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What
is Visual Hydraulics?
Visual
Hydraulics is a state of the art, flexible hydraulic analysis
tool. It is used primarily for modeling the hydraulic
characteristics of water and wastewater treatment plants, and is
capable of analyzing entire hydraulic profiles. The program
follows the traditional method for analyzing water surface profiles:
a downstream control point is selected, and the hydraulic profile is
then determined upstream of that control point.
What
can Visual Hydraulics model?
Visual
Hydraulics covers most of the hydraulic features typically
encountered in a treatment plant application. A user may
analyze the following features: full flow pipes, open channels
(rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, circular), tanks,
orifice/baffle/gate(s), weirs (v-notch, rectangular, sharp crested,
Cipolletti, contracted, and broad crested), flumes (Parshall,
rectangular, trapezoidal, cutthroat), racks/screening devices, tank
launders, filter media, contraction/enlargements, and Venturi
meters. Submerged weir and flume analysis is also included.
Other
Features
In
addition to the standard hydraulic features that may be analyzed
with Visual Hydraulics, other special
features are available that offer the designer additional
flexibility. The special loss tool allows the designer to
formulate head loss equations for any hydraulic feature if the
hydraulic behavior of that feature is known. The program takes
user supplied flow vs. head loss points and formulates a best-fit
head loss equation using regression analysis. This equation
can then be applied to the hydraulic profile. The flow split
analysis tool allows the designer to analyze how flow will be split
between unequal sets of pipes or weirs. The designer provides
the overall flow and characteristics of each pipe or weir in the
system, and the program uses an iterative method to determine what
flow values through each pipe or weir will create an equal head loss
or head value for the overall flow. In addition, a
manifold/diffuser tool is provided that performs the full hydraulic
analysis of diffuser type systems, such as outfalls or trickling
filter distributors.
Program
Modes
Although the
default mode for this program is the “full profile” mode, the
user may also analyze any unit individually, or in “individual
section” mode. In full profile mode the program will analyze
an entire hydraulic profile, while in individual section mode
sections can be analyzed separately and independently of the current
hydraulic profile. The user may switch between either mode
during design.
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