Publication
The 130 m high Ilarion Dam is built on the Aliakmon River in northern Greece. Its two spillways are equipped with ski jumps to deflect high-velocity jets towards the centre of the plunge pool. Significant scouring occurred in the pool during two major floods in recent years. To investigate reliable protection measures, a 1:55 scale physical model and a numerical model with FLOW-3D® were created. The hydrodynamic behaviour of the flow in the plunge pool and in the spillways as well as the trajectory of the jets could be determined. The numerical model showed, that the flow in the plunge pool is highly asymmetric and a rotational flow forms with only one of the two spillways is operational. This rotational flow results in locally effective flow rates three times greater than the flow rate from the spillway. Simulations confirm, that one solution to this problem is the symmetrical operation of both spillways.