scholarly journals The interaction between waves and a turbulent current: waves propagating with the current

1982 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 227-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Kemp ◽  
R. R. Simons

This paper describes an experimental programme carried out in a laboratory channel with rough and smooth beds, to investigate the interaction between gravity waves and a turbulent current. In particular, changes induced in the mean-velocity profiles, turbulent fluctuations, bed shear stresses and wave attenuation rates are considered for a range of wave heights, keeping the wave period constant. The smooth-boundary tests were carried out as a necessary preliminary to the more-realistic rough-boundary condition.A directionally sensitive laser anemometer was used to measure horizontal, vertical, and 45° velocity components in the oscillating fluid, and an on-line minicomputer was programmed to produce ensemble averages of velocities, Reynolds stresses and wave-elevation data. The cycle was sampled at 200 separate phase positions, with 180 observations at each position. Measurements were made at up to 30 points in the vertical.Preliminary tests were carried out on the unidirectional current and on the waves alone. These show that mean-velocity profiles and turbulence parameters of the current agree satisfactorily with previous experiments, and that the waves are approximated closely by Stokes’ second-order theory.For combined wave and current tests, mean-velocity profiles are generally found to differ from those suggested by a linear superposition of wave and current velocities, a change in boundary-layer thickness being indicated. However, shear stresses at the smooth boundary are found to be described by such a linear addition.

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Kristo ◽  
Coleman D. Hoff ◽  
Ian G. R. Craig ◽  
Mark L. Kimber

Abstract Turbulent mixing in the near region of a round jet with three slot lobes is examined via mean velocity and turbulent statistics and structures at a Reynolds number of 15,000. The design utilizes separate flow motivations upstream of each geometric feature, deviating from conventional nozzles or orifice plates. Immediate outlet velocity profiles are heavily influenced by opposing pressure gradients between the neighboring round and slot streams. Spanwise mean velocity profiles reveal the majority of the convective exchange between a given slot and the round center occurs in the immediate near field, but has lasting effects on the axial centerline profiles downstream. This is also reflected by the velocity half-widths, exhibiting asymmetry across the entirety of available measurements. Centerline turbulence intensities exhibit strong and short-lived isotropy. The increasingly anisotropic intensities found downstream are lower than similar geometries from the literature, implying that mixing development is inhibited. Reynolds stresses at the round-slot interface are significantly smaller than the round-stagnant exchange, but achieve a symmetric condition at x/D ≅ 4. Two-point spatial correlations of the fluctuating streamwise velocity exhibit stronger dependence toward the axial centerline at the round-slot interface in comparison to the nominal round radius. In contrast, spanwise velocity fluctuations exhibit nearly identical, localized behaviors on each side of the jet. Corresponding differences in streamwise integral length scale peak in the range 1.0 ≤ x/D ≤ 1.5, and so too do the turbulent structures in this area, as a result of the collated jet geometry.


1998 ◽  
Vol 370 ◽  
pp. 271-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. GROENEWEG ◽  
G. KLOPMAN

The generalized Lagrangian mean (GLM) formulation is used to describe the interaction of waves and currents. In contrast to the more conventional Eulerian formulation the GLM description enables splitting of the mean and oscillating motion over the whole depth in an unambiguous and unique way, also in the region between wave crest and trough. The present paper deals with non-breaking long-crested regular waves on a current using the GLM formulation coupled with a WKBJ-type perturbation-series approach. The waves propagate under an arbitrary angle with the current direction. The primary interest concerns nonlinear changes in the vertical distribution of the mean velocity due to the presence of the waves, but modifications of the orbital velocity profiles, due to the presence of a current, are considered as well. The special case of no initial current, where waves induce a so-called drift velocity or mass-transport velocity, is also studied.


1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kjo¨rk ◽  
L. Lo¨fdahl

Measurements of the three mean velocity components and five of the Reynolds stresses have been carried out in the blade passage of a centrifugal fan impeller. The impeller was of ordinary design, with nine backward curved blades, and all measurements were carried out at the design flow rate. The mean velocity measurements show that the flow can be characterized as an attached flow with almost linearly distributed velocity profiles. However, in a region near the suction side close to the shroud a low velocity region is created. From the turbulence measurements it can be concluded that relatively low values of the turbulent stresses are predominating in the center region of the channel. Closer to the walls higher values of the normal as well as shear stresses are noted.


