Volume 4 Issue 2/3 ( September 2017 )

The purpose of the present research is to study three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulation on free surface impact phenomena with the validation on a newly performed dam breaking experiment. Large eddy simulation (LES) is implemented in the LBM to enhance the computational efficiency and to relax the restriction of the computational stability. The LBM method involves a surface-tracking technique with free surface algorithm. In this study, the present numerical simulation is validated by comparing wave front propagation and water level elevation with the experimental measurements. A three dimensional numerical simulation on dam breaking with vertical cylinder obstacles are performed and qualitative comparison with the experimental measurement has been made. Good qualitative agreement between numerical simulations and the experiments has been obtained in terms of free surface development, splash pattern and splash distance. For the square cross section cylinder, the water impacts on the cylinder violently and the flow is directed to the sides of the tank. For the circular cross section cylinder, the water flows smoothly around the cylinder and impacts tank wall violently. The results show that the free surface lattice Boltzmann method is efficient for dealing with complex geometrical problems.

Keywords: Free surface flow; Vertical cylinder; Lattice Boltzmann method