Specialist Hydraulic Engineer U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado, United States
Lecture: Computational Hydraulics: Advances, Challenges and Future
Computational hydraulics has played a key role in understanding and managing water in natural and engineered systems. Significant advancements have been achieved over the past few decades. The field, however, still faces many challenges. This talk will briefly review the advances made over the decades. The focus will be on the role an engineer may play, based on the experience gained by the presenter, both as a model developer and as a model practitioner. In applying numerical models, both success and pitfalls have been experienced; in supporting users’ group, many so-called “guides” or “tricks” have been encountered, but some are mere myths lacking generality. As a model developer, a wide range of numerical techniques and research ideas have been explored, pointing to challenges and opportunities. The issue of what a numerical model may or may not do, as well as lessons learned in applying numerical models, will be presented using specific examples. Finally, future needs in computational hydraulics are discussed.
