The turbulent air–water interface and flow structure of a weak, turbulent hydraulic jump are analyzed in detail using particle image velocimetry measurements. The study is motivated by the need to understand the detailed dynamics of turbulence generated in steady spilling breakers and the relative importance of the reverse-flow and breaker shear layer regions with attention to their topology, mean flow, and turbulence structure. The intermittency factor derived from turbulent fluctuations of the air–water interface in the breaker region is found to fit theoretical distributions of turbulent interfaces well. A conditional averaging technique is used to calculate ensemble-averaged properties of the flow. The computed mean velocity field accurately satisfies mass conservation. A thin, curved shear layer oriented parallel to the surface is responsible for most of the turbulence production with the turbulence intensity decaying rapidly away from the toe of the breaker (location of largest surface curvature) with both increasing depth and downstream distance. The reverse-flow region, localized about the ensemble-averaged free surface, is characterized by a weak downslope mean flow and entrainment of water from below. The Reynolds shear stress is negative in the breaker shear layer, which shows that momentum diffuses upward into the shear layer from the flow underneath, and it is positive just below the mean surface indicating a downward flux of momentum from the reverse-flow region into the shear layer. The turbulence structure of the breaker shear layer resembles that of a mixing layer originating from the toe of the breaker, and the streamwise variations of the length scale and growth rate are found to be in good agreement with observed values in typical mixing layers. All evidence suggests that breaking is driven by a surface-parallel adverse pressure gradient and a streamwise flow deceleration at the toe of the breaker. Both effects force the shear layer to thicken rapidly, thereby inducing a sharp free surface curvature change at the toe.
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March 2008
Research Article|
March 12 2008
The mean and turbulent flow structure of a weak hydraulic jump
S. K. Misra;
S. K. Misra
a)
1Center for Applied Coastal Research,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
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J. T. Kirby;
J. T. Kirby
1Center for Applied Coastal Research,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
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M. Brocchini;
M. Brocchini
2Istituto di Idraulica e Infrastrutture,
Universit Politecnica delle Marche
, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
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F. Veron;
F. Veron
3Graduate College of Marine Studies,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
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M. Thomas;
M. Thomas
4Department of Computer and Information Science,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
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C. Kambhamettu
C. Kambhamettu
4Department of Computer and Information Science,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
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S. K. Misra
1,a)
J. T. Kirby
1
M. Brocchini
2
F. Veron
3
M. Thomas
4
C. Kambhamettu
4
1Center for Applied Coastal Research,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
2Istituto di Idraulica e Infrastrutture,
Universit Politecnica delle Marche
, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
3Graduate College of Marine Studies,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
4Department of Computer and Information Science,
University of Delaware
, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA
a)
Presently at: Halcrow, 22 Cortlandt Street, New York, New York 10007.
Physics of Fluids 20, 035106 (2008)
Article history
Received:
June 01 2007
Accepted:
January 16 2008
Citation
S. K. Misra, J. T. Kirby, M. Brocchini, F. Veron, M. Thomas, C. Kambhamettu; The mean and turbulent flow structure of a weak hydraulic jump. Physics of Fluids 1 March 2008; 20 (3): 035106. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2856269
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