Intermittency (externally induced) in the two-dimensional (2D) enstrophy cascade is shown to be able to maintain a finite enstrophy along with a vorticity conservation anomaly. Intermittency mechanisms of three-dimensional (3D) energy cascade and 2D enstrophy cascade in fully-developed turbulence (FDT) seem to have some universal features. The parabolic-profile approximation (PPA) for the singularity spectrum f(a) in multi-fractal model is used and extended to the appropriate microscale regimes to exhibit these features. The PPA is also shown to afford, unlike the generic multi-fractal model, an analytical calculation of probability distribution functions (PDF) of flow-variable gradients in these FDT cases and to describe intermittency corrections that complement those provided by the homogeneous fractal model.
We report the first extensive experimental observation of the two-dimensional enstrophy cascade, along with the determination of the high order vorticity statistics. The energy spectra we obtain are remarkably close to the Kraichnan Batchelor expectation. The distributions of the vorticity increments, in the inertial range, deviate only little from gaussianity and the corresponding structure functions exponents are indistinguishable from zero. It is thus shown that there is no sizeable small scale intermittency in the enstrophy cascade, in agreement with recent theoretical analyses.
The Reynolds number dependency of intermittency for 2D turbulence is studied in a flowing soap film. The Reynolds number used here is the Taylor microscale Reynolds number R_λ, which ranges from 20 to 800. Strong intermittency is found for both the inverse energy and direct enstrophy cascades as measured by (a) the pdf of velocity differences P(δu(r)) at inertial scales r, (b) the kurtosis of P(\partial_x u), and (c) the scaling of the so-called intermittency exponent μ, which is zero if intermittency is absent. Measures (b) and (c) are quantitative, while (a) is qualitative. These measurement…
High resolution direct numerical simulations of two-dimensional turbulence in stationary conditions are presented. The development of an energy-enstrophy double cascade is studied and found to be compatible with the classical Kraichnan theory in the limit of extended inertial ranges. The analysis of the joint distribution of energy and enstrophy fluxes in physical space reveals a small value of cross correlation. This result supports many experimental and numerical studies where only one cascade is generated.
We study the nature of the triadic interactions in Fourier space for three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations based on the helicity content of the participating modes. Using the tool of helical Fourier decomposition we are able to access the effects of a group of triads on the energy cascade process and on the small-scale intermittency. We show that while triadic interactions involving modes with only one sign of helicity results to an inverse cascade of energy and to a complete depletion of the intermittency, absence of such triadic interactions has no visible effect on the energy cascade an…
We investigate the direct enstrophy cascade of two-dimensional decaying turbulence in a flowing soap film channel. We use a coarse-graining approach that allows us to resolve the nonlinear dynamics and scale-coupling simultaneously in space and in scale. From our data, we verify an exact relation due to Eyink (1995) between traditional 3rd-order structure function and the enstrophy flux obtained by coarse-graining. We also present experimental evidence that enstrophy cascades to smaller (larger) scales with a 60% (40%) probability, in support of theoretical predictions by Merilees & Warn (1975…
In this paper, we analyze the sea surface temperature obtained from the global drifter program. The experimental Fourier power spectrum shows a two-decade power-law behavior as $E_θ(f)\propto f^{-7/3}$ in the frequency domain. Dimensional argument suggests a two-dimensional-like Lagrangian forward cascade, in which the enstrophy dissipation $ε_Ω$ is involved. Using the Hilbert-Huang transform and multi-level segment analysis, the measured high-order statistics and the corresponding singularity spectrum confirm the existence of the intermittency with a measured intermittency parameter $μ_θ\sime…
Existence of 2D enstrophy cascade in a suitable mathematical setting, and under suitable conditions compatible with 2D turbulence phenomenology, is known both in the Fourier and in the physical scales. The goal of this paper is to show that the same geometric condition preventing the formation of singularities - 1/2-Hölder coherence of the vorticity direction - coupled with a suitable condition on a modified Kraichnan scale, and under a certain modulation assumption on evolution of the vorticity, leads to existence of 3D enstrophy cascade in physical scales of the flow.
