Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Direct measurements of local bed shear stress in the presence of pressure gradients

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Experiments in Fluids Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a shear plate sensor capable of directly measuring the local mean bed shear stress in small-scale and large-scale laboratory flumes. The sensor is capable of measuring bed shear stress in the range \(\pm\)200 Pa with an accuracy up to \(\pm\)1 %. Its size, 43 mm in the flow direction, is designed to be small enough to give spatially local measurements, and its bandwidth, 75 Hz, is high enough to resolve time-varying forcing. Typically, shear plate sensors are restricted to use in zero pressure gradient flows because secondary forces on the edge of the shear plate caused by pressure gradients can introduce large errors. However, by analysis of the pressure distribution at the edges of the shear plate in mild pressure gradients, we introduce a new methodology for correcting for the pressure gradient force. The developed sensor includes pressure tappings to measure the pressure gradient in the flow, and the methodology for correction is applied to obtain accurate measurements of bed shear stress under solitary waves in a small-scale wave flume. The sensor is also validated by measurements in a turbulent flat plate boundary layer in open channel flow.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acharya M, Bornstein J, Escudier MP, Vokurka V (1985) Development of a floating element for the measurement of surface shear stress. AIAA journal

  • Allen JM (1977) Experimental study of error sources in skin-friction balance measurements. J Fluids Eng 99:197–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen JM (1980) An improved sensing element for skin-friction balance measurements. AIAA J 1

  • Barnes MP, O’Donoghue T, Alsina JM, Baldock TE (2009) Direct bed shear stress measurements in bore-driven swash. Coast Eng 56(8):853–867

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boers M (2005) Surf Zone Turbulence: Turbulentie in de brandingszone. PhD thesis

  • Brown KC, Joubert PN (1969) The measurement of skin friction in turbulent boundary layers with adverse pressure gradients. J Fluid Mech 35(04):737–757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coles DE (1953) Measurements in the boundary layer on a smooth flat plate in supersonic flow. PhD thesis

  • Cowen EA, Monismith SG (1997) A hybrid digital particle tracking velocimetry technique. Exp fluids 22(3):199–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowen EA, Mei Sou I (2003) Particle image velocimetry measurements within a laboratory-generated swash zone. J Eng Mech 129(10):1119–1129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox DT, Kobayashi N, Okayasu A (1996) Bottom shear stress in the surf zone. J Geophys Res 101(C6):14,337–14,348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • den Hartog JP (1956) Mechanical vibrations. DoverPublications, Mineola

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Dhawan S (1953) Direct measurements of skin friction. Tech Rep

  • Efron B, Tibshirani R (1993) An introduction to the bootstrap, vol 57. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Fernholz HH, Janke G, Schober M, Wagner PM, Warnack D (1996) New developments and applications of skin-friction measuring techniques. Meas Sci Technol 7(10):1396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frei D, Thomann H (1980) Direct measurements of skin friction in a turbulent boundary layer with a strong adverse pressure gradient. J Fluid Mech 101(1):79–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goring DG (1978) Tsunamis-the propagation of long waves onto a shelf. PhD thesis, California Institute of Technology

  • Grimshaw R (1971) The solitary wave in water of variable depth. Part 2. J Fluid Mech 46(3):611–622

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Hanratty TJ, Campbell JA (1996) Fluid mechanics measurements, Taylor and Francis, chap Measurement of wall shear stress, pp 575–648

  • Haritonidis JH (1989) The measurement of wall shear stress. In: Advances in fluid mechanics measurements, Springer: Berlin, pp 229–261

  • Keulegan GH (1948) Gradual damping of solitary waves. Nat Bur Sci J Res 40:487–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolitawong C, Giacomin AJ, Johnson LM (2010) Invited article: local shear stress transduction. Rev Sci Instrum 81(2)

  • Liao Q, Cowen EA (2005) An efficient anti-aliasing spectral continuous window shifting technique for PIV. Exp fluids 38(2):197–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu PLF, Orfila A (2004) Viscous effects on transient long-wave propagation. J Fluid Mech 520(1):83–92

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Liu PLF, Park YS, Cowen EA (2007) Boundary layer flow and bed shear stress under a solitary wave. J Fluid Mech 574

  • Mirfenderesk H, Young IR (2003) Direct measurements of the bottom friction factor beneath surface gravity waves. Appl Ocean Res 25(5):269–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffat RJ (1988) Describing the uncertainties in experimental results. Exp Therm Fluid Sci 1(1):3–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park YS (2009) Seabed dynamics and breaking waves. PhD thesis, Cornell University

  • Pope SB (2000) Turbulent flows. Cambridge university press, Cambridge

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Raffel M (2007) Particle image velocimetry: a practical guide. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Rankin KL, Hires RI (2000) Laboratory measurement of bottom shear stress on a movable bed. J Geophys Res 105(C7):17,011–17,019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riedel PH, Kamphuis JW (1973) A shear plate for use in oscillatory flow. J Hydraul Res 11(2):137–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seelam JK, Guard PA, Baldock TE (2011) Measurement and modeling of bed shear stress under solitary waves. Coast Eng 58(9):937–947

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simons RR, Grass TJ, Mansour-Tehrani M (1992) Bottom shear stresses in the boundary layers under waves and currents crossing at right angles. Coast Eng 1(23)

  • Simons RR, Grass TJ, Saleh WM, Tehrani MM (1994) Bottom shear stresses under random waves with a current superimposed. Coast Eng Proc

  • Spalart PR (1988) Direct simulation of a turbulent boundary layer up to Rj= 1410. J Fluid Mech 187(1):61–98

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Sumer BM, Sen MB, Karagali I, Ceren B, Fredsøe J, Sottile M, Zilioli L, Fuhrman DR (2011) Flow and sediment transport induced by a plunging solitary wave. J Geophys Res 116(C1):C01,008

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor JR (1997) An introduction to error analysis: the study of uncertainties in physical measurements. University science books

  • Winter KG (1979) An outline of the techniques available for the measurement of skin friction in turbulent boundary layers. Prog Aerosp Sci 18:1–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • You ZJ, Yin BS (2007) Direct measurement of bottom shear stress under water waves. J Coast Res SI 50:1132–1136

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation (CMMI-1041541), the help of Paul Charles, Tim Brock, and John Powers in construction of the shear plate sensor, and the help of Yong Sung Park in the initial design stage. The authors would like to thank Edwin A. Cowen for helpful discussions. The authors would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped to improve the manuscript. Any opinions and comments are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Nimish Pujara & Philip L.-F. Liu

  2. Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, Jhongli, Taoyuan, 320, Taiwan

    Philip L.-F. Liu

Authors
  1. Nimish Pujara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Philip L.-F. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nimish Pujara.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pujara, N., Liu, P.LF. Direct measurements of local bed shear stress in the presence of pressure gradients. Exp Fluids 55, 1767 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-014-1767-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-014-1767-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation