Author(s)

Xiaomeng Cao^1*, Zhenghua Gu²

¹College of Engineering, Zhejiang Open University, Hangzhou, China.
²College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Upon ship lift chamber docking with approach channel in the case of water level difference, water in chamber will fluctuate evidently. The maximum or minimum fluctuation of water surface is an important parameter to measure operational safety of ship lift. A simplified 3D mathematical model of ship lift chamber upon tumble gate opening was built based on standard k-ε model, FVM (Finite Volume Method) and VOF (Volume of Fluid) model. Based on π theorem, the dimensionless influencing factors of Δh_max/d and Δh_min/d were B/L, d/B and Δh/d. On this basis, 30 sets of working conditions were designed to respectively study the relationships between the maximum wave height and each influencing factor. Through regression analysis, the empirical formulas of Δh_max/d and Δh_min/d were obtained. Furthermore, taking into account the potential influence of the gate opening time on the wave height in practical applications, the relationship between the gate opening time and the error was fitted, and the modified empirical formulas of $\Delta {h^{\prime }}_{\max }/d$ and $\Delta {h^{\prime }}_{\min }/d$ were derived, which had a wider scope of application. The results have practical value for engineering design and security operation of ship lift.

Ship Lift, Chamber, Water Wave, VOF Model, FVM, CFD

Cao, X. and Gu, Z. (2025) Calculation on Fluctuation of Water Surface in Ship Lift Chamber under Water Level Difference. Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics, 13, 429-444. doi: 10.4236/jamp.2025.132022.