scholarly journals Flowtrace: simple visualization of coherent structures in biological fluid flows

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Gilpin ◽  
Vivek N. Prakash ◽  
Manu Prakash

1AbstractWe present a simple, intuitive algorithm for visualizing time-varying flow fields that can reveal complex flow structures with minimal user intervention. We apply this technique to a variety of biological systems, including the swimming currents of invertebrates and the collective motion of swarms of insects. We compare our results to more experimentally-diffcult and mathematically-sophisticated techniques for identifying patterns in fluid flows, and suggest that our tool represents an essential “middle ground” allowing experimentalists to easily determine whether a system exhibits interesting flow patterns and coherent structures without the need to resort to more intensive techniques. In addition to being informative, the visualizations generated by our tool are often striking and elegant, illustrating coherent structures directly from videos without the need for computational overlays. Our tool is available as fully-documented open-source code available for MATLAB, Python, or ImageJ at www.flowtrace.org.

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Paul J. Kristo ◽  
Mark L. Kimber ◽  
Sharath S. Girimaji

Many complex turbulent flows in nature and engineering can be qualitatively regarded as being constituted of multiple simpler unit flows. The objective of this work is to characterize the coherent structures in such complex flows as a combination of constituent unitary flow structures for the purpose of reduced-order representation. While turbulence is clearly a non-linear phenomenon, we aim to establish the degree to which the optimally weighted superposition of unitary flow structures can represent the complex flow structures. The rationale for investigating such superposition stems from the fact that the large-scale coherent structures are generated by underlying flow instabilities that may be reasonably described using linear analysis. Clearly, the degree of validity of superposition will depend on the flow under consideration. In this work, we take the first step toward establishing a procedure for investigating superposition. Experimental data of single and triple tandem jets in crossflow are used to demonstrate the procedure. A composite triple tandem jet flow field is generated from optimal superposition of single jet data and compared against ‘true’ triple jet data. Direct comparisons between the true and composite fields are made for spatial, temporal, and kinetic energy content. The large-scale features (obtained from proper orthogonal decomposition or POD) of true and composite tandem jet wakes exhibit nearly 70% agreement in terms of modal eigenvector correlation. Corresponding eigenvalues reveal that the kinetic energy of the flow is also emulated with only a slight overprediction. Temporal frequency features are also examined in an effort to completely characterize POD modes. The proposed method serves as a foundation for more rigorous and robust dimensional reduction in complex flows based on unit flow modes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 220 (19) ◽  
pp. 3411-3418 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Gilpin ◽  
Vivek N. Prakash ◽  
Manu Prakash

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Ichiro Ueno

Coherent structures by the particles suspended in the half-zone thermocapillary liquid bridges via experimental approaches are introduced. General knowledge on the particle accumulation structures (PAS) is described, and then the spatial–temporal behaviours of the particles forming the PAS are illustrated with the results of the two- and three-dimensional particle tracking. Variations of the coherent structures as functions of the intensity of the thermocapillary effect and the particle size are introduced by focusing on the PAS of the azimuthal wave number m=3. Correlation between the particle behaviour and the ordered flow structures known as the Kolmogorov–Arnold—Moser tori is discussed. Recent works on the PAS of m=1 are briefly introduced.


2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-138
Author(s):  
Feng Chin Tsai ◽  
Rong Fung Huang

AbstractThe effects of blockage and swirl on the macro flow structures of the annular jet past a circular disc are experimentally studied through the time-averaged streamline patterns. In the blockage-effect regime, the flows present multiple modes, single bubble, dual rings, vortex breakdown, and triple rings, in different regimes of blockage ratio and swirl number. The topological models of the flow structures are proposed and discussed according to the measured flow fields to manifest the complex flow structures. The single bubble is a closed recirculation bubble with a stagnation point on the central axis. The dual-ring flow is an open-top recirculsation zone, in which a pair of counter-rotating vortex rings exists in the near wake. The fluids in the dual rings are expelled downstream through a central jet-like swirling flow. A vortex breakdown may occur in the central jet-like swirling flow if the exit swirl number exceeds critical values. When the vortex breakdown interacts with the dual rings, a complex triple-ring flow structure forms. Axial distributions of the local swirl number are presented and discussed. The local swirl number increases with the increase of the exit swirl number and attains the maximum in the dual-ring mode. At large exit swirl numbers where the vortex breakdown occurs, the local swirl number decreases drastically to a low value.


