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NEWS/EVENTS

University Connection: Visit from Hohai University

January 25, 2024

A group of 25 undergrads from Hohai University (河海大學大禹學院) visited PolyU on 25th Jan. 2024. Dr. Duan, along with Dr. Jinghua Wang and Dr. Tong-Chuan Che, delivered an introduction to the department and discussed recent research advancements in the Hydraulic Unit during the briefing and exchange session. The group explored the PolyU campus and witnessed the latest equipment and experiments in the Hydraulics Laboratory. The visit was found to be both enjoyable and informative.
Group Activity: Hiking to Thousand Islands Lake and Tai Tang Sweetgum Woods

December 10, 2023

We had our regular group hiking on 10th Dec. 2023 to the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir and the Tai Tang Sweetgum Woods, located in the northwest of New Territories. The reservoir is also called Thousand Islands Lake for its many small islands scattered in different locations in the reservoir. The sweetgum trees in Tai Tong turn red during winter, making it a rare place in Hong Kong to appreciate red leaves.
Dr. HF DUAN Ranked Among the World's Top 2% Scientists

November 10, 2023

Dr. HF DUAN have been listed among the World Top 2% Scientists in both Career-long and 2022 Sub-field (Environmental Engineering) lists. This ranking demonstrates his publications are most frequently cited by other authors globally.
Visit to Sichuan University under the "Ten-Thousand People's Scheme"

November 21, 2023

Selected members from the Hydraulic Unit visited Sichuan University under the "Ten-Thousand People's Scheme" during Nov 17-21, 2023. This trip provided opportunities for the young students studying in HK to visit mainland China.
Congratulations! Mr. Husnain TANSAR has Completed his PhD Thesis Examination

October 11, 2023

Mr. Husnain TANSAR, a PhD candidate in our group, has completed the oral examination for his thesis about "Sustainable Stormwater Control and Management with Resilience-based Optimization Framework of Green-Grey Infrastructures under Climate Change Uncertainties". Congratulations!
Prof. Philip LIU from NUS visited CEE and joined Hydraulic Unit Workshop

September 27, 2023

The Hydraulic Unit Workshop took place during Sept. 27-28, 2023. Prof. Philip LIU from NUS visited CEE and the Hydraulic unit and gave a seminar about evolution of breaking solitary waves on Sept. 27.
Congratulations! Ms. Ying ZHANG has Completed her PhD Thesis Examination

August 11, 2023

Ms. Ying ZHANG, a PhD candidate in our group, has completed the oral examination for her thesis about "Transient wave-leak interaction analysis in water supply pipelines". Congratulations!
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 Geo Park 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 Defense

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).

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.

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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 2026.

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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....

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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...

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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)...

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