Numerical simulation of the movement of the water surface with macroscopic particles during a partial dam break for various complex reliefs

Abstract

In this paper, it was considered a numerical simulation of the water surface movement during the partial collapse of the destruction of a dam with complex terrain. The numerical simulations took into account debris after a partial collapse of the dam, which imitates debris and moves downstream with the water flow. Carrying out these calculations brings the results closer to the real scenario. The mathematical model was based on the Navier–Stokes equations and uses the turbulent large eddy method (LES) model describing the flow of an incompressible viscous fluid. To describe the movement of a two-phase fluid, the volume of fluid (VOF) methods for the phase were used, and the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) and Macroscopic Particle Model (MPM) were used to describe the movement of particles. For the numerical solution of this system of equations, the Pressure Implicit Split Operator (PISO) numerical algorithm was chosen. The results show that the model is accurate and capable of handling very complex interactions such as particle transport or hydrodynamic actions on structures if the appropriate scales are reproduced. Also in this work, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the flow of a dam break on uneven terrain was considered and combined problems were performed that are closer to real conditions. For combined problems, flood zones and flood times were determined, knowledge of which will help evacuate people from dangerous areas. The accuracy of the 3D model and the selected numerical algorithm were verified using two natural measurements.