Showing papers in "Journal of Fluid Mechanics in 1987"
TL;DR: In this article, a direct numerical simulation of a turbulent channel flow is performed, where the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically at a Reynolds number of 3300, based on the mean centerline velocity and channel half-width, with about 4 million grid points.
Abstract: A direct numerical simulation of a turbulent channel flow is performed. The unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically at a Reynolds number of 3300, based on the mean centerline velocity and channel half-width, with about 4 million grid points. All essential turbulence scales are resolved on the computational grid and no subgrid model is used. A large number of turbulence statistics are computed and compared with the existing experimental data at comparable Reynolds numbers. Agreements as well as discrepancies are discussed in detail. Particular attention is given to the behavior of turbulence correlations near the wall. A number of statistical correlations which are complementary to the existing experimental data are reported for the first time.
4,788 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the response of a Newtonian fluid saturating the pore space of a rigid isotropic porous medium, subjected to an infinitesimal oscillatory pressure gradient across the sample, is considered.
Abstract: We consider the response of a Newtonian fluid, saturating the pore space of a rigid isotropic porous medium, subjected to an infinitesimal oscillatory pressure gradient across the sample. We derive the analytic properties of the linear response function as well as the high- and low-frequency limits. In so doing we present a new and well-defined parameter Λ, which enters the high-frequency limit, characteristic of dynamically connected pore sizes. Using these results we construct a simple model for the response in terms of the exact high- and low-frequency parameters; the model is very successful when compared with direct numerical simulations on large lattices with randomly varying tube radii. We demonstrate the relevance of these results to the acoustic properties of non-rigid porous media, and we show how the dynamic permeability/tortuosity can be measured using superfluid 4He as the pore fluid. We derive the expected response in the case that the internal walls of the pore space are fractal in character.
1,872 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose constitutive relations and boundary conditions for plane shear of a cohesionless granular material between infinite horizontal plates, and show that not all the material between the plates participates in shearing and the solutions for the shearing material are coupled to a yield condition for the non-shearing material to give a complete solution of the problem.
Abstract: Within a granular material stress is transmitted by forces exerted at points of mutual contact between particles. When the particles are close together and deformation of the assembly is slow, contacts are sustained for long times, and these forces consist of normal reactions and the associated tangential forces due to friction. When the particles are widely spaced and deformation is rapid, on the other hand, contacts are brief and may be regarded as collisions, during which momentum is transferred. While constitutive relations are available which model both these situations, in many cases the average contact times lie between the two extremes. The purpose of the present work is to propose constitutive relations and boundary conditions for this intermediate case and to solve the corresponding equations of motion for plane shear of a cohesionless granular material between infinite horizontal plates. It is shown that, in general, not all the material between the plates participates in shearing, and the solutions for the shearing material are coupled to a yield condition for the non-shearing material to give a complete solution of the problem.
1,563 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationships between the various criteria are examined for a very general class of models and it is shown that most of the criteria are equivalent and also how a model can be designed to satisfy these criteria exactly and to be consistent with inertial-subrange theory.
Abstract: Many different random-walk models of dispersion in inhomogeneous or unsteady turbulence have been proposed and several criteria have emerged to distinguish good models from bad. In this paper the relationships between the various criteria are examined for a very general class of models and it is shown that most of the criteria are equivalent. It is also shown how a model can be designed to satisfy these criteria exactly and to be consistent with inertial-subrange theory. Some examples of models that obey the criteria are described. As an illustration some calculations of dispersion in free-convective conditions are presented.
1,223 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that shear-induced migration of particles out of the sheared Couette gap and into the fluid reservoir, which reduces the particle concentration in the gap and thereby the observed viscosity, is consistent with a gap-limited shearinduced diffusion process normal to the plane of shear, with the relevant diffusion coefficient being proportional to the applied shear rate.
