We study the transition to turbulence from the perspective of the velocity gradient tensor dynamics. Our work is motivated by the observation of nonlinear structures emerging during transition, as revealed by vortex identifiers such as the Q-criterion. To that end, we have derived transport equations based on several invariants of the velocity gradient tensor to obtain integral budgets spanning the different stages of transition from laminar to turbulent flow. We have also discussed which quantity would be the most appropriate in our study, while keeping in mind the potential for future modeling applications.
We present a unique pipe flow rig capable where simultaneous particle tracking and flow velocity measurements in a dilute, neutrally buoyant particulate pipe flow in regimes of transition to turbulence. The flow consists of solid glass spheres for the disperse phase, and a density-matching fluid for the carrier phase. The measurements are conducted using a bespoke, combined 2D PIV/ PTV technique. The technique takes advantage of a phase discrimination approach that involves separating the disperse and carrier phases based on their respective image characteristics. Our results show that the rig…
This article investigates the formation of spanwise vorticity in the velocity streaks of the oblique laminar- turbulent bands of plane Couette flow (PCF) by mean of Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS). The spanwise vorticity is created by a roll-up type development of the streamwise-wall normal shear layer of the velocity streaks. It is advected by the large scale flow along the bands. We propose a criterion on spanwise vorticity which detects these events in order to perform systematic measurements. Beside of the streamwise and spanwise correlation lengths of the rolls, their advection velocit…
The boundary layer structure of the velocity and temperature fields in turbulent Rayleigh-Benard flows in closed cylindrical cells of unit aspect ratio is revisited from a transitional and turbulent viscous boundary layer perspective. When the Rayleigh number is large enough, the dynamics at the bottom and top plates can be separated into an impact region of downwelling plumes, an ejection region of upwelling plumes and an interior region away from the side walls. The latter is dominated by the shear of the large-scale circulation (LSC) roll which fills the whole cell and continuously varies i…
We carry out Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of flows in closed rectangular ducts with several aspect ratios. The Navier-Stokes equations are discretized through a second-order finite difference scheme, with non-uniform grids in two directions. The duct cross-sectional area is maintained constant as well as the flow rate, which allows to investigate which is the appropriate length scale in the Reynolds number for a good scaling in the laminar and in the fully turbulent regimes. We find that the Reynolds number based on the half length of the short side leads to a critical Reynolds number whi…
The flow instability and further transition to turbulence in a toroidal pipe (torus) with curvature (tube-to-coiling diameter) 0.049 is investigated experimentally. The flow inside the toroidal pipe is driven by a steel sphere fitted to the inner pipe diameter. The sphere is moved with constant azimuthal velocity from outside the torus by a moving magnet. The experiment is designed to investigate curved pipe flow by optical measurement techniques. Using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry, laser Doppler velocimetry and pressure drop measurements, the flow is measured for Reynolds numbers r…
This article presents a modelling of the formation of spanwise vorticity in the turbulent streaks of the oblique bands and spots of transitional plane Couette flow. A functional model is designed to mimic the coherent flow in the streaks. The control parameters of the model are extracted from Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) statistical data. A Reynolds stress is proposed to study the effect on the instability of this additional force maintaining the baseflow. Local (quasi-parallel) temporal stability analysis is performed on that model to investigate the linear development of the spanwise v…
The dynamics of a shock wave impinging on a transitional high-enthalpy boundary layer out of thermochemical equilibrium is investigated for the first time by means of a direct numerical simulation. The freestream Mach number is equal to 9 and the oblique shock impinges with a cooled flat-plate boundary layer with an angle of 10°, generating a reversal flow region. In conjunction with freestream disturbances, the shock impingement triggers a transition to a fully turbulent regime shortly downstream of the interaction region. Accordingly, wall properties emphasize the presence of a laminar regio…
To date no satisfying model exists to explain the mean velocity profile within the whole turbulent layer of canonical wall bounded flows. We propose a modification of the velocity profile expression that ensues from a recently proposed stochastic representation of fluid flows dynamics. This modeling, called modeling under location uncertainty introduces in a rigorous way a subgrid term generalizing the eddy-viscosity assumption and an eddy-induced advection term resulting from turbulence inhomogeneity. This latter term gives rise to a theoretically well-grounded model for the transitional zone…
We decompose the velocity gradient tensor for turbulence into normal and non-normal parts, and condition our analysis on the strain eigenvector alignments between these tensors. We identify states that always enhance, and always counteract the axisymmetric expansion state, and give a rationale for decomposing the production balance term into its constituents: complex behavior arises when the dominant strain alignments involve the non-normal tensor. Finally, we develop a topological analysis framework where mathematical bounds on two of the three variables leads to an analysis in two planes.
