scholarly journals Energy-consistent entrainment relations for jets and plumes

2015 ◽  
Vol 782 ◽  
pp. 333-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten van Reeuwijk ◽  
John Craske

We discuss energetic restrictions on the entrainment coefficient${\it\alpha}$for axisymmetric jets and plumes. The resulting entrainment relation includes contributions from the mean flow, turbulence and pressure, fundamentally linking${\it\alpha}$to the production of turbulence kinetic energy, the plume Richardson number$\mathit{Ri}$and the profile coefficients associated with the shape of the buoyancy and velocity profiles. This entrainment relation generalises the work by Kaminskiet al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 526, 2005, pp. 361–376) and Fox (J. Geophys. Res., vol. 75, 1970, pp. 6818–6835). The energetic viewpoint provides a unified framework with which to analyse the classical entrainment models implied by the plume theories of Mortonet al.(Proc. R. Soc. Lond.A, vol. 234, 1955, pp. 1–23) and Priestley & Ball (Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., vol. 81, 1954, pp. 144–157). Data for pure jets and plumes in unstratified environments indicate that to first order the physics is captured by the Priestley and Ball entrainment model, implying that (1) the profile coefficient associated with the production of turbulence kinetic energy has approximately the same value for pure plumes and jets, (2) the value of${\it\alpha}$for a pure plume is roughly a factor of$5/3$larger than for a jet and (3) the enhanced entrainment coefficient in plumes is primarily associated with the behaviour of the mean flow and not with buoyancy-enhanced turbulence. Theoretical suggestions are made on how entrainment can be systematically studied by creating constant-$\mathit{Ri}$flows in a numerical simulation or laboratory experiment.

Author(s):  
Marcel Oliver

This paper revisits the derivation of the Lagrangian averaged Euler (LAE), or Euler- α equations in the light of an intrinsic definition of the averaged flow map as the geodesic mean on the volume-preserving diffeomorphism group. Under the additional assumption that first-order fluctuations are statistically isotropic and transported by the mean flow as a vector field, averaging of the kinetic energy Lagrangian of an ideal fluid yields the LAE Lagrangian. The derivation presented here assumes a Euclidean spatial domain without boundaries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 2294-2314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Elipot ◽  
Lisa M. Beal

AbstractThe Agulhas Current intermittently undergoes dramatic offshore excursions from its mean path because of the downstream passage of mesoscale solitary meanders or Natal pulses. New observations and analyses are presented of the variability of the current and its meanders using mooring observations from the Agulhas Current Time-Series Experiment (ACT) near 34°S. Using a new rotary EOF method, mesoscale meanders and smaller-scale meanders are differentiated and each captured in a single mode of variance. During mesoscale meanders, an onshore cyclonic circulation and an offshore anticyclonic circulation act together to displace the jet offshore, leading to sudden and strong positive conversion of kinetic energy from the mean flow to the meander via nonlinear interactions. Smaller meanders are principally represented by a single cyclonic circulation spanning the entire jet that acts to displace the jet without extracting kinetic energy from the mean flow. Synthesizing in situ observations with altimeter data leads to an account of the number of mesoscale meanders at 34°S: 1.6 yr−1 on average, in agreement with a recent analysis by Rouault and Penven (2011) and significantly less than previously understood. The links between meanders and the arrival of Mozambique Channel eddies or Madagascar dipoles at the western boundary upstream are found to be robust in the 20-yr altimeter record. Yet, only a small fraction of anomalies arriving at the western boundary result in meanders, and of those, two-thirds can be related to ring shedding. Most Agulhas rings are shed independently of meanders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 1661-1681
Author(s):  
Qingfang Jiang ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
Shouping Wang ◽  
Saša Gaberšek

Abstract The characteristics of a convective internal boundary layer (CIBL) documented offshore during the East Coast phase of the Coupled Air–Sea Processes and Electromagnetic Ducting Research (CASPER-EAST) field campaign has been examined using field observations, a coupled mesoscale model (i.e., Navy’s COAMPS) simulation, and a couple of surface-layer-resolving large-eddy simulations (LESs). The Lagrangian modeling approach has been adopted with the LES domain being advected from a cool and rough land surface to a warmer and smoother sea surface by the mean offshore winds in the CIBL. The surface fluxes from the LES control run are in reasonable agreement with field observations, and the general CIBL characteristics are consistent with previous studies. According to the LESs, in the nearshore adjustment zone (i.e., fetch < 8 km), the low-level winds and surface friction velocity increase rapidly, and the mean wind profile and vertical velocity skewness in the surface layer deviate substantially from the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) scaling. Farther offshore, the nondimensional vertical wind shear and scalar gradients and higher-order moments are consistent with the MOST scaling. An elevated turbulent layer is present immediately below the CIBL top, associated with the vertical wind shear across the CIBL top inversion. Episodic shear instability events occur with a time scale between 10 and 30 min, leading to the formation of elevated maxima in turbulence kinetic energy and momentum fluxes. During these events, the turbulence kinetic energy production exceeds the dissipation, suggesting that the CIBL remains in nonequilibrium.


