Direct numerical simulation of homogeneous stratified rotating turbulence

The effects of the Prandtl number on stratified rotating turbulence have been studied in homogeneous turbulence by using direct numerical simulations and a rapid distortion theory. Fluctuations under strong stable-density stratification can be theoretically divided into the WAVE and the potential vorticity (PV) modes. In low-Prandtl-number fluids, the WAVE mode deteriorates, while the PV mode remains. Imposing rotation on a low-Prandtl-number fluid makes turbulence two-dimensional as well as geostrophic; it is found from the instantaneous turbulent structure that the vortices merge to form a few vertically-elongated vortex columns. During the period toward two-dimensionalization, the vertical vortices become asymmetric in the sense of rotation. Communicated by S. Obi PACS 47.55.Hd     

Modulation of homogeneous turbulence seeded with finite size bubbles or particles

The dynamics of homogeneous, isotropic turbulence seeded with finite sized particles or bubbles is investigated in a series of numerical simulations, using the force-coupling method for the particle phase and low wavenumber forcing of the flow to sustain the turbulence. Results are given on the modulation of the turbulence due to massless bubbles, neutrally buoyant particles and inertial particles of specific density 1.4 at volumetric concentrations of 6%. Buoyancy forces due to gravity are excluded to emphasize finite size and inertial effects for the bubbles or particles and their interactions with the turbulence. Besides observing the classical entrapment of bubbles and the expulsion of inertial particles by vortex structures, we analyze the Lagrangian statistics for the velocity and acceleration of the dispersed phase. The turbulent fluctuations are damped at mid-range wavenumbers by the bubbles or particles while the small-scale kinetic energy is significantly enhanced. Unexpectedly, the modulation of turbulence depends only slightly on the dispersion characteristics (bubble entrapment in vortices or inertial sweeping of the solid particles) but is closely related to the stresslet component (finite size effect) of the flow disturbances. The pivoting wavenumber characterizing the transition from damped to enhanced energy content is shown to vary with the size of the bubbles or particles. The spectrum for the energy transfer by the particle phase is examined and the possibility of representing this, at large scales, through an additional effective viscosity is discussed.     

All-speed Roe scheme for the large eddy simulation of homogeneous decaying turbulence

As a type of shock-capturing scheme, the traditional Roe scheme fails in large eddy simulation (LES) because it cannot reproduce important turbulent characteristics, such as the famous k^?5/3 spectral law, as a consequence of the large numerical dissipation. In this work, the Roe scheme is divided into five parts, namely, ξ, δU_p, δp_p, δU_u, and δp_u, which denote basic upwind dissipation, pressure difference-driven modification of interface fluxes, pressure difference-driven modification of pressure, velocity difference-driven modification of interface fluxes, and velocity difference-driven modification of pressure, respectively. Then, the role of each part in the LES of homogeneous decaying turbulence with a low Mach number is investigated. Results show that the parts δU_u, δp_p, and δU_p have little effect on LES. Such minimal effect is integral to computational stability, especially for δU_p. The large numerical dissipation is due to ξ and δp_u, each of which features a larger dissipation than the sub-grid scale model. On the basis of these conditions, an improved all-speed Roe scheme for LES is proposed. This scheme can provide satisfactory LES results even for coarse grid resolutions with usually adopted second-order reconstructions for the finite volume method.     

Particle behavior in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

Direct numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the behavior of heavy particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The present study focused on the effect of particle inertia and drift on the autocorrelations of the particle velocity and the fluid seen by particles and the dispersion characteristics of particles. The Lagrangian integral time scale of particles monotonically increased as the magnitude of the particle response time increased, while that of the fluid seen by particles remained relatively constant; it reached a maximum when the particle response time was close to the Kolmolgorov time scale of the flow. Particle dispersion increased as the particle inertia increased for small particles, while for larger particles, it decreased as particle inertia increased; particle eddy diffusion coefficient was maximal, and greater than that of the fluid by about 30%, at the preferential concentration. The concentration field of the particles with τp/τk≈1.0 showed that particles tend to collect in regions of low vorticity (high strain) due to preferential concentration. As the drift velocity of a particle is increased it crosses the paths of fluid elements more rapidly and will tend to lose correlation with its previous velocity faster than a fluid element will. And the correlation of particle velocities along the drift direction is more persistent than that perpendicular to the direction of drift. Simulations also showed that the continuity effect and the crossing-trajectory effect are weakened for particles with infinite inertia.     

