Two-dimensional mobile-bed dam-break model

• Main Author: Tang, Gaven
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43508

Sudden and catastrophic dam-breaks typically induce high bed shear stresses downstream as the flood-wave propagates over the alluvial channel and flood plain. In fact, the non-dimensionalized shear stresses are often high enough that they are comparable to those typically seen in the transport of sand. Despite the existence of these shear stresses, industry typically ignores sediment transport altogether and assumes a fixed-bed when modelling dam-breaks. This thesis will examine the validity of the fixed-bed assumption and create a depth-averaged 2D mobile-bed dam-break model. This model will then be tested by simulating the Malpasset (France) dam-break of 1959, and a sensitivity analysis will then be performed on the parameters of grain roughness, vegetation roughness, friction angle, grain size, and depth to bedrock to examine differences in inundation and flood-wave propagation.