Numerical-based studies on hydraulic vibration of pipe flow in hydropower systems

Hydraulic vibrations of pipe flow in hydropower stations cause stability and reliability issues, or can result in local damage and operating accidents in hydraulic, structural, mechanical, electrical and associated power systems. Based on a comprehensive analysis focusing on hydraulic vibration in water conveyance system and relevant instability issues, key advances in numerical-based hydraulic vibration analysis for water conveyance systems are presented, including improved evaluation of hydraulic vibration characteristics, and new analytical models for pipe flow and analytical simulation of self-excited vibration; furthermore, the vibration reduction mechanism of the surge tank is concisely analysed. In addition, reliability-based hydraulic vibration analysis is preliminarily discussed. This detailed exploration helps to reveal the hydraulic vibration characteristics of the water conveyance system and then solve the possible hydraulic vibration problems, and shows that it is important to include hydraulic vibration analysis in engineering design.