Author(s):  
Amirhossein Arzani ◽  
Shawn C. Shadden

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are characterized by disturbed flow patterns, low and oscillatory wall shear stress with high gradients, increased particle residence time, and mild turbulence. Diameter is the most common metric for rupture prediction, although this metric can be unreliable. We hypothesize that understanding the flow topology and mixing inside AAA could provide useful insight into mechanisms of aneurysm growth. AAA morphology has high variability, as with AAA hemodynamics, and therefore we consider patient-specific analyses over several small to medium sized AAAs. Vortical patterns dominate AAA hemodynamics and traditional analyses based on the Eulerian fields (e.g. velocity) fail to convey the complex flow structures. The computation of finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) fields and underlying Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) help reveal a Lagrangian template for quantifying the flow [1].


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 692-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiufang Gao ◽  
Bengt Sunde´n

The flow behavior in rib-roughened ducts is influenced by the inclination of ribs and the effect is investigated in the present study by Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The local flow structures between two adjacent ribs were measured. The Reynolds number was fixed at 5800. The flow field description was based on the PIV results in planes both parallel and perpendicular to the ribbed walls at various locations. The rib angle to the main flow direction was varied as 30 deg, 45 deg, 60 deg and 90 deg. The ribs induce three dimensional flow fields. The flow separation and reattachment between adjacent ribs are clearly observed. In addition, the inclined ribs are found to alter the spanwise distribution of the streamwise velocity component. The streamwise velocity component has its highest values at the upstream end of the ribs, and decreases continuously to its lowest values at the downstream end. Strong secondary flow motion occurs over the entire duct cross section for the inclined ribs. The flow structures between two consecutive ribs show that the fluid flows along the ribs from one end of the ribs to the other end, and then turns back at the transverse center. Downwash and upwash flows are observed at the upstream end and downstream end of the ribs, respectively.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3330
Author(s):  
Milan Sedlář ◽  
Pavel Procházka ◽  
Martin Komárek ◽  
Václav Uruba ◽  
Vladislav Skála

This article presents results of the experimental research and numerical simulations of the flow in a pumping system’s discharge object with the welded siphon. The laboratory simplified model was used in the study. Two stationary flow regimes characterized by different volume flow rates and water level heights have been chosen. The study concentrates mainly on the regions below and behind the siphon outlet. The mathematical modelling using advanced turbulence models has been performed. The free-surface flow has been carried out by means of the volume-of-fluid method. The experimental results obtained by the particle image velocimetry method have been used for the mathematical model validation. The evolution and interactions of main flow structures are analyzed using visualizations and the spectral analysis. The presented results show a good agreement of the measured and calculated complex flow topology and give a deep insight into the flow structures below and behind the siphon outlet. The presented methodology and results can increase the applicability and reliability of the numerical tools used for the design of the pump and turbine stations and their optimization with respect to the efficiency, lifetime and environmental demands.


Author(s):  
Martin Draksler ◽  
Bosˇtjan Koncˇar

An array of impinging jets is characterized by high heat removal capability. As such it is used as a cooling technique in various industrial applications, i.e. paper drying, turbine blades cooling etc. The objective of the current study is to analyze the coherent structures in the interaction region of impinging jets and relate them to the local heat transfer. Since they play the major role in the local heat enhancement, their proper identification is crucial for the understanding of the heat transfer mechanisms. Three different methods for identification of flow structures in the jet interaction region are discussed in the paper. Heat transfer capability of different jet arrangements (in-line and hexagonal) are compared and analyzed in the context of flow structures comparison. The numerical simulations were performed with the CFD code ANSYS-CFX, solving Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Equations (RANS approach). For the turbulence modeling Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model was used.


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