Breach parameters for cascade dams’ breaks using physical, empirical and numerical modeling

ABSTRACT The environmental, economic, and social consequences of dam breaks are catastrophic and require their prior knowledge to minimize risks. These consequences are directly related to rupture breach parameters, such as formation time and breach geometry (width, height, and lateral slopes). These parameters must be adequately representative of a real rupture to obtain a rupture hydrograph also representative (temporal evolution, volume, and peak flow). This representation becomes more reliable as the closer to the actual consequences of a rupture it is, thus creating conditions for an adequate emergency action plan. This research evaluates the parameters of breach formation for a possible rupture, specifically for the case of reservoirs in a sequence, also called cascade reservoirs. The adopted methodology uses physical reduced models and numerical modeling to define these parameters, trying to represent two cascade dams, based on a reference case, determining their values in each dam after the simulated rupture events.