Pw. Duck et al., ON THE BOUNDARY-LAYER ARISING IN THE SPIN-UP OF A STRATIFIED FLUID INA CONTAINER WITH SLOPING WALLS, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 335, 1997, pp. 233-259
In this paper we consider the boundary layer that forms on the sloping
walls of a rotating container (notably a conical container), filled w
ith a stratified fluid, when flow conditions are changed abruptly from
some initial (uniform) state. The structure of the solution valid awa
y from the cone apex is derived, and it is shown that a similarity-typ
e solution is appropriate. This system, which is inherently nonlinear
in nature, is solved numerically for several flow regimes, and the res
ults reveal a number of interesting and diverse features. In one case,
a steady state is attained at large times inside the boundary layer.
In a second case, a finite-time singularity occurs, which is fully ana
lysed. A third scenario involves a double boundary-layer structure dev
eloping at large times, most significantly including an outer region t
hat grows in thickness as the square-root of time. We also consider di
rectly the nonlinear fully steady solutions to the problem, and map ou
t in parameter space the likely ultimate flow behaviour. Intriguingly,
we find cases where, when the rotation rate of the container is equal
to that of the main body of the fluid, an alternative nonlinear state
is preferred, rather than the trivial (uniform) solution. Finally, ut
ilizing Laplace transforms, we re-investigate the linear initial-value
problem for small differential spin-up studied by MacCready & Rhines
(1991), recovering the growing-layer solution they found. However, in
contrast to earlier work, we find a critical value of the buoyancy par
ameter beyond which the solution grows exponentially in time, consiste
nt with our nonlinear results.