Velocity gradient

About: Velocity gradient is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3013 publications have been published within this topic receiving 77120 citations.

A physical model for strain accumulation in the San Francisco Bay Region

Abstract: SUMMARY Strain accumulation in tectonically active regions is generally a superposition of the effects of background tectonic loading, steady-state dislocation processes, such as creep, and transient deformation. In the San Francisco Bay region (SFBR), the most uncertain of these processes is transient deformation, which arises primarily in association with large earthquakes. As such, it depends upon the history of faulting and the rheology of the crust and mantle, which together determine the pattern of longer term (decade-scale) post-seismic response to earthquakes. We utilize a set of 102 GPS velocity vectors in the SFBR in order to characterize the strain rate field and construct a physical model of its present deformation. We first perform an inversion for the continuous velocity gradient field from the discrete GPS velocity field, from which both tensor strain rate and rotation rate may be extracted. The present strain rate pattern is well described as a nearly uniform shear strain rate oriented approximately N34 ◦ W (140 nanostrain yr −1 ) plus a N56 ◦ E uniaxial compression rate averaging 20 nanostrain yr −1 across the shear zone. We fit the velocity and strain rate fields to a model of time-dependent deformation within a 135-km-wide, arcuate shear zone bounded by strong Pacific Plate and Sierra Nevada block lithosphere to the SW and NE, respectively. Driving forces are purely lateral, consisting of shear zone deformation imposed by the relative motions between the thick Pacific Plate and Sierra Nevada block lithospheres. Assuming a depth-dependent viscoelastic structure within the shear zone, we account for the effects of steady creep on faults and viscoelastic relaxation following the 1906 San Francisco and 1989 Loma Prieta earthquakes, subject to constant velocity boundary conditions on the edges of the shear zone. Fault creep is realized by evaluating dislocations on the creeping portions of faults in the fluid limit of the viscoelastic model. A priori plate-boundary(PB)-parallel motion is set to 38 mm yr −1 .Ag rid search based on fitting the observed strain rate pattern yields a mantle viscosity of 1.2 × 10 19 P as and a PB-perpendicular convergence rate of ∼ 3m m yr −1 . Most of this convergence appears to be uniformly distributed in the Pacific—Sierra Nevada plate boundary zone.

An experimental investigation of the supersonic turbulent boundary layer subjected to concave curvature

Abstract: By employing particle image velocimetry, the response of a Mach 2.95 turbulent boundary layer to the concave curvature is experimentally investigated. The radius of the concave wall is 350 mm, and the turning angle is 20∘. Logarithmic law is well preserved in the profile of streamwise velocity at all streamwise positions despite the impact of curvature. The varying trend of principal strain rate is found to be different at different heights within the boundary layer, which cannot be explained by the suggestion given by former researchers. Based on the three-layer model proposed in this paper, distribution of the principal strain rate is carefully analyzed. The streamwise increase of wall friction is suggested to be brought by the increase of velocity gradient in the thin subsonic layer. Increases of the static temperature and the related sound speed are responsible for that. Larger correlated turbulent motions could be introduced by the concave curvature. The probability density histograms of streamwise velocity reveal that the large scale hairpin packets are statistically well organized. The concave curvature is found to have the potential of reinforcing the organization, which explains the increase of turbulent level in the supersonic concave boundary layer.

A modified restricted euler equation for turbulent flows with mean velocity gradients

Abstract: The restricted Euler equation captures many important features of the behavior of the velocity gradient tensor observed in direct numerical simulations (DNS) of isotropic turbulence. However, in slightly more complex flows the agreement is not good, especially in regions of low dissipation. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the Reynolds-averaged restricted Euler equation violates the balance of mean momentum for virtually all homogeneous turbulent flows with only two major exceptions: isotropic and homogeneously-sheared turbulence. A new model equation which overcomes this shortcoming and is more widely applicable is suggested. This model is derived from the Navier-Stokes equation with a restricted Euler type approximation made on the fluctuating velocity gradient field. Analytical solutions of the proposed modified restricted Euler equation appear to be difficult to obtain. Hence, a strategy for numerically calculating the velocity gradient tensor is developed. Preliminary calculations tend to indicate that the modified restricted Euler equation captures many important aspects of the behavior of the fluctuating velocity gradients in anisotropic homogeneous turbulence.

Velocity fluctuations in forced Burgers turbulence.

Abstract: Burgers turbulence: the tails of the velocity gradient distribution in the regions where there are no shocks. We evaluate the ‘‘right’’ tail through a rather simple computation, and compare it to the more sophisticated approaches developed recently @7,3,6#. We then give a conjecture on the ‘‘left’’ tail which is based on a plausible argument, requiring the system to reach a stationary state. We shall first discuss the one dimensional case, then turn to higher dimensions, and compare our results with the previously available ones.