Primary and secondary intrusions in double-diffusively stable vertical gradients

The purpose of this paper is to show that molecularly-driven double-diffusive intrusions can produce significant lateral and vertical double-diffusive mixing even when the initial temperature and salinity are both stably stratified in the vertical. Assuming uniform density-compensated horizontal gradients and periodic disturbances, three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) for the fastest growing intrusion show that the latter equilibrates due to the generation of salt fingers which reduce the driving buoyancy pressure gradient. The DNS also provided statistical data for a new parameterization of the salt finger fluxes which includes the effects of shear and variable vertical gradients. This parameterization makes it feasible to numerically investigate the subharmonic instabilities of the equilibrium DNS solution. Linearized calculations with parameterized salt fingers show that the vertical and horizontal wavelength of the fastest growing secondary instability are approximately three and fourteen times that of the primary intrusion. Nonlinear simulations show that the equilibrium lateral and vertical double-diffusive fluxes of the secondary mode are an order of magnitude larger than those of the primary intrusion. Numerically determined dependences of the intrusion lateral velocity on the vertical wavelength are compared to previous numerical and experimental work

Direct Numerical Simulation of 3D Salt Fingers: From Secondary Instability to Chaotic Convection

The amplification and equilibration of three-dimensional salt fingers in unbounded uniform vertical gradients of temperature and salinity is modeled with a Direct Numerical Simulation in a triply periodic computational domain. A fluid dynamics video of the simulation shows that the secondary instability of the fastest growing square-planform finger mode is a combination of the well-known vertical shear instability of two-dimensional fingers [Holyer, 1984] and a new horizontal shear mode.Comment: APS DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion 200

Direct numerical simulation of the oscillatory flow around a sphere resting on a rough bottom

The oscillatory flow around a spherical object lying on a rough bottom is investigated by means of direct numerical simulations of continuity and Navier-Stokes equations. The rough bottom is simulated by a layer/multiple layers of spherical particles, the size of which is much smaller that the size of the object. The period and amplitude of the velocity oscillations of the free stream are chosen to mimic the flow at the bottom of sea waves and the size of the small spherical particles falls in the range of coarse sand/very fine gravel. Even though the computational costs allow only the simulation of moderate values of the Reynolds number characterizing the bottom boundary layer, the results show that the coherent vortex structures, shed by the spherical object, can break-up and generate turbulence, if the Reynolds number of the object is sufficiently large. The knowledge of the velocity field allows the dynamics of the large scale coherent vortices shed by the object to be determined and turbulence characteristics to be evaluated. Moreover, the forces and torques acting on both the large spherical object and the small particles, simulating sediment grains, can be determined and analysed, thus laying the groundwork for the investigation of sediment dynamics and scour developments.Comment: 35 pages, 21 figure

Salt fingers in an unbounded thermocline

Numerical solutions for salt fingers in an unbounded thermocline with uniform overall vertical temperature-salinity gradients are obtained from the Navier-Stokes-Boussinesq equations in a finite computational domain with periodic boundary conditions on the velocity. First we extend previous two-dimensional (2D) heat-salt calculations [Prandtl number Pr = ν/kT = 7 and molecular diffusivity ratio τ = kS/kT = 0.01] for density ratio R = 2; as R decreases we show that the average heat and salt fluxes increase rapidly. Then three-dimensional (3D) calculations for R = 2.0, Pr = 7, and the numerically accessible values of τ = 1/6, 1/12 show that the ratio of these 3D fluxes to the corresponding 2D values [at the same (τ, R, Pr)] is approximately two. This ratio is then extrapolated to τ = 0.01 and multiplied by the directly computed 2D fluxes to obtain a first estimate for the 3D heat-salt fluxes, and for the eddy salt diffusivity (defined in terms of the overall vertical salinity gradient). Since these calculations are for relatively small domains [O (10) finger pairs], we then consider much larger scales, such as will include a slowly varying internal gravity wave. An analytic theory which assumes that the finger flux is given parametrically by the small domain flux laws shows that if a critical number A is exceeded, the wave-strain modulates the finger flux divergence in a way which amplifies the wave. This linear theoretical result is confirmed, and the finite amplitude of the wave is obtained, in a 2D numerical calculation which resolves both waves and fingers. For highly supercritical A (small R) it is shown that the temporally increasing wave shear does not reduce the fluxes until the wave Richardson number drops to ~0.5, whereupon the wave starts to overturn. The onset of density inversions suggests that at later time (not calculated), and in a sufficiently large 3D domain, strong convective turbulence will occur in patches

Direct Numerical Simulation of Oscillatory Flow Over a Wavy, Rough, and Permeable Bottom

