Showing papers in "Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics in 2009"

Large-eddy simulation of low-frequency unsteadiness in a turbulent shock-induced separation bubble

Abstract: The need for better understanding of the low-frequency unsteadiness observed in shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions has been driving research in this area for several decades. We present here a large-eddy simulation investigation of the interaction between an impinging oblique shock and a Mach 2.3 turbulent boundary layer. Contrary to past large-eddy simulation investigations on shock/turbulent boundary layer interactions, we have used an inflow technique which does not introduce any energetically significant low frequencies into the domain, hence avoiding possible interference with the shock/boundary layer interaction system. The large-eddy simulation has been run for much longer times than previous computational studies making a Fourier analysis of the low frequency possible. The broadband and energetic low-frequency component found in the interaction is in excellent agreement with the experimental findings. Furthermore, a linear stability analysis of the mean flow was performed and a stationary unstable global mode was found. The long-run large-eddy simulation data were analyzed and a phase change in the wall pressure fluctuations was related to the global-mode structure, leading to a possible driving mechanism for the observed low-frequency motions.

On the stability and extension of reduced-order Galerkin models in incompressible flows

Abstract: Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) has been used to develop a reduced-order model of the hydrodynamic forces acting on a circular cylinder Direct numerical simulations of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations have been performed using a parallel computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to simulate the flow past a circular cylinder Snapshots of the velocity and pressure fields are used to calculate the divergence-free velocity and pressure modes, respectively We use the dominant of these velocity POD modes (a small number of eigenfunctions or modes) in a Galerkin procedure to project the Navier–Stokes equations onto a low-dimensional space, thereby reducing the distributed-parameter problem into a finite-dimensional nonlinear dynamical system in time The solution of the reduced dynamical system is a limit cycle corresponding to vortex shedding We investigate the stability of the limit cycle by using long-time integration and propose to use a shooting technique to home on the system limit cycle We obtain the pressure-Poisson equation by taking the divergence of the Navier–Stokes equation and then projecting it onto the pressure POD modes The pressure is then decomposed into lift and drag components and compared with the CFD results

An unsteady point vortex method for coupled fluid–solid problems

Abstract: A method is proposed for the study of the two-dimensional coupled motion of a general sharp-edged solid body and a surrounding inviscid flow. The formation of vorticity at the body’s edges is accounted for by the shedding at each corner of point vortices whose intensity is adjusted at each time step to satisfy the regularity condition on the flow at the generating corner. The irreversible nature of vortex shedding is included in the model by requiring the vortices’ intensity to vary monotonically in time. A conservation of linear momentum argument is provided for the equation of motion of these point vortices (Brown–Michael equation). The forces and torques applied on the solid body are computed as explicit functions of the solid body velocity and the vortices’ position and intensity, thereby providing an explicit formulation of the vortex–solid coupled problem as a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations. The example of a falling card in a fluid initially at rest is then studied using this method. The stability of broadside-on fall is analysed and the shedding of vorticity from both plate edges is shown to destabilize this position, consistent with experimental studies and numerical simulations of this problem. The reduced-order representation of the fluid motion in terms of point vortices is used to understand the physical origin of this destabilization.

Asymptotics, structure, and integration of sound-proof atmospheric flow equations