Abstract: In the course of viscometric measurements of concentrated suspensions of spheres in Newtonian fluids using a Couette device, Gadala-Maria & Acrivos (1980) observed a decrease in the suspension viscosity after long periods of shearing even though the viscosity of the pure suspending fluid remained constant under identical conditions. In the present work we demonstrate that this phenomenon is due to the shear-induced migration of particles out of the sheared Couette gap and into the fluid reservoir, which reduces the particle concentration in the gap and thereby the observed viscosity. We show further that this rate of viscosity decrease is consistent with a gap-limited shear-induced diffusion process normal to the plane of shear, with the relevant diffusion coefficient being proportional to is the applied shear rate.Additional experiments also uncovered a new phenomenon - a short-term increase in the viscosity upon initial shearing of a suspension in a Couette device - which was attributed to the diffusive migration of particles across the width of the Couette gap and thus was used to infer values of the corresponding diffusion coefficient within the plane of shear parallel to gradients in fluid velocity.In the theoretical part we demonstrate that the particle migrations that led to these observed phenomena may be explained in terms of the irreversible interparticle interactions that occur in these suspensions. From simple arguments, these interactions are shown to lead to effective diffusivities both normal to the plane of shear and normal to the direction of fluid motion within the plane of shear whose estimated magnitudes are comparable with those that were inferred from the experimental measurements. Furthermore, these interactions should induce, within a shear flow, particle drifts from regions of high to low shear stress, which are estimated to be of sufficient intensity to account for the observed initial viscosity increase mentioned above.
1,157 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the average settling velocity in homogeneous turbulence of a small rigid spherical particle subject to a Stokes drag force was shown to depend on the particle inertia and the free-fall terminal velocity in still fluid.
Abstract: The average settling velocity in homogeneous turbulence of a small rigid spherical particle, subject to a Stokes drag force, is shown to depend on the particle inertia and the free-fall terminal velocity in still fluid. With no inertia the particle settles on average at the same rate as in still fluid, assuming there is no mean flow. Particle inertia produces a bias in each trajectory towards regions of high strain rate or low vorticity, which affects the mean settling velocity. Results from a Gaussian random velocity field show that this produces an increased settling velocity.
1,023 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an approximate theory is presented for non-breaking waves and an asymptotic result is derived for the maximum runup of solitary waves on plane beaches, and a series of laboratory experiments is described to support the theory.
Abstract: This is a study of the runup of solitary waves on plane beaches. An approximate theory is presented for non-breaking waves and an asymptotic result is derived for the maximum runup of solitary waves. A series of laboratory experiments is described to support the theory. It is shown that the linear theory predicts the maximum runup satisfactorily, and that the nonlinear theory describes the climb of solitary waves equally well. Different runup regimes are found to exist for the runup of breaking and non-breaking waves. A breaking criterion is derived for determining whether a solitary wave will break as it climbs up a sloping beach, and a different criterion is shown to apply for determining whether a wave will break during rundown. These results are used to explain some of the existing empirical runup relationships.
866 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a nonlinear K-l and K-e model is proposed to predict the normal Reynolds stresses in turbulent channel flow much more accurately than the linear model, and the nonlinear model is shown to be capable of predicting turbulent secondary flows in non-circular ducts.
Abstract: The commonly used linear K-l and K-e models of turbulence are shown to be incapable of accurately predicting turbulent flows where the normal Reynolds stresses play an important role. By means of an asymptotic expansion, nonlinear K-l and K-e models are obtained which, unlike all such previous nonlinear models, satisfy both realizability and the necessary invariance requirements. Calculations are presented which demonstrate that this nonlinear model is able to predict the normal Reynolds stresses in turbulent channel flow much more accurately than the linear model. Furthermore, the nonlinear model is shown to be capable of predicting turbulent secondary flows in non-circular ducts - a phenomenon which the linear models are fundamentally unable to describe. An additional application of this model to the improved prediction of separated flows is discussed briefly along with other possible avenues of future research.
644 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the interaction of a plane weak shock wave with a single discrete gaseous inhomogeneity is studied as a model of the mechanisms by which finite-amplitude waves in random media generate turbulence and intensify mixing.
