NEWS/EVENTS
Congratulations! Mr. Bin PAN has Completed his PhD Thesis Examination
September 08, 2022
Mr. Bin PAN, a PhD candidate in our group, has completed the oral examination for his thesis about "Transient Wave Characterization and Utilization for Viscoelastic Pipeline Analysis and Diagnosis". Congratulations!
2022 Karl Emil Hilgard Hydraulic Prize by ASCE
January 15, 2022
Dr. H.F. Duan, as one of Co-Authors in a research paper on the ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (by Jane Alexander, Zhao Li, Pedro Lee, Mark Davidson, & Huan-Feng Duan), won the 2022 Karl Emil Hilgard Hydraulic Prize from ASCE.
This prize was instituted in 1939 as a result of an endowment left to the Society for the purpose by Karl Emil Hilgard, M.ASCE.
Appointment as SCI Journal Co-Editor-in-Chief
December 20, 2021
Dr. HF Duan has been appointed as Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Top SCI Journal: Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics (EACFM) (IF-2020 = 8.391, Top 5% JCR Q1).
Group Activity: Hiking to Tung Ping Chau
November 28, 2021
Our Hydraulics Unit had a group hiking on 28th Nov 2021 to the Tung Ping Chau (東平洲), which is the easternmost outlying island of Hong Kong. This crescent-shaped island is a part of the Hong Kong GeoPark and is famous for various strange rocks formation...
Group Activity: Hiking to Lamma Island
October 31, 2021
We had our regular group hiking on 31st Oct 2021 to the Lamma Island, located in the southwest of Hong Kong. The Lamma Island is the third largest island in Hong Kong, which is peaceful and tranquil with an abundance of natural scenery...
Congratulations! Ms Yang has Completed her Thesis Defence
September 08, 2021
Ms. Hui YANG, a PhD candidate in our group, has completed the oral examination for her thesis "Fluid Effects on the Interaction of Waves with Rock joints". Congratulations!
Congratulations on Publishing Monograph / Book
July 01, 2021
Dr. H.F. Duan and his collaborators published a textbook/monograph (1st edition, in Chinese), titled "Hydraulic simulation technology and engineering application of transient flows in urban water supply networks" by the China Water & Power Press, 01 July 2021.
Willi H. Hager JHR Best Reviewer Award by IAHR
July 01, 2021
Dr. H.F. Duan won the 2021 Willi H. Hager JHR Best Reviewer Award for his outstanding reviews during the period 2019-2020 for IAHR Journal of Hydraulic Research (IF-2020 = 2.568).
Appointment as SCI Journal Associate Editor
April 20, 2020
Dr. HF Duan was appointed as Associate Editor for the Journal AQUA – Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society (The Original Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology - AQUA, IF2019 = 1.319).
Go Hiking in Cape D'Aguilar Peninsula (Hok Tsui)
January 13, 2020
We had our regular group hiking on 14th Jan 2020 in the Cape D'Aguilar (Hok Tsui). The Cape D'Aguilar is a very beautiful Peninsula located in the Eastern Hong Kong, which is environmentally protected by setting the area as Cape D'Aguilar Marine Reserve.
Congratulations! Mr Che has Completed his Thesis Defence
August 21, 2019
Mr. T.C. Che, a PhD candidate in our group, has finished the oral examination for his thesis “Transient Wave Behavior in Water Pipes with Non-uniform Blockages”. Congratulations!
Congratulations! Ms Wang has Completed her Thesis Defence
August 18, 2019
Ms. M.L. Wang, an MSc student in our group, has finished the oral examination for her thesis “Transient-based Characterization and Detection of Different Pipe Defects in Urban Water Supply Pipelines”. Congratulations!
Congratulations! Ms Li has Completed her Thesis Defence
September 18, 2018
Ms. F. Li, a PhD candidate in our group, has finished the oral examination for her thesis “Understanding and Modelling of Transient Air-water Flows in Urban Stormwater Drainage Systems”. Congratulations!
