Finite‐Volume Two‐Dimensional Unsteady‐Flow Model for River Basins

Abstract

The paper presents a two‐dimensional unsteady‐flow model, RBFVM‐2D, based on the finite‐volume method with a combination of unstructured triangular and quadrilateral grids in a river‐basin system. The attractive feature of this model is that it calculate of the mass and momentum flux across each side of elements as a Riemann problem, which is solved using the Osher scheme. This feature enables this model to deal with the wetting and drying processes for flood‐plain and wetland studies, dam breaking phenomena involving discontinuous flows, subcritical and supercritical flows, and other cases. The computations of tributary inflows and regulated flows through gates, weirs, and culverts or bridges are also included. Sample applications of this model to two dam‐break problems showed fairly satisfactory results. Also, this model was applied to a portion of the Kissimmee River Basin in Florida for flow simulations and the results agreed well with the field and laboratory data in a physical‐model study of this river reach conducted at the University of California, Berkeley.