Numerical modeling of depth-averaged turbulent flow in general coordinates

A general boundary fitted model for computing 2D depth-averaged flows in channels of arbitrary shape is presented. The fundamental equations are expressed in terms of the depth-averaged physical covariant velocity components and the turbulent stresses are related to the eddy viscosity concept. The system of differential equations is solved by the MacCormack explicit finite - difference scheme. A space filtering technique is used in order to improve stability. Measured velocities are used for comparison with the numerical simulation in order to verify the numerical model,. The agreement between the computed and experimental results is excellent, including the regions where the flow structure is complex.