Numerical Simulation of Cavitation Characteristics on Stepped Spillway Due to Different Geometry Configuration

In the present work, the occurrence of cavitation phenomenon is being investigated numerically on the steeply sloping stepped spillway for two different geometry configurations using ANSYS Fluent. The fluid flow is simulated using the URANS equations and Realizable \(k-\epsilon \) turbulence model. To solve the cavitation, the homogeneous mixture model is used, and it is coupled with Zwart-Gerber-Belamri model to determine the vapor volume fraction. This numerical study is conducted based on experimental work in literature. The cavitation characteristics on two different geometries of stepped spillways which are LOH-I and LOH-II are investigated in terms of liquid volume fraction, pressure coefficient, velocity profiles, and velocity vectors at different cavitation index ( \(\sigma )\) . More cavity has been observed at lower values of \(\sigma \) for LOH-I due to sudden pressure drop at the inner side of the steps. The obtained results from both case studies show that the possible risk of damage in spillways due to the cavitation phenomenon should be taken into consideration near the location where the point of inception begin until the toe of the spillways.