Flow Heterogeneity over 3D Cluster Microform: Laboratory and Numerical Investigation
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 3
Abstract
The present study examines the flow around a self-occurring cluster bed form and the use of general computation fluid dynamics methods for hydraulic and geophysical flow applications. This is accomplished through a comprehensive experimental/numerical investigation. In the laboratory, cluster bed forms are first formed from movable sediment, and laser Doppler velocimeter measurements of two-dimensional fluid velocity are then taken around a formed cluster. A three-dimensional (3D) Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes simulation of the physical cluster and flow conditions is then conducted using near-wall, shear stress transport (SST) turbulence modeling with the inclusion of hydraulic roughness, ( , , , i.e., in the fully rough regime). SST near-wall modeling is advantageous compared to the more widely used wall functions approach for flows with significant roughness and flow separation because the model equations can be integrated down to the wall. Therefore, SST near-wall modeling makes no a priori assumption that the law of the wall is valid throughout the wall region of the flow. Additionally, it has the ability to intrinsically handle boundary roughness through the boundary condition for turbulent specific dissipation at the wall, allowing for wall functions to be bypassed in accounting for roughness effects. The study shows that in the wall region surrounding the cluster, flow is 3D and quite complex, with different scales of embedded flow structures dominating the cluster wake and leading to flow heterogeneities in pressure and bed-shear stress. Results also indicate that near-wall modeling with SST compared favorably with the experimental flow data without tuning of model constants.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers, especially the second writer, would like to acknowledge the support provided by the NSF Hydroscience division under NSF Grant No. NSFEAR-0208358. The writers would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments, which helped to improve the paper.
References
Brayshaw, A. C. (1984). “Characteristics and origin of cluster bedforms in coarse-grained alluvial channels.” Sedimentology of gravels and conglomerates, E. H. Koster and R. J. Steel, eds., Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Vol. 10, 77–85.
Buffin-Bélanger, T., and Roy, A. G. (1998). “Effects of a pebble cluster on the turbulent structure of a depth-limited flow in a gravel-bed river.” Geomorphology, 25, 249–267.
Cebeci, T., and Bradshaw, P. (1977). Momentum transfer in boundary layers, Hemisphere, New York.
Clifford, N. J., Robert, A., and Richards, K. S. (1992). “Estimation of flow resistance in gravel-bedded rivers: A physical explanation of the multiplier of roughness length.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 17, 111–126.
Dal Cin, R. (1968). “‘Pebble clusters’: Their origin and utilization in the study of palaeocurrents.” Sedimentary Geology, 2, 233–241.
de Jong, C. (1995). “Temporal and spatial interactions between river bed roughness, geometry, bedload transport, and flow hydraulics in mountain streams—Examples from Squaw Creek, Montana (USA) and Schmiedlaine/Lainbach (Upper Germany).” Berliner Geographische Abhandlungen, 59, 229.
FLUENT Inc. (2003). FLUENT 6.1 users’ guide, Lebanon, N.H.
Hassan, M. A., and Reid, I. (1990). “The influence of microform bed roughness elements on flow and sediment transport in gravel bed rivers.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 15, 739–750.
Hodskinson, A., and Ferguson, R. I. (1998). “Numerical modelling of separated flow in river bends: Model testing and experimental investigation of geometric controls on the extent of flow separation at the concave bank.” Hydrological Processes, 12, 1323–1338.
Karim, O. A., and Ali, K. H. M. (2000). “Prediction of flow patterns in local scour holes caused by turbulent water jets.” J. Hydraul. Res., 38(4), 279–288.
Kirkil, G., Constantinescu, G., and Ettema, R. (2005). “The horseshoe vortex system around a circular bridge pier on equilibrium scoured bed.” Proc., ASCE/EWRI World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, ASCE, Reston, Va.
Kironoto, B. A., and Graf, W. H. (1994). “Turbulence characteristics in rough uniform open-channel flow.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., Waters. Maritime Energ., 106, 333–344.
Kozlowski, B., and Ergenzinger, P. (1999). “Ring structures—A specific new cluster type in steep mountain torrents.” Proc., 27th IAHR Congress, Graz.
Krogstad, P. A., and Antonia, R. A. (1999). “Surface roughness effects in turbulent boundary layers.” Exp. Fluids, 27, 450–460.
Lane, S., Bradbrook, K., Richards, K., Biron, P., and Roy, A. (1999). “The application of computational fluid dynamics to natural river channels: Three-dimensional versus two-dimensional approaches.” Geomorphology, 29, 1–20.