Abstract: The interaction of a plane weak shock wave with a single discrete gaseous inhomogeneity is studied as a model of the mechanisms by which finite-amplitude waves in random media generate turbulence and intensify mixing. The experiments are treated as an example of the shock-induced Rayleigh-Taylor instability. or Richtmyer-Meshkov instability, with large initial distortions of the gas interfaces. The inhomogeneities are made by filling large soap bubbles and cylindrical refraction cells (5 cm diameter) whose walls are thin plastic membranes with gases both lighter and heavier than the ambient air in a square (8.9 cm side shock-tube text section. The wavefront geometry and the deformation of the gas volume are visualized by shadowgraph photography. Wave configurations predicted by geometrical acoustics, including the effects of refraction, reflection and diffraction, are compared to the observations. Departures from the predictions of acoustic theory are discussed in terms of gasdynamic nonlinearity. The pressure field on the axis of symmetry downstream of the inhomogeneity is measured by piezoelectric pressure transducers. In the case of a cylindrical or spherical volume filled with heavy low-sound-speed gas the wave which passes through the interior focuses just behind the cylinder. On the other hand, the wave which passes through the light high-sound-speed volume strongly diverges. Visualization of the wavefronts reflected from and diffracted around the inhomogeneities exhibit many features known in optical and acoustic scattering. Rayleigh-Taylor instability induced by shock acceleration deforms the initially circular cross-section of the volume. In the case of the high-sound-speed sphere, a strong vortex ring forms and separates from the main volume of gas. Measurements of the wave and gas-interface velocities are compared to values calculated for one-dimensional interactions and for a simple model of shock-induced Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The circulation and Reynolds number of the vortical structures are calculated from the measured velocities by modeling a piston vortex generator. The results of the flow visualization are also compared with contemporary numerical simulations.
636 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a robust numerical method for modeling nonlinear gravity waves which is based on the Zakharov equation/mode-coupling idea but is generalized to include interactions up to an arbitrary order M in wave steepness.
Abstract: We develop a robust numerical method for modelling nonlinear gravity waves which is based on the Zakharov equation/mode-coupling idea but is generalized to include interactions up to an arbitrary order M in wave steepness. A large number ( N = O (1000)) of free wave modes are typically used whose amplitude evolutions are determined through a pseudospectral treatment of the nonlinear free-surface conditions. The computational effort is directly proportional to N and M , and the convergence with N and M is exponentially fast for waves up to approximately 80% of Stokes limiting steepness ( ka ∼ 0.35). The efficiency and accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparisons to fully nonlinear semi-Lagrangian computations (Vinje & Brevig 1981); calculations of long-time evolution of wavetrains using the modified (fourth-order) Zakharov equations (Stiassnie & Shemer 1987); and experimental measurements of a travelling wave packet (Su 1982). As a final example of the usefulness of the method, we consider the nonlinear interactions between two colliding wave envelopes of different carrier frequencies.
616 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the wake of a circular cylinder near the oscillation threshold is investigated by means of a laser probe, and the Stuart-Landau law is used to explain free-oscillating regimes.
Abstract: The wake of a circular cylinder is investigated near the oscillation threshold by means of a laser probe. Above the threshold the transient regime is studied and described by a Stuart-Landau law (already found to be relevant in explaining free-oscillating regimes). Below the critical point, impulse and resonant regimes are examined, so the coefficients of the Stuart-Landau equation are determined.Moreover, in the supercritical regime, the behaviour of the (externally forced) oscillating system is described, varying parameters such as threshold deviation, forcing frequency and amplitude. The different zones of entrainment and desynchronization are given for simple or harmonic frequency.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated low-frequency vortex-driven combustion instability in the case of a multiple inlet combustor with dump and showed that lowfrequency instabilities are acoustically coupled and occur at the eigenfrequencies of the system.
