WorldWideScience

Sample records for turbulence universal scaling

  1. Turbulence and fossil turbulence lead to life in the universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibson, Carl H

    2013-01-01

    Turbulence is defined as an eddy-like state of fluid motion where the inertial-vortex forces of the eddies are larger than all the other forces that tend to damp the eddies out. Fossil turbulence is a perturbation produced by turbulence that persists after the fluid ceases to be turbulent at the scale of the perturbation. Because vorticity is produced at small scales, turbulence must cascade from small scales to large, providing a consistent physical basis for Kolmogorovian universal similarity laws. Oceanic and astrophysical mixing and diffusion are dominated by fossil turbulence and fossil turbulent waves. Observations from space telescopes show turbulence and vorticity existed in the beginning of the universe and that their fossils persist. Fossils of big bang turbulence include spin and the dark matter of galaxies: clumps of ∼10 12 frozen hydrogen planets that make globular star clusters as seen by infrared and microwave space telescopes. When the planets were hot gas, they hosted the formation of life in a cosmic soup of hot-water oceans as they merged to form the first stars and chemicals. Because spontaneous life formation according to the standard cosmological model is virtually impossible, the existence of life falsifies the standard cosmological model. (paper)

  2. Intermittency and universality of small scales of passive scalar in turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotoh, Toshiyuki; Watanabe, Takeshi

    2014-11-01

    Recent experiments and Direct Numerical Simulations (DNSs) suggest that the small scale statistics of passive scalar may not be as ``universal'' as in the velocity case. To address this problem, we study the moments of scalar increment in steady turbulence at Rλ > 800 by using DNS up to the grid points of 40963. In order for the scalar and turbulent flow to be as faithful as possible to the assumptions that would be made in theories, Scalar 1 and Scalar 2 are simultaneously convected by the identical isotropic turbulent flow but excited by two different methods. Scalar 1 is excited by the random scalar injection which is isotropic, Gaussian and white in time at low wavenumber band, while Scalar 2 is excited by the uniform mean scalar gradient. The moments of two scalars as functions of the separation vector are expanded in terms of the Legendre polynomials to extract the scaling exponents of the moments up to the 4th anisotropic sector for Scalar 2. It is found that the exponents of the isotropic sectors seem to have the same values at separation distances in the narrow range over which the 4/3 law holds simultaneously for two scalars. The exponents of the anisotropic sectors and the cumulants of the moments will also be reported. HPCI, JHPCN, Grant-in-Aid for Sci. Res. No.24360068, Ministry of Edu. Sci., Japan.

  3. Signatures of non-universal large scales in conditional structure functions from various turbulent flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blum, Daniel B; Voth, Greg A; Bewley, Gregory P; Bodenschatz, Eberhard; Gibert, Mathieu; Xu Haitao; Gylfason, Ármann; Mydlarski, Laurent; Yeung, P K

    2011-01-01

    We present a systematic comparison of conditional structure functions in nine turbulent flows. The flows studied include forced isotropic turbulence simulated on a periodic domain, passive grid wind tunnel turbulence in air and in pressurized SF 6 , active grid wind tunnel turbulence (in both synchronous and random driving modes), the flow between counter-rotating discs, oscillating grid turbulence and the flow in the Lagrangian exploration module (in both constant and random driving modes). We compare longitudinal Eulerian second-order structure functions conditioned on the instantaneous large-scale velocity in each flow to assess the ways in which the large scales affect the small scales in a variety of turbulent flows. Structure functions are shown to have larger values when the large-scale velocity significantly deviates from the mean in most flows, suggesting that dependence on the large scales is typical in many turbulent flows. The effects of the large-scale velocity on the structure functions can be quite strong, with the structure function varying by up to a factor of 2 when the large-scale velocity deviates from the mean by ±2 standard deviations. In several flows, the effects of the large-scale velocity are similar at all the length scales we measured, indicating that the large-scale effects are scale independent. In a few flows, the effects of the large-scale velocity are larger on the smallest length scales. (paper)

  4. The Phenomenology of Small-Scale Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sreenivasan, K. R.; Antonia, R. A.

    I have sometimes thought that what makes a man's work classic is often just this multiplicity [of interpretations], which invites and at the same time resists our craving for a clear understanding. Wright (1982, p. 34), on Wittgenstein's philosophy Small-scale turbulence has been an area of especially active research in the recent past, and several useful research directions have been pursued. Here, we selectively review this work. The emphasis is on scaling phenomenology and kinematics of small-scale structure. After providing a brief introduction to the classical notions of universality due to Kolmogorov and others, we survey the existing work on intermittency, refined similarity hypotheses, anomalous scaling exponents, derivative statistics, intermittency models, and the structure and kinematics of small-scale structure - the latter aspect coming largely from the direct numerical simulation of homogeneous turbulence in a periodic box.

  5. Scaling, Intermittency and Decay of MHD Turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lazarian, A.; Cho, Jungyeon

    2005-01-01

    We discuss a few recent developments that are important for understanding of MHD turbulence. First, MHD turbulence is not so messy as it is usually believed. In fact, the notion of strong non-linear coupling of compressible and incompressible motions along MHD cascade is not tenable. Alfven, slow and fast modes of MHD turbulence follow their own cascades and exhibit degrees of anisotropy consistent with theoretical expectations. Second, the fast decay of turbulence is not related to the compressibility of fluid. Rates of decay of compressible and incompressible motions are very similar. Third, viscosity by neutrals does not suppress MHD turbulence in a partially ionized gas. Instead, MHD turbulence develops magnetic cascade at scales below the scale at which neutrals damp ordinary hydrodynamic motions. Forth, density statistics does not exhibit the universality that the velocity and magnetic field do. For instance, at small Mach numbers the density is anisotropic, but it gets isotropic at high Mach numbers. Fifth, the intermittency of magnetic field and velocity are different. Both depend on whether the measurements are done in a local system of reference oriented along the local magnetic field or in the global system of reference related to the mean magnetic field

  6. Mixing in 3D Sparse Multi-Scale Grid Generated Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usama, Syed; Kopec, Jacek; Tellez, Jackson; Kwiatkowski, Kamil; Redondo, Jose; Malik, Nadeem

    2017-04-01

    Flat 2D fractal grids are known to alter turbulence characteristics downstream of the grid as compared to the regular grids with the same blockage ratio and the same mass inflow rates [1]. This has excited interest in the turbulence community for possible exploitation for enhanced mixing and related applications. Recently, a new 3D multi-scale grid design has been proposed [2] such that each generation of length scale of turbulence grid elements is held in its own frame, the overall effect is a 3D co-planar arrangement of grid elements. This produces a 'sparse' grid system whereby each generation of grid elements produces a turbulent wake pattern that interacts with the other wake patterns downstream. A critical motivation here is that the effective blockage ratio in the 3D Sparse Grid Turbulence (3DSGT) design is significantly lower than in the flat 2D counterpart - typically the blockage ratio could be reduced from say 20% in 2D down to 4% in the 3DSGT. If this idea can be realized in practice, it could potentially greatly enhance the efficiency of turbulent mixing and transfer processes clearly having many possible applications. Work has begun on the 3DSGT experimentally using Surface Flow Image Velocimetry (SFIV) [3] at the European facility in the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization located in Gottingen, Germany and also at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) in Spain, and numerically using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia and in University of Warsaw in Poland. DNS is the most useful method to compare the experimental results with, and we are studying different types of codes such as Imcompact3d, and OpenFoam. Many variables will eventually be investigated for optimal mixing conditions. For example, the number of scale generations, the spacing between frames, the size ratio of grid elements, inflow conditions, etc. We will report upon the first set of findings

  7. Reynolds number scaling of straining motions in turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elsinga, Gerrit; Ishihara, T.; Goudar, M. V.; da Silva, C. B.; Hunt, J. C. R.

    2017-11-01

    Strain is an important fluid motion in turbulence as it is associated with the kinetic energy dissipation rate, vorticity stretching, and the dispersion of passive scalars. The present study investigates the scaling of the turbulent straining motions by evaluating the flow in the eigenframe of the local strain-rate tensor. The analysis is based on DNS of homogeneous isotropic turbulence covering a Reynolds number range Reλ = 34.6 - 1131. The resulting flow pattern reveals a shear layer containing tube-like vortices and a dissipation sheet, which both scale on the Kolmogorov length scale, η. The vorticity stretching motions scale on the Taylor length scale, while the flow outside the shear layer scales on the integral length scale. These scaling results are consistent with those in wall-bounded flow, which suggests a quantitative universality between the different flows. The overall coherence length of the vorticity is 120 η in all directions, which is considerably larger than the typical size of individual vortices, and reflects the importance of spatial organization at the small scales. Transitions in flow structure are identified at Reλ 45 and 250. Below these respective Reynolds numbers, the small-scale motions and the vorticity stretching motions appear underdeveloped.

  8. Time change and universality in turbulence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole Eiler; Schmiegel, Jürgen

    of the probability densities of turbulent velocity increments. Furthermore, the application of a time change in terms of the scale parameter δ of the normal inverse Gaussian distribution results in a collapse of the densities of velocity increments onto Reynolds number independent distributions. We discuss this kind...... experiment. Taylor Reynolds numbers range from Rλ = 80 for the wind tunnel experiment up to Rλ = 17000 for the atmospheric boundary layer experiment. Empirical findings strongly support the appropriateness of normal inverse Gaussian distributions for a parsimonious and universal description...

  9. Extreme value statistics and finite-size scaling at the ecological extinction/laminar-turbulence transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shih, Hong-Yan; Goldenfeld, Nigel

    Experiments on transitional turbulence in pipe flow seem to show that turbulence is a transient metastable state since the measured mean lifetime of turbulence puffs does not diverge asymptotically at a critical Reynolds number. Yet measurements reveal that the lifetime scales with Reynolds number in a super-exponential way reminiscent of extreme value statistics, and simulations and experiments in Couette and channel flow exhibit directed percolation type scaling phenomena near a well-defined transition. This universality class arises from the interplay between small-scale turbulence and a large-scale collective zonal flow, which exhibit predator-prey behavior. Why is asymptotically divergent behavior not observed? Using directed percolation and a stochastic individual level model of predator-prey dynamics related to transitional turbulence, we investigate the relation between extreme value statistics and power law critical behavior, and show that the paradox is resolved by carefully defining what is measured in the experiments. We theoretically derive the super-exponential scaling law, and using finite-size scaling, show how the same data can give both super-exponential behavior and power-law critical scaling.

  10. Scales and scaling in turbulent ocean sciences; physics-biology coupling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitt, Francois

    2015-04-01

    Geophysical fields possess huge fluctuations over many spatial and temporal scales. In the ocean, such property at smaller scales is closely linked to marine turbulence. The velocity field is varying from large scales to the Kolmogorov scale (mm) and scalar fields from large scales to the Batchelor scale, which is often much smaller. As a consequence, it is not always simple to determine at which scale a process should be considered. The scale question is hence fundamental in marine sciences, especially when dealing with physics-biology coupling. For example, marine dynamical models have typically a grid size of hundred meters or more, which is more than 105 times larger than the smallest turbulence scales (Kolmogorov scale). Such scale is fine for the dynamics of a whale (around 100 m) but for a fish larvae (1 cm) or a copepod (1 mm) a description at smaller scales is needed, due to the nonlinear nature of turbulence. The same is verified also for biogeochemical fields such as passive and actives tracers (oxygen, fluorescence, nutrients, pH, turbidity, temperature, salinity...) In this framework, we will discuss the scale problem in turbulence modeling in the ocean, and the relation of Kolmogorov's and Batchelor's scales of turbulence in the ocean, with the size of marine animals. We will also consider scaling laws for organism-particle Reynolds numbers (from whales to bacteria), and possible scaling laws for organism's accelerations.

  11. Turbulence Intensity Scaling: A Fugue

    OpenAIRE

    Basse, Nils T.

    2018-01-01

    We study streamwise turbulence intensity definitions using smooth- and rough-wall pipe flow measurements made in the Princeton Superpipe. Scaling of turbulence intensity with the bulk (and friction) Reynolds number is provided for the definitions. The turbulence intensity is proportional to the square root of the friction factor with the same proportionality constant for smooth- and rough-wall pipe flow. Turbulence intensity definitions providing the best description of the measurements are i...

  12. On spectral scaling laws for incompressible anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galtier, Sebastien; Pouquet, Annick; Mangeney, Andre

    2005-01-01

    A heuristic model is given for anisotropic magnetohydrodynamics turbulence in the presence of a uniform external magnetic field B 0 e parallel . The model is valid for both moderate and strong B 0 and is able to describe both the strong and weak wave turbulence regimes as well as the transition between them. The main ingredient of the model is the assumption of constant ratio at all scales between the linear wave period and the nonlinear turnover time scale. Contrary to the model of critical balance introduced by Goldreich and Sridhar [Astrophys. J. 438, 763 (1995)], it is not assumed, in addition, that this ratio be equal to unity at all scales. This allows us to make use of the Iroshnikov-Kraichnan phenomenology; it is then possible to recover the widely observed anisotropic scaling law k parallel ∝k perpendicular 2/3 between parallel and perpendicular wave numbers (with reference to B 0 e parallel and to obtain for the total-energy spectrum E(k perpendicular ,k parallel )∼k perpendicular -α k parallel -β the universal prediction, 3α+2β=7. In particular, with such a prediction, the weak Alfven wave turbulence constant-flux solution is recovered and, for the first time, a possible explanation to its precursor found numerically by Galtier et al. [J. Plasma Phys. 63, 447 (2000)] is given.

  13. Renormalization Group Theory of Bolgiano Scaling in Boussinesq Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubinstein, Robert

    1994-01-01

    Bolgiano scaling in Boussinesq turbulence is analyzed using the Yakhot-Orszag renormalization group. For this purpose, an isotropic model is introduced. Scaling exponents are calculated by forcing the temperature equation so that the temperature variance flux is constant in the inertial range. Universal amplitudes associated with the scaling laws are computed by expanding about a logarithmic theory. Connections between this formalism and the direct interaction approximation are discussed. It is suggested that the Yakhot-Orszag theory yields a lowest order approximate solution of a regularized direct interaction approximation which can be corrected by a simple iterative procedure.

  14. Statistics and scaling of turbulence in a spatially developing mixing layer at Reλ = 250

    KAUST Repository

    Attili, Antonio

    2012-03-21

    The turbulent flow originating from the interaction between two parallel streams with different velocities is studied by means of direct numerical simulation. Rather than the more common temporal evolving layer, a spatially evolving configuration, with perturbed laminar inlet conditions is considered. The streamwise evolution and the self-similar state of turbulence statistics are reported and compared to results available in the literature. The characteristics of the transitional region agree with those observed in other simulations and experiments of mixing layers originating from laminar inlets. The present results indicate that the transitional region depends strongly on the inlet flow. Conversely, the self-similar state of turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation agrees quantitatively with those in a temporal mixing layer developing from turbulent initial conditions [M. M. Rogers and R. D. Moser, “Direct simulation of a self-similar turbulent mixing layer,” Phys. Fluids6, 903 (1994)]. The statistical features of turbulence in the self-similar region have been analysed in terms of longitudinal velocity structure functions, and scaling exponents are estimated by applying the extended self-similarity concept. In the small scale range (60 < r/η < 250), the scaling exponents display the universal anomalous scaling observed in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The hypothesis of isotropy recovery holds in the turbulent mixing layer despite the presence of strong shear and large-scale structures, independently of the means of turbulence generation. At larger scales (r/η > 400), the mean shear and large coherent structures result in a significant deviation from predictions based on homogeneous isotropic turbulence theory. In this second scaling range, the numerical values of the exponents agree quantitatively with those reported for a variety of other flows characterized by strong shear, such as boundary layers, as well as channel and wake flows.

  15. Statistics and scaling of turbulence in a spatially developing mixing layer at Reλ = 250

    KAUST Repository

    Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio

    2012-01-01

    The turbulent flow originating from the interaction between two parallel streams with different velocities is studied by means of direct numerical simulation. Rather than the more common temporal evolving layer, a spatially evolving configuration, with perturbed laminar inlet conditions is considered. The streamwise evolution and the self-similar state of turbulence statistics are reported and compared to results available in the literature. The characteristics of the transitional region agree with those observed in other simulations and experiments of mixing layers originating from laminar inlets. The present results indicate that the transitional region depends strongly on the inlet flow. Conversely, the self-similar state of turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation agrees quantitatively with those in a temporal mixing layer developing from turbulent initial conditions [M. M. Rogers and R. D. Moser, “Direct simulation of a self-similar turbulent mixing layer,” Phys. Fluids6, 903 (1994)]. The statistical features of turbulence in the self-similar region have been analysed in terms of longitudinal velocity structure functions, and scaling exponents are estimated by applying the extended self-similarity concept. In the small scale range (60 < r/η < 250), the scaling exponents display the universal anomalous scaling observed in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The hypothesis of isotropy recovery holds in the turbulent mixing layer despite the presence of strong shear and large-scale structures, independently of the means of turbulence generation. At larger scales (r/η > 400), the mean shear and large coherent structures result in a significant deviation from predictions based on homogeneous isotropic turbulence theory. In this second scaling range, the numerical values of the exponents agree quantitatively with those reported for a variety of other flows characterized by strong shear, such as boundary layers, as well as channel and wake flows.

  16. Spatial structure of ion-scale plasma turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yasuhito eNarita

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Spatial structure of small-scale plasma turbulence is studied under different conditions of plasma parameter beta directly in the three-dimensional wave vector domain. Two independent approaches are taken: observations of turbulent magnetic field fluctuations in the solar wind measured by four Cluster spacecraft, and direct numerical simulations of plasma turbulence using the hybrid code AIKEF, both resolving turbulence on the ion kinetic scales. The two methods provide independently evidence of wave vector anisotropy as a function of beta. Wave vector anisotropy is characterized primarily by an extension of the energy spectrum in the direction perpendicular to the large-scale magnetic field. The spectrum is strongly anisotropic at lower values of beta, and is more isotropic at higher values of beta. Cluster magnetic field data analysis also provides evidence of axial asymmetry of the spectrum in the directions around the large-scale field. Anisotropy is interpreted as filament formation as plasma evolves into turbulence. Axial asymmetry is interpreted as the effect of radial expansion of the solar wind from the corona.

  17. Modelling high Reynolds number wall-turbulence interactions in laboratory experiments using large-scale free-stream turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogan, Eda; Hearst, R Jason; Ganapathisubramani, Bharathram

    2017-03-13

    A turbulent boundary layer subjected to free-stream turbulence is investigated in order to ascertain the scale interactions that dominate the near-wall region. The results are discussed in relation to a canonical high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layer because previous studies have reported considerable similarities between these two flows. Measurements were acquired simultaneously from four hot wires mounted to a rake which was traversed through the boundary layer. Particular focus is given to two main features of both canonical high Reynolds number boundary layers and boundary layers subjected to free-stream turbulence: (i) the footprint of the large scales in the logarithmic region on the near-wall small scales, specifically the modulating interaction between these scales, and (ii) the phase difference in amplitude modulation. The potential for a turbulent boundary layer subjected to free-stream turbulence to 'simulate' high Reynolds number wall-turbulence interactions is discussed. The results of this study have encouraging implications for future investigations of the fundamental scale interactions that take place in high Reynolds number flows as it demonstrates that these can be achieved at typical laboratory scales.This article is part of the themed issue 'Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  18. Scale separation closure and Alfven wave turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, C.Y.; Mahajan, S.M.

    1985-04-01

    Based on the concept of scale separation between coherent response function and incoherent source for renormalized turbulence theories, a closure scheme is proposed. A model problem dealing with shear-Alfven wave turbulence is numerically solved; the solution explicitly shows expected turbulence features such as frequency shift from linear modes, band-broadening, and a power law dependence for the turbulence spectrum

  19. Macro-scale turbulence modelling for flows in porous media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinson, F.

    2006-03-01

    - This work deals with the macroscopic modeling of turbulence in porous media. It concerns heat exchangers, nuclear reactors as well as urban flows, etc. The objective of this study is to describe in an homogenized way, by the mean of a spatial average operator, turbulent flows in a solid matrix. In addition to this first operator, the use of a statistical average operator permits to handle the pseudo-aleatory character of turbulence. The successive application of both operators allows us to derive the balance equations of the kind of flows under study. Two major issues are then highlighted, the modeling of dispersion induced by the solid matrix and the turbulence modeling at a macroscopic scale (Reynolds tensor and turbulent dispersion). To this aim, we lean on the local modeling of turbulence and more precisely on the k - ε RANS models. The methodology of dispersion study, derived thanks to the volume averaging theory, is extended to turbulent flows. Its application includes the simulation, at a microscopic scale, of turbulent flows within a representative elementary volume of the porous media. Applied to channel flows, this analysis shows that even within the turbulent regime, dispersion remains one of the dominating phenomena within the macro-scale modeling framework. A two-scale analysis of the flow allows us to understand the dominating role of the drag force in the kinetic energy transfers between scales. Transfers between the mean part and the turbulent part of the flow are formally derived. This description significantly improves our understanding of the issue of macroscopic modeling of turbulence and leads us to define the sub-filter production and the wake dissipation. A f - f - w >f model is derived. It is based on three balance equations for the turbulent kinetic energy, the viscous dissipation and the wake dissipation. Furthermore, a dynamical predictor for the friction coefficient is proposed. This model is then successfully applied to the study of

  20. Outer scale of atmospheric turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukin, Vladimir P.

    2005-10-01

    In the early 70's, the scientists in Italy (A.Consortini, M.Bertolotti, L.Ronchi), USA (R.Buser, Ochs, S.Clifford) and USSR (V.Pokasov, V.Lukin) almost simultaneously discovered the phenomenon of deviation from the power law and the effect of saturation for the structure phase function. During a period of 35 years we have performed successively the investigations of the effect of low-frequency spectral range of atmospheric turbulence on the optical characteristics. The influence of the turbulence models as well as a outer scale of turbulence on the characteristics of telescopes and systems of laser beam formations has been determined too.

  1. Turbulent Flame Speed Scaling for Positive Markstein Number Expanding Flames in Near Isotropic Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Wu, Fujia; Law, Chung

    2012-11-01

    In this work we clarify the role of Markstein diffusivity on turbulent flame speed and it's scaling, from analysis and experimental measurements on constant-pressure expanding flames propagating in near isotropic turbulence. For all C0-C4 hydrocarbon-air mixtures presented in this work and recently published C8 data from Leeds, the normalized turbulent flame speed data of individual mixtures approximately follows the recent theoretical and experimental ReT, f 0 . 5 scaling, where the average radius is the length scale and thermal diffusivity is the transport property. We observe that for a constant ReT, f 0 . 5 , the normalized turbulent flame speed decreases with increasing Mk. This could be explained by considering Markstein diffusivity as the large wavenumber, flame surface fluctuation dissipation mechanism. As originally suggested by the theory, replacing thermal diffusivity with Markstein diffusivity in the turbulence Reynolds number definition above, the present and Leeds dataset could be scaled by the new ReT, f 0 . 5 irrespective of the fuel considered, equivalence ratio, pressure and turbulence intensity for positive Mk flames. This work was supported by the Combustion Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001198 and by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

  2. An Optimal Parametrization of Turbulent Scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thalabard, S.

    2015-12-01

    To numerically capture the large-scale dynamics of atmospheric flows, geophysicists need to rely on reasonable parametrizations of the energy transfers to and from the non-resolved small scale eddies, mediated through turbulence. The task is notoriously not trivial, and is typically solved by ingenious but ad-hoc elaborations on the concept of eddy viscosities. The difficulty is tied into the intrinsic Non-Gaussianity of turbulence, a feature that may explain why standard Quasi-Normal cumulant discard statistical closure strategies can fail dramatically, an example being the development of negative energy spectra in Millionshtchikov's 1941 Quasi-Normal (QN) theory. While Orszag's 1977 Eddy Damped Quasi Normal Markovian closure (EDQNM) provides an ingenious patch to the issue, the reason why the QN theory fails so badly is not so clear. Are closures necessarily either trivial or ad-hoc, when proxies for true ensemble averages are taken to be Gaussian ? The purpose of the talk is to answer negatively, using the lights of a new ``optimal closure framework'' recently exposed by [Turkington,2013]. For turbulence problems, the optimal closure allows a consistent use of a Gaussian Ansatz (and corresponding vanishing third cumulant) that also retains an intrinsic damping. The key to this apparent paradox lies in a clear distinction between the true ensemble averages and their proxies, most easily grasped provided one uses the Liouville equation as a starting point, rather than the cumulant hierarchy. Schematically said, closure is achieved by minimizing a lack-of-fit residual, which retains the intrinsic features of the true dynamics. The optimal closure is not restricted to the Gaussian modeling. Yet, for the sake of clarity, I will discuss the optimal closure on a problem where it can be entirely implemented, and compared to DNS : the relaxation of an arbitrarily far from equilibrium energy shell towards the Gibbs equilibrium for truncated Euler dynamics. Predictive

  3. Multi-time, multi-scale correlation functions in turbulence and in turbulent models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Biferale, L.; Boffetta, G.; Celani, A.; Toschi, F.

    1999-01-01

    A multifractal-like representation for multi-time, multi-scale velocity correlation in turbulence and dynamical turbulent models is proposed. The importance of subleading contributions to time correlations is highlighted. The fulfillment of the dynamical constraints due to the equations of motion is

  4. Universal Probability Distribution Function for Bursty Transport in Plasma Turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandberg, I.; Benkadda, S.; Garbet, X.; Ropokis, G.; Hizanidis, K.; Castillo-Negrete, D. del

    2009-01-01

    Bursty transport phenomena associated with convective motion present universal statistical characteristics among different physical systems. In this Letter, a stochastic univariate model and the associated probability distribution function for the description of bursty transport in plasma turbulence is presented. The proposed stochastic process recovers the universal distribution of density fluctuations observed in plasma edge of several magnetic confinement devices and the remarkable scaling between their skewness S and kurtosis K. Similar statistical characteristics of variabilities have been also observed in other physical systems that are characterized by convection such as the x-ray fluctuations emitted by the Cygnus X-1 accretion disc plasmas and the sea surface temperature fluctuations.

  5. Energy partitioning constraints at kinetic scales in low-β turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gershman, Daniel J.; F.-Viñas, Adolfo; Dorelli, John C.; Goldstein, Melvyn L.; Shuster, Jason; Avanov, Levon A.; Boardsen, Scott A.; Stawarz, Julia E.; Schwartz, Steven J.; Schiff, Conrad; Lavraud, Benoit; Saito, Yoshifumi; Paterson, William R.; Giles, Barbara L.; Pollock, Craig J.; Strangeway, Robert J.; Russell, Christopher T.; Torbert, Roy B.; Moore, Thomas E.; Burch, James L.

    2018-02-01

    Turbulence is a fundamental physical process through which energy injected into a system at large scales cascades to smaller scales. In collisionless plasmas, turbulence provides a critical mechanism for dissipating electromagnetic energy. Here, we present observations of plasma fluctuations in low-β turbulence using data from NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in Earth's magnetosheath. We provide constraints on the partitioning of turbulent energy density in the fluid, ion-kinetic, and electron-kinetic ranges. Magnetic field fluctuations dominated the energy density spectrum throughout the fluid and ion-kinetic ranges, consistent with previous observations of turbulence in similar plasma regimes. However, at scales shorter than the electron inertial length, fluctuation power in electron kinetic energy significantly exceeded that of the magnetic field, resulting in an electron-motion-regulated cascade at small scales. This dominance is highly relevant for the study of turbulence in highly magnetized laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.

  6. Beyond scale separation in gyrokinetic turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garbet, X.; Sarazin, Y.; Grandgirard, V.; Dif-Pradalier, G.; Darmet, G.; Ghendrih, Ph.; Angelino, P.; Bertrand, P.; Besse, N.; Gravier, E.; Morel, P.; Sonnendruecker, E.; Crouseilles, N.; Dischler, J.-M.; Latu, G.; Violard, E.; Brunetti, M.; Brunner, S.; Lapillonne, X.; Tran, T.-M.; Villard, L.; Boulet, M.

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents the results obtained with a set of gyrokinetic codes based on a semi-Lagrangian scheme. Several physics issues are addressed, namely, the comparison between fluid and kinetic descriptions, the intermittent behaviour of flux driven turbulence and the role of large scale flows in toroidal ITG turbulence. The question of the initialization of full-F simulations is also discussed

  7. Composite asymptotic expansions and scaling wall turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panton, Ronald L

    2007-03-15

    In this article, the assumptions and reasoning that yield composite asymptotic expansions for wall turbulence are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the scaling quantities that are used to render the variables non-dimensional and of order one. An asymptotic expansion is proposed for the streamwise Reynolds stress that accounts for the active and inactive turbulence by using different scalings. The idea is tested with the data from the channel flows and appears to have merit.

  8. FAST MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLIFICATION IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE: GROWTH OF COLLISIONLESS PLASMA INSTABILITIES IN TURBULENT MEDIA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Falceta-Gonçalves, D. [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS (United Kingdom); Kowal, G. [Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Arlindo Bettio, 1000, São Paulo, SP 03828-000 (Brazil)

    2015-07-20

    In this work we report on a numerical study of the cosmic magnetic field amplification due to collisionless plasma instabilities. The collisionless magnetohydrodynamic equations derived account for the pressure anisotropy that leads, in specific conditions, to the firehose and mirror instabilities. We study the time evolution of seed fields in turbulence under the influence of such instabilities. An approximate analytical time evolution of the magnetic field is provided. The numerical simulations and the analytical predictions are compared. We found that (i) amplification of the magnetic field was efficient in firehose-unstable turbulent regimes, but not in the mirror-unstable models; (ii) the growth rate of the magnetic energy density is much faster than the turbulent dynamo; and (iii) the efficient amplification occurs at small scales. The analytical prediction for the correlation between the growth timescales and pressure anisotropy is confirmed by the numerical simulations. These results reinforce the idea that pressure anisotropies—driven naturally in a turbulent collisionless medium, e.g., the intergalactic medium, could efficiently amplify the magnetic field in the early universe (post-recombination era), previous to the collapse of the first large-scale gravitational structures. This mechanism, though fast for the small-scale fields (∼kpc scales), is unable to provide relatively strong magnetic fields at large scales. Other mechanisms that were not accounted for here (e.g., collisional turbulence once instabilities are quenched, velocity shear, or gravitationally induced inflows of gas into galaxies and clusters) could operate afterward to build up large-scale coherent field structures in the long time evolution.

  9. On the calculation of length scales for turbulent heat transfer correlation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barrett, M.J.; Hollingsworth, D.K.

    1999-07-01

    Turbulence length scale calculation methods were critically reviewed for their usefulness in boundary layer heat transfer correlations. Merits and deficiencies in each calculation method were presented. A rigorous method for calculating an energy-based integral scale was introduced. The method uses the variance of the streamwise velocity and a measured dissipation spectrum to calculate the length scale. Advantages and disadvantages of the new method were discussed. A principal advantage is the capability to decisively calculate length scales in a low-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer. The calculation method was tested with data from grid-generated, free-shear-layer, and wall-bounded turbulence. In each case, the method proved successful. The length scale is well behaved in turbulent boundary layers with momentum thickness Reynolds numbers from 400 to 2,100 and in flows with turbulent Reynolds numbers as low as 90.

  10. Gyrokinetic Simulations of Solar Wind Turbulence from Ion to Electron Scales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Howes, G. G.; TenBarge, J. M.; Dorland, W.; Numata, R.; Quataert, E.; Schekochihin, A. A.; Tatsuno, T.

    2011-01-01

    A three-dimensional, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulation of plasma turbulence resolving scales from the ion to electron gyroradius with a realistic mass ratio is presented, where all damping is provided by resolved physical mechanisms. The resulting energy spectra are quantitatively consistent with a magnetic power spectrum scaling of k -2.8 as observed in in situ spacecraft measurements of the 'dissipation range' of solar wind turbulence. Despite the strongly nonlinear nature of the turbulence, the linear kinetic Alfven wave mode quantitatively describes the polarization of the turbulent fluctuations. The collisional ion heating is measured at subion-Larmor radius scales, which provides evidence of the ion entropy cascade in an electromagnetic turbulence simulation.

  11. Transition in multiple-scale-lengths turbulence in plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Itoh, S.-I.; Yagi, M.; Kawasaki, M.; Kitazawa, A. [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics; Itoh, K. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

    2002-02-01

    The statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed for the cases where fluctuations with different scale-lengths coexist. Statistical nonlinear interactions between semi-micro and micro modes are first kept in the analysis as the drag, noise and drive. The nonlinear dynamics determines both the fluctuation levels and the cross field turbulent transport for the fixed global parameters. A quenching or suppressing effect is induced by their nonlinear interplay, even if both modes are unstable when analyzed independently. Influence of the inhomogeneous global radial electric field is discussed. A new insight is given for the physics of internal transport barrier. The thermal fluctuation of the scale length of {lambda}{sub D} is assumed to be statistically independent. The hierarchical structure is constructed according to the scale lengths. Transitions in turbulence are found and phase diagrams with cusp type catastrophe are obtained. Dynamics is followed. Statistical properties of the subcritical excitation are discussed. The probability density function (PDF) and transition probability are obtained. Power-laws are obtained in the PDF as well as in the transition probability. Generalization for the case where turbulence is composed of three-classes of modes is also developed. A new catastrophe of turbulent sates is obtained. (author)

  12. Transition in multiple-scale-lengths turbulence in plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, S.-I.; Yagi, M.; Kawasaki, M.; Kitazawa, A.

    2002-02-01

    The statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed for the cases where fluctuations with different scale-lengths coexist. Statistical nonlinear interactions between semi-micro and micro modes are first kept in the analysis as the drag, noise and drive. The nonlinear dynamics determines both the fluctuation levels and the cross field turbulent transport for the fixed global parameters. A quenching or suppressing effect is induced by their nonlinear interplay, even if both modes are unstable when analyzed independently. Influence of the inhomogeneous global radial electric field is discussed. A new insight is given for the physics of internal transport barrier. The thermal fluctuation of the scale length of λ D is assumed to be statistically independent. The hierarchical structure is constructed according to the scale lengths. Transitions in turbulence are found and phase diagrams with cusp type catastrophe are obtained. Dynamics is followed. Statistical properties of the subcritical excitation are discussed. The probability density function (PDF) and transition probability are obtained. Power-laws are obtained in the PDF as well as in the transition probability. Generalization for the case where turbulence is composed of three-classes of modes is also developed. A new catastrophe of turbulent sates is obtained. (author)

  13. EXTENDED SCALING LAWS IN NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mason, Joanne; Cattaneo, Fausto; Perez, Jean Carlos; Boldyrev, Stanislav

    2011-01-01

    Magnetized turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical systems, where it notoriously spans a broad range of spatial scales. Phenomenological theories of MHD turbulence describe the self-similar dynamics of turbulent fluctuations in the inertial range of scales. Numerical simulations serve to guide and test these theories. However, the computational power that is currently available restricts the simulations to Reynolds numbers that are significantly smaller than those in astrophysical settings. In order to increase computational efficiency and, therefore, probe a larger range of scales, one often takes into account the fundamental anisotropy of field-guided MHD turbulence, with gradients being much slower in the field-parallel direction. The simulations are then optimized by employing the reduced MHD equations and relaxing the field-parallel numerical resolution. In this work we explore a different possibility. We propose that there exist certain quantities that are remarkably stable with respect to the Reynolds number. As an illustration, we study the alignment angle between the magnetic and velocity fluctuations in MHD turbulence, measured as the ratio of two specially constructed structure functions. We find that the scaling of this ratio can be extended surprisingly well into the regime of relatively low Reynolds number. However, the extended scaling easily becomes spoiled when the dissipation range in the simulations is underresolved. Thus, taking the numerical optimization methods too far can lead to spurious numerical effects and erroneous representation of the physics of MHD turbulence, which in turn can affect our ability to identify correctly the physical mechanisms that are operating in astrophysical systems.

  14. Relating Lagrangian passive scalar scaling exponents to Eulerian scaling exponents in turbulence

    OpenAIRE

    Schmitt , François G

    2005-01-01

    Intermittency is a basic feature of fully developed turbulence, for both velocity and passive scalars. Intermittency is classically characterized by Eulerian scaling exponent of structure functions. The same approach can be used in a Lagrangian framework to characterize the temporal intermittency of the velocity and passive scalar concentration of a an element of fluid advected by a turbulent intermittent field. Here we focus on Lagrangian passive scalar scaling exponents, and discuss their p...

