Parametric subharmonic instability of internal waves: locally confined beams versus monochromatic wavetrains

2014 ◽  
Vol 757 ◽  
pp. 381-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussain H. Karimi ◽  
T. R. Akylas

AbstractInternal gravity wavetrains in continuously stratified fluids are generally unstable as a result of resonant triad interactions which, in the inviscid limit, amplify short-scale perturbations with frequency equal to one half of that of the underlying wave. This so-called parametric subharmonic instability (PSI) has been studied extensively for spatially and temporally monochromatic waves. Here, an asymptotic analysis of PSI for time-harmonic plane waves with locally confined spatial profile is made, in an effort to understand how such wave beams differ, in regard to PSI, from monochromatic plane waves. The discussion centres upon a system of coupled evolution equations that govern the interaction of a small-amplitude wave beam with short-scale subharmonic wavepackets in a nearly inviscid uniformly stratified Boussinesq fluid. For beams with general localized profile, it is found that triad interactions are not strong enough to bring about instability in the limited time that subharmonic perturbations overlap with the beam. On the other hand, for quasi-monochromatic wave beams whose profile comprises a sinusoidal carrier modulated by a locally confined envelope, PSI is possible if the beam is wide enough. In this instance, a stability criterion is proposed which, under given flow conditions, provides the minimum number of carrier wavelengths a beam of small amplitude must comprise for instability to arise.

2019 ◽  
Vol 869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyu Fan ◽  
T. R. Akylas

An asymptotic model is developed for the parametric subharmonic instability (PSI) of finite-width nearly monochromatic internal gravity wave beams in the presence of a background constant horizontal mean flow. The subharmonic perturbations are taken to be short-scale wavepackets that may extract energy via resonant triad interactions while in contact with the underlying beam, and the mean flow is assumed to be small so that its advection effect on the perturbations is as important as dispersion, triad nonlinearity and viscous dissipation. In this ‘distinguished limit’, the perturbation dynamics are governed by the same evolution equations as those derived in Karimi & Akylas (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 757, 2014, pp. 381–402), except for a mean flow term that affects the group velocity of the perturbations and imposes an additional necessary condition for PSI, which stabilizes very short-scale perturbations. As a result, it is possible for a small amount of mean flow to weaken PSI dramatically.


1994 ◽  
Vol 258 ◽  
pp. 131-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. Duck ◽  
Gordon Erlebacher ◽  
M. Yousuff Hussaini

The linear stability of compressible plane Couette flow is investigated. The appropriate basic velocity and temperature distributions are perturbed by a small-amplitude normal-mode disturbance. The full small-amplitude disturbance equations are solved numerically at finite Reynolds numbers, and the inviscid limit of these equations is then investigated in some detail. It is found that instabilities can occur, although the corresponding growth rates are often quite small; the stability characteristics of the flow are quite different from unbounded flows. The effects of viscosity are also calculated, asymptotically, and shown to have a stabilizing role in all the cases investigated. Exceptional regimes to the problem occur when the wave speed of the disturbances approaches the velocity of either of the walls, and these regimes are also analysed in some detail. Finally, the effect of imposing radiation-type boundary conditions on the upper (moving) wall (in place of impermeability) is investigated, and shown to yield results common to both bounded and unbounded flows.


1996 ◽  
Vol 321 ◽  
pp. 217-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Hill ◽  
M. A. Foda

Experimental evidence and a theoretical formulation describing the interaction between a progressive surface wave and a nearly standing subharmonic internal wave in a two-layer system are presented. Laboratory investigations into the dynamics of an interface between water and a fluidized sediment bed reveal that progressive surface waves can excite short standing waves at this interface. The corresponding theoretical analysis is second order and specifically considers the case where the internal wave, composed of two oppositely travelling harmonics, is much shorter than the surface wave. Furthermore, the analysis is limited to the case where the internal waves are small, so that only the initial growth is described. Approximate solution to the nonlinear boundary value problem is facilitated through a perturbation expansion in surface wave steepness. When certain resonance conditions are imposed, quadratic interactions between any two of the harmonics are in phase with the third, yielding a resonant triad. At the second order, evolution equations are derived for the internal wave amplitudes. Solution of these equations in the inviscid limit reveals that, at this order, the growth rates for the internal waves are purely imaginary. The introduction of viscosity into the analysis has the effect of modifying the evolution equations so that the growth rates are complex. As a result, the amplitudes of the internal waves are found to grow exponentially in time. Physically, the viscosity has the effect of adjusting the phase of the pressure so that there is net work done on the internal waves. The growth rates are, in addition, shown to be functions of the density ratio of the two fluids, the fluid layer depths, and the surface wave conditions.


