Coherent structures and turbulence.
TL;DR: In this article, a general scheme for educing coherent structures in any transitional or fully turbulent flow is presented, based on smoothed vorticity maps in convenient flow planes, which recognizes patterns of the same mode and parameter size, and then phase-aligns and ensembles them to obtain coherent structure measures.
Abstract: This is a personal statement on the present state of understanding of coherent structures, in particular their spatial details and dynamical significance. The characteristic measures of coherent structures are discussed, emphasizing coherent vorticity as the crucial property. We present here a general scheme for educing structures in any transitional or fully turbulent flow. From smoothed vorticity maps in convenient flow planes, this scheme recognizes patterns of the same mode and parameter size, and then phase-aligns and ensemble-averages them to obtain coherent structure measures. The departure of individual realizations from the ensemble average denotes incoherent turbulence. This robust scheme has been used to educe structures from velocity data using a rake of hot wires as well as direct numerical simulations and can educe structures using newer measurement techniques such as digital image processing. Our recent studies of coherent structures in several free shear flows are briefly reviewed. Detailed data in circular and elliptic jets, mixing layers, and a plane wake reveal that incoherent turbulence is produced at the ‘saddles’ and then advected to the ‘centres’ of the structures. The mechanism of production of turbulence in shear layers is the stretching of longitudinal vortices or ‘ribs’ which connect the predominantly spanwise ‘rolls’; the ribs induce spanwise contortions of rolls and cause mixing and dissipation, mostly at points where they connect with rolls. We also briefly discuss the role of coherent structures in aerodynamic noise generation and argue that the structure breakdown process, rather than vortex pairing, is the dominant mechanism of noise generation. The ‘cut-and-connect’ interaction of coherent structures is proposed as a specific mechanism of aerodynamic noise generation, and a simple analytical model of it shows that it can provide acceptable predictions of jet noise. The coherent-structures approach to turbulence, apart from explaining flow physics, has also enabled turbulence management via control of structure evolution and interactions. We also discuss some new ideas under investigation: in particular, helicity as a characteristic property of coherent structures.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a definition of vortex in an incompressible flow in terms of the eigenvalues of the symmetric tensor, which captures the pressure minimum in a plane perpendicular to the vortex axis at high Reynolds numbers, and also accurately defines vortex cores at low Reynolds numbers.
Abstract: Considerable confusion surrounds the longstanding question of what constitutes a vortex, especially in a turbulent flow. This question, frequently misunderstood as academic, has recently acquired particular significance since coherent structures (CS) in turbulent flows are now commonly regarded as vortices. An objective definition of a vortex should permit the use of vortex dynamics concepts to educe CS, to explain formation and evolutionary dynamics of CS, to explore the role of CS in turbulence phenomena, and to develop viable turbulence models and control strategies for turbulence phenomena. We propose a definition of a vortex in an incompressible flow in terms of the eigenvalues of the symmetric tensor ${\bm {\cal S}}^2 + {\bm \Omega}^2$ are respectively the symmetric and antisymmetric parts of the velocity gradient tensor ${\bm \Delta}{\bm u}$. This definition captures the pressure minimum in a plane perpendicular to the vortex axis at high Reynolds numbers, and also accurately defines vortex cores at low Reynolds numbers, unlike a pressure-minimum criterion. We compare our definition with prior schemes/definitions using exact and numerical solutions of the Euler and Navier–Stokes equations for a variety of laminar and turbulent flows. In contrast to definitions based on the positive second invariant of ${\bm \Delta}{\bm u}$ or the complex eigenvalues of ${\bm \Delta}{\bm u}$, our definition accurately identifies the vortex core in flows where the vortex geometry is intuitively clear.
5,837 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a method is introduced that is able to extract dynamic information from flow fields that are either generated by a (direct) numerical simulation or visualized/measured in a physical experiment.
