2025 Volume 81 Issue 16 Article ID: 24-16144
The structures of the forced circulation flow generated by a pump and the associated sediment transport characteristics were investigated by hydraulic model experiments and the three-dimensional numerical analysis for a square planar tank and a rectangular tank that simulate an aquaculture farm. In case of square shaped basin, one large recirculation cell is generated. On the other hand, two recirculation cells are generated in cases of rectangular shaped water basin with the aspect ratio 2:1. The accumulation area of sediment is affected by the secondary current of the first kind due to the unbalance of the centrifugal force associated with the recirculation flows. The scale of the secondary flow cells increases as the depth increases. If the pump discharge is enough large to exert enough traction form larger than the critical value, the deposition area becomes smaller as the depth increases. The accumulation area changes after the stop of the pump due to the change of the recirculation flow pattern in case of the rectangular shaped basin.
