Modeling The Collapse Of A Liquid Column Over An Obstacle.

Abstract

This work presents the numerical and experimental analyses of the collapse of a water
column over an obstacle. The physical model consists of a water column initially confined by a closed
gate inside a glass box. An obstacle is positioned between the gate and the right wall of the box (inside
the initially unfilled zone). Once the gate is opened, the liquid spreads in the container and moves over
the obstacle. Measurements of the liquid height along the walls and a middle control section are
obtained from videos. The simulations are performed using a moving interface technique, namely the
Edge-Tracked Interface Locator Technique (ETILT) to describe the interface motion, and some
physical aspects are considered via the model reported in Cruchaga et al., Comp. Mech., 39:453-476
(2007). The analysis involves column aspect ratio of 2 with different obstacle geometries. The
numerical predictions agree reasonably well with the experimental trends.