Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruc

Computational modeling of ow over an ogee spillway

Jean Chatila *, Mazen Tabbara
Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and Architecture, Lebanese American University, P.O. Box 36, Byblos, Lebanon
Received 2 January 2004; accepted 7 April 2004
Available online 3 July 2004

Abstract
This paper presents an investigation into the hydraulics of regular ogee-prole spillways. The free-surfaces of the
uid for several ow heads as measured in the hydraulics laboratory are used as benchmarks. The nite element
computational uid dynamics software, ADINA, was used to predict the free surface over an ogee spillway and thus
model the ow eld. Since the actual ow is turbulent the ke ow model was used. For the cases considered in this
paper, ADINA predicted reasonable free surface results that are consistent with general ow characteristics over
spillways. The results are also in close agreement with measured free-surface proles over the entire length of the
spillway.
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Ogee-spillway; Numerical; Experimental; Modeling; Free surface; Finite element; Turbulent ow

1. Introduction topping [1]. In addition to providing sucient capacity,

Modern dams and hydraulic structures with immense
dimensions, controlling large volumes of water under
high pressures, are widespread all over the world. The
energies at the base of these structures are often tre-
mendous, whether the discharge is through outlet con-
duits or over spillways. A spillway is a hydraulic
structure that is usually provided at storage and deten-
tion dams to release surplus or ood water that cannot
be safely stored in the reservoir in order to prevent
damage to the dam. The failure of dams may cause
serious loss of life and property. Consequently, the de-
sign and maintenance of dams and their related
hydraulic structures are commonly under government
surveillance. Spillways of improper design or insucient
capacities have caused failures of dams. In addition,
many embankment dams have been identied as unable
to pass their design ows without failure due to over-
*
Corresponding author. Fax: +961-9-547-256.
E-mail address: jchatila@lau.edu.lb (J. Chatila).
the spillway must be hydraulically and structurally
adequate. When the reservoirs storage capacity is ex-
ceeded, water ows over the spillway crest and acceler-
ates down the spillway face thus producing high
velocities at the toe. These high velocities can cause
dangerous scour in the natural channel below the
structure. Several types of energy dissipaters have been
used to minimize the eect of high velocities.
The analysis of water ow over a spillway is an
important engineering problem. The United States
Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Sta-
tion (USACE-WES) [2] studied the behavior of water
ow over spillways and developed a series of design
charts that were updated recently [3]. These charts and
manuals aid in the design of spillway prole for a given
design ood condition. However, they are applicable for
specic spillway congurations, necessitating physical
experimentation. Due to advances in computational
power, numerical modeling, when coupled with physical
measurements, is currently providing insight to under-
standing the intricacies of ow over spillways. A litera-
ture review indicates that there are gaps in knowledge
and design of ogee spillways. Many researchers have

