Impact of downstream lakes on dam break wave attenuation

Abstract

In this study, the effect of downstream lakes or ponds on dam break flow was investigated. To do this, a robust finite volume method with Harten-Lax-van Leer contact surface Riemann’s solver technique for flux evaluation has been used. For space discretization, a triangular mesh grid was used and a complete software with mesh generator was developed. A reservoir with a long downstream channel was assumed, and many scenarios such as a single lake with various lengths, widths and positions along the channel and multiple consecutive lakes as symmetric and non-symmetric with respect to the channel centerline were considered. The numerical modeling of dam break flow along the channel showed that the downstream lake can decrease the speed and depth of the dam break wave front and the amount of this wave attenuation was very dependent on the storage volume of the lake and vortexes which were established in the lake.