2006 Volume 50 Pages 781-786
In this study, a new two-dimensional depth-averaged numerical method was developed to simulate a quasi 3-D flow with the effect of time and spatial evolution of a secondary current in a generalized curvilinear coordinate system. The secondary current was calculated by means of a weighted residual method, with the assumption that the velocity profiles of the main flow and secondary flow remain similar in the computation space. From the verification of this numerical model in comparison with the experimental measurements of curved open channel flows by Hicks et al., it is shown that the proposed numerical method reasonably predicts the main flow profile in a cross-sectional axis. Especially, it is pointed out that growth and decay of the secondary currents along the main flow direction are effectively evaluated by this method.
