Experimental properties of continuously-forced, shear-driven, stratified turbulence

We study the experimental properties of exchange flows in a stratified inclined duct (SID), which are simultaneously turbulent, strongly stratified by a mean vertical density gradient, driven by a mean vertical shear, and continuously forced by gravity. We focus on the ‘core’ shear layer away from the duct walls, where these flows are excellent experimentally-realisable approximations of canonical hyperbolic-tangent stratified shear layers, whose forcing allows mean and turbulent properties to reach quasi-steady states.

We analyse state-of-the-art data sets of the time-resolved density and velocity in three-dimensional sub-volumes of the duct in 16 experiments covering a range of flow regimes (Holmboe waves, intermittent turbulence, full turbulence).

In this talk we focus on the turbulent energetics and mixing statistics. We assess the relevance of standard mixing parameterisations models relying on uniform eddy diffusivities, mixing lengths, flux parameters, buoyancy Reynolds numbers or turbulent Froude numbers, and we compare our experimental representative values with the stratified mixing literature. The dependence of these measures of mixing on controllable flow parameters is also elucidated, providing asymptotic estimates that may be extrapolated to more strongly turbulent flows, quantified by the product of the tilt angle of the duct and the Reynolds number.

These insights may serve as benchmark for the future generation of experimental data with superior spatio-temporal resolution required to probe increasingly vigorous turbulence.