Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)

ISSN: 2278-0181
TITCON-2015 Conference Proceedings

Analytical study on Self Closing Flood Barrier

using ANSYS
L. Krishnan1, A. Mugesh1, S. Pradeep Kumar2,R. Manivannan3
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Knowledge Institute of Technology, Salem
1
Student -UG, Department of Civil Engineering, Knowledge Institute of Technology, Salem
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Knowledge Institute of Technology, Salem
3
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, AVS Engineering College, Salem

Abstract— Almost every decades extreme high flood events were

randomly occurred in our Country which caused the loss of human 2 SIGNIFICANCE
lives, land values and infrastructures that created a negative impact
on human being such as discomfort living and threat to survival of  Infallible.
existence. In order to mitigate the effects that arises during flooding
 Fully automatic deployment.
and provoke a preventive system to safeguard the properties a Self
Closing Flood Barrier (SCFB) has to be implemented in flood risk  Instant deployment just prior to threat of floodwater.
areas. The objectives of the present paper work are (i) To create  No human intervention and save man power.
awareness among people about SCFB (ii) To create Analytical model  Zero operational cost.
using ANSYS by choosing aluminium metal as barrier on compare  No need of power source.
with steel. The barrier was modeled using solid work ANSYS work-  Minimal maintenance.
bench and hydraulic pressure were given on to the SCFB to stimu-
late the stress strain behavior. It was found that ANSYS is capable  Permanently on site.
of simulating the actual experimental test procedures in better way
and it minimize the cost of testing, electicity and manpower to great 3 MATERIALS USED
extent.
Aluminum metal is preferred which gives economic design and
Index Terms—Self Closing Flood Barrier, ANSYS, Aluminium is light weight. The operation of the wall in a riverside is by
metal, Hydraulic pressure. means of a rubber gasket. The aluminum lid closes off the basin
to prevent any inflow of waste or debris Supported by welded
1. INTRODUCTION support plates on the exterior [2]. The flood wall itself is made
from polyester, with a thickness of 4 – 8 mm. It is laminated in a
Since over the past decades several techniques have been pro- climate controlled hall with permanent humidity and temperature
posed by many researchers regarding the flood defence system control to guarantee a consistent lamination process. In order to
but none of the techniques have proven to be highly effective minimize collision damage by flotsam, the flood wall is protected
.Because of their own inherent limitations associated with each by Kevlar with high impact strength. The flood wall is reinforced
technique. The Self Closing Flood Barrier (SCFB) overcomes all by laminated strips[6], and is filled with a polyurethane foam
the issues associated with these are older-generation flood de- core which forms an extremely strong and impact resistant con-
fences. In operational use globally since 1998 the SCFB is ac- struction.
claimed as the world’s most effective flood protection system
[1].It gains importance to surround low lying buildings like 4 THEORETICAL STUDY
pumping station and to protect critical infrastructure like power
A site survey will be necessary for quotation purposes and in
stations. Also, it extends its applicability to a roadway for heavy
the event of a project going ahead, a more detailed survey should
traffic loads and entrance of underground cark parks which pre-
be undertaken for manufacturing and installation details. Initially
vent the entry of extreme flood level. The stress analysis in the
a layout drawing will be prepared to show the location and the
field of structural mechanics is invariable complex and for the
overall dimensions of a proposed SCFB for quotation purposes.
many engineering problems and is extremely difficult and tedious
Where the project involves a riverside location it may be possible
to obtain analytical solution. In this situation, most of the practi-
to use gravity. ` The Drainage is to empty and the service pit
cal problems are solved by numerical methods, which provide
when flooding recedes. This will depend on the relative levels of
approximate but acceptable solution. With the advent of comput-
the normal water level and the adjacent ground level. The SCFB
ers, one of the most powerful techniques that has emerged from
sections are in standard lengths of 1 meter which may be
the realm of engineering analysis is the finite element method. In
linked together. The use of pillars can facilitate changes of direc-
modern design practice, with the advent of large and fast modern
tion or deviations from a straight line in the run of the barrier.
digital computers and advancement in numerical techniques, so-
The fig.1 represents the section view of the barrier with concrete
lutions to various static and dynamic problems has become fast
basin.
and efficient.

Volume 3, Issue 16 Published by, www.ijert.org 1

 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
TITCON-2015 Conference Proceedings

rest in position within the basin. In its closed resting position,

the lid of the barrier seals to prevent the in flood waste or debris.
The Fig.5 shows Hydrostatic ensures the barriers stay in until
flood subsides

Fig.3 Normal water level with flood barrier recessed in ground.

Fig. 1 Section view of the barrier with service pit

The route of the barrier therefore needs to be defined and divided

into suitable section lengths up to 50 linear meter. Where a barri-
er is to protect a building entrance or drive-way. Top of the barri-
er installation will be at ground level when not in use. The ser-
vice pit will require pumped drainage with a built-in pumping
system, associated level switches and alarms if required. The
fig.2 represents barrier installation in the underground surface.
For these projects, datum level sand gradients are important in
ensuring that the installation provides full protection against
Fig.4 Flood waters fill chambers and force flood barrier to raise pressure
flood conditions.

Fig.2 Barrier installation in the underground surface.

Fig.5 Hydrostatic ensures the barriers stay in until flood subsides.

