Simplified Method for the Characterization of the Hydrograph following a Sudden Partial Dam Break
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 10
Abstract
This paper presents a simplified approach to the characterization of the hydrograph following the partial collapse of concrete gravity dams. The proposed approach uses a simplified representation of the reservoir geometry and is based on the numerical solution of shallow water equations to study the two-dimensional evolution of the water surface within the reservoir. The numerical results are made dimensionless and reorganized so as to compute the peak discharge, the duration and the recession limb of the dam break hydrograph. The proposed practical approach provides a quite satisfactory reproduction of the computed hydrograph for a wide set of realistic situations that have been simulated in detail.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the reviewers and the editor, whose comments contributed to improve the quality of this paper.
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© 2010 ASCE.
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Received: Dec 25, 2008
Accepted: Mar 23, 2010
Published online: Mar 27, 2010
Published in print: Oct 2010
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