Numerical Simulation Of Laminar Flow Above And Below Triangular Bedforms

C. Gualtieri
University of Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Published in 2010

This paper presents some results of numerical simulations carried out to investigate the basic hydrodynamic interactions between the laminar flow in the water column above triangular bedforms and the Darcian flow in the underlying permeable sediments. The flow was described by the Navier-Stokes equation in the free region and the Darcy equation in the porous region. Numerical simulations were carried out in laminar steady-state flow using COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5a in a range of bedforms height-based Reynolds number ReH from 6 to 3852. Numerical results confirmed the close relationship between the characteristics of the separation region in the water column downstream the bedform crest and those of the hyporheic zone in the porous medium.

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