Generation of Steady Density Currents Through Boundary Layer Control

by Masamitsu Arita, Cornell Univ, Sch of Civil &, Environmental Engineering, Ithaca, NY, USA,
Gerhard H. Jirka, Cornell Univ, Sch of Civil &, Environmental Engineering, Ithaca, NY, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Hydraulics and Hydrology in the Small Computer Age

Abstract:

The paper reports on a study to explore the conditions that trigger bifurcation of ambient flow/intrusion interaction into one of two drastically different regimes, i. e. current versus wedge. A second objective was to investigate practical methods for maintaining the intrusion in form of a steady density current that has a much shorter intrusion length than the wedge. The study found that the bifurcation of density intrusions into density currents or density wedges is governed by small momentum changes in the ambient flow relative to the inviscid case. Any momentum deficit results in wedge formation, while a momentum surplus is needed to support a density current, often with a steepened front. Control methods have been introduced as small manipulations of the boundary layer.

Subject Headings: Density currents | Boundary layers | Fluid flow | Bifurcations | Water flow | Stratified flow | Steady flow

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