Traditional Cauchy-Stokes decomposition of velocity gradient tensor gives a symmetric and an anti-symmetric subtensors which are called the strain-rate and vorticity tensors. There are two problems with Cauchy-Stokes decomposition. The first one is that the anti-symmetric or vorticity tensor cannot represent the fluid rotation or vortex. The second one is that the symmetric (strain-rate) tensor cannot distinguish the stretching (compression) and shear. The stretching and shear are dependent on the coordinate or are not Galilean invariant. Since vorticity cannot distinguish between the non-rota…
In the present work, the Tensor-Train decomposition algorithm is applied to reduce the memory footprint of a stochastic discrete velocity solver for rarefied gas dynamics simulation. An energy-conserving modification to the algorithm is proposed, along with an interleaved collision/convection routine which allows for easy application of higher-order convection schemes. The performance of the developed algorithm is analyzed for several 0- and 1-dimensional model problems in terms of solution error and reduction in memory use requirements.
The expected universality of small-scale properties of turbulent flows implies isotropic properties of the velocity gradient tensor in the very large Reynolds number limit. Using direct numerical simulations, we determine the tensors formed by n = 2 and 3 velocity gradients at a single point in turbulent homogeneous shear flows, and in the log-layer of a turbulent channel flow, and we characterize the departure of these tensors from the corresponding isotropic prediction. Specifically, we separate the even components of the tensors, invariant under reflexion with respect to all axes, from the …
Direct numerical simulation has been carried out on one attached and two separated boundary layer flows (involving small and large separation) under the influence of an adverse pressure gradient. A unified picture of the pre-transitional boundary layer for the three cases has been provided that reveals a "mixed-mode" instability, involving contribution from instability waves and streamwise streaks. A time-frequency analysis of the transitional velocity signals has been performed which shows that as the Reynolds number decreases, the character of the time traces evolves continuously from a "spo…
We present a new experimental set-up that creates a shear flow with zero mean advection velocity achieved by counterbalancing the nonzero streamwise pressure gradient by moving boundaries, which generates plane Couette-Poiseuille flow. We carry out the first experimental results in the transitional regime for this flow. Using flow visualization we characterize the subcritical transition to turbulence in Couette-Poiseuille flow and show the existence of turbulent spots generated by a permanent perturbation. Due to the zero mean advection velocity of the base profile, these turbulent structures …
The triple decomposition of a velocity gradient tensor is studied with direct numerical simulations of homogeneous isotropic turbulence, where the velocity gradient tensor is decomposed into three components representing an irrotational straining motion. Strength of these motions can be quantified with the decomposed components. A procedure of the triple decomposition is proposed for three-dimensional flows, where the decomposition is applied in a basic reference frame identified by examining a finite number of reference frames obtained by three sequential rotational transformations of a Carte…
We propose a numerical scheme for simulation of transient flows of incompressible non-Newtonian fluids characterised by a non-monotone relation between the symmetric part of the velocity gradient (shear rate) and the Cauchy stress tensor (shear stress). The main difficulty in dealing with the governing equations for flows of such fluids is that the non-monotone constitutive relation allows several values of the stress to be associated with the same value of the symmetric part of the velocity gradient. This issue is handled via a reformulation of the governing equations. The equations are refor…
Lagrangian Dynamical Theory of the Velocity Gradient Tensor: Real Schur Form, Schur Frame, Characteristic Vorticity Modes, and Commutative Vorticity Operators
School of Physics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology（南京理工大学物理学院）
The statistics of the velocity gradient tensor in turbulent flows are of both theoretical and practical importance. The Lagrangian view provides a privileged perspective for studying the dynamics of turbulence in general, and of the velocity gradient tensor in particular. Stochastic models for the Lagrangian evolution of velocity gradients in isotropic turbulence, with closure models for the pressure Hesssian and viscous Laplacian, have been shown to reproduce important features such as non-Gaussian probability distributions, skewness and vorticity strain-rate alignments. The Recent Fluid Defo…
Solitary wave structure of transitional flow in the wake of a sphere