0045-7949/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruc.2004.04.007
1806 J. Chatila, M. Tabbara / Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812
tried to implement some numerical and experimental
techniques for solving the ow eld [410]. Physical
models have been investigated for several real life cases:
The Upper Stillwater Dam [11] and the Monksville Dam
[12] as examples. It should be noted that the results
obtained are valid for those specic cases, and they can
only be used as a rough estimate for other similar cases.
Cassidy [13] presented an early attempt by using po-
tential ow theory and mapping into the complex po-
tential plane. He was able to solve for the free surface
and crest pressures and demonstrated good agreement
with experimental data for a limited number of solu-
tions. Assy [14] used the nite dierence method with a
new representation of Neumanns problem on boundary
points to simulate ow over spillways. Song and Zhou
[5] proposed a numerical approach to study the eect of
geometry on the free surface ow over a tunnel spillway.
They solved the governing equations with an explicit
nite volume method, and compared the numerical re-
sults of a time-averaged free surface prole, pressure
and velocity distribution with some experimental data.
Olsen and Kjellesvig [15] modeled numerically the ow
over a spillway in two-dimensions (2-D) and three-
dimensions (3-D) for various geometries and solved the
NavierStokes equations with the ke turbulence model.
They reported that after several iterations, a steady
solution was obtained and the location of the water
surface was used to calculate the capacity and the
coecient of discharge for the spillway. Other research-
ers used the nite element method to obtain better
convergence of the solution [1518]. Olsen and Kjelles-
vig [15] showed good agreement for water surfaces and
discharge coecients for a limited number of ows.
However, pressure data were only recorded at few loca-
tions downstream from a nonstandard crest for a single
ow rate. Tsai and Yue [19] discussed the advantages
and disadvantages of dierent free surface calculation
methods. Diculties in the numerical modeling of
supercritical ows have been also presented in literature
[2022].
Although the physical ow eld is 3-D, many
researchers have applied available 1-D or vertical 2-D
numerical models to simulate ow over spillways [23,24].
Yet, these models were incapable of properly simulating
the free surface. The choice among an experimental
model, a computational model, or the design/perfor-
mance curves of USACE or USBR (US Bureau of
Reclamation) can be a dicult and dangerous task
[25,26]. This is specically correct when scaling eects in
experimental modeling are ignored, basic assumptions
and capabilities in computational modeling are not
taken into consideration and interpolation/extrapolation
of design/performance curves may lead to physically
incorrect situations.
Geometrically, the ow over a sharp-crested weir is
similar to that over an ogee-spillway. Close to the
atmospheric pressure develop over the spillway crest for
a specic ow at the design head (Hd ). When the reser-
voir level is below Hd , above atmospheric pressures de-
velop over the spillway. At ows above Hd , negative or
suction pressures develop along the crest section and
may cause damage to the surface. Hydraulically, the
ow over the sharp-crested weir is dierent from that
over the spillway for wide ranges of heads. At heads
lower than Hd , the crest acts as a resistance element and
thus reduces the discharge, whereas heads higher than
Hd , the discharge is higher due to the negative pressure
that develops over the crest. Thus, negative pressures are
favorable but should not be excessive to avoid cavita-
tion. Furthermore, the ow head and the shape of the
crest are both controlling parameters in the performance
of the spillway [2528].
2. Experimental setup
The experiments were performed in the Hydraulics
Laboratory in a long ume with glass walls on both
sides. A weir at the end of the ume controlled the po-
sition of the downstream forming hydraulic jump. Two
pumps supply the ow into the channel through cali-
brated orice meters located in the feed pipes into the
channel, with two independent valves to control the
ow. Discharge was measured using these meters.
The channel was kept at approximately zero-slope
throughout the experiments. Depth of water at any
point was measured using a point gauge with accuracy
to the nearest millimeter. In the case of uctuating water
surface prole, average values of depths were taken
based on several measurements [29].
The hydraulic design charts 111-2-/1 of USACE-
WES [2] were used for the design of the spillway model
proles. A vertical upstream face was used and a curved
surface dened by the radii 0:2Hd and 0:5Hd in front of
the crest centerline. The prole downstream of the crest
centerline is dened by: xn KHd1n y. Using K 2,
n 1:85, and Hd 5:08 cm (or 2 in.) yields the follow-
ing equation for the spillway prole at the crest:
y 0:1256x1:85 . The slope of the straight portion of the
spillway face was set at 60 (or a slope 1.73:1).
While conducting the experiments, some measure-
ments were repeated to ensure that the results are
reproducible with the minimum possible errors. In some
instances, average values were considered. The following
measurements were recorded for a wide range of ows:
ow rate, water head at the upstream of the spillway,
depth at crest, prole of free surface, depth at the bot-
tom or the toe of the model spillway, depth at the
downstream end of the hydraulic jump, and the length
of the jump.
 J. Chatila, M. Tabbara / Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812 1807

