The ‘zoo’ of secondary instabilities precursory to stratified shear flow transition. Part 2 The influence of stratification

2012 ◽  
Vol 708 ◽  
pp. 45-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mashayek ◽  
W. R. Peltier

AbstractThe linear stability analyses described in Mashayek & Peltier (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 708, 2012, 5–44, hereafter MP1) are extended herein in an investigation of the influence of stratification on the evolution of secondary instabilities to which an evolving Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) wave is susceptible in an initially unstable parallel stratified shear layer. We show that over a wide range of background stratification levels, the braid shear instability has a higher probability of emerging at early stages of the flow evolution while the secondary convective instability (SCI), which occurs in the eyelids of the individual Kelvin ‘cats eyes’, will remain a relevant and dominant instability at high Reynolds numbers. The evolution of both modes is greatly influenced by the background stratification. Various other three-dimensional secondary instabilities are found to exist over a wide range of stratification levels. In particular, the stagnation point instability (SPI), which was discussed in detail in MP1, may be of great potential importance providing alternate routes for transition of an initially two-dimensional KH wave into fully developed turbulence. The energetics of the secondary instabilities revealed by our simulations are analysed in detail and the preturbulent mixing properties are studied.

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bayode E. Owolabi ◽  
David J. C. Dennis ◽  
Robert J. Poole

In this study, we examine the development length requirements for laminar Couette–Poiseuille flows in a two-dimensional (2D) channel as well as in the three-dimensional (3D) case of flow through a square duct, using a combination of numerical and experimental approaches. The parameter space investigated covers wall to bulk velocity ratios, r, spanning from 0 (purely pressure-driven flow) to 2 (purely wall driven-flow; 4 in the case of a square duct) and a wide range of Reynolds numbers (Re). The results indicate an increase in the development length (L) with r. Consistent with the findings of Durst et al. (2005, “The Development Lengths of Laminar Pipe and Channel Flows,” ASME J. Fluids Eng., 127(6), pp. 1154–1160), L was observed to be of the order of the channel height in the limit as Re→0, irrespective of the condition at the inlet. This, however, changes at high Reynolds numbers, with L increasing linearly with Re. In all the cases considered, a uniform velocity profile at the inlet was found to result in longer entry lengths than in a flow developing from a parabolic inlet profile. We show that this inlet effect becomes less important as the limit of purely wall-driven flow is approached. Finally, we develop correlations for predicting L in these flows and, for the first time, also present laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) measurements of the developing as well as fully-developed velocity profiles, and observe good agreement between experiment, analytical solution, and numerical simulation results in the 3D case.


2012 ◽  
Vol 694 ◽  
pp. 292-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Balmforth ◽  
A. Roy ◽  
C. P. Caulfield

AbstractWe consider the linear stability and nonlinear evolution of two-dimensional shear flows that take the form of an unstratified plane Couette flow that is seeded with a localized ‘defect’ containing sharp density and vorticity variations. For such flows, matched asymptotic expansions furnish a reduced model that allows a straightforward and computationally efficient exploration of flows at sufficiently high Reynolds and Péclet numbers that sharp density and vorticity gradients persist throughout the onset, growth and saturation of instability. We are thereby able to study the linear and nonlinear dynamics of three canonical variants of stratified shear instability: Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, the Holmboe instability, and the lesser-considered Taylor instability, all of which are often interpreted in terms of the interactions of waves riding on sharp interfaces of density and vorticity. The dynamics near onset is catalogued; if the interfaces are sufficiently sharp, the onset of instability is subcritical, with a nonlinear state existing below the linear instability threshold. Beyond onset, both Holmboe and Taylor instabilities are susceptible to inherently two-dimensional secondary instabilities that lead to wave mergers and wavelength coarsening. Additional two-dimensional secondary instabilities are also found to appear for higher Prandtl numbers that take the form of parasitic Holmboe-like waves.