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University（浙江理工大学机械工程学院）；School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power（浙江水利水电学院机械工程学院）；School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University（杭州电子科技大学机械工程学院）
We present simultaneous experimental measurements of the dynamics of anisotropic particles transported by a turbulent flow and the velocity gradient tensor of the flow surrounding them. We track both rod-shaped particles and small spherical flow tracers using stereoscopic particle tracking. By using scanned illumination, we are able to obtain a high enough seeding density of tracers to measure the full velocity gradient tensor near the rod. The alignment of rods with the vorticity and the eigenvectors of the strain rate show agreement with numerical simulations. A full description of the tumbl…
In this study, realizable algebraic Reynolds stress modeling based on the square root tensor [Phys. Rev. E \textbf{92}, 053010 (2015)] is further developed for extending its applicability to more complex flows. In conventional methods, it was difficult to construct an algebraic Reynolds stress model satisfying the realizability conditions when the model involves higher-order nonlinear terms on the mean velocity gradient. Such higher-order nonlinear terms are required to predict turbulent flows with three-dimensional mean velocity. The present modeling based on the square root tensor enables us…
Turbulence small-scale behavior has been commonly investigated in literature by decomposing the velocity-gradient tensor ($A_{ij}$) into the symmetric strain-rate ($S_{ij}$) and anti-symmetric rotation-rate ($W_{ij}$) tensors. To develop further insight, we revisit some of the key studies using a triple decomposition of the velocity-gradient tensor. The additive triple decomposition formally segregates the contributions of normal-strain-rate ($N_{ij}$), pure-shear ($H_{ij}$) and rigid-body-rotation-rate ($R_{ij}$). The decomposition not only highlights the key role of shear, but it also provid…
In the present study, we use a fifth-order ordinary differential equation, a generalization of the Blasius equation derived from the Leray-alpha model, to examine the transition to turbulence in rough-wall boundary-layer flows. This equation, combined with a weaker formulation of the von Karman log law modified to include the effects of surface roughness, provides a family of turbulent velocity profiles with two free parameters: the momentum thickness based Reynolds number and the roughness function. As a result, a skin-friction correlation is obtained and predictions of the transitional Reyno…
A Schur decomposition of the velocity gradient tensor (VGT) for homogeneous, isotropic turbulence (HIT) is undertaken and its physical consequences examined. This decomposition permits the normal parts of the tensor (represented by the eigenvalues) to be separated explicitly from the non-normal effects. Given the restricted {E}uler approximation to the VGT dynamics is written in terms of the isotropic part of the pressure Hessian and the invariants of the characteristic equation of the VGT (in turn expressed in terms of the eigenvalues), the non-normal terms are related to the non-local aspect…
Using a Lagrangian framework, we discuss different conceptualizations of the blockscale dispersion tensor. We distinguish effective and ensemble blockscale dispersion, which measure the impact of subscale velocity fluctuations on solute dispersion. Ensemble dispersion quantifies subscale velocity fluctuations between realizations, which overestimates the actual velocity variability. Effective dispersion on the other hand quantifies the actual blockscale velocity variability and thus reflects the impact of subscale velocity fluctuations on mixing and spreading. Based on these concepts, we quant…
Most of the currently popular Eulerian vortex identification criteria, including the Q criterion, the Delta criterion and the Lambda_ci criterion, are based on the analysis of the velocity gradient tensor. More specifically, these criteria are exclusively determined by the eigenvalues of the velocity gradient tensor or the related invariants and thereby can be regarded as eigenvalue-based criteria. However, these criteria have been found to be plagued with two shortcomings: (1) these criteria fail to identify the swirl axis or orientation; (2) these criteria are prone to contamination by shear…
Generalization of the viscous stress tensor to the case of non-small gradients of hydrodynamic velocity: a path to numerical modeling of turbulence non-locality
National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”（库尔恰托夫国家研究中心）；National Research Nuclear University MEPhI（莫斯科国立核研究大学MEPhI）
We employ the horizontal visibility algorithm to map the velocity and acceleration time series in turbulent flows with different Reynolds numbers, onto complex networks. The universal nature of velocity fluctuations in high Reynolds turbulent Helium flow is found to be inherited in the corresponding network topology. The degree distributions of the acceleration series are shown to have stretched exponential forms with the Reynolds number dependent fitting parameter. Furthermore, for acceleration time series, we find a transitional behavior in terms of the Reynolds number in all network feature…
