A popular method of forcing the fluid in Direct Numerical Simulations of turbulence is to take the body force proportional to the projection of the velocity of the fluid onto its lowest Fourier modes, while keeping the injected external power constant. In this paper we perform a simple but rigorous analysis to establish bounds on the relationship between the energy dissipation rate and the resulting Reynolds number for this type of forcing. While this analysis cannot give detailed information of the energy spectrum, it does provide some indication of the balance of energy between the lower, directly forced, modes, and those excited by the cascade.
Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent channel flows up to $Re_τ \approx 1000$ are conducted to investigate the three-dimensional (consisting of streamwise wavenumber, spanwise wavenumber and frequency) spectrum of wall pressure fluctuations. To develop a predictive model of the wavenumber-frequency spectrum from the wavenumber spectrum, the time decorrelation mechanisms of wall pressure fluctuations are investigated. It is discovered that the energy-containing part of the wavenumber-frequency spectrum of wall pressure fluctuations can be well predicted using a similar random sweeping…
Small-scale dynamos are expected to operate in all astrophysical fluids that are turbulent and electrically conducting, for example the interstellar medium, stellar interiors, and accretion disks, where they may also be affected by or competing with large-scale dynamos. However, the possibility of small-scale dynamos being excited at small and intermediate ratios of viscosity to magnetic diffusivity (the magnetic Prandtl number) has been debated, and the possibility of them depending on the large-scale forcing wavenumber has been raised. Here we show, using four values of the forcing wavenumbe…
We demonstrate that there is an optimal forcing length scale for low Prandtl number dynamo flows, that can significantly reduce the required energy injection rate. The investigation is based on simulations of the induction equation in a periodic box of size $2πL$. The flows considered are turbulent ABC flows forced at different forcing wavenumbers $k_f$ simulated using a subgrid turbulent model. The critical magnetic Reynolds number $Rm_c^T$ decreases as the forcing wavenumber $k_f$ increases from the smallest allowed $k_{min}=1/L$. At large $k_f$ on the other hand, $Rm_c^T$ increases with the…
A generalised quasilinear (GQL) approximation (Marston \emph{et al.}, \emph{Phys. Rev. Lett.}, vol. 116, 104502, 2016) is applied to turbulent channel flow at $Re_τ\simeq 1700$ ($Re_τ$ is the friction Reynolds number), with emphasis on the energy transfer in the streamwise wavenumber space. The flow is decomposed into low and high streamwise wavenumber groups, the former of which is solved by considering the full nonlinear equations whereas the latter is obtained from the linearised equations around the former. The performance of the GQL approximation is subsequently compared with that of a QL…
Radiation transport plays important roles in stellar atmospheres, but the effects of turbulence are being obscured by other effects such as stratification. Using radiative hydrodynamic simulations of forced turbulence, we determine the decay rates of sinusoidal large-scale temperature perturbations of different wavenumbers in the optically thick and thin regimes. Increasing the wavenumber increases the rate of decay in both regimes, but this effect is much weaker than for the usual turbulent diffusion of passive scalars, where the increase is quadratic for small wavenumbers. The turbulent deca…
Continuing from Part 1 (Hernández \emph{et al.}, \emph{arXiv:2108.12395}, 2021), a generalized quasilinear (GQL) approximation is studied in turbulent channel flow using a flow decomposition defined with spanwise Fourier modes: the flow is decomposed into a set of low-wavenumber spanwise Fourier modes and the rest high-wavenumber modes. This decomposition leads to the nonlinear low-wavenumber group that supports the self-sustaining process within the given integral length scales, whereas the linearised high-wavenumber group is not able to do so, unlike the GQL models in Part 1 which place a mi…
Low-wavenumber wall pressure fluctuations in turbulent flows within concentric annular ducts
State Key Laboratory of Turbulence and Complex Systems, College of Engineering, Peking University（湍流与复杂系统国家重点实验室，工学院，北京大学）；HEDPS, Center for Applied Physics and Technology, College of Engineering, Peking University（高能密度物理研究所，应用物理与技术中心，工学院，北京大学）
Three amplification mechanisms present in turbulent jets, namely lift-up, Kelvin-Helmholtz, and Orr, are characterized via global resolvent analysis and spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD) over a range of Mach numbers. The lift-up mechanism was recently identified in turbulent jets via local analysis by Nogueira et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 873, 2019, pp. 211-237) at low Strouhal number ($St$) and non-zero azimuthal wavenumbers ($m$). In these limits, a global SPOD analysis of data from high-fidelity simulations reveals streamwise vortices and streaks similar to those found in turb…
We investigate the transition from forward to inverse energy cascade in turbulent flows in thin layers, varying the functional form of the forcing and the thickness of the layer. We show that, as the forcing function becomes more three-dimensional, the inverse cascade is suppressed and the critical height hc, where the transition occurs, is decreased. We study the dependence of this critical height on a parameter r which measures the dimensionality of the forcing and thus construct a phase space diagram in the parameter space r-h. We discuss the effect of Reynolds number and domain size.
