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Turbulence‐resolving, two‐phase flow simulations of wave‐supported gravity flows: A conceptual study
Author(s) -
Ozdemir Celalettin Emre
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1002/2016jc012061
Subject(s) - turbulence , boundary layer , mechanics , geology , flow (mathematics) , field (mathematics) , gravity wave , k epsilon turbulence model , physics , meteorology , geophysics , wave propagation , optics , mathematics , pure mathematics
Discoveries over the last three decades have shown that wave‐supported gravity flows (WSGFs) are among the participating physical processes that carry substantial amount of fine sediments across low‐gradient shelves. Therefore, understanding the full range of mechanisms responsible for such gravity flows is likely to shed light on the dynamics of subaqueous delta and clinoform development. As wave‐induced boundary layer turbulence is the major agent to suspend sediments in WSGFs, the scale of WSGFs in the water column is also bounded by the wave‐induced boundary layer thickness which is on the order of decimeters. Therefore, in order to explore the details of participating physical mechanisms, especially that due to turbulence‐sediment interaction, highly resolved and accurate numerical models or measurements in the laboratory and the field are required. In this study, the dynamics of WSGFs is investigated by using turbulence‐resolving, two‐phase flow simulations that utilize Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS). The effect of variable sediment loading, slope, and wave orbital velocity is investigated via 21 simulations.