Wave-induced bed flows by a Lagrangian vortex scheme (Q1062831)

Nominally 2-dimensional viscous flow induced by gravity waves over a spatially periodic bed is simulated by a Lagrangian vortex scheme. A vortex sheet is introduced on the surface at each time step to satisfy the zero velocity conditions. The sheet is discretised; the vortex-incell method is used to convect vorticity and random walks are added to effect viscous diffusion. Good agreement with analytical theory is obtained for velocity profiles in uniform sinusoidal flow and for mass transport due to linear waves. Mass transport for finite amplitude waves is also obtained. For separated flow over rippled beds, which is still laminar, a vortex decay factor is required to produce agreement with experiment and is thought to compensate for large scale 3-dimensional effects.