Applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics to Flow Rating Development at Complex Prototype Hydraulic Structures: Case Study
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 12
Abstract
Hydraulic engineers frequently face the challenge of developing new flow ratings for complex and unconventional hydraulic structures. In contrast to performing traditional laboratory-based investigations, this paper presents three case studies to demonstrate that computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-generated data can be used together with field flow measurements to develop flow ratings at complex prototype hydraulic structures. These case studies include the development of a flow rating for a midchamber gated culvert, the assessment of the discharge capacity of a ship-lock, and the development of a flow rating for a hinged-crest weir. All three case studies yielded successful results where the overall relative errors between the field flow measurements and CFD simulated results were less than 8%. These applications show that the CFD-based methodology can provide a cost-effective and robust rating approach that overcomes data limitations and can be used to develop new flow equations for complex prototype hydraulic structures with desired computation accuracy.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request (CFD simulated flow result details).
Acknowledgments
The authors recognize the South Florida Water Management District streamgauging team for their excellence in planning, collecting, quality assuring, quality controlling, and archiving of the field flow measurements. Authors also thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments for improving the quality of the manuscript.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 12 • December 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 28, 2018
Accepted: May 29, 2019
Published online: Sep 20, 2019
Published in print: Dec 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Feb 20, 2020
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