Abstract
Detailed velocity and density measurements are used to investigate dense water dynamics in an inclined, silled channel of triangular cross-section with varying side slope and adverse bed slope. For the steeper channel configuration considered (P=3.6°), the dense-water bottom current is shown to be frictionally-controlled, with an internal flow structure characterized by a sharp pycnocline and decreasing isopycnal separation in the along-channel direction. For the milder up-sloping channel (P=1.7°), the dense water outflow is shown to be hydraulically-controlled as the channel sill section is approached, with internal flow dynamics characterized by increasing isopycnal separation in the along-channel direction. Analysis of the gradient Richardson number Ri of the flow confirms that hydraulically-controlled flows dilute the active bottom water due to interfacial mixing. A gradually-varying internal flow model and a two-layer hydraulic modelling approach are shown, respectively, to represent adequately the outflow behaviour for these two bed slope conditions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 67-80 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Hydraulic Research |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 10 Jan 2014 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Buoyancy-driven flows
- density currents
- Froude number
- hydraulic models
- laboratory studies
- Reynolds number
- Richardson number
- stratified flows
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