Abstract: Relative to the full compressible flow equations, sound-proof models filter acoustic waves while maintaining advection and internal waves. Two well-known sound-proof models, an anelastic model by Bannon and Durran's pseudo-incompressible model, are shown here to be structurally very close to the full compressible flow equations. Essentially, the anelastic model is obtained by suppressing @t in the mass continuity equation and slightly modifying the gravity term, whereas the pseudoincompressible model results from dropping @tp from the pressure equation. For length scales small compared to the density and pressure scale heights, the anelastic model reduces to the Boussinesq approximation, while the pseudo-incompressible model approaches the zero Mach number, variable density flow equations. Thus, for small scales, both models are asymptotically consistent with the full compressible flow equations, yet the pseudo-incompressible model is more general in that it remains valid in the presence of large density variations. For the relatively small density variations found in typical atmosphere-ocean flows, both models are found to yield very similar results, with deviations between models much smaller than deviations obtained when using different numerical schemes for the same model. This in agreement with Smolarkiewicz and Dornbrack (2007). Despite these useful properties, neither model can be derived by a low-Mach number asymptotic expansion for length scales comparable to the pressure scale height, i.e., for the regime they were originally designed for. Derivations of these models via scale analysis ignore an asymptotic time scale separation between advection and internal waves. In fact, only the classical Ogura & Phillips model, which assumes weak stratication of the order of the Mach number squared, can be obtained as a leading-order model from systematic low Mach number asymptotic analysis. Issues of formal asymptotics notwithstanding, the close structural similarity of the anelastic and pseudo-incompressible models to the full compressible flow equations makes them useful limit systems in building computational models for atmospheric flows. In the second part of the paper we propose a second-order finite-volume projection method for the anelastic and pseudo-incompressible models that observes these structural similarities. The method is applied to test problems involving free convection in a neutral atmosphere, the breaking of orographic waves at high altitudes, and the descent of a cold air bubble in the small-scale limit. The scheme is meant to serve as a starting point for the development of a robust compressible atmospheric flow solver in future work.

Helical shell models for MHD

Abstract: A shell model for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is derived directly from the dynamical system driving the evolution of three helical modes interacting in a triad. The use of helical modes implies that two shell variables are required for the velocity as well as for the magnetic field. The advantage of the method is the automatic conservation of all the ideal quadratic MHD invariants. The number of coupling constants is however larger than in traditional shell models. This difficulty is worked around by introducing an averaging procedure that allows to derive the shell model coupling constants directly from the MHD equations. The resulting shell model is used to explore the influence of a helical forcing on the global properties of MHD turbulence close to the onset of the dynamo regime.

MHD duct flows under hydrodynamic “slip” condition

Abstract: Three classic MHD problems are revisited assuming hydrodynamic slip condition at the interface between the electrically conducting fluid and the insulating wall: (1) Hartmann flow; (2) fully developed flow in a rectangular duct; and (3) quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) turbulent flow. The first two problems have been solved analytically. Additionally to the Hartmann number (Ha), a new dimensionless parameter S, the ratio of the slip length to the thickness of the Hartmann layer, has been identified. One of the most important conclusions of the paper is that the duct flows with the slip still exhibit Hartmann layers, whose thickness scales as 1/Ha, while the thickness of the side layers is a function of both Ha and S. In the case of Q2D flows, a new expression for the Hartmann braking time has been derived showing its increase at Ha >> 1 by factor (1+ S). Numerical simulations performed for a flow with the “M-shaped” velocity profile show that in the presence of the slip, a Q2D flow becomes more irregular as vortical structures experience less Joule and viscous dissipation in the Hartmann layers.

The velocity profile of laminar MHD flows in circular conducting pipes

Abstract: We present numerical simulations without modeling of an incompressible, laminar, unidirectional circular pipe flow of an electrically conducting fluid under the influence of a uniform transverse magnetic field. Our computations are performed using a finite-volume code that uses a charge-conserving formulation [called current-conservative formulation in references (Ni et al J Comput Phys 221(1):174–204, 2007, Ni et al J Comput Phys 227(1):205–228, 2007)]. Using high resolution unstructured meshes, we consider Hartmann numbers up to 3000 and various values of the wall conductance ratio c. In the limit $${c{\ll}{\rm Ha}^{-1}}$$ (insulating wall), our results are in excellent agreement with the so-called asymptotic solution (Shercliff J Fluid Mech 1:644–666, 1956). For higher values of the wall conductance ratio, a discrepancy with the asymptotic solution is observed and we exhibit regions of velocity overspeed in the Roberts layers. We characterise these overspeed regions as a function of the wall conductance ratio and the Hartmann number; a set of scaling laws is derived that is coherent with existing asymptotic analysis.