  15. Universal equations and constants of turbulent motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baumert, H Z

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a parameter-free theory of shear-generated turbulence at asymptotically high Reynolds numbers in incompressible fluids. It is based on a two-fluids concept. Both components are materially identical and inviscid. The first component is an ensemble of quasi-rigid dipole-vortex tubes (vortex filaments, excitations) as quasi-particles in chaotic motion. The second is a superfluid performing evasive motions between the tubes. The local dipole motions follow Helmholtz' law. The vortex radii scale with the energy-containing length scale. Collisions between quasi-particles lead either to annihilation (likewise rotation, turbulent dissipation) or to scattering (counterrotation, turbulent diffusion). There are analogies with birth and death processes of population dynamics and their master equations and with Landau's two-fluid theory of liquid helium. For free homogeneous decay the theory predicts the turbulent kinetic energy to follow t −1 . With an adiabatic wall condition it predicts the logarithmic law with von Kármán's constant as 1/√(2 π)= 0.399. Likewise rotating couples form localized dissipative patches almost at rest (→ intermittency) wherein under local quasi-steady conditions the spectrum evolves into an ‘Apollonian gear’ as discussed first by Herrmann (1990 Correlation and Connectivity (Dordrecht: Kluwer) pp 108–20). Dissipation happens exclusively at scale zero and at finite scales this system is frictionless and reminds of Prigogine's (1947 Etude Thermodynamique des Phenomenes Irreversibles (Liege: Desoer) p 143) law of minimum (here: zero) entropy production. The theory predicts further the prefactor of the 3D-wavenumber spectrum (a Kolmogorov constant) as 1/3 (4 π) 2/3 =1.802, well within the scatter range of observational, experimental and direct numerical simulation results. (paper)

  16. Universal equations and constants of turbulent motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumert, H. Z.

    2013-07-01

    This paper presents a parameter-free theory of shear-generated turbulence at asymptotically high Reynolds numbers in incompressible fluids. It is based on a two-fluids concept. Both components are materially identical and inviscid. The first component is an ensemble of quasi-rigid dipole-vortex tubes (vortex filaments, excitations) as quasi-particles in chaotic motion. The second is a superfluid performing evasive motions between the tubes. The local dipole motions follow Helmholtz' law. The vortex radii scale with the energy-containing length scale. Collisions between quasi-particles lead either to annihilation (likewise rotation, turbulent dissipation) or to scattering (counterrotation, turbulent diffusion). There are analogies with birth and death processes of population dynamics and their master equations and with Landau's two-fluid theory of liquid helium. For free homogeneous decay the theory predicts the turbulent kinetic energy to follow t-1. With an adiabatic wall condition it predicts the logarithmic law with von Kármán's constant as 1/\\sqrt {2\\,\\pi }= 0.399 . Likewise rotating couples form localized dissipative patches almost at rest (→ intermittency) wherein under local quasi-steady conditions the spectrum evolves into an ‘Apollonian gear’ as discussed first by Herrmann (1990 Correlation and Connectivity (Dordrecht: Kluwer) pp 108-20). Dissipation happens exclusively at scale zero and at finite scales this system is frictionless and reminds of Prigogine's (1947 Etude Thermodynamique des Phenomenes Irreversibles (Liege: Desoer) p 143) law of minimum (here: zero) entropy production. The theory predicts further the prefactor of the 3D-wavenumber spectrum (a Kolmogorov constant) as \\frac {1}{3}(4\\,\\pi )^{2/3}=1.802 , well within the scatter range of observational, experimental and direct numerical simulation results.

  17. Structure function scaling in a Reλ = 250 turbulent mixing layer

    KAUST Repository

    Attili, Antonio

    2011-12-22

    A highly resolved Direct Numerical Simulation of a spatially developing turbulent mixing layer is presented. In the fully developed region, the flow achieves a turbulent Reynolds number Reλ = 250, high enough for a clear separation between large and dissipative scales, so for the presence of an inertial range. Structure functions have been calculated in the self-similar region using velocity time series and Taylor\\'s frozen turbulence hypothesis. The Extended Self-Similarity (ESS) concept has been employed to evaluate relative scaling exponents. A wide range of scales with scaling exponents and intermittency levels equal to homogeneous isotropic turbulence has been identified. Moreover an additional scaling range exists for larger scales; it is characterized by smaller exponents, similar to the values reported in the literature for flows with strong shear.

  18. Structure function scaling in a Reλ = 250 turbulent mixing layer

    KAUST Repository

    Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio

    2011-01-01

    A highly resolved Direct Numerical Simulation of a spatially developing turbulent mixing layer is presented. In the fully developed region, the flow achieves a turbulent Reynolds number Reλ = 250, high enough for a clear separation between large and dissipative scales, so for the presence of an inertial range. Structure functions have been calculated in the self-similar region using velocity time series and Taylor's frozen turbulence hypothesis. The Extended Self-Similarity (ESS) concept has been employed to evaluate relative scaling exponents. A wide range of scales with scaling exponents and intermittency levels equal to homogeneous isotropic turbulence has been identified. Moreover an additional scaling range exists for larger scales; it is characterized by smaller exponents, similar to the values reported in the literature for flows with strong shear.

  19. Onset of meso-scale turbulence in active nematics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Doostmohammadi, A.; Shendruk, T.N.; Thijssen, K.; Yeomans, J.M.

    2017-01-01

    Meso-scale turbulence is an innate phenomenon, distinct from inertial turbulence, that spontaneously occurs at low Reynolds number in fluidized biological systems. This spatiotemporal disordered flow radically changes nutrient and molecular transport in living fluids and can strongly affect the

  20. Effects of forcing time scale on the simulated turbulent flows and turbulent collision statistics of inertial particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosa, B.; Parishani, H.; Ayala, O.; Wang, L.-P.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we study systematically the effects of forcing time scale in the large-scale stochastic forcing scheme of Eswaran and Pope [“An examination of forcing in direct numerical simulations of turbulence,” Comput. Fluids 16, 257 (1988)] on the simulated flow structures and statistics of forced turbulence. Using direct numerical simulations, we find that the forcing time scale affects the flow dissipation rate and flow Reynolds number. Other flow statistics can be predicted using the altered flow dissipation rate and flow Reynolds number, except when the forcing time scale is made unrealistically large to yield a Taylor microscale flow Reynolds number of 30 and less. We then study the effects of forcing time scale on the kinematic collision statistics of inertial particles. We show that the radial distribution function and the radial relative velocity may depend on the forcing time scale when it becomes comparable to the eddy turnover time. This dependence, however, can be largely explained in terms of altered flow Reynolds number and the changing range of flow length scales present in the turbulent flow. We argue that removing this dependence is important when studying the Reynolds number dependence of the turbulent collision statistics. The results are also compared to those based on a deterministic forcing scheme to better understand the role of large-scale forcing, relative to that of the small-scale turbulence, on turbulent collision of inertial particles. To further elucidate the correlation between the altered flow structures and dynamics of inertial particles, a conditional analysis has been performed, showing that the regions of higher collision rate of inertial particles are well correlated with the regions of lower vorticity. Regions of higher concentration of pairs at contact are found to be highly correlated with the region of high energy dissipation rate

  1. New time scale based k-epsilon model for near-wall turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Z.; Shih, T. H.

    1993-01-01

    A k-epsilon model is proposed for wall bonded turbulent flows. In this model, the eddy viscosity is characterized by a turbulent velocity scale and a turbulent time scale. The time scale is bounded from below by the Kolmogorov time scale. The dissipation equation is reformulated using this time scale and no singularity exists at the wall. The damping function used in the eddy viscosity is chosen to be a function of R(sub y) = (k(sup 1/2)y)/v instead of y(+). Hence, the model could be used for flows with separation. The model constants used are the same as in the high Reynolds number standard k-epsilon model. Thus, the proposed model will be also suitable for flows far from the wall. Turbulent channel flows at different Reynolds numbers and turbulent boundary layer flows with and without pressure gradient are calculated. Results show that the model predictions are in good agreement with direct numerical simulation and experimental data.

  2. The role of zonal flows in the saturation of multi-scale gyrokinetic turbulence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Staebler, G. M.; Candy, J. [General Atomics, San Diego, California 92186 (United States); Howard, N. T. [Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States); Holland, C. [University of California San Diego, San Diego, California 92093 (United States)

    2016-06-15

    The 2D spectrum of the saturated electric potential from gyrokinetic turbulence simulations that include both ion and electron scales (multi-scale) in axisymmetric tokamak geometry is analyzed. The paradigm that the turbulence is saturated when the zonal (axisymmetic) ExB flow shearing rate competes with linear growth is shown to not apply to the electron scale turbulence. Instead, it is the mixing rate by the zonal ExB velocity spectrum with the turbulent distribution function that competes with linear growth. A model of this mechanism is shown to be able to capture the suppression of electron-scale turbulence by ion-scale turbulence and the threshold for the increase in electron scale turbulence when the ion-scale turbulence is reduced. The model computes the strength of the zonal flow velocity and the saturated potential spectrum from the linear growth rate spectrum. The model for the saturated electric potential spectrum is applied to a quasilinear transport model and shown to accurately reproduce the electron and ion energy fluxes of the non-linear gyrokinetic multi-scale simulations. The zonal flow mixing saturation model is also shown to reproduce the non-linear upshift in the critical temperature gradient caused by zonal flows in ion-scale gyrokinetic simulations.

  3. Master equation for She-Leveque scaling and its classification in terms of other Markov models of developed turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nickelsen, Daniel

    2017-07-01

    The statistics of velocity increments in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence exhibit universal features in the limit of infinite Reynolds numbers. After Kolmogorov’s scaling law from 1941, many turbulence models aim for capturing these universal features, some are known to have an equivalent formulation in terms of Markov processes. We derive the Markov process equivalent to the particularly successful scaling law postulated by She and Leveque. The Markov process is a jump process for velocity increments u(r) in scale r in which the jumps occur randomly but with deterministic width in u. From its master equation we establish a prescription to simulate the She-Leveque process and compare it with Kolmogorov scaling. To put the She-Leveque process into the context of other established turbulence models on the Markov level, we derive a diffusion process for u(r) using two properties of the Navier-Stokes equation. This diffusion process already includes Kolmogorov scaling, extended self-similarity and a class of random cascade models. The fluctuation theorem of this Markov process implies a ‘second law’ that puts a loose bound on the multipliers of the random cascade models. This bound explicitly allows for instances of inverse cascades, which are necessary to satisfy the fluctuation theorem. By adding a jump process to the diffusion process, we go beyond Kolmogorov scaling and formulate the most general scaling law for the class of Markov processes having both diffusion and jump parts. This Markov scaling law includes She-Leveque scaling and a scaling law derived by Yakhot.

  4. Multi-scale viscosity model of turbulence for fully-developed channel flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kriventsev, V.; Yamaguchi, A.; Ninokata, H.

    2001-01-01

    The full text follows. Multi-Scale Viscosity (MSV) model is proposed for estimation of the Reynolds stresses in turbulent fully-developed flow in a straight channel of an arbitrary shape. We assume that flow in an ''ideal'' channel is always stable, i.e. laminar, but turbulence is developing process of external perturbations cased by wall roughness and other factors. We also assume that real flows are always affected by perturbations of every scale lower than the size of the channel. And the turbulence is generated in form of internal, or ''turbulent'' viscosity increase to preserve stability of ''disturbed'' flow. The main idea of MSV can be expressed in the following phenomenological rule: A local deformation of axial velocity can generate the turbulence with the intensity that keeps the value of local turbulent Reynolds number below some critical value. Here, the local turbulent Reynolds number is defined as a product of value of axial velocity deformation for a given scale and generic length of this scale divided by accumulated value of laminar and turbulent viscosity of lower scales. In MSV, the only empirical parameter is the critical Reynolds number that is estimated to be around 100. It corresponds for the largest scale which is hydraulic diameter of the channel and, therefore represents the regular Reynolds number. Thus, the value Re=100 corresponds to conditions when turbulent flow can appear in case of ''significant'' (comparable with size of channel) velocity disturbance in boundary and/or initial conditions for velocity. Of course, most of real flows in channels with relatively smooth walls remain laminar for this small Reynolds number because of absence of such ''significant'' perturbations. MSV model has been applied to the fully-developed turbulent flows in straight channels such as a circular tube and annular channel. Friction factor and velocity profiles predicted with MSV are in a very good agreement with numerous experimental data. Position of

  5. Analysis of small scale turbulent structures and the effect of spatial scales on gas transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnieders, Jana; Garbe, Christoph

    2014-05-01

    The exchange of gases through the air-sea interface strongly depends on environmental conditions such as wind stress and waves which in turn generate near surface turbulence. Near surface turbulence is a main driver of surface divergence which has been shown to cause highly variable transfer rates on relatively small spatial scales. Due to the cool skin of the ocean, heat can be used as a tracer to detect areas of surface convergence and thus gather information about size and intensity of a turbulent process. We use infrared imagery to visualize near surface aqueous turbulence and determine the impact of turbulent scales on exchange rates. Through the high temporal and spatial resolution of these types of measurements spatial scales as well as surface dynamics can be captured. The surface heat pattern is formed by distinct structures on two scales - small-scale short lived structures termed fish scales and larger scale cold streaks that are consistent with the footprints of Langmuir Circulations. There are two key characteristics of the observed surface heat patterns: 1. The surface heat patterns show characteristic features of scales. 2. The structure of these patterns change with increasing wind stress and surface conditions. In [2] turbulent cell sizes have been shown to systematically decrease with increasing wind speed until a saturation at u* = 0.7 cm/s is reached. Results suggest a saturation in the tangential stress. Similar behaviour has been observed by [1] for gas transfer measurements at higher wind speeds. In this contribution a new model to estimate the heat flux is applied which is based on the measured turbulent cell size und surface velocities. This approach allows the direct comparison of the net effect on heat flux of eddies of different sizes and a comparison to gas transfer measurements. Linking transport models with thermographic measurements, transfer velocities can be computed. In this contribution, we will quantify the effect of small scale

  6. Emergence of multi-scaling in fluid turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donzis, Diego; Yakhot, Victor

    2017-11-01

    We present new theoretical and numerical results on the transition to strong turbulence in an infinite fluid stirred by a Gaussian random force. The transition is defined as a first appearance of anomalous scaling of normalized moments of velocity derivatives (or dissipation rates) emerging from the low-Reynolds-number Gaussian background. It is shown that due to multi-scaling, strongly intermittent rare events can be quantitatively described in terms of an infinite number of different ``Reynolds numbers'' reflecting a multitude of anomalous scaling exponents. We found that anomalous scaling for high order moments emerges at very low Reynolds numbers implying that intense dissipative-range fluctuations are established at even lower Reynolds number than that required for an inertial range. Thus, our results suggest that information about inertial range dynamics can be obtained from dissipative scales even when the former does not exit. We discuss our further prediction that transition to fully anomalous turbulence disappears at Rλ < 3 . Support from NSF is acknowledged.

  7. Speculation about near-wall turbulence scales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yurchenko, N F

    2008-01-01

    A strategy to control near-wall turbulence modifying scales of fluid motion is developed. The boundary-layer flow is shown to respond selectively to the scale of streamwise vortices initiated, e.g. with the spanwise regular temperature distribution over a model surface. It is used to generate sustainable streamwise vortices and thus to optimize integral flow characteristics.

  8. Phenomenology of two-dimensional stably stratified turbulence under large-scale forcing

    KAUST Repository

    Kumar, Abhishek; Verma, Mahendra K.; Sukhatme, Jai

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we characterise the scaling of energy spectra, and the interscale transfer of energy and enstrophy, for strongly, moderately and weakly stably stratified two-dimensional (2D) turbulence, restricted in a vertical plane, under large-scale random forcing. In the strongly stratified case, a large-scale vertically sheared horizontal flow (VSHF) coexists with small scale turbulence. The VSHF consists of internal gravity waves and the turbulent flow has a kinetic energy (KE) spectrum that follows an approximate k−3 scaling with zero KE flux and a robust positive enstrophy flux. The spectrum of the turbulent potential energy (PE) also approximately follows a k−3 power-law and its flux is directed to small scales. For moderate stratification, there is no VSHF and the KE of the turbulent flow exhibits Bolgiano–Obukhov scaling that transitions from a shallow k−11/5 form at large scales, to a steeper approximate k−3 scaling at small scales. The entire range of scales shows a strong forward enstrophy flux, and interestingly, large (small) scales show an inverse (forward) KE flux. The PE flux in this regime is directed to small scales, and the PE spectrum is characterised by an approximate k−1.64 scaling. Finally, for weak stratification, KE is transferred upscale and its spectrum closely follows a k−2.5 scaling, while PE exhibits a forward transfer and its spectrum shows an approximate k−1.6 power-law. For all stratification strengths, the total energy always flows from large to small scales and almost all the spectral indicies are well explained by accounting for the scale-dependent nature of the corresponding flux.

  9. Phenomenology of two-dimensional stably stratified turbulence under large-scale forcing

    KAUST Repository

    Kumar, Abhishek

    2017-01-11

    In this paper, we characterise the scaling of energy spectra, and the interscale transfer of energy and enstrophy, for strongly, moderately and weakly stably stratified two-dimensional (2D) turbulence, restricted in a vertical plane, under large-scale random forcing. In the strongly stratified case, a large-scale vertically sheared horizontal flow (VSHF) coexists with small scale turbulence. The VSHF consists of internal gravity waves and the turbulent flow has a kinetic energy (KE) spectrum that follows an approximate k−3 scaling with zero KE flux and a robust positive enstrophy flux. The spectrum of the turbulent potential energy (PE) also approximately follows a k−3 power-law and its flux is directed to small scales. For moderate stratification, there is no VSHF and the KE of the turbulent flow exhibits Bolgiano–Obukhov scaling that transitions from a shallow k−11/5 form at large scales, to a steeper approximate k−3 scaling at small scales. The entire range of scales shows a strong forward enstrophy flux, and interestingly, large (small) scales show an inverse (forward) KE flux. The PE flux in this regime is directed to small scales, and the PE spectrum is characterised by an approximate k−1.64 scaling. Finally, for weak stratification, KE is transferred upscale and its spectrum closely follows a k−2.5 scaling, while PE exhibits a forward transfer and its spectrum shows an approximate k−1.6 power-law. For all stratification strengths, the total energy always flows from large to small scales and almost all the spectral indicies are well explained by accounting for the scale-dependent nature of the corresponding flux.

  10. On Electron-Scale Whistler Turbulence in the Solar Wind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narita, Y.; Nakamura, R.; Baumjohann, W.; Glassmeier, K.-H.; Motschmann, U.; Giles, B.; Magnes, W.; Fischer, D.; Torbert, R. B.; Russell, C. T.

    2016-01-01

    For the first time, the dispersion relation for turbulence magnetic field fluctuations in the solar wind is determined directly on small scales of the order of the electron inertial length, using four-point magnetometer observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. The data are analyzed using the high-resolution adaptive wave telescope technique. Small-scale solar wind turbulence is primarily composed of highly obliquely propagating waves, with dispersion consistent with that of the whistler mode.

  11. Long-range correlations and universality in plasma edge turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milligen, B.Ph. van; Pedrosa, M.A.; Carreras, B.A.

    1999-01-01

    Long-range correlations in turbulence, associated with self-similarity of the fluctuations, are a signature of transport by avalanches as occurs in Self-Organized Critical systems. We have investigated long-range correlations in plasma edge fluctuations in a variety of fusion devices, using the Rescaled-Range and similar techniques. We find that the degree of self-similarity in confining devices is high and similar between devices, and much different from non-confining devices where it is low. Likewise, we find that turbulent spectra show a high degree of similarity between devices. These findings strongly indicate the existence of universality in plasma edge (ohmic) turbulence, and demonstrate its non-Gaussian character. (author)

  12. TURBULENCE-GENERATED PROTON-SCALE STRUCTURES IN THE TERRESTRIAL MAGNETOSHEATH

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vörös, Zoltán; Narita, Yasuhito [Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz (Austria); Yordanova, Emiliya [Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala (Sweden); Echim, Marius M. [Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Bruxelles (Belgium); Consolini, Giuseppe, E-mail: zoltan.voeroes@oeaw.ac.at [INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Roma (Italy)

    2016-03-01

    Recent results of numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations suggest that in collisionless space plasmas, turbulence can spontaneously generate thin current sheets. These coherent structures can partially explain the intermittency and the non-homogenous distribution of localized plasma heating in turbulence. In this Letter, Cluster multi-point observations are used to investigate the distribution of magnetic field discontinuities and the associated small-scale current sheets in the terrestrial magnetosheath downstream of a quasi-parallel bow shock. It is shown experimentally, for the first time, that the strongest turbulence-generated current sheets occupy the long tails of probability distribution functions associated with extremal values of magnetic field partial derivatives. During the analyzed one-hour time interval, about a hundred strong discontinuities, possibly proton-scale current sheets, were observed.

  13. Scalings, spectra, and statistics of strong wave turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, P.A.

    1996-01-01

    A two-component model of strongly nonlinear wave turbulence is developed for a broad class of systems in which high-frequency electrostatic waves interact with low-frequency sound-like waves. In this model coherent nonlinear wave packets form and collapse amid a sea of incoherent background waves. It is shown that three classes of turbulence exist, typified by Langmuir, lower-hybrid, and upper-hybrid turbulence. Balance between power input to incoherent waves, and dissipation at the end of collapse determines power-law scalings of turbulent electrostatic energy density, density fluctuations, length and time scales. Knowledge of the evolution of collapsing packets enables probability distributions of the magnitudes of electric fields and density fluctuations to be calculated, yielding power-law dependences. Wavenumber spectra of collapsing waves and associated density fluctuations are also calculated and shown to have power-law forms. Applications to Langmuir, lower-hybrid, and upper-hybrid waves are discussed. In the Langmuir case the results agree with earlier theory and simulations, with one exception, which is consistent only with earlier simulations. In the lower-hybrid and upper-hybrid cases, the results are consistent with the few simulations to date. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

  14. Saturation of the turbulent dynamo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schober, J; Schleicher, D R G; Federrath, C; Bovino, S; Klessen, R S

    2015-08-01

    The origin of strong magnetic fields in the Universe can be explained by amplifying weak seed fields via turbulent motions on small spatial scales and subsequently transporting the magnetic energy to larger scales. This process is known as the turbulent dynamo and depends on the properties of turbulence, i.e., on the hydrodynamical Reynolds number and the compressibility of the gas, and on the magnetic diffusivity. While we know the growth rate of the magnetic energy in the linear regime, the saturation level, i.e., the ratio of magnetic energy to turbulent kinetic energy that can be reached, is not known from analytical calculations. In this paper we present a scale-dependent saturation model based on an effective turbulent resistivity which is determined by the turnover time scale of turbulent eddies and the magnetic energy density. The magnetic resistivity increases compared to the Spitzer value and the effective scale on which the magnetic energy spectrum is at its maximum moves to larger spatial scales. This process ends when the peak reaches a characteristic wave number k☆ which is determined by the critical magnetic Reynolds number. The saturation level of the dynamo also depends on the type of turbulence and differs for the limits of large and small magnetic Prandtl numbers Pm. With our model we find saturation levels between 43.8% and 1.3% for Pm≫1 and between 2.43% and 0.135% for Pm≪1, where the higher values refer to incompressible turbulence and the lower ones to highly compressible turbulence.

  15. Impact of large scale flows on turbulent transport

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarazin, Y [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC centre de Cadarache, 13108 St-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Grandgirard, V [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC centre de Cadarache, 13108 St-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Dif-Pradalier, G [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC centre de Cadarache, 13108 St-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Fleurence, E [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC centre de Cadarache, 13108 St-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Garbet, X [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC centre de Cadarache, 13108 St-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Ghendrih, Ph [Association Euratom-CEA, CEA/DSM/DRFC centre de Cadarache, 13108 St-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Bertrand, P [LPMIA-Universite Henri Poincare Nancy I, Boulevard des Aiguillettes BP239, 54506 Vandoe uvre-les-Nancy (France); Besse, N [LPMIA-Universite Henri Poincare Nancy I, Boulevard des Aiguillettes BP239, 54506 Vandoe uvre-les-Nancy (France); Crouseilles, N [IRMA, UMR 7501 CNRS/Universite Louis Pasteur, 7 rue Rene Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg (France); Sonnendruecker, E [IRMA, UMR 7501 CNRS/Universite Louis Pasteur, 7 rue Rene Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg (France); Latu, G [LSIIT, UMR 7005 CNRS/Universite Louis Pasteur, Bd Sebastien Brant BP10413, 67412 Illkirch (France); Violard, E [LSIIT, UMR 7005 CNRS/Universite Louis Pasteur, Bd Sebastien Brant BP10413, 67412 Illkirch (France)

    2006-12-15

    The impact of large scale flows on turbulent transport in magnetized plasmas is explored by means of various kinetic models. Zonal flows are found to lead to a non-linear upshift of turbulent transport in a 3D kinetic model for interchange turbulence. Such a transition is absent from fluid simulations, performed with the same numerical tool, which also predict a much larger transport. The discrepancy cannot be explained by zonal flows only, despite they being overdamped in fluids. Indeed, some difference remains, although reduced, when they are artificially suppressed. Zonal flows are also reported to trigger transport barriers in a 4D drift-kinetic model for slab ion temperature gradient (ITG) turbulence. The density gradient acts as a source drive for zonal flows, while their curvature back stabilizes the turbulence. Finally, 5D simulations of toroidal ITG modes with the global and full-f GYSELA code require the equilibrium density function to depend on the motion invariants only. If not, the generated strong mean flows can completely quench turbulent transport.

  16. Impact of large scale flows on turbulent transport

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarazin, Y; Grandgirard, V; Dif-Pradalier, G; Fleurence, E; Garbet, X; Ghendrih, Ph; Bertrand, P; Besse, N; Crouseilles, N; Sonnendruecker, E; Latu, G; Violard, E

    2006-01-01

    The impact of large scale flows on turbulent transport in magnetized plasmas is explored by means of various kinetic models. Zonal flows are found to lead to a non-linear upshift of turbulent transport in a 3D kinetic model for interchange turbulence. Such a transition is absent from fluid simulations, performed with the same numerical tool, which also predict a much larger transport. The discrepancy cannot be explained by zonal flows only, despite they being overdamped in fluids. Indeed, some difference remains, although reduced, when they are artificially suppressed. Zonal flows are also reported to trigger transport barriers in a 4D drift-kinetic model for slab ion temperature gradient (ITG) turbulence. The density gradient acts as a source drive for zonal flows, while their curvature back stabilizes the turbulence. Finally, 5D simulations of toroidal ITG modes with the global and full-f GYSELA code require the equilibrium density function to depend on the motion invariants only. If not, the generated strong mean flows can completely quench turbulent transport

  17. Turbulence Enhancement by Fractal Square Grids: Effects of the Number of Fractal Scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omilion, Alexis; Ibrahim, Mounir; Zhang, Wei

    2017-11-01

    Fractal square grids offer a unique solution for passive flow control as they can produce wakes with a distinct turbulence intensity peak and a prolonged turbulence decay region at the expense of only minimal pressure drop. While previous studies have solidified this characteristic of fractal square grids, how the number of scales (or fractal iterations N) affect turbulence production and decay of the induced wake is still not well understood. The focus of this research is to determine the relationship between the fractal iteration N and the turbulence produced in the wake flow using well-controlled water-tunnel experiments. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is used to measure the instantaneous velocity fields downstream of four different fractal grids with increasing number of scales (N = 1, 2, 3, and 4) and a conventional single-scale grid. By comparing the turbulent scales and statistics of the wake, we are able to determine how each iteration affects the peak turbulence intensity and the production/decay of turbulence from the grid. In light of the ability of these fractal grids to increase turbulence intensity with low pressure drop, this work can potentially benefit a wide variety of applications where energy efficient mixing or convective heat transfer is a key process.

  18. Subgrid-scale models for large-eddy simulation of rotating turbulent channel flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvis, Maurits H.; Bae, Hyunji Jane; Trias, F. Xavier; Abkar, Mahdi; Moin, Parviz; Verstappen, Roel

    2017-11-01

    We aim to design subgrid-scale models for large-eddy simulation of rotating turbulent flows. Rotating turbulent flows form a challenging test case for large-eddy simulation due to the presence of the Coriolis force. The Coriolis force conserves the total kinetic energy while transporting it from small to large scales of motion, leading to the formation of large-scale anisotropic flow structures. The Coriolis force may also cause partial flow laminarization and the occurrence of turbulent bursts. Many subgrid-scale models for large-eddy simulation are, however, primarily designed to parametrize the dissipative nature of turbulent flows, ignoring the specific characteristics of transport processes. We, therefore, propose a new subgrid-scale model that, in addition to the usual dissipative eddy viscosity term, contains a nondissipative nonlinear model term designed to capture transport processes, such as those due to rotation. We show that the addition of this nonlinear model term leads to improved predictions of the energy spectra of rotating homogeneous isotropic turbulence as well as of the Reynolds stress anisotropy in spanwise-rotating plane-channel flows. This work is financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under Project Number 613.001.212.

  19. Generation of large-scale vortives in compressible helical turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chkhetiani, O.G.; Gvaramadze, V.V.

    1989-01-01

    We consider generation of large-scale vortices in compressible self-gravitating turbulent medium. The closed equation describing evolution of the large-scale vortices in helical turbulence with finite correlation time is obtained. This equation has the form similar to the hydromagnetic dynamo equation, which allows us to call the vortx genertation effect the vortex dynamo. It is possible that principally the same mechanism is responsible both for amplification and maintenance of density waves and magnetic fields in gaseous disks of spiral galaxies. (author). 29 refs

  20. Electron Scale Structures and Magnetic Reconnection Signatures in the Turbulent Magnetosheath

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yordanova, E.; Voros, Z.; Varsani, A.; Graham, D. B.; Norgren, C.; Khotyaintsev, Yu. V.; Vaivads, A.; Eriksson, E.; Nakamura, R.; Lindqvist, P.-A.; hide

    2016-01-01

    Collisionless space plasma turbulence can generate reconnecting thin current sheets as suggested by recent results of numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission provides the first serious opportunity to verify whether small ion-electron-scale reconnection, generated by turbulence, resembles the reconnection events frequently observed in the magnetotail or at the magnetopause. Here we investigate field and particle observations obtained by the MMS fleet in the turbulent terrestrial magnetosheath behind quasi-parallel bow shock geometry. We observe multiple small-scale current sheets during the event and present a detailed look of one of the detected structures. The emergence of thin current sheets can lead to electron scale structures. Within these structures, we see signatures of ion demagnetization, electron jets, electron heating, and agyrotropy suggesting that MMS spacecraft observe reconnection at these scales.

  1. PREFACE: Turbulent Mixing and Beyond Turbulent Mixing and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abarzhi, Snezhana I.; Gauthier, Serge; Rosner, Robert

    2008-10-01

    mixing dynamics are interplayed with fundamental properties of the Euler and compressible Navier-Stokes equations, with the problem sensitivity to the initial conditions and to the boundary conditions at the discontinuities, and with its stochastic description. The state-of-the-art numerical simulations of the multi-phase non-equilibrium dynamics suggest new methods for capturing discontinuities and singularities and shock-interface interaction, for predictive modeling of the multi-scale dynamics in fluids and plasmas, for error estimate and uncertainty quantification as well as for novel data assimilation techniques. The First International Conference `Turbulent Mixing and Beyond' (TMB-2007), was held on 18-26 August 2007 at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. This was a highly informative and exciting meeting, by all the standards a major success. The Conference brought together 120 participants (307 authors) from five continents, ranging from students to members of National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and including researchers from the Universities, National Laboratories, Leading Scientific Institutions and Industry. TMB-2007 covered 16 different topics, maintaining the scope and the interdisciplinary character of the meeting, and kept the focus on a fundamental fluid dynamic problem of unsteady turbulent processes and the Conference Objectives. The success of the TMB-07 was a result of the successful work of all the participants, who were serious and professional people, caring for the quality of their research and sharing their scientific vision. The level of presentations was high, and the presentations included 87 oral contributions, 32 invited lectures and 5 tutorials and over 30 poster contributions. The round table discussions held at TMB-2007 investigated the organization of a Collaborative Computing Environment for the Turbulent Mixing and Beyond Community. The abstracts of the 150 accepted Conference

  2. Semi-local scaling and turbulence modulation in variable property turbulent channel flows

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Patel, A.; Peeters, J.W.R.; Boersma, B.J.; Pecnik, R.

    2015-01-01

    We theoretically and numerically investigate the effect of temperature dependent density and viscosity on turbulence in channel flows. First, a mathematical framework is developed to support the validity of the semi-local scaling as proposed based on heuristic arguments by Huang, Coleman, and

  3. Towards an integrated multiscale simulation of turbulent clouds on PetaScale computers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Lianping; Ayala, Orlando; Parishani, Hossein; Gao, Guang R; Kambhamettu, Chandra; Li Xiaoming; Rossi, Louis; Orozco, Daniel; Torres, Claudio; Grabowski, Wojciech W; Wyszogrodzki, Andrzej A; Piotrowski, Zbigniew

    2011-01-01

    The development of precipitating warm clouds is affected by several effects of small-scale air turbulence including enhancement of droplet-droplet collision rate by turbulence, entrainment and mixing at the cloud edges, and coupling of mechanical and thermal energies at various scales. Large-scale computation is a viable research tool for quantifying these multiscale processes. Specifically, top-down large-eddy simulations (LES) of shallow convective clouds typically resolve scales of turbulent energy-containing eddies while the effects of turbulent cascade toward viscous dissipation are parameterized. Bottom-up hybrid direct numerical simulations (HDNS) of cloud microphysical processes resolve fully the dissipation-range flow scales but only partially the inertial subrange scales. it is desirable to systematically decrease the grid length in LES and increase the domain size in HDNS so that they can be better integrated to address the full range of scales and their coupling. In this paper, we discuss computational issues and physical modeling questions in expanding the ranges of scales realizable in LES and HDNS, and in bridging LES and HDNS. We review our on-going efforts in transforming our simulation codes towards PetaScale computing, in improving physical representations in LES and HDNS, and in developing better methods to analyze and interpret the simulation results.

  4. Scaling of normalized mean energy and scalar dissipation rates in a turbulent channel flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abe, Hiroyuki; Antonia, Robert Anthony

    2011-05-01

    Non-dimensional parameters for the mean energy and scalar dissipation rates Cɛ and Cɛθ are examined using direct numerical simulation (DNS) data obtained in a fully developed turbulent channel flow with a passive scalar (Pr = 0.71) at several values of the Kármán (Reynolds) number h+. It is shown that Cɛ and Cɛθ are approximately equal in the near-equilibrium region (viz., y+ = 100 to y/h = 0.7) where the production and dissipation rates of either the turbulent kinetic energy or scalar variance are approximately equal and the magnitudes of the diffusion terms are negligibly small. The magnitudes of Cɛ and Cɛθ are about 2 and 1 in the logarithmic and outer regions, respectively, when h+ is sufficiently large. The former value is about the same for the channel, pipe, and turbulent boundary layer, reflecting the similarity between the mean velocity and temperature distributions among these three canonical flows. The latter value is, on the other hand, about twice as large as in homogeneous isotropic turbulence due to the existence of the large-scale u structures in the channel. The behaviour of Cɛ and Cɛθ impacts on turbulence modeling. In particular, the similarity between Cɛ and Cɛθ leads to a simple relation for the scalar variance to turbulent kinetic energy time-scale ratio, an important ingredient in the eddy diffusivity model. This similarity also yields a relation between the Taylor and Corrsin microscales and analogous relations, in terms of h+, for the Taylor microscale Reynolds number and Corrsin microscale Peclet number. This dependence is reasonably well supported by both the DNS data at small to moderate h+ and the experimental data of Comte-Bellot [Ph. D. thesis (University of Grenoble, 1963)] at larger h+. It does not however apply to a turbulent boundary layer where the mean energy dissipation rate, normalized on either wall or outer variables, is about 30% larger than for the channel flow.

  5. Intermittency and scaling laws for wall bounded turbulence

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Benzi, R.; Amati, G.; Casciola, C.M.; Toschi, F.; Piva, R.

    1999-01-01

    Well defined scaling laws clearly appear in wall bounded turbulence, very close to the wall, where a distinct violation of the refined Kolmogorov similarity hypothesis (RKSH) occurs together with the simultaneous persistence of scaling laws. A new form of RKSH for the wall region is here proposed in

  6. Multifractal aspects of the scaling laws in fully developed compressible turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shivamoggi, B.K.

    1995-01-01

    In this paper, multifractal aspects of the scalings laws in fully developed compressible turbulence are considered. Compressibility effects on known results of incompressible turbulence are pointed out. copyright 1995 Academic Press, Inc

  7. Multifractal scaling at the Kolmogorov microscale in fully developed compressible turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shivamoggi, B.K.

    1995-01-01

    In this paper, some aspects of multifractal scaling at the Kolmogorov microscale in fully developed compressible turbulence are considered. These considerations, on the one hand, provide an insight into the mechanism of compressible turbulence, and on the other hand enable one to determine the robustness of some known results in incompressible turbulence. copyright 1995 Academic Press, Inc

  8. THE EFFECT OF INTERMITTENT GYRO-SCALE SLAB TURBULENCE ON PARALLEL AND PERPENDICULAR COSMIC-RAY TRANSPORT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Roux, J. A.

