FLDWAV vs. DAMBRK - Advantages and Tech Support Availability

[Dru Dron]

Hello,

I am in the process of setting up a dam breach model using the program FLDWAV. We originally selected this program over DAMBRK as it was our understanding that FLDWAV incorporates the best features/capabilities of DWOPER and DAMBRK. However, given the difficulties we are having getting this particular model set up, we are wondering if it has any advantages that make it worth the trouble. Does anyone on this forum have any insights into the benefits of using FLDWAV instead of DAMBRK or the unsteady flow capabilities in HEC-RAS for dam breach simulations? Is one any easier to troubleshoot than the other, particularly in terms of computational stability issues?

We have also found that there seems to be rather limited reference material or technical support available for FLDWAV. Does anyone on this forum have experience using FLDWAV (or know of someone who has used it) or know of a good source of FLDWAV documentation or technical support? Do any of BOSS’s products provide support for FLDWAV in terms of data entry or analytical capabilities?

Any insights that readers of this forum could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Dru Dron
Ontario, Canada

[Ross D. Zhou]

The FLDWAV model can model river networks. If your river system has tributaries, FLDWAV is the only option since DAMBRK does not has this function. DAMBRK can model one river at a time.

If you have numerical instability problem in FLDWAV, you will very likely have the same problem in DAMBRK model.

Ross Zhou