Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation on the hydraulics of a spillway

Abstract

Abstract A spillway is one of the most important features of a dam. It should be able to allow flood discharge to flow and keep its structure stable. The force impacting a spillway is great; hence, it needs a proper design. The design philosophy of a spillway is to maximize its discharge while keeping the water level in the dam low. The discharge capacity of a spillway is mostly predicted based on empirical data derived from idealized conditions with laboratory experiment. To determine actual capacity, a physical test model is usually utilized. However, a physical model needs large amounts of space and time to prepare. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) offers an interesting method to predict spillway capacity with less time and resources. In this paper, a simulation of flow over an Ogee spillway was performed using the open-source CFD platform called OpenFOAM. The flow is simulated based on the Volume of Fluid (VoF) method to resolve the dynamics of free surface. The simulation results show a good agreement with experimental measurements and the USBR method of calculation.