Three-dimensional highly resolved
Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of particle-laden gravity currents are presented for the lock-exchange problem in an original basin configuration, similar to delta formation in lakes. For this numerical study, we focus on gravity currents over a flat bed for which density differences are small enough for the
Boussinesq approximation to be valid. The concentration of particles is described in an Eulerian fashion by using a
transport equation combined with the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, with the possibility of particles deposition but no erosion nor
re-suspension. The focus of this study is on the influence of the Reynolds number and
settling velocity on the development of the current which can freely evolve in the streamwise and spanwise direction. It is shown that the settling velocity has a
strong influence on the
spatial extent of the current, the
sedimentation rate, the suspended mass and the shape of the lobe-and-cleft structures while the Reynolds number is mainly affecting the size and number of vortical structures at the front of the current, and the
energy budget.