Abstract: Combustion instability is investigated in the case of a multiple inlet combustor with dump. It is shown that low-frequency instabilities are acoustically coupled and occur at the eigenfrequencies of the system. Using spark-schlieren and a special phase-average imaging of the C 2 -radical emission, the fluid-mechanical processes involved in a vortex-driven mode of instability are investigated. The phase-average images provide maps of the local non-steady heat release. From the data collected on the combustor the processes of vortex shedding, growth, interactions and burning are described. The phases between the pressure, velocity and heat-release fluctuations are determined. The implications of the global Rayleigh criterion are verified and a mechanism for low-frequency vortex-driven instabilities is proposed.
TL;DR: In this article, a passive technique of increasing entrainment was found by using a small-aspect-ratio elliptic jet, which was several times greater than that of a circular jet or a plane jet.
Abstract: A passive technique of increasing entrainment was found by using a small-aspect-ratio elliptic jet. The entrainment ratio of an elliptic jet was several times greater than that of a circular jet or a plane jet. The self-induction of the asymmetric coherent structure caused azimuthal distortions which were responsible for engulfing large amounts of surrounding fluid into the jet. In an elliptic jet, an interesting feature in the initial stability process is that the thickness of the shear layer varies around the nozzle. The data indicated that instability frequency was scaled with the thinnest initial momentum thickness which was associated with the maximum vorticity. Turbulence properties were also examined and were found to be significantly different in the major- and minor-axis planes.
TL;DR: In this article, a general method for computing the hydrodynamic interactions among N suspended particles, under the condition of vanishingly small particle Reynolds number, is presented, which accounts for both near-field lubrication effects and the dominant many-body interactions.
Abstract: A general method for computing the hydrodynamic interactions among N suspended particles, under the condition of vanishingly small particle Reynolds number, is presented. The method accounts for both near-field lubrication effects and the dominant many-body interactions. The many-body hydrodynamic interactions reproduce the screening characteristic of porous media and the ‘effective viscosity’ of free suspensions. The method is accurate and computationally efficient, permitting the dynamic simulation of arbitrarily configured many-particle systems. The hydrodynamic interactions calculated are shown to agree well with available exact calculations for small numbers of particles and to reproduce slender-body theory for linear chains of particles. The method can be used to determine static (i.e. configuration specific) and dynamic properties of suspended particles that interact through both hydrodynamic and non-hydrodynamic forces, where the latter may be any type of Brownian. colloidal, interparticle or external force. The method is also readily extended to dynamically simulate both unbounded and bounded suspensions.
TL;DR: In this article, a sphere is placed in a weak shear flow of an inviscid fluid and the secondary velocity resulting from advection of vorticity by the irrotational component of the flow is computed on the sphere surface, and on the upstream axis.
Abstract: This paper concerns the flow about a sphere placed in a weak shear flow of an inviscid fluid. The secondary velocity resulting from advection of vorticity by the irrotational component of the flow is computed on the sphere surface, and on the upstream axis. The resulting lift force on the sphere is evaluated, and the result is confirmed by an analytical far-field calculation. The displacement of the stagnation streamline, far upstream of the sphere, is calculated more accurately than in previous papers.
TL;DR: In this paper, the onset of periodic behavior in two-dimensional laminar flow past bodies of various shapes is examined by means of finite-element simulations, and the transition from steady to periodic flow is marked by a Hopf bifurcation, which is located by solving an appropriate extended set of steady-state equations.
Abstract: The onset of periodic behaviour in two-dimensional laminar flow past bodies of various shapes is examined by means of finite-element simulations. The transition from steady to periodic flow is marked by a Hopf bifurcation, which we locate by solving an appropriate extended set of steady-state equations. The bodies considered are a circular cylinder, triangular prisms of various shapes, and flat plates and elliptical cylinders aligned over a range of angles to the direction of flow. Our results for the circular cylinder are in good agreement with experimental observations and with the results of time-dependent calculations.
TL;DR: In this article, the hairpin vortices generated by the interaction of a hemisphere protuberancee within a developing laminar boundary layer were examined and the shedding characteristics of the hemispheres were determined using hot-film-anemometry techniques.
