Abstract

This study utilizes a detailed analysis of the first direct numerical simulation (DNS) of thermally stratified open-channel flows through idealized sine-generated meanders with varying sinuosity to enhance our understanding of the impact of thermal stratification on the mean flow, secondary currents, and boundary shear stresses. Four different channel sinuosities Si=(1.07,1.34,2.12,3.70) at a moderate curvature of Rmin/B=2.5 and channel aspect ratio B/H=10 with friction Reynolds number Reτ=200 in neutral and density stratified flows are presented. The results indicate that thermal stratification has a significant effect on the characteristics of the mean flow, resulting in differences in the separated shear layers and separation zones for different sinuosity, as well as in the bed and sidewall shear stress distributions for both neutral and stratified flows.

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Data Availability Statement

All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

Research was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP150100912 and its National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), which is supported by the Australian Government. Simulations were run on the high-performance computing facility, Gadi, and postprocessing calculations were performed on the Sydney Informatics Hub supercomputer Artemis and Orc cluster at the University of Sydney. The authors gratefully acknowledge and appreciate this support.

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Go to Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 149Issue 9September 2023

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Received: Jun 28, 2022
Accepted: Apr 8, 2023
Published online: Jun 19, 2023
Published in print: Sep 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Nov 19, 2023

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School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Engineering, Univ. of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Environment, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0881-6093. Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Michael P. Kirkpatrick [email protected]
Associate Professor, School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Engineering, Univ. of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: [email protected]
N. Williamson, Ph.D. [email protected]
School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Engineering, Univ. of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: [email protected]
S. W. Armfield [email protected]
Professor, School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Engineering, Univ. of Sydney, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Professor, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook Univ., Townsville, QLD 4814, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5264-2097. Email: [email protected]

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