The characteristics of the wavenumber-frequency spectra of the rapid, slow and total wall pressure fluctuations are investigated using direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent channel flow up to $\Rey_τ\approx 1000$. For the wavenumber-frequency spectra of the total wall pressure fluctuations, a valley-like behavior of contour lines in the sub-convective region is found, which may be linked to the Kraichnan-Phillips theorem. For the decomposition of the wall pressure spectra, it is commonly assumed in previous studies that the cross spectral density (CSD) between the rapid and slow compo…
Steady forcing at the wall of a channel flow is studied via DNS to assess its ability of yielding reductions of turbulent friction drag. The wall forcing consists of a stationary distribution of spanwise velocity that alternates in the streamwise direction. The idea behind the forcing builds upon the existing technique of the spanwise wall oscillation, and exploits the convective nature of the flow to achieve an unsteady interaction with turbulence. The analysis takes advantage of the equivalent laminar flow, that is solved analytically to show that the energetic cost of the forcing is unaffec…
Large scale coherent streaks are artificially forced in a well developed turbulent boundary layer at $\Redstar \approx 1000$ using an array of cylindrical roughness elements. Measures of the velocity field with particle image velocimetry reveal the presence of well reproducible, streamwise oriented, steady coherent streaks. We show that the amplitude of these coherent streaks transiently grows in space. The position of the maximum amplitude is proportional to the spanwise wavelength of the streaks and the most amplified spanwise wavelength is of very large scale $\lz \approx 6 \dblo$. These re…
The cross-spectral density (CSD) of the non-linear forcing in resolvent analyses is here quantified for the first time for turbulent channel flows. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) at $Re_τ =179$ and $Re_τ =543$ are performed. The CSDs are computed for highly energetic structures typical of buffer-layer and large-scale motions, for different temporal frequencies. The CSD of the non-linear forcing is shown not to be uncorrelated (white) in space, which implies the forcing is structured. Since the non-linear forcing is non-solenoidal by construction and the velocity of an incompressible flow i…
We extend linear input/output (resolvent) analysis to take into account nonlinear triadic interactions by considering a finite number of harmonics in the frequency domain using the harmonic balance method. Forcing mechanisms that maximize the drag are calculated using a gradient-based ascent algorithm. By including nonlinearity in the analysis, the proposed frequency-domain framework identifies the worst-case disturbances for laminar-turbulent transition. We demonstrate the framework on a flat-plate boundary layer by considering three-dimensional spanwise-periodic perturbations triggered by a …
An analysis of the statistics of the non-linear terms in resolvent analysis is performed in this work for turbulent Couette flow at low Reynolds number. Data from a direct numerical simulation of a minimal flow unit, at Reynolds number 400, is post-processed using Fourier analysis in both time and space, leading to the covariance matrix of the velocity. From the same data, we computed the non-linear terms of the Navier-Stokes equations (treated as forcing in the present formulation), which allowed us to compute the covariance matrix of the forcing for this case. The two covariances are related…
We present a detailed study of of a global bifurcation occuring in a turbulent von Kármán swirling flow. In this system, the statistically steady states progressively display hysteretic behaviour when the Reynolds number is increased above the transition to turbulence. We examine in detail this hysteresis using asymmetric forcing conditions --- rotating the impellers at different speeds. For very high Reynolds numbers, we study the sensitivity of the hysteresis cycle --- using complementary Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and global mechanical measurements --- to the forcing nature, imposing …
We study the influence of the forcing on the steady turbulent states of a von Kármán swirling flow, at constant impeller speed, or at constant torque. We find that the different forcing conditions change the nature of the stability of the steady states and reveal dynamical regimes that bear similarities with low-dimensional systems. We suggest that this forcing dependence may be an out- of-equilibrium analogue of the ensemble inequivalence, valid for long-range interacting statistical systems, and that it may be applicable to other turbulent systems.
