Effects of Internal Heating on the Dynamics and Patterns of Stratified Wakes
Abstract
With advancing technology, submarines are getting quieter, and detection methods may need to include non-acoustical means. Wake detection is one such method that can be used for submarine detection. An internally heated submerged body such as a submarine travelling through stratified ocean columns generates a warm wake. Using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology General Circulation Model (MITgcm), we conducted a series of large eddy simulations to model the quantitative and qualitative effects of the warm wake produced by a towed spherical submerged body with a heating source. In this study, we studied the effects of varying the heating rate and noted that there are observable differences in the thermal anomaly between these cases during the early wake. At later times, heating of the wake does not seem to have a substantial effect on the thermal and turbulent characteristics of the wake. Distinctive loop shapes form in slices of the turbulent dissipation rate in all cases that may be used to easily identify submarine wakes. We also observed that the thermal anomaly is correlated to the submerged bodys velocity and to higher background salinity gradients for comparable density stratification.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1126465
Entities
People
- Lianghai C. Huang
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School