Three-Dimensional Hydraulic Models

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The USACE Bay Model is one of the most famous and most complex physical hydraulic models ever built. While it was once used for scientific research, it is now a tourist attraction. (Image Source: USACE)

Three-dimensional hydraulic models are typically used in the study of rapidly-varied flow that occurs along a spillway or bridge pier or in the study of the effects of turbulence and irregular flow geometries on various closed conduit components such as valves or flow meters. As a result of the uncertainties in predicting the effects of rapidly-varied flow by using either one- or two-dimensional hydraulic modeling methods, three-dimensional models reduce the uncertainty in this type of turbulent flow and help to achieve a greater level of optimization for a hydraulic design in an engineering project. There are two types of three-dimensional hydraulic models that can be used depending on the level of analysis and detail required by the study and available funds:

• Physical Models
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

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Revision ID: 7425
Revision Date: 07/21/2023