Modelling fluid turbulence using a `skeleton' of coherent structures has traditionally progressed by focusing on a few canonical laboratory experiments such as pipe flow and Taylor-Couette flow. We here consider the stratified inclined duct, a sustained shear flow whose density stratification allows for the exploration of a wealth of new coherent and intermittent states at significantly higher Reynolds numbers than in unstratified flows. We automatically identify the underlying turbulent skeleton of this experiment with a data-driven method combining dimensionality reduction and unsupervised clustering of shadowgraph visualisations. We demonstrate the existence of multiple types of turbulence across parameter space and intermittent cycling between them, revealing distinct transition pathways. With a cluster-based network model of intermittency we uncover patterns in the transition probabilities and residence times under increasing levels of turbulent dissipation. Our method and results pave the way for new reduced-order models of multi-physics turbulence.
Analyzing a large data base of high-resolution three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of decaying rotating stratified flows, we show that anomalous mixing and dissipation, marked anisotropy, and strong intermittency are all observed simultaneously in an intermediate regime of parameters in which both waves and eddies interact nonlinearly. A critical behavior governed by the stratification occurs at Richardson numbers of order unity, and with the flow close to being in a state of instability. This confirms the central dynamical role, in rotating stratified turbulence, of large-scale int…
Non-Gaussian statistics of large-scale fields are routinely observed in data from atmospheric and oceanic campaigns and global models. Recent direct numerical simulations (DNSs) showed that large-scale intermittency in stably stratified flows is due to the emergence of sporadic, extreme events in the form of bursts in the vertical velocity and the temperature. This phenomenon results from the interplay between waves and turbulent motions, affecting mixing. We provide evidence of the enhancement of the classical small-scale (or internal) intermittency due to the emergence of large-scale drafts,…
This study proposes a novel framework based on magnitude cumulant and surrogate analyses to reliably detect and estimate the intermittency coefficient from short-length coarse-resolution turbulent time series. Intermittency coefficients estimated from a large number of neutrally stratified atmospheric surface layer turbulent series from various field campaigns are shown to remarkably concur with well-known laboratory experimental results. In addition, surrogate-based hypothesis testing significantly reduces the likelihood of detecting a spurious non-zero intermittency coefficient from non-inte…
Global intermittency is observed in the stably stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) and corresponds to having large nonturbulent flow regions to develop in an otherwise turbulent flow. In this paper, the differences between continuous and intermittent turbulence are quantified with the help of coherent structures. Eight classes of coherent structures are identified from literature, most of which are indicated by scalar criteria derived from velocity fields. A method is developed to geometrically classify structures into three categories: blob-like, tube-like or sheet-like. An alternate …
We investigate the large-scale intermittency of vertical velocity and temperature, and the mixing properties of stably stratified turbulent flows using both Lagrangian and Eulerian fields from direct numerical simulations, in a parameter space relevant for the atmosphere and the oceans. Over a range of Froude numbers of geophysical interest ($\approx 0.05-0.3$) we observe very large fluctuations of the vertical components of the velocity and the potential temperature, localized in space and time, with a sharp transition leading to non-Gaussian wings of the probability distribution functions. T…
We present a reduced system of 7 ordinary differential equations that captures the time evolution of spatial gradients of the velocity and the temperature in fluid elements of stratified turbulent flows. We show the existence of invariant manifolds (further reducing the system dimensionality), and compare the results with data stemming from direct numerical simulations of the full incompressible Boussinesq equations in the stably stratified case. Numerical results accumulate over the invariant anifolds of the reduced system, indicating the system lives at the brink of an instability. Finally, …
Turbulent and internal wave motions are important for the exchange of momentum, heat and suspended matter in the deep-sea which is generally stably stratified in density. Turbulence-generation models involve shear of vertical current differences that deforms the stratified waters, and convection that is drive by (unstable) buoyancy. Shear-generation is found more general in the well-stratified ocean-interior, while convection is known to occur near the sea-surface, e.g. via nighttime cooling. Far below the surface, the Western-Mediterranean Sea is very weakly stratified and offers opportunity …
On the large-scale vertical velocity intermittency of turbulent wall flows
University of California, Irvine（加州大学尔湾分校）；Politecnico di Torino（都灵理工大学）；University of Sydney（悉尼大学）；Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)（意大利环境保护与研究研究所）；University of Pennsylvania（宾夕法尼亚大学）；Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）；Duke University（杜克大学）
The Lagrangian (LA) and Eulerian Acceleration (EA) properties of fluid particles in homogeneous turbulence with uniform shear and uniform stable stratification are studied using direct numerical simulations. The Richardson number is varied from $Ri=0$, corresponding to unstratified shear flow, to $Ri=1$, corresponding to strongly stratified shear flow. The probability density functions (pdfs) of both LA and EA have a stretched-exponential shape and they show a strong and similar influence on the Richardson number. The extreme values of the EA are stronger than those observed for the LA. Geomet…