The universality of intermittency in hydrodynamic turbulence is considered based on a recent model for the velocity gradient tensor evolution. Three possible versions of the model are investigated differing in the assumed correlation time-scale and forcing strength. Numerical tests show that the same (universal) anomalous relative scaling exponents are obtained for the three model variants. It is also found that transverse velocity gradients are more intermittent than longitudinal ones, whereas dissipation and enstrophy scale with the same exponents. The results are consistent with the univers…
We demonstrate that like in the forward cascade of three dimensional turbulence that displays intermittency (lack of self-similarity) due to the concentration of energy dissipation in a small set of fractal dimension less than three, the inverse cascade of two-dimensional turbulence can also display lack of self-similarity and intermittency if the energy injection is constrained in a fractal set of dimension less than two. A series of numerical simulations of two dimensional turbulence are examined, using different forcing functions of the same forcing length-scale but different fractal dimens…
We study the time irreversibility of the direct cascade in two-dimensional turbulence by looking at the time derivative of the square vorticity along Lagrangian trajectories, a quantity which we call metenstrophy. By means of extensive numerical simulations we measure the time irreversibility from the asymmetry of the PDF of the metenstrophy and we find that it increases with the Reynolds number of the cascade, similarly to what found in three-dimensional turbulence. A detailed analysis of the different contributions to the enstrophy budget reveals a remarkable difference with respect to what …
In this paper, the scaling property of the inverse energy cascade and forward enstrophy cascade of the vorticity filed $ω(x,y)$ in two-dimensional (2D) turbulence is analyzed. This is accomplished by applying a Hilbert-based technique, namely Hilbert-Huang Transform, to a vorticity field obtained from a $8192^2$ grid-points direct numerical simulation of the 2D turbulence with a forcing scale $k_f=100$ and an Ekman friction. The measured joint probability density function $p(C,k)$ of mode $C_i(x)$ of the vorticity $ω$ and instantaneous wavenumber $k(x)$ is separated by the forcing scale $k_f$ …
This investigation presents evidence of the relation between the dynamics of intense events in small-scale turbulence and the energy cascade. We use the generalised (Hölder) means to track the temporal evolution of intense events of the enstrophy and the dissipation in direct numerical simulations of isotropic turbulence. We show that these events are modulated by large-scale fluctuations, and that their evolution is consistent with a local multiplicative cascade, as hypothesised by a broad class of intermittency models of turbulence.
The forward enstrophy cascade in two-dimensional quantum turbulence in a superfluid film connected to a thermal bath is investigated using a Fokker-Planck equation based on Kosterlitz-Thouless renormalization. The steady-state cascade is formed by injecting vortex pairs of large initial separation at a constant rate. They diffuse with a constant flux to smaller scales, finally annihilating when reaching the core size. The energy spectrum varies as $k^{-3}$, similar to the spectrum known for 2D classical-fluid enstrophy cascades. The dynamics of the cascade can also be studied, and for the case…
Turbulent flows preferentially concentrate inertial particles depending on their stopping time or Stokes number, which can lead to significant spatial variations in the particle concentration. Cascade models are one way to describe this process in statistical terms. Here, we use a direct numerical simulation (DNS) dataset of homogeneous, isotropic turbulence to determine probability distribution functions (PDFs) for cascade multipliers, which determine the ratio by which a property is partitioned into sub-volumes as an eddy is envisioned to decay into smaller eddies. We present a technique for…
In incompressible and periodic statistically stationary turbulence, exchanges of turbulent energy across scales and space are characterised by very intense and intermittent spatio-temporal fluctuations around zero of the time-derivative term, the spatial turbulent transport of fluctuating energy, and the pressure-velocity term. These fluctuations are correlated with each other and with the intense intermittent fluctuations of the interscale energy transfer rate. These correlations are caused by the sweeping effect, the link between non-linearity and non-locality, and also relate to geometrical…
An efficient approach for extracting 3D local averages in spherical subdomains is proposed and applied to study the intermittency of small-scale velocity and scalar fields in direct numerical simulations of isotropic turbulence. We focus on the inertial-range scaling exponents of locally averaged energy dissipation rate, enstrophy and scalar dissipation rate corresponding to the mixing of a passive scalar $θ$ in the presence of a uniform mean gradient. The Taylor-scale Reynolds number $R_λ$ goes up to $1300$, and the Schmidt number $Sc$ up to $512$ (albeit at smaller $R_λ$). The intermittency …
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…
