Flow structures and processes in the Río Paraná

S. SANDBACH; P.J. ASHWORTH; M.L. AMSLER; J.L. BEST; R.J. HARDY; S.N. LANE; A.P. NICHOLAS; O. ORFEO; D.R. PARSONS; A. REESINK; G. SAMBROOK SMITH; R.N. SZUPIANY

Durham University - England

Conferencia; British Society for Geomorphology (BSG) Annual Conference; 2009

Durham University

In this paper a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model is used to investigate flow structures in the Paraná River (South America) the 6th largest river in the world. Bed topography and detailed flow data were collected for a reach 38 km long in the middle part of the Paraná upstream the Parana-Paraguay confluence. The entire reach was modelled using Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) code modelling turbulence with a k-E RNG turbulence model within a Cartesian mesh. A new five term mass flux scaling algorithm was applied to include bed topography. The results demonstrate the importance of topographic forcing on determining flow structures in large rivers.