Transactions of the ASAE · 1993 · 38 citations · 0 references
EngineeringCivil EngineeringComputational EngineeringFinite Element AnalysisFinite Element MethodsHydraulicsFinite Element FormulationFlow ModelingHydraulic MachineryHydraulic ModelingHydraulic StructuresHydraulic SystemsFinite Element ModelingHydraulic AnalysisHydraulic DesignMicroirrigationMicroirrigation SystemsNumerical Methods For HydraulicsQuadratic ElementsSecond-order Differential Equations
As the use of microirrigation expands, the need to analyze large systems (10,000 emitters or more) becomes more and more important. The purpose of this research was to improve the design of large microirrigation systems using the finite element method and a virtual emitter system. To accomplish this objective, a second-order partial differential equation describing flow in a microirrigation system was developed and solved using the finite element numerical procedure. Several alternative methods were developed for incorporating emitters to a virtual emitter system where multiple emitters can be combined within a pipe element or into a node. These alternative methods were evaluated using both linear and quadratic elements. The resulting procedures were found to be fast, accurate, and efficient in the hydraulic analysis of large microirrigation systems.