Negative Surges in Open Channels: Physical and Numerical Modeling

Abstract

Negative surges can be caused by a sudden change in flow resulting from a decrease in water depth. In the present study, some physical experiments were conducted in a rectangular channel to characterize the unsteady free-surface profile and longitudinal velocity beneath a negative surge propagating upstream. The physical observations showed that, during the first initial instants, the celerity of the surge leading edge increased rapidly with time, while later the negative surge propagated upstream in a more gradual manner with a celerity decreasing slowly with increasing distance. The velocity data highlighted some relatively large turbulent fluctuations beneath the negative surge. The physical results were used to test the analytical solution of the Saint-Venant equations and some numerical models. The findings suggested that the negative surge propagation appeared relatively little affected by the boundary friction within the investigated flow conditions.