Abstract: The description of coherent features of fluid flow is essential to our understanding of fluid-dynamical and transport processes. A method is introduced that is able to extract dynamic information from flow fields that are either generated by a (direct) numerical simulation or visualized/measured in a physical experiment. The extracted dynamic modes, which can be interpreted as a generalization of global stability modes, can be used to describe the underlying physical mechanisms captured in the data sequence or to project large-scale problems onto a dynamical system of significantly fewer degrees of freedom. The concentration on subdomains of the flow field where relevant dynamics is expected allows the dissection of a complex flow into regions of localized instability phenomena and further illustrates the flexibility of the method, as does the description of the dynamics within a spatial framework. Demonstrations of the method are presented consisting of a plane channel flow, flow over a two-dimensional cavity, wake flow behind a flexible membrane and a jet passing between two cylinders.
4,150 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of coherent structures in the production and dissipation of turbulence in a boundary layer is characterized, summarizing the results of recent investigations, and diagrams and graphs are provided.
Abstract: The role of coherent structures in the production and dissipation of turbulence in a boundary layer is characterized, summarizing the results of recent investigations. Coherent motion is defined as a three-dimensional region of flow where at least one fundamental variable exhibits significant correlation with itself or with another variable over a space or time range significantly larger than the smallest local scales of the flow. Sections are then devoted to flow-visualization experiments, statistical analyses, numerical simulation techniques, the history of coherent-structure studies, vortices and vortical structures, conceptual models, and predictive models. Diagrams and graphs are provided.
2,518 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of scale-invariance properties of high-Reynolds-number turbulence in the inertial range is presented, focusing on dynamic and similarity subgrid models and evaluating how well these models reproduce the true impact of the small scales on large scale physics and how they perform in numerical simulations.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Relationships between small and large scales of motion in turbulent flows are of much interest in large-eddy simulation of turbulence, in which small scales are not explicitly resolved and must be modeled. This paper reviews models that are based on scale-invariance properties of high-Reynolds-number turbulence in the inertial range. The review starts with the Smagorinsky model, but the focus is on dynamic and similarity subgrid models and on evaluating how well these models reproduce the true impact of the small scales on large-scale physics and how they perform in numerical simulations. Various criteria to evaluate the model performance are discussed, including the so-called a posteriori and a priori studies based on direct numerical simulation and experimental data. Issues are addressed mainly in the context of canonical, incompressible flows, but extensions to scalar-transport, compressible, and reacting flows are also mentioned. Other recent modeling approaches are briefly introduced.
1,395 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a tomographic particle image velocimetry (tomographic-PIV) system based on the illumination, recording and reconstruction of tracer particles within a 3D measurement volume is described.
Abstract: This paper describes the principles of a novel 3D PIV system based on the illumination, recording and reconstruction of tracer particles within a 3D measurement volume The technique makes use of several simultaneous views of the illuminated particles and their 3D reconstruction as a light intensity distribution by means of optical tomography The technique is therefore referred to as tomographic particle image velocimetry (tomographic-PIV) The reconstruction is performed with the MART algorithm, yielding a 3D array of light intensity discretized over voxels The reconstructed tomogram pair is then analyzed by means of 3D cross-correlation with an iterative multigrid volume deformation technique, returning the three-component velocity vector distribution over the measurement volume The principles and details of the tomographic algorithm are discussed and a parametric study is carried out by means of a computer-simulated tomographic-PIV procedure The study focuses on the accuracy of the light intensity field reconstruction process The simulation also identifies the most important parameters governing the experimental method and the tomographic algorithm parameters, showing their effect on the reconstruction accuracy A computer simulated experiment of a 3D particle motion field describing a vortex ring demonstrates the capability and potential of the proposed system with four cameras The capability of the technique in real experimental conditions is assessed with the measurement of the turbulent flow in the near wake of a circular cylinder at Reynolds 2,700
1,159 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1967TL;DR: The dynamique des : fluides Reference Record created on 2005-11-18 is updated on 2016-08-08 and shows improvements in the quality of the data over the past decade.