Insight into the problem of two-dimensional turbulence can be obtained by an analogy with a heat conduction network. It allows the identification of an entropy function associated to the enstrophy dissipation and that fluctuates around a positive (mean) value. While the corresponding enstrophy network is highly nonlocal, the direction of the enstrophy current follows from the Second Law of Thermodynamics. An essential parameter is the ratio $T_k = γ_k /(νk^2)$ of the intensity of driving $γ_k>0$ as a function of wavenumber $k$, to the dissipation strength $νk^2$, where $ν$ is the viscosity. Th…
We employ a coarse-graining approach to analyze nonlinear cascades in Boussinesq flows using high-resolution simulation data. We derive budgets which resolve the evolution of energy and potential enstrophy simultaneously in space and in scale. We then use numerical simulations of Boussinesq flows, with forcing in the large-scales, and fixed rotation and stable stratification along the vertical axis, to study the inter-scale flux of energy and potential enstrophy in three different regimes of stratification and rotation: (i) strong rotation and moderate stratification, (ii) moderate rotation an…
A universal relation between intermittency and dissipation within and beyond homogeneous isotropic turbulence
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP（格勒诺布尔阿尔卑斯大学、法国国家科学研究中心、格勒诺布尔理工学院）；Institut für Physik und ForWind, Universität Oldenburg（奥尔登堡大学物理与风电研究所）；Univ. Lille, CNRS, ONERA, Arts et Métiers ParisTech, Centrale Lille（里尔大学、法国国家科学研究中心、法国航空国防技术局、巴黎国立高等工艺学院、中央理工学院）
The dual cascade of energy and enstrophy in 2D turbulence cannot easily be understood in terms of an analog to the Richardson-Kolmogorov scenario describing the energy cascade in 3D turbulence. The coherent up- and downscale fluxes points to non-locality of interactions in spectral space, and thus the specific spatial structure of the flow could be important. Shell models, which lack spacial structure and have only local interactions in spectral space, indeed fail in reproducing the correct scaling for the inverse cascade of energy. In order to exclude the possibility that non-locality of inte…
The process of the kinetic energy and kinetic helicity transfer over the spectrum in an incompressible, rapidly rotating turbulent flow is considered. An analogue of the Fjortoft theorem for 3D rapidly rotating turbulence is proposed. It is shown that, similar to 2D turbulence, there are two cascades simultaneously: the inverse cascade of the kinetic energy and the direct cascade of the kinetic helicity, which in the case of 2D turbulence corresponds to the cascade of enstrophy. The proposed scenario is in agreement with our earlier calculations, some recent numerical simulations, and physical…
By direct numerical simulation to the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with small-scale forcing and large-scale damping, Xiao-Wan-Chen-Eyink (2009) found an evidence that inverse energy cascade may proceed with the vortex thinning mechanism. On the other hand, Alexakis-Doering (2006) calculated upper bound of the bulk averaged enstrophy dissipation rate of the steady-state two dimensional turbulence. {In this paper, we show that vortex thinning induces enhanced dissipation with strictly slower vanishing order of the enstrophy dissipation than $Re^{-1}$.}
In this paper, phenomenological developments are used to explore several aspects of the relative particle dispersion (RPD) in different physical fully-developed turbulence (FDT) situations. The role played by the FDT cascade physics underlying this process is investigated. Many of these aspects are motivated by previous laboratory experiment and numerical simulation results. These are, * spatial intermittency effects exhibiting, * [(a)] reduction of RPD in 3D FDT, corroborating the numerical simulation results (Boffetta and Sokolov [11]); *[(b)] prevalence of power-law scaling of RPD in 2D FDT…
Fully developed homogeneous isotropic turbulence in 2D is fundamentally different from 3D. In 2D, the simultaneous conservation of both energy and enstrophy in the inertial ranges of scales leads to a forward cascade of enstrophy and a reverse cascade of energy. In 3D, helicity, the integral of the scalar product of velocity and vorticity, is also an inviscid flow invariant along with kinetic energy. Unlike enstrophy, however, helicity does not block the cascade of energy to small scales. Energy and helicity are not only globally conserved but also conserved within each non-linear triadic inte…
We consider the turbulent energy dissipation from one-dimensional records in experiments using air and gaseous helium at cryogenic temperatures, and obtain the intermittency exponent via the two-point correlation function of the energy dissipation. The air data are obtained in a number of flows in a wind tunnel and the atmospheric boundary layer at a height of about 35 m above the ground. The helium data correspond to the centerline of a jet exhausting into a container. The air data on the intermittency exponent are consistent with each other and with a trend that increases with the Taylor mic…
As a minimal mathematical model generating cascade analogous to that of the Navier-Stokes turbulence in the inertial range, we propose a one-dimensional partial-differential-equation model that conserves the integral of the squared vorticity analogue (enstrophy) in the inviscid case. With a large-scale forcing and small viscosity, we find numerically that the model exhibits the enstrophy cascade, the broad energy spectrum with a sizable correction to the dimensional-analysis prediction, peculiar intermittency and self-similarity in the dynamical system structure.
