Parametric instability of a many point-vortex system in a multi-layer flow under linear deformation

The paper deals with a dynamical system governing the motion of many point vortices located in different layers of a multi-layer flow under external deformation. The deformation consists of generally independent shear and rotational components. First, we examine the dynamics of the system’s vorticity center. We demonstrate that the vorticity center of such a multi-vortex multi-layer system behaves just like the one of two point vortices interacting in a homogeneous deformation flow. Given nonstationary shear and rotational components oscillating with different magnitudes, the vorticity center may experience parametric instability leading to its unbounded growth. However, we then show that one can shift to a moving reference frame with the origin coinciding with the position of the vorticity center. In this new reference frame, the new vorticity center always stays at the origin of coordinates, and the equations governing the vortex trajectories look exactly the same as if the vorticity center had never moved in the original reference frame. Second, we studied the relative motion of two point vortices located in different layers of a two-layer flow under linear deformation. We analyze their regular and chaotic dynamics identifying parameters resulting in effective and extensive destabilization of the vortex trajectories.     

Dipole and Multipole Flows with Point Vortices and Vortex Sheets

An exact method is presented for obtaining uniformly translating distributions of vorticity in a two-dimensional ideal fluid, or equivalently, stationary distributions in the presence of a uniform background flow. These distributions are generalizations of the well-known vortex dipole and consist of a collection of point vortices and an equal number of bounded vortex sheets. Both the vorticity density of the vortex sheets and the velocity field of the fluid are expressed in terms of a simple rational function in which the point vortex positions and strengths appear as parameters. The vortex sheets lie on heteroclinic streamlines of the flow. Dipoles and multipoles that move parallel to a straight fluid boundary are also obtained. By setting the translation velocity to zero, equilibrium configurations of point vortices and vortex sheets are found.     

Vortex design problem

In this investigation we propose a computational approach for the solution of optimal control problems for vortex systems with compactly supported vorticity. The problem is formulated as a PDE-constrained optimization in which the solutions are found using a gradient-based descent method. Recognizing such Euler flows as free-boundary problems, the proposed approach relies on shape differentiation combined with adjoint analysis to determine cost functional gradients. In explicit tracking of interfaces (vortex boundaries) this method offers an alternative to grid-based techniques, such as the level-set methods, and represents a natural optimization formulation for vortex problems computed using the contour dynamics technique. We develop and validate this approach using the design of 2D equilibrium Euler flows with finite-area vortices as a model problem. It is also discussed how the proposed methodology can be applied to Euler flows featuring other vorticity distributions, such as vortex sheets, and to time-dependent phenomena.     

Wavelet filtering to study mixing in 2D isotropic turbulence

This paper presents the application of coherent vortex simulation (CVS) filtering, based on an orthogonal wavelet decomposition of vorticity, to study mixing in 2D homogeneous isotropic turbulent flows. The Eulerian and Lagrangian dynamics of the flow are studied by comparing the evolution of a passive scalar and of particles advected by the coherent and incoherent velocity fields, respectively. The former is responsible for strong mixing and produces the same anomalous diffusion as the total flow, due to transport by the coherent vortices, while mixing in the latter is much weaker and corresponds to classical diffusion.     

Vortex Perturbation Dynamics

An initial value approach is used to examine the dynamics of perturbations introduced into a vortex under strain. Both the basic vortex considered and the perturbations are taken as three-dimensional. An explicit solution for the time evolution of the vorticity perturbations is given for arbitrary initial vorticity. Analytical solutions for the resulting velocity components are found when the initial vorticity is assumed to be localized. For more general initial vorticity distributions, the velocity components are determined numerically. It is found that the variation in the radial direction of the initial vorticity disturbance is the most important factor influencing the qualitative behavior of the solutions. Transient growth in the magnitude of the velocity components is found to be directly attributable to the compactness of the initial vorticity.     

Vortex pairs and dipoles

Point vortices have been extensively studied in vortex dynamics. The generalization to higher singularities, starting with vortex dipoles, is not so well understood.We obtain a family of equations of motion for inviscid vortex dipoles and discuss limitations of the concept. We then investigate viscous vortex dipoles, using two different formulations to obtain their propagation velocity. We also derive an integro-differential for the motion of a viscous vortex dipole parallel to a straight boundary.     

