scholarly journals Heteroclinic path to spatially localized chaos in pipe flow

2017 ◽  
Vol 827 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. B. Budanur ◽  
B. Hof

In shear flows at transitional Reynolds numbers, localized patches of turbulence, known as puffs, coexist with the laminar flow. Recently, Avila et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 110, 2013, 224502) discovered two spatially localized relative periodic solutions for pipe flow, which appeared in a saddle-node bifurcation at low Reynolds number. Combining slicing methods for continuous symmetry reduction with Poincaré sections for the first time in a shear flow setting, we compute and visualize the unstable manifold of the lower-branch solution and show that it extends towards the neighbourhood of the upper-branch solution. Surprisingly, this connection even persists far above the bifurcation point and appears to mediate the first stage of the puff generation: amplification of streamwise localized fluctuations. When the state-space trajectories on the unstable manifold reach the vicinity of the upper branch, corresponding fluctuations expand in space and eventually take the usual shape of a puff.

2009 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. 215-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. VISWANATH ◽  
P. CVITANOVIĆ

Lower branch travelling waves and equilibria computed in pipe flow and other shear flows appear intermediate between turbulent and laminar motions. We take a step towards connecting these lower branch solutions to transition by deriving a numerical method for finding certain special disturbances of the laminar flow in a short pipe. These special disturbances cause the disturbed velocity field to approach the lower branch solution by evolving along its stable manifold. If the disturbance were slightly smaller, the flow would relaminarize, and if slightly larger, it would transition to a turbulent state.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 3827-3842
Author(s):  
Samer Ali ◽  
Zein Alabidin Shami ◽  
Ali Badran ◽  
Charbel Habchi

Purpose In this paper, self-sustained second mode oscillations of flexible vortex generator (FVG) are produced to enhance the heat transfer in two-dimensional laminar flow regime. The purpose of this study is to determine the critical Reynolds number at which FVG becomes more efficient than rigid vortex generators (RVGs). Design/methodology/approach Ten cases were studied with different Reynolds numbers varying from 200 to 2,000. The Nusselt number and friction coefficients of the FVG cases are compared to those of RVG and empty channel at the same Reynolds numbers. Findings For Reynolds numbers higher than 800, the FVG oscillates in the second mode causing a significant increase in the velocity gradients generating unsteady coherent flow structures. The highest performance was obtained at the maximum Reynolds number for which the global Nusselt number is improved by 35.3 and 41.4 per cent with respect to empty channel and rigid configuration, respectively. Moreover, the thermal enhancement factor corresponding to FVG is 72 per cent higher than that of RVG. Practical implications The results obtained here can help in the design of novel multifunctional heat exchangers/reactors by using flexible tabs and inserts instead of rigid ones. Originality/value The originality of this paper is the use of second mode oscillations of FVG to enhance heat transfer in laminar flow regime.


Author(s):  
Francine Battaglia ◽  
George Papadopoulos

The effect of three-dimensionality on low Reynolds number flows past a symmetric sudden expansion in a channel was investigated. The geometric expansion ratio of in the current study was 2:1 and the aspect ratio was 6:1. Both experimental velocity measurements and two- and three-dimensional simulations for the flow along the centerplane of the rectangular duct are presented for Reynolds numbers in the range of 150 to 600. Comparison of the two-dimensional simulations with the experiments revealed that the simulations fail to capture completely the total expansion effect on the flow, which couples both geometric and hydrodynamic effects. To properly do so requires the definition of an effective expansion ratio, which is the ratio of the downstream and upstream hydraulic diameters and is therefore a function of both the expansion and aspect ratios. When the two-dimensional geometry was consistent with the effective expansion ratio, the new results agreed well with the three-dimensional simulations and the experiments. Furthermore, in the range of Reynolds numbers investigated, the laminar flow through the expansion underwent a symmetry-breaking bifurcation. The critical Reynolds number evaluated from the experiments and the simulations was compared to other values reported in the literature. Overall, side-wall proximity was found to enhance flow stability, helping to sustain laminar flow symmetry to higher Reynolds numbers in comparison to nominally two-dimensional double-expansion geometries. Lastly, and most importantly, when the logarithm of the critical Reynolds number from all these studies was plotted against the reciprocal of the effective expansion ratio, a linear trend emerged that uniquely captured the bifurcation dynamics of all symmetric double-sided planar expansions.