Adjoint analysis of the flow over a forward-facing step

Abstract: The incompressible flow over a forward-facing step is studied. The interest is focused on the characteristics of the global instabilities in this nonparallel shear flow. In particular, the structure of the instability of the flow and the evaluation of the critical Reynolds number have been topics of investigation. The sensitivity of the flow to external disturbances as well as to base flow modifications have been calculated by means of an adjoint analysis, and the main results are reported and discussed.

Analytic models of heterogenous magnetic fields for liquid metal flow simulations

Abstract: A physically consistent approach is considered for defining an external magnetic field as needed in computational fluid dynamics problems involving magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The approach results in simple analytical formulae that can be used in numerical studies where an inhomogeneous magnetic field influences a liquid metal flow. The resulting magnetic field is divergence and curl-free, and contains two components and parameters to vary. As an illustration, the following examples are considered: peakwise, stepwise, shelfwise inhomogeneous magnetic fields, and the field induced by a solenoid. Finally, the impact of the streamwise magnetic field component is shown qualitatively to be significant for rapidly changing fields.

A stress transport equation model for simulating turbulence at any mesh resolution

Abstract: Prior work has demonstrated the effectiveness of using two-equation closures as the basis for universal, self-adapting turbulence models that are effective at any mesh resolution (Perot and Gadebusch in Phys. Fluids 19:115105, 2007). In order to demonstrate the broad applicability of the fundamental approach, the same behavior is now demonstrated for a second-moment closure (SMC). The SMC has the advantage over the earlier two-equation universal closure of being more accurate in the coarse mesh limit and of having a natural mechanism for backscattering energy from the modeled to the resolved turbulent fluctuations. The mathematical explanation for why Reynolds averaged (RANS) transport equation closures are applicable at any mesh resolution, including the large eddy simulation (LES) regime, is reviewed. It is demonstrated that for the problem of isotropic decaying turbulence, the SMC model produces good predictions at any mesh resolution and with arbitrary initial conditions. In addition, it is shown that the proposed model automatically adapts to the mesh resolution provided. The self-adaptive nature of the method is clearly observed when different initial conditions are used. It is shown that classic RANS models (often thought to produce steady and smooth solutions) can produce three-dimensional, unsteady, and chaotic solutions when generalized correctly and when provided with sufficient mesh resolution. The implications of these observations on the fundamental theories of RANS and LES turbulence modeling are discussed.

Buoyancy-driven motion of a two-dimensional bubble or drop through a viscous liquid in the presence of a vertical electric field

Abstract: The effect of an electric field on the buoyancy-driven motion of a two-dimensional gas bubble rising through a quiescent liquid is studied computationally. The dynamics of the bubble is simulated numerically by tracking the gas–liquid interface when an electrostatic field is generated in the vertical gap of the rectangular enclosure. The two phases of the system are assumed to be perfect dielectrics with constant but different permittivities, and in the absence of impressed charges, there is no free charge in the fluid bulk regions or at the interface. Electric stresses are supported at the bubble interface but absent in the bulk and one of the objectives of our computations is to quantify the effect of these Maxwell stresses on the overall bubble dynamics. The numerical algorithm to solve the free-boundary problem relies on the level-set technique coupled with a finite-volume discretization of the Navier–Stokes equations. The sharp interface is numerically approximated by a finite-thickness transition zone over which the material properties vary smoothly, and surface tension and electric field effects are accounted for by employing a continuous surface force approach. A multi-grid solver is applied to the Poisson equation describing the pressure field and the Laplace equation governing the electric field potential. Computational results are presented that address the combined effects of viscosity, surface tension, and electric fields on the dynamics of the bubble motion as a function of the Reynolds number, gravitational Bond number, electric Bond number, density ratio, and viscosity ratio. It is established through extensive computations that the presence of the electric field can have an important effect on the dynamics. We present results that show a substantial increase in the bubble’s rise velocity in the electrified system as compared with the corresponding non-electrified one. In addition, for the electrified system, the bubble shape deformations and oscillations are smaller, and there is a reduction in the propensity of the bubble to break up through increasingly larger oscillations.