Trajectory statistics and turbulence evolution

The aim of this paper is to understand the tendency to organization of the turbulence in two-dimensional ideal fluids. A different perspective on vorticity separation and on the inverse cascade of energy yields from this study. Trajectory trapping or eddying appears to be strongly connected to these nonlinear processes. The statistics of the trajectories of the vorticity elements in a turbulent state is studied using a semi-analytic method. We show that the separation of the positive and negative vorticities is due to the attraction produced by a large scale vortex on the small scale vortices of the same sign. More precisely, a large scale velocity is shown to determine average transverse drifts, which have opposite orientations for positive and negative vorticity. They appear only in the presence of trapping and lead to energy flow to large scales due to the increase of the circulation of the large vortex. Recent results on drift turbulence evolution in magnetically confined plasmas are discussed in order to underline the idea that there is a link between the inverse cascade and trajectory trapping. The physical mechanisms are different in fluids and plasmas due to the different types of nonlinearities of the two systems, but trajectory trapping has the main role in both cases.     

Stability and Structure of Stretched Vortices

The radially symmetric Burgers vortex is an example of a solution to the Navier-Stokes equations in which the intensification of vorticity due to vortex stretching is balanced by the diffusion of vorticity through viscosity. The linear stability of the symmetric Burgers vortex to a class of two-dimensional perturbations is demonstrated. Analytical solutions obtained from a perturbation analysis and numerical computations are presented of nonsymmetric Burgers vortices in which the radial flow field in a plane perpendicular to the vorticity is nonsymmetric.     

Self-similar point vortices and confinement of vorticity

This papers deals with the large time behavior of solutions of the incompressible Euler equations in dimension 2. We consider a self-similar configuration of point vortices which grows like the square root of the time. We study the confinement properties of a blob of vorticity initially located around the first point vortex and moving in the velocity field produced by itself and by the other point vortices. We find a su?cient condition on the point vortices such that the vorticity stays confined around the first point vortex at a rate better than the square root of the time. The relevance to the large time behavior of the Euler equations is discussed.     

Numerical simulation of the interaction between vortex ring and bubble plume

In present paper a three-dimensional Vortex-In-Cell method with two-way coupling effect was developed to study the bubble plume entrainment by a vortex ring. In this method the continuous flow was calculated by the three-dimensional Vortex-In-Cell method and the bubbles are tracked through bubble motion equation. Two-way coupling effect between continuous flow and dispersed bubbles is considered by introducing a vorticity source term, which is induced by the change of void fraction gradient in each computational cell. After validated by the comparison between experimental measurements and simulation results for the motion of vortex rings and the rising velocity of bubble plume, present method is implemented to simulate the interaction between an evolving vortex ring and a rising bubble plume. It was found that there is little effect of the bubble entrainment to the total circulation of vortex ring while the effect of bubble entrainment to the vortex ring structure is quite obvious. The bubble entrainment by the vortex ring not only changed the vorticity distribution in the vortex structure, but also displaced the positions of the vortex cores. The vorticity in the lower vortex core of the vortex ring decreases more than that in the upper vortex core of the vortex ring while the vortex core in the upper part of the vortex ring is displaced to the center of vortex ring by the entrained bubbles. Smaller bubbles are easier to be entrained by the large scale vortex structure and the transportation distance is in inverse proportion to bubble diameter.     

Numerical exploration of new features on three-dimensional transition of a cylinder wake

The three-dimensional transition of the wake flow behind a circular cylinder is studied in detail by direct numerical simulations using 3D incompressible N-S equations for Reynolds number ranging from 200 to 300. New features and vortex dynamics of the 3D transition of the wake are found and investigated. At Re = 200, the flow pattern is characterized by mode A instability. However, the spanwise characteristic length of the cylinder determines the transition features. Particularly for the specific spanwise charac-     

A computational study of the error in the vortex method associated with discontinuous vorticity

We investigate computationally the error computed by the vortex method for a discontinuous patch of vorticity. Specifically, the computed velocity and vorticity of an elliptical path of constant vorticity, known as the Kirchhoff ellipse, are compared to the analytic velocity and vorticity. The error in the velocity and the vorticity for the Kirchhoff ellipse as computed by the vortex method is presented. This error is studied as a function of the aspect ratio of the ellipse, the blob function, the spacing between the centers of the computational elements, and the blob radius. Both the error at the initial time and the error after three revolutions of the ellipse are discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Statistical equilibrium measures and coherent states in two‐dimensional turbulence