3. Numerical analysis

The ow over a spillway, like most ows of engi-

neering signicance, is turbulent in nature. Theoretically
speaking, the NavierStokes equations are still valid,
however; resolving the wide range of length scales in
turbulent ows is still prohibitive in spite of major ad-
vances in the present day computing power. Meanwhile,
engineers have proposed numerous turbulence models
utilizing time-averaged properties of the ow. In this
paper we used the two-equation, eddy-viscosity model
with variable pairs k; e where k is the turbulent kinetic
energy and e is its dissipation rate. An added compli- Fig. 1. The computational domain for Case 1 with no-slip wall
cation to the numerical analysis is the location of the boundary condition prescribed on all lines with labels A and
free surface that is not known apriori and should be free-surface boundary condition prescribed on al lines with label
B. The velocity loading is prescribed on the line with label C.
predicted as part of the solution.
The inset shows the variation (ramp function) of the prescribed
The nite element computational uid dynamics velocity with time. Similar domains are used for the other two
(CFD) module of the ADINA software [30], ADINA-F, cases.
was utilized to model (or predict) the ow over the
spillway. Three analysis cases were considered for three
dierent approaching heads (or ow rates): Case 1 is a
uidsolid boundary conditions. At the inlet (line labeled
ow at 1:5Hd , Case 2 at 1:0Hd , and Case 3 at 0:75Hd .
C) a uniform velocity equal to 0.1025 m/s is prescribed.
This value is calculated by dividing the given ow rate by
the experimentally measured height at Point 1. The tur-
4. Finite element model bulent ke ow model is adopted with all the default
parameters as provided by ADINA-F. Although steady-
The computational domain for Case 1 is shown in state conditions physically exist, and it is reasonable to
Fig. 1. The initial free surface (all lines labeled B) is perform a steady-state analysis, a transient analysis is
simply modeled by three straight lines. A wall boundary performed instead. This was necessary because the stea-
condition (with no slip) is imposed on the bottom edges dy-state analysis resulted in element overlap even for
and along the spillway (all lines labeled A), ADINA-F very small loading steps. As will be seen later in this
utilizes the universal law of the near-wall velocity prole paper, the transient analysis did admit a reasonable
(or the turbulent wall function) in order to resolve the steady-state solution. The transient analysis consisted of

Fig. 2. Finite element mesh for Case 1 consisting of 1973 three-node triangles and 1181 nodes. Similar meshes are used for the other
two cases.

Table 1
Finite element model information for each case
Case Head/Hd Number of Number of Coordinates of Coordinates of Prescribed
nodes elements Point 1 (m) Point 2 (m) velocity (m/s)
1 1.5 1181 1973 ()0.672, 0.08) (0.06, 0.08) 0.1025
2 1.0 1096 1805 ()0.672, 0.06) (0.05, 0.06) 0.05539
3 0.75 1056 1726 ()0.672, 0.04) (0.04, 0.04) 0.03566
Note: Points 1 and 2 are shown in Fig. 1.
1808 J. Chatila, M. Tabbara / Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812

Fig. 3. Evolution of mesh with time for Case 1 (head 1:5Hd ). For all the 100 steps between the time 1 and the time 2, there are no
appreciable changes in the mesh geometry thus validating the existence of a steady-state conguration. Similar results were obtained
for the other two cases.
J. Chatila, M. Tabbara / Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812 1809

Fig. 3. (continued)
1810 J. Chatila, M. Tabbara / Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812

200 steps with a constant magnitude of 0.01 for each step.
The time function that scales the prescribed velocity is
shown in Fig. 1 (see inset). Thus, the prescribed velocity
starts at zero, and increases linearly to 0.1025 in 100 steps
and is held constant for an additional 100 steps. The -
nite element mesh is shown in Fig. 2; it consists of 1181
nodes and 1973 triangular three-node elements.
The preceding description of the computational
model is applicable to Cases 2 and 3 with only adjust-
ments to prescribed velocity and approach head (i.e.
coordinates of Points 1 and 2, as shown in Table 1) in
order to accommodate changes in ow rates. The initial
depth at the downstream, beyond the toe, was kept
constant for all three cases.
5. Numerical results
The results of the transient analysis are recorded for
each of the 200 time steps. The evolution with time of