Congratulations! Mr Chen has Completed his Thesis Defence
August 15, 2018
Mr. K.Y. Chen, an Mphil candidate in our group, has finished the oral examination for his thesis “Stochastic Modeling and Uncertainty Investigation of Unsteady Open Channel Flows”. Congratulations!
The 1st Unsteady Two-phase Flow Workshop in Tianjin University
July 03, 2018
The 1st International Workshop on Unsteady Two-phase Flow and Its Applications, held on July 4, 2018, in Tianjin University, China. Dr Duan was invited to give a talk "On the Interaction of Pipe Fluid Transients with Air Pockets/Blockages".
Go Hiking in Dragon's Back
April 10, 2018
We had our group hiking on this Wednesday (from To Tei Wan Village --> Shek O Peak --> Dragon’s Back --> Tai Long Wan). This undulating path with fluttering butterflies, a refreshing breeze and open vistas makes for an enjoyable hike.
Outstanding Reviewer Award by IOP
January 31, 2018
Dr. H.F. Duan was awarded as the Outstanding Reviewer in 2017 for IOP Journal of Measurement Science and Technology (launched in 1923; IF-2016 = 1.585).
RESEARCH
June 30, 2023
Awarded A NEW RGC-GRF Research Project (no. 15201523)
Hydraulic transients in water supply pipelines: high frequency wave behaviors
Dr. H.F. Duan was awarded a new research project to conduct the fundamental research on high frequency transient wave behaviors in water supply pipelines. This project was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), with research duration of three years from 2024 to 2026.
February, 2023
Paper Accepted/Published on Journal of Fluid Mechanics (JFM) (IF-2021 = 4.245)
Experimental study on the combined effects of patch density and elongation on wake structure behind a rectangular porous patch
This paper presents an experimental study on how both variable solid volume fractions and aspect ratios (length/width) of a center-channel rectangular porous patch under aligned configuration of rigid and emergent stems impact the flow behavior and wake structure...Three nondimensional threshold maps can be established to express the combined effects of solid volume fraction and aspect ratio on the initiation of wake vortex street...
January, 2023
Awarded A NEW RGC-CRF (Young CRG) Research Project (no. C5002-22Y)
Coastal Urban Flooding under Climate Change: Evolution Mechanisms and Intelligent Analysis
Dr. H.F. Duan was awarded a new and large-scale research project (as PC) to conduct the collaborative research (with HKUST and HKU) on addressing coastal urban flooding issues under climate change. This CRF project is funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), with a total funding of about HK$ 4.2 million for three years from 2023 to 2026.
December, 2022
Paper Published on Water Resources Research (WRR) (IF-2021 = 6.159)
Uncertainty Quantification of Transient-Based Leakage Identification: A Frequency Domain Framework
This study quantifies the uncertainty of the frequency domain multiple leak detection subjected to uncertain Gaussian, independent, and identically distributed measurements. To this end, a systematic methodology based on the Monte Carlo simulations and probing waves is carried out to examine and verify the proposed formulations and corresponding outcomes, leading to an in-depth analysis of interactions between probing waves and leaks...
December, 2022
Paper Published on Journal of Hydrology (IF-2021 = 6.708)
Global sensitivity analysis of bioretention cell design for stormwater system: a comparison of VARS framework and Sobol method
This paper illustrates and compares two global sensitivity analysis methods (i.e., VARS and Sobol) for the identification of influential parameters and their variations in hydrological dynamics (model responses) under different rainfall conditions and perturbation scales, so as to quantify their uncertainty and reliability for influential factors ranking...
October 25, 2022
Paper Published on Water Resources Research (WRR) (IF-2021 = 6.159)
Efficient pipe burst detection in tree-shape water distribution networks using forward-backward transient analysis
This paper develops an efficient forward-backward transient analysis framework for pipe burst detection in a tree-shape pipe network, using the mass conservation and energy relations at the branched junctions. This new method has extended the transient-based method for pipe burst detection from single pipe to pipe network...
