An analytical method that was developed formerly for the reconstruction of velocity profiles in asymmetric flows is improved to be applicable for both axisymmetric and asymmetric flows. The method is implemented in Matlab, and predicts the velocity profile from measured electrical potential distributions obtained around the boundary of a multi-electrode electromagnetic flow meter (EMFM). Potential distributions are measured in uniform and non-uniform magnetic fields, and the velocity is assumed as a sum of axisymmetric and polynomial components. The procedure requires three steps. First, the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) is applied to the potential distribution obtained in a uniform magnetic field. Since the direction of polynomial components of order greater than two in the plane of the pipe cross section is not unique multiple solutions exist, therefore all possible polynomial velocity profiles are determined. Then, the DFT is applied to the potential distribution obtained in a specific non-uniform magnetic field, and used to calculate the exponent in a power-law representation of the axisymmetric component. Finally, the potential distribution in the non-uniform magnetic field is calculated for all of the possible velocity profile solutions using weight values, and the velocity profile with the calculated potential distribution which is closest to the measured one provides the optimum solution. The method is validated by reconstructing two quartic velocity profiles, one of which includes an axisymmetric component. The potential distributions are obtained from simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics where a model of the EMFM is constructed. The reconstructed velocity profiles show satisfactory agreement with the input velocity profiles. The main benefits of the method described in this paper are that it provides a velocity distribution in the circular cross section of a pipe as an analytical function of the spatial coordinates which is suitable for both axisymmetric and asymmetric flows.

This paper presents the design and implementation of an inductive flow tomography (IFT) system, employing a multi-electrode electromagnetic flow meter (EMFM) and novel reconstruction techniques, for measuring the local water velocity distribution in water continuous single and multiphase flows. A series of experiments were carried out in vertical-upward and upward-inclined single phase water flows and ‘water continuous’ gas–water and oil–gas–water flows in which the velocity profiles ranged from axisymmetric (single phase and vertical-upward multiphase flows) to highly asymmetric (upward-inclined multiphase flows). Using potential difference measurements obtained from the electrode array of the EMFM, local axial velocity distributions of the continuous water phase were reconstructed using two different IFT reconstruction algorithms denoted RT#1, which assumes that the overall water velocity profile comprises the sum of a series of polynomial velocity components, and RT#2, which is similar to RT#1 but which assumes that the zero’th order velocity component may be replaced by an axisymmetric ‘power law’ velocity distribution. During each experiment, measurement of the local water volume fraction distribution was also made using the well-established technique of electrical resistance tomography (ERT). By integrating the product of the local axial water velocity and the local water volume fraction in the cross section an estimate of the water volumetric flow rate was made which was compared with a reference measurement of the water volumetric flow rate. In vertical upward flows RT#2 was found to give rise to water velocity profiles which are consistent with the previous literature although the profiles obtained in the multiphase flows had relatively higher central velocity peaks than was observed for the single phase profiles. This observation was almost certainly a result of the transfer of axial momentum from the less dense dispersed phases to the water, which occurred preferentially at the pipe centre. For upward inclined multiphase flows RT#1 was found to give rise to water velocity profiles which are more consistent with results in the previous literature than was the case for RT#2—which leads to the tentative conclusion that the upward inclined multiphase flows investigated in the present study did not contain significant axisymmetric velocity components.

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The present research proposes two vibration control techniques for attenuating vibration of laboratory-scale suspended cables. The technique is applied to resolve the problems of such high-frequency vibrations as the aeolian vibration. The vibration control device involves an absorber driven by a motor, and the dynamics of the controlled system is investigated numerically considering practical problems. Particular attention is paid to backlash at the driving that influences the effectiveness of control significantly, and to the time response of the controlled system that indicates how quickly the vibration decays after a change in the excitation. One of the proposed controllers involves the implementation of PID technique that enables the significant reduction in the value of cable displacement and acceleration during aeolian vibration, compared to the conventional vibration absorber. An extensive controller has also been proposed based on estimation of cable vibration frequency. The dynamic performance of the controllers is simulated using Simulink. Results also reveals the limitations in the control due to a practical problem like backlash. The main practical benefit from the study is that it provides information about the advantages and disadvantages of the control methodologies, and recommendation may be done for their application without building the controlled system.