bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experimental and computational studies of mixing in complex Stokes flows: the vortex mixing flow and multicellular cavity flows
Authors: Jana Sadhan C. , Metcalfe Guy , Ottino J. M.
Published: April 2006

A complex Stokes flow has several cells, is subject to bifurcation, and its velocity field is, with rare exceptions, only available from numerical computations. We present experimental and computational studies of two new complex Stokes flows: a vortex mixing flow and multicell flows in slender cavities. We develop topological relations between the geometry of the flow domain and the family of physically realizable flows; we study bifurcations and symmetries, in particular to reveal how the forcing protocol's phase hides or reveals symmetries. Using a variety of dynamical tools, comparisons of boundary integral equation numerical computations to dye advection experiments are made throughout. Several findings challenge commonly accepted wisdom. For example, we show that higher-order periodic points can be more important than period-one points in establishing the advection template and extended regions of large stretching. We demonstrate also that a broad class of forcing functions produces the same qualitative mixing patterns. We experimentally verify the existence of potential mixing zones for adiabatic forcing and investigate the crossover from adiabatic to non-adiabatic behaviour. Finally, we use the entire array of tools to address an optimization problem for a complex flow. We conclude that none of the dynamical tools alone can successfully fulfil the role of a merit function; however, the collection of tools can be applied successively as a dynamical sieve to uncover a global optimum.
An analytical theory of distributed axisymmetric barotropic vortices on the β-plane
Authors: Reznik G. M. , Dewar W. K.
Published: April 2006

An analytical theory of barotropic β-plane vortices is presented in the form of an asymptotic series based on the inverse of vortex nonlinearity. In particular, a solution of the initial value problem is given, in which the vortex is idealized as a radially symmetric function of arbitrary structure. Motion of the vortex is initiated by its interaction with the so-called ‘β-gyres’ which, in turn, are generated by the vortex circulation. Comparisons of analytical and numerical predictions for vortex motion are presented and demonstrate the utility of the present theory for times comparable to the ‘wave’ timescale. The latter exceeds the temporal limit derived from formal considerations. The properties of the far-field planetary wave radiation are also computed.

This theory differs from previous calculations by considering more general initial vortex profiles and by obtaining a more complete solution for the perturbation fields. Vortex trajectory predictions accrue error systematically by integrating vortex propagation rates which are too strong. This appears to be connected to higher-order planetary wave radiation effects.
The stability of a trailing-line vortex in compressible flow
Authors: Stott Jillian A. K. , Duck Peter W.
Published: April 2006

We consider the inviscid stability of the Batchelor (1964) vortex in a compressible flow. The problem is tackled numerically and also asymptotically, in the limit of large (azimuthal and streamwise) wavenumbers, together with large Mach numbers. The nature of the solution passes through different regimes as the Mach number increases, relative to the wavenumbers. At very high wavenumbers and Mach numbers, the mode which is present in the incompressible case ceases to be unstable, whilst a new ‘centre mode’ forms, whose stability characteristics are determined primarily by conditions close to the vortex axis. We find that generally the flow becomes less unstable as the Mach number increases, and that the regime of instability appears generally confined to disturbances in a direction counter to the direction of the rotation of the swirl of the vortex.

Throughout the paper comparison is made between our numerical results and results obtained from the various asymptotic theories.
The nucleation, growth and settling of crystals from a turbulently convecting fluid
Authors: Jarvis Richard A. , Woods Andrew W.
Published: April 2006

We present a new model to describe the thermal and compositional evolution of a binary alloy which is cooled from above. Explicit account is taken of the nucleation of crystals in the cold upper thermal boundary layer, the growth of crystals in the turbulently convecting interior, and their subsequent gravitational settling to the floor of the chamber. The crystallization of one solid phase only is considered. When the residence time of a typical crystal within the convecting bulk is short compared with the overall cooling time of the fluid, the crystal size distribution loses memory of earlier conditions in the fluid and the number density simply decays exponentially with the cube of the crystal size. A quasi-steady state exists in which the rate of crystal production is balanced by the rate of sedimentation at the floor, allowing the volume fraction of suspended crystals to remain small until convection ceases to be vigorous.

We focus on the situation in which the latent heat released by solidification would far exceed the heat flux extracted through convection if the melt undercooling were maintained equal to the initial temperature difference applied at the cold upper boundary. In this case, either the growth or nucleation of crystals must be limited in order that the fluid continues to cool. Both the growth-limited and nucleation-limited regimes may develop during the cooling of an individual fluid body, depending upon the thermal boundary condition at the upper boundary of the convecting portion of the fluid.

