Flow pattern and turbulent kinetic energy analysis around tandem piers: insights from k-ε modelling and acoustic doppler velocimetry measurements
Ikani, N. Soori, S.
Ikani, N.
Soori, S.
Publication Date
2025-04
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Rights
© 2025 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license
(https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2025-04-03
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Additional title
Abstract
This study investigated the distribution and dynamics of the Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) around a group of three tandem piers using a combination of numerical simulations and experimental measurements. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) method, coupled with the k-𝜀
turbulence model, was implemented in ANSYS FLUENT to replicate the free-surface flow conditions. An experimental validation was conducted using Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV) to assess the model’s capability at capturing the turbulence characteristics. While the model effectively reproduced the near-bed turbulence, it consistently underestimated the TKE magnitudes across the flow domain, particularly in regions of strong vortex-induced turbulence. Discrepancies emerged in the confined regions between the piers, where the velocity profiles were overestimated at the surface and underestimated near the bed and mid-depth, impacting the TKE predictions. Despite these inconsistencies, the general pattern of the TKE distribution aligned with the experimental trends, though the absolute values remained underestimated due to the inherent limitations of the k-𝜀 model. The model’s performance in less turbulent regions demonstrated improved accuracy, reinforcing its applicability for moderate turbulence simulations. To further examine the interaction between vortex structures and the TKE, velocity distributions were analyzed at three specific depths (z/h = 0.15, 0.4, and 0.62). The findings showed the critical role of vortex shedding in TKE generation and dissipation, with notable variations in the turbulence intensity influenced by structural confinement effects. This study offers a novel, high-resolution evaluation of the k-ε model’s ability to predict TKE distributions around tandem piers, using spatially detailed comparisons with the experimental data. Unlike previous studies that broadly acknowledged the model’s limitations, this work systematically identifies the specific regions, particularly vortex-dominated zones, where its predictive accuracy significantly degrades.
Version
Published version
Citation
Ikani N, Pu JH and Soori S (2025) Flow pattern and turbulent kinetic energy analysis around tandem piers: insights from k-ε modelling and acoustic doppler velocimetry measurements. Water. 17(7): 1100.
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
Type
Article