Numerical Evaluation of Turbulence Models for Velocity Distribution Simulation in Hydraulic Jumps

Creative Commons License

Mousavi S. N., Abbaszadeh H., Menazadeh ., Süme V., Saray .

Turkish Journal of Hydraulic, vol.9, no.2, pp.49-58, 2025 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 9 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Journal Name: Turkish Journal of Hydraulic
  • Journal Indexes: EBSCO Legal Collection, EBSCO Legal Source, Directory of Open Access Journals, Index Copernicus, Asos İndeks
  • Page Numbers: pp.49-58
  • Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The research aims to identify the optimal turbulence model and mesh size for achieving close agreement between numerical and experimental results, contributing to the improvement of CFD applications for stilling basin design. This study simulates the velocity distribution of hydraulic jumps in a stilling basin with a smooth bed, under flow rates of 33–60 L/s and Froude numbers of 7–10. Four turbulence models—RNG, k-ε, k-ω, and LES—were evaluated to determine the most accurate model by comparing numerical results with experimental data from a 10 m long, 0.51 m wide laboratory flume. A mesh convergence study identified an optimal mesh size of 0.011 m, balancing accuracy and computational efficiency. The RNG turbulence model demonstrated superior performance, with the lowest relative error (RE = 5.41%) and absolute error (AE = 0.0065 m) for hydraulic head predictions, attributed to its robustness in capturing high-shear flows. These findings enhance the application of CFD in optimizing stilling basin designs for hydraulic structures.