Assessment of spillway modeling using computational fluid dynamics

Abstract

Throughout the design and planning period for future hydroelectric generating stations, hydraulic engineers are increasingly integrating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) into the process. As a result, hydraulic engineers are interested in the reliability of CFD software to provide accurate flow data for a wide range of structures, including a variety of different spillways. In the literature, CFD results have generally been in agreement with physical model experimental data. Despite past success, there has not been a comprehensive assessment that looks at the ability of CFD to model a range of different spillway configurations, including flows with various gate openings. In this article, Flow-3D is used to model the discharge over ogee-crested spillways. The numerical model results are compared with physical model studies for three case study evaluations. The comparison indicates that the accuracy of Flow-3D is related to the parameter P/Hd.