scholarly journals Effects of cylindrical and cubic piles on motion of density currents

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (05) ◽  
pp. 499-507

Density current is the motion of a fluid in another fluid of a different density, with frequent negative environmental impacts. According to the deposition problems caused by density currents in the vicinity of dam bodies, attempts are usually made to weaken or eliminate these types of currents in the middle of the reservoir. Appropriate barriers are placed in the middle of the reservoir for this purpose. The effects of cylindrical and cubic obstacles on the motion of the head of the saline density current are experimentally investigated in this study. The results show that the effect of cubic obstacles on current parameters is greater compared to cylindrical obstacles.

Author(s):  
Behnam Zamani ◽  
Manfred Koch ◽  
Ben R. Hodges

In this study, effects of basin morphology are shown to affect density current hydrodynamics of a large reservoir using a three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic model that is validated (but not calibrated) with in situ observational data. The AEM3D hydrodynamic model was applied for 5-month simulations during winter and spring flooding for the Maroon reservoir in southwest Iran, where available observations indicated that large-scale density currents had previously occurred. The model results were validated with near-bottom water temperature measurements that were previously collected at five locations in the reservoir. The Maroon reservoir consists of upper and lower basins that are connected by a deep and narrow canyon. Analyses of simulations show that the canyon strongly affects density current propagation and the resulting differing limnological characteristics of the two basins. The evolution of the Wedderburn Number, Lake Number, and Schmidt stability number are shown to be different in the two basins, and the difference is attributable to the morphological separation by the canyon. Investigation of the background potential energy (BPE) changes along the length of the canyon indicated that a density front passes through the upper section of the canyon but is smoothed into simple filling of the lower basin. The separable dynamics of the basins has implications for the complexity of models needed for representing both water quality and sedimentation.


Author(s):  
B. Firoozabadi ◽  
H. Afshin ◽  
E. Safaaee

Density currents are continuous currents which move down-slope due to the fact that their density is greater than that of ambient water. The density difference is caused by temperature differences, chemical elements, dissolved materials, or suspended sediment. Many researchers have studied the density current structures, their complexities and uncertainties. However, there is not a detailed 3-D turbulent density current data set perfectly. In this work, the structure of 3-dimensional salt solution density currents is investigated. A laboratory channel was used to study the flow resulting from the release of salt solution into freshwater over an inclined bed. The experiments were conducted with different bottom slopes, inlet concentrations and flow rates. In these tests, the instantaneous velocities are measured by an ADV apparatus (Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter). Results show that by increasing the bed-slope and inlet concentrations, the height of the current decreases. As the density current moves downward the channel or by increasing the discharge, the height of the density current increases. Finally, the effects of different variables such as the bed slope, concentration and flow rate of entering fluid on the velocity profile in different distances from the entrance is studied. The entrainment coefficient, lateral spreading and drag coefficient of the bed and shear layer between salt solution and ambient water is discussed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haldun Karan ◽  
Kevin Knupp

Abstract Characteristics of convergent boundary zones (CBZs) sampled by the Mobile Integrated Profiling System (MIPS) during the 2002 International H2O Project (IHOP_2002) are presented. The MIPS sensors (915-MHz wind profiler, 12-channel microwave profiling radiometer, ceilometer, and surface instrumentation) provide very fine temporal kinematic and thermodynamic profiles of the atmospheric boundary layer and CBZ properties, including enhanced 915-MHz backscatter within the CBZ updraft (equivalent to the radar fine line), a general increase in integrated water vapor within the updrafts of the CBZ, an increase in the convective boundary layer (CBL) depth, and changes in ceilometer backscatter that are typically coincident with arrival of cooler, moister air (the case for density current CBZ). Three contrasting CBZs are analyzed. Convective initiation was associated with a slow-moving dryline as it passed over the MIPS on 19 June. Updrafts up to 6 m s−1 were measured, and the CBL attained its greatest depth within the CBZ. The CBZ in the other two cases were quite similar to density currents. The retrograding dryline of 18 June produced an enhancement in preexisting convection within 30 km of the MIPS. On 24 May, a shallow cold front, about 800 m deep, was sampled.


