Current Shear Research Articles

Features of internal tides observed near the shelf break in the northern South China Sea

Features of internal tides in the northern South China Sea are investigated using measurements of two moorings at 506 m (MR1) and 260 m (MR2) working between April and November of 2014. The diurnal internal tides at MR1 are significantly enhanced in June–July and display a regular fortnight modulation, whereas at shallower MR2, the June–July intensification is absent and the fortnight cycle becomes irregular. Fortnight cycle peaks of diurnal internal tides have a regular time-lag of ~ 2.8 days after those of diurnal barotropic tides (at MR1). We derive a mathematical relationship indicating that this time-lag of fortnight cycle peaks is around twice the time for the diurnal internal tides propagating from the generation place to the mooring site. Semidiurnal internal tides are dominated by the mode-1 (~ 70%), while diurnal internal tides exhibit multi-modal structures, with the contribution of ~ 20–30% for each of the first three modes. The diurnal mode-1 contribution varies fortnightly, and eddy passages are highly correlated with the increasing contribution of semidiurnal high modes (at MR1). Furthermore, we find that the nonlinear interaction between internal tides and near-inertial motions is weak in summer, even during periods of strong near-inertial motions (at MR2), because in summer, the shear of near-inertial currents is maximum at a depth shallower than the depth of maximum internal tide shear.

Open-ocean-interior moored sensor turbulence estimates, below a Meddy

A one-year time series of moored high-resolution temperature T-sensor data from 1455 ± 65 m depth on a 3900 m long line in about 5300 m of water in the NE-Atlantic Canary Basin are dominated by salinity (over-)compensated intrusions arising from the effects of Mediterranean outflow waters, which are commonly organized as underwater eddy-lenses ‘Meddies’. During the passage of a Meddy-core above the T-sensors, no intrusions were observed, thereby making it possible to use the temperature records to quantify turbulence parameters. Mean turbulence values confirm previous shipborne profiler estimates of O(10-10) m2 s-3 and O(10-5) m2 s-1 for dissipation rate and eddy diffusivity, respectively. The present data show that these ocean-interior turbulence estimates are from short-lived (<0.5 h) rather intense overturning cells with vertical scales of <5 m. Because the turbulence inertial subrange is found to extend into the internal wave band, the overturns are predominantly driven by shear associated with inertial currents. Kinetic energy, current shear and temperature variance peak at sub-inertial frequencies during the Meddy passage, suggesting wave trapping in the warm anti-cyclonic eddy and/or weakly stratified layers. The observations further show that internal wave displacements are coherent over vertical scales of up to 40 m during the presence of the Meddy compared with vertical coherence scales of <25 m during the more common no-Meddy conditions of double diffusion intrusions.

Rotational waves generated by current‐topography interaction

AbstractWe study nonlinear free‐surface rotational waves generated through the interaction of a vertically sheared current with a topography. Equivalently, the waves may be generated by a pressure distribution along the free surface. A forced Korteweg–de Vries equation (fKdV) is deduced incorporating these features. The weakly nonlinear, weakly dispersive reduced model is valid for small amplitude topographies. To study the effect of gradually increasing the topography amplitude, the free surface Euler equations are formulated in the presence of a variable depth and a sheared current of constant vorticity. Under constant vorticity, the harmonic velocity component is formulated in a simplified canonical domain, through the use of a conformal mapping which flattens both the free surface as well as the bottom topography. Critical, supercritical, and subcritical Froude number regimes are considered, while the bottom amplitude is gradually increased in both the irrotational and rotational wave regimes. Solutions to the fKdV model are compared to those from the Euler equations. We show that for rotational waves the critical Froude number is shifted away from 1. New stationary solutions are found and their stability tested numerically.