Proper orthogonal decomposition of the flow in geometries containing a narrow gap

Abstract: Geometries containing a narrow gap are characterized by strong quasi-periodical flow oscillations in the narrow gap region. The above mentioned phenomena are of inherently unstable nature and, even if no conclusive theoretical study on the subject has been published, the evidence shown to this point suggests that the oscillations are connected to interactions between eddy structures of turbulent flows on opposite sides of the gap. These coherent structures travel in the direction of homogeneous turbulence, in a fashion that strongly recalls a vortex street. Analogous behaviours have been observed for arrays of arbitrarily shaped channels, within certain range of the geometric parameters. A modelling for these phenomena is at least problematic to achieve since they are turbulence driven. This work aims to address the use of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) to reduce the Navier–Stokes equations to a set of ordinary differential equations and better understand the dynamics underlying these oscillations. Both experimental and numerical data are used to carry out the POD.

Validation of large eddy simulation method for study of flatness and skewness of decaying compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Abstract: In the present work we study potential applicability of large eddy simulation (LES) method for prediction of flatness and skewness of compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. The knowledge of these quantities characterizes non-Gaussian properties of turbulence and can be used for verification of hypothesis on Gaussianity for the turbulent flow under consideration. Prediction accuracy of these quantities by means of LES method directly determines efficiency of reconstruction of probability density function (PDF) that depends on used subgrid-scale (SGS) parameterizations. Applicability of LES approach for studying of PDF properties of turbulent compressible magnetic fluid flow is investigated and potential feasibilities of five SGS parameterizations by means of comparison with direct numerical simulation results are explored. The skewness and the flatness of the velocity and the magnetic field components under various hydrodynamic Reynolds numbers, sonic Mach numbers, and magnetic Reynolds numbers are studied. It is shown that various SGS closures demonstrate the best results depending on change of similarity numbers of turbulent MHD flow. The case without any subgrid modeling yields sufficiently good results as well. This indicates that the energy pile-up at the small scales that is characteristic for the model without any subgrid closure, does not significantly influence on determination of PDF. It is shown that, among the subgrid models, the best results for studying of the flatness and the skewness of velocity and magnetic field components are demonstrated by the Smagorinsky model for MHD turbulence and the model based on cross-helicity for MHD case. It is visible from the numerical results that the influence of a choice subgrid parametrization for the flatness and the skewness of velocity is more essential than for the same characteristics of magnetic field.

Specified discharge velocity models for numerical simulations of laminar vortex rings

Abstract: We numerically and theoretically investigate the flow generated at the exit section of a piston/cylinder arrangement that is generally used in experiments to produce vortex rings. Accurate models for the velocity profile in this section (also called specified discharge velocity, SDV models) are necessary in (i) numerical simulations of laminar vortex rings that do not compute the flow inside the cylinder and (ii) in slug-models that provide a formula for the total circulation of the flow. Based on the theoretical and numerical analysis of the flow evolution in the entrance region of a pipe, we derive two new and easy to implement SDV models. A first model takes into account the unsteady evolution of the centerline velocity, while the second model also includes the time variation of the characteristics of the boundary layer at the exit plane of the vortex generator. The models are tested in axisymmetric direct numerical simulations of vortex rings. As distinguished from classical SDV model, the new models allow to accurately reproduce the characteristics of the flow. In particular, the time evolution of the total circulation is in good agreement with experimental results and previous numerical simulations including the vortex generator. The second model also provides a more realistic time evolution of the vortex ring circulation. Using the classical slug-model and the new correction for the centerline velocity, we finally derive a new and accurate analytical expression for the total circulation of the flow.