We calculate how the mean crystal size within the sedimented crystal pile evolves as the fluid cools. During the growth-limited regime, the mean crystal size in the crystal pile typically decreases with height, owing to the decrease in the extracted heat flux and the greater efficiency of crystal settling as the fluid layer becomes shallower. In contrast, during the nucleation-limited regime, the fluid undercooling may increase significantly as the fluid cools, and inverse grading (large crystals over small) is possible. We discuss the possible application of our theory to the cooling of large igneous intrusions.
Free-surface flows past a surface-piercing object of finite length
Authors: Asavanant J. , Vanden-Broeck J.-M.
Published: April 2006

Steady two-dimensional flows past a parabolic obstacle lying on the free surface in water of finite depth are considered. The fluid is treated as inviscid and incompressible and the flow is assumed to be irrotational. Gravity is included in the free-surface condition. The problem is solved numerically by using boundary integral equation techniques. It is shown that there are solutions for which the flow is supercritical both upstream and downstream and others for which the flow is subcritical both upstream and downstream. These flows have continuous tangents at both ends of the obstacle at which separation occurs. For supercritical flows, there are up to three solutions corresponding to the same value of the Froude number when the obstacle is concave and up to two solutions when the obstacle is convex. For subcritical flows, there are solutions with waves behind the obstacle. As the Froude number decreases, these waves become steeper and the numerical calculations suggest that they, ultimately, reach limiting configurations with a sharp crest forming a 120° angle.
Movement of magnetic bacteria in time-varying magnetic fields
Authors: Steinberger Bernhard , Petersen Nikolai , Petermann Harald , Weiss Dieter G.
Published: April 2006

The magnetic moment of individual living magnetic bacteria was determined by motion analysis in a time-dependent magnetic field. For this purpose we had to estimate the drag exerted on the moving bacterium by the surrounding liquid. First, the bacterium was approximated by an ellipsoid. In order to determine drag coefficients for more complicated (and realistic) forms, a model experiment was built. In this experiment enlarged models of bacteria were rotated in a viscous liquid and the torque acting upon them was measured. Computing algorithms were developed in order to calculate drag coefficients of magnetic bacteria and to simulate their motion in magnetic fields. The experimental and numerical determination of the drag coefficients agree within their error bounds. Besides the determination by motion analysis, the bacterial magnetic moment was also calculated from the number and size of magnetic particles contained in the bacterium as seen in an electron microscope. The results of both calculations agree well.
On a nonlinear thermocapillary effect in thin liquid layers
Authors: Oron Alexander , Rosenau Philip
Published: April 2006

Dilute aqueous solutions of long alcohol chains were recently found to cause a quadratic dependence of surface tension on the temperature without affecting other bulk properties of the liquid: σ = σ0 + αQ(T − T0)2, αQ > 0. The impact of such Marangoni instability on the behaviour of a thin liquid layer is studied in this work. We derive an equation describing a nonlinear spatiotemporal evolution of a thin film. The behaviour of the perturbed film in the absence of gravity, critically depends on whether the temperature T0, yielding a minimal surface tension, is attained on the surface of the film. When this is the case, a qualitatively new behaviour is observed: perturbations of the film interface may evolve into continuous steady patterns that do not rupture. Otherwise, the observed patterns due to the linear and quadratic Marangoni effects are qualitatively similar and result in the rupture of the film into separate drops.
Physics of unsteady blunt-fin-induced shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions
Authors: Brusniak Leon , Dolling David S.
Published: April 2006

Fluctuating wall-pressure measurements have been made on the centreline upstream of a blunt fin in a Mach 5 turbulent boundary layer. By examining the ensemble-averaged wall-pressure distributions for different separation shock foot positions, it has been shown that local fluctuating wall-pressure measurements are due to a distinct pressure distribution, [weierp ]i, which undergoes a stretching and flattening effect as its upstream boundary translates aperiodically between the upstream-influence and separation lines. The locations of the maxima and minima in the wall-pressure standard deviation can be accurately predicted using this distribution, providing quantitative confirmation of the model. This model also explains the observed cross-correlations and ensemble-average measurements within the interaction. Using the [weierp ]i model, wall-pressure signals from under the separated flow region were used to reproduce the position–time history of the separation shock foot. The unsteady behaviour of the primary horseshoe vortex and its relation to the unsteady separation shock is also described. The practical implications are that it may be possible to predict some of the unsteady aspects of the flowfield using mean wall-pressure distributions obtained from either computations or experiments; also, to minimize the fluctuating loads caused by the unsteadiness, flow control methods should focus on reducing the magnitude of the [weierp ]i gradient (∂[weierp ]i/∂x).
Active vorticity control in a shear flow using a flapping foil
Authors: Gopalkrishnan R. , Triantafyllou M. S. , Triantafyllou G. S. , Barrett D.
Published: April 2006

It is shown experimentally that free shear flows can be substantially altered through direct control of the large coherent vortices present in the flow.