A Mild-Slope System for Bragg Scattering of Water Waves by Sinusoidal Bathymetry in the Presence of Vertically Sheared Currents

Extended mild-slope models (MMSs) are examined for predicting the characteristics of normally incident waves propagating over sinusoidal bottom topography in the presence of opposing shearing currents. It is shown that MMSs are able to provide quite good predictions in the case of Bragg scattering of waves over rippled bathymetry without a current, but fail to provide good predictions concerning the resonant frequency in the additional presence of a current. In order to resolve the above mismatch, a two-equation mild-slope system (CMS2) is derived from a variational principle based on the representation of the wave potential expressed as a superposition of the forward and backward components. The latter system is compared against experimentally measured data collected in a wave flume and is shown to provide more accurate predictions concerning both the resonant frequency and the amplitude of the reflection coefficient. Future work will be devoted to the examination of the derived model for a more general wave system over realistic seabed topography.

Numerical modelling of interactions of waves and sheared currents with a surface piercing vertical cylinder

Vertical surface piercing cylinders, such as typical coastal wind turbine foundations and basic elements of many coastal structures, are often exposed to combined loading from waves and currents. Accurate prediction of hydrodynamic loads on a vertical cylinder in a combined wave-current flow is a challenging task. This work describes and compares two different approaches for numerical modelling of the interaction between focussed wave groups and a sheared current, and then their interactions with a vertical piercing cylinder. Both approaches employ an empirical methodology to generate a wave focussed at the location of the structure in the presence of sheared currents and use OpenFOAM, an open source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) package. In the first approach, the empirical wave-on-current focussing methodology is applied directly in the OpenFOAM domain, replicating the physical wave-current flume. This approach is referred to as the Direct Method. In the second approach, a novel Lagrangian model is used to calculate the free surface elevation and flow kinematics, which are then used as boundary conditions for a smaller 3-D OpenFOAM domain with shorter simulation time. This approach is referred to as the Coupling Method. The capabilities of the two numerical methods have been validated by comparing with the experimental measurements collected in a wave-current flume at UCL. The performance of both approaches is evaluated in terms of accuracy and computational effort required. It is shown that both approaches provide satisfactory predictions in terms of local free surface elevation and nonlinear wave loading on the vertical cylinders with an acceptable level of computational cost. The Coupling Method is more efficient because of the use of a smaller computational domain and the application of the iterative wave-current generation in the faster Lagrangian model. Additionally, it is shown that a Stokes-type perturbation expansion can be generalized to approximate cylinder loads arising from wave groups on following and adverse sheared currents, allowing estimation of the higher-order harmonic shapes and time histories from knowledge of the linear components alone.

Characterization of peak shear strength of rough rock joints using limited displacement multi-stage direct shear (LDMDS) tests

Current standard direct shear test methods for rock joints do not account for damage to the specimens' asperity profiles; tests require shearing of a single specimen to large displacements under successive normal stresses (the multistage test), or the use of similar specimens in multiple tests. Due to the inherently unique nature of rock joints and corresponding difficulty in obtaining specimens with identical or even similar geometries, multistage tests are more common. A major issue with the multistage test is that successive shearing of the specimen damages the surface asperities and changes its overall roughness profile, reducing the peak shear stress and consequently resulting in underestimation of the friction angle and overestimation of the joint shear intercept (cohesion). The limited displacement multistage direct shear (LDMDS) test method minimizes these testing imperfections by allowing shearing of a single specimen without extensive asperity damage, accomplished by immediately pausing shear displacement once peak shear stress has been reached, then proceeding to shear the specimen under the following normal stress value, and shearing into the post-peak region only after identifying multiple values of peak shear strength. The authors have validated the LDMDS procedure using cement replicates of rock joints, demonstrating that it yields more accurate strength parameters than the standard multistage direct shear test.

Analysis of a Methodology for Torsional Test under Normal Stress and Shear Performance for Asphalt Mixtures