1997 ◽  
Vol 337 ◽  
pp. 67-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
HESHMAT MASSAH ◽  
THOMAS J. HANRATTY

FENE-P bead–spring chains unravel in the presence of large enough velocity gradients. In a turbulent flow, this can result in intermittent added stresses and exchanges of energy between the chains and the fluid, whose magnitudes depend on the degree of unravelling and on the orientations of the bead–spring chains. These effects are studied by calculating the average behaviour at different times of an ensemble of chains, contained in a fluid particle that is moving around in a random velocity field obtained from direct numerical simulation of turbulent flow of a Newtonian fluid in a channel. The results are used to evaluate theoretical explanations of drag reduction observed in very dilute solutions of polymers.In regions of the flow in which the energy exchange with the fluid is positive, the possibility arises that turbulence can be produced by mechanisms other than the interaction of Reynolds stresses and the mean velocity gradient field. Of particular interest, from the viewpoint of understanding polymer drag reduction, is the finding that the exchange is negative in velocity fields representative of the wall vortices that are large producers of turbulence. One can, therefore, postulate that polymers cause drag reduction by selectively changing the structures of eddies that produce Reynolds stresses. The intermittent appearance of large added shear stresses is consistent with the experimental finding of a stress deficit, whereby the total local shear stress is greater than the sum of the Reynolds stress and the time-averaged shear stress calculated from the time-averaged velocity gradient and the viscosity of the solvent.


Author(s):  
Jinhai Zheng ◽  
Tongfei Li ◽  
Yixin Yan ◽  
Jinchun Hu

A series of experiments are carried out in a laboratory flume for combined wave-current flows, to investigate the characteristics of vertical structure of current profile in a wave-current co-existing water areas. Changes induced in the mean velocity profiles are considered for a range of wave heights, wave periods, water depths and flow velocities which are based on those typical data in the Yangtze River Estuary, China. Preliminary tests are conducted on the unidirectional current and on the wave alone. These show that the current mean velocity profiles agree well with the logarithmic law, and that the waves are approximated closely by the Stokes’ second-order theory. For the combined wave and current tests, the mean velocity profiles generally differ from those suggested by a linear superposition of wave and current velocities. In the case of waves following a current, the velocity distributions exhibit a relatively greater velocity near the bed and a smaller velocity above a certain depth relative to the logarithmic law, and the maximum velocity is observed at a lower location. In the case of wave opposing a current, the velocity distributions depart from the logarithmic law with a relatively smaller velocity near the bed and a greater velocity above a certain depth. Experimental data can be used to validate the theoretical or mathematical models associated with the combined wave-current motions.


2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rau´l Bayoa´n Cal ◽  
Xia Wang ◽  
Luciano Castillo

Applying similarity analysis to the RANS equations of motion for a pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer, Castillo and George [1] obtained the scalings for the mean deficit velocity and the Reynolds stresses. Following this analysis, Castillo and George studied favorable pressure gradient (FPG) turbulent boundary layers. They were able to obtain a single curve for FPG flows when scaling the mean deficit velocity profiles. In this study, FPG turbulent boundary layers are analyzed as well as relaminarized boundary layers subjected to an even stronger FPG. It is found that the mean deficit velocity profiles diminish when scaled using the Castillo and George [1] scaling, U∞, and the Zagarola and Smits [2] scaling, U∞δ*/δ. In addition, Reynolds stress data has been analyzed and it is found that the relaminarized boundary layer data decreases drastically in all components of the Reynolds stresses. Furthermore, it will be shown that the shape of the profile for the wall-normal and Reynolds shear stress components change drastically given the relaminarized state. Therefore, the mean velocity deficit profiles as well as Reynolds stresses are found to be necessary in order to understand not only FPG flows, but also relaminarized boundary layers.


