scholarly journals The Dispersal of Dense Water Formed in an Idealized Coastal Polynya on a Shallow Sloping Shelf

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1563-1581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weifeng G. Zhang ◽  
Claudia Cenedese

Abstract This study examines the dispersal of dense water formed in an idealized coastal polynya on a sloping shelf in the absence of ambient circulation and stratification. Both numerical and laboratory experiments reveal two separate bottom pathways for the dense water: an offshore plume moving downslope into deeper ambient water and a coastal current flowing in the direction of Kelvin wave propagation. Scaling analysis shows that the velocity of the offshore plume is proportional not only to the reduced gravity, bottom slope, and inverse of the Coriolis parameter, but also to the ratio of the dense water depth to total water depth. The dense water coastal current is generated by the along-shelf baroclinic pressure gradient. Its dynamics can be separated into two stages: (i) near the source region, where viscous terms are negligible, its speed is proportional to the reduced gravity wave speed and (ii) in the far field, where bottom drag becomes important and balances the pressure gradient, the velocity is proportional to Hc[g′/(LCd)]1/2 in which Hc is the water depth at the coast, g′ the reduced gravity, Cd the quadratic bottom drag coefficient, and L the along-shelf span of the baroclinic pressure gradient. The velocity scalings are verified using numerical and laboratory sensitivity experiments. The numerical simulations suggest that only 3%–23% of the dense water enters the coastal pathway, and the percentage depends highly on the ratio of the velocities of the offshore and coastal plumes. This makes the velocity ratio potentially useful for observational studies to assess the amount of dense water formed in coastal polynyas.

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 2316-2330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jan van Leeuwen

Abstract The propagation velocity and propagation mechanism for vortices on a β plane are determined for a reduced-gravity model by integrating the momentum equations over the β plane. Isolated vortices, vortices in a background current, and initial vortex propagation from rest are studied. The propagation mechanism for isolated anticyclones as well as cyclones, which has been lacking up to now, is presented. It is shown that, to first order, the vortex moves to generate a Coriolis force on the mass anomaly of the vortex to compensate for the force on the vortex due to the variation of the Coriolis parameter. Only the mass anomaly of the vortex is of importance, because the Coriolis force due to the motion of the bulk of the layer moving with the vortex is almost fully compensated by the Coriolis force on the motion of the exterior flow. Because the mass anomaly of a cyclone is negative the force and acceleration have opposite sign. The role of dipolar structures in steadily moving vortices is discussed, and it is shown that their overall structure is fixed by the steady westward motion of the mass anomaly. Furthermore, it is shown that reduced-gravity vortices are not advected with a background flow. The reason for this behavior is that the background flow changes the ambient vorticity gradient such that the vortex obtains an extra self-propagation term that exactly cancels the advection by the background flow. Last, it is shown that a vortex initially at rest will accelerate equatorward first, after which a westward motion is generated. This result is independent of the sign of the vortex.


Stroke ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence SY Fan ◽  
Vincent HL Ip ◽  
Alexander YL Lau ◽  
Anne YY Chan ◽  
Lisa WC Au ◽  
...  

Introduction: Intracranial atherosclerotic steno-occlusive disease (ICAS) is a major cause of stroke worldwide and portends a high risk of recurrence. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a novel technique developed to solve and analyze the dynamic effects of fluid flow. We aimed to analyse hemodynamics across ICAS using CFD on processed CTA images and explore the correlation between the degree of arterial stenosis and hemodynamic flow status. Methods: We recruited patients with symptomatic ICAS from Acute Stroke Unit, Prince of Wales Hospital. All patients received CTA and DSA as vascular workup. Using CFD analysis of processed CTA images, we first defined the hemodynamic parameters, including pressure difference, pressure ratio, pressure gradient, shear strain rate ratio (SSR), wall shear stress (WSS) ratio and velocity ratio, across the stenosed vessels, and then we correlated the severity of stenosis as defined by DSA, with these parameters. Results: Among the 53 recruited patients (mean age 62.9 years, 69.8% males), 45 (85%) had lesions in the anterior circulation. The severity of stenosis showed a weak-to-moderate correlation with pressure difference (rs=0.392, p=0.004), pressure ratio (rs=-0.429, p=0.001) and pressure gradient (rs=0.419, p=0.002). There was no significant correlation between the severity of stenosis with SSR ratio, WSS ratio and velocity ratio. Among patients with anterior circulation stroke or TIA, the severity of stenosis showed a weak to moderate correlation with pressure difference (rs=0.381, p=0.01), pressure ratio (rs=-0.426, p=0.004) and pressure gradient (rs=0.407, p=0.005). For patients with posterior circulation stroke or TIA, the severity of stenosis was strongly correlated with pressure difference (rs=0.714, p=0.047) and pressure ratio (rs=-0.714, p=0.047); and very strongly correlated with velocity ratio (rs=0.833, p=0.01). Conclusions: The severity of ICAS showed only weak-to-moderate correlation with hemodynamic parameters across the culprit lesion. Thus, risk stratification and treatment based solely on stenotic severity may be inadequate. Our findings may guide further research in estimating stroke risks and selection of high-risk patients who may benefit from adjunctive treatments.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish Pandey ◽  
Wei Haur Lam ◽  
Yonggang Cui ◽  
Mohammad Amir Khan ◽  
Umesh Kumar Singh ◽  
...  

