Aspects of linear and nonlinear instabilities leading to transition in pipe and channel flows

Author(s):  
Jacob Cohen ◽  
Jimmy Philip ◽  
Guy Ben-Dov

The failure of normal-mode linear stability analysis to predict a transition Reynolds number ( Re tr ) in pipe flow and subcritical transition in plane Poiseuille flow (PPF) has led to the search of other scenarios to explain transition to turbulence in both flows. In this work, various results associated with linear and nonlinear mechanisms of both flows are presented. The results that combine analytical and experimental approaches indicate the strong link between the mechanisms governing the transition of both flows. It is demonstrated that the linear transient growth mechanism is based on the existence of a pair of least stable nearly parallel modes (having opposite phases and almost identical amplitude distributions). The analysis that has been applied previously to pipe flow is extended here to a fully developed channel flow predicting the shape of the optimized initial disturbance (a pair of counter-rotating vortices, CVP), time for maximum energy amplification and the dependence of the latter on Re . The results agree with previous predictions based on many modes. Furthermore, the shape of the optimized initial disturbance is similar in both flows and has been visualized experimentally. The analysis reveals that in pipe flow, the transient growth is a consequence of two opposite running modes decaying with an equal decay rate whereas in PPF it is due to two stationary modes decaying with different decay rates. In the first nonlinear scenario, the breakdown of the CVPs (produced by the linear transient growth mechanism) into hairpin vortices is followed experimentally. The associated scaling laws, relating the minimal disturbance amplitude required for the initiation of hairpins and the Re , are found experimentally for both PPF and pipe flow. The scaling law associated with PPF agrees well with the previous predictions of Chapman, whereas the scaling of the pipe flow is the same as the one previously obtained by Hof et al ., indicating transition to a turbulent state. In the second nonlinear scenario, the base flow of pipe when it is mildly deviated from the Poiseuille profile by an axisymmetric distortion is examined. The nonlinear features reveal a Re tr of approximately 2000 associated with the bifurcation between two deviation solutions.

2014 ◽  
Vol 748 ◽  
pp. 896-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Karp ◽  
Jacob Cohen

AbstractThe current study focuses on a transition scenario in which the linear transient growth mechanism is initiated by four decaying normal modes. It is shown that the four modes, the initial structure of which corresponds to counter-rotating vortex pairs, are sufficient to capture the transient growth mechanism. More importantly, it is demonstrated that the kinetic energy growth of the initial disturbance is not the key parameter in this transition mechanism. Rather, it is the ability of the transient growth process to generate an inflection point in the wall-normal direction and consequently to make the flow susceptible to a three-dimensional disturbance leading to transition to turbulence. Because of the minimal number of modes participating in the transition process, it is possible to follow its earlier key stages analytically and to compare them with the results of direct numerical simulation. This procedure reveals the role of various flow parameters during the transition, such as the difference between symmetric and antisymmetric transient growth scenarios. Moreover, it is shown that the resulting modified base flow of the linear process is not sufficient to produce a significant localized maximum of the base-flow vorticity (i.e. a ‘strong’ inflection point), and it is only due to nonlinear effects that the base flow becomes unstable with respect to an infinitesimal three-dimensional disturbance. Finally, the physical mechanism during key stages of transition is well captured by the analytical expressions. Furthermore, the vortex dynamics during these stages is very similar to the model proposed by Cohen, Karp & Mehta (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 747, 2014, pp. 30–43) according to which streamwise variation of the initial counter-rotating vortex pair is required to generate concentrated spanwise vorticity, which together with the lift-up by the induced velocity and shear of the base flow generates packets of hairpins.


Author(s):  
Isabella M. Gavarini ◽  
Alessandro Bottaro ◽  
Frans T. M. Nieuwstadt

Transition in a cylindrical pipe flow still eludes thorough understanding. Most recent advances are based on the concept of transient growth of disturbances, but even this scenario is not fully confirmed by DNS and/or experiments. Based on the fact that even the most carefully conducted experiment is biased by uncertainties, we explore the spatial growth of disturbances developing on top of an almost ideal, axially invariant Poiseuille flow. The optimal deviation of the base flow from the ideal parabolic profile is computed by a variational tecnique, and unstable modes, driven by an inviscid mechanism, are found to exist for very small values of the norm of the deviation, at low Reynolds numbers.