2012 ◽  
Vol 708 ◽  
pp. 5-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mashayek ◽  
W. R. Peltier

AbstractWe study the competition between various secondary instabilities that co-exist in a preturbulent stratified parallel flow subject to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. In particular, we investigate whether a secondary braid instability might emerge prior to the overturning of the statically unstable regions that develop in the cores of the primary Kelvin–Helmholtz billows. We identify two groups of instabilities on the braid. One group is a shear instability which extracts its energy from the background shear and is suppressed by the straining contribution of the background flow. The other group, which seems to have no precedent in the literature, includes phase-locked modes which grow at the stagnation point on the braid and are almost entirely driven by the straining contributions of the background flow. For the latter group, the braid shear has a negative influence on the growth rate. Our analysis demonstrates that the probability of finite-amplitude growth of both braid instabilities is enhanced with increasing Reynolds number and Richardson number. We also show that the possibility of emergence of braid instabilities decreases with the Prandtl number for the shear modes and increases for the stagnation point instabilities. Through detailed non-separable linear stability analysis, we show that both braid instabilities are fundamentally three dimensional with the shear modes being of small wavenumbers and the stagnation point modes dominating at large wavenumber.


2012 ◽  
Vol 696 ◽  
pp. 228-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kourmatzis ◽  
J. S. Shrimpton

AbstractThe fundamental mechanisms responsible for the creation of electrohydrodynamically driven roll structures in free electroconvection between two plates are analysed with reference to traditional Rayleigh–Bénard convection (RBC). Previously available knowledge limited to two dimensions is extended to three-dimensions, and a wide range of electric Reynolds numbers is analysed, extending into a fully inherently three-dimensional turbulent regime. Results reveal that structures appearing in three-dimensional electrohydrodynamics (EHD) are similar to those observed for RBC, and while two-dimensional EHD results bear some similarities with the three-dimensional results there are distinct differences. Analysis of two-point correlations and integral length scales show that full three-dimensional electroconvection is more chaotic than in two dimensions and this is also noted by qualitatively observing the roll structures that arise for both low (${\mathit{Re}}_{E} = 1$) and high electric Reynolds numbers (up to ${\mathit{Re}}_{E} = 120$). Furthermore, calculations of mean profiles and second-order moments along with energy budgets and spectra have examined the validity of neglecting the fluctuating electric field ${ E}_{i}^{\ensuremath{\prime} } $ in the Reynolds-averaged EHD equations and provide insight into the generation and transport mechanisms of turbulent EHD. Spectral and spatial data clearly indicate how fluctuating energy is transferred from electrical to hydrodynamic forms, on moving through the domain away from the charging electrode. It is shown that ${ E}_{i}^{\ensuremath{\prime} } $ is not negligible close to the walls and terms acting as sources and sinks in the turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent scalar flux and turbulent scalar variance equations are examined. Profiles of hydrodynamic terms in the budgets resemble those in the literature for RBC; however there are terms specific to EHD that are significant, indicating that the transfer of energy in EHD is also attributed to further electrodynamic terms and a strong coupling exists between the charge flux and variance, due to the ionic drift term.


2008 ◽  
Vol 615 ◽  
pp. 371-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. DONG

We report three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the turbulent flow between counter-rotating concentric cylinders with a radius ratio 0.5. The inner- and outer-cylinder Reynolds numbers have the same magnitude, which ranges from 500 to 4000 in the simulations. We show that with the increase of Reynolds number, the prevailing structures in the flow are azimuthal vortices with scales much smaller than the cylinder gap. At high Reynolds numbers, while the instantaneous small-scale vortices permeate the entire domain, the large-scale Taylor vortex motions manifested by the time-averaged field do not penetrate a layer of fluid near the outer cylinder. Comparisons between the standard Taylor–Couette system (rotating inner cylinder, fixed outer cylinder) and the counter-rotating system demonstrate the profound effects of the Coriolis force on the mean flow and other statistical quantities. The dynamical and statistical features of the flow have been investigated in detail.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (04) ◽  
pp. 459-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
WEI-XING ZHOU ◽  
DIDIER SORNETTE ◽  
VLADILEN PISARENKO

We extend the analysis of Ref. 16 showing statistically significant log-periodic corrections to scaling in the moments of the energy dissipation rate in experiments at high Reynolds number (≈ 2500) of three-dimensional fully developed turbulence. First, we develop a simple variant of the canonical averaging method using a rephasing scheme between different samples based on pairwise correlations that confirms Zhou and Sornette's previous results. The second analysis uses a simpler local spectral approach and then performs averages over many local spectra. This yields stronger evidence of the existence of underlying log-periodic undulations, with the detection of more than 20 harmonics of a fundamental logarithmic frequency f = 1.434 ± 0.007 corresponding to the preferred scaling ratio γ = 2.008 ± 0.006.