1968 ◽  
Vol 72 (688) ◽  
pp. 345-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Quarmby

Summary Experimental results are presented of the measurement of the ratio of the wall shear stresses at the inner and outer surfaces of concentric annuli. Five radius ratios were investigated with Reynolds numbers in the range 2000-89 000 with air. The Reynolds number is defined as where ū is the bulk velocity. It is concluded that the ratio of the shear stresses is very different from the corresponding laminar flow value and is a function of both radius ratio and Reynolds number.


Author(s):  
Sowjanya Vijiapurapu ◽  
Jie Cui

Fully developed turbulent pipe flow is investigated by large eddy simulations (LES). The three-dimensional, unsteady, incompressible, filtered continuity and Navier-Stokes equations in cylindrical coordinates are discretized by a finite difference method. The spatial derivatives are approximated by second order conservative schemes. This scheme eliminates the numerical generation or dissipation of energy. The pressure Poisson equation is solved by FFT method and time is advanced through a third order Runge-Kutta method. The commonly used subgrid scale (SGS) models — the Smagorinsky model and the dynamic model are implemented and simulations are performed for fully developed turbulent pipe flow at two different Reynolds numbers. The flow features in terms of mean velocity as well as higher order turbulence intensities and correlations are presented and compared to experimental and DNS data available in literature. Extensive comparisons are made for cases using different grid resolution, different streamwise domain dimension, different sub-grid scale model, and, at two different Reynolds number. For two Reynolds numbers (5,000 and 30,000) tested in this study, the fine mesh (64 × 96 × 64, circumferential × radial × longitudinal) produces better results than the coarse mesh (32 × 48 × 32), indicating the significance of the grid resolution, especially near the pipe surface. On the fine mesh for the two Reynolds numbers, the results exhibit a slight Reynolds number effect, indicating the mesh needs to be further refined at higher Reynolds number. Simulations were performed for two domain sizes, namely 6D and 12D, where D is the pipe diameter. When the streamwise grid resolution remains unchanged, the two simulations show negligible difference. This ensures that a 6D domain is adequate to include the largest eddies in a fully developed turbulent pipe flow at the current Reynolds number. When the fine mesh is used, the subgrid scale models (Smagorinsky and Dynamic) provide limited contribution to the total turbulent kinetic energy. Although the current results agree quite well with other published LES simulations, when compared with the Law of the wall, benchmark experiments and DNS results, the simulated mean velocity in the log region is higher than the experimental and DNS data. Overall, it was observed that the numerical methods work satisfactorily well for turbulent pipe flows at low and high Reynolds numbers, and, the method has capability to be used in the simulation of flows with practical interest.


2012 ◽  
Vol 710 ◽  
pp. 362-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Espinosa-Gayosso ◽  
Marco Ghisalberti ◽  
Gregory N. Ivey ◽  
Nicole L. Jones

AbstractParticle capture, whereby suspended particles contact and adhere to a solid surface (a ‘collector’), is an important mechanism in a range of environmental processes. In aquatic systems, typically characterized by low collector Reynolds numbers ($\mathit{Re}$), the rate of particle capture determines the efficiencies of a range of processes such as seagrass pollination, suspension feeding by corals and larval settlement. In this paper, we use direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a two-dimensional laminar flow to accurately quantify the rate of capture of low-inertia particles by a cylindrical collector for $\mathit{Re}\leq 47$ (i.e. a range where there is no vortex shedding). We investigate the dependence of both the capture rate and maximum capture angle on both the collector Reynolds number and the ratio of particle size to collector size. The inner asymptotic expansion of Skinner (Q. J. Mech. Appl. Maths, vol. 28, 1975, pp. 333–340) for flow around a cylinder is extended and shown to provide an excellent framework for the prediction of particle capture and flow close to the leading face of a cylinder up to $\mathit{Re}= 10$. Our results fill a gap between theory and experiment by providing, for the first time, predictive capability for particle capture by aquatic collectors in a wide (and relevant) Reynolds number and particle size range.