Author(s):  
B. Firoozabadi ◽  
H. Afshin ◽  
A. Baghaer Poor

The present study investigates the turbulence characteristic of density current experimentally. The 3D Acoustic-Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) was used to measure the instantaneous velocity and characteristics of the turbulent flow. The courses of experiment were conducted in a three-dimensional channel for different discharge flows, concentrations, and bed slopes. Results are expressed at various distances from the inlet, for all flow rates, slopes and concentrations as the distribution of turbulence energy, Reynolds stress and the turbulent intensity. It was concluded that the maximum turbulence intensity happens in both the interface and near the wall. Also it was observed that turbulence intensity reaches its minimum where maximum velocity occurs.


1966 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 627-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard V. Middleton

The basic theory for the average velocity of uniform flow of a density current is now well established. The resistance at the bottom may be estimated from reasonable assumptions regarding the roughness of the bottom and the size of the current. The principal problem remaining is quantitative estimation of the resistance of the upper (fluid) interface. A review of the literature suggests that this resistance increases with increase in Froude number and decreases with increase in Reynolds number, and the writer's experiments support this hypothesis.As many turbidity currents are large scale and flow over low slopes of relatively small roughness it seems probable that both the bottom resistance and the resistance at the upper interface are small.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 2105-2115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Cunningham

Idealized numerical experiments using a large-eddy simulation (LES) model are performed to examine the fundamental dynamical processes associated with the interactions between buoyant plumes and density currents. The aim of these simulations is to provide insight into the rapid changes in the structure of plumes that may be observed during the passage of density current phenomena such as thunderstorm outflows, sea-breeze fronts, or intense cold fronts. The LES model results indicate that when the ambient winds are calm the vertical velocity in the plume decreases with the passage of the density current, but that when the ambient winds oppose the motion of the density current a significant increase in vertical velocity in the plume may occur temporarily. In the latter case, the pressure perturbation and the associated region of horizontal convergence that lead the head of the density current interact with the tilted plume, causing the base of the plume to become vertical and resulting in a dramatic increase in vertical velocity within the plume. This basic dynamical behavior occurs over a relatively broad range of parameters, provided the characteristic velocity in the density current (taken as the densimetric speed) exceeds the ambient wind speed. When this is the case, the interaction is dominated by the effect of the density current on the buoyant plume such that the plume is essentially advected as a passive tracer by the flow due to the density current, and the increase in vertical velocity depends on the inverse of the convective Froude number of the buoyant plume.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (11) ◽  
pp. 3683-3700
Author(s):  
Dylan W. Reif ◽  
Howard B. Bluestein ◽  
Tammy M. Weckwerth ◽  
Zachary B. Wienhoff ◽  
Manda B. Chasteen

AbstractThe maximum upward vertical velocity at the leading edge of a density current is commonly <10 m s−1. Studies of the vertical velocity, however, are relatively few, in part owing to the dearth of high-spatiotemporal-resolution observations. During the Plains Elevated Convection At Night (PECAN) field project, a mobile Doppler lidar measured a maximum vertical velocity of 13 m s−1 at the leading edge of a density current created by a mesoscale convective system during the night of 15 July 2015. Two other vertically pointing instruments recorded 8 m s−1 vertical velocities at the leading edge of the density current on the same night. This study describes the structure of the density current and attempts to estimate the maximum vertical velocity at their leading edges using the following properties: the density current depth, the slope of its head, and its perturbation potential temperature. The method is then be applied to estimate the maximum vertical velocity at the leading edge of density currents using idealized numerical simulations conducted in neutral and stable atmospheres with resting base states and in neutral and stable atmospheres with vertical wind shear. After testing this method on idealized simulations, this method is then used to estimate the vertical velocity at the leading edge of density currents documented in several previous studies. It was found that the maximum vertical velocity can be estimated to within 10%–15% of the observed or simulated maximum vertical velocity and indirectly accounts for parameters including environmental wind shear and static stability.


