2D Ineffective Flow Areas

Ineffective flow areas can be assigned to the 2D mesh to account for regions where the water is not actively being conveyed. The water will pond in such areas, and its velocity in the downstream direction will be close to zero. This water is included in the storage calculations, but it is not included as part of the active flow area. When using ineffective flow areas, no wetted perimeter friction is included at the boundary between the ineffective flow area and active flow area.

2D ineffective flow areas are assigned using polygons. The software will automatically refine the 2D mesh to accommodate the ineffective flow area shape.

Assign 2D Ineffective Flow Areas Command

If polygons have already been drawn on the Map View or a polygon shapefile layer has been loaded to represent ineffective flow areas, then the Assign 2D Ineffective Flow Areas command can be used to assign 2D ineffective flow areas.

Follow the steps below to use the Assign 2D Ineffective Flow Areas command:

1. From the Input ribbon menu, click the 2D Flow Areas menu item, and then select the Assign 2D Ineffective Flow Areas command.
   
2. The Assign 2D Ineffective Flow Areas dialog box will be displayed.
   

The following sections describe how to use these assignment options.

Select Multiple Polygons Option

This option allows multiple polygons to be interactively selected from the Map View and then assigned as ineffective flow areas.

Follow the steps below to assign ineffective flow areas using the Select Multiple Polygons option:

1. Choose the Select Multiple Polygons radio button option. Then, click the [Pick] button.
   
2. The Assign 2D Ineffective Flow Areas dialog box will temporarily disappear, and a prompt will be displayed on the status bar informing the user what to do next.
3. Select the polygons on the Map View. Then, right-click and choose Done from the displayed context menu.
4. The Assign 2D Ineffective Flow Areas dialog box will be redisplayed.
5. Click the [Apply] button. The selected polygons will be assigned as 2D ineffective flow areas.
   

Select Polygon Shapefile Option

This option allows a polygon shapefile layer to be used to assign 2D ineffective flow areas.

Follow the steps below to assign ineffective flow areas using the Select Polygon Shapefile option:

1. Choose the Select Polygon Shapefile radio button option.
   
2. The software will display all loaded polygon shapefile layers in the Shapefile layer dropdown combo box. Select the corresponding shapefile layer representing the 2D ineffective flow areas.
3. Click the [Apply] button. The polygons on the shapefile layer will be assigned as 2D ineffective flow areas.
   

Draw 2D Ineffective Flow Areas Command

The user can interactively draw polygons on the Map View in order to define the ineffective flow areas.

Follow the steps below to use the Draw 2D Ineffective Flow Areas command:

1. From the Input ribbon menu, click the 2D Flow Areas menu item, and then select the Draw 2D Ineffective Flow Areas command.
   
2. The Draw 2D Ineffective Flow Areas dialog box will be displayed.
   
3. Click the [Draw] button. The Draw 2D Ineffective Flow Areas dialog box will temporarily disappear, and a prompt will be displayed on the status bar informing the user on what to do next.
4. Draw the polygon on the Map View.
   Note: To draw the polygon using curvilinear segments, use Create curvilinear polygon checkbox option.
5. After the polygon has been drawn, the Draw 2D Ineffective Flow Areas dialog box will be redisplayed.
6. Click the [Apply] button.
   
7. Repeat the process for all other polygon areas to be defined as 2D ineffective flow areas.

Incorporating Ineffective Flow Areas into the 2D Mesh

After the ineffective flow area polygons have been defined, the software will stamp them into the 2D mesh flow area and refine the mesh to account for each polygon’s shape.

Follow the steps below to incorporate ineffective flow areas into the 2D Mesh:

1. Double-click on the 2D mesh on the Map View to display the 2D Flow Area Data dialog box.
2. Click the [Update] button and the software will incorporate the 2D ineffective flow areas into the 2D mesh.