An official website of the United States government
Abstract Manhole covers are potential “dancers”. They may leave their resting state and start “dancing”. They may hover, move up and down, tilt, rotate, bounce, make noise, flip over, or even fly up into the air. In general, their motion looks chaotic, probably due to the nonlinear dynamics governing the system. The authors have previously derived basic models of dancing manhole covers covering the translational vertical motion of free covers and the rotational motion of hinged covers. In the current contribution the basic model is extended with tilting (without hinge) and bouncing behavior. Some fundamental problems and assumptions are discussed. Preliminary numerical results are shown together with 3D visualizations. Scientific curiosity into a mysterious phenomenon has been the motivation for this study. The obtained equations governing the manhole cover’s motion may serve as boundary conditions in hydraulic-pneumatic models of sewer-manhole systems (think of geysering and ventilation).
more »
« less
DANCING MANHOLE-COVER BASICS
A manhole is a shaft that functions as an access point to the underground infrastructure and is covered with a very heavy lid, sometimes weighing more than 100 kg. Occasionally a strange phenomenon occurs in which such a manhole cover is lifted above its opening and sort of dances on or above its supporting ring without any human intervention. This usually happens when it is stormy with heavy rainfall, but it is not tied to one specific location. Videos from all over the world can be found on the internet showing such ’dancing manhole covers’. Sometimes air seems to be the main driving force behind the behavior, sometimes water, and sometimes both. Although the videos are funny, the behavior can create a very dangerous situation for both traffic and pedestrians. In this report, the cause of these ’dancing manhole covers’ is studied. The ’dancing’ is simplified into two different problems: one with an overflow of air and one with an overflow of water. For both problems a simple model consisting of differential equations is proposed and the numerical results are studied. The problem with an overflow of air is driven by an influx of air into the manhole from below, resulting in an increase in pressure, which lifts up the cover, until air is allowed to escape, and the pressure decreases again. Two different approaches for the escaping discharge of air are tried. The overflow of water is driven by a constant pressure that is exerted on a water column inside the manhole. Furthermore, a solution to the dancing problem is proposed: attaching the manhole cover to the ground with a hinge. This solution is tested by using a similar model as the one used for the overflow of air.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2048607
- PAR ID:
- 10326567
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASME 2022 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
The storm sewer geyser is a process where an air–water mixture violently erupts from a manhole. Despite the low hydrostatic pressure, violent eruptions can achieve a height of tens of meters above the ground. This current study experimentally investigates large-scale violent geysers using a large air pocket inserted from a pressurized air tank. The total length of the pipe system is approximately 88 m with a 0.1572 m diameter pipe. This large-scale experiment facilitates the investigation of spontaneous geyser eruptions. This study identifies the role of air–water volume ratio and coefficient of pressure (ratio of absolute initial static pressure to initial dynamic pressure) on the geyser intensity using eruption images and pressure plots. A total of 116 cases are tested, in which the volume ratio is parametrically increased from 0 to 1.1 under various operating conditions. A geyser score is defined to quantify the geyser eruption nature based on visual observations. The key findings are as follows: first, a sharp transition in geyser intensity is observed at the critical volume ratio of 0.5, and pre-transition and post-transition intensity exhibit a linear relationship with the volume ratio; and second, the critical volume ratio linearly varies with the coefficient of pressure.more » « less
-
Transient flows in stormwater systems can lead to damaging and dangerous operational conditions, as exemplified by geysering events created by the uncontrolled release of entrapped air pockets. Extreme rain and associated rapid inflows may result in air pocket entrapment, which causes significant changes in flow conditions and potentially geysering. Stormwater geysers have been studied in different experimental and numerical modeling studies, as well as from limited data gathered within real systems. However, there is still no complete understanding of geysering events, as stormwater system geometries vary considerably. Most past studies involved releasing air from an intermediate shaft, in which a significant fraction of the entrapped air may bypass the release. This work advances the understanding of geysering by considering uncontrolled air release through an upstream shaft or manhole. In such cases, the entire air pocket is released upon reaching the shaft, worsening the occurrence of geysering. Pressure and water level measurements were performed for various combinations of initial water pressure, trapped air pocket volume, and vertical shaft geometries, indicating the higher severity of these geysering events. The results obtained also corroborate previous studies in that the measured pressure heads were lower than the grade elevation. Future studies should include larger-scale testing and the representation of this geometry using CFD.more » « less
-
Abstract Antarctic lakes with perennial ice covers provide the opportunity to investigate in-lake processes without direct atmospheric interaction, and to study their ice-cover sensitivity to climate conditions. In this study, a numerical model – driven by radiative, atmospheric and turbulent heat fluxes from the water body beneath the ice cover – was implemented to investigate the impact of climate change on the ice covers from two Antarctic lakes: west lobe of Lake Bonney (WLB) and Crooked Lake. Model results agreed well with measured ice thicknesses of both lakes (WLB – RMSE= 0.11 m over 16 years of data; Crooked Lake – RMSE= 0.07 m over 1 year of data), and had acceptable results with measured ablation data at WLB (RMSE= 0.28 m over 6 years). The differences between measured and modeled ablation occurred because the model does not consider interannual variability of the ice optical properties and seasonal changes of the lake's thermal structure. Results indicate that projected summer air temperatures will increase the ice-cover annual melting in WLB by 2050, but that the ice cover will remain perennial through the end of this century. Contrarily, at Crooked Lake the ice cover becomes ephemeral most likely due to the increase in air temperatures.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)An ocean swell refers to a train of periodic or nearly periodic waves. The wave train can propagate on the free surface of a body of water over very long distances. A great deal of the current study in the dynamics of water waves is focused on ocean swells. These swells are typically created initially in the neighborhood of an ocean storm, and then the swell propagates away from the storm in all directions. We consider a different kind of wave, called seas, which are created by and driven entirely by wind. These waves typically have no periodicity, and can rise and fall with changes in the wind. Specifically, this is a two-fluid problem, with air above a moveable interface, and water below it. We focus on the local dynamics at the air-water interface. Various properties at this locality have implications on the waves as a whole, such as pressure differentials and velocity profiles. The following analysis provides insight into the dynamics of seas, and some of the features of these intriguing waves, including a process known as white-capping.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- The DOI is not currently available.
