Modeling Gravity and Turbidity Currents: Computational Approaches and Challenges

In this review article, we discuss recent progress with regard to modeling gravity-driven, high Reynolds number currents, with the emphasis on depth-resolving, high-resolution simulations. The initial sections describe new developments in the conceptual modeling of such currents for the purpose of identifying the Froude number–current height rela-tionship, in the spirit of the pioneering work by von Karman and Benjamin. A brief intro-duction to depth-averaged approaches follows, including box models and shallow water equations. Subsequently, we provide a detailed review of depth-resolving modeling strat-egies, including direct numerical simulations (DNS), large-eddy simulations (LES), and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations. The strengths and challenges associated with these respective approaches are discussed by highlighting representative computational results obtained in recent years. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4031040]