TIDICS—Control of tidal residual circulation and tidal exchange in a channel-basin system

A self-excited oscillation of tidal flow occurs in a tidal channel-basin system with a narrow and high speed inflowing tidal jet. The mechanism of this oscillation was examined through hydraulic experiments. Results show that the oscillation is caused by alternation in the strength of asymmetric residual circulation caused by a biased supply of vorticity by asymmetric tidal vortex pairs, and that the mechanism of alternation also depends on negative feed-back between the residual circulation and the vorticity supply.The unstable state of the flow suggested the possibility of controlling the tidal current and tidal exchange in the channel-basin system and this was confirmed experimentally. Under fixed tidal conditions and with fixed basin dimensions, the tidal residual circulation was controlled to form two strong clockwise and anticlockwise circulations or a single circulation by changing the shape of the bay entrance.