Free Vibration Characteristics of a Rectangular Lock Gate Structure Considering Fluid-Structure Interaction

The free vibration characteristics of a vertical rectangular lock gate considering the fluid-structure interaction effects between the gate and the reservoir are studied. The gate is connected to an infinitely long rigid dam supporting a reservoir that extends to an infinitely large distance in the upstream direction. The fluid is assumed to be inviscid, incompressible and the reservoir bottom is assumed to be horizontal and rigid. Finite element technique is used to solve this interaction problem and in the modeling of the reservoir, the far boundary is placed at a closer proximity to the structure by developing a boundary condition to simulate the far boundary for achieving computational efficiency. The eigenfrequencies of the gate are computed for both clamped and simply supported edge conditions and the effects of the flexibility of the gate, presence of the fluid beyond all sides of the gate and the free surface wave are investigated.