Numerical simulations of liquid metal experiments on cosmic magnetic fields

Abstract: Cosmic magnetic fields, including the fields of planets, stars, and galaxies, are produced by the hydromagnetic dynamo effect in moving electrically conducting fluids. They also play an active role in cosmic structure formation by enabling outward transport of angular momentum in accretion disks via the magnetorotational instability. The last 10 years have seen tremendous efforts in studying both effects in liquid metal experiments. This paper is focused on the numerical attempts that were undertaken to understand, optimize, and analyze those experiments.

A numerical and experimental study of a collapsing bubble-induced droplet ejector

Abstract: This paper aims to study a novel drop-on-demand droplet generation mechanism in which the oscillation and deformation of a non-equilibrium bubble in close proximity to a free surface induce an axisymmetric liquid spike on the free surface. The evolution of the liquid spike and its deformation due to the effect of surface tension force lead to the formation of a droplet. The free surface can be accorded by either a circular hole on a horizontal flat plate or by the top opening/nozzle of a vertical cylinder. A high-speed camera capable of obtaining images at a frame rate of 15,000 fps is utilized to observe the droplet formation process. Numerical simulations corresponding to the experiments are performed using the boundary integral spatial solution coupled with the time integration, i.e., a mixed Eulerian–Lagrangian method. In the experiments the bubble is generated using a very low voltage (only 55 V) in contrast to the relatively much higher voltages usually employed in reported works. This is very attractive from a safety viewpoint and accords great simplification of the setup. A comparison is made between the numerical and experimental results. A reasonable agreement has been found. The influences of the main design parameters, namely, the bubble-free surface distance and the dimension of the hole/nozzle on the bubble dynamics and on the droplet formation process are discussed and the conditions of the bubble dynamics under which a satellite-free droplet can be generated are sought. Furthermore, the effects of different geometries, namely, the horizontal flat plate and the vertical cylinder on the bubble dynamics and on the droplet features are examined. One important feature of the proposed actuation mechanism is the capability of producing droplets much smaller than the nozzle size. The possible applications of this mechanism are those where the accurate direction of the ejected droplet is of great importance such as inkjet printing.

Large eddy simulations of targeted electromagnetic control of buoyancy-driven turbulent flow in a slender enclosure

Abstract: We conducted a large eddy simulation (LES) of a locally applied electromagnetic control of turbulent thermal convection of an electrically conductive fluid (electrolyte solution) inside of a slender enclosure. Generic configurations, consisting of two or three magnets of opposite polarities located below the lower wall, and two oppositely charged electrodes along the side walls, are considered. The neutral situation (pure thermal convection) is selected to be in turbulent regime at Ra = 107, Pr = 7. A magnetically extended Smagorinsky type model for the subgrid turbulent stresses and a simple-gradient diffusion model for the subgrid turbulent heat fluxes are used. Different intensities of applied DC current through electrodes are imposed. The effects of the resulting Lorentz force on flow, turbulence reorganisation and wall-heat transfer are analysed. It is demonstrated that significant flow and turbulence structure reorganisation takes place in the proximity of the lower horizontal wall and in the central parts of the enclosure—even for weak DC current of I = 1 A. Significant turbulence increase, generated by the elevated electromagnetic mixing, produced significant enhancements of the wall-heat transfer—up to 70% for the 2-magnet configuration.

Spectral methods based on the least dissipative modes for wall bounded MHD flows

Abstract: We present a new approach for the Spectral Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of Low-Rm wall-bounded magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows. The novelty is that instead of using bases similar to the usual Chebyshev polynomials, which are easy to implement but incur heavy computational costs to resolve the Hartmann boundary layers that arise along the walls, we use a basis made of elements that already incorporate flow structures such as anisotropic vortices and Hartmann layers. We show that such a basis can be obtained from the eigenvalue problem of the linear part of the governing equations with the problem’s boundary conditions. Since this basis is not always orthogonal, we develop a spectral method for non-orthogonal bases. We then demonstrate the efficiency of this method on the simple case of a laminar channel flow with periodic forcing. In particular, we show that this method eliminates the computational costs incurred this Hartmann layer, and this for arbitrary high magnetic fields B. We then discuss the application of our method to nonlinear, turbulent flows for which the number of modes required to resolve the flow completely decreases strongly when B increases, instead of increasing as in the case of currently employed Chebyshev-based methods.

