On the spatial instability of piecewise linear free shear layers

1987 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 553-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. F. Balsa

The main goal of this paper is to clarify the spatial instability of a piecewise linear free shear flow. We do this by obtaining numerical solutions to the Orr–Sommerfeld equation at high Reynolds numbers. The velocity profile chosen is very much like a piecewise linear one, with the exception that the corners have been rounded so that the entire profile is infinitely differentiable. We find that the (viscous) spatial instability of this modified profile is virtually identical to the inviscid spatial instability of the piecewise linear profile and agrees qualitatively with the inviscid results for the tanh profile when the shear layers are convectively unstable. The unphysical features, previously identified for the piecewise linear velocity profile, arise only when the flow is absolutely unstable. In a nutshell, we see nothing wrong with the inviscid spatial instability of piecewise linear shear flows.

2012 ◽  
Vol 693 ◽  
pp. 297-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Richter ◽  
Gianluca Iaccarino ◽  
Eric S. G. Shaqfeh

AbstractAt $\mathit{Re}= 3900$, Newtonian flow past a circular cylinder exhibits a wake and detached shear layers which have transitioned to turbulence. It is the goal of the present study to investigate the effects which viscoelasticity has on this state and to identify the mechanisms responsible for wake stabilization. It is found through numerical simulations (employing the FENE-P rheological model) that viscoelasticity greatly reduces the amount of turbulence in the wake, reverting it back to a state which qualitatively appears similar to the Newtonian mode B instability which occurs at lower $\mathit{Re}$. By focusing on the separated shear layers, it is found that viscoelasticity suppresses the formation of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability which dominates for Newtonian flows, consistent with previous studies of viscoelastic free shear layers. Through this shear layer stabilization, the viscoelastic far wake is then subject to the same instability mechanisms which dominate for Newtonian flows, but at far lower Reynolds numbers.


1999 ◽  
Vol 395 ◽  
pp. 211-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. SHANKAR ◽  
V. KUMARAN

Flows with velocity profiles very different from the parabolic velocity profile can occur in the entrance region of a tube as well as in tubes with converging/diverging cross-sections. In this paper, asymptotic and numerical studies are undertaken to analyse the temporal stability of such ‘non-parabolic’ flows in a flexible tube in the limit of high Reynolds numbers. Two specific cases are considered: (i) developing flow in a flexible tube; (ii) flow in a slightly converging flexible tube. Though the mean velocity profile contains both axial and radial components, the flow is assumed to be locally parallel in the stability analysis. The fluid is Newtonian and incompressible, while the flexible wall is modelled as a viscoelastic solid. A high Reynolds number asymptotic analysis shows that the non-parabolic velocity profiles can become unstable in the inviscid limit. This inviscid instability is qualitatively different from that observed in previous studies on the stability of parabolic flow in a flexible tube, and from the instability of developing flow in a rigid tube. The results of the asymptotic analysis are extended numerically to the moderate Reynolds number regime. The numerical results reveal that the developing flow could be unstable at much lower Reynolds numbers than the parabolic flow, and hence this instability can be important in destabilizing the fluid flow through flexible tubes at moderate and high Reynolds number. For flow in a slightly converging tube, even small deviations from the parabolic profile are found to be sufficient for the present instability mechanism to be operative. The dominant non-parallel effects are incorporated using an asymptotic analysis, and this indicates that non-parallel effects do not significantly affect the neutral stability curves. The viscosity of the wall medium is found to have a stabilizing effect on this instability.


2013 ◽  
Vol 715 ◽  
pp. 359-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basile Gallet ◽  
William R. Young

AbstractWe investigate solutions of the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation in a $\lrm{\pi} \ensuremath{\times} \lrm{\pi} $ square box with stress-free boundary conditions. The flow is steadily forced by the addition of a source $\sin nx\sin ny$ to the vorticity equation; attention is restricted to even $n$ so that the forcing has zero integral. Numerical solutions with $n= 2$ and $6$ show that at high Reynolds numbers the solution is a domain-scale vortex condensate with a strong projection on the gravest mode, $\sin x\sin y$. The sign of the vortex condensate is selected by a symmetry-breaking instability. We show that the amplitude of the vortex condensate has a finite limit as $\nu \ensuremath{\rightarrow} 0$. Using a quasilinear approximation we make an analytic prediction of the amplitude of the condensate and show that the amplitude is determined by viscous selection of a particular solution from a family of solutions to the forced two-dimensional Euler equation. This theory indicates that the condensate amplitude will depend sensitively on the form of the dissipation, even in the undamped limit. This prediction is verified by considering the addition of a drag term to the Navier–Stokes equation and comparing the quasilinear theory with numerical solution.


Author(s):  
W. J. Baars ◽  
N. Hutchins ◽  
I. Marusic

Small-scale velocity fluctuations in turbulent boundary layers are often coupled with the larger-scale motions. Studying the nature and extent of this scale interaction allows for a statistically representative description of the small scales over a time scale of the larger, coherent scales. In this study, we consider temporal data from hot-wire anemometry at Reynolds numbers ranging from Re τ ≈2800 to 22 800, in order to reveal how the scale interaction varies with Reynolds number. Large-scale conditional views of the representative amplitude and frequency of the small-scale turbulence, relative to the large-scale features, complement the existing consensus on large-scale modulation of the small-scale dynamics in the near-wall region. Modulation is a type of scale interaction, where the amplitude of the small-scale fluctuations is continuously proportional to the near-wall footprint of the large-scale velocity fluctuations. Aside from this amplitude modulation phenomenon, we reveal the influence of the large-scale motions on the characteristic frequency of the small scales, known as frequency modulation. From the wall-normal trends in the conditional averages of the small-scale properties, it is revealed how the near-wall modulation transitions to an intermittent-type scale arrangement in the log-region. On average, the amplitude of the small-scale velocity fluctuations only deviates from its mean value in a confined temporal domain, the duration of which is fixed in terms of the local Taylor time scale. These concentrated temporal regions are centred on the internal shear layers of the large-scale uniform momentum zones, which exhibit regions of positive and negative streamwise velocity fluctuations. With an increasing scale separation at high Reynolds numbers, this interaction pattern encompasses the features found in studies on internal shear layers and concentrated vorticity fluctuations in high-Reynolds-number wall turbulence. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number’.