    2011-01-01

    Earlier work based on nonlinear guiding center (NLGC) theory suggested that perpendicular cosmic-ray transport is diffusive when cosmic rays encounter random three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence dominated by uniform two-dimensional (2D) turbulence with a minor uniform slab turbulence component. In this approach large-scale perpendicular cosmic-ray transport is due to cosmic rays microscopically diffusing along the meandering magnetic field dominated by 2D turbulence because of gyroresonant interactions with slab turbulence. However, turbulence in the solar wind is intermittent and it has been suggested that intermittent turbulence might be responsible for the observation of 'dropout' events in solar energetic particle fluxes on small scales. In a previous paper le Roux et al. suggested, using NLGC theory as a basis, that if gyro-scale slab turbulence is intermittent, large-scale perpendicular cosmic-ray transport in weak uniform 2D turbulence will be superdiffusive or subdiffusive depending on the statistical characteristics of the intermittent slab turbulence. In this paper we expand and refine our previous work further by investigating how both parallel and perpendicular transport are affected by intermittent slab turbulence for weak as well as strong uniform 2D turbulence. The main new finding is that both parallel and perpendicular transport are the net effect of an interplay between diffusive and nondiffusive (superdiffusive or subdiffusive) transport effects as a consequence of this intermittency.

  9. THE EFFECT OF INTERMITTENT GYRO-SCALE SLAB TURBULENCE ON PARALLEL AND PERPENDICULAR COSMIC-RAY TRANSPORT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Le Roux, J. A. [Department of Physics, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899 (United States)

    2011-12-10

    Earlier work based on nonlinear guiding center (NLGC) theory suggested that perpendicular cosmic-ray transport is diffusive when cosmic rays encounter random three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence dominated by uniform two-dimensional (2D) turbulence with a minor uniform slab turbulence component. In this approach large-scale perpendicular cosmic-ray transport is due to cosmic rays microscopically diffusing along the meandering magnetic field dominated by 2D turbulence because of gyroresonant interactions with slab turbulence. However, turbulence in the solar wind is intermittent and it has been suggested that intermittent turbulence might be responsible for the observation of 'dropout' events in solar energetic particle fluxes on small scales. In a previous paper le Roux et al. suggested, using NLGC theory as a basis, that if gyro-scale slab turbulence is intermittent, large-scale perpendicular cosmic-ray transport in weak uniform 2D turbulence will be superdiffusive or subdiffusive depending on the statistical characteristics of the intermittent slab turbulence. In this paper we expand and refine our previous work further by investigating how both parallel and perpendicular transport are affected by intermittent slab turbulence for weak as well as strong uniform 2D turbulence. The main new finding is that both parallel and perpendicular transport are the net effect of an interplay between diffusive and nondiffusive (superdiffusive or subdiffusive) transport effects as a consequence of this intermittency.

  10. Multi-Spacecraft Study of Kinetic scale Turbulence Using MMS Observations in the Solar Wind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chasapis, A.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Parashar, T.; Fuselier, S. A.; Maruca, B.; Burch, J.; Moore, T. E.; Phan, T.; Pollock, C. J.; Gershman, D. J.; Torbert, R. B.; Russell, C. T.; Strangeway, R. J.

    2017-12-01

    We present a study investigating kinetic scale turbulence in the solar wind. Most previous studies relied on single spacecraft measurements, employing the Taylor hypothesis in order to probe different scales. The small separation of MMS spacecraft, well below the ion inertial scale, allow us for the first time to directly probe turbulent fluctuations at the kinetic range. Using multi-spacecraft measurements, we are able to measure the spatial characteristics of turbulent fluctuations and compare with the traditional Taylor-based single spacecraft approach. Meanwhile, combining observations from Cluster and MMS data we were able to cover a wide range of scales from the inertial range where the turbulent cascade takes place, down to the kinetic range where the energy is eventually dissipated. These observations present an important step in understanding the nature of solar wind turbulence and the processes through which turbulent energy is dissipated into particle heating and acceleration. We compute statistical quantities such as the second order structure function and the scale-dependent kurtosis, along with their dependence on the parameters such as the mean magnetic field direction. Overall, we observe an overall agreement between the single spacecraft and the multi-spacecraft approach. However, a small but significant deviation is observed at the smaller scales near the electron inertial scale. The high values of the scale dependent kurtosis at very small scales, observed via two-point measurements, open up a compelling avenue of investigation for theory and numerical modelling.

  11. Realization of a Tunable Dissipation Scale in a Turbulent Cascade using a Quantum Gas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navon, Nir; Eigen, Christoph; Zhang, Jinyi; Lopes, Raphael; Smith, Robert; Hadzibabic, Zoran

    2017-04-01

    Many turbulent flows form so-called cascades, where excitations injected at large length scales, are transported to gradually smaller scales until they reach a dissipation scale. We initiate a turbulent cascade in a dilute Bose fluid by pumping energy at the container scale of an optical box trap using an oscillating magnetic force. In contrast to classical fluids where the dissipation scale is set by the viscosity of the fluid, the turbulent cascade of our quantum gas finishes when the particles kinetic energy exceeds the laser-trap depth. This mechanism thus allows us to effectively tune the dissipation scale where particles (and energy) are lost, and measure the particle flux in the cascade at the dissipation scale. We observe a unit power-law decay of the particle-dissipation rate with trap depth, which confirms the surprising prediction that in a wave-turbulent direct energy cascade, the particle flux vanishes in the ideal limit where the dissipation length scale tends to zero.

  12. THE DECAY OF A WEAK LARGE-SCALE MAGNETIC FIELD IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL TURBULENCE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kondić, Todor; Hughes, David W.; Tobias, Steven M., E-mail: t.kondic@leeds.ac.uk [Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT (United Kingdom)

    2016-06-01

    We investigate the decay of a large-scale magnetic field in the context of incompressible, two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. It is well established that a very weak mean field, of strength significantly below equipartition value, induces a small-scale field strong enough to inhibit the process of turbulent magnetic diffusion. In light of ever-increasing computer power, we revisit this problem to investigate fluids and magnetic Reynolds numbers that were previously inaccessible. Furthermore, by exploiting the relation between the turbulent diffusion of the magnetic potential and that of the magnetic field, we are able to calculate the turbulent magnetic diffusivity extremely accurately through the imposition of a uniform mean magnetic field. We confirm the strong dependence of the turbulent diffusivity on the product of the magnetic Reynolds number and the energy of the large-scale magnetic field. We compare our findings with various theoretical descriptions of this process.

  13. Turbulence Spreading into Linearly Stable Zone and Transport Scaling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hahm, T.S.; Diamond, P.H.; Lin, Z.; Itoh, K.; Itoh, S.-I.

    2003-01-01

    We study the simplest problem of turbulence spreading corresponding to the spatio-temporal propagation of a patch of turbulence from a region where it is locally excited to a region of weaker excitation, or even local damping. A single model equation for the local turbulence intensity I(x, t) includes the effects of local linear growth and damping, spatially local nonlinear coupling to dissipation and spatial scattering of turbulence energy induced by nonlinear coupling. In the absence of dissipation, the front propagation into the linearly stable zone occurs with the property of rapid progression at small t, followed by slower subdiffusive progression at late times. The turbulence radial spreading into the linearly stable zone reduces the turbulent intensity in the linearly unstable zone, and introduces an additional dependence on the rho* is always equal to rho i/a to the turbulent intensity and the transport scaling. These are in broad, semi-quantitative agreements with a number of global gyrokinetic simulation results with zonal flows and without zonal flows. The front propagation stops when the radial flux of fluctuation energy from the linearly unstable region is balanced by local dissipation in the linearly stable region

  14. Time Resolved Scanning PIV measurements at fine scales in a turbulent jet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng, Y.; Torregrosa, M.M.; Villegas, A.; Diez, F.J.

    2011-01-01

    The temporal and spatial complexity of turbulent flows at intermediate and small scales has prevented the acquisition of full three-dimensional experimental data sets for validating classical turbulent theory and Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS). Experimental techniques like Particle Velocimetry, PIV, allow non-intrusive planar measurements of turbulent flows. The present work applied a Time Resolved Scanning PIV system, TRS-PIV, capable of obtaining three-dimensional two-component velocities to measure the small scales of a turbulent jet. When probing the small scales of these flows with PIV, the uncertainty of the measured turbulent properties are determined by the characteristics of the PIV system and specially the thickness of the laser sheet. A measurement of the particle distribution across the thickness of the laser sheet is proposed as a more detailed description of the PIV sheet thickness. The high temporal and spatial resolution of the TRS-PIV system allowed obtaining quasi-instantaneous volumetric vector fields at the far field of a round turbulent jet in water, albeit for a low Reynolds number of 1478 due to the speed limitations of the present camera and scanning system. Six of the nine components of the velocity gradient tensor were calculated from the velocity measurements. This allowed the visualization with near Kolmogorov-scale resolution of the velocity gradient structures in three-dimensional space. In general, these structures had a complex geometry corresponding to elongated shapes in the form of sheets and tubes. An analysis of the probability density function, pdf, of the velocity gradients calculated showed that the on-diagonal (off-diagonal) velocity gradient components were very similar to each other even for events at the tails of the pdfs, as required for homogeneous isotropy. The root mean square of the components of the velocity gradients is also calculated and their ratio of off-diagonal components to on-diagonal components

  15. ION-SCALE TURBULENCE IN THE INNER HELIOSPHERE: RADIAL DEPENDENCE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Comisel, H.; Motschmann, U.; Büchner, J.; Narita, Y.; Nariyuki, Y. [University of Toyama, Faculty of Human Development, 3190, Gofuku, Toyama, 930-8555 (Japan)

    2015-10-20

    The evolution of the ion-scale plasma turbulence in the inner heliosphere is studied by associating the plasma parameters for hybrid-code turbulence simulations to the radial distance from the Sun via a Solar wind model based mapping procedure. Using a mapping based on a one-dimensional solar wind expansion model, the resulting ion-kinetic scale turbulence is related to the solar wind distance from the Sun. For this purpose the mapping is carried out for various values of ion beta that correspond to the heliocentric distance. It is shown that the relevant normal modes such as ion cyclotron and ion Bernstein modes will occur first at radial distances of about 0.2–0.3 AU, i.e., near the Mercury orbit. This finding can be used as a reference, a prediction to guide the in situ measurements to be performed by the upcoming Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus missions. Furthermore, a radial dependence of the wave-vector anisotropy was obtained. For astrophysical objects this means that the spatial scales of filamentary structures in interstellar media or astrophysical jets can be predicted for photometric observations.

  16. Universal Distribution of Centers and Saddles in Two-Dimensional Turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivera, Michael; Wu, Xiao-Lun; Yeung, Chuck

    2001-01-01

    The statistical properties of the local topology of two-dimensional turbulence are investigated using an electromagnetically forced soap film. The local topology of the incompressible 2D flow is characterized by the Jacobian determinant Λ(x,y)=1/4 (ω 2 -σ 2 ) , where ω(x,y) is the local vorticity and σ(x,y) is the local strain rate. For turbulent flows driven by different external force configurations, P(Λ) is found to be a universal function when rescaled using the turbulent intensity. A simple model that agrees with the measured functional form of P(Λ) is constructed using the assumption that the stream function, ψ(x,y) , is a Gaussian random field

  17. Energy partition, scale by scale, in magnetic Archimedes Coriolis weak wave turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salhi, A; Baklouti, F S; Godeferd, F; Lehner, T; Cambon, C

    2017-02-01

    Magnetic Archimedes Coriolis (MAC) waves are omnipresent in several geophysical and astrophysical flows such as the solar tachocline. In the present study, we use linear spectral theory (LST) and investigate the energy partition, scale by scale, in MAC weak wave turbulence for a Boussinesq fluid. At the scale k^{-1}, the maximal frequencies of magnetic (Alfvén) waves, gravity (Archimedes) waves, and inertial (Coriolis) waves are, respectively, V_{A}k,N, and f. By using the induction potential scalar, which is a Lagrangian invariant for a diffusionless Boussinesq fluid [Salhi et al., Phys. Rev. E 85, 026301 (2012)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.85.026301], we derive a dispersion relation for the three-dimensional MAC waves, generalizing previous ones including that of f-plane MHD "shallow water" waves [Schecter et al., Astrophys. J. 551, L185 (2001)AJLEEY0004-637X10.1086/320027]. A solution for the Fourier amplitude of perturbation fields (velocity, magnetic field, and density) is derived analytically considering a diffusive fluid for which both the magnetic and thermal Prandtl numbers are one. The radial spectrum of kinetic, S_{κ}(k,t), magnetic, S_{m}(k,t), and potential, S_{p}(k,t), energies is determined considering initial isotropic conditions. For magnetic Coriolis (MC) weak wave turbulence, it is shown that, at large scales such that V_{A}k/f≪1, the Alfvén ratio S_{κ}(k,t)/S_{m}(k,t) behaves like k^{-2} if the rotation axis is aligned with the magnetic field, in agreement with previous direct numerical simulations [Favier et al., Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn. (2012)] and like k^{-1} if the rotation axis is perpendicular to the magnetic field. At small scales, such that V_{A}k/f≫1, there is an equipartition of energy between magnetic and kinetic components. For magnetic Archimedes weak wave turbulence, it is demonstrated that, at large scales, such that (V_{A}k/N≪1), there is an equipartition of energy between magnetic and potential components

  18. Generation of large-scale vorticity in rotating stratified turbulence with inhomogeneous helicity: mean-field theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleeorin, N.

    2018-06-01

    We discuss a mean-field theory of the generation of large-scale vorticity in a rotating density stratified developed turbulence with inhomogeneous kinetic helicity. We show that the large-scale non-uniform flow is produced due to either a combined action of a density stratified rotating turbulence and uniform kinetic helicity or a combined effect of a rotating incompressible turbulence and inhomogeneous kinetic helicity. These effects result in the formation of a large-scale shear, and in turn its interaction with the small-scale turbulence causes an excitation of the large-scale instability (known as a vorticity dynamo) due to a combined effect of the large-scale shear and Reynolds stress-induced generation of the mean vorticity. The latter is due to the effect of large-scale shear on the Reynolds stress. A fast rotation suppresses this large-scale instability.

  19. A scale-entropy diffusion equation to describe the multi-scale features of turbulent flames near a wall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Queiros-Conde, D.; Foucher, F.; Mounaïm-Rousselle, C.; Kassem, H.; Feidt, M.

    2008-12-01

    Multi-scale features of turbulent flames near a wall display two kinds of scale-dependent fractal features. In scale-space, an unique fractal dimension cannot be defined and the fractal dimension of the front is scale-dependent. Moreover, when the front approaches the wall, this dependency changes: fractal dimension also depends on the wall-distance. Our aim here is to propose a general geometrical framework that provides the possibility to integrate these two cases, in order to describe the multi-scale structure of turbulent flames interacting with a wall. Based on the scale-entropy quantity, which is simply linked to the roughness of the front, we thus introduce a general scale-entropy diffusion equation. We define the notion of “scale-evolutivity” which characterises the deviation of a multi-scale system from the pure fractal behaviour. The specific case of a constant “scale-evolutivity” over the scale-range is studied. In this case, called “parabolic scaling”, the fractal dimension is a linear function of the logarithm of scale. The case of a constant scale-evolutivity in the wall-distance space implies that the fractal dimension depends linearly on the logarithm of the wall-distance. We then verified experimentally, that parabolic scaling represents a good approximation of the real multi-scale features of turbulent flames near a wall.

  20. Large-scale structures in turbulent Couette flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jung Hoon; Lee, Jae Hwa

    2016-11-01

    Direct numerical simulation of fully developed turbulent Couette flow is performed with a large computational domain in the streamwise and spanwise directions (40 πh and 6 πh) to investigate streamwise-scale growth mechanism of the streamwise velocity fluctuating structures in the core region, where h is the channel half height. It is shown that long streamwise-scale structures (> 3 h) are highly energetic and they contribute to more than 80% of the turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds shear stress, compared to previous studies in canonical Poiseuille flows. Instantaneous and statistical analysis show that negative-u' structures on the bottom wall in the Couette flow continuously grow in the streamwise direction due to mean shear, and they penetrate to the opposite moving wall. The geometric center of the log layer is observed in the centerline with a dominant outer peak in streamwise spectrum, and the maximum streamwise extent for structure is found in the centerline, similar to previous observation in turbulent Poiseuille flows at high Reynolds number. Further inspection of time-evolving instantaneous fields clearly exhibits that adjacent long structures combine to form a longer structure in the centerline. This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2014R1A1A2057031).

  1. Time Change and Universality in Turbulence and Finance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole E.; Schmiegel, Jürgen; Shephard, Neil

    Empirical time series of turbulent flows and financial markets reveal some common basic stylized features. In particular, the densities of velocity increments and log returns are well fitted within the class of Normal inverse Gaussian distributions and show a similar evolution across time scales ...

  2. Large-scale influences in near-wall turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchins, Nicholas; Marusic, Ivan

    2007-03-15

    Hot-wire data acquired in a high Reynolds number facility are used to illustrate the need for adequate scale separation when considering the coherent structure in wall-bounded turbulence. It is found that a large-scale motion in the log region becomes increasingly comparable in energy to the near-wall cycle as the Reynolds number increases. Through decomposition of fluctuating velocity signals, it is shown that this large-scale motion has a distinct modulating influence on the small-scale energy (akin to amplitude modulation). Reassessment of DNS data, in light of these results, shows similar trends, with the rate and intensity of production due to the near-wall cycle subject to a modulating influence from the largest-scale motions.

  3. Modification of the large-scale features of high Reynolds number wall turbulence by passive surface obtrusions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Monty, J.P.; Lien, K.; Chong, M.S. [University of Melbourne, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Parkville, VIC (Australia); Allen, J.J. [New Mexico State University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Las Cruces, NM (United States)

    2011-12-15

    A high Reynolds number boundary-layer wind-tunnel facility at New Mexico State University was fitted with a regularly distributed braille surface. The surface was such that braille dots were closely packed in the streamwise direction and sparsely spaced in the spanwise direction. This novel surface had an unexpected influence on the flow: the energy of the very large-scale features of wall turbulence (approximately six-times the boundary-layer thickness in length) became significantly attenuated, even into the logarithmic region. To the author's knowledge, this is the first experimental study to report a modification of 'superstructures' in a rough-wall turbulent boundary layer. The result gives rise to the possibility that flow control through very small, passive surface roughness may be possible at high Reynolds numbers, without the prohibitive drag penalty anticipated heretofore. Evidence was also found for the uninhibited existence of the near-wall cycle, well known to smooth-wall-turbulence researchers, in the spanwise space between roughness elements. (orig.)

  4. Non-equilibrium turbulence scalings in turbulent planar jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cafiero, Gioacchino; Vassilicos, John Christos; Turbulence, Mixing; Flow Control Group Team

    2017-11-01

    A revised version of the Townsend George theory, as proposed by Dairay et al. 2015, is applied to the study of turbulent planar jets (Cafiero and Vassilicos 2017). Requiring the self-similarity of only few quantities along with the non-equilibrium dissipation scaling law (Vassilicos 2015), it implies new mean flow and jet width scalings. In particular, the ratio of characteristic cross-stream to centreline streamwise velocities decays as the -1/3 power of streamwise distance in the region where the non-equilibrium dissipation scaling holds. In the definition of Cɛ both in Dairay et al. 2015 and in Cafiero and Vassilicos 2017 the local Reynolds number is based on the local flow width rather than on the integral lengthscale. We verify that the ratio of the integral lengthscale to the flow width is constant, thus enabling the use of the integral flow width in place of the integral lengthscale for defining Cɛ. The importance of this result is twofold: firstly it further strengthens the scalings obtained in the works of Dairay et al. 2015 and Cafiero and Vassilicos 2017; secondly the flow width is immediately accessible by any mean flow measurement, whereas the estimation of the integral lengthscale often requires an additional hypothesis. ERC Advanced Grant 320560.

  5. Transport equation for the time scale of a turbulent scalar field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurbatskij, A.F.

    1999-01-01

    The two-parametric turbulence models cause serious difficulties by modeling the near-wall flows due to absence of the natural boundary condition on the wall for dissipation of the ε turbulence energy and the ε θ scalar field destruction. This difficulty may be overcome, if instead of the ε and ε θ , as the second parameter of the model, to apply the time scales of the turbulent dynamic and scalar fields. The equation of the scalar field is derived and numerical coefficients included therein, are determined from the simplest problems on the turbulent heat transfer [ru

  6. Scaling for turbulent viscosity of buoyant plumes in stratified fluids: PIV measurement with implications for submarine hydrothermal plume turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wei; He, Zhiguo; Jiang, Houshuo

    2017-11-01

    Time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) has been used to measure instantaneous two-dimensional velocity vector fields of laboratory-generated turbulent buoyant plumes in linearly stratified saltwater over extended periods of time. From PIV-measured time-series flow data, characteristics of plume mean flow and turbulence have been quantified. To be specific, maximum plume penetration scaling and entrainment coefficient determined from the mean flow agree well with the theory based on the entrainment hypothesis for buoyant plumes in stratified fluids. Besides the well-known persistent entrainment along the plume stem (i.e., the 'plume-stem' entrainment), the mean plume velocity field shows persistent entrainment along the outer edge of the plume cap (i.e., the 'plume-cap' entrainment), thereby confirming predictions from previous numerical simulation studies. To our knowledge, the present PIV investigation provides the first measured flow field data in the plume cap region. As to measured plume turbulence, both the turbulent kinetic energy field and the turbulence dissipation rate field attain their maximum close to the source, while the turbulent viscosity field reaches its maximum within the plume cap region; the results also show that maximum turbulent viscosity scales as νt,max = 0.030(B/N)1/2, where B is source buoyancy flux and N is ambient buoyancy frequency. These PIV data combined with previously published numerical simulation results have implications for understanding the roles of hydrothermal plume turbulence, i.e. plume turbulence within the cap region causes the 'plume-cap' entrainment that plays an equally important role as the 'plume-stem' entrainment in supplying the final volume flux at the plume spreading level.

  7. Fragmentation under the Scaling Symmetry and Turbulent Cascade with Intermittency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorokhovski, M.

    2003-01-01

    Fragmentation plays an important role in a variety of physical, chemical, and geological processes. Examples include atomization in sprays, crushing of rocks, explosion and impact of solids, polymer degradation, etc. Although each individual action of fragmentation is a complex process, the number of these elementary actions is large. It is natural to abstract a simple 'effective' scenario of fragmentation and to represent its essential features. One of the models is the fragmentation under the scaling symmetry: each breakup action reduces the typical length of fragments, r (right arrow) alpha r, by an independent random multiplier alpha (0 Saveliev, the fragmentation under the scaling symmetry has been reviewed as a continuous evolution process with new features established. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, the paper synthesizes and completes theoretical part of Gorokhovski & Saveliev. Second, the paper shows a new application of the fragmentation theory under the scale invariance. This application concerns the turbulent cascade with intermittency. We formulate here a model describing the evolution of the velocity increment distribution along the progressively decreasing length scale. The model shows that when the turbulent length scale gets smaller, the velocity increment distribution has central growing peak and develops stretched tails. The intermittency in turbulence is manifested in the same way: large fluctuations of velocity provoke highest strain in narrow (dissipative) regions of flow.

  8. Structures and Intermittency in Small Scales Solar Wind Turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahraoui, Fouad; Goldstein, Melvyn

    2010-01-01

    Several observations in space plasmas have reported the presence of coherent structures at different plasma scales. Structure formation is believed to result from nonlinear interactions between the plasma modes, which depend strongly on their phase synchronization. Despite this important role of the phases in turbulence, very limited work has been devoted to study the phases as potential tracers of nonlinearities in comparison with the wealth of literature on power spectra of turbulence where phases are totally missed. The reason why the phases are seldom used is probably because they usually appear to be completely mixed (due to their dependence on an arbitrary time origin and to 2π periodicity). To handle the phases properly, a new method based on using surrogate data has been developed recently to detect coherent structures in magnetized plasmas [Sahraoui, PRE, 2008]. Here, we show new applications of the technique to study the nature (weak vs strong, self-similar vs intermittent) of the small scale turbulence in the solar wind using the Cluster observations.

  9. Measurements of Turbulent Flame Speed and Integral Length Scales in a Lean Stationary Premixed Flame

    OpenAIRE

    Klingmann, Jens; Johansson, Bengt

    1998-01-01

    Turbulent premixed natural gas - air flame velocities have been measured in a stationary axi-symmetric burner using LDA. The flame was stabilized by letting the flow retard toward a stagnation plate downstream of the burner exit. Turbulence was generated by letting the flow pass through a plate with drilled holes. Three different hole diameters were used, 3, 6 and 10 mm, in order to achieve different turbulent length scales. Turbulent integral length scales were measured using two-point LD...

  10. Phase-relationships between scales in the perturbed turbulent boundary layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobi, I.; McKeon, B. J.

    2017-12-01

    The phase-relationship between large-scale motions and small-scale fluctuations in a non-equilibrium turbulent boundary layer was investigated. A zero-pressure-gradient flat plate turbulent boundary layer was perturbed by a short array of two-dimensional roughness elements, both statically, and under dynamic actuation. Within the compound, dynamic perturbation, the forcing generated a synthetic very-large-scale motion (VLSM) within the flow. The flow was decomposed by phase-locking the flow measurements to the roughness forcing, and the phase-relationship between the synthetic VLSM and remaining fluctuating scales was explored by correlation techniques. The general relationship between large- and small-scale motions in the perturbed flow, without phase-locking, was also examined. The synthetic large scale cohered with smaller scales in the flow via a phase-relationship that is similar to that of natural large scales in an unperturbed flow, but with a much stronger organizing effect. Cospectral techniques were employed to describe the physical implications of the perturbation on the relative orientation of large- and small-scale structures in the flow. The correlation and cospectral techniques provide tools for designing more efficient control strategies that can indirectly control small-scale motions via the large scales.

  11. Dynamic subgrid scale model used in a deep bundle turbulence prediction using the large eddy simulation method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barsamian, H.R.; Hassan, Y.A.

    1996-01-01

    Turbulence is one of the most commonly occurring phenomena of engineering interest in the field of fluid mechanics. Since most flows are turbulent, there is a significant payoff for improved predictive models of turbulence. One area of concern is the turbulent buffeting forces experienced by the tubes in steam generators of nuclear power plants. Although the Navier-Stokes equations are able to describe turbulent flow fields, the large number of scales of turbulence limit practical flow field calculations with current computing power. The dynamic subgrid scale closure model of Germano et. al (1991) is used in the large eddy simulation code GUST for incompressible isothermal flows. Tube bundle geometries of staggered and non-staggered arrays are considered in deep bundle simulations. The advantage of the dynamic subgrid scale model is the exclusion of an input model coefficient. The model coefficient is evaluated dynamically for each nodal location in the flow domain. Dynamic subgrid scale results are obtained in the form of power spectral densities and flow visualization of turbulent characteristics. Comparisons are performed among the dynamic subgrid scale model, the Smagorinsky eddy viscosity model (Smagorinsky, 1963) (that is used as the base model for the dynamic subgrid scale model) and available experimental data. Spectral results of the dynamic subgrid scale model correlate better with experimental data. Satisfactory turbulence characteristics are observed through flow visualization

  12. Three-dimensional electromagnetic strong turbulence. I. Scalings, spectra, and field statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graham, D. B.; Robinson, P. A.; Cairns, Iver H.; Skjaeraasen, O.

    2011-01-01

    The first fully three-dimensional (3D) simulations of large-scale electromagnetic strong turbulence (EMST) are performed by numerically solving the electromagnetic Zakharov equations for electron thermal speeds ν e with ν e /c≥0.025. The results of these simulations are presented, focusing on scaling behavior, energy density spectra, and field statistics of the Langmuir (longitudinal) and transverse components of the electric fields during steady-state strong turbulence, where multiple wave packets collapse simultaneously and the system is approximately statistically steady in time. It is shown that for ν e /c > or approx. 0.17 strong turbulence is approximately electrostatic and can be explained using the electrostatic two-component model. For v e /c > or approx. 0.17 the power-law behaviors of the scalings, spectra, and field statistics differ from the electrostatic predictions and results because ν e /c is sufficiently high to allow transverse modes to become trapped in density wells. The results are compared with those of past 3D electrostatic strong turbulence (ESST) simulations and 2D EMST simulations. For number density perturbations, the scaling behavior, spectra, and field statistics are shown to be only weakly dependent on ν e /c, whereas the Langmuir and transverse scalings, spectra, and field statistics are shown to be strongly dependent on ν e /c. Three-dimensional EMST is shown to have features in common with 2D EMST, such as a two-component structure and trapping of transverse modes which are dependent on ν e /c.

  13. Turbulence of Weak Gravitational Waves in the Early Universe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galtier, Sébastien; Nazarenko, Sergey V

    2017-12-01

    We study the statistical properties of an ensemble of weak gravitational waves interacting nonlinearly in a flat space-time. We show that the resonant three-wave interactions are absent and develop a theory for four-wave interactions in the reduced case of a 2.5+1 diagonal metric tensor. In this limit, where only plus-polarized gravitational waves are present, we derive the interaction Hamiltonian and consider the asymptotic regime of weak gravitational wave turbulence. Both direct and inverse cascades are found for the energy and the wave action, respectively, and the corresponding wave spectra are derived. The inverse cascade is characterized by a finite-time propagation of the metric excitations-a process similar to an explosive nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation, which provides an efficient mechanism to ironing out small-scale inhomogeneities. The direct cascade leads to an accumulation of the radiation energy in the system. These processes might be important for understanding the early Universe where a background of weak nonlinear gravitational waves is expected.

  14. Turbulent viscosity and scale laws in turbulent jets with variable density; Viscosite turbulente et lois d`echelles dans les jets turbulents a masse volumique variable

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pietri, L.; Amielh, M.; Anselmet, F.; Fulachier, L. [Institut de Recherche sur les Phinomenes Hors Equilibre Equipe Turbulence, 13 - Marseille (France)

    1997-12-31

    Turbulent flows with strong density variations, like helium jets in the ambient air, have specific properties linked with the difference of gas densities. This paper presents some experimental results of turbulence properties inside such flows: the Reynolds tensions and the associated turbulent viscosity, and some characteristics linked with the statistical properties of the different turbulence scales. These last results allows to show the complexity of such flows characterized by the influence of external parameters (Reynolds number, initial density ratio, initial momentum flux) that govern the evolution of these parameters inside the jet from the nozzle up to regions where similarity properties are reached. (J.S.) 12 refs.

  15. Anomalous scaling of a scalar field advected by turbulence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kraichnan, R.H. [Robert H. Kraichnan, Inc., Santa Fe, NM (United States)

    1995-12-31

    Recent work leading to deduction of anomalous scaling exponents for the inertial range of an advected passive field from the equations of motion is reviewed. Implications for other turbulence problems are discussed.

  16. The Multifractal Structure of Small-Scale Artificial Ionospheric Turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vybornov F. I.

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available We present the results of investigation of a multifractal structure of the artificial ionospheric turbulence when the midlatitude ionosphere is affected by high-power radio waves. The experimental studies were performed on the basis of the SURA heating facility with the help of radio sounding of the disturbed region of ionospheric plasma by signals from the Earth’s orbital satellities. In the case of vertical radio sounding of the disturbed ionosphere region, the measured multipower and generalized multifractal spectra of turbulence coincide well with similar multifractal characteristics of the ionosperic turbulence under the natural conditions. In the case of oblique sounding of the disturbance region at small angles between the line of sight to the satellite and the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, a nonuniform structure of the small-scale turbulence with a relatively narrow multipower spectrum and small variations in the generalized multifractal spectrum of the electron density was detected.

  17. A glimpse of fluid turbulence from the molecular scale

    KAUST Repository

    Komatsu, Teruhisa S.

    2014-08-01

    Large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of freely decaying turbulence in three-dimensional space are reported. Fluid components are defined from the microscopic states by eliminating thermal components from the coarse-grained fields. The energy spectrum of the fluid components is observed to scale reasonably well according to Kolmogorov scaling determined from the energy dissipation rate and the viscosity of the fluid, even though the Kolmogorov length is of the order of the molecular scale. © 2014 The Authors.

  18. Logarithmic scaling for fluctuations of a scalar concentration in wall turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mouri, Hideaki; Morinaga, Takeshi; Yagi, Toshimasa; Mori, Kazuyasu

    2017-12-01

    Within wall turbulence, there is a sublayer where the mean velocity and the variance of velocity fluctuations vary logarithmically with the height from the wall. This logarithmic scaling is also known for the mean concentration of a passive scalar. By using heat as such a scalar in a laboratory experiment of a turbulent boundary layer, the existence of the logarithmic scaling is shown here for the variance of fluctuations of the scalar concentration. It is reproduced by a model of energy-containing eddies that are attached to the wall.

  19. Turbulence modification by periodically modulated scale-depending forcing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuczaj, Arkadiusz K.; Geurts, Bernardus J.; Lohse, Detlef; van de Water, W.

    2006-01-01

    The response of turbulent flow to time-modulated forcing is studied by direct numerical simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations. The forcing is modulated via periodic energy input variations at a frequency $\\omega$. Such forcing of the large-scales is shown to yield a response maximum at

  20. Turbulence modification by periodically modulated scale-dependent forcing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuczaj, A.K.; Geurts, B.J.; Lohse, D.; Water, van de W.

    2008-01-01

    The response of turbulent flow to time-modulated forcing is studied by direct numerical simulation of the Navier–Stokes equations. The forcing is modulated via periodic energy-input variations at a frequency ¿. Harmonically modulated forcing of the large scales is shown to yield a response maximum

  1. Turbulence modification by periodically modulated scale-dependent forcing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuczaj, Arkadiusz K.; Geurts, Bernardus J.; Lohse, Detlef; van de Water, W.

    2008-01-01

    The response of turbulent flow to time-modulated forcing is studied by direct numerical simulation of the Navier–Stokes equations. The forcing is modulated via periodic energy-input variations at a frequency x. Harmonically modulated forcing of the large scales is shown to yield a response maximum

  2. Macro-scale turbulence modelling for flows in porous media; Modelisation a l'echelle macroscopique d'un ecoulement turbulent au sein d'un milieu poreux

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pinson, F

    2006-03-15

    - This work deals with the macroscopic modeling of turbulence in porous media. It concerns heat exchangers, nuclear reactors as well as urban flows, etc. The objective of this study is to describe in an homogenized way, by the mean of a spatial average operator, turbulent flows in a solid matrix. In addition to this first operator, the use of a statistical average operator permits to handle the pseudo-aleatory character of turbulence. The successive application of both operators allows us to derive the balance equations of the kind of flows under study. Two major issues are then highlighted, the modeling of dispersion induced by the solid matrix and the turbulence modeling at a macroscopic scale (Reynolds tensor and turbulent dispersion). To this aim, we lean on the local modeling of turbulence and more precisely on the k - {epsilon} RANS models. The methodology of dispersion study, derived thanks to the volume averaging theory, is extended to turbulent flows. Its application includes the simulation, at a microscopic scale, of turbulent flows within a representative elementary volume of the porous media. Applied to channel flows, this analysis shows that even within the turbulent regime, dispersion remains one of the dominating phenomena within the macro-scale modeling framework. A two-scale analysis of the flow allows us to understand the dominating role of the drag force in the kinetic energy transfers between scales. Transfers between the mean part and the turbulent part of the flow are formally derived. This description significantly improves our understanding of the issue of macroscopic modeling of turbulence and leads us to define the sub-filter production and the wake dissipation. A f - <{epsilon}>f - <{epsilon}{sub w}>f model is derived. It is based on three balance equations for the turbulent kinetic energy, the viscous dissipation and the wake dissipation. Furthermore, a dynamical predictor for the friction coefficient is proposed. This model is then

  3. Turbulence modification by periodically modulated scale-dependent forcing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuczaj, A.K.; Geurts, B.J.; Lohse, D.; Water, van de W.

    2006-01-01

    The response of turbulent flow to time-modulated forcing is studied by direct numerical simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations. The forcing is modulated via periodic energy input variations at a frequency !. Such forcing of the large-scales is shown to yield a response maximum at frequencies in

  4. Scaling Properties of Particle Density Fields Formed in Simulated Turbulent Flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogan, Robert C.; Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Dobrovolskis, Anthony R.; DeVincenzi, Donald (Technical Monitor)

    1998-01-01

    Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of particle concentrations in fully developed 3D turbulence were carried out in order to study the nonuniform structure of the particle density field. Three steady-state turbulent fluid fields with Taylor microscale Reynolds numbers (Re(sub lambda)) of 40, 80 and 140 were generated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations with pseudospectral methods. Large scale forcing was used to drive the turbulence and maintain temporal stationarity. The response of the particles to the fluid was parameterized by the particle Stokes number St, defined as the ratio of the particle's stopping time to the mean period of eddies on the Kolmogorov scale (eta). In this paper, we consider only passive particles optimally coupled to these eddies (St approx. = 1) because of their tendency to concentrate more than particles with lesser or greater St values. The trajectories of up to 70 million particles were tracked in the equilibrated turbulent flows until the particle concentration field reached a statistically stationary state. The nonuniform structure of the concentration fields was characterized by the multifractal singularity spectrum, f(alpha), derived from measures obtained after binning particles into cells ranging from 2(eta) to 15(eta) in size. We observed strong systematic variations of f(alpha) across this scale range in all three simulations and conclude that the particle concentration field is not statistically self similar across the scale range explored. However, spectra obtained at the 2(eta), 4(eta), and 8(eta) scales of each flow case were found to be qualitatively similar. This result suggests that the local structure of the particle concentration field may be flow-Independent. The singularity spectra found for 2n-sized cells were used to predict concentration distributions in good agreement with those obtained directly from the particle data. This Singularity spectrum has a shape similar to the analogous spectrum derived for the

  5. Intermittency and scaling laws for wall bounded turbulence

    OpenAIRE

    Benzi, R.; Amati, G.; Casciola, C. M.; Toschi, F.; Piva, R.

