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Decaying turbulence in neutral and stratified fluids

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2006

T. D. Dickey  and
G. L. Mellor
T. D. Dickey
Affiliation:
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Program, Princeton University, New Jersey 08540 Present Address: Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles, California 90007.
G. L. Mellor
Affiliation:
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Program, Princeton University, New Jersey 08540
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Abstract

Decaying turbulence in neutral and stratified fluids has been studied experimentally for relatively high mesh Reynolds numbers and long time-histories. The neutral case indicates an initial period decay law, q2∝ t−1, through non-dimensional time \[ W_gt/M \simeq 800 \] which is considerably longer than previous measurements at the same mesh Reynolds number (Re = 48260). The stratified experiment resulted in a decay rate virtually identical to that of the neutral case through Wgt/M = 275. However the decay rate sharply decreased after this time when the field of turbulence was replaced by internal gravity waves. A critical Richardson number marks the transition from the turbulence to an internal gravity wave domain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 99 , Issue 1 , 11 July 1980 , pp. 13 - 31
Copyright
© 1980 Cambridge University Press

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