1975 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Perry ◽  
C. J. Abell

Using hot-wire-anemometer dynamic-calibration methods, fully developed pipe-flow turbulence measurements have been taken in the Reynolds-number range 80 × 103 to 260 × 103. Comparisons are made with the results of previous workers, obtained using static-calibration methods. From the dynamic-calibration results, a consistent and systematic correlation for the distribution of turbulence quantities becomes evident, the resulting correlation scheme being similar to that which has previously been established for the mean flow. The correlations reported have been partly conjectured in the past by many workers but convincing experimental evidence has always been masked by the scatter in the results, no doubt caused by the difficulties associated with static-calibration methods, particularly the earlier ones. As for the mean flow, the turbulence intensity measurements appear to collapse to an inner and outer law with a region of overlap, from which deductions can be made using dimensional arguments. The long-suspected similarity of the turbulence structure and its consistency with the established mean-flow similarity appears to be confirmed by the measurements reported here.


2014 ◽  
Vol 755 ◽  
pp. 397-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Wang ◽  
James C. McWilliams ◽  
Claire Ménesguen

AbstractThe linear instability of several rotating, stably stratified, interior vertical shear flows $\def \xmlpi #1{}\def \mathsfbi #1{\boldsymbol {\mathsf {#1}}}\let \le =\leqslant \let \leq =\leqslant \let \ge =\geqslant \let \geq =\geqslant \def \Pr {\mathit {Pr}}\def \Fr {\mathit {Fr}}\def \Rey {\mathit {Re}}\overline{U}(z)$ is calculated in Boussinesq equations. Two types of baroclinic, ageostrophic instability, AI1 and AI2, are found in odd-symmetric $\overline{U}(z)$ for intermediate Rossby number ($\mathit{Ro}$). AI1 has zero frequency; it appears in a continuous transformation of the unstable mode properties between classic baroclinic instability (BCI) and centrifugal instability (CI). It begins to occur at intermediate $\mathit{Ro}$ values and horizontal wavenumbers ($k,l$) that are far from $l= 0$ or $k = 0$, where the growth rate of BCI or CI is the strongest. AI1 grows by drawing kinetic energy from the mean flow, and the perturbation converts kinetic energy to potential energy. The instability AI2 has inertia critical layers (ICL); hence it is associated with inertia-gravity waves. For an unstable AI2 mode, the coupling is either between an interior balanced shear wave and an inertia-gravity wave (BG), or between two inertia-gravity waves (GG). The main energy source for an unstable BG mode is the mean kinetic energy, while the main energy source for an unstable GG mode is the mean available potential energy. AI1 and BG type AI2 occur in the neighbourhood of $A-S= 0$ (a sign change in the difference between absolute vertical vorticity and horizontal strain rate in isentropic coordinates; see McWilliams et al., Phys. Fluids, vol. 10, 1998, pp. 3178–3184), while GG type AI2 arises beyond this condition. Both AI1 and AI2 are unbalanced instabilities; they serve as an initiation of a possible local route for the loss of balance in 3D interior flows, leading to an efficient energy transfer to small scales.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 3363-3371 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Lott

Abstract The backward reflection of a stationary gravity wave (GW) propagating toward the ground is examined in the linear viscous case and for large Reynolds numbers (Re). In this case, the stationary GW presents a critical level at the ground because the mean wind is null there. When the mean flow Richardson number at the surface (J) is below 0.25, the GW reflection by the viscous boundary layer is total in the inviscid limit Re → ∞. The GW is a little absorbed when Re is finite, and the reflection decreases when both the dissipation and J increase. When J > 0.25, the GW is absorbed for all values of the Reynolds number, with a general tendency for the GW reflection to decrease when J increases. As a large ground reflection favors the downstream development of a trapped lee wave, the fact that it decreases when J increases explains why the more unstable boundary layers favor the onset of mountain lee waves. It is also shown that the GW reflection when J > 0.25 is substantially larger than that predicted by the conventional inviscid critical level theory and larger than that predicted when the dissipations are represented by Rayleigh friction and Newtonian cooling. The fact that the GW reflection depends strongly on the Richardson number indicates that there is some correspondence between the dynamics of trapped lee waves and the dynamics of Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities. Accordingly, and in one classical example, it is shown that some among the neutral modes for Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities that exist in an unbounded flow when J < 0.25 can also be stationary trapped-wave solutions when there is a ground and in the inviscid limit Re → ∞. When Re is finite, these solutions are affected by the dissipation in the boundary layer and decay in the downstream direction. Interestingly, their decay rate increases when both the dissipation and J increase, as does the GW absorption by the viscous boundary layer.


