Effects of Different Turbulence Models on Prediction of Oscillating Hydraulic Jump at a Drop Structure with a Trench

Abstract

Open-channel flows over a drop structure with a trench, often seen in urban rivers, may cause an oscillating phenomenon of hydraulic jumps depending on the trench geometry and hydraulic conditions. The oscillating hydraulic jumps are accompanied by large-scale water-surface variations with wave breaking, and numerical predictions of such flows are challenging in hydraulics. Using unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations of air-water two-phase flows, we attempted to predict an oscillating hydraulic jump at a drop structure with a trench observed in our laboratory experiment. Several high-Reynolds-number turbulence models were applied, and the effects of turbulence models and grid resolutions on predicting the oscillating hydraulic jump were investigated. Turbulence models other than the k–ω SST model resulted in a steady-state flow with no oscillations regardless of the grid resolution. The k–ω SST model succeeded in predicting the oscillating hydraulic jump using a fine grid while the flow became a quasi-steady state using a coarse grid. Moreover, the period of the oscillation and the flow fields are in good agreement with the experimental results. The k–ω SST model has the ability to predict oscillating hydraulic jumps, including wave breaking, because this model accurately simulates flows with separations or stagnations under adverse pressure gradients.