Experimental and Numerical Investigation of 3D Dam-Break Wave Propagation in an Enclosed Domain with Dry and Wet Bottom

Dam-break flood waves represent a severe threat to people and properties located in downstream regions. Although dam failure has been among the main subjects investigated academia, little effort made toward investigating wave propagation under influence of tailwater depth. This work presents three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations laboratory experiments dam-breaks with performed at Laboratory Hydraulics Iskenderun Technical University, Turkey. The dam-break was generated by instantaneous removal sluice gate positioned center transversal wall forming reservoir. Specifically, order understand level on propagation, three tests were conducted conditions dry wet bottom two different depths, respectively. present research analyzes positive negative originated dam-break, as well reflection against channel’s closed boundary. Digital image processing used track water surface patterns, ultrasonic sensors five locations along channel obtain stage hydrographs. measurements compared results obtained through FLOW-3D commercial software, solving 3D Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) k-? turbulence model for closure, Shallow Water Equations (SWEs). comparison achieved reasonable agreement both models, although RANS showed general, expected, better performance.