeeds in increasing the utilization rate of the transmission channel, reducing power abandonment, and further enhancing the level of wind and solar energy consumption.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 44-60 [Abstract] ( 36 ) PDF (2009 KB) ( 131 )

	61	Estimating daily flow at river cross-sections by assimilating satellite altimetry data and hydrological model
		MA Qiumei, YE Xin, ZENG Ling, SONG Runfeng, LI Jiqing, JI Changming
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250506
		Satellite altimetry data offer a promising approach to the hydrological study of data-scarce regions, but the long revisit cycles limit its capability to collect daily data and its applicability to hydrological modeling and forecasting. By assimilating altimetry data into the Xin’anjiang hydrological model, this study presents a new high-accuracy, low-cost method for estimating the daily flow at river cross sections. We first retrieve the river’s water levels using the Sentinel-3A altimetry data and evaluate them against concurrent in-situ data, then integrate the empirical stage-discharge relationship to constrain the Xin’anjiang model. A case study of the Wujiang River basin demonstrates a high correlation coefficient (0.94) exists between the satellite-based water levels and their in-situ measurements. Under the constraint of altimetry data, the Xin’anjiang model has achieved the Kling-Gupta Efficiency values of 0.87 and 0.69 for calibration and validation, respectively. The Xin’anjiang model accuracy for high flow simulations constrained by altimetry water levels is considerably higher than that constrained by in-situ observed discharges. This study offers a new approach to help flood and drought disaster control and water resources management in data-scarce regions.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 61-71 [Abstract] ( 28 ) PDF (4313 KB) ( 153 )

	72	Study on impact of hydro-photovoltaic joint operation on ecological operation of cascade hydropower stations
		XU Yuqian, LI Peng, XU Tao, CAO Hai, PENG Qidong, LIN Junqiang
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250507
		Ecological operation of hydropower stations is an important means to achieve a harmony between hydropower resource utilization and ecological environment protection. As more new energy bases are built, the joint operation of large-scale hydro-photovoltaic will significantly change the operations of hydropower stations, potentially affecting their ecological operation in ecological periods. This paper develops a multi-objective, two-layer nested ecological operation model for cascade hydropower stations, and explores the impact of such joint operation on the ecological operation of the stations. In this model, the upper-level simulates the dispatching process of hydropower stations for multi-day continuous water level rising, while the lower-level simulates the intra-day dispatching process considering photovoltaic integration. We have applied it as a case study to the Xiluodu-Xiangjiaba cascade hydropower stations located on the lower Jinsha River mainstream. Its simulations show that in different typical hydrological years, the joint operation does not significantly affect the multi-day rising required by drift eggs-producing fish species, and it can achieve more than two effective water rising events, each lasting up to 6 days. Compared with single hydropower generation, it can reduce outflow fluctuations by 8.9% to 28.3%. The findings help formulate ecological regulation and optimization schemes for cascade hydropower stations and integrated new energy sources.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 72-83 [Abstract] ( 30 ) PDF (3646 KB) ( 126 )

	84	Implementation of non-reflective open boundary conditions in SWE-SPH method
		LIU Xinhua, GU Shenglong, TIAN Lirong
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250508
		Application of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) in solving the Shallow Water Equations (SWE) holds a great potential, particularly in the field of ocean numerical simulations, but the issues of the SWE-SPH method related to open boundaries remain unresolved. This study addresses the problem of reflection at an open boundary in previous SWE-SPH models, and describes a new method for treating non-reflective boundaries based on the Flather condition of gravity wave open boundaries. We evaluate the performance of this new boundary condition using three classical numerical simulation cases－steady flow over a bump, wave propagation of sea level perturbations in a flat-bottom channel with two open ends, and flow around a circular cylinder－and compare it with the conditions in the original method. Results indicate that for an open boundary, the new condition reduces its reflections effectively, allows propagating disturbances to cross it outward, and facilitates implementation of its external flow conditions specified. We have applied the improved SWE-SPH model to simulations of the Okushiri tsunami, and compared the results with those of the finite volume method. This proves it is applicable and effective in handling complicated depth and trans-critical flow simulations, thus expanding the scope of ocean numerical simulations.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 84-98 [Abstract] ( 47 ) PDF (6480 KB) ( 100 )

