Thermodynamical functions for a gas of point vortices

We formulate nonlinear integro-differential equation for the averaged collective Hamiltonian of a gas of interacting two-dimensional vortices, derive its analytical solution, and discuss the equilibrium, axially-symmetrical, probability distributions that are possible for such a model. We also theoretically prove that the probability distribution for a system of 2D point vortices takes a form similar to the Gibbs distribution, but point out that the physical fundamentals of such a system differ from the standard theory of interacting particles. Furthermore, we find thermodynamical functions for positive and negative “temperature” of the system, and point out that the states with positive “temperature” correspond to stationary bell-shape vortex distributions, while the states with negative “temperature” correspond to distributions localized near container walls. To cite this article: E. Bécu et al., C. R. Mecanique 336 (2008).     

On the hysteresis of wire cables in Stockbridge dampers

Stockbridge dampers are used e.g. for reducing wind-excited oscillations due to vortex shedding in conductors of overhead lines. In these dampers, mechanical energy is dissipated in wire cables (“damper cables”). The damping mechanism is due to statical hysteresis resulting from Coulomb (dry) friction between the individual wires of the cable undergoing bending deformation. Systems with statical hysteresis can be modelled by means of Jenkin elements arranged in parallel, consisting of linear springs and Coulomb friction elements. The damper cable is a continuous system and damping takes place throughout the whole length of the cable, so that distributed Jenkin elements are used. The local mechanical properties of the wire cable are identified experimentally in the time domain. In particular, the moment–curvature relation is determined experimentally at every location of the wire cable subjected to dynamic flexural deformations. Using such a model for the damper cables, the equations of motion can be formulated for a Stockbridge damper, and discretization of the damper cable leads to a system of non-linear ordinary differential equations. In order to test this dynamical model of a Stockbridge damper we compute impedance curves and compare them to experimental results.     

Interaction and “apparent” reconnection of 3D vortex tubes via direct numerical simulations

We present evidence of: “binding” of anti-parallel vortex tube segments; strong noncircular core development; evolution of new secondary finger-like vortex structures: and finally “apparent” vortex reconnections due to entanglement. The latter three processes are not present in Biot-Savart filament simulations.     

Singular vortices in regular flows

A review of the theory of quasigeostrophic singular vortices embedded in regular flows is presented with emphasis on recent results. The equations governing the joint evolution of singular vortices and regular flow, and the conservation laws (integrals) yielded by these equations are presented. Using these integrals, we prove the nonlinear stability of a vortex pair on the f-plane with respect to any small regular perturbation with finite energy and enstrophy. On the β-plane, a new exact steady-state solution is presented, a hybrid regular-singular modon comprised of a singular vortex and a localized regular component. The unsteady drift of an individual singular β-plane vortex confined to one layer of a two-layer fluid is considered. Analysis of the β-gyres shows that the vortex trajectory is similar to that of a barotropic monopole on the β-plane. Non-stationary behavior of a dipole interacting with a radial flow produced by a point source in a 2D fluid is examined. The dipole always survives after collision with the source and accelerates (decelerates) in a convergent (divergent) radial flow.     

Implementation and validation of a slender vortex filament code: Its application to the study of a four‐vortex wake model

A computational code EZ‐vortex is developed for the motion of slender vortex filaments of closed or open shape. The integro‐differential equations governing the motion of the vortex centre lines are either the Callegari and Ting equations, which are the leading order solution of a matched asymptotic analysis, or equivalent forms of these equations. They include large axial velocity and nonsimilar profiles in the vortical cores. The fluid may be viscous or inviscid. This code is validated both against known solutions of these equations and results from linear stability analyses. The linear and non‐linear stages of a perturbed two‐vortex wake and of a four‐vortex wake model are then computed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Acoustics and dynamics of coaxial interacting vortex rings

Using a contour dynamics method for inviscid axisymmetric flow we examine the effects of core deformation on the dynamics and acoustic signatures of coaxial interacting vortex rings. Both “passage” and “collision” (head-on) interactions are studied for initially identical vortices. Good correspondence with experiments is obtained. A simple model which retains only the elliptic degree of freedom in the core shape is used to explain some of the calculated features.     

