Dissipative effects on inertial flows over a sill

A systematic investigation of the effects of various parametrizations of dissipation, e.g. quadratic and linear frictional drag, harmonic lateral viscosity, and harmonic lateral diffusion on inertial flow over a sill and possible hydraulic control is presented. Rotation effects are ignored and the geometry is assumed to vary only slowly with downstream distance so that the flow may be considered one-dimensional. Results are given both for a single-active layer and for two-active layers with a rigid lid.If the parametrization is only a function of the dependent variables and not of their spatial derivatives, then it may be possible to hydraulically control the flow. A general expression is derived for the possible control point and the two gradients there, which are functions of the slope and possibly of flow rate. Specific energy is irreversibly removed from the flow and non-controlled as well as controlled flows can exhibit significant asymmetry in fluid depth over a sill. The upstream specific energy, and hence depth of the lower layer, of the controlled flow is greater than for an ideal fluid. Frictional effects modify the behaviour of long gravity waves, such that they are dispersive and damped with time. The system will only exhibit hydraulic control if these effects are small.For a viscous single layer of fluid, the gradient in surface elevation is always uniquely defined, so classically defined hydraulic control, as such, cannot exist. However, for values of non-dimensional lateral eddy viscosity coefficient, , where q is the flow rate, there is a narrow band of specific energies centred around that for the control solution in an ideal fluid, E_crit, for which the surface elevation, h is very asymmetric over the sill; the solutions resemble the inviscid, hydraulically controlled solutions. Outside this range, either the fluid depth tends to zero, or the surface elevation is almost uniform over the sill. A ‘control’-type solution exists which has the conjugate values of the inviscid equation up- and downstream of the sill, where the gradient in fluid depth, and hence the viscous term, is zero. For larger values of A_M, the band of specific energies is much wider, and the upstream specific energy of the ‘control’-type solution is much lower than that for an inviscid fluid. Long gravity waves are dispersive and damped with time. There is a short-wave cut-off, k² > h/(4A_M²), above which waves are stationary in the flow. Longer waves, k² h/(4A_M²), are critical if , as for an ideal fluid. If these waves can propagate significant distances, then any observed asymmetry in h will be due to inertial and not to viscous effects. The behaviour of unidirectional, two-layer flow is similar. The governing equation for viscous, two-layer exchange flow is singular, and typically excludes the ‘control’-type solutions found for unidirectional flows.Establishing the existence and behaviour of steady inertial flows in the presence of lateral diffusion between layers is more difficult. It significantly alters the single-layer solutions once the non-dimensional coefficient A_H is large, i.e. . The flow rate may become zero on the downslope as all the fluid diffuses into the inert, infinitely deep, overlaying layer. The fluid depth is maintained by reverse flow from downstream. In this case, the depth of the active layer tends to zero downstream for all values of specific energy. For two-layer flow, both unidirectional and exchange, the governing equation is such that the lower-layer flow rate and interfacial height return to their upstream values.Motivation for the study is provided by the increasingly fine spatial resolution achievable in large-scale numerical models of the ocean general circulation, and the question of whether they are capable of simulating some form of hydraulic control. Application to modelling oceanic flows over a sill is discussed.