First, flow-visualization experiments are conducted in Kalliroscope fluid at Reynolds number 550. A foil is placed in the wake of a D-section cylinder, sufficiently far behind the cylinder so that it does not interfere with the vortex formation process. The foil performs a heaving and pitching oscillation at a frequency close to the Strouhal frequency of the cylinder, while cylinder and foil also move forward at constant speed. By varying the phase of the foil oscillation, three basic interaction modes are identified. (i) Formation of a street of pairs of counter-rotating vortices, each pair consisting of one vortex from the initial street of the cylinder and one vortex shed by the foil. The width of the wake is then substantially increased. (ii) Formation of a street of vortices with reduced or even reverse circulation compared to that of oncoming cylinder vortices, through repositioning of cylinder vortices by the foil and interaction with vorticity of the opposite sign shed from the trailing edge of the foil. (iii) Formation of a street of vortices with circulation increased through merging of cylinder vortices with vortices of the same sign shed by the foil. In modes (ii) and (iii) considerable repositioning of the cylinder vortices takes place immediately behind the foil, resulting in a regular or reverse Kármán street. The formation of these three interaction patterns is achieved only for specific parametric values; for different values of the parameters no dominant stable pattern emerges.

Subsequently, the experiments are repeated in a different facility at larger scale, resulting in Reynolds number 20000, in order to obtain force and torque measurements. The purpose of the second set of experiments is to assess the impact of flow control on the efficiency of the oscillating foil, and hence investigate the possibility of energy extraction. It is found that the efficiency of the foil depends strongly on the phase difference between the oscillation of the foil and the arrival of cylinder vortices. Peaks in foil efficiency are associated with the formation of a street of weakened vortices and energy extraction by the foil from the vortices of the vortex street.
Shock waves in dilute bubbly liquids
Authors: Watanabe M. , Prosperetti A.
Published: April 2006

The propagation of weak shock waves in liquids containing a small concentration of gas bubbles is studied theoretically on the basis of a mathematical model that contains all — and only — the effects that contribute to first order in the gas volume fraction. In particular, the thermal exchange between the gas bubbles and the liquid is described accurately. This aspect of the theory emerges as its most significant component, relegating effects such as the relative motion between the phases to roles of minor importance. Comparison with experimental results substantiates the accuracy of the model for shock waves that have had time to broaden from an initial sharp front to a more diffuse profile. For shock waves closer to inception, marked differences are found between theory and experiment. The same problem affects all other published theoretical treatments. It is concluded that some as yet poorly understood mechanism governs the early-time behaviour of shock waves in bubbly liquids.
Pressure-driven flow of suspensions: simulation and theory
Authors: Nott Prabhu R. , Brady John F.
Published: April 2006

Dynamic simulations of the pressure-driven flow in a channel of a non-Brownian suspension at zero Reynolds number were conducted using Stokesian Dynamics. The simulations are for a monolayer of identical particles as a function of the dimensionless channel width and the bulk particle concentration. Starting from a homogeneous dispersion, the particles gradually migrate towards the centre of the channel, resulting in an homogeneous concentration profile and a blunting of the particle velocity profile. The time for achieving steady state scales as (H/a)3a/〈u〉, where H is the channel width, a the radii of the particles, and 〈u〉 the average suspension velocity in the channel. The concentration and velocity profiles determined from the simulations are in qualitative agreement with experiment.

A model for suspension flow has been proposed in which macroscopic mass, momentum and energy balances are constructed and solved simultaneously. It is shown that the requirement that the suspension pressure be constant in directions perpendicular to the mean motion leads to particle migration and concentration variations in inhomogeneous flow. The concept of the suspension ‘temperature’ – a measure of the particle velocity fluctuations – is introduced in order to provide a nonlocal description of suspension behaviour. The results of this model for channel flow are in good agreement with the simulations.
Dynamics of three-dimensional coherent structures in a flat-plate boundary layer
Authors: Rempfer Dietmar , Fasel Hermann F.
Published: April 2006

An investigation is presented that analyses the energy flows that are connected to the dynamical behaviour of coherent structures in a transitional flat-plate boundary layer. Based on a mathematical description of the three-dimensional coherent structures of this flow as provided by the Karhunen–Loève procedure, energy equations for the coherent structures are derived by Galerkin projection of the Navier–Stokes equations in vorticity transport formulation onto the corresponding basis of eigenfunctions. In a first step, the time-averaged energy balance – showing the energy flows that support the different coherent structures and thus maintain the fluctuations of the velocity field – is considered. In a second step, the instantaneous power budget is investigated for the particularly interesting case of a coherent structure providing a prime contribution to the characteristic spike events of the transitional boundary layer. As this structure shows a strong variation in energy, the question about which mechanisms cause these variations is addressed. Our results show that the occurrence of a spike must be attributed to an autonomous event and cannot be interpreted as just an epiphenomenon of the passage of a Λ-vortex.
Low-dimensional bifurcation phenomena in Taylor–Couette flow with discrete azimuthal symmetry
Authors: Kobine J. J. , Mullin T.
Published: April 2006

