Numerical and Physical Modeling of Ponte Liscione (Guardialfiera, Molise) Dam Spillways and Stilling Basin

The investigation of the safety conditions of hydraulic infrastructures such as dams is of great interest for safeguarding territories and assessing their risk level. Issues as design orverification ofstructures may be tackled numericallywith Computational Fluid Dynamics and experimentallywith physical models. This paper describes the 1:60 Froude scaled numerical model ofthe Liscione (Guardialfiera, Molise, Italy) dam spillway and the downstream stilling basin. The k-w SST turbulence model was chosen for closing the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS). The computation domain was discretized using a grid with hexagonal meshes. Experimental data have been gathered from the 1:60 scale physical model ofthe Liscione dam spillways and the downstream riverbed ofthe Biferno river built at the Laboratory of Hydraulic and Maritime Constructions of Sapienza University of Rome. The model is scaled according to the Froude number and fully-developed turbulent flow conditions have been reproduced at the model scale (Re > 10,000). From the analysis ofthe results of both the physical and the numerical models it is certainly clear how the dissipation tank is undersized and therefore insufficient to manage the energy content ofthe current output to the river. As a consequence, the flow is introduced into the riverbed with a high energy content, which impacts on an erodible bottom.