Chaotic Characteristic Analysis of Spillway Radial Gate Vibration under Discharge Excitation

This paper aims to assess the nonlinear vibration of a radial gate induced by flood discharge; the measured acceleration response data of a spillway radial gate are analyzed using the chaos theory. The results show that the vibration responses of the gate at three opening heights present clear chaotic characteristics, and the chaotic characteristics of the lower main beam point are greater than other points. Moreover, the y-direction (vertical) correlation dimensions of the three measuring points on the supporting arm are larger than those of the x-direction (axial) and z-direction (lateral). The vertical vibration of the supporting arm is more complex and presents more uncertainties, which should be paid attention to in the literature. Under three different gate opening heights, the maximum Lyapunov exponent of each measuring point ranges from 0.0246 to 0.0681. In addition, the flow fluctuation load is the main excitation source of the gate vibration chaotic characteristics.