We report the results of an experimental study of flow in a Taylor–Couette system where the usual circular outer cylinder is replaced by one with a square cross-section. The objective is to determine the validity of low-dimensional dynamical systems as a descriptive framework for flows in a domain without the special continuous symmetry of the original problem. We focus on a restricted version of the flow, where the steady flow consists of a single cell, thereby minimizing the multiplicity of solutions. The steady-state bifurcation structure is found to be qualitatively unchanged from that of the standard system. A complex but self-consistent bifurcation structure is uncovered for time-dependent flows, culminating in observations of dynamics similar to those of the finite-dimensional Sil’nikov mechanism. Such behaviour has been observed in the standard system with continuous azimuthal symmetry. The present results extend the range of closed-flow problems where there is an apparent connection between the infinite-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and finite-dimensional dynamical systems.
Vortex dynamics of viscous fluid flows. Part 1. Two-dimensional flows
Authors: Ostrikov N. N. , Zhmulin E. M.
Published: April 2006

The method of product integration is applied to the vortex dynamics of two-dimensional incompressible viscous media. In the cases of both unbounded and bounded flows under the no-slip boundary condition, the analytic solutions of the Cauchy problem are obtained for the Helmholtz equation in the form of linear and nonlinear product integrals. The application of product integrals allows the generalization in a natural way of the vortex dynamics concept to the case of viscous flows. However, this new approach requires the reconsideration of some traditional notions of vortex dynamics. Two lengthscales are introduced in the form of a micro- and a macro-scale. Elementary ‘vortex objects’ are defined as two types of singular vortex filaments with equal but opposite intensities. The vorticity is considered as the macro-value proportional to the concentration of elementary vortex filaments inhabiting the micro-level. The vortex motion of a viscous medium is represented as the stochastic motion of an infinite set of elementary vortex filaments on the micro-level governed by the stochastic differential equations, where the stochastic velocity component of every filament simulates the viscous diffusion of vorticity, and the regular component is the macro-value induced according to the Biot–Savart law and simulates the convective transfer of vorticity.

In flows with boundaries, the production of elementary vortex filaments at the boundary is introduced to satisfy the no-slip condition. This phenomenon is described by the application of the generalized Markov processes theory. The integral equation for the production intensity of elementary vortex filaments is derived and solved using the no-slip condition reformulated in terms of vorticity. Additional conditions on this intensity are determined to avoid the many-valuedness of the pressure in a multi-connected flow domain. This intensity depends on the vorticity in the flow and the boundary velocity at every time instant, together with boundary acceleration.

As a result, the successive and accurate application of the product-integral method allows the study of vortex dynamics in a viscous fluid according to the concepts of Helmholtz and Kelvin.
Theoretical and experimental studies of three-dimensional wavemaking in narrow tanks, including nonlinear phenomena near resonance
Authors: Yao Yitao , Tulin Marshall P. , Kolaini Ali R.
Published: April 2006

In view of several practical ramifications of this problem, computational-analytical techniques for calculating waves induced by heaving arbitrary bodies in narrow tanks have been developed, including nonlinear wave groups produced near tank resonance. These feature computational near-field solutions matched with appropriate far-field solutions. In the linear case, the far field is provided by linear mode superposition. In the nonlinear case, the far field is described by a suitable nonlinear evolution equation of the cubic Schrödinger type. Matching techniques were developed. Calculations were successfully carried out and the results confirm the important effect of tank walls on added mass and damping.

Results of computations have been compared with some data obtained with a conical wavemaker in a narrow tank. Pronounced nonlinear wave groups were obtained near resonance, and these are well reproduced in some detail by the nonlinear theory and computations, without considering any effects of dissipation.

The related problem of resonant wave groups produced by a segmented paddle wavemaker has also been treated by analysis and subject to computation, with good general agreement with past experiments. The technique features matching near- and far-field computations using energy considerations.
Crossflow effects on the growth rate of inviscid Görtler vortices in a hypersonic boundary layer
Authors: Fu Yibin , Hall Philip
Published: April 2006

The effects of crossflow on the growth rate of inviscid Görtler vortices in a hypersonic boundary layer with pressure gradient are studied in this paper. Attention is focused on the inviscid mode trapped in the temperature adjustment layer; this mode has greater growth rate than any other mode at the minimum order of the Görtler number at which Görtler vortices may exist. The eigenvalue problem which governs the relationship between the growth rate, the crossflow amplitude and the wavenumber is solved numerically, and the results are then used to clarify the effects of crossflow on the growth rate of inviscid Görtler vortices. It is shown that crossflow effects stabilize Görtler vortices in different manners for incompressible and hypersonic flows. The neutral mode eigenvalue problem is found to have an exact solution, and as a byproduct, we have also found the exact solution to a neutral mode eigenvalue problem which was formulated, but unsolved before, by Bassom & Hall (1991).
Bifurcation of rotating liquid drops: results from USML-1 experiments in Space
Authors: Wang T. G. , Anilkumar A. V. , Lee C. P. , Lin K. C.
Published: April 2006