2012 ◽  
Vol 706 ◽  
pp. 431-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuesong Wu ◽  
Feng Tian

AbstractIt has been observed experimentally that when a free shear layer is perturbed by a disturbance consisting of two waves with frequencies ${\omega }_{0} $ and ${\omega }_{1} $, components with the combination frequencies $(m{\omega }_{0} \pm n{\omega }_{1} )$ ($m$ and $n$ being integers) develop to a significant level thereby causing flow randomization. This spectral broadening process is investigated theoretically for the case where the frequency difference $({\omega }_{0} \ensuremath{-} {\omega }_{1} )$ is small, so that the perturbation can be treated as a modulated wavetrain. A nonlinear evolution system governing the spectral dynamics is derived by using the non-equilibrium nonlinear critical layer approach. The formulation provides an appropriate mathematical description of the physical concepts of sideband instability and amplitude–phase modulation, which were suggested by experimentalists. Numerical solutions of the nonlinear evolution system indicate that the present theory captures measurements and observations rather well.


In the present investigation, a streamfunction-vorticity form for Boussinesq-Stokes liquids (with suspended particles) is suitably used to examine the problem of 2-D unsteady incompressible flow in a square cavity with moving top and bottom wall. A new algorithm is used for this form in order to compute the numerical solutions for high Reynolds numbers up to Re=2500. This algorithm is conducted as a combination of the multi-time-stepping temporal differential transform and the spatial finite difference methods. Convergence of the time-series solution is ensured by multi-time-stepping method. The classical benchmark results of the Newtonian liquid are recovered as a limiting case and the decelerating influence of the suspended particle on the Newtonian liquids’ flow field is clearly elaborated.


2011 ◽  
Vol 686 ◽  
pp. 218-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Juniper ◽  
O. Tammisola ◽  
F. Lundell

AbstractAt high Reynolds numbers, wake flows become more globally unstable when they are confined within a duct or between two flat plates. At Reynolds numbers around 100, however, global analyses suggest that such flows become more stable when confined, while local analyses suggest that they become more unstable. The aim of this paper is to resolve this apparent contradiction by examining a set of obstacle-free wakes. In this theoretical and numerical study, we combine global and local stability analyses of planar wake flows at $\mathit{Re}= 100$ to determine the effect of confinement. We find that confinement acts in three ways: it modifies the length of the recirculation zone if one exists, it brings the boundary layers closer to the shear layers, and it can make the flow more locally absolutely unstable. Depending on the flow parameters, these effects work with or against each other to destabilize or stabilize the flow. In wake flows at $\mathit{Re}= 100$ with free-slip boundaries, flows are most globally unstable when the outer flows are 50 % wider than the half-width of the inner flow because the first and third effects work together. In wake flows at $\mathit{Re}= 100$ with no-slip boundaries, confinement has little overall effect when the flows are weakly confined because the first two effects work against the third. Confinement has a strong stabilizing effect, however, when the flows are strongly confined because all three effects work together. By combining local and global analyses, we have been able to isolate these three effects and resolve the apparent contradictions in previous work.


1991 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 153-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.A. ABDULLAH ◽  
K.A. LINDSAY

This paper has been prompted by some recent computations of eigenvalues of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation for very high Reynolds numbers. We have used a spectral analysis to emulate these calculations and our results have motivated some general remarks on the suitability of tracking and spectral methods as numerical eigenvalue schemes in the context of stability theory. Our remarks are further supported by illustrating the development of eigenvalues in the Magnetic Benard.


1996 ◽  
Vol 327 ◽  
pp. 139-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe R. Spalart

We present numerical solutions for two-dimensional laminar symmetric vortex systems descending in a stably stratified fluid, within the Boussinesq approximation. Three types of flows are considered: (I) tight vortices; (II) those deriving from an elliptical wing lift distribution; and (III) those deriving from a ‘high-lift’ distribution, with a part-span flap on the wing. The non-dimensional stratification ranges from zero to moderate, as it does for airliners. For Types I and II, with high Reynolds numbers and weak stratification, the solutions confirm the theory of Scorer & Davenport (1970) (their article lacks a crucial link which we provide, equivalent to one of Crow (1974)). Contrary to common conceptions and observations in small-scale experiments, the descent velocity increases exponentially with time, as the distance between vortices decreases and the circulation of the vortices proper is conserved. With moderate stratification, wakes with sufficient energy also attain the accelerating régime, until the vortex cores make contact. However, they first experience a rebound, which is both of practical importance and out of reach of simple formulas. Type III wakes produce two durable vortex pairs which tumble, and mitigate the buoyancy effect by exchanging fluid with the surroundings. These phenomena are obscured by low wing aspect ratios, Reynolds numbers below about 105, or appreciable surrounding turbulence; this may explain why neither a clear rebound nor an acceleration can be reconciled with experiments to date. We argue that airliner wakes have very little inherent diffusion, and that a rapid end to the wake's descent must reveal effects other than simple buoyancy. In particular, stratification promotes the Crow instability.


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