Author(s):  
S. Hormozi ◽  
B. Firoozabadi ◽  
H. Ghasvari Jahromi ◽  
H. Afshin

Dense underflows are continuous currents, which move down the slope due to the fact that, their density are heavier than ambient water. In turbidity currents the density differences arises from suspended solids. Vicinity of the wall make density currents and wall jets similar in some sense but Variation of density cause this flows more complex than wall jets. An improved form of ‘near-wall’ k-ε turbulence model is chosen which preserve all characteristics of both density and wall jet currents and a compression is made between them. Then the outcomes from low Reynolds number k-ε model is compared with v2–f model which show similarity. Also results show good agreement with experimental data.


2018 ◽  
Vol 246 ◽  
pp. 01047
Author(s):  
Ting Wang ◽  
Yuanjian Wang ◽  
Huaibao Ma ◽  
Shaojun Qu

Density current venting by bottom outlets is the main form of sediment release from large reservoirs during sediment retention periods. Taking Xiaolangdi Reservoir as a case study, this study analyzed influencing factors of sediment release by density currents and proposed a semi-empirical formula to simulate the density current release process. The results show that the amount of incoming water and sediment, length of backwater, and sedimentation volume upstream of backwater zones are the main factors influencing sediment discharge. However, the importance of influencing factors varies slightly for different sediment supply areas. The semi-empirical formula provides a good simulation of the actual sediment release process under a relatively stable water level, and thus, it can extend scientific and technical support necessary for reservoir operation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M Ricardo ◽  
Giovanni Di Lollo ◽  
Moisés Brito ◽  
Claudia Adduce ◽  
Rui M.L. Ferreira

&lt;p&gt;Flow around bluff bodies have been attracting the interest of the research community for more than a century. The physical mechanisms associated with the vortex shedding in the wake of bluff bodies is still of fundamental research interest. However, flow-structure interaction in density currents has not received enough attention. The transient nature of the interaction between the density driven flow and a stationary object constitutes the motivation for the present laboratory study aiming at investigating the vortex generation and fate on the wake of a circular cylinder in a density current.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The experiments were conducted in a horizontal and rectangular cross-section channel with 3.0 m long, 0.175 m wide and 0.4 m deep. The gravity current was generated using the classic lock-exchange configuration. A sliding stainless-steel gate with 1 mm thickness, sealed by PVC board glued in the sidewall, was positioned at 0.3 m from the left hand side of the channel. The experiment starts when the gate is suddenly removed, leaving the dense fluid to flow along the bottom of the channel, while the ambient fluid moves above in the opposite direction. The dense fluid consists in a mixture of fresh water and salt while the ambient fluid is a solution fresh water and ethanol (96%). The amount of salt and alcohol added in each mixture was determined in order to obtain a given density difference and to ensure the same refractive index in both fluids. Two different currents were tested with reduced gravity equal to 0.06 ms&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt; and 0.24 ms&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt;. For each test ten repetitions were carried out. Instantaneous velocity maps were acquired with a Particle Image Velocimetry system at 15 Hz. Polyamide seeding particles of density equal to 1.03 were added in both dense and ambient fluids.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;The Reynolds number varied between 1500 and 4000. The results show that vortex shedding varies as the current reaches and overtakes the cylinder. Boundary layer detachment and shear instability is initiated shortly before the snout reaches the cylinder. A pattern of well-defined symmetrical vortexes is formed as a result of the initial shear instability. As the head of the current engulfs the cylinder, stronger turbulence diffusion contributes to reduce vortex coherence. Vortexes are smaller and detach sooner, while is not clear if shedding is alternate or simply random. The formation length is smaller than that of a steady flow with the same Re. When the back of the current passes, the formation length is increased and vortex shedding becomes periodical again. A striking feature is that the Von K&amp;#225;rm&amp;#225;n street is frequently symmetrical rather than exhibiting a pattern of alternate vortices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This research was funded by national funds through Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) project PTDC/CTA-OHR/30561/2017 (WinTherface).&lt;/p&gt;


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