Numerical Study of the Movement of Water Surface of Dam Break Flow by VOF Methods for Various Obstacles

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, the movement of the water surface is numerically simulated when a dam is broken by the volume of fluid (VOF) method. The mathematical model is based on the Navier–Stokes equations and uses the large eddy simulation turbulent model, describing the flow of an incompressible viscous fluid and the equation for the phase. These equations are discretized by the finite-volume method. Numerical PISO (Pressure-Implicit with Splitting of Operators) algorithm was chosen for numerical solution of this equation system. The movement of the water surface is captured by using the VOF method, which leads to a strict mass conservation law. The accuracy of the three-dimensional model and the chosen numerical algorithm were tested using several laboratory experiments on dam break problem. In each of the problems, the obtained results were compared with the experimental data and several calculations by other authors and in each of the test problems, the developed model showed results close to the experimental data. Comparison of simulation results with experimental data for various turbulent models was also performed. And also two combined problems were performed which are more close to real conditions; with the help of these problems, flooding zones and flooding time were identified that would help in evacuating people from dangerous zones.