A topological characterisation of looped drainage networks

Abstract

Hydrodynamic models are used to analyse water networks (water distribution, drainage, surface water, district heating, etc.). The non-linear nature of water flows necessitates the use of iterative solution methods in hydraulic modelling. This requires a relatively large computational effort. To reduce this effort, networks, network forcing and/or the flow in networks are often simplified and analysed using the Graph Theory. The simplification options depend on the network characteristics. There are many topological features to describe Graph-based networks. In this paper, these characteristics are summarised, applied on 7 urban drainage networks and discussed. As the topological features do not describe the networks in a uniform manner, a new type of topological characterisation of looped drainage networks (Network Linearisation Parameter, NLP) is proposed based on linearized hydraulics and bottlenecks identified in paths to outfalls.