A numerical approach to understand the responses of passenger vehicles moving through floodwaters
In this paper for the very first time numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the hydrodynamic forces on a full-scale medium-size passenger vehicle moving perpendicular to the incoming floodwaters. Sliding and floating instability modes were observed by detecting the position of the vehicle centre of mass at each time step. Watercourses and roadways commonly intersect in their layout at many locations through bridges, drainages, and fords. During heavy rain events, watercourses may overflow causing serious disturbance toward traffic movement. Under such circumstances, attempting to drive through these intersections can be extremely dangerous. Therefore, understanding the responses of the vehicles moving through floodwaters is of utmost importance.
All numerical runs were performed under six degrees of freedom and coupled motion conditions to directly observe the vehicle instability and monitor the coordinates of the vehicle's centre of mass during its movement. The hydrodynamic forces exerted by the flow on the vehicle's body were obtained and calculated in both directions, horizontal and vertical. Two modes of instability were observed: (i) floating and (ii) sliding. It was noticed that vehicle characteristics such as weight, plan area, ground clearance, and dimensions were the main parameters governing these instability modes. Water depth was the main flow parameter that had significant effects on the floating instability mode. On the other hand, flow velocity and Froude number were the main flow parameters that governed the sliding instability mode.
Explore further
![Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/por/public/2022-06/Numerical.JPG.jpg?itok=zsIHs_lV)