Study of a drop-shaped energy dissipator in Autodesk CFD and in an experimental model

Abstract

Climate change has intensified torrential flows and floods in Peru, increasing the vulnerability of affected regions and causing serious damage to infrastructure and communities near rivers. This work evaluates a teardrop-shaped hydraulic dissipator through experiments in a laminar flow table and simulations in Autodesk CFD, analyzing its performance under laminar and turbulent flow conditions. The results show that the dissipator effectively reduces flow energy, with velocities ranging from 14.60 cm/s in laminar flow and 19.38 cm/s in turbulent flow at its most critical points down to 0.01 cm/s. This analysis demonstrates how the geometry and orientation of the dissipator directly influence its effectiveness, highlighting the potential of dissipators to protect infrastructure against erosive forces in river channels.