Diffusion velocity for a three-dimensional vorticity field

A discussion is presented on the existence of a diffusion velocity for the vorticity vector that satisfies extensions of the Helmholtz vortex laws in a three-dimensional, incompressible, viscous fluid flow. A general form for the diffusion velocity is derived for a complex-lamellar vorticity field that satisfies the property that circulation is invariant about a region that is advected with the sum of the fluid velocity and the diffusion velocity. A consequence of this property is that vortex lines will be material lines with respect to this combined velocity field. The question of existence of diffusion velocity for a general three-dimensional vorticity field is shown to be equivalent to the question of existence of solutions of a certain Fredholm equation of the first kind. An example is given for which it is shown that a diffusion velocity satisfying this property does not, in general, exist. Properties of the simple expression for diffusion velocity for a complex-lamellar vorticity field are examined when applied to the more general case of an arbitrary three-dimensional flow. It is found that this form of diffusion velocity, while not satisfying the condition of circulation invariance, nevertheless has certain desirable properties for computation of viscous flows using Lagrangian vortex methods. The significance and structure of the noncomplex-lamellar part of the viscous diffusion term is examined for the special case of decaying homogeneous turbulence.     

A simple vorticity diffusion problem

Summary In the present note a simple extension of the Rayleigh problem in the theory of viscous flows is considered. The situation is shown in fig. 1. The problem has two unusual features. In the first place a discontinuity in the velocity of the viscous fluid occurs along thez-axis, owing to the discontinuity in the wall velocity and the no-slip condition. In the second place the vorticity associated with the velocity discontinuity diffuses in the direction of the vorticity vector. Although this type of diffusion is included in the general vorticity diffusion equation the author is unaware of simple, reasonably realistic situations where it can be clearly demonstrated. The problem may be of some interest for the flow in machines where moving parts are adjacent to parts at rest.     

On intrinsic properties of steady gas flows

Summary Considering the geometric theory of triply orthogonal spatial curves, the basic equations governing a steady gas flow are transformed into the intrinsic form and the results obtained are:(1) The pressure is uniform along the binormal to the stream line and the radius of curvature varies as the square of the velocity along it, for the baratropic fluids.(2) Acceleration is irrotational field when the fluid is compressible but baratropic or incompressible, in which case the relations existing between the flow quantities, curvature and torsions of the curves under consideration are obtained.(3) Considering incompressible flows, it is observed that either velocity in magnitude is uniform or the vorticity lies in the normal plane, in which case the stream lines are orthogonal to the vortex lines.Stream lines are observed to be either right circular helices or circles or straight lines.If the stream lines are not straight then the torsions of the binormal congruences and stream lines are equal.(4) The compatibility conditions of Berker¹) are transformed into intrinsic form, involving the curvatures and torsions of the above curves.     

A vorticity formulation for computational fluid dynamic and aeroelastic analyses of viscous flows

The paper deals with a novel computational formulation for the analysis of viscous flows past a solid body. The formulation is based upon a convenient decomposition of the flow field into potential and rotational velocity contributions, which has the distinguishing feature that the rotational velocity vanishes in much of, if not all, the region in which the vorticity is negligible. Contrary to related formulations implemented by the authors in the past, in the proposed approach, discontinuities of the potential and rotational velocity fields across a prescribed surface emanating from the trailing edge (such as the wake mid-surface) are eliminated, thereby facilitating numerical implementations. However, the main novelty is related to the application of the boundary condition: first, the expression for the velocity used for the condition on the body boundary is consistent with that for the velocity in the field; also—contrary to related formulations used by the authors in the past—in the proposed approach, the condition on the body boundary does not require the evaluation of the total vorticity (inside and outside the computational domain). The proposed algorithm, valid for three-dimensional compressible flows, is validated—as a first step—for the case of two-dimensional incompressible flows. Specifically, numerical results are presented for the aerodynamic analysis of two-dimensional incompressible viscous flows past a circular cylinder and past a Joukowski airfoil. In order to verify the desirable absence of artificial damping, we present also results pertaining to the flutter (i.e., dynamic aeroelastic) analysis of a spring-mounted circular cylinder in a viscous flow, free to move in a direction orthogonal to the unperturbed flow. In both cases (aerodynamics and aeroelasticity), the results are in good agreement with existing literature data.     