Fig. 4. Comparison of computed (ADINA, time 2.0) with experimentally measured (MEASURED) free-surface for: (a) Case 1, (b)
Case 2, and (c) Case 3. Also shown is the initial (ADINA, time 0) tri-linear free surface.
 J. Chatila, M. Tabbara / Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812
the mesh geometry is shown in Fig. 3 for Case 1. As the
prescribed velocity increases from zero at time 0 to
reach a steady state value 0.1025 m/s at time 1.0, the
free surface evolves drastically admitting a wave-like
prole. For the time span between 1.0 and 2.0 (or 100
steps), there are no appreciable changes in the mesh
geometry and a steady state solution is achieved. Similar
mesh geometry evolution is observed for Cases 2 and 3.
The numerical results for the location of the free-
surface are shown at time 2.0 in Fig. 4 for each of the
three cases. For all the cases, the predicted free-surface
acquires an acceptable and expected shape: (i) the water
surface closely follows the curvature of the crest, the
straight portion of the face, and the curvature of the toe;
(ii) the depth of water over the entire spillway prole,
specically on the straight portion of the face, decreases
with decreasing approaching heads; and (iii) an overall
smooth water surface, specically at the transition
points in spillway surface curvature, develops.
In addition to the acceptable qualitative predictions
provided by the numerical results, a comparison is
shown in Fig. 4 to reect the quantitative agreement
with the experimentally measured proles. Good
agreement between the computed and measured proles
exits at the crest and toe portions of the spillway surface
for the three cases. However, some discrepancies exist at
the straight portion of the spillway surface. These dis-
crepancies increase as the approach head decreases. This
could be attributed to air entrainment which was not
accounted for in the numerical analysis or inaccuracies
in experimental measurements at low ow depths.
6. Summary and conclusions
Although physical measurements may be more
expensive and time consuming than computational
modeling, they are still crucial for providing data for
model calibration and validation studies. The added
advantage of computational models is in providing
extensive, detailed information of the complete ow
eld. For the cases considered in this paper, the nite
element computational uid dynamics module, ADI-
NA-F, provided qualitative results that are consistent
with the general ow characteristics as well as quanti-
tative results that are in close agreement with measured
free-surface proles. This is an encouraging nding that
serves as a steppingstone for further application specif-
ically in modeling the ow over stepped spillways, thus
predicting their performance as energy dissipaters.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by the Lebanese
American University Research Council through a grant.
1811
References
[1] Frizell KH. Stepped spillway design for ow over embank-
ment. In: Proceedings, The 1991 National Conference
Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, Nashville, TN, July 29
August 2, 1991. p. 11823.
[2] United States Army Corps of Engineers Waterways
Experiment Station (USACE-WES). Corps of engineers
hydraulic design criteria, 1952, revised in subsequent years.
[3] United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
Hydraulic design of spillway, Technical Engineering and
Design Guides, No. 12, ASCE, 1995.
[4] Savage BM, Johnson MC. Flow over ogee spillway:
physical and numerical model case study. J Hydraul Eng,
