Human Life Saving by Simulation of Dam Break Using Flow-3d (a Case Study: Upper Gotvand Dam)

Dam break analysis plays a very important role in the risk assessment of dams. Large dams pose significantly higher risks to the people and property downstream of the dam as compared to smaller dams. So the flooding risk due to the possible failure of large dams is more crucial. The simulation of exceptional events characterized by high hydraulic and hydro-geologic risk is an actual problem for the scientific community, working in the topic of environmental protection. These failures have caused severe devastation in the valleys downstream both in terms of lives lost and widespread damage to infrastructure and property. In this study, dam break modeling for very large dams has been focused. For this purpose, Upper Gotvand dam, located on Karun river in Iran, has been taken into consideration. With a height of about 182 m, which is one of the largest earth and rock fill dams in the world. Most simulation studies for the dam break problem are currently attempted using one-dimensional models, and we investigate here the possibility of the simple example of the collapse of a dam is used with a finite element analysis. Moreover, the risk zones in the dam’s downstream are known. This study would be useful for the dam break analysis and the risk assessment of existing & planned dams in Iran as well as in other parts of the world. Also, the findings of dam break modeling are helpful in the risk assessment of dams. The flooding risk could be quite high due to the failure of large dams. This study proposes the Emergency Action Plan (EAP) of a very large earth and rock-fill dam to save the human life.