Some Inviscid “Cat's Eye” Flows

Some inviscid flows with the combined shear and periodic disturbance characteristic of the Kelvin “eat's eye” pattern are presented. The solutions have constant vorticity in each region of closed streamlines, with discontinuities in vorticity (but not velocity) allowed across boundaries.     

On some unsteady flows of a non-Newtonian fluid

Some properties of unsteady unidirectional flows of a fluid of second grade are considered for flows impulsively started from rest by the motion of a boundary or two boundaries or by sudden application of a pressure gradient. Flows considered are: unsteady flow over a plane wall, unsteady Couette flow, flow between two parallel plates suddenly set in motion with the same speed, flow due to one rigid boundary moved suddenly and one being free, unsteady Poiseuille flow and unsteady generalized Couette flow. The results obtained are compared with those of the exact solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations. It is found that the stress at time zero on the stationary boundary for the flows generated by impulsive motion of a boundary or two boundaries is finite for a fluid of second grade and infinite for a Newtonian fluid. Furthermore, it is shown that for unsteady Poiseuille flow the stress at time zero on the boundary is zero for a Newtonian fluid, but it is not zero for a fluid of second grade.     

Nonexistence of the reversed flow solutions of the Falkner-Skan equations

Nonexistence of reversed flow solutions of the well-known Falkner-Skan equations arising in the boundary layer theory is considered analytically. A new system of two singular integral equations are proposed and studied, which plays a key role in the study of reversed flow solutions. The properties of the velocity and the shear stress of the reversed flows are provided. These properties describe the shapes and behaviors of the curves of the velocity and the shear stress functions. A new lower bound of the skin-friction which is useful in numerical analysis is given. The results on the nonexistence of reversed flow solutions can be used to estimate the exact critical value which is of importance in aeronautics because separation occurs at this value.     

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.     

Interactive computing methods for aeroelastic analysis of turbomachinery

An interaction viscous‐inviscid method for efficiently computing steady and unsteady viscous flows is presented. The inviscid domain is modeled using a finite element discretization of the full potential equation. The viscous region is modeled using a finite difference boundary layer technique. The two regions are simultaneously coupled using the transpiration approach. A time linearization technique is applied to this interactive method. For unsteady flows, the fluid is assumed to be composed of a mean or steady flow plus a harmonically varying small unsteady disturbance. Numerically exact nonreflecting boundary conditions are used for the far field conditions. Results for some steady and unsteady, laminar and turbulent flow problems are compared to linearized Navier‐Stokes or time‐marching boundary layer methods. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Asymptotic and numerical solutions of three‐dimensional boundary‐layer flow past a moving wedge

We consider a laminar boundary‐layer flow of a viscous and incompressible fluid past a moving wedge in which the wedge is moving either in the direction of the mainstream flow or opposite to it. The mainstream flows outside the boundary layer are approximated by a power of the distance from the leading boundary layer. The variable pressure gradient is imposed on the boundary layer so that the system admits similarity solutions. The model is described using 3‐dimensional boundary‐layer equations that contains 2 physical parameters: pressure gradient (β) and shear‐to‐strain‐rate ratio parameter (α). Two methods are used: a linear asymptotic analysis in the neighborhood of the edge of the boundary layer and the Keller‐box numerical method for the full nonlinear system. The results show that the flow field is divided into near‐field region (mainly dominated by viscous forces) and far‐field region (mainstream flows); the velocity profiles form through an interaction between 2 regions. Also, all simulations show that the subsequent dynamics involving overshoot and undershoot of the solutions for varying parameter characterizing 3‐dimensional flows. The pressure gradient (favorable) has a tendency of decreasing the boundary‐layer thickness in which the velocity profiles are benign. The wall shear stresses increase unboundedly for increasing α when the wedge is moving in the x‐direction, while the case is different when it is moving in the y‐direction. Further, both analysis show that 3‐dimensional boundary‐layer solutions exist in the range −1<α<∞. These are some interesting results linked to an important class of boundary‐layer flows.     

Boundary Layer Theory and the Zero-Viscosity Limit of the Navier-Stokes Equation

Abstract A central problem in the mathematical analysis of fluid dynamics is the asymptotic limit of the fluid flow as viscosity goes to zero. This is particularly important when boundaries are present since vorticity is typically generated at the boundary as a result of boundary layer separation. The boundary layer theory, developed by Prandtl about a hundred years ago, has become a standard tool in addressing these questions. Yet at the mathematical level, there is still a lack of fundamental understanding of these questions and the validity of the boundary layer theory. In this article, we review recent progresses on the analysis of Prandtl's equation and the related issue of the zero-viscosity limit for the solutions of the Navier-Stokes equation. We also discuss some directions where progress is expected in the near future. Also at Courant Institute, New York University     

Assessment of an improved turbulence model in simulating the unsteady flows around a D-shaped cylinder and an open cavity

