Asymptotic theory of neutral stability of the Couette flow of a vibrationally excited gas

An asymptotic theory of the neutral stability curve for a supersonic plane Couette flow of a vibrationally excited gas is developed. The initial mathematical model consists of equations of two-temperature viscous gas dynamics, which are used to derive a spectral problem for a linear system of eighth-order ordinary differential equations within the framework of the classical linear stability theory. Unified transformations of the system for all shear flows are performed in accordance with the classical Lin scheme. The problem is reduced to an algebraic secular equation with separation into the “inviscid” and “viscous” parts, which is solved numerically. It is shown that the thus-calculated neutral stability curves agree well with the previously obtained results of the direct numerical solution of the original spectral problem. In particular, the critical Reynolds number increases with excitation enhancement, and the neutral stability curve is shifted toward the domain of higher wave numbers. This is also confirmed by means of solving an asymptotic equation for the critical Reynolds number at the Mach number M ≤ 4.     

Critical transition Reynolds number for plane channel flow

The determination of the critical transition Reynolds number is of practical importance for some engineering problems. However, it is not available with the current theoretical method, and has to rely on experiments. For supersonic/hypersonic boundary layer flows, the experimental method for determination is not feasible either. Therefore,in this paper, a numerical method for the determination of the critical transition Reynolds number for an incompressible plane channel flow is proposed. It is basically aimed to test the feasibility of the method. The proposed method is extended to determine the critical Reynolds number of the supersonic/hypersonic boundary layer flow in the subsequent papers.     

Linear stability of the Couette flow of a vibrationally excited gas. 1. Inviscid problem

Stability of the Couette flow of a vibrationally excited diatomic gas with a parabolic profile of static temperature is studied within the framework of the linear theory. A set of explicit asymptotic estimates are obtained for inviscid disturbances described by a system of linearized equations of two-temperature gas dynamics. It is shown that the first Rayleigh condition (theorem) is satisfied for unstable modes, and the classification of inviscid modes into even and odd modes is valid. A generalized condition of the presence of an inflection point on the velocity profile, which is necessary for disturbances to evolve, is obtained. The sufficient condition in Howard’s semi-circle theorem is refined. Complex phase velocities of two-dimensional even and odd inviscid modes are numerically calculated as functions of the Mach number, degree of excitation of vibrational levels of energy, and characteristic relaxation time. In the Couette flow problem, in contrast to the case of a free shear layer, the growth rate of the most unstable second mode increases with increasing Mach number and tends to a certain limit for which an asymptotic expression in the form of an ordinary differential equation is obtained. The calculated results show that the effect of reduction of the growth rate on the background of the relaxation process is clearly expressed in the range of flow parameters considered.     

Linear stability of the Couette flow of a vibrationally excited gas. 2. viscous problem

Based on the linear theory, stability of viscous disturbances in a supersonic plane Couette flow of a vibrationally excited gas described by a system of linearized equations of two-temperature gas dynamics including shear and bulk viscosity is studied. It is demonstrated that two sets are identified in the spectrum of the problem of stability of plane waves, similar to the case of a perfect gas. One set consists of viscous acoustic modes, which asymptotically converge to even and odd inviscid acoustic modes at high Reynolds numbers. The eigenvalues from the other set have no asymptotic relationship with the inviscid problem and are characterized by large damping decrements. Two most unstable viscous acoustic modes (I and II) are identified; the limits of these modes were considered previously in the inviscid approximation. It is shown that there are domains in the space of parameters for both modes, where the presence of viscosity induces appreciable destabilization of the flow. Moreover, the growth rates of disturbances are appreciably greater than the corresponding values for the inviscid flow, while thermal excitation in the entire considered range of parameters increases the stability of the viscous flow. For a vibrationally excited gas, the critical Reynolds number as a function of the thermal nonequilibrium degree is found to be greater by 12% than for a perfect gas.     

Investigation of the velocity fluctuation spectrum of a vortex flow of vibrationally excited molecular gas in a glow discharge

The flow velocity fluctuations in a gas laser are measured under non-self-maintained glow discharge conditions. Spectra of the pulsating velocity signal on the frequency interval up to 2 kHz and the time dependence of the signal under glow and neutral flow conditions for pure nitrogen, a mixture of nitrogen and helium, and a trial CO₂-N₂-He mixture are obtained. Deformation (due to the action of the discharge) of the spectra of the transverse velocity component in the wake of a right circular cylinder is observed. In order to analyze the data obtained a model of the dynamic response of the pulsating velocity is constructed and a model of the Kármán vortex street behind a body is generalized with allowance for variations of the oscillation phase in the street. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 81–91, March–April, 2000. The work was carried out with partial financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (projects Nos. 96-01-00372 and 99-01-01199).     

Non-isothermal couette flow of a rarefied gas between two rotating cylinders

An accurate numerical solution of the momentum and the heat transfer through a rarefied gas confined between two cylinders rotating with different angular velocities and having different temperatures has been obtained over a wide range of the Knudsen number on the basis of the Bhatnagar, Gross, Krook model equation. The viscous stress tensor, heat flux, and the fields of density, temperature and velocity are found. An analysis of the influence of the angular velocities and the temperature ratio on these quantities is given.     

