Masih Zolghadr - M.Sc student of Water Structures, Dept. of Water Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
M. Reza Hashemi - Assistant Professor, Dept. of Water Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
M. Ali Zomorrodian - Assistant Professor, Dept. of Water Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Hydraulic simulation of flow around dike breaches is the focus of this study. Due to the actual pattern of flow near the breach, 2-D simulation of flow is inevitable. In this research, MIKE21 is examined to model the flow field around a dike breach. MIKE21 is based on 2-D depth averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The experimental data of a dike breach in the laboratory scale from the previous studies were used to assess the performance of MIKE21. The experimental setup includes a tilting laboratory flume with a length of 10 meters and a width of 0.3 meter. One of the side walls was replaced by two plates in order to create a lateral opening, reproducing the breach. A lateral floodplain was added to the flume letting the outflow propagate outside the breach. The results of this research show that although 2-D depth averaged based flow models like MIKE21 can reasonably simulate the flow pattern near dike breaches but certain numerical capabilities in handling boundary conditions and also for capturing shocks near the breach should be included in 2-D models.

Dike breach, shallow water equations, Mike21