Experimental investigation of the effect of vegetation on dam break flood waves

Dams have an important role in the industrial development of countries. Irrespective of the reason for dam break, the flood can cause devastating disasters with loss of life and property especially in densely populated areas. In this study, the effects of the vegetation on the flood wave propagation in case of dam break were investigated experimentally by using the distorted physical model of Urkmez Dam. The horizontal and vertical scales of the distorted physical model are 1/150 and 1/30, respectively. The dam break scenarios were achieved by means of a gate of rectangular and triangular shape. The results obtained from experiments performed with vegetation were compared and interpreted with those obtained from experiments at which the vegetation configuration was absent. The analysis of the experimental data showed that the presence of vegetation causes a significant decrease in water depths as the flood wave propagates to the downstream and greatly reduces its impact on the settlements. It is also revealed that dam break shape plays an important role in temporal variation of flood wave

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Flood Waves due to Partial Dam Break

The potential destruction of dams is a serious danger for the settlements. Dam break events cause serious loss of life and property in the region, regardless of the reason. The time required to give warn the people of the region is very short since floods develop suddenly during dam breaks. For this reason, the investigation of the flood wave propagation that will occur at the time of possible collapse is important for the emergency action plans to be prepared. In this study, the dam break experiments were carried out in the distorted physical model of the Urkmez Dam and at its downstream part also involving the vegetation. The horizontal and vertical scales are 1/150 and 1/30, respectively. The water depths and local velocities were measured by means of elaborated devices, and the propagation of the flood wave was recorded by high-precision cameras. In addition, numerical analysis was achieved by using the FLOW-3D program. According to the results, it is concluded that as the water level decreases, the time to reach the measurement points of the flood increases and the spatial distribution is delayed. The computed values obtained from the numerical model simulated by using the dam reservoir are in better agreement with those obtained from experiments than those calculated by using the outlet hydrograph