Numerical Simulation of Flows in Cut-Throat Flumes

Abstract

A numerical simulation is presented to obtain the flow characteristics of cut-throat flumes in rectangular open channels. Cut-throat flumes with a horizontal floor are used as simple devices for flow measurement in open channels. Since the flow in the throat section is highly three dimensional and curvilinear, the three-dimensional turbulence Reynolds stress model was applied in the present study to obtain the flow parameters such as the water surface profiles, the pressure distributions, and the mean velocity distributions. The volume of fluid scheme was used to determine the shape of the free surface by computing the fraction of each near-interface cell of a fixed grid that is partially filled with water. The previously published experimental data as well as data based on a new test related to cut-throat flumes were used to validate the simulation results.