	99	MPM-DEM hierarchical multiscale method for macroscopic and microscopic analysis of deformation in rockfill dams
		AN Ni, ZHOU Wei, LI Yiao, WANG Di, MA Gang
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250509
		This study develops a new method for in-depth analysis of the deformation mechanism during the construction and operation of rockfill dams, using a hierarchical multiscale computational approach that couples the Material Point Method (MPM) with the Discrete Element Method (DEM). As a critical type of structure in hydraulic engineering, a rockfill dam features deformation that involves complicated interaction between its particle-scale behavior and the overall response of its body; Understanding the mechanism of its micromechanical deformation is crucial for safety assessment, design, and construction. Aiming at a comprehensive capture of the deformation characteristics of a rockfill dam, we first discretize its body into multiple representative volume elements (RVEs), then simulate its behavior at the particle scale and capture variations in local stress and particle contact force in its body. For the different stages of dam construction, analysis of the spatial distribution patterns of stress and deformation reveals a significant impact of reservoir water level changes on its deviatoric stress and particle contact behavior. In the completion stage, the maximum settlement feature points exhibit significant contact anisotropy, with denser force chains in the vertical direction, indicating a higher efficiency of stress transfer in this direction. As the water level rises, significant changes occur in the contact state and force chain distribution in the dam body, resulting in an increased horizontal anisotropy at the maximum settlement point, thereby enhancing the dam's resistance to water pressure. During the normal reservoir stage, particle contact on the upstream side of the main rockfill zone weakens, and the coordination number decreases. The multiscale method developed in this study overcomes the limitations of traditional analytical approaches, providing a new quantitative framework for the deformation prediction, long-term stability evaluation, and design optimization of rockfill dams.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 99-112 [Abstract] ( 48 ) PDF (5629 KB) ( 104 )

	113	Numerical simulation of progressive cracking in reinforced concrete liner of high-pressure gas storage cavern
		CUI Yuzhu, HU Wanrui, ZHOU Yuande, ZHANG Cunhui, DU Jing, ZHANG Guoqiang
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250510
		Reinforced concrete liner serves as a critical component in the structural integrity of artificially excavated underground gas storage caverns. Its cracking and deformation characteristics in response to the high internal gas pressure significantly affect the design and operational performance of the cavern’s sealing structure. This study adopts a fixed crack model for concrete simulations to evaluate the design of the reinforced concrete liner for a JQ high-pressure gas storage cavern in Gansu province. We first validate it against a four-point bending beam tests in literature, then conduct a series of numerical simulations of the non-linear fractures in the cavern liner, focusing on the progressive development of multiple cracks and their opening widths in response to gradually increase of gas pressure in the cavern. An analysis is also made on the effect of omitting the reinforcing measure and the effect of accounting for the hysteresis effect of concrete cracking on the liner￠s fracture response during the fluctuating cycles of internal pressure. The results show that the liner’s progressive cracking is characterized by a multi-crack distribution, predominantly distributed radially and extending through the entire liner thickness. Based on the design parameters for concrete and reinforcement, we attain the liner’s maximum crack opening controlled below 1 mm under an internal pressure of 18 MPa, and demonstrated the cycling of pressurization and depressurization in the cavern does not significantly deteriorate the crack opening in a reinforced concrete liner. The results deepen the understanding of liner cracking for the design of support structures and sealing layers of gas storage caverns, and help predict cavern liner cracking for service performance.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 113-124 [Abstract] ( 36 ) PDF (3526 KB) ( 105 )