Experiments on bifurcation of rotating liquid drops into two-lobed shapes were conducted during a Space shuttle flight. The drops were levitated in air and spinned using acoustic fields in the low-gravity environment. These experiments have successfully resolved the discrepancies existing between the previous experimental results and the theoretical predictions. In the simplest case of a rotating drop that is free from deformation by external forces, the results agree well with the existing theoretical predictions. In the case of a rotating drop subjected to flattening by the acoustic radiation stress, deliberately or otherwise, the experiments suggest the existence of a family of curves, with the free drop as the limiting case.
Turbulent penetration of a thermally stratified interfacial layer in a wind tunnel
Authors: Jayesh  , Warhaft Z.
Published: April 2006

A stably stratified interface, with strong turbulence below and quiescent air above, is studied in a wind tunnel with the aim of simulating the conditions at the inversion cap at the top of the atmospheric boundary layer. The interfacial layer was generated by means of a composite grid, with small mesh size above and a large one below (Veeravalli & Warhaft 1989). A temperature step generated in the plenum of the wind tunnel, was located at the centre of the layer. There is no shear and thus turbulence interactions, usually masked by turbulent production in traditional mixing layers, are highlighted. Close to the grid where the velocity fluctuations are strong, buoyancy effects are insignificant, but as the turbulence decays they become dominant. The bulk Richardson number, N2B/(〈u2〉2/L2u), where NB is the Brunt—Väisälä frequency across the layer, and 〈u2〉2 and Lu are the velocity variance and integral lengthscale, respectively, of the turbulence on the lower side of the layer, varied from approximately zero close to the grid to 80 far downstream. The stratification inhibited the turbulent penetration into the layer, reducing the high skewness and kurtosis of the velocity field for the neutral case, to Gaussian values. The layer, which initially thickened with downstream distance, thinned when buoyancy became pronounced, owing to the collapse of the heat flux. Significant regions of countergradient heat flux, and reversals in sign of the triple moment transport terms were observed in the upper part of the layer. An analysis of the value of the heat flux conditioned on the temperature fluctuations, showed that the large temperature fluctuations associated with weak turbulence became affected by stratification first. Cospectral analysis shows that these fluctuations are associated with large scales. We also show that although the joint normal approximation between velocity and temperature fluctuations is sound for a passive scalar field, it becomes less good with the onset of stratification, failing completely when the stratification is strong.
The generation and regeneration of single hairpin vortices
Authors: Haidari A. H. , Smith C. R.
Published: April 2006

The generation and growth of single hairpin vortices created by controlled surface fluid injection were examined experimentally within a laminar boundary layer over a range of Reynolds numbers. Flow visualization, using both dye and hydrogen bubbles, was employed in conjunction with hot-film anemometry to investigate the growth characteristics and evolution of these single hairpin vortices. Hydrogen-bubble visualization results reveal that the passage of a hairpin vortex can give rise to a low-speed streak pattern adjacent to the surface, and a turbulent pocket-like pattern farther removed from the surface. When the displacement and injection Reynolds numbers exceed critical levels, regeneration processes occur, which result in the development of new hairpin-like vortices by both (i) lateral deformation of the vortex lines comprising the initial hairpin vortex and (ii) a process of vortex-surface interaction, which causes the ejection of surface fluid and subsequent hairpin formation by viscous-inviscid interactions. The combination of these processes results in both lateral and streamwise growth of the initial hairpin-vortex structure, yielding a symmetric turbulent-spot type of behaviour.
Linear potential theory of steady internal supersonic flow with quasi-cylindrical geometry. Part 1. Flow in ducts
Authors: Dillmann Andreas
Published: April 2006

Based on linear potential theory, the general three-dimensional problem of steady supersonic flow inside quasi-cylindrical ducts is formulated as an initial-boundary-value problem for the wave equation, whose general solution arises as an infinite double series of the Fourier–Bessel type. For a broad class of solutions including the general axisymmetric case, it is shown that the presence of a discontinuity in wall slope leads to a periodic singularity pattern associated with non-uniform convergence of the corresponding series solutions, which thus are unsuitable for direct numerical computation. This practical difficulty is overcome by extending a classical analytical method, viz. Kummer's series transformation. A variety of elementary flow fields is presented, whose complex cellular structure can be qualitatively explained by asymptotic laws governing the propagation of small perturbations on characteristic surfaces.
Crest instabilities of gravity waves. Part 1. The almost-highest wave
Authors: Longuet-Higgins Michael S. , Cleaver R. P.
Published: April 2006

It is shown theoretically that the crest of a steep, irrotational gravity wave, considered in isolation, is unstable. There exists just one basic mode of instability, whose exponential rate of growth β equals 0.123(g / R)½, where g denotes gravity and R is the radius of curvature at the undisturbed crest. A volume of water near the crest is shifted towards the forward face of the wave; the ‘toe’ of the instability is at a horizontal distance 0.45R ahead of the crest. The instability may represent the initial stage of a spilling breaker. On small scales, the ‘toe’ may be a source of parasitic capillary waves.
An experimental investigation of the flow around a circular cylinder: influence of aspect ratio
Authors: Norberg C.
Published: April 2006