The results of a direct numerical simulation of oscillatory flow over a wavy bottom composed of different layers of spherical particles are described. The amplitude of wavy bottom is much smaller in scale than typical bed forms such as sand ripples. The spherical particles are packed in such a way to reproduce a bottom profile observed during an experiment conducted in a laboratory flow tunnel with well-sorted coarse sand. The amplitude and period of the external forcing flow as well as the size of the particles are set equal to the experimental values and the computed velocity field is compared with the measured velocity profiles. The direct numerical simulation allows for the evaluation of quantities, which are difficult to measure in a laboratory experiment (e.g., vorticity, seepage flow velocity, and hydrodynamic force acting on sediment particles). In particular, attention is focused on the coherent vortex structures generated by the vorticity shed by both the spherical particles and the bottom waviness. Results show that the wavy bottom triggers transition to turbulence. Moreover, the forces acting on the spherical particles are computed to investigate the mechanisms through which they are possibly mobilized by the oscillatory flow. It was found that forces capable of mobilizing surface particles are strongly correlated with the particle position above the mean bed elevation and the passage of coherent vortices above them

A New Model for Predicting the Drag and Lift Forces of Turbulent Newtonian Flow on Arbitrarily Shaped Shells on the Seafloor

Currently, all forecasts of currents, waves, and seafloor evolution are limited by a lack of fundamental knowledge and the parameterization of small-scale processes at the seafloor-ocean interface. Commonly used Euler-Lagrange models for sediment transport require parameterizations of the drag and lift forces acting on the particles. However, current parameterizations for these forces only work for spherical particles. In this dissertation we propose a new method for predicting the drag and lift forces on arbitrarily shaped objects at arbitrary orientations with respect to the direction of flow that will ultimately provide models for predicting the sediment sorting processes that lead to the variability of shell fragments on inner shelf seafloors. We wish to develop the drag force parameterization specifically for a limpet shell through the linear regression of force estimated from high-fidelity Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations in OpenFOAM

Rogue Wave Formation in Adverse Ocean Current Gradients

Studies of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation indicate that surface gravity waves traveling against currents of increasing strength gain energy and steepness in the process, and this can be a mechanism for rogue wave formation. Likewise, experimental studies have shown that stable wavetrains traveling against adverse currents can give rise to extreme waves. We studied this phenomenon by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools, whereby the non-hydrostatic Euler equations were solved utilizing the finite volume method. Waveforms based on a JONSWAP spectrum were generated in a numerical wave tank and were made to travel against current gradients of known strength, and wave characteristics were monitored in the process. We verified that waves gain energy from the underlying flow field as they travel against current gradients, and the simulated level of energy increase was comparable to that predicted by earlier studies of the NLS equation. The computed significant wave height, H s , increased substantially, and there were strong indications that the current gradients induced nonlinear wave instabilities. The simulations were used to determine a new empirical relationship that correlates changes in the current velocity to changes in the Benjamin–Feir Index (BFI). The empirical relationship allows for seafaring entities to predict increased risk of rogue waves ahead, based on wave and current conditions

A Bingham Plastic Fluid Solver for Turbulent Flow of Dense Muddy Sediment Mixtures

We have developed and tested a numerical model for turbulence resolving simulations of dense mud–water mixtures in oscillatory bottom boundary layers, based on a low Stokes number formulation of the two-phase equations. The resulting non-Boussinesq equation for the fluid momentum is coupled to a transport equation for the mud volumetric concentration, giving rise to a volume-averaged fluid velocity that is non-solenoidal, and the model was implemented as a new compressible flow solver. An oscillating pressure gradient force was implemented in the correction step of the standard semi-implicit method for pressure linked equations (SIMPLE), for consistency with the treatment of other volume forces (e.g., gravity). The flow solver was further coupled to a new library for Bingham plastic materials, in order to model the rheological properties of dense mud mixtures using empirically determined concentration-dependent yield stress and viscosity. We present three direct numerical simulation tests to validate the new MudMixtureFoam solver against previous numerical solutions and experimental data. The first considered steady flow of Bingham plastic fluid with uniform concentration around a sphere, with Bingham numbers ranging from 1 to 100 and Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.1 to 100. The second considered the development of turbulence in oscillatory bottom boundary layer flow, and showed the formation of an intermittently turbulent layer with peak velocity perturbations exceeding 10 percent of the freestream flow velocity and occurring at a distance from the bottom comparable to the Stokes boundary layer thickness. The third considered the effects of density stratification due to resuspended sediment on turbulence in oscillatory bottom boundary layer flow with a bulk Richardson number of 1×10−4 and a Stokes–Reynolds number of 1000, and showed the formation of a lutocline between 20 and 40 Stokes boundary layer depths. In all cases, the new solver produced excellent agreement with the previous results