Parametric data-based turbulence modelling for vortex dominated flows

Computational fluid dynamics simulations employing eddy-viscosity turbulence models remain the baseline numerical tool in the aerospace industry, mainly due to their numerical stability and computational efficiency. However, many industrially relevant cases require a level of accuracy that is not routinely achieved by global turbulence models. The simulation of leading-edge vortices shed at low aspect ratio wings is one such class of flows that remains a challenge for turbulence modelling. A local approach is proposed in which a parametrised eddy-viscosity turbulence model is calibrated using experimental results of configurations and flow conditions similar to the one being analysed. In this paper, the Spalart–Allmaras one-equation model is enhanced with additional source terms, which are exclusively active in the vortex field. An automatic optimisation procedure with experimental data as reference is then applied. The resulting optimised model improves the eddy viscosity distribution for a limited but relevant range of configurations and flow conditions.     

On the Scope of Lagrangian Vortex Methods for Two-Dimensional Flow Simulations and the POD Technique Application for Data Storing and Analyzing

The possibilities of applying the pure Lagrangian vortex methods of computational fluid dynamics to viscous incompressible flow simulations are considered in relation to various problem formulations. The modification of vortex methods—the Viscous Vortex Domain method—is used which is implemented in the VM2D code developed by the authors. Problems of flow simulation around airfoils with different shapes at various Reynolds numbers are considered: the Blasius problem, the flow around circular cylinders at different Reynolds numbers, the flow around a wing airfoil at the Reynolds numbers 104 and 105, the flow around two closely spaced circular cylinders and the flow around rectangular airfoils with a different chord to the thickness ratio. In addition, the problem of the internal flow modeling in the channel with a backward-facing step is considered. To store the results of the calculations, the POD technique is used, which, in addition, allows one to investigate the structure of the flow and obtain some additional information about the properties of flow regimes.     

Coherence and Reynolds stresses in the turbulent wake behind a curved circular cylinder

The turbulent wake behind a curved circular cylinder is investigated based on data obtained from a direct numerical simulation. Here, emphasis is placed in the assessment of two approaches for simplified modelling: reduced-order modelling (ROM) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. To this end, the instantaneous vortical structures, the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the flow, and relevant Reynolds stress components have been analysed. The results show that despite the complexity of the instantaneous vortical structures, the wake dynamics are governed by the quasi-periodic shedding of primary vortices. Between 24% and 50% of the kinetic energy in the POD is captured by the two most energetic modes, and about 200 modes are needed to capture 90% of the kinetic energy. These findings suggest that, as long as the large-scale structures of the von Kármán vortex shedding are concerned, the present case can be approached by ROM; but a detailed representation of the flow dynamics without an eddy viscosity model that accounts for the unresolved turbulent fluctuations would require a large amount of degrees of freedom. Concerning the Reynolds stresses, their magnitude varies considerably depending on the depth at which they have been sampled. This dependence is related to the strength of the vortex shedding, and the intensity of the secondary flows induced by the curvature of the cylinder. As a consequence of the combination of these two effects, the correlation between streamwise and vertical velocity fluctuations is highest in the wake behind the midspan of the curved cylinder, and the correlation between cross-flow and vertical velocity fluctuations reaches large values in the lower wake.     

Statistics and structures of pressure and density in compressible isotropic turbulence

We study statistics and structures of pressure and density in the presence of large-scale shock waves in a forced compressible isotropic turbulence using high-resolution numerical simulation. The spectra for pressure and density exhibit a ?2 scaling over an operational definition of the inertial range. Both the numerical simulation and a heuristic PDF model reveal that the PDFs of pressure increment exhibit a ?2 power law region for the separation in the operational definition of inertial range, quantitatively similar to the PDF of pressure gradient, which also displays a ?2 power law region. Moreover, the statistical relation between density increment and pressure increment has been investigated through a shock-relation model. There is a positive correlation between the vorticity magnitude and pressure, which is different from the case of incompressible turbulence. We argue that this difference is due to large-scale shock waves, another type of intermittent structures in addition to vortex structures in incompressible turbulence.     

Vortex solitons in the semi-infinite gap of optically induced periodic lattices

Vortex solitons with a ring vortex core residing in a single lattice site in the semi-infinite gap of square optical lattices are reported. These solitons are no longer bound states of the Bloch-wave unit (Bloch-wave distribution in one lattice site) at the band edge of the periodic lattice, and consequently they do not bifurcate from the corresponding band edge. For saturable nonlinearity, one family of such solitons is found, and its existing curve forms a closed loop, which is very surprising. For Kerr nonlinearity, two families of such vortex solitons are found.     