Transonic viscous-inviscid interaction by a finite element method

A method is outlined for solving two-dimensional transonic viscous flow problems, in which the velocity vector is split into the gradient of a potential and a rotational component. The approach takes advantage of the fact that for high-Reynolds-number flows the viscous terms of the Navier-Stokes equations are important only in a thin shear layer and therefore solution of the full equations may not be needed everywhere. Most of the flow can be considered inviscid and, neglecting the entropy and vorticity effects, a potential model is a good approximation in the flow core. The rotational part of the flow can then be calculated by solution of the potential, streamfunction and vorticity transport equations. Implementation of the no-slip and no-penetration boundary conditions at the walls provides a simple mechanism for the interaction between the viscous and inviscid solutions and no extra coupling procedures are needed. Results are presented for turbulent transonic internal choked flows.     

Spiral Waves in Three-Dimensional Helical Viscous Flows

A study is made of an unbounded viscous incompressible flow in the case in which the vortex lines of the absolute motion coincide with the streamlines of the relative motion; after Joukowsky, this flow is called helical flow. The vector potential of the flow is constructed and the notion of the stream function is generalized to include three-dimensional uniform helical flows in an arbitrary orthogonal coordinate system. It is shown that both axisymmetric and asymmetric waves may propagate in a rotating fluid; the amplitude of these waves decays exponentially with time, the decrement being proportional to the square of the rotational velocity of the fluid and the kinematic viscosity and inversely proportional to the square of the phase velocity.     

Vorticity addition method

It is shown that in the general case it is not possible to propose the Lagrangian viewpoint on the vorticity evolution, which would be unique for the entire flow, using the existing analogs of the Helmholtz theorems. This is related to the fact that, as distinct from the Helmholtz theorem oneself, these analogs are valid only for nonzero vorticity zones. New analogs of the Helmholtz theorems are proposed for the general case of flows (from incompressible fluid to viscous gas). They describe the vorticity evolution at all the points including the points of nonzero vorticity.     

A novel non-primitive Boundary Integral Equation Method for three-dimensional and axisymmetric Stokes flows

A new Boundary Integral Equation (BIE) formulation for Stokes flow is presented for three-dimensional and axisymmetrical problems using non-primitive variables, assuming velocity field is prescribed on the boundary. The formulation involves the vector potential, instead of the classical stream function, and all three components of the vorticity are implied. Furthermore, following the Helmholtz decomposition, a scalar potential is added to represent the solenoidal velocity field. Firstly, the BIEs for three-dimensional flows are formulated for the vector potential and the vorticity by employing the fundamental solutions in free space of vector Laplace and biharmonic equations. The equations for axisymmetric flows are then derived from the three-dimensional formulation in a second step. The outcome is a domain integral free BIE formulation for both three-dimensional and axisymmetric Stokes flows with prescribed velocity boundary condition. Numerical results are included to validate and show the efficiency of the proposed axisymmetric formulation.     

Projection conditions on the vorticity in viscous incompressible flows

The problem of establishing appropriate conditions for the vorticity transport equation is considered. It is shown that, in viscous incompressible flows, the boundary conditions on the velocity imply conditions of an integral type on the vorticity. These conditions determine a projection of the vorticity field on the linear manifold of the harmonic vector fields. Some computational consequences of the above result in two-dimensional calculations by means of the nonprimitive variables, stream function and vorticity, are examined. As an example of the application of the discrete analogue of the projection conditions, numerical solutions of the driven cavity problem are reported.     

