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Gravity Currents Produced by Sudden Release of a Fixed Volume of Heavy Fluid
Author(s) -
D'Alessio S. J. D.,
Moodie T. Bryant,
Pascal J. P.,
Swaters G. E.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
studies in applied mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.164
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1467-9590
pISSN - 0022-2526
DOI - 10.1002/sapm1996964359
Subject(s) - stratification (seeds) , scaling , mechanics , nonlinear system , gravity current , plane (geometry) , algebraic number , physics , classical mechanics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , geometry , internal wave , seed dormancy , botany , germination , quantum mechanics , dormancy , biology
In this paper we study various aspects of gravity (or density) currents arising from instantaneous releases of heavy fluids in a rectangular channel with a horizontal bottom. It is shown, by means of a scaling argument, that these plane currents can be successfully modeled by a two‐by‐two system in conservation form together with a pair of algebraic relations. A number of numerical experiments are carried out using this “weak stratification” model to elicit information concerning the behavior of gravity currents. A weakly nonlinear analysis is employed to clarify some aspects that were uncovered by the numerical experimentation.