Highly-converging chutes as an overtopping protection for concrete dams: physical and numerical modelling

Abstract

Spillways with highly-converging chutes are a non-conventional kind of spillway in which the length of the crest is greater than the width of the stilling basin. A pair of converging chutes leads the water into the stilling basin. This typology has two possible advantages: increase of the discharge capacity or reduction of the hydraulic head for a given discharge flow. The first improves dam safety, whereas the second results in higher storage capacity and power generation. In this proceeding, the authors present the investigation performed in order to study and characterize this kind of spillways. The utilization of this typology as an overtopping protection has emerged as a third possibility, presenting some particularities that are introduced here.