Tail structure and bed friction velocity distribution of gravity currents propagating over an array of obstacles

2012 ◽  
Vol 694 ◽  
pp. 252-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talia Tokyay ◽  
George Constantinescu ◽  
Eckart Meiburg
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Distribution ◽  
Friction Velocity ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Gravity Currents ◽  
Constant Density ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Tail Region ◽  
Steady Regime ◽  
Bed Friction

AbstractThe bed friction velocity distribution and sediment entrainment potential of Boussinesq compositional gravity currents propagating over a series of obstacles and over a smooth surface, respectively, are analysed based on high-resolution, three-dimensional large-eddy simulations. The investigation focuses on the parameter regime for which currents with a high volume of release go through an extended slumping phase with approximately constant front velocity (Tokyay, Constantinescu & Meiburg, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 672, 2011, 570–605). Under these conditions, a quasi-steady regime is reached between consecutive obstacles that is similar to the steady regime observed for constant-density channel flows over bottom obstacles. At a given location, this quasi-steady regime is reached in the tail of the current after the passage of the front and the associated hydraulic jumps reflected from the first few downstream obstacles. A double-averaging procedure is employed to characterize the global changes in the structure of the tail region between currents with a high volume of release propagating over smooth surfaces and over obstacles. Reynolds-number-induced scale effects on the flow and turbulence structure within the tail region are discussed in some detail. The presence of this quasi-steady regime is significant, since the simulations with obstacles show that most of the sediment is entrained by the tail of the current, rather than by its front. A detailed analysis of the effects of the obstacle shape on the quasi-steady mean flow and turbulence structure is presented, which provides insight into why gravity currents over dunes can entrain more sediment than gravity currents over ribs of comparable size. Finally, the bed friction velocity distributions and the potential to entrain sediment are compared for a compositional current with a high volume of release during the slumping phase, and a current with a low volume of release for which transition to the buoyancy–inertia phase occurs a short time after the release of the lock gate.

scholarly journals Turbulence structure of non-uniform rough open channel flow

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 05039
Author(s):  
Priscilla Williams ◽  
Vesselina Roussinova ◽  
Ram Balachandar
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Channel Flow ◽  
Friction Velocity ◽  
Open Channel ◽  
Open Channel Flow ◽  
Shear Stresses ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Rough Bed ◽  
The Mean

This paper focuses on the turbulence structure in a non-uniform, gradually varied, sub-critical open channel flow (OCF) on a rough bed. The flow field is analysed under accelerating, near-uniform and decelerating conditions. Information for the flow and turbulence parameters was obtained at multiple sections and planes using two different techniques: two-component laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and particle image velocimetry (PIV). Different outer region velocity scaling methods were explored for evaluation of the local friction velocity. Analysis of the mean velocity profiles showed that the overlap layer exists for all flow cases. The outer layer of the decelerated velocity profile was strongly affected by the pressure gradient, where a large wake was noted. Due to the prevailing nature of the experimental setup it was found that the time-averaged flow quantities do not attained equilibrium conditions and the flow is spatially heterogeneous. The roughness generally increases the friction velocity and its effect was stronger than the effect of the pressure gradient. It was found that for the decelerated flow section over a rough bed, the mean flow and turbulence intensities were affected throughout the flow depth. The flow features presented in this study can be used to develop a model for simulating flow over a block ramp. The effect of the non-uniformity and roughness on turbulence intensities and Reynolds shear stresses was further investigated.

Numerical simulations of lock-exchange compositional gravity current

2009 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. 361-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
SENG KEAT OOI ◽  
GEORGE CONSTANTINESCU ◽  
LARRY WEBER
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Dissipation Rate ◽  
Friction Velocity ◽  
Gravity Current ◽  
Gravity Currents ◽  
Inviscid Limit ◽  
Grashof Number ◽  
Front Speed ◽  
Initial Volume ◽  
Bed Friction