2008 ◽  
Vol 614 ◽  
pp. 425-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
MINA NISHI ◽  
BÜLENT ÜNSAL ◽  
FRANZ DURST ◽  
GAUTAM BISWAS

Laminar-to-turbulent transition of pipe flows occurs, for sufficiently high Reynolds numbers, in the form of slugs. These are initiated by disturbances in the entrance region of a pipe flow, and grow in length in the axial direction as they move downstream. Sequences of slugs merge at some distance from the pipe inlet to finally form the state of fully developed turbulent pipe flow. This formation process is generally known, but the randomness in time of naturally occurring slug formation does not permit detailed study of slug flows. For this reason, a special test facility was developed and built for detailed investigation of deterministically generated slugs in pipe flows. It is also employed to generate the puff flows at lower Reynolds numbers. The results reveal a high degree of reproducibility with which the triggering device is able to produce puffs. With increasing Reynolds number, ‘puff splitting’ is observed and the split puffs develop into slugs. Thereafter, the laminar-to-turbulent transition occurs in the same way as found for slug flows. The ring-type obstacle height, h, required to trigger fully developed laminar flows to form first slugs or puffs is determined to show its dependence on the Reynolds number, Re = DU/ν (where D is the pipe diameter, U is the mean velocity in the axial direction and ν is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid). When correctly normalized, h+ turns out to be independent of Reτ (where h+ = hUτ/ν, Reτ = DUτ/ν and $U_{\tau}\,{=}\,\sqrt{\tau_{w}/ \rho}$; τw is the wall shear stress and ρ is the density of the fluid).


2017 ◽  
Vol 818 ◽  
pp. 595-622
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Plaut ◽  
Nicolas Roland ◽  
Chérif Nouar

In order to model the transition to turbulence in pipe flow of non-Newtonian fluids, the influence of a strongly shear-thinning rheology on the travelling waves with a threefold rotational symmetry of Faisst & Eckhardt (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 91, 2003, 224502) and Wedin & Kerswell (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 508, 2004, pp. 333–371) is analysed. The rheological model is Carreau’s law. Besides the shear-thinning index $n_{C}$, the dimensionless characteristic time $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$ of the fluid is considered as the main non-Newtonian control parameter. If $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}=0$, the fluid is Newtonian. In the relevant limit $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}\rightarrow +\infty$, the fluid approaches a power-law behaviour. The laminar base flows are first characterized. To compute the nonlinear waves, a Petrov–Galerkin code is used, with continuation methods, starting from the Newtonian case. The axial wavenumber is optimized and the critical waves appearing at minimal values of the Reynolds number $\mathit{Re}_{w}$ based on the mean velocity and wall viscosity are characterized. As $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$ increases, these correspond to a constant value of the Reynolds number based on the mean velocity and viscosity. This viscosity, close to the one of the laminar flow, can be estimated analytically. Therefore the experimentally relevant critical Reynolds number $\mathit{Re}_{wc}$ can also be estimated analytically. This Reynolds number may be viewed as a lower estimate of the Reynolds number for the transition to developed turbulence. This demonstrates a quantified stabilizing effect of the shear-thinning rheology. Finally, the increase of the pressure gradient in waves, as compared to the one in the laminar flow with the same mass flux, is calculated, and a kind of ‘drag reduction effect’ is found.


1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Reichert ◽  
R. S. Azad

Detailed measurements of mean velocity U profiles, in the inlet 70 diameters of a pipe, show that the development of turbulent pipe flow is nonasymptotic. Experiments were done at seven Reynolds numbers in the range 56 000–15 3000. Contours of U and V fields are presented for two representative Reynolds numbers. A U component peak exceeding the fully developed values has been found to occur along the pipe centerline. The Reynolds number behavior of the peak position has been determined. Hot film measurements of the mean wall shear stresses in the inlet region also show a nonasymptotic development consistent with the mean velocity results.


2015 ◽  
Vol 771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal Selvam ◽  
Jorge Peixinho ◽  
Ashley P. Willis

We report the results of three-dimensional direct numerical simulations for incompressible viscous fluid in a circular pipe flow with a gradual expansion. At the inlet, a parabolic velocity profile is applied together with a constant finite-amplitude perturbation to represent experimental imperfections. Initially, at low Reynolds number, the solution is steady. As the Reynolds number is increased, the length of the recirculation region near the wall grows linearly. Then, at a critical Reynolds number, a symmetry-breaking bifurcation occurs, where linear growth of asymmetry is observed. Near the point of transition to turbulence, the flow experiences oscillations due to a shear layer instability for a narrow range of Reynolds numbers. At higher Reynolds numbers, the recirculation region breaks into a turbulent state which remains spatially localised and unchanged when the perturbation is removed from the flow. Spatial correlation analysis suggests that the localised turbulence in the gradual expansion possesses a different flow structure from the turbulent puff of uniform pipe flow.


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