Large eddy simulation of water flow over series of dunes

Abstract

Large eddy simulation was used to investigate the spatial development of open channel flow over a series of dunes. The three-dimensional filtered Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations were numerically solved with the fractional-step method in sigma coordinates. The subgrid-scale turbulent stress was modeled with a dynamic coherent eddy viscosity model proposed by the authors. The computed velocity profiles are in good agreement with the available experimental results. The mean velocity and the turbulent Reynolds stress affected by a series of dune-shaped structures were compared and analyzed. The variation of turbulence statistics along the flow direction affected by the wavy bottom roughness has been studied. The turbulent boundary layer in a complex geographic environment can be simulated well with the proposed large eddy simulation (LES) model.

Keywords

• large eddy simulation (LES)
• dunes
• turbulent boundary layer
• flow separation