2001 ◽  
Vol 428 ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. JONES ◽  
IVAN MARUSIC ◽  
A. E. PERRY

An experimental and theoretical investigation of turbulent boundary layers developing in a sink-flow pressure gradient was undertaken. Three flow cases were studied, corresponding to different acceleration strengths. Mean-flow measurements were taken for all three cases, while Reynolds stresses and spectra measurements were made for two of the flow cases. In this study attention was focused on the evolution of the layers to an equilibrium turbulent state. All the layers were found to attain a state very close to precise equilibrium. This gave equilibrium sink flow data at higher Reynolds numbers than in previous experiments. The mean velocity profiles were found to collapse onto the conventional logarithmic law of the wall. However, for profiles measured with the Pitot tube, a slight ‘kick-up’ from the logarithmic law was observed near the buffer region, whereas the mean velocity profiles measured with a normal hot wire did not exhibit this deviation from the logarithmic law. As the layers approached equilibrium, the mean velocity profiles were found to approach the pure wall profile and for the highest level of acceleration Π was very close to zero, where Π is the Coles wake factor. This supports the proposition of Coles (1957), that the equilibrium sink flow corresponds to pure wall flow. Particular interest was also given to the evolutionary stages of the boundary layers, in order to test and further develop the closure hypothesis of Perry, Marusic & Li (1994). Improved quantitative agreement with the experimental results was found after slight modification of their original closure equation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Liu ◽  
P. C. Lu ◽  
S. H. Chu

This study was focused on a series of in vitro tests on the turbulent flow characteristics of three bileaflet aortic valves: St. Jude Medical (SJM), CarboMedics (CM), and Edwards Tekna (modified Duromedics, DM). The flow fields of the valves were measured in a pulsatile flow model with a laser-Doppler anemometer (LDA) at the aortic sinus area downstream of the valves. The heart rate was set at 70 beats per minute, the cardiac output was maintained at 5 liters per minute, and the aortic pressure wave forms were kept within the physiological range. Cycle-resolved analysis was applied to obtain turbulence data, including mean velocity, Reynolds stresses, autocorrelation coefficients, energy spectral density functions, and turbulence scales. The Reynolds shear stresses of all three valves induced only minor damage to red blood cells, but directly damaged the platelets, increasing the possibility of thrombosis. The smallest turbulence length scale, which offers a more reliable estimate of the effects of turbulence on blood cell damage, was three times the size of red blood cells and five times the size of platelets. This suggests that there is more direct interaction with the blood cells, thus causing more damage. [S0148-0731(00)00302-2]


1982 ◽  
Vol 1 (18) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Patrick H. Kemp ◽  
Richard R. Simons

The question of how waves and currents interact, especially in the near-bed region is of considerable importance in relation to sediment suspension and sediment transport. Whereas empirical relationships provide useful estimates and indications in relation to the data on which they are based, a more thorough understanding of the physical processes at work is necessary for interpreting sediment transport behaviour in a more generalized way. Clearly the conditions under which flow reversal occurs near the bed, and also the extent to which wave motion may modify the current induced turbulence in the boundary layer, are both of great interest, and these and other aspects have been included in the present study. The research program was designed to look initially at the interaction between waves and currents in the absence of sediment, in order to define the mean velocity components, the structure of the turbulence, and the shear stresses. The study proceeded from experiments on waves alone, to waves propagating with the current and against the current. In all three cases the tests were carried out in the first instance with a smooth bed and subsequently with a rough bed consisting of two dimensional triangular slats. One of the main areas of interest was the height to which the water was disturbed above the bed when acted on by waves alone, and the comparable situation when a current was superimposed on the waves. Since the characteristics of the turbulent current were measured independently, it was possible to deduce whether there had been any interaction between the waves and the current, and also to infer what might happen to the distribution of the sediment which it was assumed would be put into suspension in the two cases. In the second stage of the research separate experiments were carried out in a standing wave channel and an oscillating water tunnel, using lightweight bed materials, in order to observe whether the inferences made from the clear water study were borne out by comparable changes in the distribution of the sediment in suspension.


1976 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. Richards ◽  
J. B. Morton

Three turbulent shear flows with quadratic mean-velocity profiles are generated by using an appropriately designed honeycomb and parallel-rod grids with adjustable rod spacing. The details of two of the flow fields, with quadratic mean-velocity profiles with constant positive mean-shear gradients ($\partial^2\overline{U}_1/\partial X^2_2 >0$), are obtained, and include, in the mean flow direction, the development and distribution of mean velocities, fluctuating velocities, Reynolds stresses, microscales, integral scales, energy spectra, shear correlation coefficients and two-point spatial velocity correlation coefficients. A third flow field is generated with a quadratic mean velocity profile with constant negative mean-shear gradient ($\partial^2\overline{U}_1/\partial X^2_2 < 0$), to investigate in the mean flow direction the effect of the change in sign on the resulting field. An open-return wind tunnel with a 2 × 2 × 20 ft test-section is used.


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