Particle image velocimetry measurements of wave-current interaction in a laboratory flume

The hydrodynamics of wave-current interaction is of interest to those concerned with marine and offshore structures. In particular the fluid loading characteristic may be radically altered in a sea state consisting of a mean current flow mixed with freely propagating gravity waves.

The present paper describes water flume experiments, using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), executed to examine hydrodynamics of wave-current interaction. A variety of wave and current conditions were investigated to determine the major influences on the combined flow.

This paper describes the experimental procedures used to obtain simultaneous measurements of the resulting wave velocity vectors over an extended region of the wave. It also describes how the directional ambiguity inherent in the basic PIV method was resolved by ‘pulse tagging’ technique.

Velocity vectors under waves at various phase points for different current and wave conditions are presented and compared in some cases with measurements derived using Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA). The resulting velocity vectors are used to estimate how the mutual interaction, between wave and current, effect the calculation of structural loads using Morrison's equation.