Historically, physical modeling or non-site-specific guidelines were used in the design of hydraulic structures. CFD is now widely used to augment historical methods. While CFD is not applicable to all flow problems and generally should not be used without problem-specific validation, Alden engineers have applied CFD to the flow field around the following types of structures:
- Dams
- Spillways (overflow and shaft/morning glory)
- Intake structures (selective withdrawal and open pipe)
- Flow control (valves, gates, surge tanks, weirs, diversions)
- Energy dissipation (terminal structures - stilling basins, submerged buckets, slip buckets)
- Fish protection (barriers, diversion technologies, behavioral barriers)
- Trashracks
- Draft tubes
- Tailraces
- Diffusers
- Jet discharges
- Plume discharge and migration (§316a)
The computational needs of the various structures differ significantly, and no single CFD code is applicable to all the structures. Alden uses either Fluent, FLOW-3D®, FIDAP, MIKE21, MIKE3, or CORMIX to simulate the flow field for the diverse list of hydraulic structures. Selection of the proper code requires in-depth knowledge of the solution schemes used in the commercial models and a fundamental understanding of the physics of the flow around each structure.