Direct numerical simulation of preferential particle concentration in decaying turbulence under the influence of magnetic field

This paper presents a direct numerical simulation of an isotropic turbulence at Reynolds number R_λ=71.4. The statistics of heavy particles in such turbulence has been investigated. The numerical results indicate the merit of method in solving the magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. The revision of the paper was made based on the reviewers' comments. The paper was improved significantly. Hence, review suggests accepting the submission in current form. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimized group velocity control scheme and DNS of decaying compressible turbulence of relative high turbulent Mach number

To overcome the difficulty in the DNS of compressible turbulence at high turbulent Mach number, a new difference scheme called GVC8 is developed. We have succeeded in the direct numerical simulation of decaying compressible turbulence up to turbulent Mach number 0.95. The statistical quantities thus obtained at lower turbulent Mach number agree well with those from previous authors with the same initial conditions, but they are limited to simulate at lower turbulent Mach numbers due to the so‐called start‐up problem. The energy spectrum and coherent structure of compressible turbulent flow are analysed. The scaling law of compressible turbulence is studied. The computed results indicate that the extended self‐similarity holds in decaying compressible turbulence despite the occurrence of shocklets, and compressibility has little effects on relative scaling exponents when turbulent Mach number is not very high. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DNS of viscoelastic turbulent channel flow with rectangular orifice at low Reynolds number

Direct numerical simulations of turbulent viscoelastic-fluid flow in a channel with a rectangular orifice were performed to investigate the influence of viscoelasticity on turbulence statistics and turbulent structures downstream of the orifice. The geometry considered is periodic rectangular orifices with 1:2 expansion. The constitutive equation follows the Giesekus model, valid for polymer (or surfactant) solutions, which are generally capable of reducing the turbulent frictional drag in a smooth channel. The friction Reynolds number and the Weissenberg number were set to 100 and 20-30, respectively. A drag reduction of about 20% was achieved in the viscoelastic flows. The onset Reynolds number for the transition from a symmetric to an asymmetric state was found to be shifted to higher values than that for the Newtonian flow. In the viscoelastic flow, the turbulent kinetic energy was decreased and fewer turbulent eddies were observed, as the Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices were quickly damped. Away from the orifice, quasi-streamwise vortices in the viscoelastic flow were sustained for a longer period, accompanied by energy exchange from elastic energy of the viscoelastic fluid to kinetic energy.     

Finite element solution to passive scalar transport behind line sources under neutral and unstable stratification

This study employed a direct numerical simulation (DNS) technique to contrast the plume behaviours and mixing of passive scalar emitted from line sources (aligned with the spanwise direction) in neutrally and unstably stratified open‐channel flows. The DNS model was developed using the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) employing trilinear brick elements with equal‐order interpolating polynomials that solved the momentum and continuity equations, together with conservation of energy and mass equations in incompressible flow. The second‐order accurate fractional‐step method was used to handle the implicit velocity–pressure coupling in incompressible flow. It also segregated the solution to the advection and diffusion terms, which were then integrated in time, respectively, by the explicit third‐order accurate Runge–Kutta method and the implicit second‐order accurate Crank–Nicolson method. The buoyancy term under unstable stratification was integrated in time explicitly by the first‐order accurate Euler method. The DNS FEM model calculated the scalar‐plume development and the mean plume path. In particular, it calculated the plume meandering in the wall‐normal direction under unstable stratification that agreed well with the laboratory and field measurements, as well as previous modelling results available in literature. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow Visualization of Superbursts and of the Log-Layer in a DNS at $$ \operatorname{Re} _{\tau } = 950 $$

This paper uses direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent flow in a channel at (Del álamo, Jiménez, Zandonade, Moser J Fluid Mech 500:135–144, 2004) to provide a picture of the turbulent structures making large contributions to the Reynolds shear stress. Considerable work of this type has been done for the viscous wall region at smaller , for which a log-layer does not exist. Recent PIV measurements of turbulent velocity fluctuations in a plane parallel to the direction of flow have emphasized the dominant contribution of large scale structures in the outer flow. This prompted Hanratty and Papavassiliou (The role of wall vortices in producing turbulence. In: Panton, R.L. (ed) Self-sustaining Mechanism of Wall Turbulence. Computational Mechanics Publications, Southampton, pp. 83–108, 1997) to use DNS at to examine these structures in a plane perpendicular to the direction of flow. They identified plumes which extend from the wall to the center of a channel. The data at are used to explore these results further, to examine the structure of the log-layer, and to test present notions about the viscous wall layer.