The investigation is concentrated on two important quantities – the Strouhal number and the mean base suction coefficient, both measured at the mid-span position. Reynolds numbers from about 50 to 4 × 104 were investigated. Different aspect ratios, at low blockage ratios, were achieved by varying the distance between circular end plates (end plate diameter ratios between 10 and 30). It was not possible, by using these end plates in uniform flow and at very large aspect ratios, to produce parallel shedding all over the laminar shedding regime. However, parallel shedding at around mid-span was observed throughout this regime in cases when there was a slight but symmetrical increase in the free-stream velocity towards both ends of the cylinder. At higher Re, the results at different aspect ratios were compared with those of a ‘quasi-infinite cylinder’ and the required aspect ratio to reach conditions independent of this parameter, within the experimental uncertainties, are given. For instance, aspect ratios as large as L/D = 60–70 were needed in the range Re ≈ 4 × 103–104. With the smallest relative end plate diameter and for aspect ratios smaller than 7, a bi-stable flow switching between regular vortex shedding and ‘irregular flow’ was found at intermediate Reynolds number ranges in the subcritical regime (Re ≈ 2 × 103).
Dynamics of a polarized vortex ring
Authors: Virk D. , Melander M. V. , Hussain F.
Published: April 2006

This paper builds on our claim that most vortical structures in transitional and turbulent flows are partially polarized. Polarization is inferred by the application of helical wave decomposition. We analyse initially polarized isolated viscous vortex rings through direct numerical simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations using divergence-free axisymmetric eigenfunctions of the curl operator. Integral measures of the degree of polarization, such as the fractions of energy, enstrophy, and helicity associated with right-handed (or left-handed) eigenfunctions, remain nearly constant during evolution, thereby suggesting that polarization is a persistent feature. However, for polarized rings an axial vortex (tail) develops near the axis, where the local ratio of right- to left-handed vorticities develops significant non-uniformities due to spatial separation of peaks of polarized components. Reconnection can occur in rings when polarized and is clearly discerned from the evolution of axisymmetric vortex surfaces; but interestingly, the location of reconnection cannot be inferred from the vorticity magnitude. The ring propagation velocity Up decreases monotonically as the degree of initial polarization increases. Unlike force-balance arguments, two explanations based on vortex dynamics provided here are not restricted to thin rings and predict reduction in Up correctly. These results reveal surprising differences among the evolutionary dynamics of polarized, partially polarized, and unpolarized rings.
Topological vortex dynamics in axisymmetric viscous flows
Authors: Melander Mogens V. , Hussain Fazle
Published: April 2006

The topology of vortex lines and surfaces is examined in incompressible viscous axisymmetric flows with swirl. We argue that the evolving topology of the vorticity field must be examined in terms of axisymmetric vortex surfaces rather than lines, because only the surfaces enjoy structural stability. The meridional cross-sections of these surfaces are the orbits of a dynamical system with the azimuthal circulation being a HamiltonianHand with time as a bifurcation parameter μ. The dependence ofHon μ is governed by the Navier–Stokes equations; their numerical solutions provideH.The level curves ofHestablish a time history for the motion of vortex surfaces, so that the circulation they contain remains constant. Equivalently, there exists avirtual velocity fieldin which the motion of the vortex surfaces is frozen almost everywhere; the exceptions occur at critical points in the phase portrait where the virtual velocity is singular. The separatrices emerging from saddle points partition the phase portrait intoislands; each island corresponds to a structurally stable vortex structure. By using the flux of the meridional vorticity field, we obtain a precise definition of reconnection:the transfer of flux between islands.Local analysis near critical points shows that the virtual velocity (because of its singular behaviour) performs ‘cut-and-connect’ of vortex surfaces with the correct rate of circulation transfer - thereby validating the long-standing viscous ‘cut-and-connect’ scenario which implicitly assumes that vortex surfaces (and vortex lines) can be followed over a short period of time in a viscous fluid. Bifurcations in the phase portrait represent (contrary to reconnection) changes in the topology of the vorticity field, where islands spontaneously appear or disappear. Often such topology changes are catastrophic, because islands emerge or perish with finite circulation. These and other phenomena are illustrated by direct numerical simulations of vortex rings at a Reynolds number of 800.
On the motion of a rigid cylinder in a rotating electrically conducting fluid
Authors: Loper David E.
Published: April 2006