This text presents one of the first successful applications of a rare events method for the study of multistability in a turbulent flow without stochastic energy injection. The trajectories of collapse of turbulence in plane Couette flow, as well as their probability and rate of occurrence are systematically computed using \emph{Adaptive Multilevel Splitting} (AMS). The AMS computations are performed in a system of size $L_x\times L_z=24\times 18$ at Reynolds number $R=370$ with an acceleration by a factor $\mathcal{O}(10)$ with respect to DNS and in a system of size $L_x\times L_z=36\times 27…
The formation and amplification of streamwise velocity perturbations induced by cross-stream disturbances is ubiquitous in shear flows. This disturbance growth mechanism, so neatly identified by Ellingsen and Palm in 1975, is a key process in transition to turbulence and self-sustained turbulence. In this review, we first present the original derivation and early studies and then discuss the non-modal growth of streaks, the result of the lift-up process, in transitional and turbulent shear flows. In the second part, the effects on the lift-up process of additives in the fluid and of a second p…
We measure the deformation of particles made of several slender arms in a two-dimensional (2D) linear shear and a three-dimensional (3D) turbulent flow. We show how these measurements of arm deformations along with the rotation rate of the particle allow us to extract the velocity gradient tensor of the flow. The particles used in the experiments have three symmetric arms in a plane (triads) and are fabricated using 3D printing of a flexible polymeric material. Deformation measurements of a particle free to rotate about a fixed axis in a 2D simple shear flow are used to validate our model rela…
In order to model pressure and viscous terms in the equation for the Lagrangian dynamics of the velocity gradient tensor in turbulent flows, Chevillard & Meneveau (Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 174501, 2006) introduced the Recent Fluid Deformation closure. Using matrix exponentials, the closure allows to overcome the unphysical finite-time blow-up of the well-known Restricted Euler model. However, it also requires the specification of a decorrelation time scale of the velocity gradient along the Lagrangian evolution, and when the latter is chosen too short (or, equivalently, the Reynolds number is too …
The paper presents a solution to the Boltzmann kinetic equation based on the construction of its discrete conservative model. Discrete analogue of the collision integral is presented as a contraction of a tensor, which is independent from the initial distribution function, colliding with a tensor composed of medium densities in the cells. Numerical implementation of the discrete model is demonstrated on the example of the isotropic gas relaxation problem applied to the hard spheres model. The key feature of the method is independence of the collision tensor components from the distribution fun…
Local stress tensor calculation by the Method-of-Plane in microscopic systems with macroscopic flow: a formulation based on the velocity distribution function
We study the distribution of spatial extrema of vorticity and the determinant of the strain rate tensor for a two-dimensional turbulent flow forced by a Kolmogorov forcing. The distribution of these quantities follow non-Gaussian behaviour and they do not fall into the Generalised Extreme value distributions. It is found that for the truncated Euler equations the spatial extrema of vorticity and strain rate tensor are well described by the Gumbel distribution. The spatial extrema for the vorticity is found to be at the core of the vortices while the velocity gradients are found near the edges …
Reduced models describing the Lagrangian dynamics of the Velocity Gradient Tensor (VGT) in Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence (HIT) are developed under the Physics-Informed Machine Learning (PIML) framework. We consider VGT at both Kolmogorov scale and coarse-grained scale within the inertial range of HIT. Building reduced models requires resolving the pressure Hessian and sub-filter contributions, which is accomplished by constructing them using the integrity bases and invariants of VGT. The developed models can be expressed using the extended Tensor Basis Neural Network (TBNN). Physical constr…
In the context of flow visualization a triple decomposition of the velocity gradient into irrotational straining flow, shear flow and rigid body rotational flow was proposed by Kolar in 2007 [V. Kolar, International journal of heat and fluid flow, 28, 638, (2007)], which has recently received renewed interest. The triple decomposition opens for a refined energy stability analysis of the Navier-Stokes equations, with implications for the mathematical analysis of the structure, computability and regularity of turbulent flow. We here perform an energy stability analysis of turbulent incompressibl…
