Numerical solution for two-dimensional flow under sluice gates using the natural element method

Abstract

Fluid loads on a variety of hydraulic structures and the free surface profile of the flow are important for design purposes. This is a difficult task because the governing equations have nonlinear boundary conditions. The main objective of this paper is to develop a procedure based on the natural element method (NEM) for computation of free surface profiles, velocity and pressure distributions, and flow rates for a two-dimensional gravity fluid flow under sluice gates. Natural element method is a numerical technique in the field of computational mechanics and can be considered as a meshless method. In this analysis, the fluid was assumed to be inviscid and incompressible. The results obtained in the paper were confirmed via a hydraulic model test. Calculation results indicate a good agreement with previous flow solutions for the water surface profiles and pressure distributions throughout the flow domain and on the gate.