Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

In this talk, results of high-resolution numerical simulations of some complex flows that are occurring in the area of hydraulic engineering will be presented. The method of large-eddy simulation is employed to study details of the flow over rough and porous channel beds, flow in an ozone contactor and the flow through idealized emergent vegetation. The main objective of the simulations is to gain insight into physical mechanisms at play. In particular, flow unsteadiness and coherent turbulence structures are important contributors to mass and momentum transfer in open channels. The performed large-eddy simulations allow revealing and quantifying these coherent structures.