A lattice Boltzmann model for the open channel flows described by the Saint-Venant equations

A new lattice Boltzmann method to simulate open channel flows with complex geometry described by a conservative form of Saint-Venant equations is developed. The Saint-Venant equations include an original treatment of the momentum equation source term. Concrete hydrostatic pressure thrust expressions are provided for rectangular, trapezoidal and irregular cross-section shapes. A D1Q3 lattice arrangement is adopted. External forces, such as bed friction and the static term, are discretized with a centred scheme. Bounce back and imposed boundary conditions are considered. To verify the proposed model, four cases are carried out: tidal flow over a regular bed in a rectangular cross-section, steady flow in a channel with horizontal and vertical contractions, steady flow over a bump in a trapezoidal channel and steady flow in a non-prismatic channel with friction. Results indicate that the proposed scheme is simple and can provide accurate predictions for open channel flows.