TVD scheme for computing open channel wave flows

Abstract

For the shallow water equations in the first approximation (Saint-Venant equations), a TVD scheme is developed for shock-capturing computations of open channel flows with discontinuous waves. The scheme is based on a special nondivergence approximation of the total momentum equation that does not involve integrals related to the cross-section pressure force and the channel wall reaction. In standard divergence difference schemes, most of the CPU time is spent on the computation of these integrals. Test computations demonstrate that the discontinuity relations reproduced by the scheme are accurate enough for actual discontinuous wave propagation to be numerically simulated. All the qualitatively distinct solutions for a dam collapsing in a trapezoidal channel with a contraction in the tailwater area are constructed as an example.