Coupled Dam Safety Analysis using BREACH and WinDAM

The National Weather Service BREACH model is a physically-based model to predict the discharge hydrograph resulting from a breached earthen dam. Likewise, WindowsTM Dam Analysis Modules (WinDAM) is a physically-based model and set of modular software components that can be used to analyze overtopping and internal erosion of embankment dams. Dakota is an extensive software framework for design exploration and simulation. These tools can be coupled together to create a powerful framework.
This paper describes several new interfaces that have been designed to conduct coupled analysis over a wide range of input parameters including both structural properties and flow properties. The goal of this paper is to describe how the new framework was designed to loosely couple the existing software, BREACH, WinDAM, and Dakota, and how the framework can be used to efficiently analyze spillway and dam erosion data.