Turbulent mixing layers over cavities can couple with acoustic waves and lead to undesired oscillations. To understand the nonlinear aspects of this phenomenon, a turbulent mixing layer over a deep cavity at Reynolds number 150 000 is considered and its response to harmonic forcing is analysed with large-eddy simulations (LES) and linearised Navier-Stokes equations (LNSE). As a model of incoming acoustic perturbations, spatially uniform time-harmonic forcing is applied at the cavity end, with amplitudes in the wide range 0.045-8.9% of the bulk velocity. Compressible LES provide reference nonli…
We study, by means of extensive direct numerical simulations, the turbulent flow produced by a two-dimensional cellular forcing in a cubic box with periodic boundary conditions. In spite of the strong anisotropy of the forcing, we find that turbulence recovers almost complete isotropy at small scales. Nonetheless, the signature of the forcing remains in the mean flow (averaged over time and over the homogeneous direction) and this allows to introduce a friction factor, whose dependence on the Reynolds number is investigated. We further find that the flow is characterized by large temporal fluc…
This paper examines how increasing the value of the Reynolds number $Re$ affects the ability of spanwise-forcing techniques to yield turbulent skin-friction drag reduction. The considered forcing is based on the streamwise-travelling waves of spanwise wall velocity (Quadrio {\em et al. J. Fluid Mech.}, vol. 627, 2009, pp. 161--178). The study builds upon an extensive drag-reduction database created with Direct Numerical Simulation of a turbulent channel flow for two, 5-fold separated values of $Re$, namely $Re_τ=200$ and $Re_τ=1000$. The sheer size of the database, which for the first time sys…
The nonlinear mechanism in the self-sustaining process (SSP) of wall-bounded turbulence is investigated. Resolvent analysis is used to identify the principal forcing mode which produces the maximum amplification of the velocities in numerical simulations of the minimal channel for the buffer layer and a modified logarithmic (log) layer. The wavenumbers targeted in this study are those of the fundamental mode that is infinitely long in the streamwise direction and once periodic in the spanwise direction. The identified mode is then projected out from the nonlinear term of the Navier-Stokes equa…
Dynamo action in planetary cores has been extensively studied in the context of convectively-driven flows. We show in this letter that mechanical forcings, namely tides, libration and precession, are also able to kinematically sustain a magnetic field against ohmic diffusion. Previous attempts published in the literature focused on the laminar response or considered idealized spherical configurations. In contrast, we focus here on the developed turbulent regime and we self-consistently solve the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in an ellipsoidal container. Our results open new avenues of re…
We seek possible statistical consequences of the way a forcing term is added to the Navier--Stokes equations in the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of incompressible channel flow. Simulations driven by constant flow rate, constant pressure gradient and constant power input are used to build large databases, and in particular to store the complete temporal trace of the wall-shear stress for later analysis. As these approaches correspond to different dynamical systems, it can in principle be envisaged that these differences are reflect by certain statistics of the turbulent flow field. The ins…
We employ a resolvent-based methodology to estimate velocity and pressure fluctuations within turbulent channel flows at friction Reynolds numbers of approximately 180, 550 and 1000 using measurements of shear stress and pressure at the walls, taken from direct numerical simulation (DNS) databases. Martini et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 900, 2021, A2) showed that the resolvent-based estimator is optimal when the true space-time forcing statistics are utilized, thus providing an upper bound for the accuracy of any linear estimator. We use this framework to determine the flow structures that can b…
This paper presents a study on wave cancellation in forced jets. Building on recent work on real-time control of forced turbulent jets [1,2], we here assess the effect of jet upstream conditions and nonlinearity on wave-cancellation performance. The experiments are performed in jets with laminar and turbulent boundary layers inside the nozzle. An open-loop campaign is first conducted, in which the goal is to analyse the jet response to stochastic forcing with variable bandwidth. The upstream conditions of the jet are found to have a strong influence on the jet response. For narrow forcing band…
With the increased application of large eddy simulation techniques, the generation of realistic turbulence at inflow boundaries is crucial for the accuracy of a simulation. The Control Forced Concurrent Precursor Method (CFCPM) proposed in this work combines an existing concurrent precursor method and a mean flow forcing method with a new extension of the controlled forcing method to impose turbulent inflow boundary conditions primarily, although not exclusively, for domains that require periodic boundary conditions. Turbulent inflow boundary conditions are imposed through a region of body for…
