Author(s): Mahshid Golzar, Fred Sonnenwald, Ian Guymer, Virginia Stovin
Linked Author(s): Mahshid Golzar
Keywords: CFD, random cylinder array, transverse dispersion coefficient, scalar transport, validation
Abstract: Understanding the flow and mixing processes in vegetated flows is essential for hydraulic engineers to be able to improve the performance of water bodies such as treatment wetlands and ponds. Cylinder arrays have been used in several laboratory studies, but such studies are time-consuming. The aim of this paper is to find an efficient, alternative, validated, way for conducting such studies. Traditional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models can be considered as an alternative. A previous laboratory study on transverse dispersion coefficients within random cylinder arrays, Tanino and Nepf (2008) is modelled in ANSYS Fluent 16. 1. The Reynolds Stress turbulence closure model is used to solve the steady sate flow field. A transient scalar model has been used to model tracer dispersion within the arrays. The resulting CFD generated transverse dispersion coefficients are then compared with the previously reported laboratory ones. The comparison shows acceptable agreement between the CFD and laboratory data, which leads to the validation of the method used in this study. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of CFD models to be used as an efficient way for studying flow and mixing within artificially vegetated flows
Year: 2017