Optimización del diseño del sistema de llenado/vaciado del Tercer Juego de Esclusas del Canal de Panamá

The modeling system, which was built to design the filling/emptying hydraulic system of the third set of locks of Panama Canal, is described and validated. The modeling system is constituted by a series of zero, one, two, and three-dimensional numerical models, and a physical model. A discussion is presented on its application to select and optimize the non-standard components of the hydraulic system, determine the open and closure times for the valves in order not to exceed design conditions, calculate the mean rate of vessels throughput and freshwater consumption, and establish alternatives in order to minimize vorticity at the intakes of the lateral water saving basins. It is shown that numerical modeling played the prime role for design, and constituted the mechanism to produce results at the prototype scale free of scale effects present in the physical model, while the main role of the physical model was to validate the numerical models. But it is also shown that the physical model put into evidence resonance effects which led to a redefinition of some of the strategies of numerical simulation.