Lauber and Hager's dam-break wave data for numerical model validation

Abstract

Lauber and Hager (1998) have provided a complete set of laboratory data, with both velocity and depth profiles for dam-break flood wave released from a reservoir of finite dimension. At the advancing wave front, the water depth reduces to zero and the velocity peaks. Friction is the dominant effect at the wave front. There is a linear decrease of the velocity from the peak at the wave front toward the back of the dam-break wave. The availability of this data set has provided the opportunity to validate numerical models. The dam-break flood wave is simulated herein using the One-Dimensional Saint-Venant (1DSV) model. A Lagrangian Blocks on Eulerian Mesh (LBEM) method is employed to carry out these calculations. The blocks as the computational elements in the LBEM method produce non-negative depths. Accurate 1DSV model simulation by the LBEM method is possible without the need of a frontal condition for the wet-and-dry interface across the wave front.