A Numerical Study Of Incompressible Fluid Flow Over A Forward Facing Step At Various Grades

Abstract

The study of the effect of natural forces on hydraulic structures is of great concern for the accurate prediction of when a design could be at risk of failure. In recent times the use of the shallow water equations to predict the behavior of the free surface for flow over a step has proven inaccurate because only a hydrostatic pressure distribution is considered. One of the phenomena that will not be accounted for with the shallow water equations in such a setup is the formulation of undular bore type waves on the surface. In order for a more accurate representation of the behavior of the free surface a computational flow solver must be used with a more accurate method. A numerical study has been performed in this research to investigate the behavior of the free surface in open channel flow over a forward facing step at multiple stream gradients.