Experiments and numerical simulations reveal that in the forward cascade regime, the energy spectrum of two-dimensional turbulence with Ekman friction deviates from Kraichnan's prediction of $k^{-3}$ power spectrum. In this letter we explain this observation using an analytic model based on variable enstrophy flux arising due to Ekman friction. We derive an expression for the enstrophy flux which exhibits a logarithmic dependence in the inertial range for the Ekman-friction dominated flows. The energy spectrum obtained using this enstrophy flux shows a power law scaling for large Reynolds numb…
We use momentum transfer arguments to predict the friction factor $f$ in two-dimensional turbulent soap-film flows with rough boundaries (an analogue of three-dimensional pipe flow) as a function of Reynolds number Re and roughness $r$, considering separately the inverse energy cascade and the forward enstrophy cascade. At intermediate Re, we predict a Blasius-like friction factor scaling of $f\propto\textrm{Re}^{-1/2}$ in flows dominated by the enstrophy cascade, distinct from the energy cascade scaling of $\textrm{Re}^{-1/4}$. For large Re, $f \sim r$ in the enstrophy-dominated case. We use …
We construct an approximately conserved current for $2+1$ dimensional, Aristotelian (non boost invariant), fluid flow. When Aristotelian symmetry is enhanced to Galilean symmetry, this current matches the enstrophy current responsible for the inverse cascade in incompressible fluids. Other enhancements of Aristotelian symmetry discussed in this work include Lorentzian, Carrollian and Lifshitz scale symmetry.
In this paper we investigate the properties of rapidly rotating decaying turbulence using numerical simulations and phenomenological modelling. We find that as the turbulent flow evolves in time, the Rossby number decreases to $\sim 10^{-3}$, and the flow becomes quasi-two-dimensional with strong coherent columnar structures arising due to the inverse cascade of energy. We establish that a major fraction of energy is confined in Fourier modes $(\pm1,0,0)$ and $(0,\pm1,0)$ that correspond to the largest columnar structure in the flow. For wavenumbers ($k$) greater than the enstrophy dissipation…
We use the more intuitive approach due to Kolmogorov (and subsequently, Landau in his text on fluid dynamics) to calculate some third-order structure functions for quasi-geostrophic turbulence for the forward cascade of pseudo-potential enstrophy and the inverse energy cascade in quasi-geostrophic turbulence.
We study the intermittency properties of the energy and helicity cascades in two 1536^3 direct numerical simulations of helical rotating turbulence. Symmetric and anti-symmetric velocity increments are examined, as well as probability density functions of the velocity field and of the helicity density. It is found that the direct cascade of energy to small scales is scale invariant and non-intermittent, whereas the direct cascade of helicity is highly intermittent. Furthermore, the study of structure functions of different orders allows us to identify a recovery of isotropy of strong events at…
We discuss the phenomenology of the split energy cascade in a three-dimensional thin fluid layer by mean of high resolution numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations. We observe the presence of both an inverse energy cascade at large scales, as predicted for two-dimensional turbu- lence, and of a direct energy cascade at small scales, as in three-dimensional turbulence. The inverse energy cascade is associated with a direct cascade of enstrophy in the intermediate range of scales. Notably, we find that the inverse cascade of energy in this system is not a pure 2D phenomenon, as the …
We consider the enstrophy cascade in forced two-dimensional turbulence with a linear drag force. In the presence of linear drag, the energy wavenumber spectrum drops with a power law faster than in the case without drag, and the vorticity field becomes intermittent, as shown by the anomalous scaling of the vorticity structure functions. Using a previous theory, we compare numerical simulation results with predictions for the power law exponent of the energy wavenumber spectrum and the scaling exponents of the vorticity structure functions $ζ_{2q}$ obtained in terms of the distribution of finit…
We provide sufficient conditions for mathematically rigorous proofs of the third order universal laws capturing the energy flux to large scales and enstrophy flux to small scales for statistically stationary, forced-dissipated 2d Navier-Stokes equations in the large-box limit. These laws should be regarded as 2d turbulence analogues of the $4/5$ law in 3d turbulence, predicting a constant flux of energy and enstrophy (respectively) through the two inertial ranges in the dual cascade of 2d turbulence. Conditions implying only one of the two cascades are also obtained, as well as compactness cri…
Three-dimensional (3D) turbulence is characterized by a dual forward cascade of both kinetic energy and helicity, a second inviscid flow invariant, from the integral scale of motion to the viscous dissipative scale. In helical flows, however, such as strongly rotating flows with broken mirror symmetry, an inverse energy cascade can be observed analogous to that of two-dimensional turbulence (2D) where a second positive-definite flow invariant, enstrophy, unlike helicity in 3D, effectively blocks the forward cascade of energy. In the spectral-helical decomposition of the Navier-Stokes equation …
