Flow Structures and Contaminant Transport in a Shallow Mixing Layer Developing over 2-D Dunes

A high resolution Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) are used to characterize the evolution of a shallow mixing layer developing between two parallel streams in a long open channel over two-dimensional (2D) dunes. The study discusses the vertical non-uniformity and the dynamics of contaminant transport in the mixing layer and provides a quantitative characterization of the growth of the large-scale quasi 2D coherent structures with the distance from the splitter plate. The presence of large-scale roughness elements in the form of an array of two-dimensional dunes with a maximum height of 0.25D (D is the channel depth) induces a very rapid and larger shift of the centerline of the mixing layer due to the increased influence of the bottom roughness. Trapped contaminant in the lee side of dunes enhances the mixing. Results show that in streamwise sections situated after 100D (D is the channel depth) from the splitter plate, the width of the mixing layer close to the free surface stays constant. The tilting of the mixing layer interface toward the low speed stream is observed as the free surface is approached in all vertical sections from the contaminant field.