2007 ◽  
Vol 570 ◽  
pp. 129-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. ZHAO ◽  
M. S. GHIDAOUI ◽  
A. A. KOLYSHKIN

This paper deals with perturbed unsteady laminar flows in a pipe. Three types of flows are considered: a flow accelerated from rest; a flow in a pipe generated by the controlled motion of a piston; and a water hammer flow where the transient is generated by the instantaneous closure of a valve. Methods of linear stability theory are used to analyse the behaviour of small perturbations in the flow. Since the base flow is unsteady, the linearized problem is formulated as an initial-value problem. This allows us to consider arbitrary initial conditions and describe both short-time and long-time evolution of the flow. The role of initial conditions on short-time transients is investigated. It is shown that the phenomenon of transient growth is not associated with a certain type of initial conditions. Perturbation dynamics is also studied for long times. In addition, optimal perturbations, i.e. initial perturbations that maximize the energy growth, are determined for all three types of flow discussed. Despite the fact that these optimal perturbations, most probably, will not occur in practice, they do provide an upper bound for energy growth and can be used as a point of reference. Results of numerical simulation are compared with previous experimental data. The comparison with data for accelerated flows shows that the instability cannot be explained by long-time asymptotics. In particular, the method of normal modes applied with the quasi-steady assumption will fail to predict the flow instability. In contrast, the transient growth mechanism may be used to explain transition since experimental transition time is found to be in the interval where the energy of perturbation experiences substantial growth. Instability of rapidly decelerated flows is found to be associated with asymptotic growth mechanism. Energy growth of perturbations is used in an attempt to explain previous experimental results. Numerical results show satisfactory agreement with the experimental features such as the wavelength of the most unstable mode and the structure of the most unstable disturbance. The validity of the quasi-steady assumption for stability studies of unsteady non-periodic laminar flows is discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 702 ◽  
pp. 415-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris C. T. Pringle ◽  
Ashley P. Willis ◽  
Rich R. Kerswell

AbstractWe propose a general strategy for determining the minimal finite amplitude disturbance that triggers transition to turbulence in shear flows. This involves constructing a variational problem that searches over all disturbances of fixed initial amplitude which respect the boundary conditions, incompressibility and the Navier–Stokes equations, to maximize a chosen functional over an asymptotically long time period. The functional must be selected such that it identifies turbulent velocity fields by taking significantly enhanced values compared to those for laminar fields. We illustrate this approach using the ratio of the final to initial perturbation kinetic energies (energy growth) as the functional and the energy norm to measure amplitudes in the context of pipe flow. Our results indicate that the variational problem yields a smooth converged solution provided that the initial amplitude is below the threshold for transition. This optimal is the nonlinear analogue of the well-studied (linear) transient growth optimal. At the critical threshold, the optimization seeks out a disturbance that is on the ‘edge’ of turbulence during the period. Above this threshold, when disturbances trigger turbulence by the end of the period, convergence is then practically impossible. The first disturbance found to trigger turbulence as the amplitude is increased identifies the ‘minimal seed’ for the given geometry and forcing (Reynolds number). We conjecture that it may be possible to select a functional such that the converged optimal below threshold smoothly converges to the minimal seed at threshold. Our choice of the energy growth functional is shown to come close to this for the pipe flow geometry investigated here.


2007 ◽  
Vol 582 ◽  
pp. 169-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. PEIXINHO ◽  
T. MULLIN

We report the results of an experimental study of the finite-amplitude thresholds for transition to turbulence in a constant mass flux pipe flow. The flow was perturbed using small impulsive jets and push–pull disturbances from holes in the pipe wall. The flux of the disturbance is used to define an amplitude for the perturbation and the critical value required to cause transition scales in proportion to Re−1 for jets. In this case, the transition is catastrophic and the scaling suggests a simple balance between inertia and viscosity. On the other hand, the threshold scales as Re−1.3 or Re−1.5 for push–pull disturbances with the precise value depending on the orientation of the perturbation. Further, the amplitudes required to cause transition are typically an order of magnitude smaller than for jets. When the push–pull perturbation was applied in the oblique direction, streaks and hairpin vortices appeared during the growth phase of the disturbance. The scaling of the threshold and the growth of structures are both consistent with ideas associated with temporary algebraic growth.