We report numerical investigations of wave turbulence in a vibrating plate. The possibility to implement advanced measurement techniques and long time numerical simulations makes this system extremely valuable for wave turbulence studies. The purely 2D character of dynamics of the elastic plate makes it much simpler to handle compared to much more complex 3D physical systems that are typical of geo- and astrophysical issues (ocean surface or internal waves, magnetized plasmas or strongly rotating and/or stratified flows). When the forcing is small the observed wave turbulence is consistent wit…
We show that the phase space of stratified turbulence mainly consists of two slow invariant manifolds with rich physics, embedded on a larger basin with fast evolution. A local invariant manifold in the vicinity of the fluid at equilibrium corresponds to waves, while a global invariant manifold corresponds to the onset of local convection. Using a reduced model derived from the Boussinesq equations, we propose that waves accumulate energy nonlinearly up to a point such that fluid elements escape from the local manifold and evolve fast to the global manifold, where kinetic energy can be more ef…
Magnetic field generation in three-dimensional Rayleigh-Bénard convection of an electrically conducting fluid is studied numerically by fixing the Prandtl number at $P=0.3$ and varying the Rayleigh number (Ra) as a control parameter. A recently reported route to hyperchaos involving quasiperiodic regimes, crises and chaotic intermittent attractors is followed, and the critical magnetic Prandtl number ($P_m^c$) for dynamo action is determined as a function of Ra. A mechanism for the onset of intermittency in the magnetic energy is described, the most beneficial convective regimes for dynamo act…
Horizontal currents in the Bay of Bengal were measured on eight cruises covering a total of 8600 $km$ using a 300 $kHz$ Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). The cruises are distributed over multiple seasons and regions of the Bay. Horizontal wavenumber spectra of these currents over depths of 12--54 m and wavelengths from 2--400 km were decomposed into vortical and divergent components assuming isotropy. An average of across and along track spectra over all cruises shows that the spectral slope of horizontal kinetic energy for wavelengths of 10--80 $km$ scales with an exponent of $-1.7 \p…
The Holton-Lindzen-Plumb model describes the spontaneous emergence of mean flow reversals in stratified fluids. It has played a central role in understanding the quasi-biennial oscillation of equatorial winds in Earth's stratosphere and has arguably become a linchpin of wave-mean flow interaction theory in geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics. The derivation of the model's equation from primitive equations follows from several assumptions, including quasi-linear approximations, WKB expansion of the wavefield, simplifications of boundary layer terms, among others. Starting from the two-…
We demonstrate via direct numerical simulations that a periodic, oscillating mean flow spontaneously develops from turbulently generated internal waves. We consider a minimal physical model where the fluid self-organizes in a convective layer adjacent to a stably stratified one. Internal waves are excited by turbulent convective motions, then nonlinearly interact to produce a mean flow reversing on timescales much longer than the waves' period. Our results demonstrate for the first time that the three-scale dynamics due to convection, waves, and mean flow is generic and hence can occur in many…
Scaling laws and local enhancements of buoyancy flux in stratified turbulent flows
CNRS, École Centrale de Lyon, INSA Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, LMFA（法国国家科学研究中心、里昂中央理工学院、里昂国立应用科学学院、克洛德·贝尔纳里昂大学、流体力学与声学实验室）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria（卡拉布里亚大学物理系）；Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock（罗斯托克大学大气物理研究所）；French American Center for Theoretical Sciences, CNRS, KITP, University of California, Santa Barbara（美法理论科学中心、法国国家科学研究中心、加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校KITP）；Laboratoire de Physique, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon and CNRS（里昂高等师范学校物理实验室及法国国家科学研究中心）；Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization（马克斯·普朗克动力学与自组织研究所）；National Center for Atmospheric Research（美国国家大气研究中心）；Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física（布宜诺斯艾利斯大学理学院物理系）；CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinaria y Aplicada (INFINA)（阿根廷国家科学研究委员会-布宜诺斯艾利斯大学交叉与应用物理研究所）；Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere（大气研究合作研究所）
Turbulent-laminar intermittency, typically in the form of bands and spots, is a ubiquitous feature of the route to turbulence in wall-bounded shear flows. Here we study the idealised shear between stress-free boundaries driven by a sinusoidal body force and demonstrate quantitative agreement between turbulence in this flow and that found in the interior of plane Couette flow -- the region excluding the boundary layers. Exploiting the absence of boundary layers, we construct a model flow that uses only four Fourier modes in the shear direction and yet robustly captures the range of spatiotempor…
Turbulent puffs are ubiquitous in everyday life phenomena. Understanding their dynamics is important in a variety of situations ranging from industrial processes to pure and applied science. In all these fields, a deep knowledge of the statistical structure of temperature and velocity space/time fluctuations is of paramount importance to construct models of chemical reaction (in chemistry), of condensation of virus-containing droplets (in virology and/or biophysics), and optimal mixing strategies in industrial applications. As a matter of fact, results of turbulence in a puff are confined to b…
