Abstract: The flow patterns of river currents are often very complex.In the process of designing water conservancy facilities，comprehensive consideration should be given to verify hydraulic factors of river construction.Therefore，simple hydraulic design calculations cannot be used.Corresponding physical tests are required to determine rationality of water conservancy facilities.With continuous improvement of computer technology，numerical simulation technology has developed rapidly，and numerical simulation technology has gradually been applied to hydraulic engineering.Due to the accuracy and convenience of numerical simulation，numerical simulation has become increasingly important in the field of hydraulic engineering.Research and development process of 3D numerical simulation of water flow was elaborated，advantages and disadvantages of water flow simulation were summarized to provide a reference for development of numerical simulation in the future.