Insufficient shear performance in an asphalt mixture is a primary reason for rutting deformation and pavement surface longitudinal cracking. Thus, it is important to choose a suitable shear test method to evaluate shear performance in an asphalt mixture. Current testing methods mainly evaluate the bonding strength between asphalt layers, and the current shear test method for an asphalt mixture is disadvantaged by high equipment cost and complicated procedures. Our study proposes a torsional test method under normal stress condition, and evaluation was done for four types of asphalt mixture under different temperature conditions. Through the mechanical analysis, the calculation formulas for shear strength and shear parameters (cohesion and internal friction angle) for the torsional test under a normal stress condition were obtained. Testing results were also obtained for shear strength, shear modulus, and cohesion and internal friction angle of the asphalt mixtures. Experimental testing indicated that the method was able to provide repeatable results for the shear resistance of asphalt mixtures at different temperatures and also reflected the difference in shear performance of the various asphalt mixtures and the influence of temperature on shear performance. The failure mode of the specimen was the appearance of an oblique crack of about 45° from the vertical axis after the specimen was destroyed, which accorded with shear failure characteristics. A shear fatigue model was obtained considering different shear stress levels. The torsional test method under normal stress formed a compression‐shear action on the specimen by applying torque and normal stress and was used to evaluate the shear performance of the asphalt mixtures.

Using Steel Fiber‐Reinforced Concrete Precast Panels for Strengthening in Shear of Beams: An Experimental and Analytical Investigation

In this paper, the performances of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in shear with steel fiber‐reinforced concrete (SFRC) panels are investigated through experiment, analytical computation, and numerical analysis. An experimental program of RC beams strengthened by using SFRC panels, which were attached to both sides of the beams, is carried out to investigate the effects of fiber volume fraction, connection type, and number and diameter of bolts on the structural responses of the retrofitted beams. The current shear resisting model is also employed to discuss the test data considering shear contribution of SFRC panels. The experimental results indicate that the shear effectiveness of the beams strengthened by using SFRC panels is significantly improved. A three‐dimensional (3D) nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis adopting ABAQUS is also conducted to simulate the beams strengthened in shear with SFRC panels. The investigation reveals the good agreement between the experimental and analytical results in terms of the mechanical behaviors. To complement the analytical study, a parametric study is performed to further evaluate the influences of panel thickness, compressive strength of SFRC, and bolt pattern on the performances of the beams. Based on the numerical and experimental analysis, a shear resisting model incorporating the simple formulation of average tensile strength perpendicular to the diagonal crack of the strengthened SFRC panels is proposed with the acceptable accuracy for predicting the shear contribution of the SFRC system under various effects.

Assessment of Finescale Parameterizations of Deep Ocean Mixing in the Presence of Geostrophic Current Shear: Results of Microstructure Measurements in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current Region

AbstractThe Southern Ocean is thought to be one of globally significant mixing hotspots. In this study, we carried out simultaneous measurements of microscale turbulence and finescale shear/strain in the south of Australia to assess the validity of the existing finescale parameterizations of deep ocean mixing in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) region where geostrophic shear flows coexist with the background internal wavefield. It is found that turbulent dissipation rates are overall small but the internal wavefield is more energetic than the Garrett‐Munk (GM) wavefield. Finescale shear/strain ratio (Rω) well exceeds the GM value in the deep layer south of the Southern ACC Front, suggesting that the local internal wave spectra are significantly biased to lower frequencies. Through the comparison of the directly measured turbulent dissipation rates with those inferred from finescale parameterizations, we find that the Gregg‐Henyey‐Polzin and Ijichi‐Hibiya parameterizations, both of which take into account the distortion of the GM frequency spectrum in terms of Rω, can predict well the turbulent dissipation rates at most of the stations, whereas the shear‐based parameterization (the strain‐based parameterization) tends to overestimate (underestimate) the directly measured turbulent dissipation rates. However, at the observation stations located on the ACC jets, both the Gregg‐Henyey‐Polzin and Ijichi‐Hibiya parameterizations tend to overestimate the turbulent dissipation rates by a factor of ∼3. The most likely cause of the overestimates is spatial anisotropy of the internal wavefield associated with large‐amplitude monochromatic near‐inertial internal waves and/or internal lee waves.

Effects of vorticity on the travelling waves of some shallow water two-component systems

In the present study we consider three two-component (integrable and non-integrable) systems which describe the propagation of shallow water waves on a constant shear current. Namely, we consider the two-component Camassa-Holm equations, the Zakharov-Ito system and the Kaup--Boussinesq equations all including constant vorticity effects. We analyze both solitary and periodic-type travelling waves using the simple and geometrically intuitive phase space analysis. We get the pulse-type solitary wave solutions and the front solitary wave solutions. For the Zakharov-Ito system we underline the occurrence of the pulse and anti-pulse solutions. The front wave solutions decay algebraically in the far field. For the Kaup-Boussinesq system, interesting analytical multi-pulsed travelling wave solutions are found.

