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Gravity currents with variable inflow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

T. Maxworthy
T. Maxworthy
Affiliation:
Institut für Hydromechanik, Universität Karlsruhe, D 7500, Karlsruhe 1 Perermanent address: Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089.
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Abstract

We have performed a series of experiments on two-dimensional gravity currents for which the inflow rate at the origin is a power-law function of time, tα−1. The theoretical results of Huppert (1982), for currents in which there is a balance between buoyancy and viscous forces, are found to be valid for a wide range of conditions. A large numbers of experiments at a critical value of α = 7/4 show very precise agreement with the theory, while values of a parameter that separates regions in which either viscous forces or inertial forces dominate are well within limits one would expect from the order-of-magnitude arguments used.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 128 , March 1983 , pp. 247 - 257
Copyright
© 1983 Cambridge University Press

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References

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