Finite-Size Particle Dynamics and Scalar Transport in Turbulent Open Channel Flow Over a Mobile Sediment Bed

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Image: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

The quality of surface water typically depends upon a complex interplay between physical, chemical and biological factors which are far from being completely understood. Most practical water quality predictions for rivers or streams rely on various simplifications esp. with regards to the turbulent flow conditions. This project aims at pushing the modeling boundary further by performing massively-parallel computer simulations which resolve all scales of hydrodynamic turbulence in river-like flows, the micro-scale flow around rigid, mobile particles, and the concentration field of suspended bacteria. The data obtained helps quantifying the shortcomings of simpler currently used prediction models and will contribute to their improvement.

Principal Investigator:

Markus Uhlmann

Institute for Hydromechanics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)