Dam-break flow through an idealised city

Abstract

This study relates to sudden transient flow of the dam-break wave type in an idealised city in order to investigate the effects of flow depth and velocity on such a city. Particularly, the study aims at assessing the ability of a finite-volume numerical model, commonly used is inundation modelling, to reproduce fast transient flow including the multiple interactions with obstacles. Experiments were conducted involving two different configurations: (1) a square city layout of 5 × 5 buildings aligned with the approach flow direction, and (2) a square city layout of 5 × 5 buildings not aligned with the approach flow direction. Data were recorded using water-level gauges and digital-imaging technique. These form a complete data set available to validate numerical models aimed at transient flow modelling in complex geometries.