2D River Modelling With Usace
Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events
and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT
& Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
July 2020
2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Disclaimer
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document is responsible for determining whether or not it applies to his or her activities.
At no time will BBA or the author be held liable for any error or omission that the
document may contain or that may result from its use.
The information contained in this document is the proprietary and exclusive property of
BBA Inc. except as otherwise indicated. No part of this document may be reproduced,
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Inc.
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Executive Summary
The practice of 2-Dimensional River Modelling has been conducted in the industry for
almost 30 years. In the beginning, the application was very expensive and complicated
due to limitations on the technologies. Over the years, as both computer technologies
and modelling theories evolve, design engineers are able to create 2D River Model in
regular office computers using specialized software.
A 2D River Model can be used in numerous applications such as infrastructure planning,
dam safety study, and flood scenario prediction. It has several advantages compared
to the conventional 1D model in terms of accuracy and workability. Furthermore,
georeferenced 2D models can produce better visual results, which makes it easier for
designers to communicate with nontechnical stakeholders and integrate as part of
emergency planning exercises.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
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Table of contents
Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................. 2
Executive Summary................................................................................................................... 3
Table of contents ...................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 5
Capability and Advantages .................................................................................................... 6
Terrain ......................................................................................................................................... 6
2D Flow Area ........................................................................................................................... 10
River Structures ........................................................................................................................ 13
2D Storage Area...................................................................................................................... 14
Manning’s n Land Cover ........................................................................................................ 15
Boundary Conditions .............................................................................................................. 17
Numerical Stability .................................................................................................................. 18
Results Processing.................................................................................................................... 19
Model Calibration and Validation......................................................................................... 23
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 25
About the Author .................................................................................................................... 26
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Introduction
There are many numerical river modeling techniques to simulate different hydrological
events. However, it is critical to choose the most applicable method based on project
needs and the nature of the river itself. As budgets and expectations vary from projects,
engineers should be able to select the most economic approach based on initial
assessment without compromising desired accuracy of the model. For example, a
simple 1-Dimensional River Model using HECRAS or MIKE 11 will be sufficient when the
target reach has a rather uniform cross section, small width to length ratio, and limited
pooling and flood plain area. A sophisticated 3- Dimensional computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) model should be employed when complex structures are involved in a
small study area and the response of the structure is very sensitive to the fluid behavior.
A 2-Dimensional River Model is a better solution when the study area involves river
structures, long reach, fish spawning, and irregularities in the channel geometry.
Compared to a 1D model, which interpolates terrain between selected cross sections
and defines a flow direction, a 2D model is constructed with meshes that contain
elevation data of the entire study area. As a result, irregularities and obstructions within
the bathymetry can be captured, and water can travel between these meshes solely
based on kinematic and potential energy, which is a more realistic representation of
nature conveyance. Apart from that, a 2D model requires less computation time to
produce relatively accurate results, while a CFD model can take months to set up, run,
and calibrate, especially when the scope of study area is massive.
While there is a lot of 2D River Modelling software available on the market, such as HEC-
RAS and TELEMAC, this paper will mainly focus on 2D River Model features in HEC-RAS.
Detailed introductions include model geometry, boundary condition, numerical stability,
and model calibration and validation.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Capability and Advantages
There are several advantages of 2D River Modelling:
• Georeferenced visualization that makes it easier to interpret the results with
nontechnical participants;
• Fewer engineers’ inputs and judgements compared to 1D River Modelling;
• Capable of modeling complex hydraulic structures and flow patterns;
• Accurate results with less time consumption compared to CFD models.
The following paragraphs will discuss some basic features in HEC-RAS 2D modelling. The
order of introduction follows the conventional procedure of creating a 2D River Model.