On the origin of super-rotating layers in magnetohydrodynamic flows

Abstract: An asymptotic analysis has been performed for the magnetohydrodynamic flow between perfectly conducting concentric cylindrical shells. The flow in the model geometry exhibits all the features which had been discovered in the past for the case of differentially rotating spherical shells considered in the context of geophysical analyses. For strong magnetic fields, the flow domain splits into distinct subregions and exhibits two different types of cores which are separated from each other by a tangent shear layer. The fluid in the inner core flows similar to a solid-body rotation and the outer core is entirely stagnant. With increasing magnetic fields the shear layer becomes thinner and, since the flow rate carried by the layer asymptotes to a finite value, the velocity in the layer increases as the layer thickness decreases. Moreover, the flux carried by the layer rotates in opposite direction compared with the rotation of the body. It is shown that the rotating jet is driven by the electric potential difference between the edges of the inner and the outer core.

Aspect-ratio dependence of transient Taylor vortices close to threshold

Abstract: We perform a detailed numerical study of transient Taylor vortices arising from the instability of cylindrical Couette flow with the exterior cylinder at rest for radius ratio η = 0.5 and variable aspect ratio Γ. The result of Abshagen et al. (J Fluid Mech 476:335-343, 2003) that onset transients apparently evolve on a much smaller time-scale than decay transients is recovered. It is shown to be an artefact of time scale estimations based on the Stuart-Landau amplitude equation which assumes frozen space dependence while full space-time dependence embedded in the Ginzburg-Landau formalism needs to be taken into account to understand transients already at moderate aspect ratio. Sub-critical pattern induction is shown to explain the apparently anomalous behaviour of the system at onset while decay follows the Stuart-Landau prediction more closely. The dependence of time scales on boundary effects is studied for a wide range of aspect ratios, including non-integer ones, showing general agreement with the Ginzburg-Landau picture able to account for solutions modulated by Ekman pumping at the disks bounding the cylinders.

Decaying homogeneous turbulence under strong density stratification at low-Prandtl number

Abstract: The characteristics of decaying homogeneous turbulence under strong density stratification have been studied using direct numerical simulations. While our previous study dealt with rotating stratified turbulence, here we investigate the detailed flow structure of stratified turbulence without rotation especially at low-Prandtl number. By assuming a low-Prandtl-number fluid, e.g. liquid sodium: Pr ≈ 0.01, gallium: Pr ≈ 0.025, internal gravity waves are markedly attenuated due to the large thermal conductivity, and turbulence soon reaches a two-component state, where vertical energy, coupled with potential energy, significantly decays, and becomes negligible as observed experimentally (Praud et al. in J Fluid Mech 522:1–33, 2005). In the horizontal plane, there appear large-scale vortices with vertical vorticity, and those with the same sign of vorticity increase their horizontal length scale by merging with each other. In the vertical plane, highly sheared regions represented by horizontal vorticity also tend to horizontally increase their length scale and become layered structures by the combined effects of vortex coalescence and energy cascade into higher vertical wavenumbers.

Effect of propellant morphology on acoustics in a planar rocket motor

Abstract: This paper reports the results of numerical simulations of the acoustics in a two-dimensional (plane) motor using a high-order accurate, low-dissipation numerical solver. For verification we compare solutions to Culick’s (AIAA J 4(8):1462–1464, 1966) asymptotic solution for constant injection, and to recent results of Hegab and Kassoy (AIAA J 44(4):812–826, 2006) for a space- and time-dependent mass injection. We present results when the injection boundary condition is described by propellant morphology and by white noise. Morphology strongly affects the amplitude of the longitudinal acoustic modes, and in this connection white noise is not a suitable surrogate.

