Stormwater hydraulic modeling : A comparative study of MIKE+ & InfoDrainage

Sammanfattning

Effective stormwater management is important in urban environments to mitigate flooding, manage peak flows, and support resilient infrastructure planning. Hydraulic modeling tools play a critical role in the design and analysis of drainage networks, yet different software tools often rely on different assumptions, numerical methods, and model structures which raise questions about comparability and reliability. This study compares two widely used stormwater modeling tools, MIKE+ and InfoDrainage. Identical drainage systems were simulated under identical input conditions, including synthetic rainfall events, Chicago Design Storms and block rain with 10- and 30-year return periods. Results show that despite identical inputs, the two models produced notable differences in peak flow rates, timing of runoff, surcharging behavior, and flood extents, particularly under high-intensity rainfall events. These differences are largely attributed to differences in numerical solvers, surcharge handling and handling of node interactions. While MIKE+ typically produced higher peaks, InfoDrainage exhibited more numerical instability in the hydrographs and fewer instances of surcharging. The study also highlights the implications of uncertainty in model structure and solver design, especially in the absence of field calibration. The findings demonstrate that MIKE+ and InfoDrainage are not functionally interchangeable, and model results must be interpreted in the context of each software’s assumptions. This comparison contributes to a more informed selection of modeling tools in stormwater design and planning and emphasizes the need for calibration, sensitivity analysis, and model transparency in future applications.