    1998-01-01

    Well defined scaling laws clearly appear in wall bounded turbulence, even very close to the wall, where a distinct violation of the refined Kolmogorov similarity hypothesis (RKSH) occurs together with the simultaneous persistence of scaling laws. A new form of RKSH for the wall region is here proposed in terms of the structure functions of order two which, in physical terms, confirms the prevailing role of the momentum transfer towards the wall in the near wall dynamics.

  6. Anomalous scaling of structure functions and dynamic constraints on turbulence simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yakhot, Victor; Sreenivasan, Katepalli R.

    2006-12-01

    The connection between anomalous scaling of structure functions (intermittency) and numerical methods for turbulence simulations is discussed. It is argued that the computational work for direct numerical simulations (DNS) of fully developed turbulence increases as Re 4 , and not as Re 3 expected from Kolmogorov's theory, where Re is a large-scale Reynolds number. Various relations for the moments of acceleration and velocity derivatives are derived. An infinite set of exact constraints on dynamically consistent subgrid models for Large Eddy Simulations (LES) is derived from the Navier-Stokes equations, and some problems of principle associated with existing LES models are highlighted. (author)

  7. PREFACE Turbulent Mixing and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abarzhi, Snezhana I.; Gauthier, Serge; Niemela, Joseph J.

    2010-12-01

    , maintaining the scope and the interdisciplinary character of the meeting while keeping the focus on a fundamental scientific problem of non-equilibrium processes and on the Conference objectives. The abstracts of the 194 accepted presentations of more than 400 authors were published in the Book of Abstracts of the Second International Conference and Advanced School 'Turbulent Mixing and Beyond', 27 July-7 August 2009 , Copyright © 2009, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy (ISBN 92095003-41-1). This Topical Issue consists of 70 articles accepted for publication in the Conference Proceedings and represents a substantial part of the Conference contributions. The articles are in a broad variety of TMB-2009 themes and are sorted alphabetically by the last name of the first author within each of the following topics: Canonical turbulence and turbulent mixing: invariant, scaling, spectral properties, scalar transports, convection; Wall-bounded flows: structure and fundamentals, non-canonical turbulent boundary layers, including unsteady and transitional flows, supersonic and hypersonic flows, shock-boundary layer interactions; Non-equilibrium processes: unsteady, multiphase and shock-driven turbulent flows, anisotropic non-local dynamics, connection of continuous description at macro-scales to kinetic processes at atomistic scales; Interfacial dynamics: instabilities of Rayleigh-Taylor, Kelvin-Helmholtz, Richtmyer-Meshkov, Landau-Darrieus, Saffman-Taylor High energy density physics: inertial confinement and heavy-ion fusion, Z-pinches, light-matter and laser-plasma interactions, non-equilibrium heat transfer; Material science: material transformation under high strain rates, equation of state, impact dynamics, mixing at nano- and micro-scales; Astrophysics: supernovae, interstellar medium, star formation, stellar interiors, early Universe, cosmic-microwave background, accretion disks; Magneto-hydrodynamics: magnetic fusion and magnetically

  8. The Effect of Large Scale Salinity Gradient on Langmuir Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Y.; Jarosz, E.; Yu, Z.; Jensen, T.; Sullivan, P. P.; Liang, J.

    2017-12-01

    Langmuir circulation (LC) is believed to be one of the leading order causes of turbulent mixing in the upper ocean. It is important for momentum and heat exchange across the mixed layer (ML) and directly impact the dynamics and thermodynamics in the upper ocean and lower atmosphere including the vertical distributions of chemical, biological, optical, and acoustic properties. Based on Craik and Leibovich (1976) theory, large eddy simulation (LES) models have been developed to simulate LC in the upper ocean, yielding new insights that could not be obtained from field observations and turbulent closure models. Due its high computational cost, LES models are usually limited to small domain sizes and cannot resolve large-scale flows. Furthermore, most LES models used in the LC simulations use periodic boundary conditions in the horizontal direction, which assumes the physical properties (i.e. temperature and salinity) and expected flow patterns in the area of interest are of a periodically repeating nature so that the limited small LES domain is representative for the larger area. Using periodic boundary condition can significantly reduce computational effort in problems, and it is a good assumption for isotropic shear turbulence. However, LC is anisotropic (McWilliams et al 1997) and was observed to be modulated by crosswind tidal currents (Kukulka et al 2011). Using symmetrical domains, idealized LES studies also indicate LC could interact with oceanic fronts (Hamlington et al 2014) and standing internal waves (Chini and Leibovich, 2005). The present study expands our previous LES modeling investigations of Langmuir turbulence to the real ocean conditions with large scale environmental motion that features fresh water inflow into the study region. Large scale gradient forcing is introduced to the NCAR LES model through scale separation analysis. The model is applied to a field observation in the Gulf of Mexico in July, 2016 when the measurement site was impacted by

  9. A dynamic global-coefficient mixed subgrid-scale model for large-eddy simulation of turbulent flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Satbir; You, Donghyun

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► A new SGS model is developed for LES of turbulent flows in complex geometries. ► A dynamic global-coefficient SGS model is coupled with a scale-similarity model. ► Overcome some of difficulties associated with eddy-viscosity closures. ► Does not require averaging or clipping of the model coefficient for stabilization. ► The predictive capability is demonstrated in a number of turbulent flow simulations. -- Abstract: A dynamic global-coefficient mixed subgrid-scale eddy-viscosity model for large-eddy simulation of turbulent flows in complex geometries is developed. In the present model, the subgrid-scale stress is decomposed into the modified Leonard stress, cross stress, and subgrid-scale Reynolds stress. The modified Leonard stress is explicitly computed assuming a scale similarity, while the cross stress and the subgrid-scale Reynolds stress are modeled using the global-coefficient eddy-viscosity model. The model coefficient is determined by a dynamic procedure based on the global-equilibrium between the subgrid-scale dissipation and the viscous dissipation. The new model relieves some of the difficulties associated with an eddy-viscosity closure, such as the nonalignment of the principal axes of the subgrid-scale stress tensor and the strain rate tensor and the anisotropy of turbulent flow fields, while, like other dynamic global-coefficient models, it does not require averaging or clipping of the model coefficient for numerical stabilization. The combination of the global-coefficient eddy-viscosity model and a scale-similarity model is demonstrated to produce improved predictions in a number of turbulent flow simulations

  10. Investigation of small-scale tokamak plasma turbulence by correlative UHR backscattering diagnostics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gusakov, E Z; Gurchenko, A D; Altukhov, A B; Bulanin, V V; Esipov, L A; Kantor, M Yu; Kouprienko, D V; Lashkul, S I; Petrov, A V; Stepanov, A Yu

    2006-01-01

    Fine scale turbulence is considered nowadays as a possible candidate for the explanation of anomalous ion and electron energy transport in magnetized fusion plasmas. The unique correlative upper hybrid resonance backscattering (UHR BS) technique is applied at the FT-2 tokamak for investigation of density fluctuations excited in this turbulence. The measurements are carried out in Ohmic discharge at several values of plasma current and density and during current ramp up experiment. The moveable focusing antennas set have been used in experiments allowing probing out of equatorial plane. The radial wave number spectra of the small-scale component of tokamak turbulence are determined from the correlation data with high spatial resolution. Two small-scale modes possessing substantially different phase velocities are observed in plasma under conditions when the threshold for the electron temperature gradient mode excitation is overcome. The possibility of plasma poloidal velocity profile determination using the UHR BS signal is demonstrated

  11. Large-scale Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy as a Probe of Interstellar Turbulence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giacinti, Gwenael; Kirk, John G. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Postfach 103980, D-69029 Heidelberg (Germany)

    2017-02-01

    We calculate the large-scale cosmic-ray (CR) anisotropies predicted for a range of Goldreich–Sridhar (GS) and isotropic models of interstellar turbulence, and compare them with IceTop data. In general, the predicted CR anisotropy is not a pure dipole; the cold spots reported at 400 TeV and 2 PeV are consistent with a GS model that contains a smooth deficit of parallel-propagating waves and a broad resonance function, though some other possibilities cannot, as yet, be ruled out. In particular, isotropic fast magnetosonic wave turbulence can match the observations at high energy, but cannot accommodate an energy dependence in the shape of the CR anisotropy. Our findings suggest that improved data on the large-scale CR anisotropy could provide a valuable probe of the properties—notably the power-spectrum—of the interstellar turbulence within a few tens of parsecs from Earth.

  12. OBSERVATION OF UNIVERSALITY IN THE GENERALIZED SIMILARITY OF EVOLVING SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE AS SEEN BY ULYSSES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chapman, S. C.; Nicol, R. M.; Leonardis, E.; Kiyani, K.; Carbone, V.

    2009-01-01

    We perform statistical analysis of the fluctuating magnetic field observed in-situ by the Ulysses spacecraft, from the perspective of quantitative characterization of the evolving magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. We focus on two successive polar passes around solar minimum which provide extended intervals of quiet, fast solar wind at a range of radial distances and latitudes: the south polar pass of 1994 and the north polar pass of 1995. Fully developed inertial range turbulence has a characteristic statistical similarity property of quantities that characterize the flow, such as the magnetic field components B k (t), so that the pth moment of fluctuations has power-law dependence on scale τ such that k (t + τ) - B k (t)| p > ∼ τ ζ(p) . We instead find a generalized similarity k (t + τ) - B k (t)| p > ∼ g(τ/τ 0 ) ζ(p) consistent with extended self-similarity; and in particular all of these Ulysses observations, from both polar passes, share the same single function g(τ/τ 0 ). If these observations are indeed characteristic of MHD turbulence evolving in-situ, then this quantifies for the first time a key aspect of the universal nature of evolving MHD turbulence in a system of finite size, with implications both for theoretical development, and for our understanding of the evolving solar wind.

  13. Microwave Scattering System Design for ρe-Scale Turbulence Measurements on NSTX

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, D.R.; Mazzucato, E.; Munsat, T.; Park, H.; Johnson, D.; Lin, L.; Domier, C.W.; Johnson, M.; Luhmann, N.C. Jr.

    2004-01-01

    Despite suppression of ρ i -scale turbulent fluctuations, electron thermal transport remains anomalous in NSTX. For this reason, a microwave scattering system will be deployed to directly observe the w and k spectra of ρ e -scale turbulent fluctuations and characterize the effect on electron thermal transport. The scattering system will employ a Gaussian probe beam produced by a high power 280 GHz microwave source. A five-channel heterodyne detection system will measure radial turbulent spectra in the range |k r | = 0-20 cm -1 . Inboard and outboard launch configurations cover most of the normalized minor radius. Improved spatial localization of measurements is achieved with low aspect ratio and high magnetic shear configurations. This paper will address the global design of the scattering system, such as choice of frequency, size, launching system, and detection system

  14. Turbulent boundary layer over 2D and 3D large-scale wavy walls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chamorro, Leonardo P.; Hamed, Ali M.; Castillo, Luciano

    2015-11-01

    In this work, an experimental investigation of the developing and developed flow over two- and three-dimensional large-scale wavy walls was performed using high-resolution planar particle image velocimetry in a refractive-index-matching flume. The 2D wall is described by a sinusoidal wave in the streamwise direction with amplitude to wavelength ratio a/ λx = 0.05. The 3D wall is defined with an additional wave superimposed on the 2D wall in the spanwise direction with a/ λy = 0.1. The flow was characterized at Reynolds numbers of 4000 and 40000, based on the bulk velocity and the flume half height. Instantaneous velocity fields and time-averaged turbulence quantities reveal strong coupling between large-scale topography and the turbulence dynamics near the wall. Turbulence statistics show the presence of a well-structured shear layer that enhances the turbulence for the 2D wavy wall, whereas the 3D wall exhibits different flow dynamics and significantly lower turbulence levels, particularly for which shows about 30% reduction. The likelihood of recirculation bubbles, levels and spatial distribution of turbulence, and the rate of the turbulent kinetic energy production are shown to be severely affected when a single spanwise mode is superimposed on the 2D wall. POD analysis was also performed to further understand distinctive features of the flow structures due to surface topography.

  15. Establishment of DNS database in a turbulent channel flow by large-scale simulations

    OpenAIRE

    Abe, Hiroyuki; Kawamura, Hiroshi; 阿部 浩幸; 河村 洋

    2008-01-01

    In the present study, we establish statistical DNS (Direct Numerical Simulation) database in a turbulent channel flow with passive scalar transport at high Reynolds numbers and make the data available at our web site (http://murasun.me.noda.tus.ac.jp/turbulence/). The established database is reported together with the implementation of large-scale simulations, representative DNS results and results on turbulence model testing using the DNS data.

  16. An Extended Eddy-Diffusivity Mass-Flux Scheme for Unified Representation of Subgrid-Scale Turbulence and Convection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Zhihong; Kaul, Colleen M.; Pressel, Kyle G.; Cohen, Yair; Schneider, Tapio; Teixeira, João.

    2018-03-01

    Large-scale weather forecasting and climate models are beginning to reach horizontal resolutions of kilometers, at which common assumptions made in existing parameterization schemes of subgrid-scale turbulence and convection—such as that they adjust instantaneously to changes in resolved-scale dynamics—cease to be justifiable. Additionally, the common practice of representing boundary-layer turbulence, shallow convection, and deep convection by discontinuously different parameterizations schemes, each with its own set of parameters, has contributed to the proliferation of adjustable parameters in large-scale models. Here we lay the theoretical foundations for an extended eddy-diffusivity mass-flux (EDMF) scheme that has explicit time-dependence and memory of subgrid-scale variables and is designed to represent all subgrid-scale turbulence and convection, from boundary layer dynamics to deep convection, in a unified manner. Coherent up and downdrafts in the scheme are represented as prognostic plumes that interact with their environment and potentially with each other through entrainment and detrainment. The more isotropic turbulence in their environment is represented through diffusive fluxes, with diffusivities obtained from a turbulence kinetic energy budget that consistently partitions turbulence kinetic energy between plumes and environment. The cross-sectional area of up and downdrafts satisfies a prognostic continuity equation, which allows the plumes to cover variable and arbitrarily large fractions of a large-scale grid box and to have life cycles governed by their own internal dynamics. Relatively simple preliminary proposals for closure parameters are presented and are shown to lead to a successful simulation of shallow convection, including a time-dependent life cycle.

  17. Toward topology-based characterization of small-scale mixing in compressible turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suman, Sawan; Girimaji, Sharath

    2011-11-01

    Turbulent mixing rate at small scales of motion (molecular mixing) is governed by the steepness of the scalar-gradient field which in turn is dependent upon the prevailing velocity gradients. Thus motivated, we propose a velocity-gradient topology-based approach for characterizing small-scale mixing in compressible turbulence. We define a mixing efficiency metric that is dependent upon the topology of the solenoidal and dilatational deformation rates of a fluid element. The mixing characteristics of solenoidal and dilatational velocity fluctuations are clearly delineated. We validate this new approach by employing mixing data from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of compressible decaying turbulence with passive scalar. For each velocity-gradient topology, we compare the mixing efficiency predicted by the topology-based model with the corresponding conditional scalar variance obtained from DNS. The new mixing metric accurately distinguishes good and poor mixing topologies and indeed reasonably captures the numerical values. The results clearly demonstrate the viability of the proposed approach for characterizing and predicting mixing in compressible flows.

  18. Turbulent Concentration of mm-Size Particles in the Protoplanetary Nebula: Scale-Dependent Cascades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuzzi, J. N.; Hartlep, T.

    2015-01-01

    estimated using a statistical model with properties inferred from large numerical simulations of turbulence. Nebula turbulence is described by its Reynolds number Re = (L/eta)(exp 4/3), where L = H alpha(exp 1/2) is the largest eddy scale, H is the nebula gas vertical scale height, alpha the turbulent viscosity parameter, and eta is the Kolmogorov or smallest scale in turbulence (typically about 1km), with eddy turnover time t(sub eta). In the nebula, Re is far larger than any numerical simulation can handle, so some physical arguments are needed to extend the results of numerical simulations to nebula conditions. In this paper, we report new physics to be incorporated into our statistical models.

  19. Properties of small-scale interfacial turbulence from a novel thermography based approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnieders, Jana; Garbe, Christoph

    2013-04-01

    Oceans cover nearly two thirds of the earth's surface and exchange processes between the Atmosphere and the Ocean are of fundamental environmental importance. At the air-sea interface, complex interaction processes take place on a multitude of scales. Turbulence plays a key role in the coupling of momentum, heat and mass transfer [2]. Here we use high resolution infrared imagery to visualize near surface aqueous turbulence. Thermographic data is analized from a range of laboratory facilities and experimental conditions with wind speeds ranging from 1ms-1 to 7ms-1 and various surface conditions. The surface heat pattern is formed by distinct structures on two scales - small-scale short lived structures termed fish scales and larger scale cold streaks that are consistent with the footprints of Langmuir Circulations. There are two key characteristics of the observed surface heat patterns: (1) The surface heat patterns show characteristic features of scales. (2) The structure of these patterns change with increasing wind stress and surface conditions. We present a new image processing based approach to the analysis of the spacing of cold streaks based on a machine learning approach [4, 1] to classify the thermal footprints of near surface turbulence. Our random forest classifier is based on classical features in image processing such as gray value gradients and edge detecting features. The result is a pixel-wise classification of the surface heat pattern with a subsequent analysis of the streak spacing. This approach has been presented in [3] and can be applied to a wide range of experimental data. In spite of entirely different boundary conditions, the spacing of turbulent cells near the air-water interface seems to match the expected turbulent cell size for flow near a no-slip wall. The analysis of the spacing of cold streaks shows consistent behavior in a range of laboratory facilities when expressed as a function of water sided friction velocity, u*. The scales

  20. Breakdown of large-scale circulation in turbulent rotating convection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kunnen, R.P.J.; Clercx, H.J.H.; Geurts, Bernardus J.

    2008-01-01

    Turbulent rotating convection in a cylinder is investigated both numerically and experimentally at Rayleigh number Ra = $10^9$ and Prandtl number $\\sigma$ = 6.4. In this Letter we discuss two topics: the breakdown under rotation of the domain-filling large-scale circulation (LSC) typical for

  1. A turbulent time scale based k–ε model for probability density function modeling of turbulence/chemistry interactions: Application to HCCI combustion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maroteaux, Fadila; Pommier, Pierre-Lin

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Turbulent time evolution is introduced in stochastic modeling approach. ► The particles number is optimized trough a restricted initial distribution. ► The initial distribution amplitude is modeled by magnitude of turbulence field. -- Abstract: Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine technology is known as an alternative to reduce NO x and particulate matter (PM) emissions. As shown by several experimental studies published in the literature, the ideally homogeneous mixture charge becomes stratified in composition and temperature, and turbulent mixing is found to play an important role in controlling the combustion progress. In a previous study, an IEM model (Interaction by Exchange with the Mean) has been used to describe the micromixing in a stochastic reactor model that simulates the HCCI process. The IEM model is a deterministic model, based on the principle that the scalar value approaches the mean value over the entire volume with a characteristic mixing time. In this previous model, the turbulent time scale was treated as a fixed parameter. The present study focuses on the development of a micro-mixing time model, in order to take into account the physical phenomena it stands for. For that purpose, a (k–ε) model is used to express this micro-mixing time model. The turbulence model used here is based on zero dimensional energy cascade applied during the compression and the expansion cycle; mean kinetic energy is converted to turbulent kinetic energy. Turbulent kinetic energy is converted to heat through viscous dissipation. Besides, in this study a relation to calculate the initial heterogeneities amplitude is proposed. The comparison of simulation results against experimental data shows overall satisfactory agreement at variable turbulent time scale

  2. Effect of Small-Scale Turbulence on the Physiology and Morphology of Two Bloom-Forming Cyanobacteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Yan; Li, Zhe; Li, Chao; Zhang, Zhen; Guo, Jinsong

    2016-01-01

    The main goal of the present work is to test the hypothesis that small-scale turbulence affected physiological activities and the morphology of cyanobacteria in high turbulence environments. Using quantified turbulence in a stirring device, we conducted one set of experiments on cultures of two strains of cyanobacteria with different phenotypes; i.e., unicellular Microcystis flos-aquae and colonial Anabaena flos-aquae. The effect of small-scale turbulence examined varied from 0 to 8.01×10-2 m2s-3, covering the range of turbulence intensities experienced by cyanobacteria in the field. The results of photosynthesis activity and the cellular chlorophyll a in both strains did not change significantly among the turbulence levels, indicating that the potential indirect effects of a light regime under the gradient of turbulent mixing could be ignored. However, the experiments demonstrated that small-scale turbulence significantly modulated algal nutrient uptake and growth in comparison to the stagnant control. Cellular N and C of the two stains showed approximately the same responses, resulting in a similar pattern of C/N ratios. Moreover, the change in the phosphate uptake rate was similar to that of growth in two strains, which implied that growth characteristic responses to turbulence may be dependent on the P strategy, which was correlated with accumulation of polyphosphate. Additionally, our results also showed the filament length of A. flos-aquae decreased in response to high turbulence, which could favor enhancement of the nutrient uptake. These findings suggested that both M. flos-aquae and A. flos-aquae adjust their growth rates in response to turbulence levels in the ways of asynchronous cellular stoichiometry of C, N, and P, especially the phosphorus strategy, to improve the nutrient application efficiency. The fact that adaptation strategies of cyanobacteria diversely to turbulence depending on their physiological conditions presents a good example to

  3. Experiments in turbulent pipe flow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Torbergsen, Lars Even

    1998-12-31

    This thesis reports experimental results for the mean velocity and turbulence statistics in two straight pipe sections for bulk Reynolds numbers in the range 22000 to 75000. The flow was found consistent with a fully developed state. Detailed turbulence spectra were obtained for low and moderate turbulent Reynolds number. For the pipe centre line location at R{sub {lambda}} = 112, a narrow range in the streamwise power spectrum applied to the -5/3 inertial subrange. However this range was influenced both by turbulence production and viscous dissipation, and therefore did not reflect a true inertial range. The result indicates how the intermediate range between the production and dissipative scales can be misinterpreted as an inertial range for low and moderate R{sub {lambda}}. To examine the universal behaviour of the inertial range, the inertial scaling of the streamwise power spectrum is compared to the inertial scaling of the second order longitudinal velocity structure function, which relate directly by a Fourier transform. Increasing agreement between the Kolmogorov constant C{sub K} and the second order structure function scaling constant C{sub 2} was observed with increasing R{sub {lambda}}. The result indicates that a true inertial range requires several decades of separation between the energy containing and dissipative scales. A method for examining spectral anisotropy is reported and applied to turbulence spectra in fully developed pipe flow. It is found that the spectral redistribution from the streamwise to the two lateral spectra goes primarily to the circumferential component. Experimental results are reported for an axisymmetric contraction of a fully developed pipe flow. 67 refs., 75 figs., 9 tabs.

  4. Turbulence closure: turbulence, waves and the wave-turbulence transition – Part 1: Vanishing mean shear

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Z. Baumert

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper extends a turbulence closure-like model for stably stratified flows into a new dynamic domain in which turbulence is generated by internal gravity waves rather than mean shear. The model turbulent kinetic energy (TKE, K balance, its first equation, incorporates a term for the energy transfer from internal waves to turbulence. This energy source is in addition to the traditional shear production. The second variable of the new two-equation model is the turbulent enstrophy (Ω. Compared to the traditional shear-only case, the Ω-equation is modified to account for the effect of the waves on the turbulence time and space scales. This modification is based on the assumption of a non-zero constant flux Richardson number in the limit of vanishing mean shear when turbulence is produced exclusively by internal waves. This paper is part 1 of a continuing theoretical development. It accounts for mean shear- and internal wave-driven mixing only in the two limits of mean shear and no waves and waves but no mean shear, respectively.

    The new model reproduces the wave-turbulence transition analyzed by D'Asaro and Lien (2000b. At small energy density E of the internal wave field, the turbulent dissipation rate (ε scales like ε~E2. This is what is observed in the deep sea. With increasing E, after the wave-turbulence transition has been passed, the scaling changes to ε~E1. This is observed, for example, in the highly energetic tidal flow near a sill in Knight Inlet. The new model further exhibits a turbulent length scale proportional to the Ozmidov scale, as observed in the ocean, and predicts the ratio between the turbulent Thorpe and Ozmidov length scales well within the range observed in the ocean.

  5. Entropy Production of Emerging Turbulent Scales in a Temporal Supercritical N-Neptane/Nitrogen Three-Dimensional Mixing Layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellan, J.; Okongo, N.

    2000-01-01

    A study of emerging turbulent scales entropy production is conducted for a supercritical shear layer as a precursor to the eventual modeling of Subgrid Scales (from a turbulent state) leading to Large Eddy Simulations.

  6. A priori study of subgrid-scale features in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dabbagh, F.; Trias, F. X.; Gorobets, A.; Oliva, A.

    2017-10-01

    At the crossroad between flow topology analysis and turbulence modeling, a priori studies are a reliable tool to understand the underlying physics of the subgrid-scale (SGS) motions in turbulent flows. In this paper, properties of the SGS features in the framework of a large-eddy simulation are studied for a turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RBC). To do so, data from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a turbulent air-filled RBC in a rectangular cavity of aspect ratio unity and π spanwise open-ended distance are used at two Rayleigh numbers R a ∈{1 08,1 010 } [Dabbagh et al., "On the evolution of flow topology in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection," Phys. Fluids 28, 115105 (2016)]. First, DNS at Ra = 108 is used to assess the performance of eddy-viscosity models such as QR, Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE), and the recent S3PQR-models proposed by Trias et al. ["Building proper invariants for eddy-viscosity subgrid-scale models," Phys. Fluids 27, 065103 (2015)]. The outcomes imply that the eddy-viscosity modeling smoothes the coarse-grained viscous straining and retrieves fairly well the effect of the kinetic unfiltered scales in order to reproduce the coherent large scales. However, these models fail to approach the exact evolution of the SGS heat flux and are incapable to reproduce well the further dominant rotational enstrophy pertaining to the buoyant production. Afterwards, the key ingredients of eddy-viscosity, νt, and eddy-diffusivity, κt, are calculated a priori and revealed positive prevalent values to maintain a turbulent wind essentially driven by the mean buoyant force at the sidewalls. The topological analysis suggests that the effective turbulent diffusion paradigm and the hypothesis of a constant turbulent Prandtl number are only applicable in the large-scale strain-dominated areas in the bulk. It is shown that the bulk-dominated rotational structures of vortex-stretching (and its synchronous viscous dissipative structures) hold

  7. Rank-Ordered Multifractal Analysis (ROMA of probability distributions in fluid turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. C. Wu

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Rank-Ordered Multifractal Analysis (ROMA was introduced by Chang and Wu (2008 to describe the multifractal characteristic of intermittent events. The procedure provides a natural connection between the rank-ordered spectrum and the idea of one-parameter scaling for monofractals. This technique has successfully been applied to MHD turbulence simulations and turbulence data observed in various space plasmas. In this paper, the technique is applied to the probability distributions in the inertial range of the turbulent fluid flow, as given in the vast Johns Hopkins University (JHU turbulence database. In addition, a new way of finding the continuous ROMA spectrum and the scaled probability distribution function (PDF simultaneously is introduced.

  8. A Novel Multi-scale Simulation Strategy for Turbulent Reacting Flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    James, Sutherland [University of Utah

    2018-04-12

    Abstract In this project, a new methodology was proposed to bridge the gap between Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES). This novel methodology, titled Lattice-Based Multiscale Simulation (LBMS), creates a lattice structure of One-Dimensional Turbulence (ODT) models. This model has been shown to capture turbulent combustion with high fidelity by fully resolving interactions between turbulence and diffusion. By creating a lattice of ODT models, which are then coupled, LBMS overcomes the shortcomings of ODT, which are its inability to capture large scale three dimensional flow structures. However, by spacing these lattices significantly apart, LBMS can avoid the curse of dimensionality that creates untenable computational costs associated with DNS. This project has shown that LBMS is capable of reproducing statistics of isotropic turbulent flows while coarsening the spacing between lines significantly. It also investigates and resolves issues that arise when coupling ODT lines, such as flux reconstruction perpendicular to a given ODT line, preservation of conserved quantities when eddies cross a course cell volume and boundary condition application. Robust parallelization is also investigated.

  9. Gravity, turbulence and the scaling ``laws'' in molecular clouds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballesteros-Paredes, Javier

    The so-called Larson (1981) scaling laws found empirically in molecular clouds have been generally interpreted as evidence that the clouds are turbulent and fractal. In the present contribution we discussed how recent observations and models of cloud formation suggest that: (a) these relations are the result of strong observational biases due to the cloud definition itself: since the filling factor of the dense structures is small, by thresholding the column density the computed mean density between clouds is nearly constant, and nearly the same as the threshold (Ballesteros-Paredes et al. 2012). (b) When accounting for column density variations, the velocity dispersion-size relation does not appears anymore. Instead, dense cores populate the upper-left corner of the δ v-R diagram (Ballesteros-Paredes et al. 2011a). (c) Instead of a δ v-R relation, a more appropriate relation seems to be δ v 2 / R = 2 GMΣ, which suggest that clouds are in collapse, rather than supported by turbulence (Ballesteros-Paredes et al. 2011a). (d) These results, along with the shapes of the star formation histories (Hartmann, Ballesteros-Paredes & Heitsch 2012), line profiles of collapsing clouds in numerical simulations (Heitsch, Ballesteros-Paredes & Hartmann 2009), core-to-core velocity dispersions (Heitsch, Ballesteros-Paredes & Hartmann 2009), time-evolution of the column density PDFs (Ballesteros-Paredes et al. 2011b), etc., strongly suggest that the actual source of the non-thermal motions is gravitational collapse of the clouds, so that the turbulent, chaotic component of the motions is only a by-product of the collapse, with no significant ``support" role for the clouds. This result calls into question if the scale-free nature of the motions has a turbulent, origin (Ballesteros-Paredes et al. 2011a; Ballesteros-Paredes et al. 2011b, Ballesteros-Paredes et al. 2012).

  10. The anomalous scaling exponents of turbulence in general dimension from random geometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eling, Christopher [Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3NP (United Kingdom); Oz, Yaron [Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978 (Israel)

    2015-09-22

    We propose an analytical formula for the anomalous scaling exponents of inertial range structure functions in incompressible fluid turbulence. The formula is a Knizhnik-Polyakov-Zamolodchikov (KPZ)-type relation and is valid in any number of space dimensions. It incorporates intermittency in a novel way by dressing the Kolmogorov linear scaling via a coupling to a lognormal random geometry. The formula has one real parameter γ that depends on the number of space dimensions. The scaling exponents satisfy the convexity inequality, and the supersonic bound constraint. They agree with the experimental and numerical data in two and three space dimensions, and with numerical data in four space dimensions. Intermittency increases with γ, and in the infinite γ limit the scaling exponents approach the value one, as in Burgers turbulence. At large n the nth order exponent scales as √n. We discuss the relation between fluid flows and black hole geometry that inspired our proposal.

  11. On the impacts of coarse-scale models of realistic roughness on a forward-facing step turbulent flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Yanhua; Ren, Huiying

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Discrete wavelet transform was used to produce coarse-scale models of roughness. ► PIV were performed in a forward-facing step flow with roughness of different scales. ► Impacts of roughness scales on various turbulence statistics were studied. -- Abstract: The present work explores the impacts of the coarse-scale models of realistic roughness on the turbulent boundary layers over forward-facing steps. The surface topographies of different scale resolutions were obtained from a novel multi-resolution analysis using discrete wavelet transform. PIV measurements are performed in the streamwise–wall-normal (x–y) planes at two different spanwise positions in turbulent boundary layers at Re h = 3450 and δ/h = 8, where h is the mean step height and δ is the incoming boundary layer thickness. It was observed that large-scale but low-amplitude roughness scales had small effects on the forward-facing step turbulent flow. For the higher-resolution model of the roughness, the turbulence characteristics within 2h downstream of the steps are observed to be distinct from those over the original realistic rough step at a measurement position where the roughness profile possesses a positive slope immediately after the step’s front. On the other hand, much smaller differences exist in the flow characteristics at the other measurement position whose roughness profile possesses a negative slope following the step’s front

  12. Turbulent thermal boundary layer on a permeable flat plate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vigdorovich, I. I.

    2007-01-01

    Scaling laws are established for the profiles of temperature, turbulent heat flux, rms temperature fluctuation, and wall heat transfer in the turbulent boundary layer on a flat plate with transpiration. In the case of blowing, the temperature distribution represented in scaling variables outside the viscous sublayer has a universal form known from experimental data for flows over impermeable flat plates. In the case of suction, the temperature distribution is described by a one-parameter family of curves. A universal law of heat transfer having the form of a generalized Reynolds analogy provides a basis for representation of the heat flux distributions corresponding to different Reynolds numbers and transpiration velocities in terms of a function of one variable. The results are obtained without invoking any special closure hypotheses

  13. Universities scale like cities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony F J van Raan

    Full Text Available Recent studies of urban scaling show that important socioeconomic city characteristics such as wealth and innovation capacity exhibit a nonlinear, particularly a power law scaling with population size. These nonlinear effects are common to all cities, with similar power law exponents. These findings mean that the larger the city, the more disproportionally they are places of wealth and innovation. Local properties of cities cause a deviation from the expected behavior as predicted by the power law scaling. In this paper we demonstrate that universities show a similar behavior as cities in the distribution of the 'gross university income' in terms of total number of citations over 'size' in terms of total number of publications. Moreover, the power law exponents for university scaling are comparable to those for urban scaling. We find that deviations from the expected behavior can indeed be explained by specific local properties of universities, particularly the field-specific composition of a university, and its quality in terms of field-normalized citation impact. By studying both the set of the 500 largest universities worldwide and a specific subset of these 500 universities--the top-100 European universities--we are also able to distinguish between properties of universities with as well as without selection of one specific local property, the quality of a university in terms of its average field-normalized citation impact. It also reveals an interesting observation concerning the working of a crucial property in networked systems, preferential attachment.

  14. Universities scale like cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Raan, Anthony F J

    2013-01-01

    Recent studies of urban scaling show that important socioeconomic city characteristics such as wealth and innovation capacity exhibit a nonlinear, particularly a power law scaling with population size. These nonlinear effects are common to all cities, with similar power law exponents. These findings mean that the larger the city, the more disproportionally they are places of wealth and innovation. Local properties of cities cause a deviation from the expected behavior as predicted by the power law scaling. In this paper we demonstrate that universities show a similar behavior as cities in the distribution of the 'gross university income' in terms of total number of citations over 'size' in terms of total number of publications. Moreover, the power law exponents for university scaling are comparable to those for urban scaling. We find that deviations from the expected behavior can indeed be explained by specific local properties of universities, particularly the field-specific composition of a university, and its quality in terms of field-normalized citation impact. By studying both the set of the 500 largest universities worldwide and a specific subset of these 500 universities--the top-100 European universities--we are also able to distinguish between properties of universities with as well as without selection of one specific local property, the quality of a university in terms of its average field-normalized citation impact. It also reveals an interesting observation concerning the working of a crucial property in networked systems, preferential attachment.