The classification of orthogonal electromagneto-fluid-dynamic flows

A theoretical analysis based on the equations of electromagneto-fluid-dynamics is undertaken in order to completely classify the flow geometries admitted by these equations. The steady two-dimensional flow of a viscous incompressible fluid of finite electrical conductivity and non-zero electric charge density is considered. The flow equations are formulated in terms of the streamfunction and magnetic flux function as independent variables. The exact analytical solution of the resulting equations is obtained when the magnetic field and the velocity field are everywhere orthogonal to each other. It is shown that the only possible flow is a uniform parallel flow.     

Reduction of viscous flows having orthogonal magnetic and velocity field distributions

Summary Certain steady magnetohydrodynamic flows of a viscous incompressible fluid, in which the magnetic field is everywhere orthogonal to the velocity field, are related to viscous compressible flows having zero magnetic field. Examples are given to illustrate this relationship. Other linked magnetic and non-magnetic flows can be found using similar processes.     

A high‐order accurate method for two‐dimensional incompressible viscous flows

A high‐order accurate solution method for complex geometries is developed for two‐dimensional flows using the stream function–vorticity formulation. High‐order accurate spectrally optimized compact schemes along with appropriate boundary schemes are used for spatial discretization while a two‐level backward Euler implicit scheme is used for the time integration. The linear system of equations for stream function and vorticity are solved by an inner iteration while contravariant velocities constitute outer iterations. The effect of curvilinear grids on the solution accuracy is studied. The method is used to compute Cartesian and inclined driven cavity, flow in a triangular cavity and viscous flow in constricted channel. Benchmark‐like accuracy is obtained in all the problems with fewer grid points compared to reported studies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geometrical Properties of the Resolved-Scale Velocity and Temperature Fields Predicted using Large-Eddy Simulation

In this paper, local geometrical properties of the velocity and temperature fields of combined forced and natural convection in a vertical slot are studied using large-eddy simulation based on both numerical and analytical approaches. Previous studies on turbulence geometrical statistics appearing in the literature have primarily focused on either isothermal or isotropic turbulent flows; whereas in this work, we extend the scope of research to investigation of a wall-bounded thermal flow. In particular, we focus on studying the resolved helicity, enstrophy generation, local vortex stretching, and a variety of characteristic geometrical alignment patterns between the resolved velocity, vorticity, temperature gradient, subgrid-scale heat flux and the eigenvectors of the resolved strain rate tensor. In order to quantify the effect of buoyancy on the geometrical properties of the thermal flow field, a systematic comparative analysis has been conducted based on three different flow regimes (i.e., viscous sublayer, buffer layer and logarithmic layer) in both the hot and cold wall regions. The near-wall restriction on the geometrical property of the thermal flow field has been analyzed and some interesting wall-limiting geometrical alignment patterns in the form of Dirac delta functions are also reported.     

Cross-Stream Vorticity Field Induced by Streamwise Vortices in Unbounded and Wall-Bounded Shear Flows

This computational study examines the unsteady cross-stream vorticity structures that form when one or more streamwise vortices are immersed in homogeneous and boundary-layer shear flows. A quasi-two-dimensional limit is considered in which the velocity and vorticity fields, while still possessing three nonzero components, have vanishing gradient in the streamwise direction. This idealization is suitable to applications such as streamwise vortices that occur along a ship hull or airplane fuselage and it can be used as an idealized representation of the quasi-streamwise vortices in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer. In this quasi-two-dimensional idealization, the streamwise velocity has no effect on the cross-stream velocity associated with the vortex. However, the vortex acts to modify the cross-stream vorticity component, resulting in regions of the flow with strong deviations in streamwise velocity. This paper examines the complex structures that form as the cross-stream vorticity field is wrapped up by the vortex and the effect of these structures on the streamwise velocity field, first for vortices immersed in homogeneous shear flow and then for vortices immersed in a boundary layer along a flat wall. Received 2 January 2002 and accepted 13 August 2002 Published online 3 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*" This project was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant Number N00014-01-1-0015. Dr. Thomas Swain is the program manager. Communicated by T.B. Gatski     

