The FLO Diffusive 1D-2D Model for Simulation of River Flooding

• Main Authors: Costanza Aricò, Pasquale Filianoti, Marco Sinagra, Tullio Tucciarelli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-05-01
• Series: Water
• Subjects: 1D-2D coupling; floodplains; main channel; numerical method; shallow water equations
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/8/5/200

An integrated 1D-2D model for the solution of the diffusive approximation of the shallow water equations, named FLO, is proposed in the present paper. Governing equations are solved using the MArching in Space and Time (MAST) approach. The 2D floodplain domain is discretized using a triangular mesh, and standard river sections are used for modeling 1D flow inside the section width occurring with low or standard discharges. 1D elements, inside the 1D domain, are quadrilaterals bounded by the trace of two consecutive sections and by the sides connecting their extreme points. The water level is assumed to vary linearly inside each quadrilateral along the flow direction, but to remain constant along the direction normal to the flow. The computational cell can share zero, one or two nodes with triangles of the 2D domain when lateral coupling occurs and more than two nodes in the case of frontal coupling, if the corresponding section is at one end of the 1D channel. No boundary condition at the transition between the 1D-2D domain has to be solved, and no additional variable has to be introduced. Discontinuities arising between 1D and 2D domains at 1D sections with a top width smaller than the trace of the section are properly solved without any special restriction on the time step.