Bar Decay Research Articles

Attenuation of waves in a viscoelastic peridynamic medium

The effect of spatial nonlocality on the decay of waves in a dissipative material is investigated. The propagation and decay of waves in a one-dimensional, viscoelastic peridynamic medium is analyzed. Both the elastic and damping terms in the material model are nonlocal. Waves produced by a source with constant amplitude applied at one end of a semi-infinite bar decay exponentially with distance from the source. The model predicts a cutoff frequency that is influenced by the nonlocal parameters. A method for computing the attenuation coefficient explicitly as a function of material properties and source frequency is presented. The theoretical results are compared with direct numerical simulations in the time domain. The relationship between the attenuation coefficient and the group velocity is derived. It is shown that in the limit of long waves (or small peridynamic horizon), Stokes’ law of sound attenuation is recovered.

Effects of Gas on Formation and Evolution of Stellar Bars and Nuclear Rings in Disk Galaxies

Abstract We run self-consistent simulations of Milky Way-sized, isolated disk galaxies to study the formation and evolution of a stellar bar as well as a nuclear ring in the presence of gas. We consider two sets of models with cold or warm disks that differ in the radial velocity dispersions, and vary the gas fraction by fixing the total disk mass. A bar forms earlier and more strongly in the cold disks with larger , while gas progressively delays the bar formation in the warm disks. The bar formation enhances a central mass concentration, which in turn causes the bar to decay temporarily, after which it regrows in size and strength, eventually becoming stronger in models with smaller . Although all bars rotate fast in the beginning, they rapidly turn to slow rotators. In our models, only the gas-free, warm disk undergoes rapid buckling instability, while other disks thicken more gradually via vertical heating. The gas driven inward by the bar potential readily forms a star-forming nuclear ring. The ring is very small when it first forms and grows in size over time. The ring star formation rate is episodic and bursty due to feedback, and is well correlated with the mass inflow rate to the ring. Some expanding shells produced by star formation feedback are sheared out in the bar regions and collide with dust lanes to appear as filamentary interbar spurs. The bars and nuclear rings formed in our simulations have properties similar to those in the Milky Way.

Seasonal changes and morphodynamic behavior of a high-energy mesotidal beach: case study of Charf el Akab beach on the North Atlantic coast of Morocco

The morphodynamic behavior of a mesotidal sandy beach was monitored during both calm and energetic conditions. Two years of seasonal surveys were carried out on Charf el Akab, a gently sloped beach in the North Atlantic coast of Morocco. The method of survey consisted of a 3D study of the beach morphological changes and provided 2 cm vertical accuracy. During the surveyed period, Charf el Akab beach underwent very energetic wave conditions, and the breaking wave height was of H b ≥ 1.5 m. The beach is characterized by a nonpermanent swash bar and composed of well-sorted medium sand. The application of environmental parameters revealed a dissipative state with very low beach gradient which did not vary significantly over the studied period. Morphological changes consist of beach erosion and bar decay under high-energy waves, whereas the intertidal bar re-established and the beach recorded an accentuated accretion due to relatively fair weather conditions. The beach volume reveals a seasonal behavior; the sand accumulated during summer is dramatically removed during winter season. The range in beach sand volume from the most accreted to the most eroded conditions observed is about −5,493 m3. The average sand volume flux between surveys reaches −1 and 0.4 m2/day during peak erosion and accretion periods. The relationships between the wave forcing and the sand volume adjustments were examined. The sand volume change was found to be highly correlated (0.91) with the wave energy flux. The highest correspondence (0.95) was found between the sand flux rate and the wave energy flux. The wave forcing is expected to be the main factor governing beach morphodynamics at Charf el Akab site.

Beach Morphology and Sediment Budget Variability Based on High Quality Digital Elevation Models Derived from Field Data Sets

The morphological and volumetric changes of a sandy beach were investigated through a series of two- monthly filed surveys carried out aver a 2-year period from April 2005 to January 2007. This paper discuss the ability of 3-D digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from high accurate data to assess and quantify beach morphodynamics in relation with wave forcing. The methodology and data acquisition are described and consist mainly in the production of interpolated DEMs from which a variety of representations can be made, including as elevation change maps, two-dimensional cross-sections of the beach, calculation of net volume. The results of the analysis highlight seasonal changes in beach morphology due to variations in wave energy. This behavior is characterized by beach erosion and bar decay under high-energy waves and net accretion and bar formation during relatively fair weather conditions. The sand budgets adjustments show that the loss of volume in the winter months is compensated for by accumulation to the beach during summer. This trend suggests that there is a mechanism which controls the beach evolution. The correlation between beach changes and wave energy variations highlights a net relation between them. The results from this in- vestigation state the value of DEMs utilized and demonstrate the efficiency of the 3-D approach employed here to assess the erosion and accretion patterns which would not be visualized using 2-D profiles.

