Abstract
Stratified environmental flows near boundaries can have a horizontal mean shear component, orthogonal to the vertical mean density gradient. Vertical transport, against the stabilizing force of gravity, is possible in such situations if three-dimensional turbulence is sustained by the mean shear. A model problem, water with a constant mean density gradient flowing in a channel between parallel vertical walls, is examined here using the technique of large eddy simulation (LES). It is found that, although the mean shear is horizontal, the fluctuating velocity field has significant vertical shear and horizontal vorticity, thereby causing small-scale vertical mixing of the density field. The vertical stirring is especially effective near the boundaries where the mean shear is large and, consequently, the gradient Richardson number is small. The mean stratification is systematically increased between cases in our study and, as expected, the buoyancy flux correspondingly decreases. Even so, horizontal mean shear is found to be more effective than the well-studied case of mean vertical shear in inducing vertical buoyancy transport as indicated by generally larger values of vertical eddy diffusivity and mixing efficiency.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arya, S.P.S.: Buoyancy effects in an horizontal flat-plane boundary layer. J. Fluid Mech. 68, 321 (1975)
Armenio, V., Piomelli, U.: A Lagrangian mixed subgrid-scale model in generalized coordinates. Flow Turbulence and Combustion 65, 51 (2000)
Armenio, V., Sarkar, S.: An investigation of stably-stratified turbulent channel flow using large eddy simulation. J. Fluid Mech. 459, 1 (2002)
Bardina, J., Ferziger, J.H., Reynolds, W.C.: Improved subgrid scale models for large eddy simulation. AIAA paper No. 80-1357 (1980)
Diamessis, P.J., Nomura, K.K.: Interaction of vorticity, rate-of-strain, and scalar gradient in stratified homogeneous sheared turbulence. Phys. Fluids 12, 1166–1188 (2000)
Farmer, D.M., D’Asaro, E.A., Trevorrow, M.V., Dairiki, G.T.: Three-dimensional structure in a tidal convergence front. Continental Shelh Res. 15, 1649–1673 (1995)
Falcomer, L., Armenio, V.: Large-eddy simulation of secondary flow over longitudinally-ridged walls. J. Turbulence 3, 008 (2002)
Germano, M., Piomelli, U., Moin, P., Cabot, W.H.: A dynamic subgrid-scale eddy viscosity model. Phys. Fluids A 3, 1760 (1991)
Gerz, T., Schumann, U., Elghobashi, S.E.: Direct numerical simulation of stratified homogeneous turbulent shear flows. J. Fluid Mech. 200, 563 (1989)
Holt, S.E., Koseff, J.R., Ferziger, J.H.: A numerical study of the evolution and structure of homogeneous stably stratified sheared turbulence. J. Fluid Mech. 237, 499 (1992)
Itsweire, E.C., Koseff, J.R., Briggs, D.A., Ferziger, J.H.: Turbulence in stratified shear flows: implications for interpreting shear-induced mixing in the ocean. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 23, 1508–1522 (1993)
Jacobitz, F.G., Sarkar, S., Van Atta, C.W.: Direct numerical simulations of the turbulence evolution in a uniformly sheared and stably stratified flow. J. Fluid Mech. 342, 231 (1997)
Jacobitz, F.G., Sarkar, S.: The effect of nonvertical shear on turbulence in a stably stratified medium. Phys. Fluids 10, 1158 (1999)
Jacobitz, F.G., Sarkar, S.: Turbulent Mixing in a Vertically Stably Stratified Fluid with Uniform Horizontal Shear. Flow, Turbulence and Combustion 63, 343–360 (2000)
Kaltenbach, H.-J., Gerz, T., Schumann, U.: Large-eddy simulation of homogeneous turbulence and diffusion in stably stratified shear flow. J. Fluid Mech. 280, 1 (1994)
Komori, S., Ueda, H., Ogino, F., Mizushina, T.: Turbulent structure in stably stratified open-channel flow. J. Fluid Mech. 130, 13 (1983)
Koop, G., Browand, F.K.: Instability and turbulence in stratified fluids with shear. J. Fluid Mech. 93, 135–159 (1979)
Lu, Y., Lueck, R.G., Huang, D.: Turbulence characteristics in a tidal channel J. Phys. Oceanogr. 30, 855–867 (2000)
Lueck, R.G., Mudge, T.D.: Topographically induced mixing around a shallow seamount. Science 276, 1831–1833 (1997)
Mason, P.J., Derbyshire, S.H.: Large eddy simulation of the stably-stratified atmospheric boundary layer. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 53, 117–162 (1990)
Matsubara, K., Kobayashi, M., Maekawa, H.: Direct numerical simulation of a turbulent channel flow with a linear spanwise mean temperature gradient. Int. J. Heat Transfer 41, 3627 (1998)
Miles, J.W.: On the stability of heterogeneous shear flows. J. Fluid Mech. 10, 496 (1961)
Moser, R.D., Kim, J., Mansour, N.M.: Direct numerical simulation of turbulent channel flow up to Reτ=590. Phys. Fluids 11, 943 (1999)
Osborn, T.R.: Estimates of the local rate of vertical diffusion from dissipation measurements. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 10, 83–89 (1980)
Piat, J.-F., Hopfinger, E.J.: A boundary layer topped by a density interface. J. Fluid Mech. 113, 411 (1981)
Piccirillo, P.S., Van Atta, C.W.: The evolution of a uniformly sheared thermally stratified turbulent flow. J. Fluid Mech. 334, 61 (1995)
Rohr, J.J., Itsweire, E.C., Helland, K.N., Van Atta, C.N.: Growth and decay of turbulence in a stably stratified shear flow. J. Fluid Mech. 195, 77 (1988)
Sarkar, S.: Turbulence anisotropy in stratified uniform shear flow. Fifth Intl. Symposium on Stratified Flows, Vancouver, G.A. Lawrence, R. Pieters, N. Yonemitsu (eds.), 1245–1250 (2000)
Schumann, U., Gerz, T.: Turbulent mixing in stably stratified shear flows. J. Appl. Meteor. 34, 33 (1995)
Smagorinsky, J.: General circulation experiments with the primitive equations. I The basic experiment. Monthly Weather Review 91, 99 (1963)
Smyth, W.D., Moum, J.N.: Length scales of turbulence in stably stratified mixing layers. Phys. Fluids 12, 1327–1342 (2000)
Stacey, M.T., Monismith, S.G., Burau, J.R.: Observations of turbulence in a partially stratified estuary. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 29, 1950–1970 (1999)
Staquet, C.: Two-dimensional secondary instabilities in a strongly stratified shear layer. J. Fluid Mech. 296, 73–126 (1995)
Strang, E.J., Fernando, H.J.S.: Entrainment and mixing in stratified shear flows. J. Fluid Mech. 428, 349–386 (2001)
Thorpe, S.A.: Experiments on instability and turbulence in a stratified shear flow. J. Fluid Mech. 61, 731–752 (1973)
Turner, J.S.: Buoyancy effects in fluids. Cambridge University Press, 368 pp. /1973)
Zang, Y., Street, R.L., Koseff, J.: A non-staggered grid, fractional step method for the time-dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equation in curvilinear coordinates. J. Comput. Phys. 114, 18 (1994)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by
Y. Zhou
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Armenio, V., Sarkar, S. Mixing in a stably stratified medium by horizontal shear near vertical walls. Theoret Comput Fluid Dynamics 17, 331–349 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-004-0121-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-004-0121-9