COMPUTATION OF SUPERSONIC TURBULENT FLOWFIELD WITH TRANSVERSE INJECTION

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On Vortex Tube Stretching and Instabilities in an Inviscid Fluid

We study instabilities that are present in two models that retain some of the dynamics of vortex tube stretching in the motion of a fluid in 3 dimensions. Both models are governed by a 2-dimensional PDE and are hence more tractable than the full 3-dimensional Euler equations. The first model is the so called surface quasi-geostrophic equation. The second model is a class of 3-dimensional flows that are invariant with respect to one spatial coordinate. Both models appear in the context of a rapidly rotating fluid. Instabilities due to an effect analogous to vortex tube stretching are detected: these instabilities are in the linearised equations in the first model and in the nonlinear equations in the second model. Such instabilities are absent, or weaker, in strictly 2-dimensional fluid motion.     

Kinematics and dynamics of small-scale vorticity and strain-rate structures in the transition from isotropic to shear turbulence

We applied a technique that defines and extracts “structures” from a DNS dataset of a turbulence variable in a way that allows concurrent quantitative and visual analysis. Local topological and statistical measures of enstrophy and strain-rate structures were compared with global statistics to determine the role of mean shear in the dynamical interactions between fluctuating vorticity and strain-rate during transition from isotropic to shear-dominated turbulence. We find that mean shear adjusts the alignment of fluctuating vorticity, fluctuating strain-rate in principal axes, and mean strain-rate in a way that (1) enhances both global and local alignments between vorticity and the second eigenvector of fluctuating strain-rate, (2) two-dimensionalizes fluctuating strain-rate, and (3) aligns the compressional components of fluctuating and mean strain-rate. Shear causes amalgamation of enstrophy and strain-rate structures, and suppresses the existence of strain-rate structures in low-vorticity regions between enstrophy structures. A primary effect of shear is to enhance “passive” strain-rate fluctuations, strain-rate kinematically induced by local vorticity concentrations with negligible enstrophy production, relative to “active,” or vorticity-generating strain-rate fluctuations. Enstrophy structures separate into “active” and “passive” based on the level of the second eigenvalue of fluctuating strain-rate. We embedded the structure-extraction algorithm into an interactive visualization-based analysis system from which the time evolution of a shear-induced hairpin enstrophy structure was visually and quantitatively analyzed. The structure originated in the initial isotropic state as a vortex sheet, evolved into a vortex tube during a transitional period, and developed into a well-defined horseshoe vortex in the shear-dominated asymptotic state.     

Influence of precession on velocity measurements in a strong laboratory vortex

A strong laboratory vortex is generated in a cylindrical cell using a rotating disk and stretched by pumping the fluid out through a hole in the centre of the top of the cell. The velocity field is measured by means of laser Doppler anemometry and Doppler ultrasonic anemometry which are both non intrusive methods. The vortex exhibits a slight precession which induces temporal fluctuations of the velocity at the measurement point. Due to the centrifugal force, the tracers concentrate in a tubular region around the vortex, leading to spatial variations of the measurement counting rate. Under these two effects, the probability density function (PDF) of the one point velocity exhibits a strong non-Gaussian behaviour. In order to access the details of the velocity profile of the vortex in its own system of reference, the influence of the vortex precession, of the spatial variations of the concentration in tracers and of the intrinsic measurement dispersion is investigated and a model is proposed. It allows to recover statistically the characteristics of the vortex and to deduce the trajectory of its centre from the instantaneous velocity profiles. Received: 5 August 1998/Accepted: 20 February 1999     

A note on vortex breakdown incipience and Long’s jet

An extension of Long’s jet model is presented. This is formulated from the modified set of quasi-cylindrical (QC) equations proposed by Berger and Erlebacher (1995) [8] from an order-of-magnitude balance of the equations of motion near the vortex core breakdown. The new set of equations reveals the key role of the radial viscous term of the radial momentum equation around the vortex breakdown fold. So retaining this term, the third branch (solutions of Type III), corresponding to the full Navier–Stokes equations, and not observed by the slender Long’s model, could be obtained.     

