A comparison of model techniques at a stepped masonry spillway Available to Purchase

This paper covers a technical comparison of results from two physical scale models and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that was undertaken for a masonry stepped spillway at Grassholme reservoir. The spillway is known to be deficient in terms of the depth of the collection channel and the size of the stepped spillway. Using the performance of the spillway during a flood in 1991 as a benchmark, the two modelling methods are compared. It is found that the physical scale models cannot match the full scale behaviour of spillway. The CFD model was undertaken in a way so as to account for air entrainment and flow bulking, and this formed a better estimate of the chute behaviour witnessed during 1991.