Equilibrium states in homogeneous turbulence with baroclinic instability

Abstract: The evolution of energies and fluxes in homogeneous turbulence with baroclinic instability is analyzed using the linear theory. The mean flow corresponds to a vertical shear having a uniform mean velocity gradient, ∂U i /∂x j = S δ i1 δ j3, a system rotation about the vertical axis with rate Ω, Ω i = Ωδ i3, and uniform buoyancy gradients in the spanwise $${(\partial B{/}\partial x_2\,{=}\, N_h^2\,{=}\,-2\Omega S)}$$ and vertical $${(\partial B{/}\partial x_3\,{=}\,N_v^2)}$$ directions. Computations based on the rapid distortion theory (RDT) are performed for several values of the rotation number R = 2Ω/S and the Richardson number $${R_i\,{=}\,N_v^2/S^2 <1 }$$ . It is shown that, during an initial phase, the energies and the buoyancy fluxes are sensitive to the effects of pressure and viscosity. At large time, the ratios of energies, as well as the normalized fluxes, evolve to an asymptotically constant value, while the pressure–strain correlation scaled with the product of the turbulent kinetic energy by the shear rate approaches zero. Accordingly, an analytical parametric study based on the “pressure-less” approach (PLA) is also presented. The analytical study indicates that, when R i < 1, there is an exponential instability and equilibrium states of turbulence, in agreement with RDT. The energies and the buoyancy fluxes grow exponentially for large times with the same rate (γ in St units). The asymptotic value of the ratios of energies yielded by RDT is well described by its PLA counterpart derived analytically. At R i = 0, the asymptotic value of γ increases with increasing R approaching 2 for high rotation rates. At low rotation rates, an important contribution to the kinetic energy comes from the streamwise kinetic energy, whereas, at high rotation rates, the contribution of the vertical kinetic energy is dominant. When 0 < R i < 1 and $${R e 0}$$ , the asymptotic value of γ decreases as R i increases so as it becomes zero at R i = 1.

Generation of internal and surface waves by seafloor movement in a two layer fluid system

Abstract: Internal and surface waves generated by the deformations of the solid bed in a two layer fluid system of infinite lateral extent and uniform depth are investigated. An integral solution is developed for an arbitrary bed displacement on the basis of a linear approximation of the complete description of wave motion using a transform method (Laplace in time and Fourier in space) analogous to that used to study the generation of tsunamis by many researchers. The theoretical solutions are presented for three interesting specific deformations of the seafloor; the spatial variation of each seafloor displacement consists of a block section of the seafloor moving vertically either up or down while the time-displacement history of the block section is varied. The generation process and the profiles of the internal and surface waves for the case of the exponential bed movement are numerically illustrated, and the effects of the deformation parameters, densities and depths of the two layers on the solutions are discussed. As expected, the solutions derived from the present work include as special cases that obtained by Kervella et al. [Theor Comput Fluid Dyn 21:245-269, 2007] for tsunamis cased by an instantaneous seabed deformation and those presented by Hammack [J Fluid Mech 60:769-799, 1973] for the exponential and the half-sine bed displacements when the density of the upper fluid is taken as zero.

Low-Prandtl-number Bénard–Marangoni convection in a vertical magnetic field

Abstract: The effect of a homogeneous magnetic field on surface-tension-driven Benard convection is studied by means of direct numerical simulations. The flow is computed in a rectangular domain with periodic horizontal boundary conditions and the free-slip condition on the bottom wall using a pseudospectral Fourier–Chebyshev discretization. Deformations of the free surface are neglected. Two- and three-dimensional flows are computed for either vanishing or small Prandtl number, which are typical of liquid metals. The main focus of the paper is on a qualitative comparison of the flow states with the non-magnetic case, and on the effects associated with the possible near-cancellation of the nonlinear and pressure terms in the momentum equations for two-dimensional rolls. In the three-dimensional case, the transition from a stationary hexagonal pattern at the onset of convection to three-dimensional time-dependent convection is explored by a series of simulations at zero Prandtl number.