We present the results of a numerical investigation of three-dimensional homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, stirred by a random forcing with a power law spectrum, $E_f(k)\sim k^{3-y}$. Numerical simulations are performed at different resolutions up to $512^3$. We show that at varying the spectrum slope $y$, small-scale turbulent fluctuations change from a {\it forcing independent} to a {\it forcing dominated} statistics. We argue that the critical value separating the two behaviours, in three dimensions, is $y_c=4$. When the statistics is forcing dominated, for $y<y_c$, we find dimensional …
The present work demonstrates the use of resolvent analysis to obtain physical insights for open-cavity flows. Resolvent analysis identifies the flow response to harmonic forcing, given a steady base state, in terms of the response and forcing modes and the amplification gain. The response and forcing modes reveal the spatial structures associated with this amplification process. In this study, we perform resolvent analysis on both laminar and turbulent flows over a rectangular cavity with length-to-depth ratio of $L/D=6$ at a free stream Mach number of $M_\infty=0.6$ in a spanwise periodic se…
The decomposition of hydrodynamic and acoustic components of cavity flows can aid the understanding of the flow-acoustic interaction, which produces a variety of adverse effects in applications. We apply the approach of combining the resolvent analysis and Doak's momentum potential theory to examine the input-output flow-acoustic characteristics of compressible flow over an open cavity at Re=10,000. The methodology can decompose hydrodynamic and acoustic components from an input-output framework. We further localize the forcing at the leading-edge and front wall of the cavity and filter with a…
In a forced three-dimensional turbulent flow the scales larger than the forcing scale have been conjectured to reach a thermal equilibrium state forming a $k^2$ energy spectrum. In this work we examine the properties of these large scales in turbulent flows with the use of numerical simulations. We show that the choice of forcing can strongly affect the behavior of the large scales. A spectrally-dense forcing (a forcing that acts on {\it all modes} inside a finite-width spherical shell) with long correlation times may lead to strong deviations from the $k^2$ energy spectrum, while a spectrally…
We study the role of helicity in the dynamics of energy transfer in a modified version of the Navier-Stokes equations with explicit breaking of the mirror symmetry. We select different set of triads participating in the dynamics on the basis of their helicity content. In particular, we remove the negative helically polarized Fourier modes at all wavenumbers except for those falling on a localized shell of wavenumber, $|{\bf k}| \sim k_m$. Changing $k_m$ to be above or below the forcing scale, $k_f$, we are able to assess the energy transfer of triads belonging to different interaction classes.…
Coherent turbulent wave-packet structures in a jet at Reynolds number 460000 and Mach number 0.4 are extracted from experimental measurements and are modeled as linear fluctuations around the mean flow. The linear model is based on harmonic optimal forcing structures and their associated flow response at individual Strouhal numbers, obtained from analysis of the global linear resolvent operator. These forcing-response wave packets ("resolvent modes") are first discussed with regard to relevant physical mechanisms that provide energy gain of flow perturbations in the jet. Modal shear instabilit…
We study the propagation of monochromatic surface waves on a turbulent flow. The flow is generated in a layer of liquid metal by an electromagnetic forcing. This forcing creates a quasi two-dimensional (2D) turbulence with strong vertical vorticity. The turbulent flow contains much more energy than the surface waves. In order to focus on the surface wave, the deformations induced by the turbulent flow are removed. This is done by performing a coherent phase averaging. For wavelengths smaller than the forcing lengthscale, we observe a significant increase of the wavelength of the propagating wa…
Recent simulations indicate that streamwise-preferential porous materials have the potential to reduce drag in wall-bounded turbulent flows(Gomez-de-Segura & Garcia-Mayoral 2019). This paper extends the resolvent formulation to study the effect of such anisotropic permeable substrates on turbulent channel flow. Under the resolvent formulation, the Fourier-transformed Navier-Stokes equations are interpreted as a linear forcing-response system. The nonlinear terms are considered the endogenous forcing in the system that gives rise to a velocity and pressure response. A gain-based decomposition o…