The equilibrium statistics of the Euler equations in two dimensions are studied, and a new continuum model of coherent, or organized, states is proposed. This model is defined by a maximum entropy principle similar to that governing the Miller‐Robert model except that the family of global vorticity invariants is relaxed to a family of inequalities on all convex enstrophy integrals. This relaxation is justified by constructing the continuum model from a sequence of lattice models defined by Gibbs measures whose invariants are derived from the exact vorticity dynamics, not a spectral truncation or spatial discretization of it. The key idea is that the enstrophy integrals can be partially lost to vorticity fluctuations on a range of scales smaller than the lattice microscale, while energy is retained in the larger scales. A consequence of this relaxation is that many of the convex enstrophy constraints can be inactive in equilibrium, leading to a simplification of the mean‐field equation for the coherent state. Specific examples of these simplified theories are established for vortex patch dynamics. In particular, a universal relation between mean vorticity and stream function is obtained in the dilute limit of the vortex patch theory, which is different from the sinh relation predicted by the Montgomery‐Joyce theory of point vortices. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Low-energy vortex dynamics in the self-dual Chern–Simons–Higgs model

The relativistic Chern–Simons–Higgs theory finds application in anyonic superconductivity and contains topological vortices whose dynamics are poorly understood. The gauge fields are defined by a set of nonlinear constraint equations that can be accurately solved with effective Green’s functions, spectral methods, and a discretization scheme using lattice gauge techniques. Simulations show that low-energy two-vortex interactions are elastic with final scattering angles sensitive to vortex velocity; furthermore, vortex pairs form rotating breather states for certain impact parameters. In this study, a function that reproduces scattering angles in the adiabatic limit for nontangential collisions is presented. Simulation results are discussed in the context of analytical methods that extract vortex dynamics from low-energy effective Lagrangians, and a numerical method to calculate the effective Lagrangian is suggested. The numerical techniques used can be applied to the study of other Chern–Simon theories.     

A modified discrete-vortex method algorithm with shedding criterion for aerodynamic coefficients prediction at high angle of attack

Low-order methods require less computing power than classical computational fluid dynamics and can be implemented on a laptop computer, which is needed for engineering tasks. Discrete vortex methods are such low order methods that can describe the unsteady separated flow around an airfoil. After a presentation of the leading edge suction parameter discrete vortex method, a modified algorithm is proposed, in order to reduce the computing cost, and compared with the previous one. Several reference unsteady airfoil motions are discussed in terms of gain in the computation time with comparisons between the previous scheme and the present one. The accuracy of the new method is demonstrated through aerodynamic coefficients. The application of the present discrete vortex method to a transient pitching motion of an airfoil is also presented, in order to understand the leading edge vortex formation, and its implication in terms of lift and drag coefficients. The method is not limited to unsteady or transient motions but can also simulate the flow around a constant angle of attack airfoil. In that case, an original method of fast summation of the vortices located far away from the airfoil, allows a linear dependence of the computation time versus the number of vortices shed, which is a great improvement over the quadratic dependence observed in the classical discrete vortex methods. The development of the aerodynamic coefficients with angle of attack, from values ranging between −10° and 90°, is obtained for a purely two-dimensional flow. In particular, the shape of the lift coefficient of the airfoil in the fully detached flow region is established. Comparisons with relevant experimental or computational fluid dynamics data are discussed in order to grasp the influence of upstream turbulence level and three-dimensional effects in the measured data in the fully detached flow region.     

Numerical analysis of the dynamics of distributed vortex configurations

A numerical algorithm is proposed for analyzing the dynamics of distributed plane vortex configurations in an inviscid incompressible fluid. At every time step, the algorithm involves the computation of unsteady vortex flows, an analysis of the configuration structure with the help of heuristic criteria, the visualization of the distribution of marked particles and vorticity, the construction of streamlines of fluid particles, and the computation of the field of local Lyapunov exponents. The inviscid incompressible fluid dynamic equations are solved by applying a meshless vortex method. The algorithm is used to investigate the interaction of two and three identical distributed vortices with various initial positions in the flow region with and without the Coriolis force.     

Vortex breakdown in turbulent pipe flows

In many technical applications turbulent flows with embedded slender vortices exist. Depending on the boundary conditions vortex breakdown can occur. The purpose of this work is to develop and implement a solution scheme for large‐eddy simulations of vortex breakdown in turbulent pipe flows. One of the main problems in this simulation is the formulation of the inflow boundary condition for a fully developed turbulent flow with an embedded vortex. For that purpose a rescaling technique is developed in which a solution at a downstream location is inserted at the inflow boundary after an appropriate rescaling. To determine rescaling laws for pipe flows with an embedded vortex, analytical velocity profiles of swirling flows are first prescribed in a laminar flow. From the spatial development of the vortex a scaling law is deduced. In a next step this procedure is to be transferred to turbulent flows.