water Article Velocity Structure of Density Currents Propagating over Rough Beds Reza Nasrollahpour 1, Mohamad Hidayat Jamal 2,3,*, Zulhilmi Ismail 2,3, Zulkiflee Ibrahim 2, Mazlin Jumain 2, Mohd Ridza Mohd Haniffah 2 and Daeng Siti Maimunah Ishak 3 1 Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada;
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[email protected] (Z.I.);
[email protected] (Z.I.);
[email protected] (M.J.);
[email protected] (M.R.M.H.) 3 Center for Coastal and Ocean Engineering (COEI), Research Institute of Sustainable Environment (RISE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia;
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[email protected] Abstract: In most practical cases, density-driven currents flow over surfaces that are not smooth; however, the effects of bottom roughness on these currents have not been fully understood yet. Hence, this study aims to examine the velocity structure of density currents while propagating over rough beds. To this end, alterations in the vertical velocity profiles within the body of these currents were investigated in the presence of different bottom roughness configurations. Initially, laboratory experiments were carried out for density currents flowing over a smooth surface to provide a baseline for comparison. Thereafter, seven bottom roughness configurations were tested, encompassing both Citation: Nasrollahpour, R.; Jamal, dense and sparse bottom roughness. The bottom roughness consisted of repeated arrays of square M.H.; Ismail, Z.; Ibrahim, Z.; Jumain, cross-section beams covering the full channel width and perpendicular to the flow direction.