Design Of High-span Hydraulic Radial Gate With Three Supports By Topology Optimization

Hydraulic steel radial gates are widely used because of its big closed region, easy operation, small embedded part and short gate pier. In the design of a hydraulic steel radial gate by traditional method, it is often simplified into a plane system or a simple spatial system. Due to such simplification, the final steel gate has a poor load transmission path. Meanwhile, the structure is overweight, which results in both of higher construction cost and hard operation. In practical engineering, the buckling failure of hydraulic radial gates happens more often than other failure modes. It is also mainly because of the defect of traditional design approach.Structural topology optimization is the state-of-the-art of structural optimization theory. It is a powerful tool to give a conceptual design of a structure. In this study, we try to find a new type of high-span hydraulic steel radial gate with three supports using topology optimization theory. Firstly, the optimal configurations of the supporting components, e.g., frame with vertical and horizontal ribs, arms and their connections, are obtained by topology optimization. Secondly, the whole structure is assembled by using these supporting components and face slab. Thirdly, the size optimization of the structure is carried out. In size optimization, the purpose is to reduce the weight of structure which satisfies such constraints as deformation, stress, natural vibration frequency and loading factor of buckling. Fourthly, the safety operation of the structure under other loading conditions is checked. Finally, the effect drawing of the three-supported steel radial gate is obtained by using software Keyshot.In the design process, Hyperworks, a type of numerical simulation software, is applied in modeling, optimization and post processing. Especially, the weld elements are used to connect the neighbor components. Hence, the structural stiffness in simulation matches that of the true structure better. After size optimization, in the final structure, the maximum stress is 279Mpa<345MPa, maximum displacement is 19.3mm<20mm, the first order buckling factor is 1.58>1.5 and the first order frequency of vibration is 10.6Hz>3.5Hz. Meanwhile, 6.3% of self-weight is reduced.