Performance Comparison of Circular and Square RC Columns under Monotonic Loading Conditions

Current flexural and shear design methods for reinforced concrete members are mainly based upon the rectangular cross-sectional shape. A simplified new approach for designing circular cross sectional Reinforced Concrete (RC) members might be to convert them to equivalent area, square shapes. An experimental study was performed on reinforced concrete circular cross sections and equivalent area, rectangular cross sectional members. The RC members were tested under non linear monotonic loading conditions, under both flexural and shear controlled conditions. Furthermore, the 3D FEM package COM3D was used to simulate the nonlinear performance of circular and its equivalent area, square members. Experimental and analytical results show that the circular RC members and its equivalent square have similar nonlinear performance (load-deflection behavior) in both flexural and shear controlled failure conditions. A good agreement was found in nonlinear performance of main design criteria; initial stiffness, flexural capacity, and shear capacity of both types. Based upon these results, the proposed approach can be considered satisfactory.

Understanding the Equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue Time-Mean Heat Budget. Part II: Evaluation of the GFDL-FLOR Coupled GCM

The heat budget of the Pacific equatorial cold tongue (ECT) is explored using the GFDL-FLOR coupled GCM (the forecast-oriented low ocean resolution version of CM2.5) and ocean reanalyses, leveraging the two-layer framework developed in Part I. Despite FLOR’s relatively weak meridional stirring by tropical instability waves (TIWs), the model maintains a reasonable SST and thermocline depth in the ECT via two compensating biases: 1) enhanced monthly-scale vertical advective cooling below the surface mixed layer (SML), due to overly cyclonic off-equatorial wind stress that acts to cool the equatorial source waters; and 2) an excessive SST contrast between the ECT and off-equator areas, which boosts the equatorward heat transport by TIWs. FLOR’s strong advective cooling at the SML base is compensated by strong downward diffusion of heat out of the SML, which then allows FLOR’s ECT to take up a realistic heat flux from the atmosphere. Correcting FLOR’s climatological SST and wind stress biases via flux adjustment (FA) leads to weaker deep advective cooling of the ECT, which then erodes the upper-ocean thermal stratification, enhances vertical mixing, and excessively deepens the thermocline. FA does strengthen FLOR’s meridional shear of the zonal currents in the east Pacific, but this does not amplify either the simulated TIWs or their equatorward heat transport, likely due to FLOR’s coarse zonal ocean resolution. The analysis suggests that to advance coupled simulations of the ECT, improved winds and surface heat fluxes must go hand in hand with improved subseasonal and parameterized ocean processes. Implications for model development and the tropical Pacific observing system are discussed.

The strain hardening of micro-sized face-centered-cubic single crystal metals: A crystal plasticity study

Recent experimental and theoretical studies indicate the “external geometry” and “internal structure” are the controlling factors to characterize the size-dependent plastic flow for micro-sized single crystal metals. i.e., increasing yield strength with decreasing sample size. This paper aims to investigate the strain hardening behavior for micro-sized face-centered-cubic (FCC) metals by employing crystal plasticity approach. The size-dependent dislocation density evolution law incorporates the dimensional parameters of internal structure and external geometry in order to consider the dislocation surface annihilation and dislocation source controlled plastic mechanisms. The current shear yield strength for micro-sized FCC metals is formulated by introducing the dislocation source length in classical anisotropic hardening model of Franciosi type. Combined with the above two aspects, crystal plasticity finite element method is developed to examine the strain hardening behavior of single crystal micro-sized metals during uniaxial compression. The validity of the new theoretical formulation and modeling approach is checked by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results available in literatures. The simulation results indicate that the micro-sized FCC metals have significant size effect. Further studies are performed to evaluate the influences of the initial dislocation density and the number of dislocation sources on strain hardening behavior of micro-sized FCC metals.

