Validation of Depth-Averaged Flow Model Using Flat-Bottomed Benchmark Problems

Abstract

In this study, a shallow water flow code was developed and tested against four benchmark problems of practical relevance. The results demonstrated that as the eddy viscosity increased, the velocity slope along the spanwise direction decreased, and the larger roughness coefficient induced a higher flow depth over the channel width. The mass conservation rate was determined to be 99.2%. This value was measured by the variation of the total volume of the fluid after a cylinder break. As the Re increased to 10,000 in the internal recirculating flow problem, the intensity of the primary vortex had a clear trend toward the theoretically infinite Re value of −1.886. The computed values of the supercritical flow evolved by the oblique hydraulic jump agreed well with the analytic solutions within an error bound of 0.2%. The present model adopts the nonconservative form of shallow water equations. These equations are weighted by the SU/PG scheme and integrated by a fully implicit method, which can reproduce physical problems with various properties. The model provides excellent results under various flow conditions, and the solutions of benchmark tests can present criteria for the evaluation of various algorithmic approaches.