Wave-current flow and vorticity close to a fixed rippled bed

Abstract

An experimental study of wave and current interaction over ripples is presented in this paper. The campaign was carried out at the shallow water tank at the Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI, Denmark), in the framework of the TA WINGS (Waves plus currents INteracting at a right anGle over rough bedS), funded by the European Union (EU) through the Hydralab+ program. Mean velocity profiles, measured with acoustic Doppler velocimeters for different flow conditions including current only, wave only and wave plus current were recorded and allowed to recover flow and vorticity fields. Recirculating cells in both wave only and wave plus current conditions form but they flatten when the current superposes over the wave. It was found that the superposition of current reduces the undertow present in the case of only waves and leads to an increase of vorticity outside the boundary layer. Instead, inside the boundary layer, the vorticity is dumped by the effect of current.