The propagation of intrusion fronts of high density ratios

Abstract

The propagation of gravity fronts of high density ratios has been studied experimentally (exchange flow) and by computer simulation. Non-Boussinesq fronts are known to occur in certain safety problems (chemical spills and fires), and we have investigated seven gas combinations giving density ratios from near unity to well over 20. The results are presented in terms of a density parameter ρ^* which remains finite both in the weak (ρ^* = 0) and the strong (ρ^* = 1) limit. The front velocities, measured by means of hot wires, are found to fall on two distinct curves, one for the slower lightgas fronts and one for the faster heavy-gas fronts. Two fractional depths, Φ = ½ (lock exchange) and Φ = ⅙, have been investigated in detail and results for the interesting case Φ → 0 have been obtained by extrapolation. To aid in the extrapolation and for comparison, all experimental (and some intermediate) cases have been simulated by means of a general purpose CFD-code (PHOENICS). Good agreement is found for cases without convergence problems, i.e. for heavy-gas fronts of density ratio less than 5. Further information on frontal shape etc. has been obtained from visualization. The extrapolations to infinite depth indicate a limiting speed for both the heavy- and light-gas fronts close to the values predicted from shallow-layer theory for the analogous dam-break problem.