Three-dimensional numerical modeling of hydraulics and morphodynamics of the Schwarzenbach reservoir

Abstract

In this study the numerical model SSIIM 2 is used to simulate the flow situation and the suspended sediment transport within the Schwarzenbach reservoir in Germany. Hydrodynamic simulations are carried out to assess the influence of wind forces and different discretization schemes on the calculated flow field. A hydraulic plausibility check is performed based on stationary ADCP measurements to assess the performance of the model. Both the consideration of the wind and the plausibility check using an ADCP are hardly used in large reservoirs so far. The simulation results show a complex flow field with two large (re-)circulation zones in the middle of the reservoir, whereby the temporal development of the simulated and measured velocities have comparable characteristics. Moreover, morphodynamic simulations are performed to compute the suspended sediment transport. The results show that the settling behavior of the sediments is mainly influenced by the inflow discharge and the operation level of the reservoir.