June 30, 2022
Awarded A NEW RGC-GRF Research Project (no. 15202122)
Transient air-water flows and wave-fluid interactions in viscoelastic pipelines in water supply system
Dr. H.F. Duan was awarded a new research project to conduct the fundamental research on transient wave-fluid-air interactions in water supply pipelines. This project was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), with research duration of three years from 2023 to 2025.
January 11, 2022
Paper Accepted/Published on Catena (IF-2020 = 5.198)
Geomorphologic changes around a mid-river bar system at a meandering reach in the lower Yangtze River, China: Impacts of the three Gorges dam (TGD) and human activities
This study focused on the geomorphologic change (riverbed and bar morphology) around a large-scale river bar system in the lower Yangtze River (namely, Heishazhou) that was possibly impacted by the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) and other river engineering works. Combining various historical investigations and satellite images, a conceptual description was created to understand the geomorphologic cycle of river bar systems at a meandering reach and found that the formation of an inner-bank bar shall be a major force driving the geomorphologic cycle....
November 15, 2021
Paper Accepted/Published on Engineering (CAE) (IF-2020 = 7.553)
Estimating rainfall intensity using an image-based deep learning model
This paper proposes an image-based deep learning model to estimate urban rainfall intensity with a high spatial and temporal resolution. A convolutional neural network model is developed using rainfall images (irCNN model) collected from existing dense sensors (smart phones or transportation cameras) and their corresponding measured rainfall intensity values. The irCNN model provides a promising alternative for estimating urban rainfall intensity, which can greatly facilitate developing urban flood risk management in a real-time manner....
August 25, 2021
Paper Published on Water Research (WR) (IF-2020 = 11.236)
Foul sewer model development using geotagged information and smart water meter data
This study proposes a new method to develop foul sewer model (FSS) models based on geotagged information and water consumption data from smart water meters that are readily available. Within the proposed method, each sewer manhole is firstly associated with a particular population whose size is estimated from geotagged data. Subsequently, a two-stage optimization framework is developed to identify daily time-series inflows for each manhole based on physical connections between manholes and population as well as sewer sensors...
October 22, 2020
Paper Published on Water Resources Research (WRR, AGU) (IF-2019 = 4.31)
Efficient leak localization in water distribution systems using multistage optimal valve operations and smart demand metering
This paper proposes a multistage method for burst leak localization through valve operations (VOs) and smart demand metering in district meter areas (DMAs) of water distribution systems (WDSs). These results indicate that the proposed multistage method is effective and efficient for burst leak localization, which can be promising for wide practical applications due to rapid developments of smart WDSs (e.g., smart demand meters or control valves)...
June 07, 2020
Paper Published on Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing (MSSP) (IF-2019 = 6.471)
FRF-based transient wave analysis for the viscoelastic parameters identification and leak detection in water-filled plastic pipes
This paper presents a frequency response function (FRF)-based transient wave analysis method (TWAM) for the identification of viscoelastic pipe properties as well as the detection of leaks in water filled plastic pipes. The application results from experimental tests and numerical simulations confirm the feasibility and accuracy of the developed FRF-based TWAM method for the identification of viscoelastic parameters as well as the detection of plastic pipe leaks...
May 23, 2020
Paper Published on Science of The Total Environment (IF-2019 = 6.551)
Morphological environment survey and hydrodynamic modeling of a large bifurcation-confluence complex in Yangtze River, China
This study presents an investigation on the river channel morphological characteristics and hydrodynamic environment of a large bifurcation-confluence complex downstream the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) through detailed field survey and numerical modeling...
May 01, 2020
Paper Published on Journal of Cleaner Production (IF-2019 = 7.246)
Multiple-risk assessment of water supply, hydropower and environment nexus in the water resources system
This paper investigates water-power-environment (WPE) nexus based on the multi-dimensional model analysis by coupling water supply, hydropower generation and environment effects, with aims to improve the efficiency and sustainability of water resources utilization. The joint distributions and conditional expectation models are established to analyze the WPE nexus thereby to evaluate multiple risks in the water resources system. The upper Yangtze River Basin is selected for a case study for the validation and demonstration of the proposed method...
