Idealised flow past an island in a dynamically adaptive finite element model

The problem of flow separation around islands is investigated using a dynamically adaptive finite element model to allow for resolution of the shear layers that form in the advent of separation. The changes in secondary circulation and vertical motion that occur in both attached and separated flows are documented, as is the degree of closure of the wake eddies. In the numerical experiments presented, the strongest motion always takes place at the sides of the idealised island, where flow curvature and shear act together to induce ascent. In contrast, it is the slower motion within the wake eddies that allow streamlines to extend from the bottom to the surface. We find no evidence for closure of the wake eddies. Rather, all of our separated experiments show that streamlines that pass through the eddies originate outside of the shear layers and frictional boundary layers on the upstream side of the idealised island. The numerical experiments demonstrate the potential for dynamically adaptive, unstructured meshes to resolve the separated shear layers that occur downstream of the idealised island, as well as the narrow boundary layers that form on the island itself.     

A wetting and drying algorithm with a combined pressure/free-surface formulation for non-hydrostatic models

A wetting and drying method for free-surface problems for the three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic Navier–Stokes equations is proposed. The key idea is to use a horizontally fixed mesh and to apply different boundary conditions on the free-surface in wet and dry zones. In wet areas a combined pressure/free-surface kinematic boundary condition is applied, while in dry areas a positive water level and a no-normal flow boundary condition are enforced. In addition, vertical mesh movement is performed to accurately represent the free-surface motion. Non-physical flow in the remaining thin layer in dry areas is naturally prevented if a Manning–Strickler bottom drag is used. The treatment of the wetting and drying processes applied through the boundary condition yields great flexibility to the discretisation used. Specifically, a fully unstructured mesh with any finite element choice and implicit time discretisation method can be applied. The resulting method is mass conservative, stable and accurate. It is implemented within Fluidity-ICOM [1] and verified against several idealized test cases and a laboratory experiment of the Okushiri tsunami.     

Structural identification and mass spectral interpretation of C3n highly branched alkanes in sediment and aquatic extracts and evidence for their anthropogenic origin

The structures of two distinctive series of C_3n highly branched alkanes (HBAs), previously detected in sedimentary and aquatic extracts, were identified as polypropylene (PP) oligomers with different end groups, using gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS) correlation with diastereoisomeric mixtures of authentic C₁₅ and C₁₈ standards. A C₁₅ member of the earlier eluting series was assigned as 2,4,6,8-tetramethylundecane and a C₁₅ member of the later eluting series as 4,6,8-trimethyldodecane. The C_3n HBA GC–MS profiles of extracts from a typical PP GC sample vial lid were also shown to closely match those previously detected in sediment and water extracts, providing convincing evidence that the purported environmental occurrences are a result of PP contamination. Both C_3n series correspond to the first eluting diastereoisomer of the respective standards, also consistent with an industrial isotactic PP source. Mass spectra of all five standards are presented to help assignment of new polymethyl alkanes.     

Modelling of fluid–solid interactions using an adaptive mesh fluid model coupled with a combined finite–discrete element model

Fluid–structure interactions are modelled by coupling the finite element fluid/ocean model ‘Fluidity-ICOM’ with a combined finite–discrete element solid model ‘Y3D’. Because separate meshes are used for the fluids and solids, the present method is flexible in terms of discretisation schemes used for each material. Also, it can tackle multiple solids impacting on one another, without having ill-posed problems in the resolution of the fluid’s equations. Importantly, the proposed approach ensures that Newton’s third law is satisfied at the discrete level. This is done by first computing the action–reaction force on a supermesh, i.e. a function superspace of the fluid and solid meshes, and then projecting it to both meshes to use it as a source term in the fluid and solid equations. This paper demonstrates the properties of spatial conservation and accuracy of the method for a sphere immersed in a fluid, with prescribed fluid and solid velocities. While spatial conservation is shown to be independent of the mesh resolutions, accuracy requires fine resolutions in both fluid and solid meshes. It is further highlighted that unstructured meshes adapted to the solid concentration field reduce the numerical errors, in comparison with uniformly structured meshes with the same number of elements. The method is verified on flow past a falling sphere. Its potential for ocean applications is further shown through the simulation of vortex-induced vibrations of two cylinders and the flow past two flexible fibres.

     

Modelling of fluid–solid interactions using an adaptive mesh fluid model coupled with a combined finite–discrete element model

Fluid–structure interactions are modelled by coupling the finite element fluid/ocean model ‘Fluidity-ICOM’ with a combined finite–discrete element solid model ‘Y3D’. Because separate meshes are used for the fluids and solids, the present method is flexible in terms of discretisation schemes used for each material. Also, it can tackle multiple solids impacting on one another, without having ill-posed problems in the resolution of the fluid’s equations. Importantly, the proposed approach ensures that Newton’s third law is satisfied at the discrete level. This is done by first computing the action–reaction force on a supermesh, i.e. a function superspace of the fluid and solid meshes, and then projecting it to both meshes to use it as a source term in the fluid and solid equations. This paper demonstrates the properties of spatial conservation and accuracy of the method for a sphere immersed in a fluid, with prescribed fluid and solid velocities. While spatial conservation is shown to be independent of the mesh resolutions, accuracy requires fine resolutions in both fluid and solid meshes. It is further highlighted that unstructured meshes adapted to the solid concentration field reduce the numerical errors, in comparison with uniformly structured meshes with the same number of elements. The method is verified on flow past a falling sphere. Its potential for ocean applications is further shown through the simulation of vortex-induced vibrations of two cylinders and the flow past two flexible fibres.     

Sedimentological data-driven bottom friction parameter estimation in modelling Bristol Channel tidal dynamics

Ocean Dynamics - Accurately representing the bottom friction effect is a significant challenge in numerical tidal models. Bottom friction effects are commonly defined via parameter estimation...