Weyl has shown that any gravitational wave of small amplitude may be regarded as the result of the superposition of waves of three types, viz.: (i) longitudinal-longitudinal; (ii) longitudinal-transverse; (iii) transverse-transverse. Eddington carried the matter much further by showing that waves of the first two types are spurious; they are “merely sinuosities in the co­ordinate system,” and they disappear on the adoption of an appropriate co-ordinate system. The only physically significant waves are transverse-transverse waves, and these are propagated with the velocity of light. He further considers electromagnetic waves and identifies light with a particular type of transverse-transverse wave. There is, however, a difficulty about the solution as left by Eddington. In its gravitational aspect light is not periodic. The gravitational potentials contain, in addition to periodic terms, an aperiodic term which increases without limit and which seems to indicate that light cannot be propagated indefinitely either in space or time. This is, of course, explained by noting that the propagation of light implies a transfer of energy, and that the consequent change in the distribution of energy will be reflected in a cumulative change in the gravitational field. But, if light cannot be propagated indefinitely, the fact itself is important, whatever be its explana­tion, for the propagation of light over very great distances is one of the primary facts which the relativity theory or any like theory must meet. In endeavouring to throw further light on this question, it seemed desirable to avoid the assumption that the amplitudes of the waves are small; terms neglected on this ground might well have a cumulative effect. All the solu­tions discussed in this paper are exact.


Time-dependent particle-like pulses are considered as asymptotic solutions of the classical wave equation. The wave packets are localized in space with gaussian envelopes. The pulse centres propagate along the rays of the wave equation, and the envelope parameters satisfy evolution equations very similar to the ray equations for time-harmonic disturb­ances. However, the present theory contains an extra degree of freedom not found in the time-harmonic theory. Explicit results are presented for media with constant velocity gradients, and interesting new phenomena are identified. For example, a pulse that is initially long in the direction of propagation and comparatively narrow in the orthogonal direction, maintains its initial spatial orientation even as the propagation direction rotates. The reflection and transmission of a pulse incident upon an interface are also discussed. The various theoretical results are illustrated by numerical simulations. This method of solution could be very useful for fast forward modelling in large-scale structures. It is formulated explicitly in the time domain and does not suffer from unphysical singularities at caustics.


2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Kress

AbstractIn this survey we consider a regularized Newton method for the approximate solution of the inverse problem to determine the shape of an obstacle from a knowledge of the far field pattern for the scattering of time-harmonic acoustic or electromagnetic plane waves. Our analysis is in two dimensions and the numerical scheme is based on the solution of boundary integral equations by a Nyström method. We include an example of the reconstruction of a planar domain with a corner both to illustrate the feasibility of the use of radial basis functions for the reconstruction of boundary curves with local features and to connect the presentation to some of the research work of Professor David Elliott.


Geophysics ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 1495-1505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Tygel ◽  
Peter Hubral

Point source responses from a planar acoustic and/or elastic layer boundary (as well as from a stack of planar parallel layers) are generally obtained by using as a starting point the Sommerfeld‐Weyl integral, which can be viewed as decomposing a time‐harmonic spherical source into time‐harmonic homogeneous and inhomogeneous plane waves. This paper gives a powerful extension of this integral by providing a direct decomposition of an arbitrary transient spherical source into homogeneous and inhomogeneous transient plane waves. To demonstrate with an example the usefulness of this new point source integral representation, a transient solution is formulated for the reflected/transmitted response from a planar acoustic reflector. The result is obtained in the form of a relatively simple integral and essentially corresponds to the solution obtained by Bortfeld (1962). It, however, is arrived at in a physically more transparent way by strictly superimposing the reflected/transmitted transient waves leaving the interface in response to the incident transient homogeneous and inhomogeneous plane waves coming from the center of the point source.


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