On the geometry of nonequilibrium magneto gasdynamic flows

After formulation of the various dynamical and kinematical relations connecting the flow quantities with the geometrical parameters of the stream line trajectories, the expressions for the tangent, principal normal and binormal vectors and the curvature and torsion of the stream line have been obtained in-terms of the velocity components, the pressure, the density, the magnetic field and the relaxation variable. This is followed by expressing the equations governing the flow in the intrinsic forms. It has been shown that the non-equilibrium character of the gas decreases the total pressure gradient along the streamlines, but the total pressure remains constant along the binormals and if the stream lines are straight lines, the trajectories of the principal normals lie on the surface of the constant total pressure. Further, the expressions for vorticity components in terms of curvature of the stream line and the velocity gradients along the stream line and their principal normals and binormals have been obtained. Finally, a class of circular helical flows have been discussed.     

Parallelization of a vorticity formulation for the analysis of incompressible viscous fluid flows

A parallel computer implementation of a vorticity formulation for the analysis of incompressible viscous fluid flow problems is presented. The vorticity formulation involves a three‐step process, two kinematic steps followed by a kinetic step. The first kinematic step determines vortex sheet strengths along the boundary of the domain from a Galerkin implementation of the generalized Helmholtz decomposition. The vortex sheet strengths are related to the vorticity flux boundary conditions. The second kinematic step determines the interior velocity field from the regular form of the generalized Helmholtz decomposition. The third kinetic step solves the vorticity equation using a Galerkin finite element method with boundary conditions determined in the first step and velocities determined in the second step. The accuracy of the numerical algorithm is demonstrated through the driven‐cavity problem and the 2‐D cylinder in a free‐stream problem, which represent both internal and external flows. Each of the three steps requires a unique parallelization effort, which are evaluated in terms of parallel efficiency. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF THE SLOW TRANSLATION OF A SPHERE MOVING ALONG THE AXIS OF A ROTATING VISCOUS FLUID

The motion of a sphere along the axis of rotation of an incompressible viscous fluid that is rotating as a solid mass is investigated by means of numerical methods for small values of Reynolds numbers and moderate values of Taylor numbers. The Navier-Stokes equations governing the steady, axisymmetric, viscous flow can be written as three coupled, nonlinear, elliptic partial differential equations for the stream function, vorticity and rotational velocity component. Finite difference method is used for solving the governing equations. Second order derivatives are approximated by central differences and nonlinear terms are approximated by upwind differences. Results are presented mostly in the form of graphs of the streamlines and vorticity lines. When 1/ Ro > 2.2, separation occurs and reverse flow is obtained.     

Multisensor Hot Wire Vorticity Probe Measurements of the Formation Field of Two Corotating Vortices

Experimental evidence is reported, regarding the formation of a pair of co-rotating tip vortices by a split wing configuration, consisting of two half wings at equal and opposite angles of attack. Simultaneous measurements of the three-dimensional vector fields of velocity and vorticity were conducted on a cross plane at a downstream distance corresponding to 0.3 cord lengths (near wake), using an in-house constructed 12-sensor hot wire anemometry vorticity probe. The probe consists of three closely separated orthogonal 4-wire velocity sensor arrays, measuring simultaneously the three-dimensional velocity vector at three closely spaced locations on a cross plane of the flow filed. This configuration makes possible the estimation of spatial velocity derivatives by means of a forward difference scheme of first order accuracy. Velocity measurements obtained with an X-wire are also presented for comparison. In this near wake location, the flow field is dictated by the pressure distribution established by the flow around the wings, mobilizing large masses of air and leading to the roll up of fluid sheets. Fluid streams penetrating between the wings collide, creating on the cross plane flow a stagnation point and an “impermeable” line joining the two vortex centres. Along this line fluid is directed towards the two vortices, expanding their cores and increasing their separation distance. This feeding process generates a dipole of opposite sign streamwise mean vorticity within each vortex. The rotational flow within the vortices obligates an adverse streamwise pressure gradient leading to a significant streamwise velocity deficit characterizing the vortices. The turbulent flow field is the result of temporal changes in the intensity of the vortex formation and changes in the position of the cores (wandering).