  15. An improved anisotropy-resolving subgrid-scale model for flows in laminar–turbulent transition region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inagaki, Masahide; Abe, Ken-ichi

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • An anisotropy-resolving subgrid-scale model, covering a wide range of grid resolutions, is improved. • The new model enhances its applicability to flows in the laminar-turbulent transition region. • A mixed-timescale subgrid-scale model is used as the eddy viscosity model. • The proposed model successfully predicts the channel flows at transitional Reynolds numbers. • The influence of the definition of the grid-filter width is also investigated. - Abstract: Some types of mixed subgrid-scale (SGS) models combining an isotropic eddy-viscosity model and a scale-similarity model can be used to effectively improve the accuracy of large eddy simulation (LES) in predicting wall turbulence. Abe (2013) has recently proposed a stabilized mixed model that maintains its computational stability through a unique procedure that prevents the energy transfer between the grid-scale (GS) and SGS components induced by the scale-similarity term. At the same time, since this model can successfully predict the anisotropy of the SGS stress, the predictive performance, particularly at coarse grid resolutions, is remarkably improved in comparison with other mixed models. However, since the stabilized anisotropy-resolving SGS model includes a transport equation of the SGS turbulence energy, k SGS , containing a production term proportional to the square root of k SGS , its applicability to flows with both laminar and turbulent regions is not so high. This is because such a production term causes k SGS to self-reproduce. Consequently, the laminar–turbulent transition region predicted by this model depends on the inflow or initial condition of k SGS . To resolve these issues, in the present study, the mixed-timescale (MTS) SGS model proposed by Inagaki et al. (2005) is introduced into the stabilized mixed model as the isotropic eddy-viscosity part and the production term in the k SGS transport equation. In the MTS model, the SGS turbulence energy, k es , estimated by

  16. Scaling and interaction of self-similar modes in models of high Reynolds number wall turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, A S; Moarref, R; McKeon, B J

    2017-03-13

    Previous work has established the usefulness of the resolvent operator that maps the terms nonlinear in the turbulent fluctuations to the fluctuations themselves. Further work has described the self-similarity of the resolvent arising from that of the mean velocity profile. The orthogonal modes provided by the resolvent analysis describe the wall-normal coherence of the motions and inherit that self-similarity. In this contribution, we present the implications of this similarity for the nonlinear interaction between modes with different scales and wall-normal locations. By considering the nonlinear interactions between modes, it is shown that much of the turbulence scaling behaviour in the logarithmic region can be determined from a single arbitrarily chosen reference plane. Thus, the geometric scaling of the modes is impressed upon the nonlinear interaction between modes. Implications of these observations on the self-sustaining mechanisms of wall turbulence, modelling and simulation are outlined.This article is part of the themed issue 'Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  17. Fast response of electron-scale turbulence to auxiliary heating cessation in National Spherical Torus Experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ren, Y.; Wang, W. X.; LeBlanc, B. P.; Guttenfelder, W.; Kaye, S. M.; Ethier, S.; Mazzucato, E.; Bell, R. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Lee, K. C. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of); Domier, C. W. [University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616 (United States); Smith, D. R. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States); Yuh, H. [Nova Photonics, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)

    2015-11-15

    In this letter, we report the first observation of the fast response of electron-scale turbulence to auxiliary heating cessation in National Spherical Torus eXperiment [Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)]. The observation was made in a set of RF-heated L-mode plasmas with toroidal magnetic field of 0.55 T and plasma current of 300 kA. It is observed that electron-scale turbulence spectral power (measured with a high-k collective microwave scattering system) decreases significantly following fast cessation of RF heating that occurs in less than 200 μs. The large drop in the turbulence spectral power has a short time delay of about 1–2 ms relative to the RF cessation and happens on a time scale of 0.5–1 ms, much smaller than the energy confinement time of about 10 ms. Power balance analysis shows a factor of about 2 decrease in electron thermal diffusivity after the sudden drop of turbulence spectral power. Measured small changes in equilibrium profiles across the RF cessation are unlikely able to explain this sudden reduction in the measured turbulence and decrease in electron thermal transport, supported by local linear stability analysis and both local and global nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. The observations imply that nonlocal flux-driven mechanism may be important for the observed turbulence and electron thermal transport.

  18. PIV measurements of the turbulence integral length scale on cold combustion flow field of tangential firing boiler

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Wen-fei; Xie, Jing-xing; Gong, Zhi-jun; Li, Bao-wei [Inner Mongolia Univ. of Science and Technology, Baotou (China). Inner Mongolia Key Lab. for Utilization of Bayan Obo Multi-Metallic Resources: Elected State Key Lab.

    2013-07-01

    The process of the pulverized coal combustion in tangential firing boiler has prominent significance on improving boiler operation efficiency and reducing NO{sub X} emission. This paper aims at researching complex turbulent vortex coherent structure formed by the four corners jets in the burner zone, a cold experimental model of tangential firing boiler has been built. And by employing spatial correlation analysis method and PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique, the law of Vortex scale distribution on the three typical horizontal layers of the model based on the turbulent Integral Length Scale (ILS) has been researched. According to the correlation analysis of ILS and the temporal average velocity, it can be seen that the turbulent vortex scale distribution in the burner zone of the model is affected by both jet velocity and the position of wind layers, and is not linear with the variation of jet velocity. The vortex scale distribution of the upper primary air is significantly different from the others. Therefore, studying the ILS of turbulent vortex integral scale is instructive to high efficiency cleaning combustion of pulverized coal in theory.

  19. The gyro-radius scaling of ion thermal transport from global numerical simulations of ITG turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ottaviani, M.; Manfredi, G.

    1998-12-01

    A three-dimensional, fluid code is used to study the scaling of ion thermal transport caused by Ion-Temperature-Gradient-Driven (ITG) turbulence. The code includes toroidal effects and is capable of simulating the whole torus. It is found that both close to the ITG threshold and well above threshold, the thermal transport and the turbulence structures exhibit a gyro-Bohm scaling, at least for plasmas with moderate poloidal flow. (author)

  20. Soliton turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tchen, C. M.

    1986-01-01

    Theoretical and numerical works in atmospheric turbulence have used the Navier-Stokes fluid equations exclusively for describing large-scale motions. Controversy over the existence of an average temperature gradient for the very large eddies in the atmosphere suggested that a new theoretical basis for describing large-scale turbulence was necessary. A new soliton formalism as a fluid analogue that generalizes the Schrodinger equation and the Zakharov equations has been developed. This formalism, processing all the nonlinearities including those from modulation provided by the density fluctuations and from convection due to the emission of finite sound waves by velocity fluctuations, treats large-scale turbulence as coalescing and colliding solitons. The new soliton system describes large-scale instabilities more explicitly than the Navier-Stokes system because it has a nonlinearity of the gradient type, while the Navier-Stokes has a nonlinearity of the non-gradient type. The forced Schrodinger equation for strong fluctuations describes the micro-hydrodynamical state of soliton turbulence and is valid for large-scale turbulence in fluids and plasmas where internal waves can interact with velocity fluctuations.

  1. Two-scale analysis of intermittency in fully developed turbulence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badii, R; Talkner, P [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

    1999-08-01

    A self-affinity test for turbulent time series is applied to experimental data for the estimation of intermittency exponents. The method employs exact relations satisfied by joint expectations of observables computed across two different length scales. One of these constitutes a verification tool for the existence and the extent of the inertial range. (author) 2 figs., 13 refs.

  2. Small Scales Structure of MHD Turbulence, Tubes or Ribbons?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verdini, A.; Grappin, R.; Alexandrova, O.; Lion, S.

    2017-12-01

    Observations in the solar wind indicate that turbulent eddies change their anisotropy with scales [1]. At large scales eddies are elongated in direction perpendicular to the mean-field axis. This is the result of solar wind expansion that affects both the anisotropy and single-spacecraft measurments [2,3]. At small scales one recovers the anisotropy expected in strong MHD turbulence and constrained by the so-called critical balance: eddies are elongated along the mean-field axis. However, the actual eddy shape is intermediate between tubes and ribbons, preventing us to discriminate between two concurrent theories that predict 2D axysimmetric anisotropy [4] or full 3D anisotropy [5]. We analyse 10 years of WIND data and apply a numerically-derived criterion to select intervals in which solar wind expansion is expected to be negligible. By computing the anisotropy of structure functions with respect to the local mean field we obtain for the first time scaling relations that are in agreement with full 3D anisotropy, i.e. ribbons-like structures. However, we cannot obtain the expected scaling relations for the alignment angle which, according to the theory, is physically responsible for the departure from axisymmetry. In addition, a further change of anisotropy occurs well above the proton scales. We discuss the implication of our findings and how numerical simulations can help interpreting the observed spectral anisotropy. [1] Chen et al., ApJ, 768:120, 2012 [2] Verdini & Grappin, ApJL, 808:L34, 2015 [3] Vech & Chen, ApJL, 832:L16, 2016 [4] Goldreich & Shridar, ApJ, 438:763, 1995 [5] Boldyrev, ApJL, 626:L37, 2005

  3. Subgrid-scale turbulence in shock-boundary layer flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jammalamadaka, Avinash; Jaberi, Farhad

    2015-04-01

    Data generated by direct numerical simulation (DNS) for a Mach 2.75 zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer interacting with shocks of different intensities are used for a priori analysis of subgrid-scale (SGS) turbulence and various terms in the compressible filtered Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical method used for DNS is based on a hybrid scheme that uses a non-dissipative central scheme in the shock-free turbulent regions and a robust monotonicity-preserving scheme in the shock regions. The behavior of SGS stresses and their components, namely Leonard, Cross and Reynolds components, is examined in various regions of the flow for different shock intensities and filter widths. The backscatter in various regions of the flow is found to be significant only instantaneously, while the ensemble-averaged statistics indicate no significant backscatter. The budgets for the SGS kinetic energy equation are examined for a better understanding of shock-tubulence interactions at the subgrid level and also with the aim of providing useful information for one-equation LES models. A term-by-term analysis of SGS terms in the filtered total energy equation indicate that while each term in this equation is significant by itself, the net contribution by all of them is relatively small. This observation is consistent with our a posteriori analysis.

  4. Effects of turbulent hyporheic mixing on reach-scale solute transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roche, K. R.; Li, A.; Packman, A. I.

    2017-12-01

    Turbulence rapidly mixes solutes and fine particles into coarse-grained streambeds. Both hyporheic exchange rates and spatial variability of hyporheic mixing are known to be controlled by turbulence, but it is unclear how turbulent mixing influences mass transport at the scale of stream reaches. We used a process-based particle-tracking model to simulate local- and reach-scale solute transport for a coarse-bed stream. Two vertical mixing profiles, one with a smooth transition from in-stream to hyporheic transport conditions and a second with enhanced turbulent transport at the sediment-water interface, were fit to steady-state subsurface concentration profiles observed in laboratory experiments. The mixing profile with enhanced interfacial transport better matched the observed concentration profiles and overall mass retention in the streambed. The best-fit mixing profiles were then used to simulate upscaled solute transport in a stream. Enhanced mixing coupled in-stream and hyporheic solute transport, causing solutes exchanged into the shallow subsurface to have travel times similar to the water column. This extended the exponential region of the in-stream solute breakthrough curve, and delayed the onset of the heavy power-law tailing induced by deeper and slower hyporheic porewater velocities. Slopes of observed power-law tails were greater than those predicted from stochastic transport theory, and also changed in time. In addition, rapid hyporheic transport velocities truncated the hyporheic residence time distribution by causing mass to exit the stream reach via subsurface advection, yielding strong exponential tempering in the in-stream breakthrough curves at the timescale of advective hyporheic transport through the reach. These results show that strong turbulent mixing across the sediment-water interface violates the conventional separation of surface and subsurface flows used in current models for solute transport in rivers. Instead, the full distribution of

  5. A dynamic globalization model for large eddy simulation of complex turbulent flow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Hae Cheon; Park, No Ma; Kim, Jin Seok [Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2005-07-01

    A dynamic subgrid-scale model is proposed for large eddy simulation of turbulent flows in complex geometry. The eddy viscosity model by Vreman [Phys. Fluids, 16, 3670 (2004)] is considered as a base model. A priori tests with the original Vreman model show that it predicts the correct profile of subgrid-scale dissipation in turbulent channel flow but the optimal model coefficient is far from universal. Dynamic procedures of determining the model coefficient are proposed based on the 'global equilibrium' between the subgrid-scale dissipation and viscous dissipation. An important feature of the proposed procedures is that the model coefficient determined is globally constant in space but varies only in time. Large eddy simulations with the present dynamic model are conducted for forced isotropic turbulence, turbulent channel flow and flow over a sphere, showing excellent agreements with previous results.

  6. Possible effects of small-scale intermittency in turbulent reacting flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sreenivasan, K.R.

    2006-12-01

    It is now well established that quantities such as energy dissipation, scalar dissipation and enstrophy possess huge fluctuations in turbulent flows, and that the fluctuations become increasingly stronger with increasing Reynolds number of the flow. The effects of this small-scale 'intermittency' on various aspects of reacting flows have not been addressed fully. This paper draws brief attention to a few possible effects on reaction rates, flame extinction, flamelet approximation, conditional moment closure methods, and so forth, besides commenting on possible effects on the resolution requirements of direct numerical simulations of turbulence. We also discuss the likelihood that large-amplitude events in a given class of shear flows are characteristic of that class, and that, plausible estimates of such quantities cannot be made, in general, on the hypothesis that large and small scales are independent. Finally, we briefly describe some ideas from multifractals as a potentially useful tool for an economical handling of a few of the problems touched upon here. (author)

  7. Multitude scaling laws in axisymmetric turbulent wake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Layek, G. C.; Sunita

    2018-03-01

    We establish theoretically multitude scaling laws of a self-similar (statistical) axisymmetric turbulent wake. At infinite Reynolds number limit, the flow evolves as general power law and a new exponential law of streamwise distance, consistent with the criterion of equilibrium similarity hypothesis. We found power law scalings for components of the homogeneous dissipation rate (ɛ) obeying the non-Richardson-Kolmogorov cascade as ɛu˜ku3 /2/(l R elm ) , ɛv˜kv3 /2/l , kv˜ku/R el2 m, 0 stress, l is the local length scale, and Rel is the Reynolds number. The Richardson-Kolmogorov cascade corresponds to m = 0. For m ≈ 1, the power law agrees with non-equilibrium scaling laws observed in recent experiments of the axisymmetric wake. On the contrary, the exponential scaling law follows the above dissipation law with different regions of existence for power index m = 3. At finite Reynolds number with kinematic viscosity ν, scalings obey the dissipation laws ɛu ˜ νku/l2 and ɛv ˜ νkv/l2 with kv˜ku/R eln. The value of n is preferably 0 and 2. Different possibilities of scaling laws and symmetry breaking process are discussed at length.

  8. Quantify the complexity of turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Xingtian; Wu, Huixuan

    2017-11-01

    Many researchers have used Reynolds stress, power spectrum and Shannon entropy to characterize a turbulent flow, but few of them have measured the complexity of turbulence. Yet as this study shows, conventional turbulence statistics and Shannon entropy have limits when quantifying the flow complexity. Thus, it is necessary to introduce new complexity measures- such as topology complexity and excess information-to describe turbulence. Our test flow is a classic turbulent cylinder wake at Reynolds number 8100. Along the stream-wise direction, the flow becomes more isotropic and the magnitudes of normal Reynolds stresses decrease monotonically. These seem to indicate the flow dynamics becomes simpler downstream. However, the Shannon entropy keeps increasing along the flow direction and the dynamics seems to be more complex, because the large-scale vortices cascade to small eddies, the flow is less correlated and more unpredictable. In fact, these two contradictory observations partially describe the complexity of a turbulent wake. Our measurements (up to 40 diameters downstream the cylinder) show that the flow's degree-of-complexity actually increases firstly and then becomes a constant (or drops slightly) along the stream-wise direction. University of Kansas General Research Fund.

  9. Heat release effects on mixing scales of non-premixed turbulent wall-jets: A direct numerical simulation study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pouransari, Zeinab; Vervisch, Luc; Johansson, Arne V.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► A non-premixed turbulent flame close to a solid surface is studied using DNS. ► Heat release effects delay transition and enlarge fluctuation of density and pressure. ► The fine-scale structures damped and surface wrinkling diminished due to heat-release. ► Using semilocal scaling improves the collapse of turbulence statistic in inner region. ► There are regions of the flame where considerable (up to 10%) premixed burning occurs. -- Abstract: The present study concerns the role of heat release effects on characteristics mixing scales of turbulence in reacting wall-jet flows. Direct numerical simulations of exothermic reacting turbulent wall-jets are performed and compared to the isothermal reacting case. An evaluation of the heat-release effects on the structure of turbulence is given by examining the mixture fraction surface characteristics, diagnosing vortices and exploring the dissipation rate of the fuel and passive scalar concentrations, and moreover by illustration of probability density functions of reacting species and scatter plots of the local temperature against the mixture fraction. Primarily, heat release effects delay the transition, enlarge the fluctuation intensities of density and pressure and also enhance the fluctuation level of the species concentrations. However, it has a damping effect on all velocity fluctuation intensities and the Reynolds shear stress. A key result is that the fine-scale structures of turbulence are damped, the surface wrinkling is diminished and the vortices become larger due to heat-release effects. Taking into account the varying density by using semi-local scaling improves the collapse of the turbulence statistics in the inner region, but does not eliminate heat release induced differences in the outer region. Examining the two-dimensional premultiplied spanwise spectra of the streamwise velocity fluctuations indicates a shifting in the positions of the outer peaks, associated with large

  10. Turbulence modulation induced by bubble swarm in oscillating-grid turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morikawa, Koichi; Urano, Shigeyuki; Saito, Takayuki

    2007-01-01

    In the present study, liquid-phase turbulence modulation induced by a bubble swarm ascending in arbitrary turbulence was experimentally investigated. Liquid-phase homogeneous isotropic turbulence was formed using an oscillating grid in a cylindrical acrylic vessel of 149 mm in inner diameter. A bubble swarm consisting of 19 bubbles of 2.8 mm in equivalent diameter was examined; the bubble size and launching time were completely controlled using a bubble launching device through audio speakers. This bubble launching device was able to repeatedly control the bubble swarm arbitrarily and precisely. The bubble swarm was launched at a frequency of 4 Hz. The liquid phase motion was measured via two LDA (Laser Doppler Anemometer) probes. The turbulence intensity, spatial correlation and integral scale were calculated from LDA data obtained by the two spatially-separate-point measurement. When the bubble swarm was added, the turbulence intensity dramatically changed. The original isotropic turbulence was modulated to the anisotropic turbulence by the mutual interference between the bubble swarm and ambient isotropic turbulence. The integral scales were calculated from the spatial correlation function. The effects of the bubble swarm on the integral scales showed the tendencies similar to those on turbulence intensity. (author)

  11. Bursting and large-scale intermittency in turbulent convection with differential rotation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garcia, O.E.; Bian, N.H.

    2003-01-01

    The tilting mechanism, which generates differential rotation in two-dimensional turbulent convection, is shown to produce relaxation oscillations in the mean flow energy integral and bursts in the global fluctuation level, akin to Lotka-Volterra oscillations. The basic reason for such behavior is the unidirectional and conservative transfer of kinetic energy from the fluctuating motions to the mean component of the flows, and its dissipation at large scales. Results from numerical simulations further demonstrate the intimate relation between these low-frequency modulations and the large-scale intermittency of convective turbulence, as manifested by exponential tails in single-point probability distribution functions. Moreover, the spatio-temporal evolution of convective structures illustrates the mechanism triggering avalanche events in the transport process. The latter involves the overlap of delocalized mixing regions when the barrier to transport, produced by the mean component of the flow, transiently disappears

  12. Plasma turbulence driven by transversely large-scale standing shear Alfvén waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Nagendra; Rao, Sathyanarayan

    2012-01-01

    Using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we study generation of turbulence consisting of transversely small-scale dispersive Alfvén and electrostatic waves when plasma is driven by a large-scale standing shear Alfvén wave (LS-SAW). The standing wave is set up by reflecting a propagating LS-SAW. The ponderomotive force of the standing wave generates transversely large-scale density modifications consisting of density cavities and enhancements. The drifts of the charged particles driven by the ponderomotive force and those directly caused by the fields of the standing LS-SAW generate non-thermal features in the plasma. Parametric instabilities driven by the inherent plasma nonlinearities associated with the LS-SAW in combination with the non-thermal features generate small-scale electromagnetic and electrostatic waves, yielding a broad frequency spectrum ranging from below the source frequency of the LS-SAW to ion cyclotron and lower hybrid frequencies and beyond. The power spectrum of the turbulence has peaks at distinct perpendicular wave numbers (k ⊥ ) lying in the range d e −1 -6d e −1 , d e being the electron inertial length, suggesting non-local parametric decay from small to large k ⊥ . The turbulence spectrum encompassing both electromagnetic and electrostatic fluctuations is also broadband in parallel wave number (k || ). In a standing-wave supported density cavity, the ratio of the perpendicular electric to magnetic field amplitude is R(k ⊥ ) = |E ⊥ (k ⊥ )/|B ⊥ (k ⊥ )| ≪ V A for k ⊥ d e A is the Alfvén velocity. The characteristic features of the broadband plasma turbulence are compared with those available from satellite observations in space plasmas.

  13. Turbulence Visualization at the Terascale on Desktop PCs

    KAUST Repository

    Treib, M.

    2012-12-01

    Despite the ongoing efforts in turbulence research, the universal properties of the turbulence small-scale structure and the relationships between small-and large-scale turbulent motions are not yet fully understood. The visually guided exploration of turbulence features, including the interactive selection and simultaneous visualization of multiple features, can further progress our understanding of turbulence. Accomplishing this task for flow fields in which the full turbulence spectrum is well resolved is challenging on desktop computers. This is due to the extreme resolution of such fields, requiring memory and bandwidth capacities going beyond what is currently available. To overcome these limitations, we present a GPU system for feature-based turbulence visualization that works on a compressed flow field representation. We use a wavelet-based compression scheme including run-length and entropy encoding, which can be decoded on the GPU and embedded into brick-based volume ray-casting. This enables a drastic reduction of the data to be streamed from disk to GPU memory. Our system derives turbulence properties directly from the velocity gradient tensor, and it either renders these properties in turn or generates and renders scalar feature volumes. The quality and efficiency of the system is demonstrated in the visualization of two unsteady turbulence simulations, each comprising a spatio-temporal resolution of 10244. On a desktop computer, the system can visualize each time step in 5 seconds, and it achieves about three times this rate for the visualization of a scalar feature volume. © 1995-2012 IEEE.

  14. Lagrangian statistics of mesoscale turbulence in a natural environment: The Agulhas return current.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carbone, Francesco; Gencarelli, Christian N; Hedgecock, Ian M

    2016-12-01

    The properties of mesoscale geophysical turbulence in an oceanic environment have been investigated through the Lagrangian statistics of sea surface temperature measured by a drifting buoy within the Agulhas return current, where strong temperature mixing produces locally sharp temperature gradients. By disentangling the large-scale forcing which affects the small-scale statistics, we found that the statistical properties of intermittency are identical to those obtained from the multifractal prediction in the Lagrangian frame for the velocity trajectory. The results suggest a possible universality of turbulence scaling.

  15. A One-Dimensional Global-Scaling Erosive Burning Model Informed by Blowing Wall Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kibbey, Timothy P.

    2014-01-01

    A derivation of turbulent flow parameters, combined with data from erosive burning test motors and blowing wall tests results in erosive burning model candidates useful in one-dimensional internal ballistics analysis capable of scaling across wide ranges of motor size. The real-time burn rate data comes from three test campaigns of subscale segmented solid rocket motors tested at two facilities. The flow theory admits the important effect of the blowing wall on the turbulent friction coefficient by using blowing wall data to determine the blowing wall friction coefficient. The erosive burning behavior of full-scale motors is now predicted more closely than with other recent models.

  16. Turbulence Scaling Comparisons in the Ocean Surface Boundary Layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esters, L.; Breivik, Ø.; Landwehr, S.; ten Doeschate, A.; Sutherland, G.; Christensen, K. H.; Bidlot, J.-R.; Ward, B.

    2018-03-01

    Direct observations of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy, ɛ, under open ocean conditions are limited. Consequently, our understanding of what chiefly controls dissipation in the open ocean, and its functional form with depth, is poorly constrained. In this study, we report direct open ocean measurements of ɛ from the Air-Sea Interaction Profiler (ASIP) collected during five different cruises in the Atlantic Ocean. We then combine these data with ocean-atmosphere flux measurements and wave information in order to evaluate existing turbulence scaling theories under a diverse set of open ocean conditions. Our results do not support the presence of a "breaking" or a "transition layer," which has been previously suggested. Instead, ɛ decays as |z|-1.29 over the depth interval, which was previously defined as "transition layer," and as |z|-1.15 over the mixing layer. This depth dependency does not significantly vary between nonbreaking or breaking wave conditions. A scaling relationship based on the friction velocity, the wave age, and the significant wave height describes the observations best for daytime conditions. For conditions during which convection is important, it is necessary to take buoyancy forcing into account.

  17. Turbulent Convection Insights from Small-Scale Thermal Forcing with Zero Net Heat Flux at a Horizontal Boundary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, Ross W; Gayen, Bishakhdatta

    2015-11-13

    A large-scale circulation, a turbulent boundary layer, and a turbulent plume are noted features of convection at large Rayleigh numbers under differential heating on a single horizontal boundary. These might be attributed to the forcing, which in all studies has been limited to a unidirectional gradient over the domain scale. We instead apply forcing on a length scale smaller than the domain, and with variation in both horizontal directions. Direct numerical simulations show turbulence throughout the domain, a regime transition to a dominant domain-scale circulation, and a region of logarithmic velocity in the boundary layer, despite zero net heat flux. The results show significant similarities to Rayleigh-Bénard convection, demonstrate the significance of plume merging, support the hypothesis that the key driver of convection is the production of available potential energy without necessarily supplying total potential energy, and imply that contributions to domain-scale circulation in the oceans need not be solely from the large-scale gradients of forcing.

  18. Inner-outer predictive wall model for wall-bounded turbulence in hypersonic flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, M. Pino; Helm, Clara M.

    2017-11-01

    The inner-outer predictive wall model of Mathis et al. is modified for hypersonic turbulent boundary layers. The model is based on a modulation of the energized motions in the inner layer by large scale momentum fluctuations in the logarithmic layer. Using direct numerical simulation (DNS) data of turbulent boundary layers with free stream Mach number 3 to 10, it is shown that the variation of the fluid properties in the compressible flows leads to large Reynolds number (Re) effects in the outer layer and facilitate the modulation observed in high Re incompressible flows. The modulation effect by the large scale increases with increasing free-stream Mach number. The model is extended to include spanwise and wall-normal velocity fluctuations and is generalized through Morkovin scaling. Temperature fluctuations are modeled using an appropriate Reynolds Analogy. Density fluctuations are calculated using an equation of state and a scaling with Mach number. DNS data are used to obtain the universal signal and parameters. The model is tested by using the universal signal to reproduce the flow conditions of Mach 3 and Mach 7 turbulent boundary layer DNS data and comparing turbulence statistics between the modeled flow and the DNS data. This work is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant FA9550-17-1-0104.

  19. Terascale High-Fidelity Simulations of Turbulent Combustion with Detailed Chemistry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hong G. Im; Arnaud Trouve; Christopher J. Rutland; Jacqueline H. Chen

    2009-02-02

    The TSTC project is a multi-university collaborative effort to develop a high-fidelity turbulent reacting flow simulation capability utilizing terascale, massively parallel computer technology. The main paradigm of our approach is direct numerical simulation (DNS) featuring highest temporal and spatial accuracy, allowing quantitative observations of the fine-scale physics found in turbulent reacting flows as well as providing a useful tool for development of sub-models needed in device-level simulations. The code named S3D, developed and shared with Chen and coworkers at Sandia National Laboratories, has been enhanced with new numerical algorithms and physical models to provide predictive capabilities for spray dynamics, combustion, and pollutant formation processes in turbulent combustion. Major accomplishments include improved characteristic boundary conditions, fundamental studies of auto-ignition in turbulent stratified reactant mixtures, flame-wall interaction, and turbulent flame extinction by water spray. The overarching scientific issue in our recent investigations is to characterize criticality phenomena (ignition/extinction) in turbulent combustion, thereby developing unified criteria to identify ignition and extinction conditions. The computational development under TSTC has enabled the recent large-scale 3D turbulent combustion simulations conducted at Sandia National Laboratories.

  20. Terascale High-Fidelity Simulations of Turbulent Combustion with Detailed Chemistry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Im, Hong G [University of Michigan; Trouve, Arnaud [University of Maryland; Rutland, Christopher J [University of Wisconsin; Chen, Jacqueline H [Sandia National Laboratories

    2012-08-13

    The TSTC project is a multi-university collaborative effort to develop a high-fidelity turbulent reacting flow simulation capability utilizing terascale, massively parallel computer technology. The main paradigm of our approach is direct numerical simulation (DNS) featuring highest temporal and spatial accuracy, allowing quantitative observations of the fine-scale physics found in turbulent reacting flows as well as providing a useful tool for development of sub-models needed in device-level simulations. The code named S3D, developed and shared with Chen and coworkers at Sandia National Laboratories, has been enhanced with new numerical algorithms and physical models to provide predictive capabilities for spray dynamics, combustion, and pollutant formation processes in turbulent combustion. Major accomplishments include improved characteristic boundary conditions, fundamental studies of auto-ignition in turbulent stratified reactant mixtures, flame-wall interaction, and turbulent flame extinction by water spray. The overarching scientific issue in our recent investigations is to characterize criticality phenomena (ignition/extinction) in turbulent combustion, thereby developing unified criteria to identify ignition and extinction conditions. The computational development under TSTC has enabled the recent large-scale 3D turbulent combustion simulations conducted at Sandia National Laboratories.

  1. Kinetic-Scale Magnetic Turbulence and Finite Larmor Radius Effects at Mercury

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uritsky, V. M.; Slavin, J. A.; Khazanov, G. V.; Donovan, E. F.; Boardsen, S. A.; Anderson, B. J.; Korth, H.

    2011-01-01

    We use a nonstationary generalization of the higher-order structure function technique to investigate statistical properties of the magnetic field fluctuations recorded by MESSENGER spacecraft during its first flyby (01/14/2008) through the near-Mercury space environment, with the emphasis on key boundary regions participating in the solar wind - magnetosphere interaction. Our analysis shows, for the first time, that kinetic-scale fluctuations play a significant role in the Mercury's magnetosphere up to the largest resolvable timescale (approx.20 s) imposed by the signal nonstationariry, suggesting that turbulence at this plane I is largely controlled by finite Larmor radius effects. In particular, we report the presence of a highly turbulent and extended foreshock system filled with packets of ULF oscillations, broad-band intermittent fluctuations in the magnetosheath, ion-kinetic turbulence in the central plasma sheet of Mercury's magnetotail, and kinetic-scale fluctuations in the inner current sheet encountered at the outbound (dawn-side) magnetopause. Overall, our measurements indicate that the Hermean magnetosphere, as well as the surrounding region, are strongly affected by non-MHD effects introduced by finite sizes of cyclotron orbits of the constituting ion species. Physical mechanisms of these effects and their potentially critical impact on the structure and dynamics of Mercury's magnetic field remain to be understood.

  2. Large-scale structure of the Taurus molecular complex. II. Analysis of velocity fluctuations and turbulence. III. Methods for turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kleiner, S.C.; Dickman, R.L.

    1985-01-01

    The velocity autocorrelation function (ACF) of observed spectral line centroid fluctuations is noted to effectively reproduce the actual ACF of turbulent gas motions within an interstellar cloud, thereby furnishing a framework for the study of the large scale velocity structure of the Taurus dark cloud complex traced by the present C-13O J = 1-0 observations of this region. The results obtained are discussed in the context of recent suggestions that widely observed correlations between molecular cloud widths and cloud sizes indicate the presence of a continuum of turbulent motions within the dense interstellar medium. Attention is then given to a method for the quantitative study of these turbulent motions, involving the mapping of a source in an optically thin spectral line and studying the spatial correlation properties of the resulting velocity centroid map. 61 references

  3. Experimental study of parametric dependence of electron-scale turbulence in a spherical tokamak

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ren, Y.; Guttenfelder, W.; Kaye, S. M.; Mazzucato, E.; Bell, R. E.; Diallo, A.; LeBlanc, B. P. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Domier, C. W.; Lee, K. C. [University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616 (United States); Smith, D. R. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States); Yuh, H. [Nova Photonics, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)

    2012-05-15

    Electron-scale turbulence is predicted to drive anomalous electron thermal transport. However, experimental study of its relation with transport is still in its early stage. On the National Spherical Tokamak Experiment (NSTX), electron-scale density fluctuations are studied with a novel tangential microwave scattering system with high radial resolution of {+-}2 cm. Here, we report a study of parametric dependence of electron-scale turbulence in NSTX H-mode plasmas. The dependence on density gradient is studied through the observation of a large density gradient variation in the core induced by an edge localized mode (ELM) event, where we found the first clear experimental evidence of density gradient stabilization of electron-gyro scale turbulence in a fusion plasma. This observation, coupled with linear gyro-kinetic calculations, leads to the identification of the observed instability as toroidal electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes. It is observed that longer wavelength ETG modes, k{sub Up-Tack }{rho}{sub s} Less-Than-Or-Equivalent-To 10 ({rho}{sub s} is the ion gyroradius at electron temperature and k{sub Up-Tack} is the wavenumber perpendicular to local equilibrium magnetic field), are most stabilized by density gradient, and the stabilization is accompanied by about a factor of two decrease in electron thermal diffusivity. Comparisons with nonlinear ETG gyrokinetic simulations show ETG turbulence may be able to explain the experimental electron heat flux observed before the ELM event. The collisionality dependence of electron-scale turbulence is also studied by systematically varying plasma current and toroidal field, so that electron gyroradius ({rho}{sub e}), electron beta ({beta}{sub e}), and safety factor (q{sub 95}) are kept approximately constant. More than a factor of two change in electron collisionality, {nu}{sub e}{sup *}, was achieved, and we found that the spectral power of electron-scale turbulence appears to increase as {nu}{sub e}{sup *} is

  4. MMS Observations of Ion-Scale Magnetic Island in the Magnetosheath Turbulent Plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, S. Y.; Sahraoui, F.; Retino, A.; Contel, O. Le; Yuan, Z. G.; Chasapis, A.; Aunai, N.; Breuillard, H.; Deng, X. H.; Zhou, M.; hide

    2016-01-01

    In this letter, first observations of ion-scale magnetic island from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the magnetosheath turbulent plasma are presented. The magnetic island is characterized by bipolar variation of magnetic fields with magnetic field compression, strong core field, density depletion, and strong currents dominated by the parallel component to the local magnetic field. The estimated size of magnetic island is about 8 di, where di is the ion inertial length. Distinct particle behaviors and wave activities inside and at the edges of the magnetic island are observed: parallel electron beam accompanied with electrostatic solitary waves and strong electromagnetic lower hybrid drift waves inside the magnetic island and bidirectional electron beams, whistler waves, weak electromagnetic lower hybrid drift waves, and strong broadband electrostatic noise at the edges of the magnetic island. Our observations demonstrate that highly dynamical, strong wave activities and electron-scale physics occur within ion-scale magnetic islands in the magnetosheath turbulent plasma..

  5. In-silico experiments on characteristic time scale at a shear-free gas-liquid interface in fully developed turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagaosa, Ryuichi; Handler, Robert A

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to model scalar transfer mechanisms in a fully developed turbulence for accurate predictions of the turbulent scalar flux across a shear-free gas-liquid interface. The concept of the surface-renewal approximation (Dankwerts, 1951) is introduced in this study to establish the predictive models for the interfacial scalar flux. Turbulent flow realizations obtained by a direct numerical simulation technique are employed to prepare details of three-dimensional information on turbulence in the region very close to the interface. Two characteristic time scales at the interface have been examined for exact prediction of the scalar transfer flux. One is the time scale which is reciprocal of the root-mean-square surface divergence, T γ = (γγ) −1/2 , where γ is the surface divergence. The other time scale to be examined is T S = Λ/V, where Λ is the zero-correlation length of the surface divergence as the interfacial length scale, and V is the root-mean-square velocity fluctuation in the streamwise direction as the interfacial velocity scale. The results of this study suggests that T γ is slightly unsatisfactory to correlate the turbulent scalar flux at the gas-liquid interface based on the surface-renewal approximation. It is also found that the proportionality constant appear to be 0.19, which is different with that observed in the laboratory experiments, 0.34 (Komori, Murakami, and Ueda, 1989). It is concluded that the time scale, T γ , is considered a different kind of the time scale observed in the laboratory experiments. On the other hand, the present in-silico experiments indicate that T s predicts the turbulent scalar flux based on the surface-renewal approximation in a satisfactory manner. It is also elucidated that the proportionality constant for T s is approximately 0.36, which is very close to that found by the laboratory experiments. This fact shows that the time scale T s appears to be essentially the same as the time scale

  6. In-silico experiments on characteristic time scale at a shear-free gas-liquid interface in fully developed turbulence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nagaosa, Ryuichi [Research Center for Compact Chemical System (CCS), AIST, 4-2-1 Nigatake, Miyagino, Sendai 983-8551 (Japan); Handler, Robert A, E-mail: ryuichi.nagaosa@aist.go.jp [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3123 (United States)

    2011-12-22

    The purpose of this study is to model scalar transfer mechanisms in a fully developed turbulence for accurate predictions of the turbulent scalar flux across a shear-free gas-liquid interface. The concept of the surface-renewal approximation (Dankwerts, 1951) is introduced in this study to establish the predictive models for the interfacial scalar flux. Turbulent flow realizations obtained by a direct numerical simulation technique are employed to prepare details of three-dimensional information on turbulence in the region very close to the interface. Two characteristic time scales at the interface have been examined for exact prediction of the scalar transfer flux. One is the time scale which is reciprocal of the root-mean-square surface divergence, T{sub {gamma}} = ({gamma}{gamma}){sup -1/2}, where {gamma} is the surface divergence. The other time scale to be examined is T{sub S} = {Lambda}/V, where {Lambda} is the zero-correlation length of the surface divergence as the interfacial length scale, and V is the root-mean-square velocity fluctuation in the streamwise direction as the interfacial velocity scale. The results of this study suggests that T{sub {gamma}} is slightly unsatisfactory to correlate the turbulent scalar flux at the gas-liquid interface based on the surface-renewal approximation. It is also found that the proportionality constant appear to be 0.19, which is different with that observed in the laboratory experiments, 0.34 (Komori, Murakami, and Ueda, 1989). It is concluded that the time scale, T{sub {gamma}}, is considered a different kind of the time scale observed in the laboratory experiments. On the other hand, the present in-silico experiments indicate that T{sub s} predicts the turbulent scalar flux based on the surface-renewal approximation in a satisfactory manner. It is also elucidated that the proportionality constant for T{sub s} is approximately 0.36, which is very close to that found by the laboratory experiments. This fact shows

  7. Scaling of turbulence spectra measured in strong shear flow near the Earth’s surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikkelsen, T.; Larsen, S. E.; Jørgensen, H. E.; Astrup, P.; Larsén, X. G.

