Design and application of auto-controlled sand-feeding system in large scale tidal model experiments

In general,the sand-feeding for making suspended sediments at the inlet in the river model has been controlled manually for many years.In order to make sand-feeding more accurate and efficient,an auto-controlled sand-feeding system for the tidal model of the Changjiang Estuary is developed.The system is supported by a computer,with the help of some machineries,motor sand valves etc..Real time sand-feeding can be carried out in the whole experiment process.The system is working well and can be used in other similar models.