The flow structures generated and drag experienced by a rigid cylinder moving in an arbitrary direction through a rotating electrically conducting fluid in the presence of an applied magnetic field are investigated, with he aim of understanding better the nature of the small-scale flow in the core of the Earth which may be responsible for maintaining the geomagnetic field through dynamo action. Three cases are considered in the limit of small Rossby and magnetic Reynolds numbers. In the case of very weak rotation, the possible flow structures consist of a thin Hartmann layer and a long wake extending in the direction of the magnetic field, in which Lorentz and viscous forces balance, but only the long wake plays a dynamical role. The dominant drag force is experienced for motion that cuts magnetic lines of force. Motion of the cylinder parallel to its axis induces a much weaker drag, while that in the direction of the magnetic field induces none to dominant order. The cylinder also experiences weak lateral forces due to the Coriolis effect. In the case of weak rotation, the balance in the long wake is now magnetostrophic: between Lorentz and Coriolis forces. The drag is qualitatively identical to that in the first case, but the drag induced by motion parallel to the axis of the cylinder is increased, though still smaller than that for motions cutting magnetic lines of force. In the case of strong rotation, the flow structures consist of a thin Ekman layer and a foreshortened Taylor column extending in the direction of the rotation axis. In this column, the force balance is again magnetostrophic. Again only the large-scale structure plays a dynamical role. Motion of the cylinder perpendicular to its axis induces a larger drag than does motion parallel to its axis. The cylinder also experiences large lateral Coriolis forces.
Fully coupled resonant-triad interactions in a free shear layer
Authors: Mallier R. , Maslowe S. A.
Published: April 2006

We report the results of an investigation of the weakly nonlinear evolution of a triad of waves, each slightly amplified on a linear basis, that are superimposed on a tanh y mixing layer. The triad consists of a plane wave and a pair of oblique modes that act as a subharmonic of order 1/2. The oblique modes are inclined at approximately ±60°. to the mean flow direction and because the resonance conditions are satisfied exactly the analysis is entirely self-consistent as an asymptotic theory. The nonlinearity first occurs within the critical layer and the initial interaction is of the parametric resonance type. This produces faster than exponential growth of the oblique waves, behaviour observed recently in the experiments of Corke & Kusek (1993). The critical-layer dynamics lead subsequently to coupled integro-differential equations governing the amplitude evolution and, as first shown in related work by Goldstein & Lee (1992) on boundary layers in an adverse pressure gradient, these equations develop singularities in a finite time.
The viscosity of bimodal and polydisperse suspensions of hard spheres in the dilute limit
Authors: Wagner N. J. , Woutersen A. T. J. M
Published: April 2006

An exact result is calculated numerically for the dilute limiting, zero shear viscosity of bimodal suspensions of hard spheres. The required hydrodynamic functions are calculated from recent results for the resistivities of unequal spheres. Both the hydrodynamic and Brownian contributions to the Huggins coefficient exhibit a minimum that is symmetric in mixing volume fraction. The resultant minimum deepens with increasing size ratio. The results are discussed in the light of published measurements of the viscosity for bimodal suspensions and previous phenomenological theories. The reduction of viscosity upon mixing is seen to be a result of near-field hydrodynamic shielding of asymmetric particle pairs. It is also shown that the use of far-field hydrodynamic interactions yields qualitatively incorrect results for the viscosity of binary mixtures. A parametrization of the bimodal results allows an estimation of the effects of suspension polydispersity on the Huggins coefficient. For polydispersities of ten percent or less, the Huggins coefficient is essentially unchanged from the value calculated for an equivalent, monodisperse suspension at equal volume fraction. A parametrization of these results is provided for relating the reduction in Huggins coefficient to the polydispersity index.
On the instabilities of vertical falling liquid films in the presence of surface-active solute
Authors: Ji Wei , Setterwall Fredrik
Published: April 2006

A linear-stability analysis is performed on a vertical falling film with a surface-active solute. It is assumed in the present model that the surfactant is soluble and volatile. In addition to the surface wave mode and the ‘wall wave’ mode which originate from the gravity-driven flow of the falling film itself, a new mode of instability related to the Marangoni effect induced by surface tension gradients is found for low Reynolds numbers and for moderate- or short-wavelength disturbances. The new mode is thought to be analogous to the thermocapillary instability examined first by Pearson (1958). The Marangoni instability of large-wavelength disturbances, revealed by Goussis & Kelly (1990) in a study of a liquid layer heated from below, may be completely suppressed in the present system by the effect of surface-excess concentration of the surfactant. The influence of the desorption of the solute and of its adsorption at the gas-liquid interface is determined for both the surface wave mode and the new wave mode. Desorption of the surfactant is shown to be responsible for the Marangoni instability of the new mode.
On the in-line motion of two spherical bubbles in a viscous fluid
Authors: Yuan H. , Prosperetti A.
Published: April 2006