    2017-12-01

    Within the lowest kilometer of the Earth’s atmosphere, in the so-called atmospheric boundary layer, winds are often gusty and turbulent. Nearest to the ground, the turbulence is predominately generated by mechanical wall-bounded wind shear, whereas at higher altitudes turbulent mixing of heat and moisture also play a role. The variance (square of the standard deviation) of the fluctuation around the mean wind speed is a measure of the kinetic energy content of the turbulence. This kinetic energy can be resolved into the spectral distributions, or spectra, as functions of eddy size, wavenumber, or frequency. Spectra are derived from Fourier transforms of wind records as functions of space or time corresponding to wavenumber and frequency spectra, respectively. Atmospheric spectra often exhibit different subranges that can be distinguished and scaled by the physical parameters responsible for: (1) their generation; (2) the cascade of energy across the spectrum from large- to small-scale; and (3) the eventual decay of turbulence into heat owing to viscosity effects on the Kolmogorov microscale, in which the eddy size is only a fraction of a millimeter. This paper addresses atmospheric turbulence spectra in the lowest part of the atmospheric boundary layer—the so-called surface layer—where the wind shear is strong owing to the nonslip condition at the ground. Theoretical results dating back to Tchen’s early work in 1953 ‘on the spectrum of energy in turbulent shear flow’ led Tchen to predict a shear production subrange with a distinct inverse-linear power law for turbulence in a strongly sheared high-Reynolds number wall-bounded flow, as is encountered in the lowest sheared part of the atmospheric boundary layer, also known as the eddy surface layer. This paper presents observations of spectra measured in a meteorological mast at Høvsøre, Denmark, that support Tchen’s prediction of a shear production subrange following a distinct power law of degree -1

  8. Turbulence, dynamic similarity and scale effects in high-velocity free-surface flows above a stepped chute

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felder, Stefan; Chanson, Hubert

    2009-07-01

    In high-velocity free-surface flows, air entrainment is common through the interface, and intense interactions take place between turbulent structures and entrained bubbles. Two-phase flow properties were measured herein in high-velocity open channel flows above a stepped chute. Detailed turbulence measurements were conducted in a large-size facility, and a comparative analysis was applied to test the validity of the Froude and Reynolds similarities. The results showed consistently that the Froude similitude was not satisfied using a 2:1 geometric scaling ratio. Lesser number of entrained bubbles and comparatively greater bubble sizes were observed at the smaller Reynolds numbers, as well as lower turbulence levels and larger turbulent length and time scales. The results implied that small-size models did underestimate the rate of energy dissipation and the aeration efficiency of prototype stepped spillways for similar flow conditions. Similarly a Reynolds similitude was tested. The results showed also some significant scale effects. However a number of self-similar relationships remained invariant under changes of scale and confirmed the analysis of Chanson and Carosi (Exp Fluids 42:385-401, 2007). The finding is significant because self-similarity may provide a picture general enough to be used to characterise the air-water flow field in large prototype channels.

  9. Simulation of particle diffusion in a spectrum of electrostatic turbulence. Low frequency Bohm or percolation scaling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reuss, J.D.; Misguich, J.H.

    1996-02-01

    An important point for turbulent transport consists in determining the scaling law for the diffusion coefficient D due to electrostatic turbulence. It is well-known that for weak amplitudes or large frequencies, the reduced diffusion coefficient has a quasi-linear like (or gyro-Bohm like) scaling, while for large amplitudes or small frequencies it has been traditionally believed that the scaling is Bohm-like. The aim of this work consists to test this prediction for a given realistic model. This problem is studied by direct simulation of particle trajectories. Guiding centre diffusion in a spectrum of electrostatic turbulence is computed for test particles in a model spectrum, by means of a new parallelized code RADIGUET 2. The results indicate a continuous transition for large amplitudes toward a value which is compatible with the Isichenko percolation prediction. (author)

  10. Scaling of spectra in grid turbulence with a mean cross-stream temperature gradient

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahri, Carla; Arwatz, Gilad; Mueller, Michael E.; George, William K.; Hultmark, Marcus

    2014-11-01

    Scaling of grid turbulence with a constant mean cross-stream temperature gradient is investigated using a combination of theoretical predictions, DNS, and experimental data. Conditions for self-similarity of the governing equations and the scalar spectrum are investigated, which reveals necessary conditions for self-similarity to exist. These conditions provide a theoretical framework for scaling of the temperature spectrum as well as the temperature flux spectrum. One necessary condition, predicted by the theory, is that the characteristic length scale describing the scalar spectrum must vary as √{ t} for a self-similar solution to exist. In order to investigate this, T-NSTAP sensors, specially designed for temperature measurements at high frequencies, were deployed in a heated passive grid turbulence setup together with conventional cold-wires, and complementary DNS calculations were performed to complement and complete the experimental data. These data are used to compare the behavior of different length scales and validate the theoretical predictions.

  11. Modification of large-scale motions in a turbulent pipe flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Senshu, Kohei; Shinozaki, Hiroaki; Sakakibara, Jun

    2017-11-01

    We performed experiments to modify the flow structures in a fully developed turbulent flow in a straight round pipe. The modification of the flow was achieved by installing a short coaxial inner pipe. The inner pipe has ability to add continuous suction or blowing disturbance through its outer surface. The experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number of 44,000 with seven different disturbance patterns. The wall static pressure was measured and pipe friction coefficient was evaluated. The velocity distribution was measured with PIV and very large scale motions (VLSMs) were visualized. Pipe friction coefficient was increased by installing the inner pipe, while turbulence intensities over the cross section were reduced. Slight change of the friction was observed if the disturbance was added. We decomposed fluctuating velocity field in the azimuthal direction by a Fourier series expansion. As a result, we obtained that contribution of lower azimuthal mode numbers (m = 2, 3, 4) reduced while the higher modes increased. This was consistent with the observation of visualized very large scale motions.

  12. Mathematical model for logarithmic scaling of velocity fluctuations in wall turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mouri, Hideaki

    2015-12-01

    For wall turbulence, moments of velocity fluctuations are known to be logarithmic functions of the height from the wall. This logarithmic scaling is due to the existence of a characteristic velocity and to the nonexistence of any characteristic height in the range of the scaling. By using the mathematics of random variables, we obtain its necessary and sufficient conditions. They are compared with characteristics of a phenomenological model of eddies attached to the wall and also with those of the logarithmic scaling of the mean velocity.

  13. Scaling laws and vortex profiles in two-dimensional decaying turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laval, J P; Chavanis, P H; Dubrulle, B; Sire, C

    2001-06-01

    We use high resolution numerical simulations over several hundred of turnover times to study the influence of small scale dissipation onto vortex statistics in 2D decaying turbulence. A scaling regime is detected when the scaling laws are expressed in units of mean vorticity and integral scale, like predicted in Carnevale et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 2735 (1991), and it is observed that viscous effects spoil this scaling regime. The exponent controlling the decay of the number of vortices shows some trends toward xi=1, in agreement with a recent theory based on the Kirchhoff model [C. Sire and P. H. Chavanis, Phys. Rev. E 61, 6644 (2000)]. In terms of scaled variables, the vortices have a similar profile with a functional form related to the Fermi-Dirac distribution.

  14. Spectral calculations for pressure-velocity and pressure-strain correlations in homogeneous shear turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutta, Kishore

    2018-02-01

    Theoretical analyses of pressure related turbulent statistics are vital for a reliable and accurate modeling of turbulence. In the inertial subrange of turbulent shear flow, pressure-velocity and pressure-strain correlations are affected by anisotropy imposed at large scales. Recently, Tsuji and Kaneda (2012 J. Fluid Mech. 694 50) performed a set of experiments on homogeneous shear flow, and estimated various one-dimensional pressure related spectra and the associated non-dimensional universal numbers. Here, starting from the governing Navier-Stokes dynamics for the fluctuating velocity field and assuming the anisotropy at inertial scales as a weak perturbation of an otherwise isotropic dynamics, we analytically derive the form of the pressure-velocity and pressure-strain correlations. The associated universal numbers are calculated using the well-known renormalization-group results, and are compared with the experimental estimates of Tsuji and Kaneda. Approximations involved in the perturbative calculations are discussed.

  15. Global MHD Modelling of the ISM - From large towards small scale turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Avillez, M.; Breitschwerdt, D.

    2005-06-01

    Dealing numerically with the turbulent nature and non-linearity of the physical processes involved in the ISM requires the use of sophisticated numerical schemes coupled to HD and MHD mathematical models. SNe are the main drivers of the interstellar turbulence by transferring kinetic energy into the system. This energy is dissipated by shocks (which is more efficient) and by molecular viscosity. We carried out adaptive mesh refinement simulations (with a finest resolution of 0.625 pc) of the turbulent ISM embedded in a magnetic field with mean field components of 2 and 3 μG. The time scale of our run was 400 Myr, sufficiently long to avoid memory effects of the initial setup, and to allow for a global dynamical equilibrium to be reached in case of a constant energy input rate. It is found that the longitudinal and transverse turbulent length scales have a time averaged (over a period of 50 Myr) ratio of 0.52-0.6, almost similar to the one expected for isotropic homogeneous turbulence. The mean characteristic size of the larger eddies is found to be ˜ 75 pc in both runs. In order to check the simulations against observations, we monitored the OVI and HI column densities within a superbubble created by the explosions of 19 SNe having masses and velocities of the stars that exploded in vicinity of the Sun generating the Local Bubble. The model reproduces the FUSE absorption measurements towards 25 white dwarfs of the OVI column density as function of distance and of N(HI). In particular for lines of sight with lengths smaller than 120 pc it is found that there is no correlation between N(OVI) and N(HI).

  16. Near-Bed Turbulent Kinetic Energy Budget Under a Large-Scale Plunging Breaking Wave Over a Fixed Bar

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Zanden, Joep; van der A, Dominic A.; Cáceres, Iván.; Hurther, David; McLelland, Stuart J.; Ribberink, Jan S.; O'Donoghue, Tom

    2018-02-01

    Hydrodynamics under regular plunging breaking waves over a fixed breaker bar were studied in a large-scale wave flume. A previous paper reported on the outer flow hydrodynamics; the present paper focuses on the turbulence dynamics near the bed (up to 0.10 m from the bed). Velocities were measured with high spatial and temporal resolution using a two component laser Doppler anemometer. The results show that even at close distance from the bed (1 mm), the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) increases by a factor five between the shoaling, and breaking regions because of invasion of wave breaking turbulence. The sign and phase behavior of the time-dependent Reynolds shear stresses at elevations up to approximately 0.02 m from the bed (roughly twice the elevation of the boundary layer overshoot) are mainly controlled by local bed-shear-generated turbulence, but at higher elevations Reynolds stresses are controlled by wave breaking turbulence. The measurements are subsequently analyzed to investigate the TKE budget at wave-averaged and intrawave time scales. Horizontal and vertical turbulence advection, production, and dissipation are the major terms. A two-dimensional wave-averaged circulation drives advection of wave breaking turbulence through the near-bed layer, resulting in a net downward influx in the bar trough region, followed by seaward advection along the bar's shoreward slope, and an upward outflux above the bar crest. The strongly nonuniform flow across the bar combined with the presence of anisotropic turbulence enhances turbulent production rates near the bed.

  17. Turbulent Concentration of MM-Size Particles in the Protoplanetary Nebula: Scaled-Dependent Multiplier Functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Hartlep, Thomas; Weston, B.; Estremera, Shariff Kareem

    2014-01-01

    The initial accretion of primitive bodies (asteroids and TNOs) from freely-floating nebula particles remains problematic. Here we focus on the asteroids where constituent particle (read "chondrule") sizes are observationally known; similar arguments will hold for TNOs, but the constituent particles in those regions will be smaller, or will be fluffy aggregates, and are unobserved. Traditional growth-bysticking models encounter a formidable "meter-size barrier" [1] (or even a mm-cm-size barrier [2]) in turbulent nebulae, while nonturbulent nebulae form large asteroids too quickly to explain long spreads in formation times, or the dearth of melted asteroids [3]. Even if growth by sticking could somehow breach the meter size barrier, other obstacles are encountered through the 1-10km size range [4]. Another clue regarding planetesimal formation is an apparent 100km diameter peak in the pre-depletion, pre-erosion mass distribution of asteroids [5]; scenarios leading directly from independent nebula particulates to this size, which avoid the problematic m-km size range, could be called "leapfrog" scenarios [6-8]. The leapfrog scenario we have studied in detail involves formation of dense clumps of aerodynamically selected, typically mm-size particles in turbulence, which can under certain conditions shrink inexorably on 100-1000 orbit timescales and form 10-100km diameter sandpile planetesimals. The typical sizes of planetesimals and the rate of their formation [7,8] are determined by a statistical model with properties inferred from large numerical simulations of turbulence [9]. Nebula turbulence can be described by its Reynolds number Re = L/eta sup(4/3), where L = ETA alpha sup (1/2) the largest eddy scale, H is the nebula gas vertical scale height, and a the nebula turbulent viscosity parameter, and ? is the Kolmogorov or smallest scale in turbulence (typically about 1km), with eddy turnover time t?. In the nebula, Re is far larger than any numerical simulation can

  18. On the evolution of the primordial cosmic turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanabe, Kenji.

    1980-09-01

    The evolution of the primordial cosmic turbulence in the big-bang universe is studied by numerical integration of the spectral equation derived by Nariai and closed by Heisenberg's hypothesis. In order to examine whether the turbulence can survive by the epoch of the plasma recombination, the equation is dealt with by taking full account of the viscosity effect. The main conclusion is that the resulting spectrum survived against the viscous decay depends on the initial spectral shape which is assumed at the epoch t sub(eq) when the density of matter is equal to that of radiation. The Taylor's micro-scale is also calculated which is available to determine the fate of the primordial cosmic turbulence. (author)

  19. Air-chemistry "turbulence": power-law scaling and statistical regularity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H.-m. Hsu

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available With the intent to gain further knowledge on the spectral structures and statistical regularities of surface atmospheric chemistry, the chemical gases (NO, NO2, NOx, CO, SO2, and O3 and aerosol (PM10 measured at 74 air quality monitoring stations over the island of Taiwan are analyzed for the year of 2004 at hourly resolution. They represent a range of surface air quality with a mixed combination of geographic settings, and include urban/rural, coastal/inland, plain/hill, and industrial/agricultural locations. In addition to the well-known semi-diurnal and diurnal oscillations, weekly, and intermediate (20 ~ 30 days peaks are also identified with the continuous wavelet transform (CWT. The spectra indicate power-law scaling regions for the frequencies higher than the diurnal and those lower than the diurnal with the average exponents of −5/3 and −1, respectively. These dual-exponents are corroborated with those with the detrended fluctuation analysis in the corresponding time-lag regions. These exponents are mostly independent of the averages and standard deviations of time series measured at various geographic settings, i.e., the spatial inhomogeneities. In other words, they possess dominant universal structures. After spectral coefficients from the CWT decomposition are grouped according to the spectral bands, and inverted separately, the PDFs of the reconstructed time series for the high-frequency band demonstrate the interesting statistical regularity, −3 power-law scaling for the heavy tails, consistently. Such spectral peaks, dual-exponent structures, and power-law scaling in heavy tails are important structural information, but their relations to turbulence and mesoscale variability require further investigations. This could lead to a better understanding of the processes controlling air quality.

  20. Reynolds stress scaling in pipe flow turbulence-first results from CICLoPE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Örlü, R; Fiorini, T; Segalini, A; Bellani, G; Talamelli, A; Alfredsson, P H

    2017-03-13

    This paper reports the first turbulence measurements performed in the Long Pipe Facility at the Center for International Cooperation in Long Pipe Experiments (CICLoPE). In particular, the Reynolds stress components obtained from a number of straight and boundary-layer-type single-wire and X-wire probes up to a friction Reynolds number of 3.8×10 4 are reported. In agreement with turbulent boundary-layer experiments as well as with results from the Superpipe, the present measurements show a clear logarithmic region in the streamwise variance profile, with a Townsend-Perry constant of A 2 ≈1.26. The wall-normal variance profile exhibits a Reynolds-number-independent plateau, while the spanwise component was found to obey a logarithmic scaling over a much wider wall-normal distance than the other two components, with a slope that is nearly half of that of the Townsend-Perry constant, i.e. A 2,w ≈A 2 /2. The present results therefore provide strong support for the scaling of the Reynolds stress tensor based on the attached-eddy hypothesis. Intriguingly, the wall-normal and spanwise components exhibit higher amplitudes than in previous studies, and therefore call for follow-up studies in CICLoPE, as well as other large-scale facilities.This article is part of the themed issue 'Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  1. Coherent fine scale eddies in turbulence transition of spatially-developing mixing layer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Y.; Tanahashi, M.; Miyauchi, T.

    2007-01-01

    To investigate the relationship between characteristics of the coherent fine scale eddy and a laminar-turbulent transition, a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a spatially-developing turbulent mixing layer with Re ω,0 = 700 was conducted. On the onset of the transition, strong coherent fine scale eddies appears in the mixing layer. The most expected value of maximum azimuthal velocity of the eddy is 2.0 times Kolmogorov velocity (u k ), and decreases to 1.2u k , which is an asymptotic value in the fully-developed state, through the transition. The energy dissipation rate around the eddy is twice as high compared with that in the fully-developed state. However, the most expected diameter and eigenvalues ratio of strain rate acting on the coherent fine scale eddy are maintained to be 8 times Kolmogorov length (η) and α:β:γ = -5:1:4 in the transition process. In addition to Kelvin-Helmholtz rollers, rib structures do not disappear in the transition process and are composed of lots of coherent fine scale eddies in the fully-developed state instead of a single eddy observed in early stage of the transition or in laminar flow

  2. Identification and calculation of the universal asymptote for drag reduction by polymers in wall bounded turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benzi, Roberto; De Angelis, Elisabetta; L'vov, Victor S; Procaccia, Itamar

    2005-11-04

    Drag reduction by polymers in wall turbulence is bounded from above by a universal maximal drag reduction (MDR) velocity profile that is a log law, estimated experimentally by Virk as V+(y+) approximately 11.7logy+ - 17. Here V+(y+) and y+ are the mean streamwise velocity and the distance from the wall in "wall" units. In this Letter we propose that this MDR profile is an edge solution of the Navier-Stokes equations (with an effective viscosity profile) beyond which no turbulent solutions exist. This insight rationalizes the universality of the MDR and provides a maximum principle which allows an ab initio calculation of the parameters in this law without any viscoelastic experimental input.

  3. Collaborative testing of turbulence models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradshaw, P.

    1992-12-01

    This project, funded by AFOSR, ARO, NASA, and ONR, was run by the writer with Profs. Brian E. Launder, University of Manchester, England, and John L. Lumley, Cornell University. Statistical data on turbulent flows, from lab. experiments and simulations, were circulated to modelers throughout the world. This is the first large-scale project of its kind to use simulation data. The modelers returned their predictions to Stanford, for distribution to all modelers and to additional participants ('experimenters')--over 100 in all. The object was to obtain a consensus on the capabilities of present-day turbulence models and identify which types most deserve future support. This was not completely achieved, mainly because not enough modelers could produce results for enough test cases within the duration of the project. However, a clear picture of the capabilities of various modeling groups has appeared, and the interaction has been helpful to the modelers. The results support the view that Reynolds-stress transport models are the most accurate.

  4. Verification of Gyrokinetic Particle of Turbulent Simulation of Device Size Scaling Transport

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LIN Zhihong; S. ETHIER; T. S. HAHM; W. M. TANG

    2012-01-01

    Verification and historical perspective are presented on the gyrokinetic particle simulations that discovered the device size scaling of turbulent transport and indentified the geometry model as the source of the long-standing disagreement between gyrokinetic particle and continuum simulations.

  5. Spectral non-equilibrium property in homogeneous isotropic turbulence and its implication in subgrid-scale modeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fang, Le [Laboratory of Mathematics and Physics, Ecole Centrale de Pékin, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Zhu, Ying [Laboratory of Mathematics and Physics, Ecole Centrale de Pékin, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Aero-Engine Aero-Thermodynamics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Liu, Yangwei, E-mail: liuyangwei@126.com [National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Aero-Engine Aero-Thermodynamics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Lu, Lipeng [National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Aero-Engine Aero-Thermodynamics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China)

    2015-10-09

    The non-equilibrium property in turbulence is a non-negligible problem in large-eddy simulation but has not yet been systematically considered. The generalization from equilibrium turbulence to non-equilibrium turbulence requires a clear recognition of the non-equilibrium property. As a preliminary step of this recognition, the present letter defines a typical non-equilibrium process, that is, the spectral non-equilibrium process, in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. It is then theoretically investigated by employing the skewness of grid-scale velocity gradient, which permits the decomposition of resolved velocity field into an equilibrium one and a time-reversed one. Based on this decomposition, an improved Smagorinsky model is proposed to correct the non-equilibrium behavior of the traditional Smagorinsky model. The present study is expected to shed light on the future studies of more generalized non-equilibrium turbulent flows. - Highlights: • A spectral non-equilibrium process in isotropic turbulence is defined theoretically. • A decomposition method is proposed to divide a non-equilibrium turbulence field. • An improved Smagorinsky model is proposed to correct the non-equilibrium behavior.

  6. Correlation Scales of the Turbulent Cascade at 1 au

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Charles W.; Vasquez, Bernard J.; Coburn, Jesse T.; Forman, Miriam A.; Stawarz, Julia E.

    2018-05-01

    We examine correlation functions of the mixed, third-order expressions that, when ensemble-averaged, describe the cascade of energy in the inertial range of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. Unlike the correlation function of primitive variables such as the magnetic field, solar wind velocity, temperature, and density, the third-order expressions decorrelate at a scale that is approximately 20% of the lag. This suggests the nonlinear dynamics decorrelate in less than one wavelength. Therefore, each scale can behave differently from one wavelength to the next. In the same manner, different scales within the inertial range can behave independently at any given time or location. With such a cascade that can be strongly patchy and highly variable, it is often possible to obtain negative cascade rates for short periods of time, as reported earlier for individual samples of data.

  7. An improved method to characterise the modulation of small-scale turbulent by large-scale structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agostini, Lionel; Leschziner, Michael; Gaitonde, Datta

    2015-11-01

    A key aspect of turbulent boundary layer dynamics is ``modulation,'' which refers to degree to which the intensity of coherent large-scale structures (LS) cause an amplification or attenuation of the intensity of the small-scale structures (SS) through large-scale-linkage. In order to identify the variation of the amplitude of the SS motion, the envelope of the fluctuations needs to be determined. Mathis et al. (2009) proposed to define this latter by low-pass filtering the modulus of the analytic signal built from the Hilbert transform of SS. The validity of this definition, as a basis for quantifying the modulated SS signal, is re-examined on the basis of DNS data for a channel flow. The analysis shows that the modulus of the analytic signal is very sensitive to the skewness of its PDF, which is dependent, in turn, on the sign of the LS fluctuation and thus of whether these fluctuations are associated with sweeps or ejections. The conclusion is that generating an envelope by use of a low-pass filtering step leads to an important loss of information associated with the effects of the local skewness of the PDF of the SS on the modulation process. An improved Hilbert-transform-based method is proposed to characterize the modulation of SS turbulence by LS structures

  8. Transitional-turbulent spots and turbulent-turbulent spots in boundary layers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xiaohua; Moin, Parviz; Wallace, James M; Skarda, Jinhie; Lozano-Durán, Adrián; Hickey, Jean-Pierre

    2017-07-03

    Two observations drawn from a thoroughly validated direct numerical simulation of the canonical spatially developing, zero-pressure gradient, smooth, flat-plate boundary layer are presented here. The first is that, for bypass transition in the narrow sense defined herein, we found that the transitional-turbulent spot inception mechanism is analogous to the secondary instability of boundary-layer natural transition, namely a spanwise vortex filament becomes a [Formula: see text] vortex and then, a hairpin packet. Long streak meandering does occur but usually when a streak is infected by a nearby existing transitional-turbulent spot. Streak waviness and breakdown are, therefore, not the mechanisms for the inception of transitional-turbulent spots found here. Rather, they only facilitate the growth and spreading of existing transitional-turbulent spots. The second observation is the discovery, in the inner layer of the developed turbulent boundary layer, of what we call turbulent-turbulent spots. These turbulent-turbulent spots are dense concentrations of small-scale vortices with high swirling strength originating from hairpin packets. Although structurally quite similar to the transitional-turbulent spots, these turbulent-turbulent spots are generated locally in the fully turbulent environment, and they are persistent with a systematic variation of detection threshold level. They exert indentation, segmentation, and termination on the viscous sublayer streaks, and they coincide with local concentrations of high levels of Reynolds shear stress, enstrophy, and temperature fluctuations. The sublayer streaks seem to be passive and are often simply the rims of the indentation pockets arising from the turbulent-turbulent spots.

  9. Quasi-bivariate variational mode decomposition as a tool of scale analysis in wall-bounded turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wenkang; Pan, Chong; Wang, Jinjun

    2018-01-01

    The identification and separation of multi-scale coherent structures is a critical task for the study of scale interaction in wall-bounded turbulence. Here, we propose a quasi-bivariate variational mode decomposition (QB-VMD) method to extract structures with various scales from instantaneous two-dimensional (2D) velocity field which has only one primary dimension. This method is developed from the one-dimensional VMD algorithm proposed by Dragomiretskiy and Zosso (IEEE Trans Signal Process 62:531-544, 2014) to cope with a quasi-2D scenario. It poses the feature of length-scale bandwidth constraint along the decomposed dimension, together with the central frequency re-balancing along the non-decomposed dimension. The feasibility of this method is tested on both a synthetic flow field and a turbulent boundary layer at moderate Reynolds number (Re_{τ } = 3458) measured by 2D particle image velocimetry (PIV). Some other popular scale separation tools, including pseudo-bi-dimensional empirical mode decomposition (PB-EMD), bi-dimensional EMD (B-EMD) and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), are also tested for comparison. Among all these methods, QB-VMD shows advantages in both scale characterization and energy recovery. More importantly, the mode mixing problem, which degrades the performance of EMD-based methods, is avoided or minimized in QB-VMD. Finally, QB-VMD analysis of the wall-parallel plane in the log layer (at y/δ = 0.12) of the studied turbulent boundary layer shows the coexistence of large- or very large-scale motions (LSMs or VLSMs) and inner-scaled structures, which can be fully decomposed in both physical and spectral domains.

  10. Derivation of Zagarola-Smits scaling in zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Tie; Maciel, Yvan

    2018-01-01

    This Rapid Communication derives the Zagarola-Smits scaling directly from the governing equations for zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers (ZPG TBLs). It has long been observed that the scaling of the mean streamwise velocity in turbulent boundary layer flows differs in the near surface region and in the outer layer. In the inner region of small-velocity-defect boundary layers, it is generally accepted that the proper velocity scale is the friction velocity, uτ, and the proper length scale is the viscous length scale, ν /uτ . In the outer region, the most generally used length scale is the boundary layer thickness, δ . However, there is no consensus on velocity scales in the outer layer. Zagarola and Smits [ASME Paper No. FEDSM98-4950 (1998)] proposed a velocity scale, U ZS=(δ1/δ ) U∞ , where δ1 is the displacement thickness and U∞ is the freestream velocity. However, there are some concerns about Zagarola-Smits scaling due to the lack of a theoretical base. In this paper, the Zagarola-Smits scaling is derived directly from a combination of integral, similarity, and order-of-magnitude analysis of the mean continuity equation. The analysis also reveals that V∞, the mean wall-normal velocity at the edge of the boundary layer, is a proper scale for the mean wall-normal velocity V . Extending the analysis to the streamwise mean momentum equation, we find that the Reynolds shear stress in ZPG TBLs scales as U∞V∞ in the outer region. This paper also provides a detailed analysis of the mass and mean momentum balance in the outer region of ZPG TBLs.

  11. Scale invariance from phase transitions to turbulence

    CERN Document Server

    Lesne, Annick

    2012-01-01

    During a century, from the Van der Waals mean field description (1874) of gases to the introduction of renormalization group (RG techniques 1970), thermodynamics and statistical physics were just unable to account for the incredible universality which was observed in numerous critical phenomena. The great success of RG techniques is not only to solve perfectly this challenge of critical behaviour in thermal transitions but to introduce extremely useful tools in a wide field of daily situations where a system exhibits scale invariance. The introduction of scaling, scale invariance and universality concepts has been a significant turn in modern physics and more generally in natural sciences. Since then, a new "physics of scaling laws and critical exponents", rooted in scaling approaches, allows quantitative descriptions of numerous phenomena, ranging from phase transitions to earthquakes, polymer conformations, heartbeat rhythm, diffusion, interface growth and roughening, DNA sequence, dynamical systems, chaos ...

  12. Large-scale vortices in compressible turbulent medium with the magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, V. V.; Dimitrov, B. G.

    1990-08-01

    An averaged equation which describes the large scale vortices and Alfven waves generation in a compressible helical turbulent medium with a constant magnetic field is presented. The presence of the magnetic field leads to anisotropization of the vortex generation. Possible applications of the anisotropic vortex dynamo effect are accretion disks of compact objects.

  13. Sensitivity of the two-dimensional shearless mixing layer to the initial turbulent kinetic energy and integral length scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fathali, M.; Deshiri, M. Khoshnami

    2016-04-01

    The shearless mixing layer is generated from the interaction of two homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT) fields with different integral scales ℓ1 and ℓ2 and different turbulent kinetic energies E1 and E2. In this study, the sensitivity of temporal evolutions of two-dimensional, incompressible shearless mixing layers to the parametric variations of ℓ1/ℓ2 and E1/E2 is investigated. The sensitivity methodology is based on the nonintrusive approach; using direct numerical simulation and generalized polynomial chaos expansion. The analysis is carried out at Reℓ 1=90 for the high-energy HIT region and different integral length scale ratios 1 /4 ≤ℓ1/ℓ2≤4 and turbulent kinetic energy ratios 1 ≤E1/E2≤30 . It is found that the most influential parameter on the variability of the mixing layer evolution is the turbulent kinetic energy while variations of the integral length scale show a negligible influence on the flow field variability. A significant level of anisotropy and intermittency is observed in both large and small scales. In particular, it is found that large scales have higher levels of intermittency and sensitivity to the variations of ℓ1/ℓ2 and E1/E2 compared to the small scales. Reconstructed response surfaces of the flow field intermittency and the turbulent penetration depth show monotonic dependence on ℓ1/ℓ2 and E1/E2 . The mixing layer growth rate and the mixing efficiency both show sensitive dependence on the initial condition parameters. However, the probability density function of these quantities shows relatively small solution variations in response to the variations of the initial condition parameters.

  14. Hierarchical random additive process and logarithmic scaling of generalized high order, two-point correlations in turbulent boundary layer flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, X. I. A.; Marusic, I.; Meneveau, C.

    2016-06-01

    Townsend [Townsend, The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1976)] hypothesized that the logarithmic region in high-Reynolds-number wall-bounded flows consists of space-filling, self-similar attached eddies. Invoking this hypothesis, we express streamwise velocity fluctuations in the inertial layer in high-Reynolds-number wall-bounded flows as a hierarchical random additive process (HRAP): uz+=∑i=1Nzai . Here u is the streamwise velocity fluctuation, + indicates normalization in wall units, z is the wall normal distance, and ai's are independently, identically distributed random additives, each of which is associated with an attached eddy in the wall-attached hierarchy. The number of random additives is Nz˜ln(δ /z ) where δ is the boundary layer thickness and ln is natural log. Due to its simplified structure, such a process leads to predictions of the scaling behaviors for various turbulence statistics in the logarithmic layer. Besides reproducing known logarithmic scaling of moments, structure functions, and correlation function [" close="]3/2 uz(x ) uz(x +r ) >, new logarithmic laws in two-point statistics such as uz4(x ) > 1 /2, 1/3, etc. can be derived using the HRAP formalism. Supporting empirical evidence for the logarithmic scaling in such statistics is found from the Melbourne High Reynolds Number Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel measurements. We also show that, at high Reynolds numbers, the above mentioned new logarithmic laws can be derived by assuming the arrival of an attached eddy at a generic point in the flow field to be a Poisson process [Woodcock and Marusic, Phys. Fluids 27, 015104 (2015), 10.1063/1.4905301]. Taken together, the results provide new evidence supporting the essential ingredients of the attached eddy hypothesis to describe streamwise velocity fluctuations of large, momentum transporting eddies in wall-bounded turbulence, while observed deviations suggest the need for further extensions of the

  15. Astrophysical gyrokinetics: turbulence in pressure-anisotropic plasmas at ion scales and beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunz, M. W.; Abel, I. G.; Klein, K. G.

    2018-04-01

    We present a theoretical framework for describing electromagnetic kinetic turbulence in a multi-species, magnetized, pressure-anisotropic plasma. The turbulent fluctuations are assumed to be small compared to the mean field, to be spatially anisotropic with respect to it and to have frequencies small compared to the ion cyclotron frequency. At scales above the ion-Larmor radius, the theory reduces to the pressure-anisotropic generalization of kinetic reduced magnetohydrodynamics (KRMHD) formulated by Kunz et al. (J. Plasma Phys., vol. 81, 2015, 325810501). At scales at and below the ion-Larmor radius, three main objectives are achieved. First, we analyse the linear response of the pressure-anisotropic gyrokinetic system, and show it to be a generalization of previously explored limits. The effects of pressure anisotropy on the stability and collisionless damping of Alfvénic and compressive fluctuations are highlighted, with attention paid to the spectral location and width of the frequency jump that occurs as Alfvén waves transition into kinetic Alfvén waves. Secondly, we derive and discuss a very general gyrokinetic free-energy conservation law, which captures both the KRMHD free-energy conservation at long wavelengths and dual cascades of kinetic Alfvén waves and ion entropy at sub-ion-Larmor scales. We show that non-Maxwellian features in the distribution function change the amount of phase mixing and the efficiency of magnetic stresses, and thus influence the partitioning of free energy amongst the cascade channels. Thirdly, a simple model is used to show that pressure anisotropy, even within the bounds imposed on it by firehose and mirror instabilities, can cause order-of-magnitude variations in the ion-to-electron heating ratio due to the dissipation of Alfvénic turbulence. Our theory provides a foundation for determining how pressure anisotropy affects turbulent fluctuation spectra, the differential heating of particle species and the ratio of parallel

  16. LES of a laboratory-scale turbulent premixed bunsen flame using FSD, PCM-FPI and thickened flame models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hernandez Perez, F.E.; Yuen, F.T.C.; Groth, C.P.T.; Gülder, O.L.

    2011-01-01

    Large-eddy simulations (LES) of a turbulent premixed Bunsen flame were carried out with three subfilter-scale (SFS) modelling approaches for turbulent premixed combustion. One approach is based on the artificially thickened flame and power-law flame wrinkling models, the second approach is based on

  17. Statistical theory and transition in multiple-scale-lengths turbulence in plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Itoh, Sanae-I. [Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu Univ., Kasuga, Fukuoka (Japan); Itoh, Kimitaka [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

    2001-06-01

    The statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed for the cases where fluctuations with different scale-lengths coexist. Nonlinear interactions in the same kind of fluctuations as well as nonlinear interplay between different classes of fluctuations are kept in the analysis. Nonlinear interactions are modelled as turbulent drag, nonlinear noise and nonlinear drive, and a set of Langevin equations is formulated. With the help of an Ansatz of a large number of degrees of freedom with positive Lyapunov number, Langevin equations are solved and the fluctuation dissipation theorem in the presence of strong plasma turbulence has been derived. A case where two driving mechanisms (one for micro mode and the other for semi-micro mode) coexist is investigated. It is found that there are several states of fluctuations: in one state, the micro mode is excited and the semi-micro mode is quenched; in the other state, the semi-micro mode is excited, and the micro mode remains at finite but suppressed level. New type of turbulence transition is obtained, and a cusp type catastrophe is revealed. A phase diagram is drawn for turbulence which is composed of multiple classes of fluctuations. Influence of the inhomogeneous global radial electric field is discussed. A new insight is given for the physics of internal transport barrier. Finally, the nonlocal heat transport due to the long-wave-length fluctuations, which are noise-pumped by shorter-wave-length ones, is analyzed and the impact on transient transport problems is discussed. (author)

  18. Stabilization of electron-scale turbulence by electron density gradient in national spherical torus experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruiz Ruiz, J.; White, A. E. [MIT-Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Ren, Y.; Guttenfelder, W.; Kaye, S. M.; Leblanc, B. P.; Mazzucato, E. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Lee, K. C. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Domier, C. W. [University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616 (United States); Smith, D. R. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States); Yuh, H. [Nova Photonics, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)

    2015-12-15

    Theory and experiments have shown that electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence on the electron gyro-scale, k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub e} ≲ 1, can be responsible for anomalous electron thermal transport in NSTX. Electron scale (high-k) turbulence is diagnosed in NSTX with a high-k microwave scattering system [D. R. Smith et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 123501 (2008)]. Here we report on stabilization effects of the electron density gradient on electron-scale density fluctuations in a set of neutral beam injection heated H-mode plasmas. We found that the absence of high-k density fluctuations from measurements is correlated with large equilibrium density gradient, which is shown to be consistent with linear stabilization of ETG modes due to the density gradient using the analytical ETG linear threshold in F. Jenko et al. [Phys. Plasmas 8, 4096 (2001)] and linear gyrokinetic simulations with GS2 [M. Kotschenreuther et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 88, 128 (1995)]. We also found that the observed power of electron-scale turbulence (when it exists) is anti-correlated with the equilibrium density gradient, suggesting density gradient as a nonlinear stabilizing mechanism. Higher density gradients give rise to lower values of the plasma frame frequency, calculated based on the Doppler shift of the measured density fluctuations. Linear gyrokinetic simulations show that higher values of the electron density gradient reduce the value of the real frequency, in agreement with experimental observation. Nonlinear electron-scale gyrokinetic simulations show that high electron density gradient reduces electron heat flux and stiffness, and increases the ETG nonlinear threshold, consistent with experimental observations.

