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Boundary Layers
Theideaoftheboundarylayerdatesbackatleasttothetimeof
Prandtl(1904,seethearticle:LudwigPrandtlsboundarylayer,
PhysicsToday,2005,58,no.12,4248).
Contemporaneously, Ekman
V.W.Ekman
Young Ekman
Theprincipalconceptoftheboundaryoriginallyspringsfromthe
particularformofthefluidcontinuumequationsinwhichthe
dissipationtermsinvolvehigherorderderivativesthanthe
inertial,advectiveterms,e.g.fortheNavierStokesequationsfor
anonrotatingfluid:
ui
ui
p
2 ui
u j
Fi
t
x j
xi
x j x j
Forfluidslikeairorwaterthecoefficientof
viscosityisoftensufficientlysmall,inanon
dimensionalsensetobeclarifiedmoreformally
below,suchthatthephysicaleffectsoffriction
wouldseemtobenegligibleallowingtheneglectof
thelasttermontherighthandsideoftheequation.
An Oceanic example
Wind-driven ocean circulation model
J( , 2 ) x r 2 4 T (x, y)
J(a,b) ax by aybx
AH
r*
,r
L3
L
U / L2
If r and v neglected and the no slip condition is dropped, there will still
be a singular perturbation to the equations if the term, i.e. the
nonlinear advection terms are ignored. This leads to an inertial
boundary layer.This equation in its entirety will be discussed more fully
later.
Equations of motion
1
uux vuy wuz 2v px u xx u yy uzz
1
uvx vvy wvz 2u py vxx vyy vzz
1
uwx vwy wwz pz g wxx wyy wzz
u x v y wz 0
Incompressible fluid in a
rotating system.
U
x
E
u zz u yy
2
p E
vvy wvz u
vzz vyy
y
2
p E
vwy wwz
wzz wyy
z
2
vu y wu z v
v y wz 0
Uo
,theRossbynumber
2L
, theEkmannumber<<1
L2
wI 0.
zE
1/2
Corresponding to using
as a vertical scale,
1/ 2
2
1/ 2
1
E
, 2 E
z
z
2
1
u E u yy
2
p 1
vvy Wv u
v E vyy
y 2
p
E
W E Wyy
E vWy WW
vu y Wu v
vy W 0
w E 1/2W (y, )
vy W 0
thus
U(y)
y y
1
v u
2
1
u U v
2
vy W 0
let
2
2i
2
(u U) iv
o exp( 1 i )
or
u U e A cos Bsin
v
e Asin B cos
Theconditionsthat
A U(y), B 0
bothuandvvanishon
z==0,yields
u U (y) 1 e cos
v U (y)e sin
v
cross isobar flow perpendicular to U(y)
e
0 vdz e 0 vd 2 U(y)
Pressure force
and
1 U
1 e cos sin
W
2 y
thisverticalvelocityissmallbutitcanhaveasubstantialeffectontheinterior
flowandis,inmanycasestheprimarymechanismforthedestructionofotherwise
inviscidmotionintheinterior.Forexample,apositiverelativevorticitywillgive
risetoapositiveverticalvelocityoutoftheboundarylayer.Iftheinterioris
boundedfromabovethiswillusuallyimplythatacolumnoffluidintheinterioris
squashedandtheresultwillbetodecreasetherelativevorticitybytheinertial
effectsofvortexsquashing.TheratewilldependontheEkmannumberbutthe
1 E 1/ 2
resultingspindowntimewillbeoftheorderofandsowillbelong
comparedwitharotationperiodofthesystembutshortcomparedtoa
characteristicdiffusiontime.
E 1
For small
d z
w
dt
z
d z
1/2
1/2
1/2 z
Ev w(z 0) Ev (U y / 2) Ev
dt
2
2
Ts 1/ 2
E
T*s
L Uo
L
L
U o L / 1/2 1/ 2
In dimensional (non
dimensionless) units
2 / ( f z )
1/2
wheref=2(theCoriolisparameterandtheplanetaryvorticityand
whereistherelativevorticity.
z vx u y
Hence,theexpectationisthatpositiverelativevorticityinthe
interiorflowwillmaketheboundarylayerthinner.However,
positivevorticityproducesaverticalvelocitythatwilltendto
thickenthelayer
E 1/ 2
E 1/2
E 1/2
z
To order
1
vu y Wu v u 2 u Z E u yy
2
p 1
vvy Wv u
v 2 v Z E vyy
y 2
p E
E vWy WW
W 2W Z E Wyy
2
vy W WZ 0
The expansion
u uo u1 ...
uo U A(y, Z)e cos B(y, Z )e sin ,
vo A(y, Z)e sin B(y, Z)e cos
A(0) U,B(0) 0
Wo C(Z)
1 A
B
e sin cos e cos sin
2 y
y
C(0)
1 U
2 y
theverticalvelocitymustbeindependentofzatleasttoorderandE.This
impliesthatCisindependentofZ
1 U 1 A
B
Wo
1 2i1 Ru iRv,
1 u1 iv1 ,
Ru 2 vouoy Wouo 2uo Z ,
Rv 2 vo voy Wo vo 2vo Z
EvaluatingthetermsinRuandRv
revealsthatacombinationof
someofthetermswillhavethe
formofthehomogeneous
operatoronthelefthandsideof
theeqn.Ifleftunalteredthose
termswouldintroducespatial
secularterms,i.e.solutionsofthe
form e(1i)
andwouldrenderourexpansion
invalidfor=Z=O(1).To
preventthat,thetermsinRuand
Rvinvolvingthederivativesofthe
coefficientswithZareusedto
eliminateallsecularterms.
