A two-dimensional model of flow and bed topography in sinuous channels with erodible boundaries is developed and applied in order to investigate the mechanism of meander initiation. By reexamining the problem recently tackled by Ikeda, Parker & Sawai (1981), a previously undiscovered ‘resonance’ phenomenon is detected which occurs when the values of the relevant parameters fall within a neighbourhood of certain critical values. It is suggested that the above resonance controls the bend growth, and it is shown that it is connected in some sense with bar instability. In fact, by performing a linear stability analysis of flow in straight erodible channels, resonant flow in sinuous channels is shown to occur when curvature ‘forces’ a ‘natural’ solution represented by approximately steady perturbations of the alternate bar type. A comparison with experimental observations appears to support the idea that resonance is associated with meander formation.

In the present paper we formulate a predictive theory of the formation of sand ripples under sea waves. The theory is based on a linear stability analysis of a flat sandy bottom subject to a viscous oscillatory flow. The conditions for decay or amplification of a bottom perturbation are determined along with the wavelength of the most unstable component as a function of the Reynolds number of the flow and of the Froude and Reynolds numbers of the sediments. A comparison between theoretical findings and experimental data supports the validity of the present theory. An analytical solution for viscous oscillatory flow over a small-amplitude wavy bottom is determined for arbitrary values of the ratio r between the amplitude of fluid displacement and the wavelength of bottom waviness. Previous works by Lyne (1971) and Sleath (1976), who considered small or large values of r, are thus extended.

A fully three-dimensional model is proposed for the generation of tidal sand waves and sand banks from small bottom perturbations of a flat seabed subject to tidal currents. The model predicts the conditions leading to the appearance of both tidal sand waves and sand banks and determines their main geometrical characteristics. A finite wavelength of both sand waves and sand banks is found around the critical conditions, thus opening the possibility of performing a weakly nonlinear stability analysis able to predict the equilibrium amplitude of the bottom forms. As shown by previous works on the subject, the sand wave crests turn out to be orthogonal to the direction of the main tidal current. The present results also show that in the Northern Hemisphere sand bank crests are clockwise or counter-clockwise rotated with respect to the main tidal current depending on the counter-clockwise or clockwise rotation of the velocity vector induced by the tide. Only for unidirectional or quasi-unidirectional tidal currents are sand banks always counter-clockwise rotated. The predictions of the model are supported by comparisons with field data. Finally, the mechanisms leading to the appearance of sand waves and sand banks are discussed in the light of the model findings. In particular, it is shown that the growth of sand banks is not only induced by the depth-averaged residual circulation which is present around the bedforms and is parallel to the crests of the bottom forms: a steady drift of the sediment from the troughs towards the crests is also driven by the steady velocity component orthogonal to the crests which is present close to the bottom and can be quantified only by a three-dimensional model. While the former mechanism appears to trigger the formation of counter-clockwise sand banks only, the latter mechanism can give rise to both counter-clockwise and clockwise rotated sand banks

The dynamics of the vortex structures appearing in an oscillatory boundary layer (Stokes boundary layer), when the flow departs from the laminar regime, is investigated by means of flow visualizations and a quantitative analysis of the velocity and vorticity fields. The data are obtained by means of direct numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes and continuity equations. The wall is flat but characterized by small imperfections. The analysis is aimed at identifying points in common and differences between wall turbulence in unsteady flows and the well-investigated turbulence structure in the steady case. As in Jimenez & Moin (1991), the goal is to isolate the basic flow unit and to study its morphology and dynamics. Therefore, the computational domain is kept as small as possible.The elementary process which maintains turbulence in oscillatory boundary layers is found to be similar to that of steady flows. Indeed, when turbulence is generated, a sequence of events similar to those observed in steady boundary layers is observed. However, these events do not occur randomly in time but with a repetition time scale which is about half the period of fluid oscillations. At the end of the accelerating phases of the cycle, low-speed streaks appear close to the wall. During the early part of the decelerating phases the strength of the low-speed streaks grows. Then the streaks twist, oscillate and eventually break, originating small-scale vortices. Far from the wall, the analysis of the vorticity field has revealed the existence of a sequence of streamwise vortices of alternating circulation pumping low-speed fluid far from the wall as suggested by Sendstad & Moin (1992) for steady flows. The vortex structures observed far from the wall disappear when too small a computational domain is used, even though turbulence is self-sustaining. The present results suggest that the streak instability mechanism is the dominant mechanism generating and maintaining turbulence; no evidence of the well-known parent vortex structures spawning offspring vortices is found. Although wall imperfections are necessary to trigger transition to turbulence, the characteristics of the coherent vortex structures, for example the spacing of the low-speed streaks, are found to be independent of wall imperfections.

[1] We describe a simple mathematical model capable of reproducing the main features of sand wave inception and growth. In particular we focus on the prediction of the migration rates that sand waves undergo because of tidal and residual currents. The model adequately predicts migration rates even for the cases of upstream-propagating sand waves, i.e., for sand waves which migrate in the direction opposite to that of the residual current. We show that upstream/downstream propagation is mainly controlled by the relative strength of the residual current with respect to the amplitude of the quarter-diurnal tide constituent and by the phase shift between the semi-diurnal and quarter-diurnal tide constituents. Therefore, to accurately predict field cases, a detailed knowledge of the direction, strength, and phase of the different tide constituents is required.