Hairpin vortices and highly elongated flow structures in a stably stratified shear layer

2019 ◽  
Vol 878 ◽  
pp. 37-61
Author(s):  
Tomoaki Watanabe ◽  
James J. Riley ◽  
Koji Nagata ◽  
Keigo Matsuda ◽  
Ryo Onishi

Turbulent structures in stably stratified shear layers are studied with direct numerical simulation. Flow visualization confirms the existence of hairpin vortices and highly elongated structures with positive and negative velocity fluctuations, whose streamwise lengths divided by the layer thickness are $O(10^{0})$ and $O(10^{1})$, respectively. The flow at the wavelength related to these structures makes a large contribution to turbulent kinetic energy. These structures become prominent in late time, but with small buoyancy Reynolds numbers indicating suppression of turbulent mixing. Active turbulent mixing associated with the hairpin vortices, however, does occur. The structures and the vertical profile of the integral shear parameter show connections between stable stratified shear layers and wall-bounded shear flows.

Author(s):  
Jos Derksen

Homogenization of initially segregated and stably stratified systems consisting of two miscible liquids with different density and the same kinematic viscosity in an agitated tank was studied computationally. Reynolds numbers were in the range of 3,000 to 12,000 so that it was possible to solve the flow equations without explicitly modeling turbulence. The Richardson number that characterizes buoyancy was varied between 0 and 1. The stratification clearly lengthens the homogenization process. Two flow regimes could be identified. At low Richardson numbers large, three-dimensional flow structures dominate mixing, as is the case in non-buoyant systems. At high Richardson numbers the interface between the two liquids largely stays intact. It rises due to turbulent erosion, gradually drawing down and mixing up the lighter liquid.


2014 ◽  
Vol 759 ◽  
pp. 257-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua R. Brinkerhoff ◽  
Metin I. Yaras

AbstractMultiple mechanisms for the regeneration of hairpin-like coherent flow structures in transitional and turbulent boundary layers have been proposed in the published literature, but a complete understanding of the typical topologies of coherent structures observed in the literature has not yet been achieved. To contribute to this understanding, a numerical study is performed of a turbulent spot triggered in a zero-pressure-gradient laminar boundary layer by a pulsed, transverse jet. Two direct numerical simulations (DNS) capture the growth of the spot into a mature turbulent region containing a large number of coherent vortical flow structures. The boundary-layer Reynolds number based on the test-surface streamwise length is $\mathit{Re}_{L}=309\,200$. The internal structure of the spot is characterized by densely spaced packets of hairpin vortices. Lateral growth of the spot occurs as new hairpin vortices form along the spanwise edges of the spot. The formation of these hairpin vortices is attributed to unstable shear layers that develop in the streamwise–spanwise plane due to the wall-normal motions induced by the streamwise oriented legs of hairpin vortices within the spot. Results are presented that highlight the mechanism by which the instability of such shear layers forms wavepackets of hairpin vortices; how the formation of these vortices produces a flow environment that promotes the creation of new hairpin vortices; and how the newly created hairpin vortices impact the production of turbulence kinetic energy in the flow region surrounding the spot. A quantitative description of the hairpin-vortex regeneration mechanism based on the transport of the instantaneous vorticity vector is presented to illustrate how the velocity and vorticity fields interact with the local strain rates to promote the growth of coherent vortical structures. The simulation results also shed light on a mechanism that seems to have a dominant influence on the formation of the calmed region in the wake of the turbulent spot.


AIAA Journal ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1529-1536 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Viswanathan ◽  
P. J. Morris

2001 ◽  
Vol 426 ◽  
pp. 263-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
RUPAD M. DAREKAR ◽  
SPENCER J. SHERWIN

Numerical investigations have been performed for the flow past square-section cylinders with a spanwise geometric deformation leading to a stagnation face with a sinusoidal waviness. The computations were performed using a spectral/hp element solver over a range of Reynolds numbers from 10 to 150.Starting from fully developed shedding past a straight cylinder at a Reynolds number of 100, a sufficiently high waviness is impulsively introduced resulting in the stabilization of the near wake to a time-independent state. It is shown that the spanwise waviness sets up a cross-flow within the growing boundary layer on the leading-edge surface thereby generating streamwise and vertical components of vorticity. These additional components of vorticity appear in regions close to the inflection points of the wavy stagnation face where the spanwise vorticity is weakened. This redistribution of vorticity leads to the breakdown of the unsteady and staggered Kármán vortex wake into a steady and symmetric near-wake structure. The steady nature of the near wake is associated with a reduction in total drag of about 16% at a Reynolds number of 100 compared with the straight, non-wavy cylinder.Further increases in the amplitude of the waviness lead to the emergence of hairpin vortices from the near-wake region. This wake topology has similarities to the wake of a sphere at low Reynolds numbers. The physical structure of the wake due to the variation of the amplitude of the waviness is identified with five distinct regimes. Furthermore, the introduction of a waviness at a wavelength close to the mode A wavelength and the primary wavelength of the straight square-section cylinder leads to the suppression of the Kármán street at a minimal waviness amplitude.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 124116
Author(s):  
Jin Ge ◽  
Xin-ting Zhang ◽  
Hai-feng Li ◽  
Bao-lin Tian

