Optimization of the Discharge and Energy Dissipation for a Real Hydro-Junction Project Based upon SPH Simulations

Flows in discharge and energy dissipation buildings generally carry a considerable amount of energy. Therefore, it is important to optimize the discharge and energy dissipation to eliminate the redundant energy as much as possible for the safety of the hydro-junction project and the downstream area. In this paper, a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model is applied to optimize the discharge and energy dissipation related to hydraulic jumps for a large-scale real hydro-junction project. The capability of the model in resolving hydraulic jumps is validated by comparing the model results with experimental data. Then, the model is applied to optimize the real hydro-junction project, which requires a sizeable computational effort. The optimization is based on comparisons of the velocity field, the location of the jump toe and the energy dissipation rate between two different schemes for the stilling basin. It is found that the two-stage stilling basin is more effective for energy dissipation than the one-stage stilling basin with the same length. Therefore, two-stage energy dissipation should be adopted for discharge and energy dissipation buildings for similar hydro-junction projects.