ASCE 2001;127(8):6419.
[5] Song C, Zhou F. Simulation of free surface ow over
spillway. J Hydraul Eng, ASCE 1999;125(9):95967.
[6] Chamani MR, Rajaratnam N. Characteristics of skimming
ow over stepped spillways. J Hydraul Eng, ASCE
1999;125(4):3618.
[7] Pegram GGS, Ocer AK, Mottram SR. Hydraulics of
skimming ow on modeled stepped spillways. J Hydraul
Eng, ASCE 1999;125(5):50010.
[8] Sanchez JM, Pomares J, Dolz J. Pressure eld in skimming
ow over a stepped spillway. In: Proceedings, International
Workshop on Hydraulics of Stepped Spillways, Zurich,
Switzerland, 2000.
[9] Yildiz D, Kas I. Hydraulic performance of stepped chute
spillway. Hydropower Dams 1998;(4):6470.
[10] Henderson HC, Kok M, De Koning WL. Computer-aided
spillway design using the boundary element method and
non-linear programming. Int J Numer Meth Fluids
1991;13(5):62541.
[11] Young MF. Feasibility study of a stepped spillway. In:
Proceedings, Hydraulics Division Speciality Conference.
New York: ASCE; 1982. p. 96106.
[12] Sorensen RM. Stepped spillway hydraulic model investi-
gation. J Hydraul Eng, ASCE 1985;111(12):146172.
[13] Cassidy JJ. Irrotational ow over spillways of nite height.
J Mech Eng Div, ASCE 1965;91(6):15573.
[14] Assy TM. Solution for spillway ow by nite dierence
method. J Hydraul Res, IAHR 2001;39(3):2417.
[15] Olsen NRB, Kjellesvig HM. Three-dimensional numerical
ow modeling for estimation of spillway capacity. J
Hydraul Res, IAHR 1998;36(5):77584.
[16] Li W, Xie Q, Chen CJ. Finite analytic solution of ow over
spillways. J Mech Eng Div, ASCE 1989;115(12):263548.
[17] Guo Y, Wen X, Wu C, Fang D. Numerical modeling of
spillway ow with free drop and initially unknown
discharge. J Hydraul Res 1998;36(5):785801.
[18] Burgisser MF, Rutschmann P. Numerical solution of
viscous 2DV free surface ows: ow over spillway crests.
Proceedings, 28th IAHR Congress, Technical University
Graz, Graz, Austria, 1999.
[19] Tsai W, Yue D. Computation of nonlinear free-surface
ows. Annu Rev, Fluid Mech 1996;28:24978.
[20] Rahman M, Chaudry HM. Computation of ow in open-
channel ow. J Hydraul Res 1997;35(2):24356.
[21] Kruger S, Burgisser M, Rutschmann P. Advances in calcu-
lating supercritical ow in spillway contractions. In: Ba-
bovic V, Larsen L, editors. Proceedings, Hydroinformatics,
1812 J. Chatila, M. Tabbara / Computers and Structures 82 (2004) 18051812
vol. 1. Rotherdam, The Netherlands: Balkema; 1998. p.
16370.
[22] Causon DM, Mingham CG, Ingram DM. Advances in
calculation methods for supercritical ow in spillway
channels. J Hydraul Eng, ASCE 1999;125(10):103950.
[23] Ellis J, Fender G. Chute spillway design calculations. Proc,
Inst Civil Eng 1982;73(Part 1):299312.
[24] Montes JS. Potential-ow simulation to 2D transition from
mild to steep slope. J Hydraul Eng, ASCE
1994;120(5):60162.
[25] USACE. Hydraulic design of spillways. United States
Army Corps of Engineers, EM 1110-2-1603, Department
of the Army, Washington, DC, 1990.
[26] USBR. Design of small dams. United States Bureau of
Reclamation, US Government Printing Oce, Washing-
ton, DC, 1977.
[27] Maynord ST. General spillway investigation. Technical
Report, HL-85-1, United States Army Corps of Engineers,
Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS, 1985.
[28] Chow VT. Open channel hydraulics. New York: McGraw
Hill; 1959. p. 36580.
[29] Chatila JG, Jurdi BR. Stepped spillway as an energy
dissipater. Can Water Resour J, in press.
[30] ADINA R&D, Inc. Theory and modeling guide, vol. III:
ADINA-F. ADINA R&D, Inc., 71 Elton Avenue, Water-
town, MA 02472, USA, September 2002.