Most engineering flows are still predicted by the conventional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes method because of the low requirements of the computational quantities. However, the resolution capability of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes models is still open to deliberation, especially in the recirculation and wake regions, where the vortical flows dominate. In the present work, an improved turbulence model derived from the original shear stress transport k-ω model is proposed and its superiority is assessed by our modeling the unsteady flows around a D-shaped cylinder and an open cavity, corresponding to two different Reynolds numbers. The results are compared with results from experiments and other turbulence models in terms of the flow morphology and mean velocity profiles. This shows that the predictive accuracy of the modified turbulence model is increased significantly in the bluff body wake flows and in the shear layer and separation flows of the cavity. Some special vortex structures can be captured in the open cavity, in which the secondary vortex emerging from the shear layer and the separation vortex near the trailing edge can induce large flow instability, and this phenomenon should be eliminated in engineering applications. It is believed that this improved turbulence model can be used for the more complex turbomachinery flows with better prediction of the hydrodynamic/aerodynamic performance and the unsteady vortical flows, which can provide some guidelines to design or optimize rotating machines.     

Plane Hydrodynamic flows with steady vorticity: a reduction theorem

Summary Besides steady plane flows and unsteady plane flows of constant and steady vorticity, there are only two simple types of plane hydrodynamic flows with steady vorticity. These two types of unsteady flows have steady streamlines that are parallel straight lines or concentric circles.

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Zusammenfassung Neben stationären und nichtstationären ebenen Strömungen konstanter und stationärer Wirbelstärke, gibt es nur zwei einfache Typen von ebenen hydrodynamischen Strömungen mit stationärer Wirbelstärke. Diese zwei Typen von nichtstätionaren Strömungen haben stationäre Stromlinien, welche aus parallelen Geraden oder aus konzentrischen Kreisen bestehen.

     

Solutions to the Navier-Stokes Equations Describing Local Flows of Stratified and Compressible Fluids

A family of exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations is used to describe local flows of incompressible stratified and compressible fluids. For some of the flows, the coefficient of viscosity can depend on the temperature. An example of an incompressible stratified flow for which the analysis is applicable is the sheared swirling flow that is produced between two parallel plates that translate with different velocities and rotate with different angular velocities about different, but parallel, axes. The fluid may be stratified in the direction normal to the plates. These generalized von Karman flows are relevant to the study of strong local atmospheric disturbances, such as might be produced by the passage of a tornado. Also, when the coefficient of viscosity depends on the temperature, they can be used to analyze the flow of molten metals between surfaces that are in relative motion. An example of a compressible flow for which the analysis is applicable is that produced by a plane shock wave as it traverses a layer where the fluid is sheared in a direction normal to the shock.     

Modeling of flow in a very small surface separation

When a fluid flows in a very small surface separation, the very thin boundary layer physically adhering to the solid surface will participate in the flow, while between the two boundary layers is a continuum fluid flow. An analysis is here presented for this multiscale flow. The continuum fluid is treated as Newtonian. The physical adsorbed boundary layer is treated as non-continuum across the layer thickness. The interfacial slippage can occur on the adsorbed layer-solid surface interface, while it is absent on the adsorbed layer-fluid interface. Three flow equations are derived respectively for the two adsorbed layers and the intermediate continuum fluid. They together govern the multiscale flow in such a small surface separation.     

Self-Similar "Stagnation Point" Boundary Layer Flows with Suction or Injection

Multiple solutions are reported for the two-dimensional boundary layer flow of a viscous fluid near a permeable wall through which fluid is uniformly withdrawn. In the limit of large wall suction, three flows of similarity form are found: the first is the well-known monotonic solution of Terrill; the second exhibits flow reversal, with the streamlines being separated into three distinct cells; the third also exhibits flow reversal, but has multiple cells only when the fluid withdrawal speed is less than some threshold. The wall injection problem is also briefly studied, only Terrill's branch of solutions being found. Numerical and asymptotic solutions are presented and compared; the large-suction asymptotics of the third solution branch are found to be rather subtle.     

Modeling of local particle accumulation in disperse flows with kinematic singularities

The aim of the study is to model the formation of local particle accumulation zones near several typical kinematic singularities. The flows considered are: (i) a steady two–dimensional flow with localized vorticity of the Kelvin cat's eye type (vortex in a mixing layer), (ii) a steady axisymmetric flow formed by a vortex filament normal to a plane in viscous fluid (simple model of tornado), (iii) a neighbourhood of a zero acceleration point in two–dimensional unsteady (harmonic) flow. From parametric numerical calculations, we investigated the inertial mechanisms of forming local particle accumulation zones and found the threshold values of governing parameters separating qualitatively different particle velocity and density patterns. In particular, it is shown that the zero–acceleration point can either “attract” or “scatter” the particles. Zones of concentrated vorticity are typically devoid of particles. In the tornado–like flow, an axisymmetric “cup-shaped” particle accumulation region is formed. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Rossby Solitary Waves in the Presence of a Critical Layer

