Why a corrugated coast only influences a longshore current within a wave length of the coast

An inviscid zone of influence is postulated from a physical model to occur when a steady homogeneous fluid flows by a two-dimensional corrugated wall with small slopes. The thickness of the influence zone is calculated to be a constant times the wave length of the wall. The method used involves bala...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 1987-05, Vol.43 (2), p.135-138
Main Author: KENYON, K. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coastal oceanography, estuaries. Regional oceanography
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Marine
Physics of the oceans
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Summary:An inviscid zone of influence is postulated from a physical model to occur when a steady homogeneous fluid flows by a two-dimensional corrugated wall with small slopes. The thickness of the influence zone is calculated to be a constant times the wave length of the wall. The method used involves balancing pressure differences between extreme points along the wall and between the wall and the outer edge of the influence zone but does not involve the irrotational assumption. An influence zone forms because the curvature of the boundary induces cross-stream accelerations and pressure gradients in the fluid. The result for the thickness of the influence zone agrees qualitatively with the exponential decay scale of an available potential flow solution to a similar problem, which suggests that the influence zone may occur in some rotational (as well as irrotational) flows.
ISSN:0029-8131
1573-868X
DOI:10.1007/BF02111889