Wind-induced hydrodynamic changes impact on sediment resuspension for large, shallow Lake Taihu, China

The internal sediment release is a key factor controlling eutrophication processes in large, shallow lakes. Sediment resuspension is associated with the wave and current induced shear stress in large, shallow lakes. The current study investigated the wind field impacts on sediment resuspension from the bottom at Meiliang Bay of large, shallow Lake Taihu. The impacts of the wind field on the wave, current, and wave-current combined shear stresses were calculated. The critical wind speed range was 4–6 m/s after which wave and current shear stress started to increase abruptly, and onshore wind directions were found to be mainly responsible for greater shear stress at the bottom of Lake Taihu. A second order polynomial fitting correlation was found between wave (R2 0.4756) and current (R2 0.4466) shear stresses with wind speed. Wave shear stress accounted for 92.5% of the total shear stress at Meiliang Bay. The critical wave shear stress and critical total shear stress were 0.13 N/m2 for sediment resuspension whereas the current shear stress was 0.019 N/m2 after which suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) increased abruptly. A second order polynomial fitting correlation was found between wave (R2 0.739), current (R2 0.6264), and total shear stress (R2 0.7394) with SSC concentrations at Meiliang Bay of Lake Taihu. The sediment resuspension rate was 120 to 738 g/m2/d during 4–6 m/s onshore winds while offshore winds contributed ≥ 200 g/m2/d. The study results reveal the driving mechanism for understanding the role of the wind field in sediment resuspension while considering wind speed and direction as control parameters to define wave and current shear stresses.

ANALYSIS OF SHEAR DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FRP REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS

Research shows that most shear design models for concrete beams reinforced with FRP reinforcement provide conservative results that leads to excessive amounts of reinforcement and increased overall cost of such construction. This paper presents comparative analysis of current shear design models for concrete beams reinforced with longitudinal FRP reinforcement and FRP stirrups. New analytical shear design model, developed by Valivonis et al., has been included in the analysis. A database with 88 specimens reinforced with FRP reinforcement was compiled in order to verify the accuracy of the proposed model by Valivonis et al. It is shown that proposed shear design model yields quite accurate and consistent results as an average of Vexp / Vpred values is 0.98 and coefficient of variation is 26.0% for this model.

Exploring the Tension between Current Cosmic Microwave Background and Cosmic Shear Data

This paper provides a snapshot of the formal S 8 ≡ σ 8 Ω m / 0.3 tension between Planck 2015 and the Kilo Degree Survey of450 deg 2 of imaging data (KiDS-450) or the Canada France Hawaii Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS). We find that the Cosmic Microwave Bckground (CMB) and cosmic shear datasets are in tension in the standard Λ Cold Dark Matter ( Λ CDM) model, and that adding massive neutrinos does not relieve the tension. If we include an additional scaling parameter on the CMB lensing amplitude A l e n s , we find that this can put in agreement the Planck 2015 with the cosmic shear data. A l e n s is a phenomenological parameter that is found to be more than 2 σ higher than the expected value in the Planck 2015 data, suggesting an higher amount of lensing in the power spectra, not supported by the trispectrum analysis.

A Model for the Wind-Driven Current in the Wavy Oceanic Surface Layer: Apparent Friction Velocity Reduction and Roughness Length Enhancement

AbstractA simple analytical model is developed for the current induced by the wind and modified by surface wind waves in the oceanic surface layer, based on a first-order turbulence closure and including the effect of a vortex force representing the Stokes drift of the waves. The shear stress is partitioned between a component due to shear in the current, which is reduced at low turbulent Langmuir number Lat, and a wave-induced component, which decays over a depth proportional to the dominant wavelength λw. The model reproduces the apparent reduction of the friction velocity and enhancement of the roughness length estimated from current profiles, detected in a number of studies. These effects are predicted to intensify as Lat decreases and are entirely attributed to nonbreaking surface waves. The current profile becomes flatter for low Lat owing to a smaller fraction of the total shear stress being supported by the current shear. Comparisons with the comprehensive dataset provided by the laboratory experiments of Cheung and Street show encouraging agreement, with the current speed normalized by the friction velocity decreasing as Lat decreases and λw increases if the model is adjusted to reflect the effects of a full wave spectrum on the intensity and depth of penetration of the wave-induced stress. A version of the model where the shear stress decreases to zero over a depth consistent with the measurements accurately predicts the surface current speed. These results contribute toward developing physically based momentum flux parameterizations for the wave-affected boundary layer in ocean circulation models.