Observations of offshore bar decay: Sediment budgets and the role of lower shoreface processes

Long-term, net offshore bar migration is a common occurrence on many multiple-barred beaches. The first stage of the process involves the generation of a longshore bar close to the shoreline that oscillates about a mean position for some time, followed by a stage of net offshore migration across the upper shoreface, and finally a stage of decaying bar form through loss of sediment volume at the outer boundary of the upper shoreface. The phenomenon has been previously documented in the Netherlands, the USA, the Canadian Great Lakes, and in New Zealand, but our present understanding of the morphodynamic processes and sediment transport pathways involved in bar decay is limited. In this paper, long-term, net offshore bar migration is investigated at Vejers Beach, located on the North Sea coast of Denmark where offshore bar migration rates are of the order of 45–55 m a −1. A wave height transformation model confirmed that the decay of the outer bar results in increased wave heights and undertow speeds at the more landward bar potentially causing this bar to speed up its offshore migration. The causes for outer bar decay were investigated through field measurements of sediment transport at the decaying bar and at a position further seaward on the lower shoreface. The measurements showed that a cross-shore transport convergence exists between the bar and the lower shoreface and that the loss of sediment involved in bar decay is associated with a longshore directed transport by non-surf zone processes. At Vejers, and possibly elsewhere, the net offshore migration of bars and the subsequent loss of sand during bar decay is an important part of the beach and shoreface sediment budget.

Profile response of a lacustrine multiple barred nearshore to a sequence of storm events

Profile change in a lacustrine multiple-barred nearshore was investigated over the ice-free season of 2001/2002 at Burley Beach on the southeastern shore of Lake Huron in order to identify the feedback mechanisms between the pre-existing morphology and the wave forcing and the consequence of those feedbacks to the behaviour of the nearshore environment. The characteristics of the offshore wave field were monitored using a Falmouth Scientific combined 3D-ACM wave recorder and pressure transducer. Supplemental wave data were downloaded from a 3-m discus buoy operated by the National Data Buoy Center, ∼75 km to the NW of the study site. The three nearshore bars were in a quasi-equilibrium state through a large part of the ice-free season, with dramatic changes occurring during relatively moderate storm events that followed much larger storms in late October. A comparison of the incident wave field with changes in the nearshore profile through canonical correlation analysis indicates that the morphology responds to the distribution of the significant, root-mean-square (rms) and average wave heights between surveys. The threshold between bar decay and onshore bar migration and growth is associated with the onset of breaking of the rms wave at the bar crest ( H rms h cr −1 ≈0.3–0.4). The threshold between onshore and offshore migration is associated with the onset of breaking of the average wave at the bar crest ( H avg h cr −1 ≈0.3–0.4), coincident with complete dissipation of the significant wave over the lakeward slope of the bar ( H s h cr −1 >0.6). Inshore wave data collected during an instrumented study at the same site revealed that the middle and inner bars remained at the threshold of onshore and offshore migration over a wide range of offshore significant wave heights (0.8 to 2.4 m) prior to the October storms. This self-organised equilibrium is a result of changes to the incident wave distribution through breaking on the outer bar. It is concluded that the prediction of bar response requires an understanding of the feedback between the bar and the local wave distribution in addition to an understanding of the feedback associated with the profile as a whole.

The behaviour of nearshore bars on the time scale of years: a conceptual model

Abstract Soundings of the sandy Dutch coast have demonstrated the presence of a multiple bar system that exhibits cyclic, offshore-directed migration on the time scale of years (medium-term). A cycle comprises bar generation, interannual offshore migration and decay. In this paper we propose a conceptual model in which we qualitatively outline the relationships between short-term (hourly) process knowledge (waves, currents, sediment transport), based on a 15-week data set of near-bed hydrodynamics obtained in the multiple bar system of Terschelling (the Netherlands), and medium-term bar behaviour. The short-term process knowledge is aggregated to the medium-term by combining probabilistic characterisations of medium-term wave conditions and sediment transports estimated from the short-term field measurements. Essential to the conceptual model is the observed cross-shore change in short-term conditions that dominate medium-term onshore and offshore sediment transport (〈q〉on and 〈q〉off, respectively). In the cross-shore direction, the conditions contributing most to 〈q〉on change from predominantly breaking situations outside the bar zone to mainly non-breaking conditions on the beach. In contrast, 〈q〉off remains restricted to breaking conditions over the entire profile. In the model we qualitatively describe how this cross-shore change in the forcing conditions results in interannual offshore bar migration, bar decay and the onset of the next cycle. As such, our model may serve as a first step towards a more coherent, quantitative model on medium-term periodic bar behaviour.

A field test of tubino's (1991) model of alternate bar formation

AbstractThis study investigates the fluvial dynamics of straight natural stream channels. In particular, this experimental field study quantitatively assesses a physically based non‐linear mathematical theory of alternate bar formation under unsteady natural flow conditions within a straight alluvial stream. The study site is an artificially straightened section of the Embarras River located approximately 16 km south of Champaign, Illinois. Data were collected on channel form, gradient, alternate bar dimensions, bed sediment size and flow stage over a 2 year study period.Both linear and non‐linear steady flow hydrodynamic theories suggest that alternate bars are critical to the process of meander development. But these theories do not predict bar development for unsteady flow conditions, which typically occur in natural alluvial channels. Tubino (1991) suggests that bar evolution for a flood hydrograph can be divided into three parts: (1) a period of limited bar growth during the rising stage of the flood; (2) a stage of modest bar decay near the peak of the flood; and (3) a stage of non‐linear bar growth during the prolonged falling stage of the flood.Bars developed during the falling limb of a hydrograph, and exhibited sequential development rather than the uniform growth along the reach predicted by Tubino's model. As flow stage decreased, short, low, fine‐grained bars were superimposed on long, high and coarser‐grained bars that developed under preceding high flow stages. These results suggest that the process of bar formation in artificially straightened natural streams with heterogeneous bed material may occur under different flow conditions and in a different manner than predicted by theoretical models. Further work should focus on attempting to isolate the physical mechanisms responsible for alternate bar formation in straight natural streams with heterogeneous bed material and flashy hydrologic flow regimes.