On the Modeling and Simulation of Non-Hydrostatic Dam Break Flows

Alexandre Caboussat (1) , Sébastien Boyaval (2, 3) , Alexandre Masserey (4)

1 Geneva School of Business Administration
2 LHSV - Laboratoire d'Hydraulique Saint-Venant / Saint-Venant Laboratory for Hydraulics
3 MICMAC - Methods and engineering of multiscale computing from atom to continuum
4 Ycoor Systems SA

The numerical simulation of three-dimensional dam break flows is discussed. A non-hydrostatic numerical model for free-surface flows is considered, which is based on the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations coupled with a volume-of-fluid approach. The numerical results obtained for a variety of benchmark problems show the validity of the numerical approach, in comparison with other numerical models, and allow to investigate numerically the non-hydrostatic three-dimensional effects, in particular for the usual test cases where hydrostatic approximations are known analytically. The numerical experiments on actual topographies, in particular the Malpasset dam break and the (hypothetical) break of the Grande-Dixence dam in Switzerland, also illustrate the capabilities of the method for large-scale simulations and real-life visualization.

Mots clés: Free-surface hydrodynamical flows; Hydraulic engineering; Volume-of-fluid modeling; Three-dimensional non-hydrostatic model; Dam breaks; Finite-element method

Domaines: Analyse numérique [math.NA]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Alexandre Caboussat, Sébastien Boyaval, Alexandre Masserey. On the Modeling and Simulation of Non-Hydrostatic Dam Break Flows. Computing and Visualization in Science, 2011, 14 (8), pp.401-417. ⟨10.1007/s00791-013-0190-7⟩. ⟨hal-00808087⟩