2009 ◽  
Vol 638 ◽  
pp. 423-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMMANUEL MIGNOT ◽  
D. HURTHER ◽  
E. BARTHELEMY

This study examines the structure of shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) flux across the roughness layer of a uniform, fully rough gravel-bed channel flow (ks+ ≫ 100, δ/k = 20) using high-resolution acoustic Doppler velocity profiler measurements. The studied gravel-bed roughness layer exhibits a complex random multi-scale roughness structure in strong contrast with conceptualized k- or d-type roughness in standard rough-wall flows. Within the roughness layer, strong spatial variability of all time-averaged flow quantities are observed affecting up to 40% of the boundary layer height. This variability is attributed to the presence of bed zones with emanating bed protuberances (or gravel clusters) acting as local flow obstacles and bed zones of more homogenous roughness of densely packed gravel elements. Considering the strong spatial mean flow variability across the roughness layer, a spatio-temporal averaging procedure, called double averaging (DA), has been applied to the analysed flow quantities. Three aspects have been addressed: (a) the DA shear stress and DA TKE flux in specific bed zones associated with three classes of velocity profiles as previously proposed in Mignot, Barthélemy & Hurther (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 618, 2009, p. 279), (b) the global and per class DA conditional statistics of shear stress and associated TKE flux and (c) the contribution of large-scale coherent shear stress structures (LC3S) to the TKE flux across the roughness layer. The mean Reynolds and dispersive shear structure show good agreement between the protuberance bed zones associated with the S-shape/accelerated classes and recent results obtained in standard k-type rough-wall flows (Djenidi et al., Exp. Fluids, vol. 44, 2008, p. 37; Pokrajac, McEwan & Nikora, Exp. Fluids, vol. 45, 2008, p. 73). These gravel-bed protuberances act as local flow obstacles inducing a strong turbulent activity in their wake regions. The conditional statistics show that the Reynolds stress contribution is fairly well distributed between sweep and ejection events, with threshold values ranging from H = 0 to H = 8. However, the TKE flux across the roughness layer primarily results from the residual shear stress between ejection and sweep of very high magnitude (H = 10–20) and of small turbulent scale. Although LC3S are seen to penetrated the interfacial roughness layer, their TKE flux contribution is found to be negligible compared to the very energetic small-scale sweep events. These sweeps are dominantly produced in the bed zones of local gravel protuberances where the velocity profiles are inflexional of S-shape type and the mean flow properties are of mixing-layer flow type as previously shown in Mignot et al. (2009).


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1675-1683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dujuan Kang ◽  
Enrique N. Curchitser

AbstractThe seasonal cycles of the mean kinetic energy (MKE) and eddy kinetic energy (EKE) are compared in an idealized flow as well as in a realistic simulation of the Gulf Stream (GS) region based on three commonly used definitions: orthogonal, nonorthogonal, and moving-average filtered decompositions of the kinetic energy (KE). It is shown that only the orthogonal KE decomposition can define the physically consistent MKE and EKE that precisely represents the KEs of the mean flow and eddies, respectively. The nonorthogonal KE decomposition gives rise to a residual term that contributes to the seasonal variability of the eddies, and therefore the obtained EKE is not precisely defined. The residual term is shown to exhibit more significant seasonal variability than EKE in both idealized and realistic GS flows. Neglecting its influence leads to an inaccurate evaluation of the seasonal variability of both the eddies and the total flow. The decomposition using a moving-average filter also results in a nonnegligible residual term in both idealized and realistic GS flows. This type of definition does not ensure conservation of the total KE, even if taking into account the residual term. Moreover, it is shown that the annual cycles of the three types of EKEs or MKEs have different phases and amplitudes. The local differences of the EKE cycles are very prominent in the GS off-coast domain; however, because of the spatial inhomogeneity, the area-mean differences may not be significant.


