Infrared Reynolds number dependency of the two-dimensional inverse energy cascade

2011 ◽  
Vol 667 ◽  
pp. 463-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREAS VALLGREN
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Energy Spectra ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Inverse Energy Cascade ◽  
Linear Friction ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Reynolds Number Dependency

High-resolution simulations of forced two-dimensional turbulence reveal that the inverse cascade range is sensitive to an infrared Reynolds number, Reα = kf/kα, where kf is the forcing wavenumber and kα is a frictional wavenumber based on linear friction. In the limit of high Reα, the classic k−5/3 scaling is lost and we obtain steeper energy spectra. The sensitivity is traced to the formation of vortices in the inverse energy cascade range. Thus, it is hypothesized that the dual limit Reα → ∞ and Reν = kd/kf → ∞, where kd is the small-scale dissipation wavenumber, will lead to a steeper energy spectrum than k−5/3 in the inverse energy cascade range. It is also found that the inverse energy cascade is maintained by non-local triad interactions.

LATTICE BOLTZMANN SIMULATION OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL WALL BOUNDED TURBULENT FLOW

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (05) ◽  
pp. 669-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
GÁBOR HÁZI ◽  
GÁBOR TÓTH
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Lattice Boltzmann ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Power Laws ◽  
Energy Spectra ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Lattice Boltzmann Simulation ◽  
Decaying Turbulence

This paper reports on a numerical study of two-dimensional decaying turbulence in a square domain with no-slip walls. The generation of strong small-scale vortices near the no-slip walls have been observed in the lattice Boltzmann simulations just like in earlier pseudospectral calculations. Due to these vortices the enstrophy is not a monotone decaying function of time. Considering a number of simulations and taking their ensemble average, we have found that the decay of enstrophy and that of the kinetic energy can be described well by power-laws. The exponents of these laws depend on the Reynolds number in a similar manner than was observed before in pseudospectral simulations. Considering the ensemble averaged 1D Fourier energy spectra calculated along the walls, we could not find a simple power-law, which fits well to the simulation data. These spectra change in time and reveal an exponent close to -3 in the intermediate and an exponent -5/3 at low wavenumbers. On the other hand, the two-dimensional energy spectra, which remain almost steady in the intermediate decay stage, show clear power-law behavior with exponent larger than -3 depending on the initial Reynolds number.

scholarly journals Robustness of vortex populations in the two-dimensional inverse energy cascade

2018 ◽  
Vol 850 ◽  
pp. 844-874
Author(s):  
B. H. Burgess ◽  
R. K. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Vortex Formation ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Scaling Theory ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Number Density ◽  
Scale Invariant ◽  
Inverse Energy Cascade ◽  
Simulation Parameters ◽  
The Impact

We study how the properties of forcing and dissipation affect the scaling behaviour of the vortex population in the two-dimensional turbulent inverse energy cascade. When the flow is forced at scales intermediate between the domain and dissipation scales, the growth rates of the largest vortex area and the spectral peak length scale are robust to all simulation parameters. For white-in-time forcing the number density distribution of vortex areas follows the scaling theory predictions of Burgess & Scott (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 811, 2017, pp. 742–756) and shows little sensitivity either to the forcing bandwidth or to the nature of the small-scale dissipation: both narrowband and broadband forcing generate nearly identical vortex populations, as do Laplacian diffusion and hyperdiffusion. The greatest differences arise in comparing simulations with correlated forcing to those with white-in-time forcing: in flows with correlated forcing the intermediate range in the vortex number density steepens significantly past the predicted scale-invariant $A^{-1}$ scaling. We also study the impact of the forcing Reynolds number $Re_{f}$, a measure of the relative importance of nonlinear terms and dissipation at the forcing scale, on vortex formation and the scaling of the number density. As $Re_{f}$ decreases, the flow changes from one dominated by intense circular vortices surrounded by filaments to a less structured flow in which vortex formation becomes progressively more suppressed and the filamentary nature of the surrounding vorticity field is lost. However, even at very small $Re_{f}$, and in the absence of intense coherent vortex formation, regions of anomalously high vorticity merge and grow in area as predicted by the scaling theory, generating a three-part number density similar to that found at higher $Re_{f}$. At late enough stages the aggregation process results in the formation of long-lived circular vortices, demonstrating a strong tendency to vortex formation, and via a route distinct from the axisymmetrization of forcing extrema seen at higher $Re_{f}$. Our results establish coherent vortices as a robust feature of the two-dimensional inverse energy cascade, and provide clues as to the dynamical mechanisms shaping their statistics.