	125	Define instability criterion of slope by change point analysis of cluster self-organizing maps
		LI Weihan, LEI Congyu, JIE Yuxin, ZHANG Bin
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250511
		The strength reduction method is widely used for slope stability analysis, and different instability criteria have their own characteristics. Among them, a simple and practical one is the mutation in the displacement reduction coefficient curve. This study uses cluster analysis to select the displacement mutation feature point, and identifies its mutation using the self-organizing neural network change point analysis method. Then, we suggest an improved criterion for this mutation. Such a fusion method－that clusters such an analysis－is more objective and mathematically based. For typical examples, safety factors calculated by this analysis method are closer to the judging values than those of the strength reduction method built in FLAC3D.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 125-132 [Abstract] ( 24 ) PDF (1176 KB) ( 117 )

	133	Intelligent detection model for multi-class underwater defects of water dams with weak computing power
		QIAN Ruiqin, TIAN Jinzhan, ZHU Yantao, HE Wang, DIAO Haolan, XU Lifu
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250512
		Water dams are prone to various types of damage under the coupled effects of external erosion and complex loads, particularly their underwater structural damage, which is often difficult to detect and requires timely monitoring to mitigate safety hazards. Previous deep learning-based methods for such damage detection suffer from limitations such as high computational demands and significant manual intervention, while commonly-used detecting devices tend to possess inadequate computational capabilities, leading to certain incompatibility. This paper presents a new intelligent detection model based on the YOLOv7 algorithm for multi-class underwater damage to water dams under the conditions of low computational capabilities. This model enhances the detection accuracy by integrating three intelligent modules－deformable convolution, SE attention mechanism, and MPDIoU loss function－and provides strong robustness for application in complicated underwater environments. It achieves lightweight operation through a structured pruning strategy at a ratio of 0.4, and reduces significantly computational power requirements. Analysis of engineering examples and comparison with the previous algorithms in literature shows that its floating-point computation and the number of its parameters are reduced by 48% and 61% respectively. It improves detection accuracy for exposed reinforcement bars and voids significantly by 18.7% and 11.9% respectively, and enhances the average detection accuracy for various types of damage by 8.3%, achieving the goal of accurate detection under the conditions of low computational resources.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 133-146 [Abstract] ( 46 ) PDF (5830 KB) ( 232 )

	147	Experiment on strain evolution of unsaturated hydraulic concrete subjected to freeze-thaw cycles
		HUANG Yaoying, FANG Chen, SHAO Chengyu, WU Xiaoya, SU Huaizhi
		DOI: 10.11660/slfdxb.20250513
		Concrete strain is an important physical quantity for quantitative characterization of concrete deterioration under freeze-thaw cycling, but previous freeze-thaw test methods are difficult to reflect the strain evolution law of unsaturated concrete under different minimum freeze-thaw temperatures. We design and conduct sealed freeze-thaw tests and water-freeze-thaw tests on the hydraulic concrete specimens in four different saturation ranges (70 - 80%, 85 - 91.7%, 91.7 - 95%, and 95 - 100%) and three different freeze-thaw cycling temperature ranges (-18 to 6 ℃, -10 to 6 ℃, and -5 to 6 ℃). Based on the strain measured by strain sensors embedded in the specimen, we examine the strain evolving process of hydraulic concrete during a full cycle, including variations in its residual strain, thermal expansion coefficient, and frost heave coefficient at different saturations and different minimum freeze-thaw temperatures. The results reveal that as the cycling number increases, a continuous and irreversible deterioration leads to the freeze-thaw damage of unsaturated sealed freeze-thaw specimens and water-freeze-thaw specimens. And the residual strain of the latter specimen set is larger than that of the former set, and the higher the saturation, the greater the residual strain. The thermal expansion coefficient varies slightly with the cycling number, and the freeze-heave coefficient increases with saturation and the cycling number. The difference of these two sets in thermal expansion coefficients is relatively small, while the frost heave coefficient of the water-freeze-thaw set is significantly greater.
		2025 Vol. 44 (5): 147-158 [Abstract] ( 26 ) PDF (3004 KB) ( 123 )