A three-dimensional simulation of a steady approach flow past a circular cylinder at low Reynolds number

The three-dimensional (3D) unsteady viscous wake of a circular cylinder exposed to a steady approach flow is calculated using a fractional-step finite-difference/spectral-element method. The calculated flow fields at Reynolds numbers of 100 (2D) and 200 (3D) are examined in detail. The flow field at Re = 100 is 2D as expected, while the flow field at Re = 200 has distinct 3D features, with spanwise wavelengths of about 3.75 cylinder diameters. The calculated results produce drag and lift coefficients and Strouhal numbers that agree extremely well with the experimental values. These 3D values at Re = 200 are in better agreement with experimental values than the results of a 2D calculation at Re = 200, which is expected. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonmonotonic relationship between the Reynolds number and the lift coefficient of a plate in a hypersonic rarefied gas flow

The aerodynamic coefficients of a plate in a hypersonic stream at low Reynolds numbers are studied over a wide range of similarity parameters. The dependence of the lift coefficientC _Y on the tangential force coefficient, the finite Mach number at the outer edge of the boundary layer and the velocity-slip and temperature-jump boundary conditions is taken into consideration. The nonmonotonic character of the relationship betweenC _Y and the Reynolds number, revealed previously in experiments, is explained within the framework of the viscous hypersonic interaction model.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 186–189, January–February, 1996.     

Turbulent flow in a channel at a low Reynolds number

A two-component laser Doppler velocimeter with high spatial and temporal resolution was used to obtain measurements for fully developed turbulent flow of water through a channel with an aspect ratio of 12 : 1 at Re=5700 (based on the centerline velocity and the half-height of the channel). Statistical quantities that were determined are the mean streamwise velocity, the root-mean-square of the fluctuations of the streamwise and the normal velocities, the Reynolds shear stress and higher order moments. Turbulence production is calculated from these quantities. Turbulence statistics obtained from experiments are compared with results from a direct numerical simulation at the same Reynolds number. The good agreement validates a recent DNS, at Re=5700, which is approximately twice as large as used in most previous studies. Received: 12 May 1997 / Accepted: 8 April 1998     

The effect of gas motion on the reaction kinetics of vibrationally excited molecules

The effect is considered of gas motion on the kinetics of reactions whose energy threshold is overcome as the result of vibrational excitation of the reactant molecules. The conditions are determined for which such an effect may be realized. An expression is obtained for the rate of thermal dissociation of diatomic molecules considered as harmonic oscillators representing a small impurity in a monoatomic inert gas; the expression depends explicitly and nonlinearly on the divergence of the flow velocity.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 100–105, November–December, 1984.     

Critical Reynolds number in plasma flows on a stabilized plasmatron section

A technique for determining the criterion of transition from the laminar to the turbulent flow regime on a stabilized plasmatron channel section is proposed. The technique uses experimental data and the methods of numerical simulation of plasma flows. A criterial generalization of the experimental data which for the first time makes it possible to establish the boundary of transition from the laminar to the turbulent flow regime on a stabilized plasmatron channel section is proposed. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical dependences derived in the study. A curve (analog of the neutral curve) separating the domains of existence of laminar and turbulent plasma flows in a cylindrical channel is constructed in the space of the plasmatron working parameters.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, 2004, pp. 49–61. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Sinkevich and Chikunov.     

Analysis of a meshless solver for high Reynolds number flow

In this paper, the extension of an upwind least‐square based meshless solver to high Reynolds number flow is explored, and the properties of the meshless solver are analyzed both theoretically and numerically. Existing works have verified the meshless solver mostly with inviscid flows and low Reynolds number flows, and in this work, we are interested in the behavior of the meshless solver for high Reynolds number flow, especially in the near‐wall region. With both theoretical and numerical analysis, the effects of two parameters on the meshless solver are identified. The first one is the misalignment effect caused by the significantly skewed supporting points, and it is found that the meshless solver still yields accurate prediction. It is a very interesting property and is opposite to the median‐dual control volume based vertex‐centered finite volume method, which is known to give degraded result with stretched triangular/tetrahedral cells in the near‐wall region. The second parameter is the curvature, and according to theoretical analysis, it is found in the region with both large aspect ratio and curvature, and the streamwise residual is less affected; however, the wall‐normal counterpart suffers from accuracy degradation. In this paper, an improved method that uses a meshless solver for the streamwise residual and finite difference for wall‐normal residual is developed. This method is proved to be less sensitive to the curvature and provides improved accuracy. This work presents an understanding of the meshless solver for high Reynolds number flow computation, and the analysis in this paper is verified with a series of numerical experiments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental investigation of the flow of a vibrationally nonequilibrium gas in a profiled nozzle

The results are given of measurements of the gain in a planar profiled nozzle for a mixture containing carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen with admixtures of oxygen and water vapor.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 203–206, January–February, 1980.We thank V. A. Poltoratskii for assistance in the experiments and G. D. Smekhov and S. A. Losev for helpful discussions.     

Spherical flow of a diatomic gas from an evaporating drop

The spherical expansion of gas from an evaporating drop is investigated on the basis of the numerical solution to a model kinetic equation for a gas with rotational degrees of freedom. Examples considered are the stationary evaporation of a drop with given temperature into the vacuum and evaporation of a drop into a gas-filled space under the condition of an energy balance on the drop surface.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 184–187, July–August, 1980.     

Equation for the number of quanta and the dissociation rate in a diatomic gas

We examine vibrational relaxation in a one-component diatomic gas, the molecules of which are described by a Morse potential. An expression is obtained for the mean number of quanta of a molecule assuming there exists a sharp boundary which separates vibrational levels into two groups. In each group there dominates either vibrational-quantum exchange processes or energy-exchange processes between the vibrational and translational degrees of freedom. By solving numerically the system of equations for the number of quanta and for the dissociation rate for times larger than the vibrational relaxation time, the dependence of the dissociation constant on the number of quanta is obtained.