Drift velocity of spatially decaying waves in a two-layer viscous system

Abstract

This paper analyses the mass transport velocity in a two-layer system induced by the action of progressive waves. First the movement inside the two layers is obtained. Next the mass transport of spatially decaying waves is calculated by solving the momentum and mass conservation equations in the Lagrangian coordinate system. Two different physical situations are analysed: the first is waves in a closed channel and the second is waves in an unbounded domain, where the steady-state mass flux may be non-zero. The influence of the viscous properties of the lower layer on the mass transport in both layers is studied. Comparison with the experiments of Sakakiyama & Bijker (1989) in a water-mud system shows good agreement. The results show that the mass transport velocity can be quite different from the velocity given by the rigid bed theory, depending on the physical properties of the lower layer.