Abstract: It has been suggested that hairpin vortices may play a key role in developing and sustaining the turbulence process in the near-wall region of turbulent boundary layers. To examine this suggestion, a study was done of the hairpin vortices generated by the interaction of a hemisphere protuberancee within a developing laminar boundary layer. Under the proper conditions, hairpin vortices are shed extremely periodically, which allows detailed examination of their behaviour. Shedding characteristics of the hemispheres were determined using hot-film-anemometry techniques. The flow patterns created by the presence of the hairpin vortices have been documented using flow visualization and hot-film-anemometry techniques, and cross-compared with the patterns observed in the near-wall of a fully turbulent boundary layer. In general, it has been observed that many of the visual patterns observed in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer can also be observed in the wake of the hairpin-shedding hemisphere, which appears supportive of the importance of hairpin vortices in the near-wall turbulence production process. Furthermore, velocity measurements indicate the presence of strong inflexional profiles just downstream of the hairpin-vortex generation region which evolve into fuller profiles with downstream distance, eventually developing a remarkable similarity to a turbulent-boundary-layer velocity profile.
TL;DR: In this paper, the growth and breakdown of counter-rotating streamwise vortices, generated on a concave wall via the Goertler instability mechanism, were experimentally studied as a model for comparable eddy structures that exist in transitional and turbulent flat-plate boundary layers.
Abstract: The growth and breakdown of counter-rotating streamwise vortices, generated on a concave wall via the Goertler instability mechanism, were experimentally studied as a model for comparable eddy structures that exist in transitional and turbulent flat-plate boundary layers. The experiments were conducted in a low-speed open-return wind tunnel, using smoke-wire visualization and multiple-probe hot wires to study the vortices. As low-momentum fluid was removed from the wall, low-speed regions formed between the vortices; these regions grew in the normal direction faster than a nominally Blasius boundary layer and created strongly inflexional normal and spanwise profiles of the streamwise velocity component. Instability oscillations developed on these unstable profiles that scaled with the local shear-layer thickness and velocity difference. The spatial scales of the temporal velocity fluctuations were found to correlate with the velocity gradient in the spanwise (rather than in the normal) direction.
TL;DR: In this paper, a technique for determining the coefficient of shear-induced particle self-diffusion in concentrated suspensions of solid spheres, which relies on the fact that this coefficient can be computed from the measured variations in the time taken by a single marked particle in the suspension to complete successive circuits in a Couette device, was presented.
Abstract: A novel technique is presented for determining the coefficient of shear-induced particle self-diffusion in concentrated suspensions of solid spheres, which relies on the fact that this coefficient can be computed from the measured variations in the time taken by a single marked particle in the suspension to complete successive circuits in a Couette device. Since this method does not involve the direct measurement of the lateral position of the marked particle, it requires a much simpler experiment than that used by Eckstein, Bailey & Shapiro (1977) which is shown to be constrained by wall effects at high particle concentration. The diffusion coefficient thus determined was found to be proportional to the product γa2, where γ is the shear rate and a the particle radius, and to have the asymptotic form 0.5γa2ϕ2 in the dilute limit when the particle concentration ϕ → 0.
TL;DR: In this paper, a pseudospectral simulation of turbulent homogeneous flows with r.m. velocities of the order of the speed of sound was performed using the Navier-Stokes equations.
Abstract: Compressible flows with r.m.8. velocities of the order of the speed of sound are studied with direct numerical simulations using a pseudospectral method. We concentrate on turbulent homogeneous flows in the two-dimensional case. The fluid obeys the Navier-Stokes equations for a perfect gas, and viscous terms are included explicitly. No modelling of small scales is used. We show that the behaviour of the flow differs sharply at low compared with high r.m.9. Mach number Ma, with a transition at Mu = 0.3. In the large scales, temporal exchanges between longitudinal and solenoidal modes of energy retain an acoustical character; they lead to a slowing down of the decrease of the Mach number with time, which occurs with interspersed plateaux corresponding to quiescent periods. When the flow is initially supersonic, the small scales are dominated by shocks behind which vortices form. This vortex production is particularly prominent, when two strong shocks collide, with the onset of shear turbulence in the region downstream of the collision. However, at the resolutions reached by our code on a 256 x 256 uniform grid, this mechanism proves insufficient to bring vortices into equipartition with shocks in the small-scale tail of the energy spectrum.
