Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2019
25th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Effects of Superficial Shear Stress on Stratified Flow Dynamics in a Narrow Rectangular Channel
Submission Author:
Luciano Merlo , ES
Co-Authors:
Luciano Merlo, Renato Siqueira, Michel de Oliveira dos Santos
Presenter: Luciano Merlo
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2019.COB2019-0413
Abstract
There is a growing need for good management of water resources and alternatives for effluents treatment. Given the fact, to improve the management of water bodies such as rivers, estuaries and coastal waters, it is necessary to understand the mixing mechanisms present in such environments. Numerical simulations were conducted with different levels of stratification to evaluate their effect on mixing and transport processes in a narrow rectangular channel. The main flow characteristics, such as corner flow and the decrease of the maximum velocity level, were affected by stratification. The same conditions and geometry were applied, also using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), assuming a shear stress distribution on the surface as boundary condition. It was verified the necessity to define the stresses that act on the water surface, since they change the flow dynamics in the open channel. The main phenomena inherent to the analyzed flow were well reproduced when compared to experimental data, showing the potential of this tool to evaluate the conditions under different levels of stratification. Once calibrated, a CFD model is useful to understand the effects of stratification on turbulent flow behaviour and it can contribute to study environmental pollution in water bodies as well as to improve the performance of industrial processes in which stratification is present.
Keywords
Stratified flow, Free surface, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
