a numerical study on three-dimensionality and turbulence in supercritical bend flow

A numerical study is carried out to investigate the importance of three-dimensionality and turbulence in supercritical bend flow. the cfd-based model, fluent, is applied for solving the three-dimensional equations of continuity and navier–stokes. the volume of fluid method has been employed to simulate the free-surface flow. the turbulence closure of the mean flow system is acquired using the standard k − ε turbulence model. the model is applied to three different bend geometries. the three-dimensional modeling is done with and without considering turbulence effects. results, in the form of non-dimensional water-surface profiles, are compared with the available two-dimensional model results as well as available experimental data. the results indicate that three-dimensional approach makes highly improved predictions in comparison with the results of two-dimensional model. furthermore, the height and the location of maximum flow depth, which are important in designing the supercritical bend channels, are predicted better in three-dimensional model than the two-dimensional model results. however, turbulence modeling does not show a significant contribution in supercritical bend flow.