Stabilized edge-based finite element computation of gravity currents in lock-exchange configurations

Modeling of gravity current flows is important in many problems of science and engineering. Gravity currents are primarily horizontal flows driven by a density difference of few per cents. This phenomenon occurs in many scales in nature, such as ocean and marine flows, sea breeze formation, avalanches, turbidite flows, etc. Most of the gravity current simulations employ structured grid or spectral methods. In this work, we simulate gravity-driven flows by a parallel stabilized edge-based finite element code with particular emphasis on the simulation of the lock-exchange problem for planar and cylindrical configurations. Our results are validated against other highly resolved numerical simulations and experiments. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.