Terrain
Traditionally, geometric data, such as river bed elevation and river structures, are
imported, created, and modified in HEC-RAS Geometric Editor. However, HEC-RAS 5.0.7
has made some significant improvement, which allows users to easily manipulate the
geometric features in RAS Mapper. The first step of creating a 2D model is importing a
georeferenced terrain file that contains all elevation data within the study area. The
topography can be either original land survey results or modified surface exported from
other software like CIVIL 3D. Figure 1 demonstrates a typical terrain layer in the RAS
Mapper, which is an edited surface exported from CIVIL 3D.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Additional map layers, such as satellite images and survey images, can be added to
assist users to verify or modify the imported terrain. Figure 2 shows a map layer of survey
photographs on top of the terrain. This feature is also critical when defining manning’s
values in the model, which will be covered in Manning’s n Land Cover section.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
By creating a hypothetical 1D river reach, structures like levees, dam, and buildings can
be added onto the existing terrain. This feature can be a very handy tool when
engineers want to quickly test the feasibility of their preliminary designs without using civil
designer software, such as CIVIL 3D. Figure 3 and Figure 4 demonstrates the basics of this
method.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
2D Flow Area
A 2D flow area is the receiving body where water can travel freely based on kinetic and
potential energy. An ideal 2D flow area should enclose all regions where flow can
possibly reach. This includes the main channel bed, tributary channel, overbank, and
flood plain. Inversely, a 2D flow area should not include the area where water cannot
reach, such as high ground and remote zones. These areas could result in unnecessary
computation time and bad meshes. An example of a 2D flow area is shown in Figure 5.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
After defining the 2D flow area perimeter, mesh size should be input so that the flow
zone can be divided into small cells that automatically store the elevation values at
their location based on associated terrain layer. Mesh size has significant influence on
computational speed and results accuracy. Therefore, several different mesh sizes and
combinations should be tested in order to achieve the desired accuracy and avoid
numerical instability. Conventionally, the bathymetry region is more critical to the flow
behaviour, where finer meshes are recommended. The overbank and flood plain area
have less impact on the results, therefore coarser meshes are acceptable to reduce the
computational time. Furthermore, finer meshes are expected in some locations, such as
the areas of interest, obstructions in the channel, and areas near river structures. Overall,
it is up to the engineers’ judgement to choose the most appropriate mesh configuration
that optimizes both efficiency and accuracy. An example of generated mesh is shown
in Figure 6. Compared to the overbank area, the channel bed is divided into finer
meshes (1.0 m) using the refinement area function in RAS Mapper. Additionally, finer
meshes (0.5 m) are created using break line function around the pink line where a
bridge of interest is located.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
In general, the mesh quality is crucial to numerical stability and computational time.
Therefore, more refinement areas and break lines are recommended to allow for a
smooth transition between different sizes of mesh zones. These refinement techniques
can effectively minimize the number of error meshes and skewness.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
River Structures
The river structures can be defined in Geometric Editor, which include weirs, culverts,
gates, and bridges, as shown in Figure 7. River structures can either be placed within the
2D flow area or act as a connection between the 2D storage area and flow area. Apart
from the river structure itself, a breach scenario can also be simulated within the
structure by entering the breach parameters. Engineers shall refer to the HEC-RAS Users
Manual (USACE, 2016) for detailed instructions.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
2D Storage Area
A storage area option can be used for a headpond, detention pond, or lake, etc. It is
usually treated as the upstream/downstream boundary conditions for either the source
of water or final destination. An example of a 2D storage area is presented in Figure 8.
The relationship between volume and water surface elevation is required to define the
storage characteristics. HEC-RAS is able to automatically generate the Volume-
Elevation curve based on the provided topography, as shown in Figure 9, or the
engineers can input the data manually.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Manning’s n Land Cover
Another great advantage of the 2D river model is that users can define specific
manning’s n values (also known as surface roughness) anywhere within the 2D flow
area. While in a 1D model, manning’s n can only be defined in the main channel and
left/right overbanks. Sometimes, flow depth and velocity can be very sensitive to
manning’s n in a narrow and meandering channel. Therefore, comprehensive
distribution of manning’s n in the flow area is necessary to achieve the desired
accuracy. As mentioned in the previous section, satellite images in RAS Mapper can be
very helpful to separate different manning zones. A typical scenario with a complicated
surface roughness condition is shown in Figure 10, in which multiple vegetated islands
and side creeks are presented.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Based on satellite images, engineers will be able to map out different surface roughness
conditions with polygons. By using the Land Cover function in RAS Mapper, new layers
of Manning’s n Land Cover can be created according to these polygons’ geometry, as
shown in Figure 11. After specifying the manning’s n in each Land Cover layer, surface
roughness within the 2D flow area will be overwritten with the engineers’ defined values.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Determination of the manning’s n value requires experience and generally involves
several calibration iterations. Simulation results are usually compared with flow gauge
data, field measurement of water depth, and images of flow boundary in this iterative
process.