  19. Energy spectrum scaling in an agent-based model for bacterial turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikel-Stites, Maxwell; Staples, Anne

    2017-11-01

    Numerous models have been developed to examine the behavior of dense bacterial swarms and to explore the visually striking phenomena of bacterial turbulence. Most models directly impose fluid dynamics physics, either by modeling the active matter as a fluid or by including interactions between the bacteria and a fluid. In this work, however, the `turbulence' is solely an emergent property of the collective behavior of the bacterial population, rather than a consequence of imposed fluid dynamics physical modeling. The system is simulated using a two dimensional Vicsek-style model, with the addition of individual repulsion to simulate bacterial collisions and physical interactions, and without the common flocking or sensing behaviors. Initial results indicate the presence of k-1 scaling in a portion of the kinetic energy spectrum that can be considered analogous to the inertial subrange in turbulent energy spectra. This result suggests that the interaction of large numbers of individual active bacteria may also be a contributing factor in the emergence of fluid dynamics phenomena, in addition to the physical interactions between bacteria and their fluid environment.

  20. Numerical assessment of the ion turbulent thermal transport scaling laws

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ottaviani, M.; Manfredi, G.

    2001-01-01

    Numerical simulations of ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence were carried out to investigate the parametric dependence of the ion thermal transport on the reduced gyroradius and on the local safety factor. Whereas the simulations show a clear proportionality of the conductivity to the gyroradius, the dependence on the safety factor cannot be represented as a simple power law like the one exhibited by the empirical scaling laws. (author)

  1. Plasma turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horton, W.

    1998-07-01

    The origin of plasma turbulence from currents and spatial gradients in plasmas is described and shown to lead to the dominant transport mechanism in many plasma regimes. A wide variety of turbulent transport mechanism exists in plasmas. In this survey the authors summarize some of the universally observed plasma transport rates

  2. Tearing instabilities in turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishizawa, A.; Nakajima, N.

    2009-01-01

    Full text: Effects of micro-turbulence on tearing instabilities are investigated by numerically solving a reduced set of two-fluid equations. Micro-turbulence excites both large-scale and small-scale Fourier modes through energy transfer due to nonlinear mode coupling. The energy transfer to large scale mode does not directly excite tearing instability but it gives an initiation of tearing instability. When tearing instability starts to grow, the excited small scale mode plays an important role. The mixing of magnetic flux by micro-turbulence is the dominant factor of non-ideal MHD effect at the resonant surface and it gives rise to magnetic reconnection which causes tearing instability. Tearing instabilities were investigated against static equilibrium or flowing equilibrium so far. On the other hand, the recent progress of computer power allows us to investigate interactions between turbulence and coherent modes such as tearing instabilities in magnetically confined plasmas by means of direct numerical simulations. In order to investigate effects of turbulence on tearing instabilities we consider a situation that tearing mode is destabilized in a quasi-equilibrium including micro-turbulence. We choose an initial equilibrium that is unstable against kinetic ballooning modes and tearing instabilities. Tearing instabilities are current driven modes and thus they are unstable for large scale Fourier modes. On the other hand kinetic ballooning modes are unstable for poloidal Fourier modes that are characterized by ion Larmor radius. The energy of kinetic ballooning modes spreads over wave number space through nonlinear Fourier mode coupling. We present that micro-turbulence affects tearing instabilities in two different ways by three-dimensional numerical simulation of a reduced set of two-fluid equations. One is caused by energy transfer to large scale modes, the other is caused by energy transfer to small scale modes. The former is the excitation of initial

  3. The structure of turbulence in a rapid tidal flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milne, I A; Sharma, R N; Flay, R G J

    2017-08-01

    The structure of turbulence in a rapid tidal flow is characterized through new observations of fundamental statistical properties at a site in the UK which has a simple geometry and sedate surface wave action. The mean flow at the Sound of Islay exceeded 2.5 m s -1 and the turbulent boundary layer occupied the majority of the water column, with an approximately logarithmic mean velocity profile identifiable close to the seabed. The anisotropic ratios, spectral scales and higher-order statistics of the turbulence generally agree well with values reported for two-dimensional open channels in the laboratory and other tidal channels, therefore providing further support for the application of universal models. The results of the study can assist in developing numerical models of turbulence in rapid tidal flows such as those proposed for tidal energy generation.

  4. Can large-scale oblique undulations on a solid wall reduce the turbulent drag?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghebali, Sacha; Chernyshenko, Sergei I.; Leschziner, Michael A.

    2017-10-01

    Direct numerical simulations of fully developed turbulent channel flows with wavy walls are undertaken. The wavy walls, skewed with respect to the mean flow direction, are introduced as a means of emulating a Spatial Stokes Layer (SSL) induced by in-plane wall motion. The transverse shear strain above the wavy wall is shown to be similar to that of a SSL, thereby affecting the turbulent flow and leading to a reduction in the turbulent skin-friction drag. However, some important differences with respect to the SSL case are brought to light too. In particular, the phase variations of the turbulent properties are accentuated and, unlike in the SSL case, there is a region of increased turbulence production over a portion of the wall, above the leeward side of the wave, thus giving rise to a local increase in dissipation. The pressure- and friction-drag levels are carefully quantified for various flow configurations, exhibiting a combined maximum overall-drag reduction of about 0.6%. The friction-drag reduction is shown to behave approximately quadratically for small wave slopes and then linearly for higher slopes, whilst the pressure-drag penalty increases quadratically. The transverse shear-strain layer is shown to be approximately Reynolds-number independent when the wave geometry is scaled in wall units.

  5. Electron acceleration by turbulent plasmoid reconnection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, X.; Büchner, J.; Widmer, F.; Muñoz, P. A.

    2018-04-01

    In space and astrophysical plasmas, like in planetary magnetospheres, as that of Mercury, energetic electrons are often found near current sheets, which hint at electron acceleration by magnetic reconnection. Unfortunately, electron acceleration by reconnection is not well understood yet, in particular, acceleration by turbulent plasmoid reconnection. We have investigated electron acceleration by turbulent plasmoid reconnection, described by MHD simulations, via test particle calculations. In order to avoid resolving all relevant turbulence scales down to the dissipation scales, a mean-field turbulence model is used to describe the turbulence of sub-grid scales and their effects via a turbulent electromotive force (EMF). The mean-field model describes the turbulent EMF as a function of the mean values of current density, vorticity, magnetic field as well as of the energy, cross-helicity, and residual helicity of the turbulence. We found that, mainly around X-points of turbulent reconnection, strongly enhanced localized EMFs most efficiently accelerated electrons and caused the formation of power-law spectra. Magnetic-field-aligned EMFs, caused by the turbulence, dominate the electron acceleration process. Scaling the acceleration processes to parameters of the Hermean magnetotail, electron energies up to 60 keV can be reached by turbulent plasmoid reconnection through the thermal plasma.

  6. The time scale for the transition to turbulence in a high Reynolds number, accelerated flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robey, H.F.; Zhou Ye; Buckingham, A.C.; Keiter, P.; Remington, B.A.; Drake, R.P.

    2003-01-01

    An experiment is described in which an interface between materials of different density is subjected to an acceleration history consisting of a strong shock followed by a period of deceleration. The resulting flow at this interface, initiated by the deposition of strong laser radiation into the initially well characterized solid materials, is unstable to both the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) and Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities. These experiments are of importance in their ability to access a difficult experimental regime characterized by very high energy density (high temperature and pressure) as well as large Reynolds number and Mach number. Such conditions are of interest, for example, in the study of the RM/RT induced mixing that occurs during the explosion of a core-collapse supernova. Under these experimental conditions, the flow is in the plasma state and given enough time will transition to turbulence. By analysis of the experimental data and a corresponding one-dimensional numerical simulation of the experiment, it is shown that the Reynolds number is sufficiently large (Re>10 5 ) to support a turbulent flow. An estimate of three key turbulence length scales (the Taylor and Kolmogorov microscales and a viscous diffusion scale), however, shows that the temporal duration of the present flow is insufficient to allow for the development of a turbulent inertial subrange. A methodology is described for estimating the time required under these conditions for the development of a fully turbulent flow

  7. Dissipation range turbulent cascades in plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terry, P. W.; Almagri, A. F.; Forest, C. B.; Nornberg, M. D.; Rahbarnia, K.; Sarff, J. S.; Fiksel, G.; Hatch, D. R.; Jenko, F.; Prager, S. C.; Ren, Y.

    2012-01-01

    Dissipation range cascades in plasma turbulence are described and spectra are formulated from the scaled attenuation in wavenumber space of the spectral energy transfer rate. This yields spectra characterized by the product of a power law and exponential fall-off, applicable to all scales. Spectral indices of the power law and exponential fall-off depend on the scaling of the dissipation, the strength of the nonlinearity, and nonlocal effects when dissipation rates of multiple fluctuation fields are different. The theory is used to derive spectra for MHD turbulence with magnetic Prandtl number greater than unity, extending previous work. The theory is also applied to generic plasma turbulence by considering the spectrum from damping with arbitrary wavenumber scaling. The latter is relevant to ion temperature gradient turbulence modeled by gyrokinetics. The spectrum in this case has an exponential component that becomes weaker at small scale, giving a power law asymptotically. Results from the theory are compared to three very different types of turbulence. These include the magnetic plasma turbulence of the Madison Symmetric Torus, the MHD turbulence of liquid metal in the Madison Dynamo Experiment, and gyrokinetic simulation of ion temperature gradient turbulence.

  8. A tangential CO{sub 2} laser collective scattering system for measuring short-scale turbulent fluctuations in the EAST superconducting tokamak

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cao, G.M., E-mail: gmcao@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 1126, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); Li, Y.D. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 1126, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); Li, Q. [School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Zhang, X.D.; Sun, P.J.; Wu, G.J.; Hu, L.Q. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 1126, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China)

    2014-12-15

    Highlights: • A tangential CO{sub 2} laser collective scattering system was first installed on EAST. • It can measure the short-scale fluctuations in different regions simultaneously. • It can study the broadband fluctuations, QC fluctuations, MHD phenomenon, etc. - Abstract: A tangential CO{sub 2} laser collective scattering system has been first installed on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) to measure short-scale turbulent fluctuations in EAST plasmas. The system can measure fluctuations with up to four distinct wavenumbers simultaneously ranging from 10 cm{sup −1} to 26 cm{sup −1}, and correspondingly k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub s}∼1.5−4.3. The system is designed based on the oblique propagation of the probe beam with respect to the magnetic field, and thus the enhanced spatial localization can be achieved by taking full advantage of turbulence anisotropy and magnetic field inhomogeneity. The simultaneous measurements of turbulent fluctuations in different regions can be taken by special optical setup. Initial measurements indicate rich short-scale turbulent dynamics in both core and outer regions of EAST plasmas. The system will be a powerful tool for investigating the features of short-scale turbulent fluctuations in EAST plasmas.

  9. Electromotive force and large-scale magnetic dynamo in a turbulent flow with a mean shear.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogachevskii, Igor; Kleeorin, Nathan

    2003-09-01

    An effect of sheared large-scale motions on a mean electromotive force in a nonrotating turbulent flow of a conducting fluid is studied. It is demonstrated that in a homogeneous divergence-free turbulent flow the alpha effect does not exist, however a mean magnetic field can be generated even in a nonrotating turbulence with an imposed mean velocity shear due to a "shear-current" effect. A mean velocity shear results in an anisotropy of turbulent magnetic diffusion. A contribution to the electromotive force related to the symmetric parts of the gradient tensor of the mean magnetic field (the kappa effect) is found in nonrotating turbulent flows with a mean shear. The kappa effect and turbulent magnetic diffusion reduce the growth rate of the mean magnetic field. It is shown that a mean magnetic field can be generated when the exponent of the energy spectrum of the background turbulence (without the mean velocity shear) is less than 2. The shear-current effect was studied using two different methods: the tau approximation (the Orszag third-order closure procedure) and the stochastic calculus (the path integral representation of the solution of the induction equation, Feynman-Kac formula, and Cameron-Martin-Girsanov theorem). Astrophysical applications of the obtained results are discussed.

  10. Computational domain length and Reynolds number effects on large-scale coherent motions in turbulent pipe flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldmann, Daniel; Bauer, Christian; Wagner, Claus

    2018-03-01

    We present results from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent pipe flow at shear Reynolds numbers up to Reτ = 1500 using different computational domains with lengths up to ?. The objectives are to analyse the effect of the finite size of the periodic pipe domain on large flow structures in dependency of Reτ and to assess a minimum ? required for relevant turbulent scales to be captured and a minimum Reτ for very large-scale motions (VLSM) to be analysed. Analysing one-point statistics revealed that the mean velocity profile is invariant for ?. The wall-normal location at which deviations occur in shorter domains changes strongly with increasing Reτ from the near-wall region to the outer layer, where VLSM are believed to live. The root mean square velocity profiles exhibit domain length dependencies for pipes shorter than 14R and 7R depending on Reτ. For all Reτ, the higher-order statistical moments show only weak dependencies and only for the shortest domain considered here. However, the analysis of one- and two-dimensional pre-multiplied energy spectra revealed that even for larger ?, not all physically relevant scales are fully captured, even though the aforementioned statistics are in good agreement with the literature. We found ? to be sufficiently large to capture VLSM-relevant turbulent scales in the considered range of Reτ based on our definition of an integral energy threshold of 10%. The requirement to capture at least 1/10 of the global maximum energy level is justified by a 14% increase of the streamwise turbulence intensity in the outer region between Reτ = 720 and 1500, which can be related to VLSM-relevant length scales. Based on this scaling anomaly, we found Reτ⪆1500 to be a necessary minimum requirement to investigate VLSM-related effects in pipe flow, even though the streamwise energy spectra does not yet indicate sufficient scale separation between the most energetic and the very long motions.

  11. Turbulent mixing of a critical fluid: The non-perturbative renormalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Hnatič

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Non-perturbative Renormalization Group (NPRG technique is applied to a stochastical model of a non-conserved scalar order parameter near its critical point, subject to turbulent advection. The compressible advecting flow is modeled by a random Gaussian velocity field with zero mean and correlation function 〈υjυi〉∼(Pji⊥+αPji∥/kd+ζ. Depending on the relations between the parameters ζ, α and the space dimensionality d, the model reveals several types of scaling regimes. Some of them are well known (model A of equilibrium critical dynamics and linear passive scalar field advected by a random turbulent flow, but there is a new nonequilibrium regime (universality class associated with new nontrivial fixed points of the renormalization group equations. We have obtained the phase diagram (d, ζ of possible scaling regimes in the system. The physical point d=3, ζ=4/3 corresponding to three-dimensional fully developed Kolmogorov's turbulence, where critical fluctuations are irrelevant, is stable for α≲2.26. Otherwise, in the case of “strong compressibility” α≳2.26, the critical fluctuations of the order parameter become relevant for three-dimensional turbulence. Estimations of critical exponents for each scaling regime are presented.

  12. Geometry and scaling laws of excursion and iso-sets of enstrophy and dissipation in isotropic turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elsas, José Hugo; Szalay, Alexander S.; Meneveau, Charles

    2018-04-01

    Motivated by interest in the geometry of high intensity events of turbulent flows, we examine the spatial correlation functions of sets where turbulent events are particularly intense. These sets are defined using indicator functions on excursion and iso-value sets. Their geometric scaling properties are analysed by examining possible power-law decay of their radial correlation function. We apply the analysis to enstrophy, dissipation and velocity gradient invariants Q and R and their joint spatial distributions, using data from a direct numerical simulation of isotropic turbulence at Reλ ≈ 430. While no fractal scaling is found in the inertial range using box-counting in the finite Reynolds number flow considered here, power-law scaling in the inertial range is found in the radial correlation functions. Thus, a geometric characterisation in terms of these sets' correlation dimension is possible. Strong dependence on the enstrophy and dissipation threshold is found, consistent with multifractal behaviour. Nevertheless, the lack of scaling of the box-counting analysis precludes direct quantitative comparisons with earlier work based on multifractal formalism. Surprising trends, such as a lower correlation dimension for strong dissipation events compared to strong enstrophy events, are observed and interpreted in terms of spatial coherence of vortices in the flow.

  13. Self-adaptive Newton-based iteration strategy for the LES of turbulent multi-scale flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daude, F.; Mary, I.; Comte, P.

    2014-01-01

    An improvement of the efficiency of implicit schemes based on Newton-like methods for the simulation of turbulent flows by compressible LES or DNS is proposed. It hinges on a zonal Self-Adaptive Newton method (hereafter denoted SAN), capable of taking advantage of Newton convergence rate heterogeneities in multi-scale flow configurations due to a strong spatial variation of the mesh resolution, such as transitional or turbulent flows controlled by small actuators or passive devices. Thanks to a predictor of the local Newton convergence rate, SAN provides computational savings by allocating resources in regions where they are most needed. The consistency with explicit time integration and the efficiency of the method are checked in three test cases: - The standard test-case of 2-D linear advection of a vortex, on three different two-block grids. - Transition to 3-D turbulence on the lee-side of an airfoil at high angle of attack, which features a challenging laminar separation bubble with a turbulent reattachment. - A passively-controlled turbulent transonic cavity flow, for which the CPU time is reduced by a factor of 10 with respect to the baseline algorithm, illustrates the interest of the proposed algorithm. (authors)

  14. Performance Assessment of Turbulence Models for the Prediction of the Reactor Internal Flow in the Scale-down APR+

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Gonghee; Bang, Youngseok; Woo, Swengwoong; Kim, Dohyeong; Kang, Minku

    2013-01-01

    The types of errors in CFD simulation can be divided into the two main categories: numerical errors and model errors. Turbulence model is one of the important sources for model errors. In this study, in order to assess the prediction performance of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)-based two equations turbulence models for the analysis of flow distribution inside a 1/5 scale-down APR+, the simulation was conducted with the commercial CFD software, ANSYS CFX V. 14. In this study, in order to assess the prediction performance of turbulence models for the analysis of flow distribution inside a 1/5 scale-down APR+, the simulation was conducted with the commercial CFD software, ANSYS CFX V. 14. Both standard k-ε model and SST model predicted the similar flow pattern inside reactor. Therefore it was concluded that the prediction performance of both turbulence models was nearly same. Complex thermal-hydraulic characteristics exist inside reactor because the reactor internals consist of fuel assembly, control rod assembly, and the internal structures. Either flow distribution test for the scale-down reactor model or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation have been conducted to understand these complex thermal-hydraulic features inside reactor

  15. Structure and modeling of turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novikov, E.A.

    1995-01-01

    The open-quotes vortex stringsclose quotes scale l s ∼ LRe -3/10 (L-external scale, Re - Reynolds number) is suggested as a grid scale for the large-eddy simulation. Various aspects of the structure of turbulence and subgrid modeling are described in terms of conditional averaging, Markov processes with dependent increments and infinitely divisible distributions. The major request from the energy, naval, aerospace and environmental engineering communities to the theory of turbulence is to reduce the enormous number of degrees of freedom in turbulent flows to a level manageable by computer simulations. The vast majority of these degrees of freedom is in the small-scale motion. The study of the structure of turbulence provides a basis for subgrid-scale (SGS) models, which are necessary for the large-eddy simulations (LES)

  16. On the role of the smallest scales of a passive scalar field in a near-wall turbulent flow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robert, Bergant; Iztok, Tiselj [Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

    2006-03-01

    Role of the smallest diffusive scales of a passive scalar field in the near-wall turbulent flow was examined with pseudo-spectral numerical simulations. Temperature fields were analyzed at friction Reynolds number Re{sub {tau}}=171 and at Prandtl numbers, Pr=1 and Pr=5.4. Results of direct numerical simulations (DNS) were compared with the under-resolved simulations where the velocity field was still resolved with the DNS accuracy, while a coarser grid was used to describe the temperature fields. Since the smallest temperature scales remained unresolved in these simulations, an appropriate spectral turbulent thermal diffusivity was applied to avoid pile-up at the higher wave numbers. In spite of coarser numerical grids, the temperature fields are still highly correlated with the DNS results, including instantaneous temperature fields. Results point to practically negligible role of the diffusive temperature scales on the macroscopic behavior of the turbulent heat transfer. (orig.)

  17. Scaling of Ln(Permeability) in Sediments and Velocity Distributions in Turbulence: The Possibility of an Analogy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molz, F. J.; Kozubowski, T. J.; Miller, R. S.; Podgorski, K.

    2005-12-01

    The theory of non-stationary stochastic processes with stationary increments gives rise to stochastic fractals. When such fractals are used to represent measurements of (assumed stationary) physical properties, such as ln(k) increments in sediments or velocity increments "delta(v)" in turbulent flows, the resulting measurements exhibit scaling, either spatial, temporal or both. (In the present context, such scaling refers to systematic changes in the statistical properties of the increment distributions, such as variance, with the lag size over which the increments are determined.) Depending on the class of probability density functions (PDFs) that describe the increment distributions, the resulting stochastic fractals will display different properties. Until recently, the stationary increment process was represented using mainly Gaussian, Gamma or Levy PDFs. However, measurements in both sediments and fluid turbulence indicate that these PDFs are not commonly observed. Based on recent data and previous studies referenced and discussed in Meerschaert et al. (2004) and Molz et al. (2005), the measured increment PDFs display an approximate double exponential (Laplace) shape at smaller lags, and this shape evolves towards Gaussian at larger lags. A model for this behavior based on the Generalized Laplace PDF family called fractional Laplace motion, in analogy with its Gaussian counterpart - fractional Brownian motion, has been suggested (Meerschaert et al., 2004) and the necessary mathematics elaborated (Kozubowski et al., 2005). The resulting stochastic fractal is not a typical self-affine monofractal, but it does exhibit monofractal-like scaling in certain lag size ranges. To date, it has been shown that the Generalized Laplace family fits ln(k) increment distributions and reproduces the original 1941 theory of Kolmogorov when applied to Eulerian turbulent velocity increments. However, to make a physically self-consistent application to turbulence, one must adopt a

  18. SOMAR-LES: A framework for multi-scale modeling of turbulent stratified oceanic flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalamalla, Vamsi K.; Santilli, Edward; Scotti, Alberto; Jalali, Masoud; Sarkar, Sutanu

    2017-12-01

    A new multi-scale modeling technique, SOMAR-LES, is presented in this paper. Localized grid refinement gives SOMAR (the Stratified Ocean Model with Adaptive Resolution) access to small scales of the flow which are normally inaccessible to general circulation models (GCMs). SOMAR-LES drives a LES (Large Eddy Simulation) on SOMAR's finest grids, forced with large scale forcing from the coarser grids. Three-dimensional simulations of internal tide generation, propagation and scattering are performed to demonstrate this multi-scale modeling technique. In the case of internal tide generation at a two-dimensional bathymetry, SOMAR-LES is able to balance the baroclinic energy budget and accurately model turbulence losses at only 10% of the computational cost required by a non-adaptive solver running at SOMAR-LES's fine grid resolution. This relative cost is significantly reduced in situations with intermittent turbulence or where the location of the turbulence is not known a priori because SOMAR-LES does not require persistent, global, high resolution. To illustrate this point, we consider a three-dimensional bathymetry with grids adaptively refined along the tidally generated internal waves to capture remote mixing in regions of wave focusing. The computational cost in this case is found to be nearly 25 times smaller than that of a non-adaptive solver at comparable resolution. In the final test case, we consider the scattering of a mode-1 internal wave at an isolated two-dimensional and three-dimensional topography, and we compare the results with Legg (2014) numerical experiments. We find good agreement with theoretical estimates. SOMAR-LES is less dissipative than the closure scheme employed by Legg (2014) near the bathymetry. Depending on the flow configuration and resolution employed, a reduction of more than an order of magnitude in computational costs is expected, relative to traditional existing solvers.

  19. Dynamical scaling law in the development of drift wave turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watanabe, T.; Fujisaka, H.; Iwayama, T.

    1997-01-01

    The Charney-Hasegawa-Mima equation, with random forcing at the narrow band wave-number region, which is set to be slightly larger than the characteristic wave number λ, evaluating the inverse ion Larmor radius in plasma, is numerically studied. It is shown that the Fourier spectrum of the potential vorticity fluctuation in the development of turbulence with an initial condition of quiescent state obeys a dynamic scaling law for k 1/2 ε 5/4 t 7/4 F(k/bar k(t))[bar k(t)∼λ 3/4 ε -1/8 t -3/8 ] with a scaling function F(x), which turns out to be in good agreement with numerical experiments. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

  20. Nondissipative gravitational turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gurevich, A.V.; Zybin, K.P.

    1988-01-01

    The nonlinear stage of development of the Jeans instability in a cold nondissipative gravitating gas is considered. It is shown that for a time exceeding the Jeans time a nondissipative gravitational singularity (NGS) is formed in the vicinity of a local density maximum. The NGS is a stationary dynamic structure, the basis of which is the singularity. The density of the gas at the center of the NGS (for r → 0) tends to infinity, and the field potential and the mean velocity of the trapped gas, possess a power singularity. The turbulent state arises as the result of development of the instability in the case of an irregular initial density distribution. It is an hierarchic structure consisting of nested moving NGS of various sizes, the NGS of smaller dimensions being trapped in the field of a NGS of larger dimensions. The scaling relations for each given NGS in this case hold for both the gas density and density of smaller size trapped NGS. A brief comparison with the observational data shows that the real hierarchic structure of the Universe ranging from scales pertaining to spherical stellar clusters up to those of rich galaxy clusters is apparently a developed gravitational turbulence

  1. Statistical balance of vorticity and a new scale for vortical structures in turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novikov, E.A.

    1993-01-01

    The balance of one-point and two-point statistical characterics of vorticity, is considered on the basis of the Navier-Stokes equations. It is shown that within the inertial range of scales (L Re -3/4 much-lt r much-lt L, L external scale, Re Reynolds number) there is a physically distinguished scale l s ∼L Re -3/10 . The balance of vortical correlations with scales r≥l s is directly affected by the large-scale motion. l s is a natural length scale for the ''vortex strings,'' observed experimentally and numerically in three-dimensional turbulent flows. The twist of vortex lines in the internal structure of vortex strings is also briefly discussed

  2. Applying an economical scale-aware PDF-based turbulence closure model in NOAA NCEP GCMs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belochitski, A.; Krueger, S. K.; Moorthi, S.; Bogenschutz, P.; Cheng, A.

    2017-12-01

    A novel unified representation of sub-grid scale (SGS) turbulence, cloudiness, and shallow convection is being implemented into the NOAA NCEP Global Forecasting System (GFS) general circulation model. The approach, known as Simplified High Order Closure (SHOC), is based on predicting a joint PDF of SGS thermodynamic variables and vertical velocity, and using it to diagnose turbulent diffusion coefficients, SGS fluxes, condensation, and cloudiness. Unlike other similar methods, comparatively few new prognostic variables needs to be introduced, making the technique computationally efficient. In the base version of SHOC it is SGS turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), and in the developmental version — SGS TKE, and variances of total water and moist static energy (MSE). SHOC is now incorporated into a version of GFS that will become a part of the NOAA Next Generation Global Prediction System based around NOAA GFDL's FV3 dynamical core, NOAA Environmental Modeling System (NEMS) coupled modeling infrastructure software, and a set novel physical parameterizations. Turbulent diffusion coefficients computed by SHOC are now used in place of those produced by the boundary layer turbulence and shallow convection parameterizations. Large scale microphysics scheme is no longer used to calculate cloud fraction or the large-scale condensation/deposition. Instead, SHOC provides these quantities. Radiative transfer parameterization uses cloudiness computed by SHOC. An outstanding problem with implementation of SHOC in the NCEP global models is excessively large high level tropical cloudiness. Comparison of the moments of the SGS PDF diagnosed by SHOC to the moments calculated in a GigaLES simulation of tropical deep convection case (GATE), shows that SHOC diagnoses too narrow PDF distributions of total cloud water and MSE in the areas of deep convective detrainment. A subsequent sensitivity study of SHOC's diagnosed cloud fraction (CF) to higher order input moments of the SGS PDF

  3. Multiscale coherent structures in tokamak plasma turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, G. S.; Wan, B. N.; Zhang, W.; Yang, Q. W.; Wang, L.; Wen, Y. Z.

    2006-01-01

    A 12-tip poloidal probe array is used on the HT-7 superconducting tokamak [Li, Wan, and Mao, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 42, 135 (2000)] to measure plasma turbulence in the edge region. Some statistical analysis techniques are used to characterize the turbulence structures. It is found that the plasma turbulence is composed of multiscale coherent structures, i.e., turbulent eddies and there is self-similarity in a relative short scale range. The presence of the self-similarity is found due to the structural similarity of these eddies between different scales. These turbulent eddies constitute the basic convection cells, so the self-similar range is just the dominant scale range relevant to transport. The experimental results also indicate that the plasma turbulence is dominated by low-frequency and long-wavelength fluctuation components and its dispersion relation shows typical electron-drift-wave characteristics. Some large-scale coherent structures intermittently burst out and exhibit a very long poloidal extent, even longer than 6 cm. It is found that these large-scale coherent structures are mainly contributed by the low-frequency and long-wavelength fluctuating components and their presence is responsible for the observations of long-range correlations, i.e., the correlation in the scale range much longer than the turbulence decorrelation scale. These experimental observations suggest that the coexistence of multiscale coherent structures results in the self-similar turbulent state

  4. Two-dimensional turbulent convection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazzino, Andrea

    2017-11-01

    We present an overview of the most relevant, and sometimes contrasting, theoretical approaches to Rayleigh-Taylor and mean-gradient-forced Rayleigh-Bénard two-dimensional turbulence together with numerical and experimental evidences for their support. The main aim of this overview is to emphasize that, despite the different character of these two systems, especially in relation to their steadiness/unsteadiness, turbulent fluctuations are well described by the same scaling relationships originated from the Bolgiano balance. The latter states that inertial terms and buoyancy terms balance at small scales giving rise to an inverse kinetic energy cascade. The main difference with respect to the inverse energy cascade in hydrodynamic turbulence [R. H. Kraichnan, "Inertial ranges in two-dimensional turbulence," Phys. Fluids 10, 1417 (1967)] is that the rate of cascade of kinetic energy here is not constant along the inertial range of scales. Thanks to the absence of physical boundaries, the two systems here investigated turned out to be a natural physical realization of the Kraichnan scaling regime hitherto associated with the elusive "ultimate state of thermal convection" [R. H. Kraichnan, "Turbulent thermal convection at arbitrary Prandtl number," Phys. Fluids 5, 1374-1389 (1962)].

  5. Large scale Direct Numerical Simulation of premixed turbulent jet flames at high Reynolds number

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attili, Antonio; Luca, Stefano; Lo Schiavo, Ermanno; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Creta, Francesco

    2016-11-01

    A set of direct numerical simulations of turbulent premixed jet flames at different Reynolds and Karlovitz numbers is presented. The simulations feature finite rate chemistry with 16 species and 73 reactions and up to 22 Billion grid points. The jet consists of a methane/air mixture with equivalence ratio ϕ = 0 . 7 and temperature varying between 500 and 800 K. The temperature and species concentrations in the coflow correspond to the equilibrium state of the burnt mixture. All the simulations are performed at 4 atm. The flame length, normalized by the jet width, decreases significantly as the Reynolds number increases. This is consistent with an increase of the turbulent flame speed due to the increased integral scale of turbulence. This behavior is typical of flames in the thin-reaction zone regime, which are affected by turbulent transport in the preheat layer. Fractal dimension and topology of the flame surface, statistics of temperature gradients, and flame structure are investigated and the dependence of these quantities on the Reynolds number is assessed.

  6. Turbulence characteristics inside ionospheric small-scale expanding structures observed with SuperDARN HF radars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. André

    2003-08-01

    Full Text Available Unusual structures characterized by a very high-velocity divergence have been observed in the high-latitude F-region with SuperDARN radars (André et al., 2000. These structures have been interpreted as due to local demagnetization of the plasma in the ionospheric F-region, during very specific geophysical conditions. In this study, the collective wave scattering theory is used to characterize the decameter-scale turbulence (l approx 15 m inside the structures. The distribution function of the diffusion coefficient is modified when the structures are generated, suggesting that two regimes of turbulence coexist. A temporal analysis decorrelates the two regimes and gives access to the dynamics associated with the structures. It is shown that a high turbulent regime precedes the plasma demagnetization and should be related to an energy deposition. Then a second regime appears when the plasma is demagnetized and disappears simultaneously with the structures. This study is the first application of the collective wave scattering theory to a specific geophysical event.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionospheric irregularities – Space plasma physics (turbulence

  7. Phase relations in a forced turbulent boundary layer: implications for modelling of high Reynolds number wall turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duvvuri, Subrahmanyam; McKeon, Beverley

    2017-03-13

    Phase relations between specific scales in a turbulent boundary layer are studied here by highlighting the associated nonlinear scale interactions in the flow. This is achieved through an experimental technique that allows for targeted forcing of the flow through the use of a dynamic wall perturbation. Two distinct large-scale modes with well-defined spatial and temporal wavenumbers were simultaneously forced in the boundary layer, and the resulting nonlinear response from their direct interactions was isolated from the turbulence signal for the study. This approach advances the traditional studies of large- and small-scale interactions in wall turbulence by focusing on the direct interactions between scales with triadic wavenumber consistency. The results are discussed in the context of modelling high Reynolds number wall turbulence.This article is part of the themed issue 'Toward the development of high-fidelity models of wall turbulence at large Reynolds number'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  8. 3rd International Conference on Turbulent Mixing and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abarzhi, Snezhana I.; Gauthier, Serge; Keane, Christopher J.; Niemela, Joseph J.

    2013-07-01

    1. Introduction 'Turbulent Mixing and Beyond' (TMB) is the programme established for scientists, by scientists. It is merit-based, and is shaped by requirements of academic credentials, and novelty and quality of information. The goals of this programme are to expose the generic problem of non-equilibrium turbulent processes to a wide scientific community, to promote the development of new ideas in tackling the fundamental aspects of the problem, to assist in application of novel approaches in a broad range of phenomena, in which the turbulent processes occur, and to have a potential impact on technology. The programme was founded in 2007 with the support of the international scientific community and of the US National Science Foundation, the US Air Force Office of the Scientific Research and its European Office for Research and Development in the UK, the UNESCO-IAEA International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy, the Commissariat l'Energie Atomique in France, the US Department of Energy and the Department of Energy National Laboratories, the Institute for Laser Engineering in Japan, and the University of Chicago in the USA. The International Conference on Turbulent Mixing and Beyond provides opportunities to bring together researchers from the areas, which include but are not limited to, fluid dynamics, plasmas, high energy density physics, astrophysics, material science, combustion, atmospheric and earth sciences, nonlinear and statistical physics, applied mathematics, probability and statistics, data processing and computations, optics and communications, and to have their attention focused on the long-standing formidable task of non-equilibrium turbulent processes. 2. Non-equilibrium turbulent processes Non-equilibrium turbulent processes play a key role in a wide variety of phenomena, ranging from astrophysical to atomistic scales, under either high or low energy density conditions. Inertial confinement and magnetic fusion, light-matter interaction and

  9. Multi-scale-nonlinear interactions among micro-turbulence, double tearing instability and zonal flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishizawa, A.; Nakajima, N.

    2007-01-01

    Micro-turbulence and macro-magnetohydrodynamic (macro-MHD) instabilities can appear in plasma at the same time and interact with each other in a plasma confinement. The multi-scale-nonlinear interaction among micro-turbulence, double tearing instability and zonal flow is investigated by numerically solving a reduced set of two-fluid equations. It is found that the double tearing instability, which is a macro-MHD instability, appears in an equilibrium formed by a balance between micro-turbulence and zonal flow when the double tearing mode is unstable. The roles of the nonlinear and linear terms of the equations in driving the zonal flow and coherent convective cell flow of the double tearing mode are examined. The Reynolds stress drives zonal flow and coherent convective cell flow, while the ion diamagnetic term and Maxwell stress oppose the Reynolds stress drive. When the double tearing mode grows, linear terms in the equations are dominant and they effectively release the free energy of the equilibrium current gradient

  10. Bifurcation and phase diagram of turbulence constituted from three different scale-length modes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Itoh, S.-I.; Kitazawa, A.; Yagi, M. [Kyushu Univ., Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics, Kasuga, Fukuoka (Japan); Itoh, K. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

    2002-04-01

    Cases where three kinds of fluctuations having the different typical scale-lengths coexist are analyzed, and the statistical theory of strong turbulence in inhomogeneous plasmas is developed. Statistical nonlinear interactions between fluctuations are kept in the analysis as the renormalized drag, statistical noise and the averaged drive. The nonlinear interplay through them induces a quenching or suppressing effect, even if all the modes are unstable when they are analyzed independently. Variety in mode appearance takes place: one mode quenches the other two modes, or one mode is quenched by the other two modes, etc. The bifurcation of turbulence is analyzed and a phase diagram is drawn. Phase diagrams with cusp type catastrophe and butterfly type catastrophe are obtained. The subcritical bifurcation is possible to occur through the nonlinear interplay, even though each one is supercritical turbulence when analyzed independently. Analysis reveals that the nonlinear stability boundary (marginal point) and the amplitude of each mode may substantially shift from the conventional results of independent analyses. (author)

  11. The nonlinear coupling between gyroradius scale turbulence and mesoscale magnetic islands in fusion plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hornsby, W. A.; Peeters, A. G.; Snodin, A. P.; Casson, F. J.; Camenen, Y.; Szepesi, G.; Siccinio, M.; Poli, E.

