scholarly journals Effect of free surface on submerged stratified shear instabilities

2018 ◽  
Vol 843 ◽  
pp. 98-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihir H. Shete ◽  
Anirban Guha
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Free Surface ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Stability Boundary ◽  
Boussinesq Approximation ◽  
Surface Gravity ◽  
Line Profiles ◽  
Surface Gravity Wave ◽  
Shear Instabilities

In this paper, we have considered the effects of the shallowness of the domain as well as the air–water free surface on the stratified shear instabilities of the fluid underneath. First, we numerically solve the non-Boussinesq Taylor–Goldstein equation for smooth velocity and density profiles of a model shear layer with a free surface. When the depth of the fluid is relatively shallow compared to the shear layer thickness, the surface gravity waves existing at the free surface come closer to the waves existing in the shear layer. This can lead to resonant wave interactions, making the flow unstable to more varieties of modal instabilities. In order to obtain a deeper understanding of the instability mechanisms, we have performed analytical studies with broken-line profiles (profiles for which vorticity and density are piecewise constant). Furthermore, reduced-order broken-line profiles have also been developed, based on which dispersion diagrams are constructed. Through these diagrams we have underpinned the resonantly interacting waves leading to each type of instability. Two new instabilities have been found; one of them, referred to as the ‘surface gravity – interfacial gravity (SG-IG) mode’, arises due to the interaction between a surface gravity wave and an interfacial gravity wave, and would therefore be absent if there is no internal density stratification. The other one – the ‘surface gravity – lower vorticity (SG-LV) mode’, which arises due to the interaction between a surface gravity wave and the lower vorticity wave, surpasses Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability to become the most unstable mode, provided the system is significantly shallow. Stability boundary of the SG-LV mode is found to be quite different from that of KH. In fact, KH becomes negligible for relatively shallow flows, while SG-LV’s growth rate is significant – comparable to the growth rate of KH for unbounded domains (${\approx}0.18$). Moreover, the SG-LV mode is found to be analogous to the barotropic mode observed in two-layer quiescent flows. We have found that the effect of a free surface on the Holmboe instability is not appreciable. Holmboe in the presence of a free surface is found to be analogous to the baroclinic mode observed in two-layer quiescent flows. Except for the Holmboe instability, remarkable differences are observed in all other instabilities occurring in shallow domains when the air–water interface is replaced by a rigid lid. We infer that the rigid-lid approximation is valid for large vertical domains and should be applied with caution otherwise. Furthermore, we have also shown that if shear is absent at the free surface, our problem can be modelled using Boussinesq approximation, that is, $O(1)$ density variations in the inertial terms can still be neglected.

scholarly journals The set-down and set-up of directionally spread and crossing surface gravity wave groups

2017 ◽  
Vol 835 ◽  
pp. 131-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. McAllister ◽  
T. A. A. Adcock ◽  
P. H. Taylor ◽  
T. S. van den Bremer
Keyword(s):  
Free Surface ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Standing Wave ◽  
Wave Pattern ◽  
Surface Gravity ◽  
Linear Wave ◽  
Surface Gravity Wave ◽  
Wave Groups ◽  
Single Wave ◽  
Set Up

For sufficiently directionally spread surface gravity wave groups, the set-down of the wave-averaged free surface, first described by Longuet-Higgins and Stewart (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 13, 1962, pp. 481–504), can turn into a set-up. Using a multiple-scale expansion for two crossing wave groups, we examine the structure and magnitude of this wave-averaged set-up, which is part of a crossing wave pattern that behaves as a modulated partial standing wave: in space, it consists of a rapidly varying standing-wave pattern slowly modulated by the product of the envelopes of the two groups; in time, it grows and decays on the slow time scale associated with the translation of the groups. Whether this crossing wave pattern actually enhances the surface elevation at the point of focus depends on the phases of the linear wave groups, unlike the set-down, which is always negative and inherits the spatial structure of the underlying envelope(s). We present detailed laboratory measurements of the wave-averaged free surface, examining both single wave groups, varying the degree of spreading from small to very large, and the interaction between two wave groups, varying both the degree of spreading and the crossing angle between the groups. In both cases, we find good agreement between the experiments, our simple expressions for the set-down and set-up, and existing second-order theory based on the component-by-component interaction of individual waves with different frequencies and directions. We predict and observe a set-up for wave groups with a Gaussian angular amplitude distribution with standard deviations of above $30{-}40^{\circ }$ ($21{-}28^{\circ }$ for energy spectra), which is relatively large for realistic sea states, and for crossing sea states with angles of separation of $50{-}70^{\circ }$ and above, which are known to occur in the ocean.

Non-stationary regimes of surface gravity wave turbulence

JETP Letters ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 97 (8) ◽  
pp. 459-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bedard ◽  
S. Lukaschuk ◽  
S. Nazarenko
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Surface Gravity ◽  
Wave Turbulence ◽  
Surface Gravity Wave

Observations of surface-gravity-wave scattering and dissipation by an isolated shoal related to a cuspate foreland

2019 ◽  
Vol 173 ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan F. Paniagua-Arroyave ◽  
Peter N. Adams ◽  
Sabrina M. Parra ◽  
Arnoldo Valle-Levinson
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Wave Scattering ◽  
Surface Gravity ◽  
Surface Gravity Wave

An analytic model of the generation of surface gravity waves by turbulent air flow

1992 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
pp. 197-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelis A. Van Duin ◽  
Peter A. E. M. Janssen
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Air Flow ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
Surface Gravity ◽  
Mixing Length ◽  
Surface Gravity Wave ◽  
Eddy Viscosity Model ◽  
Induced Field ◽  
Turbulent Air Flow ◽  
Wave Induced

Turbulent air flow over a surface gravity wave of small amplitude is studied on the basis of a family of first-order closure models, of which the eddy viscosity model and Prandtl's mixing-length model are members. Results are obtained by the method of matched asymptotic expansions in three layers. The problem is modelled by taking into account the combined effects of turbulence and molecular viscosity, which accommodates a proper imposition of the boundary conditions at the wave surface. The detailed structure of the various wave-induced field variables throughout the flow is then investigated. In addition, it is found that the growth rate of the waves by wind depends on the turbulence model. In particular, the more sensitively the mixing length depends on the shear in the mean air flow, the higher the growth rate. The validity of the results we obtain is restricted to small drag coefficient and small phase speed. Comparisons are made with other theoretical studies and with recent laboratory and field observations.

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