A coarse-grained particle model for incompressible Navier-Stokes (NS) equation is proposed based on spatial filtering by utilizing smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) approximations. This model is similar to our previous developed SPH discretization of NS equation ({\it Hu X.Y. & N.A. Adams, J. Comput. Physics}, 227: 264-278, 2007 and 228: 2082-2091, 2009) and the Lagrangian averaged NS (LANS-$α$) turbulence model. Other than using smoothing approaches, this model obtains particle transport velocity by imposing constant $σ$ which is associated with the particle density, and is called SPH-$σ$…
The multifractal theory of turbulence is used to investigate the energy cascade in the Northwestern Atlantic ocean. The statistics of singularity exponents of velocity gradients computed from in situ measurements are used to show that the anomalous scaling of the velocity structure functions at depths between 50 ad 500 m has a linear dependence on the exponent characterizing the strongest velocity gradient, with a slope that decreases with depth. Since the distribution of exponents is asymmetric about the mode at all depths, we use an infinitely divisible asymmetric model of the energy cascade…
The active interaction between the bacteria and fluid generates turbulent structures even at zero Reynolds number. Velocity of such a flow obtained experimentally has been quantitatively investigated based on streamline segment analysis. There is a clear transition at about $16$ times of the organism body length separating two different scale regimes, which may be attributed to the different influence of the viscous effect. Surprisingly the scaling extracted from the streamline segment indicates the existence of scale similarity even at the zero Reynolds number limit. Moreover the multifractal…
We introduce a model for the turbulent energy cascade aimed at studying the effect of dynamical scaling on intermittency. In particular, we show that by slowing down the energy transfer mechanism for fixed energy flux, intermittency decreases and eventually disappears. This result supports the conjecture that intermittency can be observed only if energy is flowing towards faster and faster scales of motion.
We present the most extensive direct numerical simulations, attempted so far, of statistically steady, homogeneous, isotropic turbulence in two-dimensional fluid films with air-drag-induced friction and with polymer additives. Our study reveals that the polymers (a) reduce the total fluid energy, enstrophy, and palinstrophy, (b) modify the fluid energy spectrum both in inverse- and forward-cascade regimes, (c) reduce small-scale intermittency, (d) suppress regions of large vorticity and strain rate, and (e) stretch in strain-dominated regions. We compare our results with earlier experimental s…
By analyzing hot-wire velocity data taken in an open channel flow, an unambiguous definition of surface-layer thickness is here provided in terms of the cross-over scale between backward and forward energy fluxes. It is shown that the turbulence in the surface layer does not conform to the classical description of two-dimensional turbulence, since the direct energy cascade persists at scales smaller than the cross-over scale, comparable with the distance from the free-surface. The multifractal analysis of the one-dimensional surrogate of the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate in terms o…
In this work we investigate, by means of direct numerical simulations, how rotation affects the bi-dimensionalization of a turbulent flow. We study a thin layer of fluid, forced by a two-dimensional forcing, within the framework of the "split cascade" in which the injected energy flows both to small scales (generating the direct cascade) and to large scale (to form the inverse cascade). It is shown that rotation reinforces the inverse cascade at the expense of the direct one, thus promoting bi-dimensionalization of the flow. This is achieved by a suppression of the enstrophy production at larg…
The effect of domain anisotropy on the inverse cascade occurring within the geostrophic turbulence regime of rapidly rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RRBC) is investigated. In periodic domains with square cross-section in the horizontal a domain-filling dipole state is present. For rectangular periodic domains a Kolmogorov-like flow consisting of a periodic array of alternating unidirectional jets with embedded vortices is observed, together with an underlying weak meandering transverse jet. Similar transitions occurring in weakly dissipative two-dimensional flows driven by externally impo…
Fluid turbulence is a far-from-equilibrium phenomenon and remains one of the most challenging problems in physics. Two-dimensional, fully developed turbulence may possess the largest possible symmetry, the conformal symmetry. We focus on the steady-state solution of two-dimensional bounded turbulent flow and propose a $c=0$ boundary logarithmic conformal field theory for the inverse energy cascade and another bulk conformal field theory in the classical limit $c\rightarrow -\infty$ for the direct enstrophy cascade. We show that these theories give rise to the Kraichnan-Batchelor scaling $k^{-3…