It is extremely uncommon to be able to predict the velocity profile of a turbulent flow. In two-dimensional flows, atmosphere dynamics, and plasma physics, large scale coherent jets are created through inverse energy transfers from small scales to the largest scales of the flow. We prove that in the limits of vanishing energy injection, vanishing friction, and small scale forcing, the velocity profile of a jet obeys an equation independent of the details of the forcing. We find another general relation for the maximal curvature of a jet and we give strong arguments to support the existence of …
We investigate the influence of rotation on the onset and saturation of the Faraday instability in a vertically oscillating two-layer miscible fluid using a theoretical model and direct numerical simulations (DNS). Our analytical approach utilizes the Floquet analysis to solve a set of the Mathieu equations obtained from the linear stability analysis. The solution of the Mathieu equations comprises stable and harmonic, and sub-harmonic unstable regions in a three-dimensional stability diagram. We find that the Coriolis force stabilizes the flow and delays the onset of the sub-harmonic instabil…
We present a framework based on the generalized lattice-Boltzmann equation using multiple relaxation times with forcing term for eddy capturing simulation of wall bounded turbulent flows. Due to its flexibility in using disparate relaxation times, the GLBE is well suited to maintaining numerical stability on coarser grids and in obtaining improved solution fidelity of near-wall turbulent fluctuations. The subgrid scale turbulence effects are represented by the standard Smagorinsky eddy-viscosity model, which is modified by using the van Driest wall-damping function for near wall effects. For s…
The notion of instability of a turbulent flow is introduced in the case of a von Kármán flow thanks to the monitoring of the spatio-temporal spectrum of the velocity fluctuations, combined with projection onto suitable Beltrami modes. It is shown that the large scale coherent fluctuations of the flow obeys a sequence of Eckhaus instabilities when the Reynolds number $\mathrm{Re}$ is varied from $10^2$ to $10^6$. This sequence results in modulations of increasing azimuthal wavenumber. The basic state is the laminar or time-averaged flow at an arbitrary $\mathrm{Re}$, which is axi-symmetric, i.e…
Results from a new series of experiments on barotropic and baroclinic turbulent flows generated in a rotating tank with topographic beta-effect are presented. The velocity fields are measured by the Altimetric Imaging Velocimetry. The turbulent flows observed in the experiments develop zonal jets which are latent in a stationary forced-dissipative regime of the flow but become prominent in the decaying flow. The two-dimensional energy spectra of the flows exhibit the development of anisotropy towards zonal motions. The experiments demonstrate dual turbulent cascade with energy and enstrophy ra…
We present a study of several systems in which a large scale field is generated over a turbulent background. These large scale fields usually break a symmetry of the forcing by selecting a direction. Under certain conditions, the large scale field displays reversals so that the symmetry of the forcing is recovered statistically. We present examples of such dynamics in the context of the dynamo instability, of two dimensional turbulent Kolmogorov flows and of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection. In these systems reversals occur respectively for the dynamo magnetic field, for the large scale ci…
We study a turbulent jet issuing from a cylindrical nozzle to characterise coherent structures evolving in the turbulent boundary layer. The analysis is performed using data from a large-eddy simulation of a Mach 0.4 jet. Azimuthal decomposition of the velocity field in the nozzle shows that turbulent kinetic energy predominantly resides in high azimuthal wavenumbers; the first three azimuthal wavenumbers, that are important for sound generation, contain much lower, but non-zero amplitudes. Using two-point statistics, low azimuthal modes in the nozzle boundary layer are shown to exhibit signif…
The transfer of kinetic energy from large to small scales is a hallmark of turbulent flows. Yet, a precise mechanistic description of this transfer, which is expected to occur via an energy cascade, is still missing. Several conceptually simple configurations with vortex tubes have been proposed as a testing ground to understand the energy cascade. Here, we focus on incompressible flows and compare the energy transfer occurring in a statistically steady homogeneous isotropic turbulent (HIT) flow with the generation of fine-scale motions in configurations involving vortex tubes. We start by fil…
An artificial intelligence (AI) control system is developed to maximize the mixing rate of a turbulent jet. This system comprises six independently operated unsteady minijet actuators, two hot-wire sensors placed in the jet, and genetic programming for the unsupervised learning of a near-optimal control law. The ansatz of this law includes multi-frequency open-loop forcing, sensor-feedback and nonlinear combinations thereof. Mixing performance is quantified by the decay rate of the centreline mean velocity of jet. Intriguingly, the learning process of AI control discovers the classical forcing…