A structural model for the vortex tubes of isotropic turbulence

Abstract: A class of exact solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations is introduced to model the fine-scale, tubular structures of isotropic turbulence. The model vortices exhibit slow algebraic fall-off of the induced velocity, and accurately reproduce the velocity signatures observed in DNS and experiments. The proposed model has interesting implications for the theoretical analysis of turbulence, supporting the view that the inertial range energy scaling may have a link with the near-singular velocity field induced by vortex tubes produced by the roll-up of vortex sheets.

The effects of acceleration in jets: kinematics of the near field vortices

Abstract: Direct and large-eddy simulations (DNS/LES) of accelerating round jets are used to analyze the effects of acceleration on the kinematics of vortex rings in the near field of the jet (x/D < 12). The acceleration is obtained by increasing the nozzle jet velocity with time, in a previously established (steady) jet, and ends once the inlet jet velocity is equal to twice its initial value. Several acceleration rates (α = 0.02–0.6) and Reynolds numbers (ReD = 500–20000) were simulated. Acceleration maps were used to make a detailed study of the kinematics of vortex rings in accelerating jets. One of the effects of the acceleration is to cause a number of new primary and secondary vortex merging events that are absent from steady jets. As the acceleration rate α increases, both the number of primary merging events between rings and the axial position where these take place decreases. The statistics for the speed of the starting ring that forms at the start of the acceleration phase for each simulation, agree well with the statistics for the “front” speed observed by Zhang and Johari (Phys Fluids 8:2185–2195, 1996). Acceleration maps and flow visualizations show that during the acceleration phase the near field coherent vortices become smaller and are formed at an higher frequency than in the steady jet, and their (mean) shedding frequency increases linearly with the acceleration rate. Finally, it was observed that the acceleration decreases the spreading rate of the jet, in agreement with previous experimental works.

Boundary film shear elastic modulus effect in hydrodynamic contact. Part I: theoretical analysis and typical solution

Abstract: Boundary film shear elastic modulus effect is analyzed in a hydrodynamic contact. The contact is one-dimensional composed of two parallel plane surfaces, which are, respectively, rough rigid with rectangular micro projections in profile periodically distributed on the surface and ideally smooth rigid. The whole contact is consisted of cavitated area and hydrodynamic area. The hydrodynamic area consists of many micro Raleigh bearings which are discontinuously and periodically distributed in the contact. Analysis is thus carried out for a micro Raleigh bearing in this contact. The hydrodynamic contact in this micro Raleigh bearing consists of boundary film area and fluid film area which, respectively, occur in the outlet and inlet zones. In boundary film area, the film slips at the upper contact surface due to the limited shear stress capacity of the film-contact interface, while the film does not slip at the lower contact surface due to the shear stress capacity large enough at the film-contact interface. In boundary film area, the viscosity, density and shear elastic modulus of the film are varied across the film thickness due to the film-contact interactions, and their effective values are used in modeling, which depend on the film thickness. The analytical approach proposed by Zhang (J Mol Liq 128:60-64, 2006) and Zhang et al. (Int J Fluid Mech Res 30:542-557, 2003) is used for boundary film area. In fluid film area, the film does not slip at either of the contact surfaces, and the shear elastic modulus of the film is neglected. Conventional hydrodynamic analysis is used for fluid film area. The present paper presents the theoretical analysis and a typical solution. It is found that for the simulated case the boundary film shear elastic modulus effects on the mass flow through the contact, the overall film thickness of the contact and the carried load of the contact are negligible but the boundary film shear elastic modulus effect on the local film thickness of the contact may be significant when the boundary film thickness is on the 1 nm scale and the contact surfaces are elastic. In Part II will be presented detailed results showing boundary film shear elastic modulus effects in different operating conditions.