对相干态在通过参量转换中的演化与量子化光涡态的实现

本文讨论了光学参量频率转换过程中对相干态的演化问题, 获得了对相干态时间演化的解析表达式及在位形空间的波函数, 发现通过适当调节系统元件及相互作用时间, 对相干态在位形空间中的波包能呈现出量子涡态特性, 并且与这样涡态相关的波函数具有修正Bessel-Gaussian形式的结构, 即非高斯型波函数. 在相干态表象下, 这一量子化涡态是两模湮没算符平方和的本征态. 这一讨论揭示了产生量子化涡态的另一可实现方案.     

Propagation dynamics and experimental observation of quadratic vortex beam

The concept of a quadratic vortex beam is proposed, in which phase term of the beam is given by exp(i mθ²). The phase of the quadratic vortex beam increases with azimuthal angle nonlinearly. This change in phase produces several unexpected effects. Unlike the circularly symmetric beam spot of normal vortex beams, the intensity distribution of the quadratic vortex beam is shown to be asymmetric. The phase singularities will shift in the transverse beam plane on propagation.     

Dynamic response of turbulent swirling flames to acoustic perturbations

The dynamic response of a turbulent, perfectly premixed flame, stabilized by means of an aerodynamic flameholder, to an upstream acoustic perturbation of the approaching flow is investigated by means of experimental and analytical tools, and simulated through a large eddy simulation of the reacting flow. It is found that the main contribution to the unsteady heat release rate is due to the fluctuation in area of the flame front, which in turn is strongly influenced by the corresponding response of the flow field to the acoustic perturbation. Numerical data show that perturbing a swirling flow that undergoes vortex breakdown results in a strong displacement of the breakdown position along its axis, while its outer part only weakly responds to the perturbation. This results in a translational motion of the flame's anchoring point, which ultimately leads to an unsteady variation of the flame area and, therefore, of the amount of heat released. This unsteady heat release mechanism can be described in a way similar to that used for characterizing the dynamic behaviour of ducted flames, stabilized by means of a bluff-body flameholder; differently from these models, however, the anchoring point of the flame can now fluctuate freely in space, and the time delay of the system is no longer identified with the travelling time of a perturbation of the flame element along it, but is now associated with the oscillation of the breakdown position. Controlling the interaction between breakdown and acoustics should allow for obtaining optimal flame dynamics, so as to limit and possibly avoid the occurrence of strong pulsation peaks whenever the combustion device is operated in an acoustically closed system.     

Numerical analyses of deflagration initiation by a hot jet

Numerical simulations of axisymmetric reactive jets with one-step Arrhenius kinetics are used to investigate the problem of deflagration initiation in a premixed fuel–air mixture by the sudden discharge of a hot jet of its adiabatic reaction products. For the moderately large values of the jet Reynolds number considered in the computations, chemical reaction is seen to occur initially in the thin mixing layer that separates the hot products from the cold reactants. This mixing layer is wrapped around by the starting vortex, thereby enhancing mixing at the jet head, which is followed by an annular mixing layer that trails behind, connecting the leading vortex with the orifice rim. A successful deflagration is seen to develop for values of the orifice radius larger than a critical value a _c in the order of the flame thickness of the planar deflagration δ_L. Introduction of appropriate scales provides the dimensionless formulation of the problem, with flame initiation characterised in terms of a critical Damköhler number Δ_c=(a _c/δ_L)², whose parametric dependence is investigated. The numerical computations reveal that, while the jet Reynolds number exerts a limited influence on the criticality conditions, the effect of the reactant diffusivity on ignition is much more pronounced, with the value of Δ_c increasing significantly with increasing Lewis numbers . The reactant diffusivity affects also the way ignition takes place, so that for reactants with the flame develops as a result of ignition in the annular mixing layer surrounding the developing jet stem, whereas for highly diffusive reactants with Lewis numbers sufficiently smaller than unity combustion is initiated in the mixed core formed around the starting vortex. The analysis provides increased understanding of deflagration initiation processes, including the effects of differential diffusion, and points to the need for further investigations incorporating detailed chemistry models for specific fuel–air mixtures.