Compositional gravity current flows produced by the instantaneous release of a finite-volume, heavier lock fluid in a rectangular horizontal plane channel are investigated using large eddy simulation. The first part of the paper focuses on the evolution of Boussinesq lock-exchange gravity currents with a large initial volume of the release during the slumping phase in which the front of the gravity current propagates with constant speed. High-resolution simulations are conducted for Grashof numbers $\sqrt {Gr}$ = 3150 (LGR simulation) and $\sqrt {Gr}$ = 126000 (HGR simulation). The Grashof number is defined with the channel depth h and the buoyancy velocity ub = $\sqrt {g'h}$ (g′ is the reduced gravity). In the HGR simulation the flow is turbulent in the regions behind the two fronts. Compared to the LGR simulation, the interfacial billows lose their coherence much more rapidly (over less than 2.5h behind the front), which results in a much faster decay of the large-scale content and turbulence intensity in the trailing regions of the flow. A slightly tilted, stably stratified interface layer develops away from the two fronts. The concentration profiles across this layer can be approximated by a hyperbolic tangent function. In the HGR simulation the energy budget shows that for t > 18h/ub the flow reaches a regime in which the total dissipation rate and the rates of change of the total potential and kinetic energies are constant in time. The second part of the paper focuses on the study of the transition of Boussinesq gravity currents with a small initial volume of the release to the buoyancy–inertia self-similar phase. When the existence of the back wall is communicated to the front, the front speed starts to decrease, and the current transitions to the buoyancy–inertia phase. Three high-resolution simulations are performed at Grashof numbers between $\sqrt {Gr}$ = 3 × 104 and $\sqrt {Gr}$ = 9 × 104. Additionally, a calculation at a much higher Grashof number ($\sqrt {Gr}$ = 106) is performed to understand the behaviour of a bottom-propagating current closer to the inviscid limit. The three-dimensional simulations correctly predict a front speed decrease proportional to t−α (the time t is measured from the release time) over the buoyancy–inertia phase, with the constant α approaching the theoretical value of 1/3 as the current approaches the inviscid limit. At Grashof numbers for which $\sqrt {Gr}$ > 3 × 104, the intensity of the turbulence in the near-wall region behind the front is large enough to induce the formation of a region containing streaks of low and high streamwise velocities. The streaks are present well into the buoyancy–inertia phase before the speed of the front decays below values at which the streaks can be sustained. The formation of the velocity streaks induces a streaky distribution of the bed friction velocity in the region immediately behind the front. This distribution becomes finer as the Grashof number increases. For simulations in which the only difference was the value of the Grashof number ($\sqrt {Gr}$ = 4.7 × 104 versus $\sqrt {Gr}$ = 106), analysis of the non-dimensional bed friction velocity distributions shows that the capacity of the gravity current to entrain sediment from the bed increases with the Grashof number. Past the later stages of the transition to the buoyancy–inertia phase, the temporal variations of the potential energy, the kinetic energy and the integral of the total dissipation rate are logarithmic.

Scaling laws for pipe-flow turbulence

1975 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Perry ◽  
C. J. Abell
Keyword(s):  
Pipe Flow ◽  
Scaling Laws ◽  
Dynamic Calibration ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Number Range ◽  
Static Calibration ◽  
Calibration Methods ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Flow Turbulence

Using hot-wire-anemometer dynamic-calibration methods, fully developed pipe-flow turbulence measurements have been taken in the Reynolds-number range 80 × 103 to 260 × 103. Comparisons are made with the results of previous workers, obtained using static-calibration methods. From the dynamic-calibration results, a consistent and systematic correlation for the distribution of turbulence quantities becomes evident, the resulting correlation scheme being similar to that which has previously been established for the mean flow. The correlations reported have been partly conjectured in the past by many workers but convincing experimental evidence has always been masked by the scatter in the results, no doubt caused by the difficulties associated with static-calibration methods, particularly the earlier ones. As for the mean flow, the turbulence intensity measurements appear to collapse to an inner and outer law with a region of overlap, from which deductions can be made using dimensional arguments. The long-suspected similarity of the turbulence structure and its consistency with the established mean-flow similarity appears to be confirmed by the measurements reported here.

The structure of a shear layer bounding a separation region. Part 2. Effects of free-stream turbulence

1988 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 577-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. P. Castro ◽  
A. Haque
Keyword(s):  
Shear Layer ◽  
Free Stream ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Flow Region ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Free Stream Turbulence ◽  
Turbulence Data ◽  
Upstream Flow

Detailed measurements throughout the separated region behind a flat plate placed normal to a turbulent stream are reported. A long, central, downstream splitter plate prevented vortex shedding and led to a relatively extensive reversed flow region. Mean flow and turbulence data are compared with results obtained in the (nominal) absence of free-stream turbulence, and attention is concentrated on the changes in the shear-layer structure resulting from the different nature of the upstream flow.Many aspects of the results confirm those obtained recently by other workers. Free-stream turbulence enhances shear-layer entrainment rates, reduces the distance to reattachment and modifies the relatively low-frequency ‘flapping’ motion of the shear layer. In addition, however, extensive use of pulsed wire anemometry has allowed detailed measurements of the turbulence structure throughout the flow and it is shown that this is also modified significantly by the stream turbulence.

Bistable Flow Patterns in a Free Surface Water Channel

1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 408-413
Author(s):  
E. W. Adams ◽  
A. I. Stamou
Keyword(s):  
Free Surface ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Stable State ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Shear Layers ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Free Shear Layers ◽  
Side Flow ◽  
Bistable Flow

A series of experiments is reported on a free surface water tunnel with a slot inlet centered at mid-depth in which the flow exhibited equally probable bistable flow patterns. The two flow fields are strongly asymmetric even when the geometry is symmetric and consists of a long stall on one side of the inlet and a short stall on the opposite side. Flow visualization and laser-Doppler velocimetry were performed to examine the flow structure of both stable states in detail. Results showed that the mean flow and turbulence structure of the two bistable states are largely mirror images of each other within the separation zone. The effect of the wall on the flow is minor, only very close to the wall/free surface did the difference in wall constraints cause the two flow patterns to diverge. After reattachment both flows relax to free-surface channel flow. It is shown that the bistable flow pattern results from the interaction of the free shear layers and that only strong disturbances in the free shear layers can cause the flow in one stable state to switch to the other stable state. Bistable flow exists for geometries with asymmetry up to 10 percent for the expansion ratio studied.

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