TL;DR: The three-dimensional stability of two-dimensional vortical states of planar mixing layers is studied by direct numerical integration of the Navier-Stokes equations in this article.
Abstract: The three-dimensional stability of two-dimensional vortical states of planar mixing layers is studied by direct numerical integration of the Navier-Stokes equations. Small-scale instabilities are shown to exist for spanwise scales at which classical linear modes are stable. These modes grow on convective timescales, extract their energy from the mean flow and exist at moderately low Reynolds numbers. Their growth rates are comparable with the most rapidly growing inviscid instability and with the growth rates of two-dimensional subharmonic (pairing) modes. At high amplitudes, they can evolve into pairs of counter-rotating, streamwise vortices, connecting the primary spanwise vortices, which are very similar to the structures observed in laboratory experiments. The three-dimensional modes do not appear to saturate in quasi-steady states as do the purely two-dimensional fundamental and subharmonic modes in the absence of pairing. The subsequent evolution of the flow depends on the relative amplitudes of the pairing modes. Persistent pairings can inhibit threedimensional instability and, hence, keep the flow predominantly two-dimensional. Conversely, suppression of the pairing process can drive the three-dimensional modes to more chaotic, turbulent-like states. An analysis of high-resolution simulations of fully turbulent mixing layers confirms the existence of rib-like structures and that their coherence depends strongly on the presence of the two-dimensional pairing modes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a local rearrangement mechanism in which one sphere is captured in the wake of the other, and two local mechanisms are involved: drafting and kissing and tumbling into stable cross stream arrays.
Abstract: Experiments on fluidization with water of spherical particles falling against gravity in columns of rectangular cross-section are described. All of them are dominated by inertial effects associated with wakes. Two local mechanisms are involved: drafting and kissing and tumbling into stable cross-stream arrays. Drafting, kissing and tumbling are rearrangement mechanisms in which one sphere is captured in the wake of the other. The kissing spheres are aligned with the stream. The streamwise alignment is massively unstable and the kissing spheres tumble into more stable cross-stream pairs of doublets which can aggregate into larger relatively stable horizontal arrays. Cross-stream arrays in beds of spheres constrained to move in two dimensions are remarkable. These arrays may even coalesce into aggregations of close-packed spheres separated by regions of clear water. A somewhat weaker form of cooperative motion of cross-stream arrays of rising spheres is found in beds of square cross-section where the spheres may move freely in three dimensions. Horizontal arrays rise where drafting spheres fall because of greater drag. Aggregation of spheres seems to be associated with relatively stable cooperative motions of horizontal arrays of spheres rising in their own wakes.
TL;DR: In this article, an experimental investigation of flow over an axisymmetric cavity showed that self-sustained, periodic oscillations of the cavity shear layer are associated with low cavity drag.
Abstract: An experimental investigation of flow over an axisymmetric cavity shows that self-sustained, periodic oscillations of the cavity shear layer are associated with low cavity drag. In this low-drag mode the flow regulates itself to fix the mean-shear-layer stagnation point at the downstream corner. Above a critical value of the cavity width-to-depth ratio there is an abrupt and large increase of drag due to the onset of the ‘wake mode’ of instability. It is also shown by measurement of the momentum balance how the drag of the cavity is related to the state of the shear layer, as defined by the mean momentum transport $\rho\overline{u}\overline{v}$ and the Reynolds stress $\rho\overline{u^{\prime}v^{\prime}}$, and how these are related to the amplifying oscillations in the shear layer. The cavity shear layer is found to be different, in several respects, from a free shear layer.
TL;DR: In this article, a laser-Doppler anemometer was used to measure the velocity of turbulent oscillatory flow over rough beds, where the rough beds consisted of a single layer of sand, gravel or pebbles on a flat surface.