March 25, 2020
Paper Published on ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (IF-2019 = 2.206)
Impacts of nodal demand allocations on transient-based skeletonization of water distribution systems
This paper investigates the impacts of nodal demands and allocation strategies on the skeletonization of water distribution networks under transient conditions. This is an extension to the former study in which a transient-based skeletonization method has been developed. Further development to this model with considering nodal demands in the skeletonization process for the water distribution networks. Two water supply systems with different scales and complexities are applied for the validation and demonstration...
February 10, 2020
Paper Published on International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences (IF-2019 = 3.780)
Effects of filling fluid type and composition and joint orientation on acoustic wave propagation across individual fluid-filled rock joints
This paper aims to determine the effects of the type and composition of filling fluids as well as joint orientation on compressional wave propagation and attenuation across individual fluid-filled rock joints, through extensive laboratory acoustic tests and data analysis. Results showed that the existence of water in fluid-filled rock joints results in higher wave velocity, more wave transmission and less wave attenuation compared to light oils. In most circumstances, increasing liquid content in a single-liquid filled joint enhances wave velocity and wave transmission....
December 15, 2019
Paper Published on ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (IF-2019 = 2.206)
Development of a TFR-based method for the simultaneous detection of leakage and partial blockage in water supply pipelines
This paper investigates the method development and application of the detection of different pipe defects (leakage and blockage) in water supply pipelines. The transient frequency response (TFR) based method is explored for the simultaneous detection of leakage and partial blockage in water pipelines. The developed method is validated through laboratory experimental data. Various numerical tests are performed for the discussion of the developed method for its implications to practical applications.
June 30, 2019
Awarded A NEW RGC-GRF Research Project (no. 15200719)
Development of a holistic transient-based method for characterizing and diagnosing different pipe anomalies in urban water supply pipeline systems
Dr. H.F. Duan was awarded a new research project to conduct the diagnosis of multiple pipe defects (anomalies) by developing a novel and holistic transient-based detection method. This project was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), with research duration of three years from 2020 to 2023.
May 27, 2019
Paper Published on Hydrological Science Journal (IF-2019 = 2.180)
Experimental study on influence of river flow confluences to the open channel stage-discharge relation
This paper investigates the effect of flow junctions on stage-discharge relation at mountain river confluences. Field survey and tests as well as theoretical analysis are applied for this study. The results show that the backwater and accumulation-separation at flow junctions play important roles in affecting the changes of flow structures and patterns in the channel, and the flow confluences may induce complex flow characteristics of backwater and flow separation at river junctions, with indicating the potential submerged flooding disasters within the confluence zone.
May 05, 2019
Paper Published on ASME Journal of Fluids Engineering (IF-2018 = 1.720)
Experimental validation of existing numerical models for the interaction of fluid transients with in-line air pockets
This paper investigates the interaction of fluid transients with inline air pockets. The numerical modeling and laboratory experimental tests are applied for the investigation. The accuracy of current numerical models for representing the transient-air pocket interactions is accessed through the experimental comparison and analysis.
December 05, 2018
Paper Published on ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (IF-2017 = 2.080)
Energy analysis of the resonant frequency shift pattern induced by non-uniform blockages in pressurized water pipes
This paper investigates the influence of non-uniform blockage properties on the energy transmission throughout the blocked pipeline. The energy transmission coefficient of a pipeline containing various blockages is analytically derived for this investigation. The results indicate that the impedance of non-uniform blockages is frequency dependent, which becomes smaller for higher frequency waves.
November 29, 2018
Paper Published on IAHR Journal of Hydraulic Research (IF-2017 = 2.076)
Experimental and numerical study on transient air–water mixing flows in viscoelastic pipes
This paper investigates transient behaviours of air–water mixing flows in viscoelastic pipes through laboratory experimental tests, numerical modelling and theoretical analysis. Two numerical schemes – the discrete vaporous cavity model (DVCM) and the discrete gas cavity model (DGCM), which are firstly calibrated and validated by the experimental data gained in this study, are adopted for comparative study for their validity and accuracy for modelling transient air–water mixing flows in viscoelastic pipes.