Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density Currents

Density currents induced by salinity gradients, which arise from differences in dissolved material concentrations between two fluid bodies, are of significant importance in estuarine environments, lakes, and dam reservoirs. This study numerically investigates such flows using Fluent software. Initia...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Somayyeh Mohammadiyan Lanbaran, Afshin Eghbalzadeh
Format: Article
Language:fas
Published: Razi University 2025-04-01
Series:مدل‌سازی پیشرفته در مهندسی عمران
Subjects:
Online Access:https://amcen.razi.ac.ir/article_3772_b206d863fe694f67210732c048656a90.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849423000985665536
author Somayyeh Mohammadiyan Lanbaran
Afshin Eghbalzadeh
author_facet Somayyeh Mohammadiyan Lanbaran
Afshin Eghbalzadeh
author_sort Somayyeh Mohammadiyan Lanbaran
collection DOAJ
description Density currents induced by salinity gradients, which arise from differences in dissolved material concentrations between two fluid bodies, are of significant importance in estuarine environments, lakes, and dam reservoirs. This study numerically investigates such flows using Fluent software. Initially, a comparison was conducted to ensure that the results obtained from the numerical simulation were in good agreement with laboratory observations. Subsequently, the effects of near-wall modeling approaches, including standard and non-equilibrium wall functions, as well as the enhanced near wall treatment, on flow simulation accuracy were evaluated. The results demonstrated that all three methods were reasonably capable of simulating the velocity and density distributions; however, their performance varied across different sections and regions of the flow. The standard wall function approach yielded higher accuracy in regions adjacent to the wall, whereas the enhanced near wall treatment approach produced more accurate results at the interface between the density current and the ambient fluid. Regarding the density distribution, although no major discrepancies were observed among the different methods, the enhanced near wall treatment approach provided slightly better results compared to the other two. Overall, based on the obtained results, it can be recommended that when using coarser computational grids, the standard wall function approach is more appropriate. This recommendation is supported by the ability to position the first grid point at a dimensionless wall distance "y" ^"+" of approximately 11.225, eliminating the need for highly refined meshing near the wall. However, when finer grids are employed, the use of a modified near-wall treatment approach may be more suitable. This is because it requires placing the first computational node very close to the wall, such that the "y" ^"+" value is around 1, which allows for a more accurate resolution of the near-wall flow behavior.
format Article
id doaj-art-336f5487bbd043df961a2483a99072e2
institution Kabale University
issn 3060-7620
language fas
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Razi University
record_format Article
series مدل‌سازی پیشرفته در مهندسی عمران
spelling doaj-art-336f5487bbd043df961a2483a99072e22025-08-20T03:30:49ZfasRazi Universityمدل‌سازی پیشرفته در مهندسی عمران3060-76202025-04-0121365410.22126/amcen.2025.11903.10373772Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density CurrentsSomayyeh Mohammadiyan Lanbaran0Afshin Eghbalzadeh1Master's student, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Razi University, Kermanshah, IranAssociate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, IranDensity currents induced by salinity gradients, which arise from differences in dissolved material concentrations between two fluid bodies, are of significant importance in estuarine environments, lakes, and dam reservoirs. This study numerically investigates such flows using Fluent software. Initially, a comparison was conducted to ensure that the results obtained from the numerical simulation were in good agreement with laboratory observations. Subsequently, the effects of near-wall modeling approaches, including standard and non-equilibrium wall functions, as well as the enhanced near wall treatment, on flow simulation accuracy were evaluated. The results demonstrated that all three methods were reasonably capable of simulating the velocity and density distributions; however, their performance varied across different sections and regions of the flow. The standard wall function approach yielded higher accuracy in regions adjacent to the wall, whereas the enhanced near wall treatment approach produced more accurate results at the interface between the density current and the ambient fluid. Regarding the density distribution, although no major discrepancies were observed among the different methods, the enhanced near wall treatment approach provided slightly better results compared to the other two. Overall, based on the obtained results, it can be recommended that when using coarser computational grids, the standard wall function approach is more appropriate. This recommendation is supported by the ability to position the first grid point at a dimensionless wall distance "y" ^"+" of approximately 11.225, eliminating the need for highly refined meshing near the wall. However, when finer grids are employed, the use of a modified near-wall treatment approach may be more suitable. This is because it requires placing the first computational node very close to the wall, such that the "y" ^"+" value is around 1, which allows for a more accurate resolution of the near-wall flow behavior.https://amcen.razi.ac.ir/article_3772_b206d863fe694f67210732c048656a90.pdfdensity currentsfluent softwarenumerical simulationwall functionsenhanced near wall treatment
spellingShingle Somayyeh Mohammadiyan Lanbaran
Afshin Eghbalzadeh
Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density Currents
مدل‌سازی پیشرفته در مهندسی عمران
density currents
fluent software
numerical simulation
wall functions
enhanced near wall treatment
title Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density Currents
title_full Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density Currents
title_fullStr Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density Currents
title_full_unstemmed Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density Currents
title_short Investigation of Wall Effect Simulation Methods in Saline Density Currents
title_sort investigation of wall effect simulation methods in saline density currents
topic density currents
fluent software
numerical simulation
wall functions
enhanced near wall treatment
url https://amcen.razi.ac.ir/article_3772_b206d863fe694f67210732c048656a90.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT somayyehmohammadiyanlanbaran investigationofwalleffectsimulationmethodsinsalinedensitycurrents
AT afshineghbalzadeh investigationofwalleffectsimulationmethodsinsalinedensitycurrents