2002 ◽  
Vol 461 ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRIS J. SWANSON ◽  
BRIAN JULIAN ◽  
GARY G. IHAS ◽  
RUSSELL J. DONNELLY

We demonstrate that an unusually small pipe flow apparatus using both liquid helium and room temperature gases can span an enormous range of Reynolds numbers. This paper describes the construction and operation of the apparatus in some detail. A wide range of Reynolds numbers is an advantage in any experiment seeking to establish scaling laws. This experiment also adds to evidence already in hand that the normal phase of liquid helium is a Navier–Stokes fluid. Finally, we explore recent questions concerning the influence of molecular motions on the transition to turbulence (Muriel 1998) and are unable to observe any influence.


Author(s):  
A.P Willis ◽  
J Peixinho ◽  
R.R Kerswell ◽  
T Mullin

There have been many investigations of the stability of Hagen–Poiseuille flow in the 125 years since Osborne Reynolds' famous experiments on the transition to turbulence in a pipe, and yet the pipe problem remains the focus of attention of much research. Here, we discuss recent results from experimental and numerical investigations obtained in this new century. Progress has been made on three fundamental issues: the threshold amplitude of disturbances required to trigger a transition to turbulence from the laminar state; the threshold Reynolds number flow below which a disturbance decays from turbulence to the laminar state, with quantitative agreement between experimental and numerical results; and understanding the relevance of recently discovered families of unstable travelling wave solutions to transitional and turbulent pipe flow.


2020 ◽  
Vol 379 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-143
Author(s):  
Oleg Kozlovski ◽  
Sebastian van Strien

Abstract We consider a family of strongly-asymmetric unimodal maps $$\{f_t\}_{t\in [0,1]}$$ { f t } t ∈ [ 0 , 1 ] of the form $$f_t=t\cdot f$$ f t = t · f where $$f:[0,1]\rightarrow [0,1]$$ f : [ 0 , 1 ] → [ 0 , 1 ] is unimodal, $$f(0)=f(1)=0$$ f ( 0 ) = f ( 1 ) = 0 , $$f(c)=1$$ f ( c ) = 1 is of the form and $$\begin{aligned} f(x)=\left\{ \begin{array}{ll} 1-K_-|x-c|+o(|x-c|)&{} \text{ for } x<c, \\ 1-K_+|x-c|^\beta + o(|x-c|^\beta ) &{} \text{ for } x>c, \end{array}\right. \end{aligned}$$ f ( x ) = 1 - K - | x - c | + o ( | x - c | ) for x < c , 1 - K + | x - c | β + o ( | x - c | β ) for x > c , where we assume that $$\beta >1$$ β > 1 . We show that such a family contains a Feigenbaum–Coullet–Tresser $$2^\infty $$ 2 ∞ map, and develop a renormalization theory for these maps. The scalings of the renormalization intervals of the $$2^\infty $$ 2 ∞ map turn out to be super-exponential and non-universal (i.e. to depend on the map) and the scaling-law is different for odd and even steps of the renormalization. The conjugacy between the attracting Cantor sets of two such maps is smooth if and only if some invariant is satisfied. We also show that the Feigenbaum–Coullet–Tresser map does not have wandering intervals, but surprisingly we were only able to prove this using our rather detailed scaling results.


1976 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.-A. Mackrodt

The linear stability of Hagen-Poiseuille flow (Poiseuille pipe flow) with superimposed rigid rotation against small three-dimensional disturbances is examined at finite and infinite axial Reynolds numbers. The neutral curve, which is obtained by numerical solution of the system of perturbation equations (derived from the Navier-Stokes equations), has been confirmed for finite axial Reynolds numbers by a few simple experiments. The results suggest that, at high axial Reynolds numbers, the amount of rotation required for destabilization could be small enough to have escaped notice in experiments on the transition to turbulence in (nominally) non-rotating pipe flow.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Leskovec ◽  
Fredrik Lundell ◽  
Fredrik Innings

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