Numerical Simulation of Dynamic Responses of a Radial Gate Under Ship Impact Loadings

Increasing river traffic has led to frequent collisions between uncontrolled ships and hydraulic infrastructures. A dam typically has some spillways for flood-discharge purposes and there is a possibility that one of the gates of the surface spillways is impacted by an uncontrolled ship. This work uses the acoustic–solid coupling method to numerically simulate ship collisions with a radial gate under varying ship speeds and weights. The energy absorption mechanism, load transfer paths, and dynamic responses of the gate are analyzed in different collision scenarios. It is shown that the simulation results with a grid size of 0.2[Formula: see text]m are consistent with those with the empirical formula, thus validating the reliability of the employed calculation method. The calculation results indicate that the radial gate mainly undergoes plastic deformation in ship collision events. The longitudinal beams and faceplate of the gate serve as the primary energy-absorbing components while the diagonal braces are crucial for maintaining the structural stability. It is found that a typical load transfer path in the gate in ship collision events is: faceplate [Formula: see text] main beams [Formula: see text] support arms [Formula: see text] hinge supports. The results of this work support the idea that the radial gate has adequate collision resistance in general ship impact events with routine ship speeds and weights.