Search

Unsteady flows are investigated in a compound open-channel flume, consisting of a Main Channel (MC) and an adjacent Flood Plain (FP). Two types of inflow hydrographs are studied, i.e., a discharge hydrograph with, at any time: a slightly unbalanced inflow partition between MC and FP (Case I); and a noticeably unbalanced inflow partition (Case II). Ensemble averages of the time-varying discharges, water depths and velocities are estimated based on 100 successive runs. The main focus of the experimental study is on assessing (i) the time-varying lateral discharge and depth-averaged Reynolds stress at the MC/FP interface, and (ii) the influence of the inflow partition on the downstream flow parameters. The experimental flows are then simulated using a 1D (one-dimensional) code that was adapted to implement the 1D+ Independent Sub-sections Model (ISM) (Proust et al. in Water Resour Res 45:1–16, 2009). The numerical study aims at validating the ISM under unsteady flow conditions, using classical 1D simulations as benchmark. It is experimentally found that 90 successive runs are required to get convergence of the ensemble averages of sub-section discharges and flow depth, while interfacial velocity is not fully converged after 100 runs. The influence of the inflow partition on the downstream parameters is felt along the whole flume. The ISM simulations are closer to the measurements than the classical 1D simulations. The ISM can accurately predict the time-varying flow depths and interfacial lateral discharge, and can approximate the interfacial Reynolds stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing occurrence of urban flooding in recent years demands a more accurate flood hazard assessment. Therefore, a better understanding of the predominant hydraulic processes in urban flood flows is required. The present paper reports an experimental study conducted in a laboratory scale model, which represents an urban area consisting of a rectangular city block and four surrounding streets. The objective is to quantify the impact of open areas within the city block on the key features of floodwaters. Tests are carried out under unsteady flow conditions, by using three inflow hydrographs with different unsteadiness levels. For each inflow hydrograph, the space available for floodwater volume storage within the block (storage capacity, ϕ) is varied, keeping the boundary conditions unchanged. A case where the city block has no space for floodwater storage (i.e., ϕ = 0) is used as a reference case. The results indicate that the unsteadiness level of the inflow hydrograph, especially during the rising stage, has a strong influence on the floodwater volume stored within the city block. The increase in storage capacity within the city block leads to a reduction of the global peak outflow discharge, a decrease in flow depths and a local increase in velocities in some streets and within the city block. Finally, with these variations in floodwater features, the level of risk to pedestrians is also impacted, increasing locally when the storage capacity of the block increases. Key Points: Access facilities to buildings and empty spaces within city blocks can modify the flood risk for the inhabitants of an urban areaThe block storage capacity can reduce flow depths by up to 13% and increase velocities by up to 20% in the streets for the tested casesThe inflow hydrograph unsteadiness level has a strong influence on the floodwater volume stored in the block and thereby on the flood flows [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experimental dataset presented was collected in an 18 m long and 1 m wide laboratory flume. Low to high flood flows through an urbanized floodplain were modelled. The floodplain bed is rough, modelled with dense artificial grass. A square cylinder array, representing house models, was set on the rough bed. The cylinder immersion rate was varied: cylinders are emerged for three flow cases and slightly submerged for one case. The experimental dataset comprises water levels, measured using an ultrasonic transit time probe, velocities across the channel measured using an Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry with a side looking probe, and velocities in longitudinal-vertical planes measured using Particle Image Velocimetry. These data could help understanding the physical processes associated with high flood flows through urbanized floodplains, with a focus on the transition from emerged to submerged obstacles. They could also be used as benchmark data to assess the ability of numerical models from one to three-dimensions to estimate the flood hazard (water depth, velocity) over a wide range of flood event magnitudes. Measurement(s) velocity • depth of water Technology Type(s) particle-image velocimetry • ultrasonic velocimetry • ultrasonic transit time probe Factor Type(s) square cylinder immersion rate Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13286915 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones generated in the North Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific are a constant hazard for Mexico. Along with a possible increased hazard of tropical cyclones due to global warming, there is an inescapable increase in vulnerability and disaster risk towards tropical cyclones due to population growth and coastal infrastructure developments. In Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula has the highest landfall rates of major category hurricanes in addition to the highest rate of population growth in major tourist cities. Therefore, the assessment of landfalling tropical cyclones is of paramount importance for emergency management and planning. This paper provides an assessment of the future climate for landfalling tropical cyclones in the Yucatan Peninsula, based on synthetic tropical cyclones driven by atmospheric models (reanalysis and six different general circulation models (GCMs)) and under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 climate change scenario. The results using the ensemble mean from the GCMs show that the Yucatan Peninsula will be more susceptible to more frequent intense hurricanes and more regular events undergoing rapid intensification. We conclude that even under the uncertainty imposed by the results, it is more likely than not that the future climate will bring more extreme events to this area. Therefore, it becomes imperative to implement strategic planning based on the characterization of tropical cyclone hazards framed within the assessment of global warming effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flows in a compound open-channel (two-stage geometry with a main channel and adjacent floodplains) with a longitudinal transition in roughness over the floodplains are experimentally investigated in an 18 m long and 3 m wide flume. Transitions from submerged dense vegetation (meadow) to emergent rigid vegetation (wood) and vice versa are modelled using plastic grass and vertical wooden cylinders. For a given roughness transition, the upstream discharge distribution between main channel and floodplain (called subsections) is also varied, keeping the total flow rate constant. The flows with a roughness transition are compared to flows with a uniformly distributed roughness over the whole length of the flume. Besides the influence of the downstream boundary condition, the longitudinal profiles of water depth are controlled by the upstream discharge distribution. The latter also strongly influences the magnitude of the lateral net mass exchanges between subsections, especially