Three-dimensional modeling of flow characteristics and the influence of non-hydrostatic pressure in a 193° sharp open channel bend

Abstract

A numerical model of three-dimensional free surface flows has been developed to simulate the flow pattern and bed shear stress in a sharp channel bend with 193° curved reach. The numerical model solved 3D Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with standard k – ε turbulence model to compute the flow field and the finite-volume method were used as the discretization scheme. The governing equations were solved by employed the explicit projection method with two steps. The numerical predictions were verified with experiment results and showed that the model enables to resolve the complex three-dimensional flow problems and capture the main flow features in sharp channel bends. The influence of non-hydrostatic pressure was revealed by the results with and without hydrostatic pressure assumption. It concluded that the non-hydrostatic model almost has no noticeable influence on flow pattern in this sharp channel bend with highly three-dimensional flow characteristics.