Abstract: Preface Conventions and notation 1. The physical properties of fluids 2. Kinematics of the flow field 3. Equations governing the motion of a fluid 4. Flow of a uniform incompressible viscous fluid 5. Flow at large Reynolds number: effects of viscosity 6. Irrotational flow theory and its applications 7. Flow of effectively inviscid liquid with vorticity Appendices.
11,187 citations
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01 Jan 1972
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a reference record created on 2005-11-18, modified on 2016-08-08 and used for the analysis of turbulence and transport in the context of energie.
Abstract: Keywords: turbulence ; transport ; contraintes ; transport ; couche : limite ; ecoulement ; tourbillon ; energie Reference Record created on 2005-11-18, modified on 2016-08-08
8,276 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory for estimating the sound radiated from a fluid flow, with rigid boundaries, which as a result of instability contains regular fluctuations or turbulence is initiated, based on the equations of motion of a gas.
Abstract: A theory is initiated, based on the equations of motion of a gas, for the purpose of estimating the sound radiated from a fluid flow, with rigid boundaries, which as a result of instability contains regular fluctuations or turbulence. The sound field is that which would be produced by a static distribution of acoustic quadrupoles whose instantaneous strength per unit volume is ρv i v j + p ij - a 2 0 ρ δ ij , where ρ is the density, v i the velocity vector, p ij the compressive stress tensor, and a 0 the velocity of sound outside the flow. This quadrupole strength density may be approximated in many cases as ρ 0 v i v j . The radiation field is deduced by means of retarded potential solutions. In it, the intensity depends crucially on the frequency as well as on the strength of the quadrupoles, and as a result increases in proportion to a high power, near the eighth, of a typical velocity U in the flow. Physically, the mechanism of conversion of energy from kinetic to acoustic is based on fluctuations in the flow of momentum across fixed surfaces, and it is explained in § 2 how this accounts both for the relative inefficiency of the process and for the increase of efficiency with U . It is shown in § 7 how the efficiency is also increased, particularly for the sound emitted forwards, in the case of fluctuations convected at a not negligible Mach number.
4,697 citations
01 Jan 1977
TL;DR: Spectral Methods Survey of Approximation Theory Review of Convergence Theory Algebraic Stability Spectral Methods Using Fourier Series Applications of algebraic stability analysis Constant Coefficient Hyperbolic Equations Time Differencing Efficient Implementation of Spectral Method as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Spectral Methods Survey of Approximation Theory Review of Convergence Theory Algebraic Stability Spectral Methods Using Fourier Series Applications of Algebraic Stability Analysis Constant Coefficient Hyperbolic Equations Time Differencing Efficient Implementation of Spectral Methods Numerical Results for Hyperbolic Problems Advection-Diffusion Equation Models of Incompressible Fluid Dynamics Miscellaneous Applications of Spectral Methods Survey of Spectral Methods and Applications Properties of Chebyshev and Legendre Polynomial Expansions.
3,386 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Spark shadow pictures and measurements of density fluctuations suggest that turbulent mixing and entrainment is a process of entanglement on the scale of the large structures; some statistical properties of the latter are used to obtain an estimate of entrainedment rates, and large changes of the density ratio across the mixing layer were found to have a relatively small effect on the spreading angle.
Abstract: Plane turbulent mixing between two streams of different gases (especially nitrogen and helium) was studied in a novel apparatus Spark shadow pictures showed that, for all ratios of densities in the two streams, the mixing layer is dominated by large coherent structures High-speed movies showed that these convect at nearly constant speed, and increase their size and spacing discontinuously by amalgamation with neighbouring ones The pictures and measurements of density fluctuations suggest that turbulent mixing and entrainment is a process of entanglement on the scale of the large structures; some statistical properties of the latter are used to obtain an estimate of entrainment rates Large changes of the density ratio across the mixing layer were found to have a relatively small effect on the spreading angle; it is concluded that the strong effects, which are observed when one stream is supersonic, are due to compressibility effects, not density effects, as has been generally supposed
3,339 citations