Measure and Modelling Extreme Hydraulic Flows: A Composite Approach

The design of hydraulic infrastructure such as reservoir spillways, weirs and other critical structures is an area of significant importance from a safety and cost perspective. There is a large and costly programme of work to upgrade existing infrastructure to ensure resilience in the face of changing climate and increase in extreme weather events. Physical models have been used for many years as the prime approach to predict flow behaviour at full-scale, however in recent times CFD free-surface models have been used and have potential to become an important tool in the design of these complex hydraulic structures. Areas of significant challenge to existing computational models include:

-reliably including the effects of air entrainment. This can significantly impact water depths, wall pressures, cavitation;
-uncertainty around appropriate and efficient ways to consider the potentially highly turbulent behaviour, such that there is the ability to predict key parameters (depths, velocities, wave profiles) within required tolerances.
-how best to combine predictions from physical and computational models.

This PhD will evaluate existing multiphase models that are appropriate for modelling of complex hydraulic flows and will involve development of approaches to provide improved prediction of the effects of air entrainment.