Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
College/Unit
Statler College of Engineering and Mining Resources
Department/Program/Center
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Abstract
The amount of released water (discharge) in a levee breach is a primary input variable to establish an emergency action plan for the area next to the levee. However, although several studies have been conducted, there is still no widely applicable discharge coefficient formula; this needs to be known to estimate discharge amount through an opening caused by a levee breach. Sometimes, the discharge coefficient developed for a sharp crested side weir is used to rate the discharge, but, in case of a levee breach, the resulting geometry and flow types are similar to that over a broad crested weir. Thus, in this study, two different openings—rectangular and trapezoidal shape—are constructed in the center of a levee at a height of 0.6m to replicate levee breach scenarios, and the effect of two different approach flow types—the river type approach and reservoir type approach—are explored to suggest a discharge coefficient formula applicable for discharge rating for a levee breach. The results show that the ratio of head above the bottom of an opening and the opening width is a key variable for calculating the discharge coefficient of a reservoir type, but the approach Froude number should also be considered for a river type approach. The measured data are used to improve rating equations and will be useful in the future to validate computational fluid dynamics simulations of wave propagation during levee failure into the inundation area.
Digital Commons Citation
Lee, Seung Oh; Yoon, Kwang Seok; Lee, Jun Seon; and Hong, Seung Ho, "Estimates of Discharge Coefficient in Levee Breach Under Two Different Approach Flow Types" (2019). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2133.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2133
Source Citation
Lee, S. O., Yoon, K. S., Lee, J. S., & Hong, S. H. (2019). Estimates of Discharge Coefficient in Levee Breach Under Two Different Approach Flow Types. Sustainability, 11(8), 2374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082374
Comments
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).