scholarly journals Optimal perturbation growth on a breaking internal gravity wave

2021 ◽  
Vol 925 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.P. Parker ◽  
C.J. Howland ◽  
C.P. Caulfield ◽  
R.R. Kerswell
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Internal Gravity Wave ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Mixing Efficiency ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Optimal Perturbation ◽  
Energy Growth

The breaking of internal gravity waves in the abyssal ocean is thought to be responsible for much of the mixing necessary to close oceanic buoyancy budgets. The exact mechanism by which these waves break down into turbulence remains an active area of research and can have significant implications on the mixing efficiency. Recent evidence has suggested that both shear instabilities and convective instabilities play a significant role in the breaking of an internal gravity wave in a high Richardson number mean shear flow. We perform a systematic analysis of the stability of a configuration of an internal gravity wave superimposed on a background shear flow first considered by Howland et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 921, 2021, A24), using direct–adjoint looping to find the perturbation giving maximal energy growth on this evolving flow. We find that three-dimensional, convective mechanisms produce greater energy growth than their two-dimensional counterparts. In particular, we find close agreement with the direct numerical simulations of Howland et al. (J. Fluid Mech., 2021, in press), which demonstrated a clear three-dimensional mechanism causing breakdown to turbulence. The results are shown to hold at realistic Prandtl numbers. At low mean Richardson numbers, two-dimensional, shear-driven mechanisms produce greater energy growth.

Vorticity dynamics in a breaking internal gravity wave. Part 1. Initial instability evolution

1998 ◽  
Vol 367 ◽  
pp. 27-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
ØYVIND ANDREASSEN ◽  
PER ØYVIND HVIDSTEN ◽  
DAVID C. FRITTS ◽  
STEVE ARENDT
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Internal Gravity Wave ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
Vortex Sheets ◽  
Vortex Loops ◽  
Vorticity Dynamics ◽  
Spanwise Vorticity ◽  
Dimensional Simulation

A three-dimensional simulation of a breaking internal gravity wave in a stratified, compressible, sheared fluid is used to examine the vorticity dynamics accompanying the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Our results show that baroclinic sources contribute preferentially to eddy vorticity generation during the initial convective instability of the wave field; the resulting counter-rotating vortices are aligned with the external shear flow. These vortices enhance the spanwise vorticity of the shear flow via stretching and distort the spanwise vorticity via advective tilting. The resulting vortex sheets undergo a dynamical (Kelvin–Helmholtz) instability which rolls the vortex sheets into tubes. These vortex tubes link with the original streamwise convective rolls to produce a collection of intertwined vortex loops. A companion paper (Part 2) describes the subsequent interactions among and the perturbations to these vortices that drive the evolution toward turbulence and smaller scales of motion.

On parametric instabilities of finite-amplitude internal gravity waves

1982 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 367-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Klostermeyer
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Internal Gravity Wave ◽  
Maximum Growth ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Resonant Interaction ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Interaction Diagram ◽  
Parametric Instabilities ◽  
Boussinesq Fluid

The equations describing parametric instabilities of a finite-amplitude internal gravity wave in an inviscid Boussinesq fluid are studied numerically. By improving the numerical approach, discarding the concept of spurious roots and considering the whole range of directions of the Floquet vector, Mied's work is generalized to its full complexity. In the limit of large disturbance wavenumbers, the unstable disturbances propagate in the directions of the two infinite curve segments of the related resonant-interaction diagram. They can therefore be classified into two families which are characterized by special propagation directions. At high wavenumbers the maximum growth rates converge to limits which do not depend on the direction of the Floquet vector. The limits are different for both families; the disturbance waves propagating at the smaller angle to the basic gravity wave grow at the larger rate.

scholarly journals Momentum and Energy Transport by Gravity Waves in Stochastically Driven Stratified Flows. Part I: Radiation of Gravity Waves from a Shear Layer

