Invariants of Turbulence Reynolds Stress and of Dissipation Tensors in Regular Breaking Waves

Abstract

A series of measurements in a flume with a particle-tracking system in three dimensions applied to breaking waves is used to analyse the structure of turbulence with a full set of variables that usually are available only in numerical simulations. After extracting turbulence, in addition to the standard analysis aiming to quantify the fluxes, i.e., the time-average and the phase-average levels of turbulence and vorticity (details are given in two former papers), a more in-depth description of the structure of turbulence Reynolds stress tensor is given, focussing on the invariants evolution in time and in the vertical. A relation between the components of the Reynolds stress tensor and of the dissipation tensor is depicted. This relation is finalised to possible models of turbulence in breaking waves.