Related papers: Quantifying mixing and available potential energy …
A key issue in stratified turbulence theory concerns the nature of the link between D(APE), the dissipation rate of available potential energy APE, and W_{r,turbulent}, the turbulent rate of change of background gravitational potential…
There exist two central measures of turbulent mixing in turbulent stratified fluids, both caused by molecular diffusion: 1) the dissipation rate D(APE) of available potential energy (APE); 2) the turbulent rate of change Wr,turbulent of…
Available Potential Energy (APE) dissipation plays a central role in the description of mixing in turbulent stratified fluids. The dominant paradigm is that it converts APE into background gravitational potential energy ${\rm GPE}_r$, and…
Because it allows a rigorous separation between reversible and irreversible processes, the concept of available potential energy (APE) has become central to the study of turbulent stratified fluids. In ocean modelling, it is fundamental to…
We extend the local theory of available potential energy (APE) to a general multicomponent compressible stratified fluid, accounting for the effects of diabatic sinks and sources. As for simple compressible fluids, the total potential…
The energy pathways from propagating internal waves to the scales of irreversible mixing in the ocean are not fully described. In the ocean interior, the triadic resonant instability is an intrinsic destabilization process that may enhance…
Traditionally, turbulence energetics is characterized by turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and modelled using solely the TKE budget equation. In stable stratification, TKE is generated by the velocity shear and expended through viscous…
Recent studies based on simulations of the Boussinesq equations indicate that stratified turbulent flows can develop large-scale intermittency in the velocity and temperature fields, as detected in the atmosphere and oceans. In particular,…
Budgets of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and turbulent potential energy (TPE) at different scales $\ell$ in sheared, stably stratified turbulence are analyzed using a filtering approach. Competing effects in the flow are considered, along…
We analyse the entrainment and energetics of equal and opposite axisymmetric turbulent air plumes in a vertically confined space at a Rayleigh number of $1.24\times 10^{7}$ using theory and direct numerical simulation. On domains of…
The available potential energy (APE) of a fluid can be defined locally in space, providing useful insights into both the energetics and dynamics of stratified flows ranging from three-dimensional turbulence to planetary scale circulations.…
The theoretical analysis of the energetics of mechanically-stirred horizontal convection for a Boussinesq fluid yields the formula: G(APE) = \gamma_{mixing} G(KE) + (1+\gamma_{mixing}) W_{r,laminar} where G(APE) and G(KE) are the work rate…
Predicting how much mixing occurs when a given amount of energy is injected into a Boussinesq fluid is a longstanding problem in stratified turbulence. The huge number of degrees of freedom involved in those processes renders extremely…
The effect of the rotation on the turbulent mixing of two miscible fluids of small contrasting density, induced by Faraday instability, is investigated using direct numerical simulations (DNS). We quantify the irreversible mixing which…
The background potential energy (BPE) is the only reservoir that double diffusive instabilities can tap their energy from when developing from an unforced motionless state with no available potential energy (APE). Recently, Middleton and…
Understanding how turbulence enhances irreversible scalar mixing in density-stratified fluids is a central problem in geophysical fluid dynamics. While isotropic overturning regions are commonly the focus of mixing analyses, we here…
We consider a simplified physics of the could interface where condensation, evaporation and radiation are neglected and momentum, thermal energy and water vapor transport is represented in terms of the Boussinesq model coupled to a passive…
We consider the nonlinear optimisation of irreversible mixing induced by an initial finite amplitude perturbation of a statically stable density-stratified fluid. A constant pressure gradient is imposed in a plane two-dimensional channel.…
We consider turbulence driven by a large-scale horizontal shear in Kolmogorov flow (i.e. with sinusoidal body forcing) and a background linear stable stratification with buoyancy frequency $N_B^2$ imposed in the third, vertical direction in…
We use a database of direct numerical simulations to evaluate parametrizations for energy dissipation rate in stably stratified flows. We show that shear-based formulations are more appropriate for stable boundary layers than commonly used…