Understanding Stokes drift mechanism via crest and trough phase estimates

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Guha, Anirban, Gupta, Akanksha
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866913242421395456
author Guha, Anirban
Gupta, Akanksha
author_facet Guha, Anirban
Gupta, Akanksha
contents By providing mathematical estimates, this paper answers a fundamental question -- "what leads to Stokes drift"? Although overwhelmingly understood for water waves, Stokes drift is a generic mechanism that stems from kinematics and occurs in any non-transverse wave in fluids. To showcase its generality, we undertake a comparative study of the pathline equation of sound (1D) and intermediate-depth water (2D) waves. Although we obtain a closed-form solution $\mathbf{x}(t)$ for the specific case of linear sound waves, a more generic and meaningful approach involves the application of asymptotic methods and expressing variables in terms of the Lagrangian phase $θ$. We show that the latter reduces the 2D pathline equation of water waves to 1D. Using asymptotic methods, we solve the respective pathline equation for sound and water waves, and for each case, we obtain a parametric representation of particle position $\mathbf{x}(θ)$ and elapsed time $t(θ)$. Such a parametric description has allowed us to obtain second-order-accurate expressions for the time duration, horizontal displacement, and average horizontal velocity of a particle in the crest and trough phases. All these quantities are of higher magnitude in the crest phase in comparison to the trough, leading to a forward drift, i.e. Stokes drift. We also explore particle trajectory due to second-order Stokes waves and compare it with linear waves. While finite amplitude waves modify the estimates obtained from linear waves, the understanding acquired from linear waves is generally found to be valid.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2303_07464
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Understanding Stokes drift mechanism via crest and trough phase estimates
Guha, Anirban
Gupta, Akanksha
Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
Dynamical Systems
By providing mathematical estimates, this paper answers a fundamental question -- "what leads to Stokes drift"? Although overwhelmingly understood for water waves, Stokes drift is a generic mechanism that stems from kinematics and occurs in any non-transverse wave in fluids. To showcase its generality, we undertake a comparative study of the pathline equation of sound (1D) and intermediate-depth water (2D) waves. Although we obtain a closed-form solution $\mathbf{x}(t)$ for the specific case of linear sound waves, a more generic and meaningful approach involves the application of asymptotic methods and expressing variables in terms of the Lagrangian phase $θ$. We show that the latter reduces the 2D pathline equation of water waves to 1D. Using asymptotic methods, we solve the respective pathline equation for sound and water waves, and for each case, we obtain a parametric representation of particle position $\mathbf{x}(θ)$ and elapsed time $t(θ)$. Such a parametric description has allowed us to obtain second-order-accurate expressions for the time duration, horizontal displacement, and average horizontal velocity of a particle in the crest and trough phases. All these quantities are of higher magnitude in the crest phase in comparison to the trough, leading to a forward drift, i.e. Stokes drift. We also explore particle trajectory due to second-order Stokes waves and compare it with linear waves. While finite amplitude waves modify the estimates obtained from linear waves, the understanding acquired from linear waves is generally found to be valid.
title Understanding Stokes drift mechanism via crest and trough phase estimates
topic Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
Dynamical Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.07464