2021 ◽  
Vol 930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kartik P. Iyer ◽  
Katepalli R. Sreenivasan ◽  
P.K. Yeung

Using direct numerical simulations performed on periodic cubes of various sizes, the largest being $8192^3$ , we examine the nonlinear advection term in the Navier–Stokes equations generating fully developed turbulence. We find significant dissipation even in flow regions where nonlinearity is locally absent. With increasing Reynolds number, the Navier–Stokes dynamics amplifies the nonlinearity in a global sense. This nonlinear amplification with increasing Reynolds number renders the vortex stretching mechanism more intermittent, with the global suppression of nonlinearity, reported previously, restricted to low Reynolds numbers. In regions where vortex stretching is absent, the angle and the ratio between the convective vorticity and solenoidal advection in three-dimensional isotropic turbulence are statistically similar to those in the two-dimensional case, despite the fundamental differences between them.


1978 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Perry ◽  
T. T. Lim

By applying small lateral oscillations to a glass tube from which smoke was issuing, perfectly periodic coflowing jets and wake structures were produced at Reynolds numbers of order 300-1000. These structures remained coherent over long streamwise distances and appeared to be perfectly frozen when viewed under stroboscopic light which was synchronized with the disturbing oscillation. By the use of strobing laser beams, longitudinal sections of the structures were photographed and an account of the geometry of these structures is reported.When the tube was unforced, similar structures occurred but they modulated in scale and frequency, and their orientation was random.A classification of structures is presented and examples are demonstrated in naturally occurring situations such as smoke from a cigarette, the wake behind a three-dimensional blunt body, and the high Reynolds number flow in a plume from a chimney. It is suggested that an examination of these structures may give some insight into the large-scale motion in fully turbulent flow.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Feitosa Rosetti ◽  
Guilherme Vaz ◽  
André Luís Condino Fujarra

The cylinder flow is a canonical problem for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), as it can display several of the most relevant issues for a wide class of flows, such as boundary layer separation, vortex shedding, flow instabilities, laminar-turbulent transition and others. Several applications also display these features justifying the amount of energy invested in studying this problem in a wide range of Reynolds numbers. The Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (URANS) equations combined with simplifying assumptions for turbulence have been shown inappropriate for the captive cylinder flow in an important range of Reynolds numbers. For that reason, recent improvements in turbulence modeling has been one of the most important lines of research within that issue, aiming at better prediction of flow and loads, mainly targeting the three-dimensional effects and laminar-turbulent transition, which are so important for blunt bodies. In contrast, a much smaller amount of work is observed concerning the investigation of turbulent effects when the cylinder moves with driven or free motions. Evidently, larger understanding of the contribution of turbulence in those situations can lead to more precise mathematical and numerical modeling of the flow around a moving cylinder. In this paper, we present CFD calculations in a range of moderate Reynolds numbers with different turbulence models and considering a cylinder in captive condition, in driven and in free motions. The results corroborate an intuitive notion that the inertial effects indeed play very important role in determining loads and motions. The flow also seems to adapt to the motions in such a way that vortices are more correlated and less influenced by turbulence effects. Due to good comparison of the numerical and experimental results for the moving-cylinder cases, it is observed that the choice of turbulence model for driven and free motions calculations is markedly less decisive than for the captive cylinder case.


2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (205) ◽  
pp. 811-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie Zermatten ◽  
Sophia Haussener ◽  
Martin Schneebeli ◽  
Aldo Steinfeld

AbstractA tomography-based methodology for the mass transport characterization of snow is presented. Five samples, characteristic for a wide range of seasonal snow, are considered. Their three-dimensional (3-D) geometrical representations are obtained by micro-computed tomography and used in direct pore-level simulations to numerically solve the governing mass and momentum conservation equations, allowing for the determination of their effective permeability and Dupuit–Forchheimer coefficient. The extension to the Dupuit–coefficient is useful near the snow surface, where Reynolds numbers higher than unity can appear. Simplified semi-empirical models of porous media are also examined. The methodology presented allows for the determination of snow’s effective mass transport properties, which are strongly dependent on the snow microstructure and morphology. These effective properties can, in turn, readily be used in snowpack volume-averaged (continuum) models such as strongly layered samples with macroscopically anisotropic properties.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document