Fast numerical evaluation of flow fields with vortex cells

A vortex cell (in this paper) is an aerodynamically shaped cavity in the surface of a body, for example a wing, designed specially to trap the separated vortex within it, thus preventing large-scale unsteady vortex shedding from the wing. Vortex stabilisation can be achieved either by the special geometry, as has already been done experimentally, or by a system of active control. In realistic conditions the boundary and mixing layers in the vortex cell are always turbulent. In the present study a model for calculating the flow in a vortex cell was obtained by replacing the laminar viscosity with the turbulent viscosity in the known high-Reynolds-number asymptotic theory of steady laminar flows in vortex cells. The model was implemented numerically and was shown to be faster than solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. An experimental facility with a vortex cell was built and experiments performed. Comparisons of the experimental results with the predictions of the model are reasonably satisfactory. The results also indicate that at least for flows in near-circular vortex cells it is sufficient to have accurate turbulence models only in thin viscous layers, while outside the viscosity should only be small enough to make the flow effectively inviscid.     

Proper orthogonal decomposition of the flow in geometries containing a narrow gap

Geometries containing a narrow gap are characterized by strong quasi-periodical flow oscillations in the narrow gap region. The above mentioned phenomena are of inherently unstable nature and, even if no conclusive theoretical study on the subject has been published, the evidence shown to this point suggests that the oscillations are connected to interactions between eddy structures of turbulent flows on opposite sides of the gap. These coherent structures travel in the direction of homogeneous turbulence, in a fashion that strongly recalls a vortex street. Analogous behaviours have been observed for arrays of arbitrarily shaped channels, within certain range of the geometric parameters. A modelling for these phenomena is at least problematic to achieve since they are turbulence driven. This work aims to address the use of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) to reduce the Navier–Stokes equations to a set of ordinary differential equations and better understand the dynamics underlying these oscillations. Both experimental and numerical data are used to carry out the POD.     

On relative equilibria and integrable dynamics of point vortices in periodic domains

The motion of two point vortices defines an integrable Hamiltonian dynamical system in either singly or doubly periodic domains. The motion of three point vortices in these domains is also integrable when the net circulation is zero. The relative vortex motion in both domains can be reduced to advection of a passive particle by fixed vortices in an equivalent Hamiltonian system. A survey of the solutions for vortex motion in these systems is discussed. Some initial conditions lead to relative equilibria, or vortex configurations that move without change of shape or size. These configurations can be determined as stagnation points in the reduced problem or through explicit solution of the governing equations. These periodic point-vortex systems present a rich collection of interesting solutions despite the few degrees of freedom, and several questions on this subject remain open.     

Asymptotic model of the axisymmetric breakdown of a vortex filament in an incompressible fluid

The axisymmetric flow of an incompressible fluid is considered. An exact solution of the Euler equations corresponding to the breakdown of a straight vortex filament of intensity ₀ into a vortex filament of lesser intensity and a conical vortex surface is obtained. It is shown that beyond the breakdown point in the region bounded by the conical vortex surface reverse flows occur. An investigation of the problem with allowance for viscous effects at large Reynolds numbers makes it possible to establish a relation between the free parameters entering into the solution of the Euler equations. The results obtained are useful for investigating the problem of the breakdown of a swirled jet, whose solution has recently been receiving much attention [1, 2].Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 47–52, November–December, 1989.     