Abstract: Velocity measurements are presented for turbulent oscillatory flow over rough beds. Two components of velocity were measured with a laser-Doppler anemometer and the rough beds consisted of a single layer of sand, gravel or pebbles on a flat surface. Turbulence intensities showed significant variation during the course of the cycle. Maximum turbulence intensity propagated out from the bed at a more or less constant velocity for all beds. Variation of time-mean turbulence intensity with height was qualitatively similar to that observed in steady flows. Reynolds stress showed several interesting features. Near the bed, maximum Reynolds stress was in phase with one of the two peaks of turbulence intensity but further out it was in phase with the other, i.e. the phase of maximum Reynolds stress showed a 180° phase shift at a certain height above the bed. A related effect was seen in the time-mean eddy viscosity which was negative near the bed but positive further out. It is suggested that these effects are caused by the jets of fluid associated with vortex formation and ejection in oscillatory flow over rough beds. Maximum Reynolds stress was also significantly less than the horizontal force per unit area of bed obtained from the momentum integral. Eddy viscosity and mixing length were found to vary significantly during the course of the cycle. Variation with height of time-mean values of these variables showed similar trends, except in the near-bed region, to those observed in steady flow but derived values of the Karman constant were significantly lower. Non-dimensional defect velocity appeared to show dependence on a/ks as well as on y/δ in the outer layer away from the bed, even at high Reynolds numbers.
TL;DR: In this article, the structures of the vorticity fields in several homogeneous irrotational straining flows and a homogeneous turbulent shear flow were examined using a database generated by direct numerical simulation of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations.
Abstract: The structures of the vorticity fields in several homogeneous irrotational straining flows and a homogeneous turbulent shear flow were examined using a database generated by direct numerical simulation of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations. In all cases, strong evidence was found for the presence of coherent vortical structures. The initially isotropic vorticity fields were rapidly affected by imposed mean strain and the rotational component of mean shear and developed accordingly. In the homogeneous turbulent shear-flow cases, the roll-up of mean vorticity into characteristic hairpin vortices was clearly observed, supporting the view that hairpin vortices are an important vortical structure in all turbulent shear flows; the absence of mean shear in the homogeneous irrotational straining flows precludes the presence of hairpin-like vortices.
TL;DR: In this paper, a predictive theory is proposed to determine the development of finite-amplitude alternate bars in straight channels with erodible bottoms, where an equilibrium amplitude of bedforms is reached as t → ∞ within a wide range of values of the parameter (β − βc)/βc, where t is the time, β is the width ratio of the channel and βc is its critical value below which bars would not form.
Abstract: Following ideas developed in the field of hydrodynamic stability of laminar flows (Stuart 1971) a predictive theory is proposed to determine the development of finite-amplitude alternate bars in straight channels with erodible bottoms. It is shown that an ‘equilibrium amplitude’ of bedforms is reached as t → ∞ within a wide range of values of the parameter (β − βc)/βc, where t is the time, β is the width ratio of the channel and βc is its ‘critical’ value below which bars would not form. The theory leads to relationships for the maximum height and the maximum scour of bars which compare satisfactorily with the experimental data of various authors. Moreover the experimentally detected tendency of the bed perturbation to form diagonal fronts is qualitatively reproduced.
TL;DR: In this article, the flow induced by a vortex ring approaching a plane wall on a trajectory normal to the wall is investigated for an incompressible fluid, which is otherwise stagnant.
Abstract: The flow induced by a vortex ring approaching a plane wall on a trajectory normal to the wall is investigated for an incompressible fluid which is otherwise stagnant. The detailed characteristics of the interaction of the ring with the flow near the surface have been observed experimentally for a wide variety of laminar rings, using dye in water to visualize the flow in the ring as well as near the plane surface. Numerical solutions are obtained for the trajectory of the ring as well as for the unsteady boundary-layer flow that develops on the wall. The experimental and theoretical results show that an unsteady separation develops in the boundary-layer flow, in the form of a secondary ring attached to the wall. A period of explosive boundary-layer growth then ensues and a strong viscous-inviscid interaction occurs in the form of the ejection of the secondary vortex ring from the boundary layer. The primary ring then interacts with the secondary ring and in some cases was observed to induce the formation of a third, tertiary, ring near the wall. The details of this process are investigated over a wide Reynolds number range. The results clearly show how one vortex ring can produce another, through an unsteady interaction with a viscous flow near the wall.