upstream from the roughness transition. Irrespective of flow conditions, the inflection point in the mean velocity profile across the mixing layer is always observed at the interface between subsections. The longitudinal velocity at the main channel/floodplain interface, denoted $$U_{int}$$ , appeared to be a key parameter for characterising the flows. First, the mean velocity profiles across the mixing layer, normalised using $$U_{int}$$ , are superimposed irrespective of downstream position, flow depth, floodplain roughness type and lateral mass transfers. However, the profiles of turbulence quantities do not coincide, indicating that the flows are not fully self-similar and that the eddy viscosity assumption is not valid in this case. Second, the depth-averaged turbulent intensities and Reynolds stresses, when scaled by the depth-averaged velocity $$U_{d,int}$$ exhibit two plateau values, each related to a roughness type, meadow or wood. Lastly, the same results hold when scaling by $$U_{d,int}$$ the depth-averaged lateral flux of momentum due to secondary currents. Turbulence production and magnitude of secondary currents are increased by the presence of emergent rigid elements over the floodplains. The autocorrelation functions show that the length of the coherent structures scales with the mixing layer width for all flow cases. It is suggested that coherent structures tend to a state where the magnitude of velocity fluctuations (of both horizontal vortices and secondary currents) and the spatial extension of the structures are in equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This laboratory study aims at investigating the longitudinal development of a mixing layer in a compound open-channel (two-stage geometry with a main channel and adjacent floodplains). The floodplains are covered with two roughness types: either a bed roughness representing a submerged dense meadow or emergent roughness elements (cylinders) representing an alluvial forest. The theoretical background used for plane mixing layers is adapted to the highly three-dimensional mixing layer that develops at the main channel/floodplain interface. The mixing layer width is divided into two parts on either side of the interface. For the wooded floodplain, the mixing layer width on the floodplain side levels off downstream much more rapidly than for the grassed floodplain. The lateral profiles of normalised velocity and turbulence quantities are found to be self-similar in the longitudinal direction for a fixed elevation. However, shallowness effects prevented the normalised lateral profiles of velocity and turbulence quantities from coinciding at different elevations. The respective contributions of lateral Reynolds stresses and secondary currents to the lateral exchange of momentum are estimated. At the main channel/floodplain interface, the momentum exchange is driven by Reynolds stresses. In the main channel, both Reynolds stresses and secondary currents contribute to the lateral flux of momentum. Secondary currents are stronger with emergent macro-roughness elements than with bed-roughness only on the floodplains. Large-scale turbulent coherent structures are investigated based on two-point space-time correlations of velocity. These structures are found to span the entire floodplain flow depth, and their convection velocity is close to the depth-averaged longitudinal velocity at the interface. The coherent fluctuations of the longitudinal and lateral velocities have different Strouhal number values, similar to those found in plane mixing layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open channel flows subjected to a longitudinal transition in roughness, from bed friction to emergent cylinder drag and vice versa, are investigated experimentally in an 18-m-long laboratory flume. These are compared to uniform flows subject to (1) bed roughness only and (2) an array of emergent vertical cylinders installed on bed roughness. The near-bed region is investigated in detail for uniform flows through the cylinder array. The water column can be divided into two parts: a region of constant velocity and a boundary layer near the channel bed. In the latter region, a local increase in velocity, or velocity bulge, is observed in line of a cylinder row. The velocity bulge may be related to the disorganization of the von Kármán vortex street by the bed-induced turbulence, resulting in reduced momentum loss in the cylinder wake. The boundary layer height is found to be independent of water depth and bed roughness (smooth or rough bottom). Strong oscillations of the free surface (seiching) are observed. Oscillation amplitude is dependent on the longitudinal position within the cylinder array and is found to decrease with decreasing array length. When water depth/boundary layer height ratio is close to unity, the disorganization of the von Kármán vortex street throughout the water column prevents seiching from occurring. In the case of roughness transition flows, the water depth is found to vary only upstream of the change in roughness. Vertical profiles of velocity and turbulence are self-similar upstream of the transition and collapse with the uniform flow profiles. Downstream of the roughness change, velocity and turbulence vary over a distance of 35-50 times the water depth. Roughness transition flows show that seiching is lowered by flow non-uniformity. A 1D momentum equation integrating bed friction and drag force exerted by the cylinder array predicts accurately the water surface profile (0.9 % mean relative error). The computed profiles show that upstream of the transition, flow depth varies over a distance of about 2600 times the uniform water depth of the upstream roughness. The 1D equation is solved analytically for zero bed friction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates 1-D modeling of nonuniform flows in compound channels. The issue is how to accurately predict both flow depth and mean velocity in the floodplain. A new model, called 'Independent Subsections Method' (ISM), is presented here. Unlike classical 1-D models that solve a dynamic equation on the total cross section, the ISM estimates the water surface profile within each subsection. This enables the water level and the subsection mean velocities to be simultaneously calculated, without priority to any variable. In opposition to the Divided Channel Method (DCM), corrected DCM or the Exchange Discharge Model, the ISM assumes independent evolution of the discharge in each subsection of the compound channel. Indeed, this method does not assume equal head loss gradients in all subsections, and it does not impose the downstream discharge distribution. The ISM consists in a set of three coupled 1-D momentum equations (written within main channel, left-hand, and right-hand floodplains) and a mass conservation equation on the total cross section. Mass and momentum exchanges at the interfaces between subsections are explicitly accounted for. This method is validated against experimental data for developing flows in straight compound channel, flows in skewed compound channel, flows in a symmetric converging or diverging compound channel, and flows in an asymmetrical compound channel with an abrupt floodplain contraction. For the 46 runs, the ISM predicts flow depth and mean velocity in the floodplain with a maximum relative error of 8% and 19%, respectively. The ISM also appears to be a useful theoretical tool to improve our understanding of physical processes governing compound channel flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]