On resonant over-reflexion of internal gravity waves from a Helmholtz velocity profile

1979 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. J. Grimshaw
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Second Harmonic ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Weakly Nonlinear ◽  
Velocity Discontinuity ◽  
Interface Displacement ◽  
Boussinesq Fluid

A Helmholtz velocity profile with velocity discontinuity 2U is embedded in an infinite continuously stratified Boussinesq fluid with constant Brunt—Väisälä frequency N. Linear theory shows that this system can support resonant over-reflexion, i.e. the existence of neutral modes consisting of outgoing internal gravity waves, whenever the horizontal wavenumber is less than N/2½U. This paper examines the weakly nonlinear theory of these modes. An equation governing the evolution of the amplitude of the interface displacement is derived. The time scale for this evolution is α−2, where α is a measure of the magnitude of the interface displacement, which is excited by an incident wave of magnitude O(α3). It is shown that the mode which is symmetrical with respect to the interface (and has a horizontal phase speed equal to the mean of the basic velocity discontinuity) remains neutral, with a finite amplitude wave on the interface. However, the other modes, which are not symmetrical with respect to the interface, become unstable owing to the self-interaction of the primary mode with its second harmonic. The interface displacement develops a singularity in a finite time.

On the shape and breaking of finite amplitude internal gravity waves in a shear flow

1978 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Second Harmonic ◽  
Mixing Layer ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Depth Interval ◽  
Plane Shear

This paper is concerned with two important aspects of nonlinear internal gravity waves in a stably stratified inviscid plane shear flow, their shape and their breaking, particularly in conditions which are frequently encountered in geophysical applications when the vertical gradients of the horizontal current and the density are concentrated in a fairly narrow depth interval (e.g. the thermocline in the ocean). The present theoretical and experimental study of the wave shape extends earlier work on waves in the absence of shear and shows that the shape may be significantly altered by shear, the second-harmonic terms which describe the wave profile changing sign when the shear is increased sufficiently in an appropriate sense.In the second part of the paper we show that the slope of internal waves at which breaking occurs (the particle speeds exceeding the phase speed of the waves) may be considerably reduced by the presence of shear. Internal waves on a thermocline which encounter an increasing shear, perhaps because of wind action accelerating the upper mixing layer of the ocean, may be prone to such breaking.This work may alternatively be regarded as a study of the stability of a parallel stratified shear flow in the presence of a particular finite disturbance which corresponds to internal gravity waves propagating horizontally in the plane of the flow.

Nonlinear aspects of an internal gravity wave co-existing with an unstable mode associated with a Helmholtz velocity profile

1976 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. J. Grimshaw
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Unstable Mode ◽  
Internal Gravity Wave ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Linear Stability Theory ◽  
Jump Discontinuity ◽  
Weakly Nonlinear ◽  
Boussinesq Fluid

Recently Lindzen (1974) has proposed a model of a shear-layer instability which allows unstable modes to co-exist with radiating internal gravity waves. The model is an infinite, continuously stratified, Boussinesq fluid, with a simple jump discontinuity in the velocity profile. Linear stability theory shows that the model is stable for wavenumbers k such that k2 < N2/2U2, where N is the Brunt—Väisälä frequency and 2U is the change in velocity across the discontinuity. For N2/2U2 < k2 < N2/U2 an unstable mode may co-exist with an internal gravity wave. This paper examines the weakly nonlinear aspects of this model for wavenumbers k close to the critical wavenumber N/2½U. An equation governing the evolution of the amplitude of the interfacial displacement is derived. It is shown that the interface may support a stable finite amplitude internal gravity wave.

Resonant over-reflection of internal gravity waves from a thin shear layer

1981 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 349-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. J. Grimshaw
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Finite Time ◽  
Linear Growth ◽  
Vortex Sheet ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Linear Growth Rate ◽  
Weakly Nonlinear

In a previous paper (Grimshaw 1979) the resonant over-reflection of internal gravity waves from a vortex sheet was considered in the weakly nonlinear regime. It was shown there that the time evolution of the amplitude of the vortex sheet displacement was balanced by a cubic nonlinearity. For one vortex sheet mode, symmetrical with respect to the interface, it was shown that a steady finite-amplitude wave was possible. For the other, asymmetric modes, a singularity develops in a finite time. In the present paper, that analysis is extended by replacing the vortex sheet with a thin shear layer of thickness α2, where α is the amplitude of the shear layer displacement. The effect of this extension is to introduce a linear growth rate term in the amplitude equation, which is otherwise unaltered. The linear growth rate can be computed from a formula due to Drazin & Howard (1966, p. 67). The effect on the modes is that the symmetric mode is linearly damped and requires sustained forcing to be observed, while the asymmetric modes are slightly destabilized by the linear term and, as in the vortex-sheet model, develop a singularity in finite time.

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.

The instabilities of gravity waves of finite amplitude in deep water I. Superharmonics

1978 ◽  
Vol 360 (1703) ◽  
pp. 471-488 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Stream Function ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Velocity Potential ◽  
Travelling Waves ◽  
Normal Modes ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Fundamental Wave ◽  
Wave Steepness ◽  
Horizontal Scale

In this paper we embark on a calculation of all the normal-mode perturbations of nonlinear, irrotational gravity waves as a function of the wave steepness. The method is to use as coordinates the stream-function and velocity potential in the steady, unperturbed wave (seen in a reference frame moving with the phase speed) together with the time t. The dependent quantities are the cartesian displacements and the perturbed stream function at the free surface. To begin we investigate the ‘superharmonics’, i.e. those perturbations having the same horizontal scale as the fundamental wave, or less. When the steepness of the fundamental is small, the normal modes take the form of travelling waves superposed on the basic nonlinear wave. As the steepness increases the frequency of each perturbation tends generally to be diminished. At a steepness ak ≈ 0.436 it appears that the two lowest modes coalesce and an instability arises. There is evidence that this critical steepness corresponds precisely with the steepness at which the phase velocity is a maximum, considered as a function of ak. The calculations are facilitated by the discovery of some new identities between the coefficients in Stokes’s expansion for waves of finite amplitude.

The generation of internal waves by vibrating elliptic cylinders. Part 1. Inviscid solution

1997 ◽  
Vol 351 ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. HURLEY
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Elliptic Cylinder ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Angular Frequency ◽  
Important Paper ◽  
Fourier Decomposition ◽  
Boussinesq Fluid ◽  
Made In ◽  
Phase Differences

We consider the internal gravity waves that are produced in an inviscid Boussinesq fluid, whose Brunt–Väisälä frequency N is constant, by the small rectilinear vibrations of a horizontal elliptic cylinder whose major axis is inclined at an arbitrary angle to the horizontal. When the angular frequency ω is greater than N, no waves are produced and the governing elliptic equation is solved using conformal transformations. Analytic continuation in ω to values less than N, when waves are produced, is then used to determine the solution. It exhibits the surprising feature that, apart from certain phase differences, the form of the velocity distributions in each of the beams of waves that occur is the same for all values of the thickness ratio of the ellipse, the inclination of its major axis to the horizontal and the plane in which the vibrations are occurring. The Fourier decomposition of the velocity distribution is found and is used in a sequel, Part 2, to investigate the effects of viscous dissipation.In an important paper Makarov et al. (1990) have given an approximate solution for a vibrating circular cylinder in a viscous fluid. We show that the limit of this solution as the viscosity tends to zero is not the exact inviscid solution discussed herein. Further comparison of their work and ours will be made in Part 2.

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