In this problem a mean turbulent shear layer originally exists, homogeneous in the streamwise direction, formed perhaps by previous instabilities, but in equilibrium with the fine-grained turbulence. At a given time, a large eddy of a fixed horizontal wavenumber is initiated. We study the subsequent time development of the non-equilibrium interactions between the three components of flow as they adjust towards ultimate simultaneous equilibrium, using the integrated energy-balance conservation equations to derive the amplitude equations. This necessarily involves the usual averaging procedure and a conditional or phase-averaging procedure by which the large structure motion is educed from the total fluctuations. In general, the mean flow growth is due to the energy transfer to both fluctuating components, the large eddy gains energy from the mean motion and exchanges energy with the fine-grained turbulence, while the fine-grained turbulence gains energy from the mean flow and exchanges with the large eddy and converts its energy to heat through viscous dissipation of the smallest scales. The closure problem is obtained via the shape assumptions which enter into the interaction integrals. The situation in which the fine-grained turbulent kinetic energy production and viscous dissipation are in local balance is considered, the displacement from equilibrium being due only to the energy transfer from the large eddy. The large eddy shape is taken to be two-dimensional, instability-wavelike, with its vorticity axis perpendicular to the direction of the mean outer stream. Prior to averaging, detailed but approximate calculations of the wave-induced turbulent Reynolds stresses are obtained; the product of these stresses with the appropriate large-eddy rates of strain give the energy transfer mechanism between the two disparate scales of fluctuations. Coupled, nonlinear amplitude or energy density equations for the three components of motion are obtained, the coefficients of which are the interaction integrals guided by the shape assumptions. It is found that for the special case of parallel flow, the energy of the large eddy first undergoes a hydrodynamic-instability type of amplification but eventually decays due to the energy transfer to the fine-grained turbulence, while the turbulent kinetic energy is displaced from an original level of equilibrium to a new one because of the ability of the large eddy to negotiate an indirect energy transfer from the mean flow. For the growing shear layer, approximate considerations show that if the mechanism of energy transfer from the large to the small scale is eventually weakened by the shear layer growth compared to the large-eddy production mechanism so that the amplification and decay process repeats, ‘bursts’ of the remnant of the same large eddy will occur repeatedly until an ultimate equilibrium is reached among the three interacting components of motion. However, for the large eddy whose wavenumber corresponds to that of the initially most amplified case, the ‘bursting’ phenomenon is much less pronounced and equilibrium is very nearly reached at the end of the very first ‘burst’.


1998 ◽  
Vol 367 ◽  
pp. 163-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
FARZAD MASHAYEK

Several important issues pertaining to dispersion and polydispersity of droplets in turbulent flows are investigated via direct numerical simulation (DNS). The carrier phase is considered in the Eulerian context, the dispersed phase is tracked in the Lagrangian frame and the interactions between the phases are taken into account in a realistic two-way (coupled) formulation. The resulting scheme is applied for extensive DNS of low-Mach-number, homogeneous shear turbulent flows laden with droplets. Several cases with one- and two-way couplings are considered for both non-evaporating and evaporating droplets. The effects of the mass loading ratio, the droplet time constant, and thermodynamic parameters, such as the droplet specific heat, the droplet latent heat of evaporation, and the boiling temperature, on the turbulence and the droplets are investigated. The effects of the initial droplet temperature and the initial vapour mass fraction in the carrier phase are also studied. The gravity effects are not considered as the numerical methodology is only applicable in the absence of gravity. The evolution of the turbulence kinetic energy and the mean internal energy of both phases is studied by analysing various terms in their transport equations. The results for the non-evaporating droplets show that the presence of the droplets decreases the turbulence kinetic energy of the carrier phase while increasing the level of anisotropy of the flow. The droplet streamwise velocity variance is larger than that of the fluid, and the ratio of the two increases with the increase of the droplet time constant. Evaporation increases both the turbulence kinetic energy and the mean internal energy of the carrier phase by mass transfer. In general, evaporation is controlled by the vapour mass fraction gradient around the droplet when the initial temperature difference between the phases is negligible. In cases with small initial droplet temperature, on the other hand, the convective heat transfer is more important in the evaporation process. At long times, the evaporation rate approaches asymptotic values depending on the values of various parameters. It is shown that the evaporation rate is larger for droplets residing in high-strain-rate regions of the flow, mainly due to larger droplet Reynolds numbers in these regions. For both the evaporating and the non-evaporating droplets, the root mean square (r.m.s.) of the temperature fluctuations of both phases becomes independent of the initial droplet temperature at long times. Some issues relevant to modelling of turbulent flows laden with droplets are also discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document