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The dynamics of breaking progressive interfacial waves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2003

OLIVER B. FRINGER  and
ROBERT L. STREET
OLIVER B. FRINGER
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-4020, USA
ROBERT L. STREET
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-4020, USA
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Abstract

Two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to study interfacial waves in a periodic domain by imposing a source term in the horizontal momentum equation. Removing the source term before breaking generates a stable interfacial wave. Continued forcing results in a two-dimensional shear instability for waves with thinner interfaces, and a convective instability for waves with thick interfaces. The subsequent three-dimensional dynamics and mixing is dominated by secondary cross-stream convective rolls which account for roughly half of the total dissipation of wave energy. Dissipation and mixing are maximized when the interface thickness is roughly the same size as the amplitude of the wave, while the mixing efficiency is a weak function of the interface thickness. The maximum instantaneous mixing efficiency is found to be $0.36\pm 0.02$.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 494 , 10 November 2003 , pp. 319 - 353
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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