One‐dimensional simulation of supercritical flow at a confluence by means of a nonlinear junction model applied with the RKDG2 method

We investigate the one‐dimensional computation of supercritical open‐channel flows at a combining junction. In such situations, the network system is composed of channel segments arranged in a branching configuration, with individual channel segments connected at a junction. Therefore, two important issues have to be addressed: (a) the numerical solution in branches, and (b) the internal boundary conditions treatment at the junction. Going from the advantageous literature supports of RKDG methods to a particular investigation for a supercritical benchmark, the second‐order Runge–Kutta discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG2) scheme is selected to compute the water flow in branches. For the internal boundary handling, we propose a new approach by incorporating the nonlinear model derived from the conservation of the momentum through the junction. The nonlinear junction model was evaluated against available experiments and then applied to compute the junction internal boundary treatment for steady and unsteady flow applications. Finally, a combining flow problem is defined and simulated by the proposed framework and results are illustrated for many choices of junction angles. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.