4.1 Principle of working

Following installation and in non-flood conditions all operation- 5 ANALYTICAL STUDY
al parts of the barrier are invisibly concealed in the ground in- Based on the theoretical investigation studied, SCFB has been
side its basin. When floodwater rises to within 10 cm below the modeled using ANSYS work bench version 13 which follows the
pre-flood level enclosed basin, which houses the floating wall principle of Finite Element Analysis. The hydrostatic pressure are
starts to fill up through an inlet pipe from the adjacent flood pit. given on the structure which is taken from standard data[flood
The fig.3 represents the normal water level with flood barrier data]. The structure is analyzed for maximum hydrostatic pres-
recessed in ground. sure about 80 N/mm2 and fluid density is kept as 1000 kg/m3 .
The flood wall floats and rises. When the basin is totally filled, The corresponding stress strain characteristics were studied. The
into position making it watertight. The fig.4 shows the flood wa- barrier are made with aluminium alloy material[8] corresponding
ter fills chamber. behavior were depicted using ANSYS. The SCFB model is
The floodwater can now continue to rise without flooding the shown in fig.6 The dimension details are shown in table 1.
protected area. As the water level subsides back to its normal
level, the flood water in the basin is drained by a pump located
the flood [3]. As the water leaves the basin, wall returns to its

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 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
TITCON-2015 Conference Proceedings

6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The SCFB was tested for critical hydrostatic pressure and the
deformation and stress –strain characterstics were studied. It was
found that aluminium alloy made SCFB has attained a maximum
total deformation as 1.4 mm and the maximum total strain was 4
x 10-3 .The maximum stress was observed about 24.5 N/mm2.
The fig.8 shows the maximum total deformation characterstics
and the fig.9 shows the maximum total stress recorded and the
fig.10 shows the maximum strain occurred.

Fig.6 SCFB Model

Table 1. Dimension details of SCFB

S.No Length in (m) Direction co-ordinates

1 1.8 m x
2 7.6961 m Y
3 6. m z

4.1ANSYS Analysis
Fig. 8 Maximum total deformation of SCFB (Aluminium alloy)
The SCFB was analysed by considering the boundary condition
of bottom surface as rigid[7]. The barrier is modeled as friction-
aless. The Aluminium alloy material was used for barrier and the
corresponding deformation and stress strain behavior were stud-
ied. The fig.7 shows the meshed test specimen of SCFB.

Fig. 9 Maximum total stress in SCFB (Aluminium alloy)

Fig. 7 Meshed Test Specimen of SCFB

The test specimen was analysed by considering static structural

analysis system. Since the hydrostatic pressure are peak at bottom
of barrier which was required to raise the structure such that the
pressure was given at bottom surface of barrier. Also after the
barrier got closed, the water remain at the top surface and the
corresponding deformation and stress-strain behavior were stud-
ied from ANSYS. It was found that the barrier has attained full
raised position after giving 80 MPa and barrier got locked and the
total deformation and stress concentration were measured.

Volume 3, Issue 16 Published by, www.ijert.org 3

 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
TITCON-2015 Conference Proceedings

8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors of the present paper work acknowledge Prof. Selva-
kumar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Knowledge Insti-
tute of Technology, Salem for his support towards ANSYS stimu-
lation.

8 REFERENCES

[1] Passive flood defense system, unpublished

[2] O.P.Khanna,” Material Science and Metallurgy”, Dhanpat Rai Publication
(P) Ltd. New Delhi, India, 1999.
[3] Syed R. Qasim, Edward Motley and Guang Zhu, “Water Works Engineer-
ing” – PHI learning private limited, New Delhi, India, 2012.
[4] B.C.Punmia, Ashok Kumar Jain, Arun Kumar Jain, “Soil Mechanics and
Foundtions” R.K. Gupta of Publications (P) Ltd. New Delhi, India, 2005.
[5] R.K.Bansal, “Fluid Mechanics”, Laxmi Publications (P) Ltd. New Delhi,
India, 1983.
[6] Banks, W.M.,and Rhodes, j.,(1983) The Instability of Composite Sections
Fig. 10 Maximum total strain in SCFB (Aluminium alloy) ,2nd Int. conf. On Composite structures, Paisley , U.K, Elsevier,442-452 .
[7] ANSYS (Workbench) Software Version 13.0 for Analytical Structure Model-
ling.
[8] Aluminium Alloy Structures,Pitman Publishing Ltd., London, UK Preftitsi
F.,Baniotopoulos P.D.(1997).
7 CONCLUSION
An analytical investigation has been made on SCFB by consider-
ing the aluminium alloy metal as barrier. The SCFB has been
analysed using ANSYS work bench with theoretical background
and the following conclusions were drawn.

 The SCFB has the capacity to withstand a hydrostatic pres-

sure of 80 N/mm2 and works without the use of manpower
and electricity.
 The maximum deformation recorded on SCFB was 1.4 mm
and maximum stress – strain values are 24.5 N/mm2 and
0.0004.
 The aluminium metal being less economic than steel has
been utilized and this construction techniques would help to
safeguard human lives in coastal and flooded areas by
providing optimum protection against extremt high flood
events.
 Thus ANSYS is capable of stimulating the actual behavior
and save the time and cost of realtime experiments to bring
results in better way.

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