Experimental investigation on the interaction between mode-2 internal solitary wave and horizontal transverse cylinder

Abstract

The experimental study on the interaction between a mode-2 internal solitary wave (ISW) and a horizontal transverse cylinder has been carried out in a large gravity-stratified fluid flume. One kind of making-wave method of “rotating-blade-gate” is proposed to achieve the experimental simulation of the standard mode-2 ISW in the laboratory flume. The conductivity probe array and particle image velocimetry are used to measure the mode-2 ISW and its wave-flow structure of the interaction with the horizontal transverse cylinder, and the micro-amplitude force sensor is used to measure the forces of the mode-2 ISW on the cylinder model. It is shown that the mode-2 ISW geometric structure is characterized by a convex and concave oval wave envelope shape and the counterclockwise and clockwise circulations are formed in its convex and concave domains, respectively. The resulting pair of upper and lower antisymmetric circulations moves forward together, which causes a horizontal strong flow at the symmetric center of the wave envelope consistent with the wave propagation direction. The horizontal transverse cylinder is subjected to the combined action of horizontal flow, vertical flow, and density change induced by the mode-2 ISW, in which the horizontal strong flow, induced flow separation, and vortex structure located at the symmetric center of the wave envelope are the signature features that are different from other positions. The theoretical analysis model of the forces exerted by the mode-2 ISW on a horizontal transverse cylinder is established. The spatial distribution characteristic of the force exerted by the mode-2 ISW on a horizontal cylinder is obtained, and the essential reason for the maximum horizontal and vertical loads on the cylinder is revealed. The horizontal maximum load corresponds to the inhomogeneous change of the horizontal velocity along the depth, and the vertical maximum load depends on the maximum density change along the depth, of which variation trend corresponds to the linear change of wave amplitudes.