Scour is the main cause of failure for spur dike. The accurate prediction of scour around spur dike is essential to design a spur dike. The present study focuses on the maximum scour depth in equilibrium condition and parameters, which influence it in a sand–gravel mixture bed. Outcomes of the present experimental study showed that the non-dimensional maximum equilibrium scour depth increases with critical velocity ratio (U/Uca), water depth-armour particle ratio (h/da), Froude number for sediment mixture (Frsm), water depth-spur dike length ratio (h/l), and decreases with increase in armour particle-spur dike length ratio (da/l). The maximum scour depth is proportional to dimensionless parameters of U/Uca, h/da, Frsm, h/l, but the scour depth is inverse proportional to da/l. Scour around spur dike in a sand–gravel mixture is mainly influenced by the property of the sediment mixture. The scour increases with decrease in non-uniformity of the sediment mixture. A non-linear empirical equation is proposed to estimate the maximum scour depth at an upstream nose of rectangular spur dike with a maximum error of 15%. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the maximum non-dimensional equilibrium scour depth depends on Frsm, followed by the secondary sensible parameters da/l, h/l, and h/da.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 1473-1487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristóbal Reyes-Hernández ◽  
Arnoldo Valle-Levinson

Abstract An analytical two-dimensional model is used to describe wind-induced modifications to density-driven flows in a semienclosed rotating basin. Wind stress variations produce enhancement, inversion, or damping of density-driven flows by altering the barotropic and baroclinic pressure gradients and by momentum transfer from wind drag. The vertical structure of wind-induced flows depends on αH, the nondimensional surface trapping layer, where α is the inverse of the Ekman layer depth d and H is the maximum water depth. For αH > 5 wind-driven flow structures are similar to the Ekman spiral; for αH < 2 wind-driven flows are unidirectional with depth. The relative importance of density to wind forcing is evaluated with the Wedderburn number W = τ−1ρH2D, which depends on water density ρ, mean depth H, a proxy of the baroclinic pressure gradient D, and wind stress τ. Because D depends on α and therefore on the eddy viscosity of water Az, wind speed and Az both modify W. Moreover, wind direction alters W by modifying the pressure gradient through the sea surface slope. The effect of Az is also evaluated with the Ekman number E = Az/fH2, where f is the Coriolis parameter. The alterations of the density-driven flow by the wind-driven flow are explored in the E and W parameter space through examination of the lateral structure of the resulting exchange flows. Seaward winds and positive transverse winds (to the right facing up basin in the Northern Hemisphere) result in vertically sheared flow structures for most of the E versus W space. In contrast, landward winds and negative transverse winds (to the left facing up basin) result in unidirectional landward flows for most of the E versus W space. When compared to observed and numerically simulated flow structures, the results from the analytical model compare favorably in regard to the main features.


2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Ulusarslan

This experimental investigation concerns the hydraulic transport of a spherical capsule train, whose density is equal to that of water (relative density; s=1), in horizontal pipes. In a system where the carrier fluid is water, pressure drops of two phase flow and capsule velocities were measured at 0.2–1.0 m/s bulk velocities and 5–20% capsule transport concentrations. The results found were compared with the pressure gradient (pressure drops per unit length) ratios ((ΔP/L)m/(ΔP/L)w) measured for less dense capsules. The capsule velocity and the velocity ratio (Vc/Vb) increased with increasing the bulk velocity. As concentration increases, the pressure gradient of the capsule-water mixture increases. For all concentrations, the pressure gradient ratio decreases (getting closer to 1) with increasing bulk velocity. This result is similar to that of capsules with less relative density. However, the pressure gradient ratio of the capsule flow with less density is higher than that of capsules with equal density at constant transport concentrations. The reason for this difference is that the capsules with a density equal to that of water move along the axis of the pipe for a longer time. When capsules with equal density are used, the mass flow rate will remain the same, but energy consumption will decrease.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Karabi ◽  
Ali Jabari Moghadam

The hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of electroosmotic and pressure-driven flows of power-law fluids are examined in a semicircular microchannel under the constant wall heat flux condition. For sufficiently large values of the electrokinetic radius, the Debye length is thin; the active flow within the electric double layer (EDL) drags the rest of the liquid due to frictional forces arising from the fluid viscosity, and consequently a plug-like velocity profile is attained. The velocity ratio can affect the pure electrokinetic flow as well as the flow rate depending on the applied pressure gradient direction. Since the effective viscosity of shear-thinning fluids near the wall is quite small compared to the shear-thickening fluids, the former exhibits higher dimensionless velocities than the later close to the wall; the reverse is true at the middle section. Poiseuille number increases with increasing the flow behavior index and/or the electrokinetic radius. Due to the comparatively stronger axial advection and radial diffusion in shear-thinning fluids, better temperature uniformity is achieved in the channel. Reduction of Nusselt number continues as far as the fully developed region where it remains unchanged; as the electrokinetic radius tends to infinity, Nusselt number approaches a particular value (not depending on the flow behavior index).


2014 ◽  
Vol 764 ◽  
pp. 219-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Yu ◽  
John C. Patterson ◽  
Chengwang Lei

AbstractThis study presents a detailed scaling analysis quantifying the transient behaviour of natural convection in a reservoir model induced by iso-flux surface heating. It is found that horizontal conduction, which has often been neglected in previous analyses, plays an important role in the development of the flow. Depending on the Rayleigh number, three possible pathways through which the flow develops towards the final steady state are identified. A thermal boundary layer initially grows downwards from the surface. When the thermal boundary layer reaches the sloping bottom and becomes indistinct, a horizontal temperature gradient establishes due to the increasing water depth in the offshore direction. A flow is then driven towards the offshore direction by a buoyancy-induced horizontal pressure gradient, which convects away the heat input from the water surface. On the other hand, the horizontal temperature gradient also conducts heat away. The flow behaviour is determined by the interaction between the horizontal conduction and convection. An interesting flow feature revealed by the present scaling analysis is that the region across which the thermal boundary layer encompasses the full water depth shrinks over time at a certain stage of the flow development. The shrinking process eventually stops when this region coincides with a conduction-dominated subregion. The present scaling results are verified by corresponding numerical simulations.


2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1203-1221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Lentz

Abstract Analyses of current time series longer than 200 days from 33 sites over the Middle Atlantic Bight continental shelf reveal a consistent mean circulation pattern. The mean depth-averaged flow is equatorward, alongshelf, and increases with increasing water depth from 3 cm s−1 at the 15-m isobath to 10 cm s−1 at the 100-m isobath. The mean cross-shelf circulation exhibits a consistent cross-shelf and vertical structure. The near-surface flow is typically offshore (positive, range −3 to 6 cm s−1). The interior flow is onshore and remarkably constant (−0.2 to −1.4 cm s−1). The near-bottom flow increases linearly with increasing water depth from −1 cm s−1 (onshore) in shallow water to 4 cm s−1 (offshore) at the 250-m isobath over the slope, with the direction reversal near the 50-m isobath. A steady, two-dimensional model (no along-isobath variations in the flow) reproduces the main features of the observed circulation pattern. The depth-averaged alongshelf flow is primarily driven by an alongshelf pressure gradient (sea surface slope of 3.7 × 10−8 increasing to the north) and an opposing mean wind stress that also drives the near-surface offshore flow. The alongshelf pressure gradient accounts for both the increase in the alongshelf flow with water depth and the geostrophic balance onshore flow in the interior. The increase in the near-bottom offshore flow with water depth is due to the change in the relative magnitude of the contributions from the geostrophic onshore flow that dominates in shallow water and the offshore flow driven by the bottom stress that dominates in deeper water.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1433-1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enhui Liao ◽  
Lie Yauw Oey ◽  
Xiao-Hai Yan ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Yuwu Jiang

AbstractIn winter, an offshore flow of the coastal current can be inferred from satellite and in situ data over the western Taiwan Bank. The dynamics related to this offshore flow are examined here using observations as well as analytical and numerical models. The currents can be classified into three regimes. The downwind (i.e., southward) cold coastal current remains attached to the coast when the northeasterly wind stress is stronger than a critical value depending on the upwind (i.e., northward) large-scale pressure gradient force. By contrast, an upwind warm current appears over the Taiwan Bank when the wind stress is less than the critical pressure gradient force. The downwind coastal current and upwind current converge and the coastal current deflects offshore onto the bank during a moderate wind. Analysis of the vorticity balance shows that the offshore transport is a result of negative bottom stress curl that is triggered by the positive vorticity of the two opposite flows. The negative bottom stress curl is reinforced by the gentle slope over the bank, which enhances the offshore current. Composite analyses using satellite observations show cool waters with high chlorophyll in the offshore current under moderate wind. The results of composite analyses support the model findings and may explain the high productivity over the western bank in winter.


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