2D Shallow Water Model for Dam Break and Column Interactions

Abstract

Dam break causes disastrous effects on the surrounding area, especially at the downstream, therefore, there is a need for accurate and timely predictions of dam break propagation to prevent both property damage and loss of life. This study aimed to determine the movement of dam-break flow in the downstream area by solving the Shallow Water Equations (SWE) or Saint Venant Equations which are based on the conservation of mass and momentum derived from Navier Stokes equation. The model was generated using a finite difference scheme which is the most common and simplest method for dam-break modeling while Forward Time Central Space (FTCS) numerical scheme was applied to simulate two-dimensional SWE. Moreover, the accuracy of the numerical model was checked by comparing its results with the analytic results of one-dimensional cases and a relatively small value of error was found in comparison to the analytic models as indicated with the RMSE values close to 0. The numerical to the two-dimensional models were also compared to a simple dam break in a flume and dam break with column interactions and the wave propagation in both cases was observed to become very close at a certain time.  The model, however, used numerical filter (Hansen) to reduce the oscillations or numerical instability. The simulation and analysis, therefore, showed the ability of the numerical scheme of FTCS to resolve both cases of the simple dam break and dam break with column interactions in the Two-dimensional Shallow Water.