Wave Effects on Large-Scale Turbulent Flow Structures Propagating in the Water Column

Abstract

Tidal flow often contains large-scale turbulent flow structures mainly caused by bathymetric variations or offshore marine structures. Understanding how waves interact with these structures is crucial for ocean sciences, as they influence vertical mixing, energy transfer, and dissipation. In this work, two flow configurations with current and waves are studied in a flume tank using Particle Image Velocimetry measurements: waves propagate either following or opposing the current and interact with convected flow structures. Compared to current-only cases, the mean velocity is slightly impacted, but the mean velocity gradient increases for waves propagating with the current. Turbulent Kinetic Energy increases regardless of wave direction and its production is also affected by the wave’s propagation direction. The integral length scale and flow Gaussianity are the most affected flow parameters. For waves propagating against the current, the Probability Density Functions of fluctuating velocity fields exhibit a bimodal representation, largely deviating from a Gaussian curve. Preliminary quadrant analysis reveals that waves significantly influence flow organisation, especially when they propagate against the current. These observations are valuable for applications such as defining tidal turbine farm areas, improving turbine performance estimation, and assessing structural fatigue.

Keywords

Wave-current interactions / Turbulent flow structures / Particle image velocimetry / Experimental facility

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Jean-Valéry Facq, Benoît Gomez and Nabila Ahssayni for their help during the tests.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, P.D. and B.G.; Methodology, P.D. and B.G.; Validation, G.G., P.D. and B.G.; Formal Analysis, P.D. and B.G.; Investigation, P.D. and B.G.; Resources, B.G. and G.G.; Data Curation, B.G.; Writing—Original Draft Preparation, P.D.; Writing—Review & Editing, B.G. and G.G.; Visualization, B.G.; Supervision, G.G. and P.D.; Project Administration, G.G. and B.G.; Funding Acquisition, G.G. and B.G.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Funding

This study was supported by funding from the Hauts-de-France state-region contracts (CPER) IDEAL (2021–2028) and by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche through the Verti-Lab project (ANR-23-LCV1-0009-01).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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