Model of two-dimensional vortex motion with an entrainment mechanism

A model for describing the vertically averaged vortex motions of an incompressible viscous fluid with an arbitrary vertical structure of the bottom Ekman boundary layer is proposed. An approach similar to that adopted in [1] is used: the second moments of the deviations from the average velocities required in order to close the vorticity equation are calculated by means of the Ekman solution for gradient flows, which makes it possible to take the integral bottom boundary layer effect into account. As a result, these terms lead to a specific form of nonlinear friction with a coefficient that depends on the vorticity of the average flow. In the particular case of a constant vertical turbulent transfer coefficient the inaccuracies of the model described in [1] can be eliminated. The generalized vorticity equation obtained has solutions of the vorticity spot type with a uniform internal vorticity distribution, which can be effectively investigated by means of appropriate algorithms [2]. The mechanism of entrainment at the vorticity front is illustrated with reference to the example of the evolution of vorticity spots. An exact solution of the problem of the evolution of an elliptic vortex (generalized Kirchhoff vortex), which in the case of fairly strong anticyclonic vorticity degenerates first into a line segment (vortex sheet) and then into a point vortex, is constructed. Equations describing the dynamics of an elliptic vorticity spot in an external field with a linear dependence of the velocity on the horizontal coordinates and generalizing the classical Chaplygin-Kida model [3, 4] are constructed.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.6, pp. 49–56, November–December, 1992.     

Study of water waves with submerged obstacles using a vortex method with Helmholtz decomposition

The present study develops a 2‐D numerical scheme that combines the vortex method and the boundary integral method by a Helmholtz decomposition to investigate the interaction of water waves with submerged obstacles. Viscous effects and generation of vorticity on the free surface are neglected. The second kind of Fredholm integral equations that govern the strengths of vortex sheets along boundaries are solved iteratively. Vorticity is convected and diffused in the fluid via a Lagrangian vortex (blob) method with varying cores, using the particle strength exchange method for diffusion, with particle redistribution. A grid‐convergence study of the numerical method is reported. The inviscid part of the method and the simulation of the free‐surface motion are tested using two calculations: solitary wave propagation in a uniform channel and a moving line vortex in the fluid. Finally, the full model is verified by simulating periodic waves travelling over a submerged rectangular obstacle using nonuniform vortex blobs with a mapping of the redistribution lattice. Overall, the numerical model predicts the vortices' evolution and the free‐surface motion reasonably well. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A note on numerical simulation of vortical structures in shock diffraction

In numerical simulation of the Euler equations, the slipstream or shear layer that appears behind a diffracted shock wave may develop small discrete vortices using fine computational meshes. Similar phenomena were also observed in the simulation of a Mach reflection that is accompanied by a shear layer. However, these small vortices have never been observed in any shock-tube experiment, although the wave pattern and the shape of the main vortex agree very well with visualization results. Numerical solutions obtained with coarse grids may agree better with experimental photos than those with very fine grids because of the pollution of the small vortices. This note tries to investigate the effect of viscosity on the small vortices by comparing the solutions of the laminar Navier-Stokes equations and the turbulence model. It is found that the small vortices are still observed in the solution of the laminar Navier-Stokes equations, although they can be suppressed by using the turbulence model. Numerical and experimental factors that are responsible for the deviation of the laminar solutions from experimental results are discussed. The secondary vortex in shock diffraction is successfully simulated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations.Received: 28 March 2003, Accepted: 6 May 2003, Published online: 11 June 2003     

An immersed boundary finite difference method for LES of flow around bluff shapes

A three‐dimensional numerical model using large eddy simulation (LES) technique and incorporating the immersed boundary (IMB) concept has been developed to compute flow around bluff shapes. A fractional step finite differences method with rectilinear non‐uniform collocated grid is employed to solve the governing equations. Bluff shapes are treated in the IMB method by introducing artificial force terms into the momentum equations. Second‐order accurate interpolation schemes for all sorts of grid points adjacent to the immersed boundary have been developed to determine the velocities and pressure at these points. To enforce continuity, the methods of imposition of pressure boundary condition and addition of mass source/sink terms are tested. It has been found that imposing suitable pressure boundary condition (zero normal gradient) can effectively reproduce the correct pressure distribution and enforce mass conservation around a bluff shape. The present model has been verified and applied to simulate flow around bluff shapes: (1) a square cylinder and (2) the Tsing Ma suspension bridge deck section model. Complex flow phenomena such as flow separation and vortex shedding are reproduced and the drag coefficient, lift coefficient, and pressure coefficient are calculated and analyzed. Good agreement between the numerical results and the experimental data are obtained. The model is proven to be an efficient tool for flow simulation around bluff bodies in time varying flows. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.