Rompimento de barreiras: análise experimental e numérica na previsão de velocidades de propagação de frentes de material hiperconcentrado

The dam break problem describes a phenomenon in which there is an abrupt release of fluid. When the fluid is hiperconcentrated, the relation between the shear stress and the strain rate can become non-linear, and so present a non-Newtonian rheology. The non-Newtonian dam break problem may be found in many phenomena in nature and industrial process. The study of such a problem is, generally, conducted using simplified hypothesis such as the shallow water approximation and the separation of the flow in inertial and viscous dominated regimes. The present work is composed of two parts, one experimental and other, numerical. In the experimental field, two controlled solutions were used: water solutions of sugar and of Carbopol 940, the last one with a wide range of volume concentrations. These fluids have, respectively, Newtonian and non-Newtonian rheologies. The experimental setup consists of an acrylic rectangular channel, which has a dam and upstream of that the fluid is retained and, by the rupture, it begins to flow. The flow is studied by using advanced filming techniques. In the numerical field, simulations are conducted using the CFX software, which uses an interface tracking method, the VOF, and without the shallow water approximation and the division of the flow. So the experimental, numerical and literature results, that uses such simplifications, are compared and it is showed that the shallow water approximation, however describes very well the shape of the surface, is not accurate in calculate the wave front position. KEY-WORDS: Rheology, Herschel – Bulkley, Carbopol, Dam Break, Volume of Fluid (VOF).