Critical levels in a three-dimensional stratified shear flow

1975 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 561-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. H. Berkshire
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Critical Levels ◽  
Stratified Shear Flow

scholarly journals The structure and origin of confined Holmboe waves

2018 ◽  
Vol 848 ◽  
pp. 508-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrien Lefauve ◽  
J. L. Partridge ◽  
Qi Zhou ◽  
S. B. Dalziel ◽  
C. P. Caulfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Coherent Structure ◽  
Shear Flows ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Geophysical Flows ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Lateral Confinement ◽  
Stratified Shear Flow ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Finite-amplitude manifestations of stratified shear flow instabilities and their spatio-temporal coherent structures are believed to play an important role in turbulent geophysical flows. Such shear flows commonly have layers separated by sharp density interfaces, and are therefore susceptible to the so-called Holmboe instability, and its finite-amplitude manifestation, the Holmboe wave. In this paper, we describe and elucidate the origin of an apparently previously unreported long-lived coherent structure in a sustained stratified shear flow generated in the laboratory by exchange flow through an inclined square duct connecting two reservoirs filled with fluids of different densities. Using a novel measurement technique allowing for time-resolved, near-instantaneous measurements of the three-component velocity and density fields simultaneously over a three-dimensional volume, we describe the three-dimensional geometry and spatio-temporal dynamics of this structure. We identify it as a finite-amplitude, nonlinear, asymmetric confined Holmboe wave (CHW), and highlight the importance of its spanwise (lateral) confinement by the duct boundaries. We pay particular attention to the spanwise vorticity, which exhibits a travelling, near-periodic structure of sheared, distorted, prolate spheroids with a wide ‘body’ and a narrower ‘head’. Using temporal linear stability analysis on the two-dimensional streamwise-averaged experimental flow, we solve for three-dimensional perturbations having two-dimensional, cross-sectionally confined eigenfunctions and a streamwise normal mode. We show that the dispersion relation and the three-dimensional spatial structure of the fastest-growing confined Holmboe instability are in good agreement with those of the observed confined Holmboe wave. We also compare those results with a classical linear analysis of two-dimensional perturbations (i.e. with no spanwise dependence) on a one-dimensional base flow. We conclude that the lateral confinement is an important ingredient of the confined Holmboe instability, which gives rise to the CHW, with implications for many inherently confined geophysical flows such as in valleys, estuaries, straits or deep ocean trenches. Our results suggest that the CHW is an example of an experimentally observed, inherently nonlinear, robust, long-lived coherent structure which has developed from a linear instability. We conjecture that the CHW is a promising candidate for a class of exact coherent states underpinning the dynamics of more disordered, yet continually forced stratified shear flows.

Resonant wave interactions in a stratified shear flow

1988 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 357-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Grimshaw
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Critical Level ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Wave Interactions ◽  
Resonant Wave ◽  
Resonant Interactions ◽  
Stratified Shear Flow ◽  
Weak Resonance ◽  
Background Shear

Resonant interactions between triads of internal gravity waves propagating in a shear flow are considered for the case when the stratification and the background shear flow vary slowly with respect to typical wavelengths. If ωn, kn(n = 1, 2, 3) are the local frequencies and wavenumbers respectively then the resonance conditions are that ω1 + ω2 + ω3 = 0 and k1 + k2 + k3 = 0. If the medium is only weakly inhomogeneous, then there is a strong resonance and to leading order the resonance conditions are satisfied globally. The equations governing the wave amplitudes are then well known, and have been extensively discussed in the literature. However, if the medium is strongly inhomogeneous, then there is a weak resonance and the resonance conditions can only be satisfied locally on certain space-time resonance surfaces. The equations governing the wave amplitudes in this case are derived, and discussed briefly. Then the results are applied to a study of the hierarchy of wave interactions which can occur near a critical level, with the aim of determining to what extent a critical layer can reflect wave energy.

A mathematical model of turbulent heat and mass transfer in stably stratified shear flow

1993 ◽  
Vol 253 (-1) ◽  
pp. 341 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. I. Barenblatt ◽  
M. Bertsch ◽  
R. Dal Passo ◽  
V. M. Prostokishin ◽  
M. Ughi
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Shear Flow ◽  
Heat And Mass Transfer ◽  
Turbulent Heat ◽  
Stratified Shear Flow ◽  
Stably Stratified Shear Flow
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