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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). 

Urban expansion and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events bring new challenges to stormwater collection systems. One underrecognized issue is the occurrence of transient flow conditions that lead to adverse multiphase flow interactions (AMFI): essentially, the formation, collapse, and uncontrolled release of air pockets within stormwater system flows. While the fundamental physics of AMFI have been evaluated in laboratory experiments and idealized modeling studies, much less is known about their development in real or simulated stormwater networks, and about the roles played by rainfall and network properties. A necessary precursor to AMFI is the development of pressurized flow conditions within a network. The goal of this study is to understand how spatiotemporal rainfall variability affects the occurrence of pressurized conditions in a stormwater drainage network in the Richmond district of San Francisco, California. High-resolution bias-corrected radar rainfall fields for 24 recent storms were used as the independent variable of EPA-SWMM simulations. Model analyses indicate that the incidence of pressurized flow increases with storm intensity and is more sensitive to rainfall temporal variability than spatial variability. This research provides a reference for analyzing AMFI precursors in other networks and may have important implications for the improvement of stormwater infrastructures. 

Transient flow models are expected to represent rapid flow changes, whereby acceleration and deceleration significantly influence energy dissipation. Such effects on energy dissipation can be expressed in terms of unsteady friction (UF) losses, which is a well-established process for closed-pipe flow models, but not in the context of mixed-flow models. Mixed flow refers to flow conditions where pressurized and free-surface flow regimes coexist or transition between each other within the same system. Many water systems experience significant flow acceleration and deceleration while in mixed-flow conditions, but current models have only the ability to account for these effects through steady roughness terms. This work builds from existing modeling approaches to adapt mixed-flow models based on the Saint-Venant equations that incorporate unsteady friction losses. The approach used to incorporate unsteady friction losses is a modification of a well-established formula based on local acceleration and spatial velocity gradient. The proposed numerical model, referred to as SVUF, is compared with three experimental data sets, and the results were improved, particularly for longer-duration flow simulations. 

The EPA’s StormWater Management Model (SWMM) has been applied across the globe for citywide stormwater modeling due to its robustness and versatility. Recent research indicated that SWMM, with proper setup, can be applied in the description of more dynamic flow conditions, such as rapid inflow conditions. However, stormwater systems often have geometric discontinuities that can pose challenges to SWMM model accuracy, and this issue is poorly explored in the current literature. The present work evaluates the performance of SWMM 5 in the context of a real-world stormwater tunnel with a geometric discontinuity. Various combinations of spatiotemporal discretization are systematically evaluated along with four pressurization algorithms, and results are benchmarked with another hydraulic model using tunnel inflow simulations. Results indicated that the pressurization algorithm has an important effect on SWMM’s accuracy in conditions of sudden diameter changes. From the tested pressurization algorithms, the original Preissmann slot algorithm was the option that yielded more representative results for a wider range of spatiotemporal discretizations. Regarding spatiotemporal discretization options, intermediate discretization, and time steps that lead to Courant numbers equal to one performed best. Interestingly, the traditional SWMM’s link-node approach also presented numerical instabilities despite having low continuity errors. Results indicated that although SWMM can be effective in simulating rapid inflow conditions in tunnels, situations with drastic geometric changes need to be carefully evaluated so that modeling results are representative. 

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. 

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.