Observed Features of Langmuir Turbulence Forced by Misaligned Wind and Waves under Destabilizing Buoyancy Flux

AbstractSeveral features of Langmuir turbulence remain unquantified despite its potentially large impacts on ocean surface mixing. For example, its vertical velocity variance, expected to be proportional to based on numerical simulations, was proportional to in recent field observations, where is the friction velocity and is surface Stokes velocity. To investigate unquantified features of Langmuir turbulence, we conducted a field experiment around a marine observation tower in a shallow sea off the southern coast of Japan in early winter when winds and waves (often swells) were often misaligned. Coherent structures similar to Langmuir cells were successfully identified in the horizontal and vertical structures of turbulent flows measured with upward- and horizontally looking acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs). ADCPs and several anemometers attached at the tower showed that turbulent vertical velocity variance was large when the Langmuir number and Hoenikker number (; where B is surface buoyancy flux and H is the water depth) were both small and that the orientation of the cells was generally aligned in the direction of Lagrangian current shear. These results agree well with the previous numerical results. As in the previous observations, however, the vertical velocity variance appeared to be proportional to . In our experiment, this curious feature was explained by compensatory effects between waves and convection. Misaligned wind with waves also seems to characterize the observed Langmuir turbulence, though further quantitative analysis is required to confirm this result.

Variation in the Current Shear Front and Its Potential Effect on Sediment Transport Over the Inner Shelf of the East China Sea in Winter

AbstractThe current shear fronts (CSFs) in the East China Sea have been observed during winter in previous studies. In this research, we systematically study characteristics and variation mechanism of the CSFs and its potential effects on the transport of water and suspended sediment and on the inner shelf mud area (ISMA), using the methods of observation data analysis and numerical simulation. The spatial structures, shear intensities, and sea‐land locations of the CSFs are obviously affected by wind, temperature and salinity. The CSFs curve seaward due to the nonuniformity of topography, and the tide causes its periodic and sea‐land shift. The landward U component near the CSFs indicate little cross‐CSF transport (i.e., the barrier effect). The CSFs are important hydrodynamic factors that affect the formation of the ISMA. The periodic shift of the CSFs in the longitudinal direction and its variations in spatial structure are the main mechanisms affecting the spatial distribution and thickness of the ISMA. However, the barrier effect of the CSFs can be interrupted, and both the strong wind in the northeast direction and baroclinic conditions are beneficial for cross‐CSF transport. Furthermore, cross‐CSF transports occur in the upper layers under northwest wind condition, in areas with nonuniformity of topography and during the spring tide period. Three cross‐shelf channels are identified in areas where the CSFs curve seaward resulting from nonuniformity of topography.

Static behavior of large stud shear connectors in steel-UHPC composite structures

This paper presents an experimental study on the static behavior of large stud shear connectors embedded in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). Test parameters included stud diameter, stud aspect ratio, concrete strength, and concrete slab thickness. Headed studs of two sizes, 22 mm and 30 mm in diameter, were used in this study. Extensive splitting cracks on concrete slab were detected for the normal strength concrete specimen whereas no cracks were found for the UHPC specimen with 30 mm studs, indicating that UHPC matches well with large studs. The shear strength, shear stiffness and ductility of a stud with 30 mm diameter were approximately 15%, 45% and 60% higher than those of a stud with 22 mm diameter, respectively. Stud aspect ratio and concrete slab thickness showed no obvious influence on the static behavior of the test specimens and short stud shear connectors with an aspect ratio of 2.3 could develop full strength in UHPC slabs. An empirical equation taking into account stud diameter was proposed to predict the shear load-slip curve of headed studs. Lastly, the current stud shear strength design provisions were evaluated using the experimental data.