Numerical investigation of the gate motion effect on a dam break flow

The effects of a moving gate on dam break flow experiments are numerically considered in this paper. The dam break flow process is modelled by a sudden gate release. A Constrained Interpolation Profile (CIP)-based model is employed to solve the Navier-Stokes equations with the free surface boundary condition to deal with the water-air-gate interactions. In addition, the VOF-type THINC/SW method is used to capture the free surface. The movable gate is simulated by an immersed boundary, and a gate motion formula is proposed from existing experimental data and applied in the dam break flow computations. The difference between the water profile and pressure domain with/without gate motion is examined. The dam breaks with different gate motions are discussed as well. The numerical results show that the proposed gate motion formula correlates well with the numerical modelling, and the gate motion has a significant influence in the water collapse process and cannot be neglected in the study of dam break.