Author(s):  
F. F. Grinstein ◽  
A. A. Gowardhan ◽  
J. R. Ristorcelli

Under-resolved computer simulations are typically unavoidable in practical turbulent flow applications exhibiting extreme geometrical complexity and a broad range of length and time scales. An important unsettled issue is whether filtered-out and subgrid spatial scales can significantly alter the evolution of resolved larger scales of motion and practical flow integral measures. Predictability issues in implicit large eddy simulation of under-resolved mixing of material scalars driven by under-resolved velocity fields and initial conditions are discussed in the context of shock-driven turbulent mixing. The particular focus is on effects of resolved spectral content and interfacial morphology of initial conditions on transitional and late-time turbulent mixing in the fundamental planar shock-tube configuration.


Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 1399
Author(s):  
Jinsheng Liu ◽  
Yue Xiao ◽  
Mogeng Li ◽  
Jianjun Tao ◽  
Shengjin Xu

The intermittent distribution of localized turbulent structures is a key feature of the subcritical transitions in channel flows, which are studied in this paper with a wind channel and theoretical modeling. Entrance disturbances are introduced by small beads, and localized turbulent patches can be triggered at low Reynolds numbers (Re). High turbulence intensity represents strong ability of perturbation spread, and a maximum turbulence intensity is found for every test case as Re ≥ 950, where the turbulence fraction increases abruptly with Re. Skewness can reflect the velocity defects of localized turbulent patches and is revealed to become negative when Re is as low as about 660. It is shown that the third-order moments of the midplane streamwise velocities have minima, while the corresponding forth-order moments have maxima during the transition. These kinematic extremes and different variation scenarios of the friction coefficient during the transition are explained with an intermittent structure model, where the robust localized turbulent structure is simplified as a turbulence unit, a structure whose statistical properties are only weak functions of the Reynolds number.


2001 ◽  
Vol 435 ◽  
pp. 55-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. COMER ◽  
C. KLEINSTREUER ◽  
C. S. KIM

The flow theory and air flow structures in symmetric double-bifurcation airway models assuming steady laminar, incompressible flow, unaffected by the presence of aerosols, has been described in a companion paper (Part 1). The validated computer simulation results showed highly vortical flow fields, especially around the second bifurcations, indicating potentially complex particle distributions and deposition patterns. In this paper (Part 2), assuming spherical non-interacting aerosols that stick to the wall when touching the surface, the history of depositing particles is described. Specifically, the finite-volume code CFX (AEA Technology) with user-enhanced FORTRAN programs were validated with experimental data of particle deposition efficiencies as a function of the Stokes number for planar single and double bifurcations. The resulting deposition patterns, particle distributions, trajectories and time evolution were analysed in the light of the air flow structures for relatively low (ReD1 = 500) and high (ReD1 = 2000) Reynolds numbers and representative Stokes numbers, i.e. StD1 = 0.04 and StD1 = 0.12. Particle deposition patterns and surface concentrations are largely a function of the local Stokes number, but they also depend on the fluid–particle inlet conditions as well as airway geometry factors. While particles introduced at low inlet Reynolds numbers (e.g. ReD1 = 500) follow the axial air flow, secondary and vortical flows become important at higher Reynolds numbers, causing the formation of particle-free zones near the tube centres and subsequently elevated particle concentrations near the walls. Sharp or mildly rounded carinal ridges have little effect on the deposition efficiencies but may influence local deposition patterns. In contrast, more drastic geometric changes to the basic double-bifurcation model, e.g. the 90°-non-planar configuration, alter both the aerosol wall distributions and surface concentrations considerably.


2016 ◽  
Vol 811 ◽  
pp. 37-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe A. Rosi ◽  
David E. Rival

A constantly accelerating circular plate was investigated towards understanding the effect of non-stationarity on shear-layer entrainment and topology. Dye visualizations and time-resolved particle image velocimetry measurements were collected for normalized accelerations spanning three orders of magnitude. Increasing acceleration acts to organize shear-layer topology. Specifically, the Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities within the shear layer better adhered to a circular path and exhibited consistent and repeatable spacing. Normalized starting-vortex circulation was observed to collapse with increasing acceleration, which one might not expect due to increased levels of mixing at higher instantaneous Reynolds numbers. The entrainment rate was shown to increase nonlinearly with increasing acceleration. This was attributed to closer spacing between instabilities, which better facilitates the roll-up of fluid between the shear layer and vortex core. The shear-layer organization observed at higher accelerations was associated with smaller spacings between instabilities. Specifically, analogous point-vortex simulations demonstrated that decreasing the spacing between instabilities acts to localize and dampen perturbations within an accelerating shear layer.


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