Lane, S. N., Hardy, R. J., Elliot, L., and Ingham, D. B. (2004). “Numerical modeling of flow processes over gravelly surfaces using structured grids and numerical porosity treatment.” Water Resour. Res., 40(1), W01302.
Lien, F. S., and Yee, E. (2004). “Numerical modelling of the turbulent flow developing within and over a 3-d building array. Part I: A high-resolution Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes approach.” Boundary-Layer Meteorol., 112, 427–466.
McLaughlin, D. K., and Tiederman, W. G. (1973). “Biasing correction for individual realization of laser anemometer measurements in turbulent flows.” Phys. Fluids, 16(12), 2082–2088.
Menter, F. R. (1994). “Two-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence models for engineering applications.” AIAA J., 32(8), 1598–1605.
Millar, R. G. (1999). “Grain and form resistance in gravel-bed rivers.” J. Hydraul. Res., 37(3), 303–312.
Morris, H. M. (1955). “Flow in rough conditions.” Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 120, 373–398.
Nezu, I., and Nakagawa, H. (1993). Turbulence in open-channel flows, Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Nicholas, A. P. (2001). “Computational fluid dynamics modelling of boundary roughness in gravel-bed rivers: An investigation of the effects of random variability in bed elevation.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 26, 345–362.
Nicholas, A. P., and Sambrook Smith, G. H. (1999). “Numerical simulation of three-dimensional flow hydraulics in a braided channel.” Hydrolog. Process., 130, 913–929.
Paola, C., Gust, G., and Southard, J. B. (1986). “Skin friction behind isolated hemispheres and the formation of obstacle marks.” Sedimentology, 33, 279–293.
Papanicolaou, A. N., Diplas, P., Dancey, C. L., and Balakrishnan, M. (2001). “Surface roughness effects in near-bed turbulence: Implications to sediment entrainment.” J. Eng. Mech., 127(3), 211–218.
Papanicolaou, A. N., Evaggelopoulos, N., Diplas, P., and Fotopoulos, S. (2002). “Stochastic incipient motion criterion for spheres under various bed packing conditions.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 128(4), 369–380.
Papanicolaou, A. N., Strom, K., Schuyler, A., and Talebbeydokhti, N. (2003). “The role of sediment specific gravity and availability on cluster evolution.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 28, 69–86.
Patel, V. C. (1998). “Perspective: Flow at high Reynolds number and over rough surfaces—Achilles heel of CFD.” J. Fluids Eng., 120, 434–444.
Patel, V. C., Chon, J. T., and Yoon, J. Y. (1991). “Turbulent flow in a channel with a wavy wall.” J. Fluids Eng., 113, 579–586.
Raupach, M. R., Antonia, R. A., and Rajagopalan, S. (1991). “Rough-wall turbulent boundary layers.” Appl. Mech. Rev., 44(1), 1–25.
Shamloo, H., Rajaratnam, N., and Katopodis, C. (2001). “Hydraulics of simple habitat structures.” J. Hydraul. Res., 39(4), 351–366.
Sofialidis, D., and Prinos, P. (1999). “Turbulent flow in open channels with smooth and rough flood plains.” J. Hydraul. Res., 37(5), 615–640.
Song, T., and Chiew, Y. M. (2001). “Turbulence measurement in nonuniform open-channel flow using acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV).” J. Eng. Mech., 127(3), 219–232.
Strom, K. B., Papanicolaou, A. N., Billing, B., Ely, L. L., and Hendricks, R. R. (2005a). “Characterization of particle cluster bedforms in a mountain streams.” Proc., ASCE/EWRI World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, ASCE, Reston, Va., 399.
Strom, K. B., Papanicolaou, A. N., and Constantinescu, G. (2005b). “Rough wall flow using turbulence model in FLUENT.” Proc., ASCE/EWRI World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, ASCE, Reston, Va., 438.
Strom, K., Papanicolaou, A. N., Evangelopoulos, N., and Odeh, M. (2004). “Microforms in gravel bed rivers: Formation, disintegration, and effects on bedload transport.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 130(6), 554–567.
Vanoni, V. A., and Brooks, N. H. (1957). “Laboratory studies of the roughness and suspended load of alluvial streams.” Sedimentation Laboratory Rep. No. E68, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.
Wilcox, D. C. (1993). Turbulence modeling for CFD, DCW Industries Inc., La Caсada, Calif.
Zhou, D., and Mendoza, C. (1993). “Flow through porous bed of turbulent stream.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 119(20), 365–383.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 3 • March 2007
Pages: 273 - 287
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 17, 2005
Accepted: Jun 9, 2006
Published online: Mar 1, 2007
Published in print: Mar 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.