Author(s): K. Verelst; J. Vercruysse; T. De Mulder

Linked Author(s): Tom De Mulder, Kristof Verelst

Keywords: Navigation lock; Filling and emptying system; Numerical modelling

Abstract: Abstract: To assess the longitudinal force on a ship in a lock chamber in a design phase, mostly numerical modelling is carried out. This paper compares the longitudinal forces on a ship in the lock chamber computed with the programs VUL＿SLUIS, LOCKFILL, LOCKSIM and DELFT3D. Therefore, 16 cases of levelling a lock chamber are selected, differing in lock type, ship type, type of levelling operation, the type of openings in the lock gate and the valve type. These cases are simulated with the four considered programs. The variation in time of the computed discharge through the openings in the lock gate, the computed water level in the lock chamber, and levelling times are only briefly discussed, while the computed longitudinal forces on the ship in the lock chamber are discussed in detail. When the lock is emptied or when the filling of the lock is dominated by translatory waves, the four different programs compute comparable forces on the ship in the lock chamber. For filling a lock when multiple force components are relevant, higher forces are computed with VUL＿SLUIS and LOCKFILL, being comparable to each other, than those computed with LOCKSIM and DELFT3D, also being comparable to each other. The frequency analysis of the predicted time series of longitudinal forces shows that the spectrum corresponding to VUL＿SLUIS, LOCKFILL and LOCKSIM is characterized by the presence of the same peak frequency components.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15142/T3KD2H

Year: 2018