For numerical modeling of river flows, typically water
elevation is required at the upstream boundary. Yet water elevation in natural
environmental systems is often unknown and has to be estimated. Improper
elevation estimation, however, can generate nonphysical results. In
FLOW-3D
v11.1, which has just been released, users now have the option of having
boundary water elevations dynamically adapt to the conditions inside the domain.
This can be achieved through the use of rating curves provided by the user, or
in the absence of rating curves; the solver can dynamically adjust the elevation
to vary smoothly with the conditions inside the fluid domain. These variations
may be further constrained to certain Froude regimes or absolute elevation
bounds.
Figure 1. Rating curve for John Creek at Sycamore from USGS
Rating curves
Rating curves define elevation variations at a given
location in a river reach according to inflow rates at that location. A
relationship between elevation and volume flow rate is established by physical
measurements at a particular cross section of the river. Rating curves for
rivers in the United States are available from the
USGS (U. S. Geological Survey). A typical
rating curve will have volume flow rate on the X-axis and elevation on the Y-axis
(Figure 1).
Natural inlets
In a case where inflow rate is known but a rating curve is
unavailable, a natural boundary condition can be selected in the FLOW-3D
model setup interface. At a given cross-section, for a certain specific energy,
there can be two possible depths. This arises from the quadratic relationship
between specific energy and the depth (see the equation below). The two mathematical
depths manifest into supercritical and subcritical depths in reality. In the
case of a perfect unique solution to the quadratic equation, the flow is
critical.
Here, E is the specific energy, q is the unit discharge, g
is acceleration due to gravity and y is the height of fluid. Graphically, the
specific energy and depth relationship can be seen in Figures 2-4.
Figure 2. Changes to E-y curve, changing q
Figure 3. Possibility of two flow depths (supercritical and subcritical) for the same value of specific energy
Figure 4. Flow depth can be critical (yc) for a unique value of depth and specific energy. In this case, flow is neither subcritical nor supercritical.
Applying new boundary conditions
A rating curve can only be defined for volume flow rate and pressure
boundary conditions in FLOW-3D v11.1. For volume flow rate
type boundary conditions, instantaneous elevations are calculated using the rating
curve to find the elevation corresponding to the flow rate. For a pressure type
boundary condition, the volume flow rate is calculated by the solver and
elevation is calculated using the rating curve. Rating curves can be applied at
both upstream and downstream boundaries. It is important to note that an incorrect
rating curve can result in nonphysical flow fluctuations.
Natural boundary conditions can only be defined at the
inlet. Flow categories can be defined from one of the following:
- Supercritical flow (y<yc)
- Subcritical flow (y>yc)
- Critical flow (y=yc)
- Automatic flow regime (calculated by the solver)
The user can define maximum and minimum limits of elevation
for any of these flows. If the depth for a particular flow regime violates the
maximum and minimum limits of elevation, the latter will take precedence.
Sample simulation results
Simulation 1 shows the river reach with a natural inlet
under volume flow rate boundary condition at the left boundary and a rating
curve for the outlet is defined as a pressure boundary condition at the right
boundary. The evolution of water elevation is shown for both
upstream and downstream boundaries simultaneously. The simulation shows smooth variation of
elevations at the boundaries without any fluctuations or nonphysical behavior.
Therefore, this new development in FLOW-3D v11.1 allows for more natural
variations of the water level for environmental applications.
Simulation 1. Evolution of water elevation in a river reach with natural boundary condition at the inlet and a rating curve at the outlet.
Labels: alternate depths, FLOW-3D v11.1, Froude Number, natural boundary condition, rating curve, software development, specific energy, subcritical, supercritical, USGS