The motion of two equal spherical bubbles moving along their line of centres in a viscous liquid is studied numerically in bispherical coordinates. The unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a mixed spectral/finite-difference scheme for Reynolds numbers up to 200. Free-slip conditions at the bubble surfaces are imposed, while the normal stress condition is replaced by the sphericity constraint under the assumption of small Weber number. The vorticity shed by the upstream bubble affects the drag on the trailing bubble in a very complex fashion that appears to be quite beyond the power of existing asymptotic analyses. The separation between two equal bubbles rising in line under the action of buoyancy is predicted to reach an equilibrium value dependent on the Reynolds number. This result is at variance with experiment. The explanation offered of this difference casts further doubt on the feasibility of a simplified simulation of bubbly liquid dynamics.
Vortical structure in the wake of a transverse jet
Authors: Fric T. F. , Roshko A.
Published: April 2006

Structural features resulting from the interaction of a turbulent jet issuing transversely into a uniform stream are described with the help of flow visualization and hot-wire anemometry. Jet-to-crossflow velocity ratios from 2 to 10 were investigated at crossflow Reynolds numbers from 3800 to 11400. In particular, the origin and formation of the vortices in the wake are described and shown to be fundamentally different from the well-known phenomenon of vortex shedding from solid bluff bodies. The flow around a transverse jet does not separate from the jet and does not shed vorticity into the wake. Instead, the wake vortices have their origins in the laminar boundary layer of the wall from which the jet issues. It is argued that the closed flow around the jet imposes an adverse pressure gradient on the wall, on the downstream lateral sides of the jet, provoking 'separation events’ in the wall boundary layer on each side. These result in eruptions of boundary-layer fluid and formation of wake vortices that are convected downstream. The measured wake Strouhal frequencies, which depend on the jet-crossflow velocity ratio, match the measured frequencies of the separation events. The wake structure is most orderly and the corresponding wake Strouhal number (0.13) is most sharply defined for velocity ratios near the value 4. Measured wake profiles show deficits of both momentum and total pressure.
Motion of a deformable capsule through a hyperbolic constriction
Authors: Leyrat-Maurin Anne , Barthes-Biesel Dominique
Published: April 2006

A model for the low-Reynolds-number flow of a capsule through a constriction is developed for either constant-flow-rate or constant-pressure-drop conditions. Such a model is necessary to infer quantitative information on the intrinsic properties of capsules from filtration experiments conducted on a dilute suspension of such particles. A spherical capsule, surrounded by an infinitely thin Mooney-Rivlin membrane, is suspended on the axis of a hyperbolic constriction. This configuration is fully axisymmetric and allows the entry and exit phenomena through the pore to be modelled. An integral formulation of the Stokes equations describing the flow in the internal and external domains is developed. It provides a representation of the velocity at any location in the flow as a function of the unknown forces exerted by the boundaries on the fluids. The problem is solved by a collocation technique in the case where the internal and external viscosities are equal. Microscopic quantities (instantaneous geometry, centre of mass velocity, elastic tensions in the membrane) as well as macroscopic quantities (entry time, additional pressure drop or flow rate reduction) are predicted as a function of the capsule intrinsic properties and flow characteristics. The results obtained for a capsule whose initial diameter is larger than that of the constriction throat show that the maximum energy expenditure occurs when the particle centre of mass is still upstream of the throat (typically 1 diameter away), and is thus due to the entry process. For large enough or rigid enough capsules, the model predicts entrance or exit plugging, in agreement with experimental observations. It is then possible to correlate the variation of the pore hydraulic resistance to the flow capillary number (ratio of viscous to elastic forces) and to the size ratio between the pore and the capsule.
Note on the inviscid stability of flow over a compliant wall
Authors: Yeo K. S.
Published: April 2006

This paper is concerned with the linear inviscid stability of parallel flow over a compliant or flexible wall. A Fjørtoft-type criterion providing a necessary condition for instability in terms of the basic velocity field and its second-order derivative is established. This criterion assumes a simple form for basic flows with zero velocity at the wall. For the latter flows, another necessary condition for stability is given. The results are helpful in the search for unstable modes in flow over a compliant wall.
A theoretical study of viscous effects in peristaltic pumping
Authors: Provost Alden M. , Schwarz W. H.
Published: April 2006

Intuition and previous results suggest that a peristaltic wave tends to drive the mean flow in the direction of wave propagation. New theoretical results indicate that, when the viscosity of the transported fluid is shear-dependent, the direction of mean flow can oppose the direction of wave propagation even in the presence of a zero or favourable mean pressure gradient. The theory is based on an analysis of lubrication-type flow through an infinitely long, axisymmetric tube subjected to a periodic train of transverse waves. Sample calculations for a shear-thinning fluid illustrate that, for a given waveform, the sense of the mean flow can depend on the rheology of the fluid, and that the mean flow rate need not increase monotonically with wave speed and occlusion. We also show that, in the absence of a mean pressure gradient, positive mean flow is assured only for Newtonian fluids; any deviation from Newtonian behaviour allows one to find at least one non-trivial waveform for which the mean flow rate is zero or negative. Introduction of a class of waves dominated by long, straight sections facilitates the proof of this result and provides a simple tool for understanding viscous effects in peristaltic pumping.