This study considers the evolution of weakly nonlinear long Rossby waves in a horizontally sheared zonal current. We consider a stable flow so that the nonlinear time scale is long. These assumptions enable the flow to organize itself into a large‐scale coherent structure in the régime where a competition sets in between weak nonlinearity and weak dispersion. This balance is often described by a Korteweg‐de‐Vries equation. The traditional assumption of a weak amplitude breaks down when the wave speed equals the mean flow velocity at a certain latitude, due to the appearance of a singularity in the leading‐order equation, which strongly modifies the flow in a critical layer. Here, nonlinear effects are invoked to resolve this singularity, because the relevant geophysical flows have high Reynolds numbers. Viscosity is introduced in order to render the nonlinear‐critical‐layer solution unique, but the inviscid limit is eventually taken. By the method of matched asymptotic expansions, this inner flow is matched at the edges of the critical layer with the outer flow. We will show that the critical‐layer–induced flow leads to a strong rearrangement of the related streamlines and consequently of the potential‐vorticity contours, particularly in the neighborhood of the separatrices between the open and closed streamlines. The symmetry of the critical layer vis‐à‐vis the critical level is also broken. This theory is relevant for the phenomenon of Rossby wave breaking and eventual saturation into a nonlinear wave. Spatially localized solutions are described by a Korteweg‐de‐Vries equation, modified by new nonlinear terms; depending on the critical‐layer shape, this leads to depression or elevation waves. The additional terms are made necessary at a certain order of the asymptotic expansion while matching the inner flow on the dividing streamlines. The new evolution equation supports a family of solitary waves. In this paper we describe in detail the case of a depression wave, and postpone for further discussion the more complex case of an elevation wave.     

Exact solutions for two dimensional flows of couple stress fluids

Exact solutions are derived for the class of two dimensional couple stress flows. This class consists of flows for which the vorticity distribution is proportional to the stream function perturbed by a uniform stream. The solutions are obtained by applying the so-called inverse method which makes certain hypothesis a priori on the form of the velocity field and pressure without making any on the boundaries of the domain occupied by the fluid. Exact solutions are obtained for both steady and unsteady cases.     

Falkner-Skan equation for flow past a moving wedge with suction or injection

The characteristics of steady two-dimensional laminar boundary layer flow of a viscous and incompressible fluid past a moving wedge with suction or injection are theoretically investigated. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme known as the Keller-box method. The effects of Falkner-Skan power-law parameter (m), suction/injection parameter (f0) and the ratio of free stream velocity to boundary velocity parameter (λ) are discussed in detail. The numerical results for velocity distribution and skin friction coefficient are given for several values of these parameters. Comparisons with the existing results obtained by other researchers under certain conditions are made. The critical values off ₀,m and λ are obtained numerically and their significance on the skin friction and velocity profiles is discussed. The numerical evidence would seem to indicate the onset of reverse flow as it has been found by Riley and Weidman in 1989 for the Falkner-Skan equation for flow past an impermeable stretching boundary.     

Exact solutions for two dimensional flows of couple stress fluids

Exact solutions are derived for the class of two dimensional couple stress flows. This class consists of flows for which the vorticity distribution is proportional to the stream function perturbed by a uniform stream. The solutions are obtained by applying the so-called inverse method which makes certain hypothesis a priori on the form of the velocity field and pressure without making any on the boundaries of the domain occupied by the fluid. Exact solutions are obtained for both steady and unsteady cases.     

Study of magnetohydrodynamic pulsatile flow in a constricted channel

The present work reports the study of steady and pulsatile flows of an electrically conducting fluid in a differently shaped locally constricted channel in presence of an external transverse uniform magnetic field. The governing nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic equations simplified for low conducting fluids are solved numerically by finite difference method using stream function-vorticity formulation. The analysis reveals that the flow separation region is diminished with increasing values of magnetic parameter. It is noticed that the increase in the magnetic field strength results in the progressive flattening of axial velocity. The variations of wall shear stress with increasing values of the magnetic parameter are shown for both steady and pulsatile flow conditions. The streamline and vorticity distributions in magnetohydrodynamic flow are also shown graphically and discussed.     

On Prandtl-Batchelor theory of a cylindrical eddy: Existence and uniqueness

For a steady laminar two-dimensional flow, Prandtl and Batchelor proposed a property in the case of a region of nested closed streamlines. This Prandtl-Batchelor(PB) theory claims the constancy of the vorticity in the limit of infinite Reynolds number R ( or vanishing viscosity n\nu ) within such a region. To establish this result rigorously, as a first step we here show that a boundary layer corresponding to the PB theory exists and is unique for the circular eddy under relatively small perturbations of the Euler limit wall velocity.