ANALYTIC BENCHMARK SOLUTIONS FOR OPEN-CHANNEL FLOWS

An important test of the quality of a computational model is its abili ty to reproduce standard test cases or benchmarks. For steady open-cha nnel flow based on the Saint Venant equations some benchmarks exist fo r simple geometries from the work of Bresse, Bakhmeteff and Chow but t hese are tabulated in the form of standard integrals. This paper provi des benchmark solutions for a wider range of cases, which may have a n onprismatic cross section, nonuniform bed slope, and transitions betwe en subcritical and supercritical flow. This makes it possible to asses s the underlying quality of computational algorithms in more difficult cases, including those with hydraulic jumps. Several new test cases a re given in detail and the performance of a commercial steady flow pac kage is evaluated against two of them. The test cases may also be used as benchmarks for both steady flow models and unsteady flow models in the steady limit.