Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-21-2019
Abstract
We present results on the formation of ripples from linear stability analysis. The analysis is coupled with direct numerical simulations of turbulent open-channel flow over a fixed sinusoidal bed. The presence of the sediment bed is accounted for using the immersed boundary method. The simulations are used to extract the bed shear stress and consequently the sediment transport rate. The approach is different from traditional linear stability analysis in the sense that the phase lag between the bed topology and the sediment flux is obtained from the three-dimensional turbulent simulations. The stability analysis is performed on the Exner equation, whose input, the sediment flux, is provided from the simulations. We ran 11 simulations at a fixed shear Reynolds number of 180, but for different sediment bed wavelengths. The analysis allows us to sweep a large range of physical and modelling parameters to predict their effects on linear growth. The Froude number appears to be the critical controlling parameter in the early linear development of ripples, in contrast with the dominant role of particle Reynolds number during the equilibrium stage. We also present results from a wave packet analysis using a one-dimensional Gaussian ridge.
Recommended Citation
Zgheib, N., Balachandar, S. Linear stability analysis of subaqueous bedforms using direct numerical simulations. Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn. 33, 161–180 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-019-00487-x
Publication Title
Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics
DOI
10.1007/s00162-019-00487-x
Comments
This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-019-00487-x