Physical mechanism of the inverse energy cascade of two-dimensional turbulence: a numerical investigation

2009 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. 1-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. XIAO ◽  
M. WAN ◽  
S. CHEN ◽  
G. L. EYINK
Keyword(s):  
Energy Flux ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Physical Mechanism ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Local Energy ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Turbulent Stress ◽  
Inverse Energy Cascade ◽  
The Mean

We report an investigation of inverse energy cascade in steady-state two-dimensional turbulence by direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation, with small-scale forcing and large-scale damping. We employed several types of damping and dissipation mechanisms in simulations up to 20482 resolution. For all these simulations we obtained a wavenumber range for which the mean spectral energy flux is a negative constant and the energy spectrum scales as k−5/3, consistent with the predictions of Kraichnan (Phys. Fluids, vol. 439, 1967, p. 1417). To gain further insight, we investigated the energy cascade in physical space, employing a local energy flux defined by smooth filtering. We found that the inverse energy cascade is scale local, but that the strongly local contribution vanishes identically, as argued by Kraichnan (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 47, 1971, p. 525). The mean flux across a length scale ℓ was shown to be due mainly to interactions with modes two to eight times smaller. A major part of our investigation was devoted to identifying the physical mechanism of the two-dimensional inverse energy cascade. One popular idea is that inverse energy cascade proceeds via merger of like-sign vortices. We made a quantitative study employing a precise topological criterion of merger events. Our statistical analysis showed that vortex mergers play a negligible direct role in producing mean inverse energy flux in our simulations. Instead, we obtained with the help of other works considerable evidence in favour of a ‘vortex thinning’ mechanism, according to which the large-scale strains do negative work against turbulent stress as they stretch out the isolines of small-scale vorticity. In particular, we studied a multi-scale gradient (MSG) expansion developed by Eyink (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 549, 2006a, p. 159) for the turbulent stress, whose contributions to inverse cascade can all be explained by ‘thinning’. The MSG expansion up to second order in space gradients was found to predict well the magnitude, spatial structure and scale distribution of the local energy flux. The majority of mean flux was found to be due to the relative rotation of strain matrices at different length scales, a first-order effect of ‘thinning’. The remainder arose from two second-order effects, differential strain rotation and vorticity gradient stretching. Our findings give strong support to vortex thinning as the fundamental mechanism of two-dimensional inverse energy cascade.

Experimental study of the two-dimensional inverse energy cascade in a square box

1986 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 139-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Sommeria
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Finite Size ◽  
Turbulent Energy ◽  
Horizontal Layer ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Navier Stokes Equation ◽  
Inverse Energy Cascade ◽  
First Case ◽  
Linear Friction

A quantitative experimental study of the two-dimensional inverse energy cascade is presented. The flow is electrically driven in a horizontal layer of mercury and three-dimensional perturbations are suppressed by means of a uniform magnetic field, so that the flow can be well approximated by a two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation with a steady forcing term and a linear friction due to the Hartmann layer. Turbulence is produced by the instability of a periodic square network of 36 electrically driven alternating vortices. The inverse cascade is limited at large scales, either by the linear friction or by the finite size of the domain, depending on the experimental parameters. In the first case, $k^{-\frac{5}{3}$ spectra are measured and the corresponding two-dimensional Kolmogorov constant is in the range 3–7. In the second case, a condensation of the turbulent energy in the lowest mode, corresponding to a spontaneous mean global rotation, is observed. Such a condensation was predicted by Kraichnan (1967) from statistical thermodynamics arguments, but without the symmetry breaking. Random reversals of the rotation sense, owing to turbulent fluctuations, are more and more sparse as friction is decreased. The lowest mode fluctuations and the small scales are statistically independent.

scholarly journals Inverse Energy Cascade in Advanced MHD Turbulence (the RNG Method)

1993 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 255-261
Author(s):  
N. Kleeorin ◽  
I. Rogachevskii
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Field Effect ◽  
Magnetic Reynolds Number ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Magnetic Fluctuations ◽  
Mhd Turbulence ◽  
Inverse Energy Cascade ◽  
Large Scale Magnetic Field

The nonlinear (in terms of the large-scale magnetic field) effect of the modification of the magnetic force by an advanced small-scale magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is considered. The phenomenon is due to the generation of magnetic fluctuations at the expense of hydrodynamic pulsations. It results in a decrease of the elasticity of the large-scale magnetic field.The renormalization group (RNG) method was employed for the investigation of the MHD turbulence at the large magnetic Reynolds number. It was found that the level of the magnetic fluctuations can exceed that obtained from the equipartition assumption due to the inverse energy cascade in advanced MHD turbulence.This effect can excite an instability of the large-scale magnetic field due to the energy transfer from the small-scale turbulent pulsations. This instability is an example of the inverse energy cascade in advanced MHD turbulence. It may act as a mechanism for the large-scale magnetic ropes formation in the solar convective zone and spiral galaxies.

scholarly journals Inverse Energy Cascade in Forced Two-Dimensional Quantum Turbulence

2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Reeves ◽  
Thomas P. Billam ◽  
Brian P. Anderson ◽  
Ashton S. Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Turbulence ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Inverse Energy Cascade

Charney isotropy and equipartition in quasi-geostrophic turbulence

2010 ◽  
Vol 656 ◽  
pp. 448-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREAS VALLGREN ◽  
ERIK LINDBORG
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Horizontal Velocity ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Inverse Energy Cascade ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Geostrophic Turbulence ◽  
Decaying Turbulence ◽  
Enstrophy Cascade

High-resolution simulations of forced quasi-geostrophic (QG) turbulence reveal that Charney isotropy develops under a wide range of conditions, and constitutes a preferred state also in β-plane and freely decaying turbulence. There is a clear analogy between two-dimensional and QG turbulence, with a direct enstrophy cascade that is governed by the prediction of Kraichnan (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 47, 1971, p. 525) and an inverse energy cascade following the classic k−5/3 scaling. Furthermore, we find that Charney's prediction of equipartition between the potential and kinetic energy in each of the two horizontal velocity components is approximately fulfilled in the inertial ranges.

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