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Pressure–strain terms in Langmuir turbulence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2019

Brodie C. Pearson Open the ORCID record for Brodie C. Pearson [Opens in a new window] ,
Alan L. M. Grant Open the ORCID record for Alan L. M. Grant [Opens in a new window]  and
Jeff A. Polton Open the ORCID record for Jeff A. Polton [Opens in a new window]
Brodie C. Pearson*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, OR 97331, USA
Alan L. M. Grant
Affiliation:
Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6UR, UK
Jeff A. Polton
Affiliation:
National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool L3 5DA, UK
*
†Email address for correspondence: brodie_pearson@brown.edu
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Abstract

This study investigates the pressure–strain tensor ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D72B}$) in Langmuir turbulence. The pressure–strain tensor is determined from large-eddy simulations (LES), and is partitioned into components associated with the mean current shear (rapid), the Stokes shear and the turbulent–turbulent (slow) interactions. The rapid component can be parameterized using existing closure models, although the coefficients in the closure models are particular to Langmuir turbulence. A closure model for the Stokes component is proposed, and it is shown to agree with results from the LES. The slow component of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D72B}$ does not agree with existing ‘return-to-isotropy’ closure models for five of the six components of the Reynolds stress tensor, and a new closure model is proposed that accounts for these deviations which vary systematically with Langmuir number, $La_{t}$, and depth. The implications of these results for second- and first-order closures of Langmuir turbulence are discussed.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Ocean processes Turbulent Flows: Turbulent boundary layers Waves/Free-surface Flows: Surface gravity waves
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 880 , 10 December 2019 , pp. 5 - 31
Copyright
© 2019 Cambridge University Press 

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