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1509-1529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos A. Bakas ◽  
Petros J. Ioannou
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Wave Spectrum ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Wave Interference ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract In this paper, the emission of internal gravity waves from a local westerly shear layer is studied. Thermal and/or vorticity forcing of the shear layer with a wide range of frequencies and scales can lead to strong emission of gravity waves in the region exterior to the shear layer. The shear flow not only passively filters and refracts the emitted wave spectrum, but also actively participates in the gravity wave emission in conjunction with the distributed forcing. This interaction leads to enhanced radiated momentum fluxes but more importantly to enhanced gravity wave energy fluxes. This enhanced emission power can be traced to the nonnormal growth of the perturbations in the shear region, that is, to the transfer of the kinetic energy of the mean shear flow to the emitted gravity waves. The emitted wave energy flux increases with shear and can become as large as 30 times greater than the corresponding flux emitted in the absence of a localized shear region. Waves that have horizontal wavelengths larger than the depth of the shear layer radiate easterly momentum away, whereas the shorter waves are trapped in the shear region and deposit their momentum at their critical levels. The observed spectrum, as well as the physical mechanisms influencing the spectrum such as wave interference and Doppler shifting effects, is discussed. While for large Richardson numbers there is equipartition of momentum among a wide range of frequencies, most of the energy is found to be carried by waves having vertical wavelengths in a narrow band around the value of twice the depth of the region. It is shown that the waves that are emitted from the shear region have vertical wavelengths of the size of the shear region.

Three-dimensional instabilities in the boundary-layer flow over a long rectangular plate

2011 ◽  
Vol 681 ◽  
pp. 411-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
HEMANT K. CHAURASIA ◽  
MARK C. THOMPSON
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
Forced Flow ◽  
Recirculation Region ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Optimal Perturbation ◽  
Dimensional Instability

A detailed numerical study of the separating and reattaching flow over a square leading-edge plate is presented, examining the instability modes governing transition from two- to three-dimensional flow. Under the influence of background noise, experiments show that the transition scenario typically is incompletely described by either global stability analysis or the transient growth of dominant optimal perturbation modes. Instead two-dimensional transition effectively can be triggered by the convective Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) shear-layer instability; although it may be possible that this could be described alternatively in terms of higher-order optimal perturbation modes. At least in some experiments, observed transition occurs by either: (i) KH vortices shedding downstream directly and then almost immediately undergoing three-dimensional transition or (ii) at higher Reynolds numbers, larger vortical structures are shed that are also three-dimensionally unstable. These two paths lead to distinctly different three-dimensional arrangements of vortical flow structures. This paper focuses on the mechanisms underlying these three-dimensional transitions. Floquet analysis of weakly periodically forced flow, mimicking the observed two-dimensional quasi-periodic base flow, indicates that the two-dimensional vortex rollers shed from the recirculation region become globally three-dimensionally unstable at a Reynolds number of approximately 380. This transition Reynolds number and the predicted wavelength and flow symmetries match well with those of the experiments. The instability appears to be elliptical in nature with the perturbation field mainly restricted to the cores of the shed rollers and showing the spatial vorticity distribution expected for that instability type. Indeed an estimate of the theoretical predicted wavelength is also a good match to the prediction from Floquet analysis and theoretical estimates indicate the growth rate is positive. Fully three-dimensional simulations are also undertaken to explore the nonlinear development of the three-dimensional instability. These show the development of the characteristic upright hairpins observed in the experimental dye visualisations. The three-dimensional instability that manifests at lower Reynolds numbers is shown to be consistent with an elliptic instability of the KH shear-layer vortices in both symmetry and spanwise wavelength.

scholarly journals Observations of Near-Inertial Internal Gravity Waves Radiating from a Frontal Jet

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1225-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Alford ◽  
Andrey Y. Shcherbina ◽  
Michael C. Gregg
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Internal Gravity Wave ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Shear Layers ◽  
Adjustment Process ◽  
Vertical Wavelength ◽  
The North ◽  
Inertial Wave ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract Shipboard ADCP and towed CTD measurements are presented of a near-inertial internal gravity wave radiating away from a zonal jet associated with the Subtropical Front in the North Pacific. Three-dimensional spatial surveys indicate persistent alternating shear layers sloping downward and equatorward from the front. As a result, depth-integrated ageostrophic shear increases sharply equatorward of the front. The layers have a vertical wavelength of about 250 m and a slope consistent with a wave of frequency 1.01f. They extend at least 100 km south of the front. Time series confirm that the shear is associated with a downward-propagating near-inertial wave with frequency within 20% of f. A slab mixed layer model forced with shipboard and NCEP reanalysis winds suggests that wind forcing was too weak to generate the wave. Likewise, trapping of the near-inertial motions at the low-vorticity edge of the front can be ruled out because of the extension of the features well south of it. Instead, the authors suggest that the wave arises from an adjustment process of the frontal flow, which has a Rossby number about 0.2–0.3.

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