Study of the flow around cofferdams constructed in running water through computational model

ABSTRACT River closure to provide a dry area for the construction of the works in the river bed must be carefully performed because a failure can lead to serious and costly delays. By means of a computational approach, using the FLOW 3D® software, this paper studies the hydraulic behavior of the flow around a cofferdam constructed in running water. The computational model was validated using results of an experimental investigation. Then the effect of changing the cofferdam configuration on the flow characteristics in this region was analyzed. This study showed that the computational model adequately reproduces this type of flow and that changing the configuration of the cofferdam: increasing the width of the crest or decreasing the embankment slope affects the flow curvature and positively affects the river closure process.