(1 i )
Eliminating terms of the form e
A iB A iB
Z
64 7 48
U Iy
C
0
{
2i(1 i)
w term
vorticity term
C U Iy
and so
A iB U I e
UI e
U Iy Z /4
U Iy Z /4 iU Iy Z /4
cos(U Z / 4) isin(U Z / 4)
Iy
Iy
A(Z ) Ue
U y Z / 4
B(Z ) Ue
vo Ue
cosU y Z / 4,
U y Z / 4
sinU y Z / 4
1 U y / 4
uo U 1 e
or
sin( 1 U y / 4 )
1 U y / 4
cos 1 U y / 4
1
( U Z /4)
Wo U y 1 e y sin( U y Z / 4) cos( U y Z / 4)
2
To complete the solution we need to find the next
order corrections to u and v, i.e. to solve
1 2i1 Ru iRv,
1 u1 iv1 ,
Ru 2 vouoy Wouo 2uo Z ,
Rv 2 vo voy Wo vo 2vo Z
let
1 u1 iv1
Uy / 4
(1 3i) 2( Z ) (1i)
e
e
1 / 4 e (1i) Z (1i) e (1i)
10
1 UU y
1
7
E (vo v1 )d E U UU y
2
20
0
1/2
1/2
nonlinear
linear
wI (y,0) E1/2 U y U y 2 UU yy
40
Thepanelontheleftshowsthecrossisobar(v)flowforthelinearsolution(R 0=0,solidline)andthe
solutioncorrectedfornonlineareffects(R0=0.5,dashedlineandclearlypushingthevalidityofthe
expansion).Thepanelontheleftisfornegative,uniformshear(positiverelativevorticity)andthe
panelontherightisforpositiveshear(negativevorticity).
references
BentonG.S.,F.B.LippsandS.Y.Tuann.1964.The
structureoftheEkmanlayerforgeostrophicflowswith
lateralshear.Tellus16,186199
Hart,J.E.2000Anoteonthenonlinearcorrectionto
theEkmanlayerpumpingvelocity.Phys.ofFluids.12,
131135
Brink,K.H.1997Timedependentmotionsandthe
nonlinearbottomEkmanlayer,J.MarineRes.55,613
631
Nansens problem
f/2
wind stress
sea surface z=0
Uo
2 o
, f 2
f e
u ,v 0
2v u
2u v
vy W 0
ocean
z0
(non dimensional)
linear problem
Ekmans solution
e cos( / 4)
e sin( / 4)
u / 2,v / 2
as
goes to zero
stress
Surface velocity
Ue
ud
0,
Ve
vd
/ 2
TheEkmanvelocitiesu(solid)andv(dashed)
forastressinthexdirection
.
In general:
2 o
*
Ve U o e gVe
e
f
r f e 2
*
r
k *
U*e
f
1
1 e cos
2 y
W ()
1
2 y
withdimensionsrestoredandin
vectorform,
we
U e
(r / f )
W kg
*
L
u g (y) ue f
e
y
1
u
2
1
u u g v
2
vu gy v
u ,v 0
Ve
2 1 u gy
Ue 0
r
k /
U*e
f g
Relative vorticity
Refs.
M.E.Stern1965Interactionofauniformwindstresswitha
geostrophicvortex.DeepSeaRes.12,355367
P.P.Niiler1969OntheEkmandivergenceinanoceanicjet.J.
Geophys.Res.74,70487052
y e
Ai Ar cos Ai Ar sin
W0
2 2 y
Ar (0) 2 Ai (0) 2
Order problem
1
e (1i)
ugy
y
(A
A
)
i(A
A
)
iA
r
i
r
i
2 r i
2i
ugy
A iA e
2i
r
(1 i)
Ai (Ary Aiy ) Ar (Ary Aiy )
2
Z y /2 ugy / 4
e
cos(Zu gy / 4 / 4)
21/2
Ai
Z y /2 ugy / 4
e
sin(Zugy / 4 / 4)
21/2
Possible resonant
terms
uo ug
y ugy
1
2 4
e
1/2
2
vo
y ugy
1
2 4
e
21/2
ugy / 2
sin (1 ugy / 4) / 4
1/2
cos (1 ugy / 4) / 4 ,
1/ 2
2 *y*
u*gy*
f
f
2
dimensional
3
v1d ugy
8
y ugy
(vo v1 )d
2
8 2
0
W () vo v1 d
Thomas,L.N.andP.B.Rhines,2002.Nonlinear
stratifiedspinup.J.FluidMech.,473,211244
W ()
2 y 1 ugy y / 4