In free-surface turbulent flows, large amount of air may be entrapped and advected in the water current. The resulting air-water flows are frequently observed in natural water systems, where they are also relevant to water quality, ecological sustainability and integrated assessment within such systems. Herein, a review of physical and numerical modelling of air-water flows is developed, providing some fundamentals towards a consistent modelling of such flows to graduate and Ph.D. level students as well as young researchers in environmental sciences and engineering, with pre-requisite knowledge in basic fluid mechanics. After some theoretical and metrology considerations, the main criteria for the design of physical models and the current literature on the numerical studies are discussed. Two case-studies, the hydraulic jump and the dropshaft, are used to show the application of such criteria and methods. Overall, the paper presents current knowledges/challenges on physical and numerical modelling of self-aerated free-surface flows.

在自由表面湍流中，大量空气可能会被困在水流中并通过平流进行。在自然水系统中经常观察到由此产生的空气-水流，它们也与此类系统内的水质、生态可持续性和综合评估有关。在此，对空气-水流的物理和数值建模进行了回顾，为研究生和博士生提供了对此类流量进行一致建模的一些基础知识。水平学生以及环境科学和工程领域的年轻研究人员，具有基本流体力学的先决知识。在进行了一些理论和计量考虑之后，讨论了物理模型设计的主要标准和有关数值研究的当前文献。两个案例研究，水跃和下降轴，用于显示此类标准和方法的应用。总体而言，本文介绍了自曝气自由表面流的物理和数值建模的当前知识/挑战。