Boundary Conditions
Generally, system boundaries are defined as a channel inlet, outlet, and storage areas.
Several options are available for boundary condition types, such as hydrograph, normal
depth, precipitation, and rating curves. Engineers shall refer to the HEC-RAS Users
Manual (USACE, 2016) for detailed instructions.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Numerical Stability
The selection of mesh size and time step is a balance between achieving good
numerical accuracy while minimizing computational time. To avoid numerical instability
during the
simulation, the computational time step needs to be adjusted according to the mesh
size defined in the 2D flow area. By satisfying the Courant Condition below, numerical
stability can be achieved.
𝑉∆𝑇
𝐶= ∆𝑋
≤ 1 (USACE, 2016)
Where:
C = Courant Number
V = Flood wave velocity
∆𝑇 = Computational time step(s)
∆𝑋 = Average cell size
In order to get a more accurate and stable wetting front, a maximum Courant number
of 1.0 is recommended given that the 2D flow area was completely dry initially. (USACE,
2016) Although engineers can manually adjust the time step to satisfy the Courant
Condition, the HEC-RAS simulation plan has a “Courant Dependent Time Step” option.
This adaptive computation method allows the system to automatically adjust the time
step according to predefined Courant criteria.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
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Results Processing
Simulation results can be viewed in RAS Mapper. A list of computed result parameters
are shown in Figure 12. Additionally, flow animation can be displayed for unsteady flow
analysis.
An example of computed water depth results is presented in Figure 13.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Apart from the listed parameters, the particle tracing and static velocity arrow functions
are also available to examine the legitimacy of the results, as shown in Figure 14 and
Figure 15.
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If the flow behavior is interested in a specific location, a profile line can be created to
display the desired parameters at the locations of interest, as shown in Figure 16.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Besides what have been shown above, there are more options available for result
processing as described in the HEC-RAS Users Manual (USACE, 2016).
Model Calibration and Validation
Several approaches can be used to calibrate and validate the simulation:
• Mesh quality
o Check for error points, aspect ratio, multiple centers, skewness, and other
criteria.
• Sensitivity analysis
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o Conduct the simulation by changing only one parameter and keep the
rest of the parameter the same to see how results vary from such a
modification.
• Compare results with other available information
o Compare the simulation results with site measurements, flow gauge data,
photos, etc. Adjust the model accordingly if needed.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
Conclusion
This paper summarizes some basic features in solving hydrological events using 2D River
Modelling. Although this paper only introduces the modelling procedure using HEC-RAS
5.0.7, other river modelling software has similar capability to conduct the simulation. This
methodology is recommended when the study river has relatively complex flood
patterns that cannot be accurately represented in 1D river models. By conducting the
simulation, important flow characteristics, which include water depth, velocity, hydraulic
jump, pooling, flow attenuation, and an inundation map, are made available to the
clients and designers. Additionally, this methodology has extensive applications, such as
major flood events, dam break, and normal dam operation. It is also a very powerful
tool for engineers to effectively test their designs in both the preliminary and final stage.
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2D River Modelling With Usace Hec_Ras 5.0.7: Simulation
for Operation, Flood Events and Dam Breaks
Sandy Wu, EIT & Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
About the Author
Mina Shahraki, P. Eng.
[email protected]Ms. Shahraki has over 18 years of experience in structural and civil design and directing
the construction of hydropower plants and appurtenant hydraulic structures,
substations, thermal power plants, mining facilities and petrochemical plants. She
designs and optimizes various types of steel and concrete structures such as power
plants, pump stations, intake structures, dam bottom outlets, equipment foundations,
supports and pipe racks, using applicable codes and standards. She uses CSI (SAP 2000,
ETABS, SAFE) codes for structural analysis and Mathcad for stability analysis and detail
design of structural elements. Moreover, Ms. Shahraki has extensive knowledge of
AutoCAD CIVIL3D, Hec-Ras which she applies for her work on preliminary engineering,
conceptual layout, excavation drawings, hydraulic designs and finish grading of plants.
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