TL;DR: In this article, a water-channel study has been done which utilizes injection through surface slots in a flat plate to create artificial low-speed streak-type regions beneath a laminar boundary layer, under appropriate conditions, these synthesized lowspeed streaks develop a 3D, shear-layer instability which breaks down to form a hairpin-vortex street.
Abstract: It has been suggested that hairpin vortices are a major sustaining flow structure involved in the perpetuation of turbulent boundary layers, although their origin within the boundary layer is unclear. One hypothesis is that hairpin structures are formed by the breakdown of the low-speed streak structures which develop adjacent to the surface beneath turbulent boundary layers. To examine this hypothesis, a water-channel study has been done which utilizes injection through surface slots in a flat plate to create artificial low-speed streak-type regions beneath a laminar boundary layer. Under appropriate conditions, these synthesized low-speed streaks develop a three-dimensional, shear-layer instability which breaks down to form a hairpin-vortex street. Employing both flow visualization and anemometry measurements, the characteristics of these hairpin structures and the parameters influencing their generation have been examined. The hairpin streets were determined to develop in a very periodic and repeatable manner within a definite range of flow parameters. Detailed flow patterns obtained using dye and hydrogen bubbles, both individually and collectively, indicate a remarkable similarity with previously observed patterns in the near-wall region of turbulent boundary layers. In addition, the development of the hairpin structures is observed to be quite sensitive to external forcing, as well as exhibiting a tendency for organized development of larger, more complex structures through a pairing-type process. Velocity measurements indicate the initial presence of strong inflexional profiles which evolve rapidly to velocity and turbulence-intensity profiles commensurate with those associated with turbulent boundary layers, but which do not exhibit the marked spreading associated with turbulence.
TL;DR: In this article, the modal distribution of coherent structures evolving near the nozzle of a circular jet was studied experimentally and theoretically, with particular attention given to the effects produced on the instability modes by transverse curvature, flow divergence, inhomogeneous inflow conditions, and the detailed shape of the mean velocity profile.
Abstract: The modal distribution of coherent structures evolving near the nozzle of a circular jet was studied experimentally and theoretically, with particular attention given to the effects produced on the instability modes by transverse curvature, flow divergence, inhomogeneous inflow conditions, and the detailed shape of the mean velocity profile. Experiments were performed using a specially constructed air-jet facility; hot-wire anemometers were used in conjunction with Disa Model 55P11 sensors for flow measurements. The linear model used as a transfer function is capable of predicting the spectral distribution of the velocity perturbations in a jet. Consideration was also given to studies of leading nonlinear interactions generated by waves externally superimposed on an axisymmetric jet; theoretical predictions were verified experimentally.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the evolution of an isolated elliptical vortex in a weakly dissipative fluid and derive a simple geometrical formula relating the rate of change of the aspect ratio of a particular vorticity contour to its orientation relative to the streamlines.
Abstract: We consider the evolution of an isolated elliptical vortex in a weakly dissipative fluid. It is shown computationally that a spatially smooth vortex relaxes inviscidly towards axisymmetry on a circulation timescale as the result of filament generation. Heuristically, we derive a simple geometrical formula relating the rate of change of the aspect ratio of a particular vorticity contour to its orientation relative to the streamlines (where the orientation is defined through second-order moments). Computational evidence obtained with diagnostic algorithms validates the formula. By considering streamlines in a corotating frame and applying the new formula, we obtain a detailed kinematic understanding of the vortex's decay to its final state through a primary and a secondary breaking. The circulation transported into the filaments although a small fraction of the total, breaks the symmetry and is the chief cause of axisymmetrization.