    2010-01-01

    The interaction between small scale turbulence (of the order of the ion Larmor radius) and mesoscale magnetic islands is investigated within the gyrokinetic framework. Turbulence, driven by background temperature and density gradients, over nonlinear mode coupling, pumps energy into long wavelength modes, and can result in an electrostatic vortex mode that coincides with the magnetic island. The strength of the vortex is strongly enhanced by the modified plasma flow response connected with the change in topology, and the transport it generates can compete with the parallel motion along the perturbed magnetic field. Despite the stabilizing effect of sheared plasma flows in and around the island, the net effect of the island is a degradation of the confinement. When density and temperature gradients inside the island are below the threshold for turbulence generation, turbulent fluctuations still persist through turbulence convection and spreading. The latter mechanisms then generate a finite transport flux and, consequently, a finite pressure gradient in the island. A finite radial temperature gradient inside the island is also shown to persist due to the trapped particles, which do not move along the field around the island. In the low collisionality regime, the finite gradient in the trapped population leads to the generation of a bootstrap current, which reduces the neoclassical drive.

  12. Benchmarking and scaling studies of pseudospectral code Tarang for turbulence simulations

    KAUST Repository

    VERMA, MAHENDRA K

    2013-09-21

    Tarang is a general-purpose pseudospectral parallel code for simulating flows involving fluids, magnetohydrodynamics, and Rayleigh–Bénard convection in turbulence and instability regimes. In this paper we present code validation and benchmarking results of Tarang. We performed our simulations on 10243, 20483, and 40963 grids using the HPC system of IIT Kanpur and Shaheen of KAUST. We observe good ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ scaling for Tarang on these systems.

  13. Benchmarking and scaling studies of pseudospectral code Tarang for turbulence simulations

    KAUST Repository

    VERMA, MAHENDRA K; CHATTERJEE, ANANDO; REDDY, K SANDEEP; YADAV, RAKESH K; PAUL, SUPRIYO; CHANDRA, MANI; Samtaney, Ravi

    2013-01-01

    Tarang is a general-purpose pseudospectral parallel code for simulating flows involving fluids, magnetohydrodynamics, and Rayleigh–Bénard convection in turbulence and instability regimes. In this paper we present code validation and benchmarking results of Tarang. We performed our simulations on 10243, 20483, and 40963 grids using the HPC system of IIT Kanpur and Shaheen of KAUST. We observe good ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ scaling for Tarang on these systems.

  14. Scale dependence of the alignment between strain rate and rotation in turbulent shear flow

    KAUST Repository

    Fiscaletti, D.

    2016-10-24

    The scale dependence of the statistical alignment tendencies of the eigenvectors of the strain-rate tensor e(i), with the vorticity vector omega, is examined in the self-preserving region of a planar turbulent mixing layer. Data from a direct numerical simulation are filtered at various length scales and the probability density functions of the magnitude of the alignment cosines between the two unit vectors vertical bar e(i) . (omega) over cap vertical bar are examined. It is observed that the alignment tendencies are insensitive to the concurrent large-scale velocity fluctuations, but are quantitatively affected by the nature of the concurrent large-scale velocity-gradient fluctuations. It is confirmed that the small-scale (local) vorticity vector is preferentially aligned in parallel with the large-scale (background) extensive strain-rate eigenvector e(1), in contrast to the global tendency for omega to be aligned in parallelwith the intermediate strain-rate eigenvector [Hamlington et al., Phys. Fluids 20, 111703 (2008)]. When only data from regions of the flow that exhibit strong swirling are included, the so-called high-enstrophy worms, the alignment tendencies are exaggerated with respect to the global picture. These findings support the notion that the production of enstrophy, responsible for a net cascade of turbulent kinetic energy from large scales to small scales, is driven by vorticity stretching due to the preferential parallel alignment between omega and nonlocal e(1) and that the strongly swirling worms are kinematically significant to this process.

  15. Scale dependence of the alignment between strain rate and rotation in turbulent shear flow

    KAUST Repository

    Fiscaletti, D.; Elsinga, G. E.; Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio; Buxton, O. R. H.

    2016-01-01

    The scale dependence of the statistical alignment tendencies of the eigenvectors of the strain-rate tensor e(i), with the vorticity vector omega, is examined in the self-preserving region of a planar turbulent mixing layer. Data from a direct numerical simulation are filtered at various length scales and the probability density functions of the magnitude of the alignment cosines between the two unit vectors vertical bar e(i) . (omega) over cap vertical bar are examined. It is observed that the alignment tendencies are insensitive to the concurrent large-scale velocity fluctuations, but are quantitatively affected by the nature of the concurrent large-scale velocity-gradient fluctuations. It is confirmed that the small-scale (local) vorticity vector is preferentially aligned in parallel with the large-scale (background) extensive strain-rate eigenvector e(1), in contrast to the global tendency for omega to be aligned in parallelwith the intermediate strain-rate eigenvector [Hamlington et al., Phys. Fluids 20, 111703 (2008)]. When only data from regions of the flow that exhibit strong swirling are included, the so-called high-enstrophy worms, the alignment tendencies are exaggerated with respect to the global picture. These findings support the notion that the production of enstrophy, responsible for a net cascade of turbulent kinetic energy from large scales to small scales, is driven by vorticity stretching due to the preferential parallel alignment between omega and nonlocal e(1) and that the strongly swirling worms are kinematically significant to this process.

  16. Prediction of free turbulent mixing using a turbulent kinetic energy method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harsha, P. T.

    1973-01-01

    Free turbulent mixing of two-dimensional and axisymmetric one- and two-stream flows is analyzed by a relatively simple turbulent kinetic energy method. This method incorporates a linear relationship between the turbulent shear and the turbulent kinetic energy and an algebraic relationship for the length scale appearing in the turbulent kinetic energy equation. Good results are obtained for a wide variety of flows. The technique is shown to be especially applicable to flows with heat and mass transfer, for which nonunity Prandtl and Schmidt numbers may be assumed.

  17. A Lagrangian dynamic subgrid-scale model turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meneveau, C.; Lund, T. S.; Cabot, W.

    1994-01-01

    A new formulation of the dynamic subgrid-scale model is tested in which the error associated with the Germano identity is minimized over flow pathlines rather than over directions of statistical homogeneity. This procedure allows the application of the dynamic model with averaging to flows in complex geometries that do not possess homogeneous directions. The characteristic Lagrangian time scale over which the averaging is performed is chosen such that the model is purely dissipative, guaranteeing numerical stability when coupled with the Smagorinsky model. The formulation is tested successfully in forced and decaying isotropic turbulence and in fully developed and transitional channel flow. In homogeneous flows, the results are similar to those of the volume-averaged dynamic model, while in channel flow, the predictions are superior to those of the plane-averaged dynamic model. The relationship between the averaged terms in the model and vortical structures (worms) that appear in the LES is investigated. Computational overhead is kept small (about 10 percent above the CPU requirements of the volume or plane-averaged dynamic model) by using an approximate scheme to advance the Lagrangian tracking through first-order Euler time integration and linear interpolation in space.

  18. Homogeneous wave turbulence driven by tidal flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Favier, B.; Le Reun, T.; Barker, A.; Le Bars, M.

    2017-12-01

    When a moon orbits around a planet, the rotation of the induced tidal bulge drives a homogeneous, periodic, large-scale flow. The combination of such an excitation with the rotating motion of the planet has been shown to drive parametric resonance of a pair of inertial waves in a mechanism called the elliptical instability. Geophysical fluid layers can also be stratified: this is the case for instance of the Earth's oceans and, as suggested by several studies, of the upper part of the Earth's liquid Outer Core. We thus investigate the stability of a rotating and stratified layer undergoing tidal distortion in the limit where either rotation or stratification is dominant. We show that the periodic tidal flow drives a parametric subharmonic resonance of inertial (resp. internal) waves in the rotating (resp. stratified) case. The instability saturates into a wave turbulence pervading the whole fluid layer. In such a state, the instability mechanism conveys the tidal energy from the large scale tidal flow to the resonant modes, which then feed a succession of triadic resonances also generating small spatial scales. In the rotating case, we observe a kinetic energy spectrum with a k-2 slope for which the Coriolis force is dominant at all spatial scales. In the stratified case, where the timescale separation is increased between the tidal excitation and the Brunt-Väisälä frequencies, the temporal spectrum decays with a ω-2 power law up to the cut-off frequency beyond which waves do not exist. This result is reminiscent of the Garrett and Munk spectrum measured in the oceans and theoretically described as a manifestation of internal wave turbulence. In addition to revealing an instability driving homogeneous turbulence in geophysical fluid layers, our approach is also an efficient numerical tool to investigate the possibly universal properties of wave turbulence in a geophysical context.

  19. On the correlation of heat transfer in turbulent boundary layers subjected to free-stream turbulence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barrett, M.J.; Hollingsworth, D.K.

    1999-07-01

    The turbulent flow of a fluid bounded by a heated surface is a wonderfully complex yet derisively mundane phenomenon. Despite its commonness in natural and man-made environments, the authors struggle to accurately predict its behavior in many simple situations. A complexity encountered in a number of flows is the presence of free-stream turbulence. A turbulent free-stream typically yields increased surface friction and heat transfer. Turbulent boundary layers with turbulent free-streams are encountered in gas-turbine engines, rocket nozzles, electronic-cooling passages, geophysical flows, and numerous other dynamic systems. Here, turbulent boundary layers were subjected to grid-generated free-stream turbulence to study the effects of length scale and intensity on heat transfer. The research focused on correlating heat transfer without the use of conventional boundary-layer Reynolds numbers. The boundary-layers studied ranged from 400 to 2,700 in momentum-thickness Reynolds number and from 450 to 1,900 in enthalpy-thickness Reynolds number. Free-stream turbulence intensities varied from 0.1 to 8.0%. The turbulent-to-viscous length-scale ratios presented are the smallest found in the heat-transfer literature; the ratios spanned from 100 to 1000. The turbulent-to-thermal ratios (using enthalpy thickness as the thermal scale) are also the smallest reported; the ratios ranged from 3.2 to 12.3. A length-scale dependence was identified in a Stanton number based on a near-wall streamwise velocity fluctuation. A new near-wall Stanton number was introduced; this parameter was regarded as a constant in a two-region boundary-layer model. The new model correlated heat-transfer to within 7%.

  20. Numerical investigation of kinetic turbulence in relativistic pair plasmas - I. Turbulence statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhdankin, Vladimir; Uzdensky, Dmitri A.; Werner, Gregory R.; Begelman, Mitchell C.

    2018-02-01

    We describe results from particle-in-cell simulations of driven turbulence in collisionless, magnetized, relativistic pair plasma. This physical regime provides a simple setting for investigating the basic properties of kinetic turbulence and is relevant for high-energy astrophysical systems such as pulsar wind nebulae and astrophysical jets. In this paper, we investigate the statistics of turbulent fluctuations in simulations on lattices of up to 10243 cells and containing up to 2 × 1011 particles. Due to the absence of a cooling mechanism in our simulations, turbulent energy dissipation reduces the magnetization parameter to order unity within a few dynamical times, causing turbulent motions to become sub-relativistic. In the developed stage, our results agree with predictions from magnetohydrodynamic turbulence phenomenology at inertial-range scales, including a power-law magnetic energy spectrum with index near -5/3, scale-dependent anisotropy of fluctuations described by critical balance, lognormal distributions for particle density and internal energy density (related by a 4/3 adiabatic index, as predicted for an ultra-relativistic ideal gas), and the presence of intermittency. We also present possible signatures of a kinetic cascade by measuring power-law spectra for the magnetic, electric and density fluctuations at sub-Larmor scales.

  1. Aqueous turbulence structure immediately adjacent to the air - water interface and interfacial gas exchange

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Binbin

    Air-sea interaction and the interfacial exchange of gas across the air-water interface are of great importance in coupled atmospheric-oceanic environmental systems. Aqueous turbulence structure immediately adjacent to the air-water interface is the combined result of wind, surface waves, currents and other environmental forces and plays a key role in energy budgets, gas fluxes and hence the global climate system. However, the quantification of turbulence structure sufficiently close to the air-water interface is extremely difficult. The physical relationship between interfacial gas exchange and near surface turbulence remains insufficiently investigated. This dissertation aims to measure turbulence in situ in a complex environmental forcing system on Lake Michigan and to reveal the relationship between turbulent statistics and the CO2 flux across the air-water interface. The major objective of this dissertation is to investigate the physical control of the interfacial gas exchange and to provide a universal parameterization of gas transfer velocity from environmental factors, as well as to propose a mechanistic model for the global CO2 flux that can be applied in three dimensional climate-ocean models. Firstly, this dissertation presents an advanced measurement instrument, an in situ free floating Particle Image Velocimetry (FPIV) system, designed and developed to investigate the small scale turbulence structure immediately below the air-water interface. Description of hardware components, design of the system, measurement theory, data analysis procedure and estimation of measurement error were provided. Secondly, with the FPIV system, statistics of small scale turbulence immediately below the air-water interface were investigated under a variety of environmental conditions. One dimensional wave-number spectrum and structure function sufficiently close to the water surface were examined. The vertical profiles of turbulent dissipation rate were intensively studied

  2. Universal Scaling Relations in Scale-Free Structure Formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guszejnov, Dávid; Hopkins, Philip F.; Grudić, Michael Y.

    2018-04-01

    A large number of astronomical phenomena exhibit remarkably similar scaling relations. The most well-known of these is the mass distribution dN/dM∝M-2 which (to first order) describes stars, protostellar cores, clumps, giant molecular clouds, star clusters and even dark matter halos. In this paper we propose that this ubiquity is not a coincidence and that it is the generic result of scale-free structure formation where the different scales are uncorrelated. We show that all such systems produce a mass function proportional to M-2 and a column density distribution with a power law tail of dA/d lnΣ∝Σ-1. In the case where structure formation is controlled by gravity the two-point correlation becomes ξ2D∝R-1. Furthermore, structures formed by such processes (e.g. young star clusters, DM halos) tend to a ρ∝R-3 density profile. We compare these predictions with observations, analytical fragmentation cascade models, semi-analytical models of gravito-turbulent fragmentation and detailed "full physics" hydrodynamical simulations. We find that these power-laws are good first order descriptions in all cases.

  3. Correlations at large scales and the onset of turbulence in the fast solar wind

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wicks, R. T.; Roberts, D. A.; Mallet, A.; Schekochihin, A. A.; Horbury, T. S.; Chen, C. H. K.

    2013-01-01

    We show that the scaling of structure functions of magnetic and velocity fields in a mostly highly Alfvénic fast solar wind stream depends strongly on the joint distribution of the dimensionless measures of cross helicity and residual energy. Already at very low frequencies, fluctuations that are both more balanced (cross helicity ∼0) and equipartitioned (residual energy ∼0) have steep structure functions reminiscent of 'turbulent' scalings usually associated with the inertial range. Fluctuations that are magnetically dominated (residual energy ∼–1), and so have closely anti-aligned Elsasser-field vectors, or are imbalanced (cross helicity ∼1), and so have closely aligned magnetic and velocity vectors, have wide '1/f' ranges typical of fast solar wind. We conclude that the strength of nonlinear interactions of individual fluctuations within a stream, diagnosed by the degree of correlation in direction and magnitude of magnetic and velocity fluctuations, determines the extent of the 1/f region observed, and thus the onset scale for the turbulent cascade.

  4. Sediment and plankton lift off recirculations in strong synthetic turbulence (KS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redondo, Jose M.; Castilla, Roberto; Sekula, Emil; Furmanek, Petr

    2014-05-01

    equilibrium (or not) cascade may lead to more physically realistic (and understandable) models to paramerize sub-grid scaling. Care has to be taken when interpreting the direct 3D Kolmogorov cascade and the Inverse 2D Kraichnan Cascade. It is very interesting to use ESS and the third order structure functions (p=3) to investigate the scale to scale transfer of energy (and enstrophy) A parameter space based on Richardson numbers, Rossby numbers and Reynolds Numbers can be used to determine the dominant instability with different intermittencies in a complex full stratified-rotating flow. Intermittency diminishes as spectral slope increases between 5/3 (Kolmogorov's local energy balance) and 3 (Kraichnan's local enstrophy balance) like near a boundary. (Rodriguez et al 1999, Redondo et al. 1993)(Gabaldon and Redondo 2001) Helicity local balance leads to a 7/3 Energy spectra that may be strongly affected by intermittency. It should also depend on the length scale. So in K62, Kolmogorov introduced the notion of intermittency, and he would transpose the universality character of his previous constant to the universality of several parameters, the intermittence which is generalized to higher orders p, μ(p). We know that μ is not universal, as it varies from approximately 0.2 to 0.7, according to different experiments. The new energy spectra, E(k,p), has a correction term in its power: -5/3 becomes -5/3-μ(p)/9, thus, the global form of the spectra is E(k) ~ k -β(p), The different simulations produce very different spatial distributions of the bio-tracers. Gabaldon J., Redondo J.M. (2009) Plankton vertical distribution in the ocean, CUM, XTDFTG in Advances in Environmental Turbulence. UPC, Barcelona. 212. Kraichnan, R.H.: (1966), 'Dispersion of particle pairs in homogeneous turbulence', Physics Fluids, 9, 1728. Kolmogorov, A. N. (1941). The local structure of turbulence in Incompressible viscous fluid at very large Reynolds numbers. C. R. Acad. Sci. URSS 30:301. Richardson, L. F

  5. The plasma transport equations derived by multiple time-scale expansions and turbulent transport. I. General theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edenstrasser, J.W.

    1995-01-01

    A multiple time-scale derivative expansion scheme is applied to the dimensionless Fokker--Planck equation and to Maxwell's equations, where the parameter range of a typical fusion plasma was assumed. Within kinetic theory, the four time scales considered are those of Larmor gyration, particle transit, collisions, and classical transport. The corresponding magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) time scales are those of ion Larmor gyration, Alfven, MHD collision, and resistive diffusion. The solution of the zeroth-order equations results in the force-free equilibria and ideal Ohm's law. The solution of the first-order equations leads under the assumption of a weak collisional plasma to the ideal MHD equations. On the MHD-collision time scale, not only the full set of the MHD transport equations is obtained, but also turbulent terms, where the related transport quantities are one order in the expansion parameter larger than those of classical transport. Finally, at the resistive diffusion time scale the known transport equations are arrived at including, however, also turbulent contributions. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics

  6. Kolmogorov similarity hypotheses for scalar fields: sampling intermittent turbulent mixing in the ocean and galaxy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibson, C.H.

    1991-01-01

    Kolmogorov's three universal similarity hypotheses are extrapolated to describe scalar fields like temperature mixed by turbulence. The analogous first and second hypotheses for scalars include the effects of Prandtl number and rate-of-strain mixing. Application of velocity and scalar similarity hypotheses to the ocean must take into account the damping of active turbulence by density stratification and the Earth's rotation to form fossil turbulence. By the analogous Kolmogorov third hypothesis for scalars, temperature dissipation rates χ averaged over lengths r > L K should be lognormally distributed with intermittency factors σ 2 that increase with increasing turbulence energy length scales L O as σ ln r 2 approx = μ θ ln(L O /r). Tests of kolmogorovian velocity and scalar universal similarity hypotheses for very large ranges of turbulence length and timescales are provided by data from the ocean and the galactic interstellar medium. These ranges are from 1 to 9 decades in the ocean, and over 12 decades in the interstellar medium. The universal constant for turbulent mixing intermittency μ θ is estimated from oceanic data to be 0.44±0.01, which is remarkably close to estimates for Kolmorgorov's turbulence intermittency constant μ of 0.45±0.05 from galactic as well as atmospheric data. Extreme intermittency complicates the oceanic sampling problem, and may lead to quantitative and qualitative undersampling errors in estimates of mean oceanic dissipation rates and fluxes. Intermittency of turbulence and mixing in the interstellar medium may be a factor in the formation of stars. (author)

  7. Wave-induced coherent turbulence structures and sediment resuspension in the nearshore of a prototype-scale sandy barrier beach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassem, Hachem; Thompson, Charlotte E. L.; Amos, Carl L.; Townend, Ian H.

    2015-10-01

    The suspension of sediments by oscillatory flows is a complex case of fluid-particle interaction. The aim of this study is to provide insight into the spatial (time) and scale (frequency) relationships between wave-generated boundary layer turbulence and event-driven sediment transport beneath irregular shoaling and breaking waves in the nearshore of a prototype sandy barrier beach, using data collected through the Barrier Dynamics Experiment II (BARDEX II). Statistical, quadrant and spectral analyses reveal the anisotropic and intermittent nature of Reynolds' stresses (momentum exchange) in the wave boundary layer, in all three orthogonal planes of motion. The fractional contribution of coherent turbulence structures appears to be dictated by the structural form of eddies beneath plunging and spilling breakers, which in turn define the net sediment mobilisation towards or away from the barrier, and hence ensuing erosion and accretion trends. A standing transverse wave is also observed in the flume, contributing to the substantial skewness of spanwise turbulence. Observed low frequency suspensions are closely linked to the mean flow (wave) properties. Wavelet analysis reveals that the entrainment and maintenance of sediment in suspension through a cluster of bursting sequence is associated with the passage of intermittent slowly-evolving large structures, which can modulate the frequency of smaller motions. Outside the boundary layer, small scale, higher frequency turbulence drives the suspension. The extent to which these spatially varied perturbation clusters persist is associated with suspension events in the high frequency scales, decaying as the turbulent motion ceases to supply momentum, with an observed hysteresis effect.

  8. Development of a three-dimensional local scale atmospheric model with turbulence closure model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamazawa, Hiromi

    1989-05-01

    Through the study to improve SPEEDI's capability, a three-dimensional numerical atmospheric model PHYSIC (Prognostic HYdroStatic model Including turbulence Closure model) was developed to apply it to the transport and diffusion evaluation over complex terrains. The detailed description of the atmospheric model was given. This model consists of five prognostic equations; the momentum equations of horizontal components with the so-called Boussinesq and hydrostatic assumptions, the conservation equations of heat, turbulence kinetic energy and turbulence length scale. The coordinate system used is the terrain following z * coordinate system which allows the existence of complex terrain. The minute formula of the turbulence closure calculation, the surface layer process, the ground surface heat budget, and the atmospheric and solar radiation were also presented. The time integration method used in this model is the Alternating Direction Implicit (A.D.I.) method with a vertically and horizontally staggered grid system. The memory storage needed to execute this model with 31 x 31 x 16 grid points, five layers in soil and double precision variables is about 5.3 MBytes. The CPU time is about 2.2 x 10 -5 s per one step per one grid point with a vector processor FACOM VP-100. (author)

  9. Turbulent Dynamo Amplification of Magnetic Fields in Laser-Produced Plasmas: Simulations and Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzeferacos, P.; Rigby, A.; Bott, A.; Bell, A.; Bingham, R.; Casner, A.; Cattaneo, F.; Churazov, E.; Forest, C.; Katz, J.; Koenig, M.; Li, C.-K.; Meinecke, J.; Petrasso, R.; Park, H.-S.; Remington, B.; Ross, J.; Ryutov, D.; Ryu, D.; Reville, B.; Miniati, F.; Schekochihin, A.; Froula, D.; Lamb, D.; Gregori, G.

    2017-10-01

    The universe is permeated by magnetic fields, with strengths ranging from a femtogauss in the voids between the filaments of galaxy clusters to several teragauss in black holes and neutron stars. The standard model for cosmological magnetic fields is the nonlinear amplification of seed fields via turbulent dynamo. We have conceived experiments to demonstrate and study the turbulent dynamo mechanism in the laboratory. Here, we describe the design of these experiments through large-scale 3D FLASH simulations on the Mira supercomputer at ANL, and the laser-driven experiments we conducted with the OMEGA laser at LLE. Our results indicate that turbulence is capable of rapidly amplifying seed fields to near equipartition with the turbulent fluid motions. This work was supported in part from the ERC (FP7/2007-2013, No. 256973 and 247039), and the U.S. DOE, Contract No. B591485 to LLNL, FWP 57789 to ANL, Grant No. DE-NA0002724 and DE-SC0016566 to the University of Chicago, and DE-AC02-06CH11357 to ANL.

  10. Toward the Theory of Turbulence in Magnetized Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boldyrev, Stanislav

    2013-01-01

    The goal of the project was to develop a theory of turbulence in magnetized plasmas at large scales, that is, scales larger than the characteristic plasma microscales (ion gyroscale, ion inertial scale, etc.). Collisions of counter-propagating Alfven packets govern the turbulent cascade of energy toward small scales. It has been established that such an energy cascade is intrinsically anisotropic, in that it predominantly supplies energy to the modes with mostly field-perpendicular wave numbers. The resulting energy spectrum of MHD turbulence, and the structure of the fluctuations were studied both analytically and numerically. A new parallel numerical code was developed for simulating reduced MHD equations driven by an external force. The numerical setting was proposed, where the spectral properties of the force could be varied in order to simulate either strong or weak turbulent regimes. It has been found both analytically and numerically that weak MHD turbulence spontaneously generates a 'condensate', that is, concentration of magnetic and kinetic energy at small kllel)). A related topic that was addressed in the project is turbulent dynamo action, that is, generation of magnetic field in a turbulent flow. We were specifically concentrated on the generation of large-scale magnetic field compared to the scales of the turbulent velocity field. We investigate magnetic field amplification in a turbulent velocity field with nonzero helicity, in the framework of the kinematic Kazantsev-Kraichnan model

  11. Two-scale correlation and energy cascade in three-dimensional turbulent flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Y X; Schmitt, F G; Gagne, Y

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a high-order harmonic-free methodology, namely arbitrary-order Hilbert spectral analysis, to estimate the two-scale correlation (TSC). When applied to fully developed turbulent velocity, we find that the scale-dependent Hilbert energy satisfies a lognormal distribution on both the inertial and dissipation ranges. The maximum probability density function of the logarithm of the Hilbert energy obeys a power law with a scaling exponent γ ≃ 0.33 in the inertial range. For the measured TSC, we observe a logarithmic correlation law with an experimental exponent α ≃ 0.37 on both the inertial and dissipation ranges. The correlation itself is found to be self-similar with respect to the distance between the two considered scales and a central frequency ω c in the logarithm space. An empirical nonlinear and nonlocal triad-scale interaction formula is proposed to describe the observed TSC. This triadic interaction can be interpreted as experimental evidence of a small-scale nonlinear and nonlocal coupling inside the self-similarity of the Richardson–Kolmogorov phenomenological cascade picture. (paper)

  12. Multi-scale-nonlinear interactions among macro-MHD mode, micro-turbulence, and zonal flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishizawa, Akihiro; Nakajima, Noriyoshi

    2007-01-01

    This is the first numerical simulation demonstrating that macro-magnetohydrodynamic (macro-MHD) mode is exited as a result of multi-scale interaction in a quasi-steady equilibrium formed by a balance between zonal flow and micro-turbulence via reduced-two-fluid simulation. Only after obtaining the equilibrium which includes zonal flow and the turbulence caused by kinetic ballooning mode is this simulation of macro-MHD mode, double tearing mode, accomplished. In the quasi-steady equilibrium a macro-fluctuation which has the same helicity as that of double tearing mode is a part of the turbulence until it grows as a macro-MHD mode finally. When the macro-MHD grows it effectively utilize free energy of equilibrium current density gradient because of positive feedback loop between suppression of zonal flow and growth of the macro-fluctuation causing magnetic reconnection. Thus once the macro-MHD grows from the quasi-equilibrium, it does not go back. This simulation is more comparable with experimental observation of growing macro-fluctuation than traditional MHD simulation of linear instabilities in a static equilibrium. (author)

  13. New perspectives on superparameterization for geophysical turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Majda, Andrew J.; Grooms, Ian

    2014-01-01

    This is a research expository paper regarding superparameterization, a class of multi-scale numerical methods designed to cope with the intermittent multi-scale effects of inhomogeneous geophysical turbulence where energy often inverse-cascades from the unresolved scales to the large scales through the effects of waves, jets, vortices, and latent heat release from moist processes. Original as well as sparse space–time superparameterization algorithms are discussed for the important case of moist atmospheric convection including the role of multi-scale asymptotic methods in providing self-consistent constraints on superparameterization algorithms and related deterministic and stochastic multi-cloud parameterizations. Test models for the statistical numerical analysis of superparameterization algorithms are discussed both to elucidate the performance of the basic algorithms and to test their potential role in efficient multi-scale data assimilation. The very recent development of grid-free seamless stochastic superparameterization methods for geophysical turbulence appropriate for “eddy-permitting” mesoscale ocean turbulence is presented here including a general formulation and illustrative applications to two-layer quasigeostrophic turbulence, and another difficult test case involving one-dimensional models of dispersive wave turbulence. This last test case has randomly generated solitons as coherent structures which collapse and radiate wave energy back to the larger scales, resulting in strong direct and inverse turbulent energy cascades

  14. The Effects of Land Surface Heating And Roughness Elements on the Structure and Scaling Laws of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghannam, Khaled

    The atmospheric boundary-layer is the lowest 500-2000 m of the Earth's atmosphere where much of human life and ecosystem services reside. This layer responds to land surface (e.g. buoyancy and roughness elements) and slowly evolving free tropospheric (e.g. temperature and humidity lapse rates) conditions that arguably mediate and modulate biosphere-atmosphere interactions. Such response often results in spatially- and temporally-rich turbulence scales that continue to be the subject of inquiry given their significance to a plethora of applications in environmental sciences and engineering. The work here addresses key aspects of boundary layer turbulence with a focus on the role of roughness elements (vegetation canopies) and buoyancy (surface heating) in modifying the well-studied picture of shear-dominated wall-bounded turbulence. A combination of laboratory channel experiments, field experiments, and numerical simulations are used to explore three distinct aspects of boundary layer turbulence. These are: • The concept of ergodicity in turbulence statistics within canopies: It has been long-recognized that homogeneous and stationary turbulence is ergodic, but less is known about the effects of inhomogeneity introduced by the presence of canopies on the turbulence statistics. A high resolution (temporal and spatial) flume experiment is used here to test the convergence of the time statistics of turbulent scalar concentrations to their ensemble (spatio-temporal) counterpart. The findings indicate that within-canopy scalar statistics have a tendency to be ergodic, mostly in shallow layers (close to canopy top) where the sweeping flow events appear to randomize the statistics. Deeper layers within the canopy are dominated by low-dimensional (quasi-deterministic) von Karman vortices that tend to break ergodicity. • Scaling laws of turbulent velocity spectra and structure functions in near-surface atmospheric turbulence: the existence of a logarithmic scaling in the

  15. Characterisation of edge turbulence in relation to edge magnetic field configuration in L-mode plasmas in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewhurst, J.; Hnat, B.; Dudson, B.; Dendy, R. O.; Counsell, G. F.; Kirk, A.

    2007-12-01

    Almost all astrophysical and magnetically confined fusion plasmas are turbulent. Here, we examine ion saturation current (Isat) measurements of edge plasma turbulence for three MAST L-mode plasmas that differ primarily in their edge magnetic field configurations. First, absolute moments of the coarse grained data are examined to obtain accurate values of scaling exponents. The dual scaling behaviour is identified in all samples, with the temporal scale τ ≍ 40-60 μs separating the two regimes. Strong universality is then identified in the functional form of the probability density function (PDF) for Isat fluctuations, which is well approximated by the Fréchet distribution on temporal scales τ ≤ 40μs. For temporal scales τ > 40μs, the PDFs appear to converge to the Gumbel distribution, which has been previously identified as a universal feature of many other complex phenomena. The optimal fitting parameters k=1.15 for Fréchet and a=1.35 for Gumbel provide a simple quantitative characterisation of the full spectrum of fluctuations. We conclude that, to good approximation, the properties of the edge turbulence are independent of the edge magnetic field configuration.

  16. Turbulence-enhanced prey encounter rates in larval fish : Effects of spatial scale, larval behaviour and size

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kiørboe, Thomas; MacKenzie, Brian

    1995-01-01

    Turbulent water motion has several effects on the feeding ecology of larval fish and other planktivorous predators. In this paper, we consider the appropriate spatial scales for estimating relative velocities between larval fish predators and their prey, and the effect that different choices of s...... in the range in which turbulent intensity has an overall positive effect on larval fish ingestion rate probability. However, experimental data to test the model predictions are lacking. We suggest that the model inputs require further empirical study....

  17. A simple dynamic subgrid-scale model for LES of particle-laden turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, George Ilhwan; Bassenne, Maxime; Urzay, Javier; Moin, Parviz

    2017-04-01

    In this study, a dynamic model for large-eddy simulations is proposed in order to describe the motion of small inertial particles in turbulent flows. The model is simple, involves no significant computational overhead, contains no adjustable parameters, and is flexible enough to be deployed in any type of flow solvers and grids, including unstructured setups. The approach is based on the use of elliptic differential filters to model the subgrid-scale velocity. The only model parameter, which is related to the nominal filter width, is determined dynamically by imposing consistency constraints on the estimated subgrid energetics. The performance of the model is tested in large-eddy simulations of homogeneous-isotropic turbulence laden with particles, where improved agreement with direct numerical simulation results is observed in the dispersed-phase statistics, including particle acceleration, local carrier-phase velocity, and preferential-concentration metrics.

  18. Turbulent/non-turbulent interfaces detected in DNS of incompressible turbulent boundary layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, T.; Zhang, X.; Nagata, K.

    2018-03-01

    The turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI) detected in direct numerical simulations is studied for incompressible, temporally developing turbulent boundary layers at momentum thickness Reynolds number Reθ ≈ 2000. The outer edge of the TNTI layer is detected as an isosurface of the vorticity magnitude with the threshold determined with the dependence of the turbulent volume on a threshold level. The spanwise vorticity magnitude and passive scalar are shown to be good markers of turbulent fluids, where the conditional statistics on a distance from the outer edge of the TNTI layer are almost identical to the ones obtained with the vorticity magnitude. Significant differences are observed for the conditional statistics between the TNTI detected by the kinetic energy and vorticity magnitude. A widely used grid setting determined solely from the wall unit results in an insufficient resolution in a streamwise direction in the outer region, whose influence is found for the geometry of the TNTI and vorticity jump across the TNTI layer. The present results suggest that the grid spacing should be similar for the streamwise and spanwise directions. Comparison of the TNTI layer among different flows requires appropriate normalization of the conditional statistics. Reference quantities of the turbulence near the TNTI layer are obtained with the average of turbulent fluids in the intermittent region. The conditional statistics normalized by the reference turbulence characteristics show good quantitative agreement for the turbulent boundary layer and planar jet when they are plotted against the distance from the outer edge of the TNTI layer divided by the Kolmogorov scale defined for turbulent fluids in the intermittent region.

  19. Investigation of coolant mixing in WWER-440/213 RPV with improved turbulence model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiss, B.; Aszodi, A.

    2011-01-01

    A detailed and complex RPV model of WWER-440/213 type reactor was developed in Budapest University of Technology and Economics Institute of Nuclear Techniques in the previous years. This model contains the main structural elements as inlet and outlet nozzles, guide baffles of hydro-accumulators coolant, alignment drifts, perforated plates, brake- and guide tube chamber and simplified core. With the new vessel model a series of parameter studies were performed considering turbulence models, discretization schemes, and modeling methods with ANSYS CFX. In the course of parameter studies the coolant mixing was investigated in the RPV. The coolant flow was 'traced' with different scalar concentration at the inlet nozzles and its distribution was calculated at the core bottom. The simulation results were compared with PAKS NPP measured mixing factors data (available from FLOMIX project. Based on the comparison the SST turbulence model was chosen for the further simulations, which unifies the advantages of two-equation (kω and kε) models. The most widely used turbulence models are Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes models that are based on time-averaging of the equations. Time-averaging filters out all turbulent scales from the simulation, and the effect of turbulence on the mean flow is then re-introduced through appropriate modeling assumptions. Because of this characteristic of SST turbulence model a decision was made in year 2011 to investigate the coolant mixing with improved turbulence model as well. The hybrid SAS-SST turbulence model was chosen, which is capable of resolving large scale turbulent structures without the time and grid-scale resolution restrictions of LES, often allowing the use of existing grids created for Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations. As a first step the coolant mixing was investigated in the downcomer only. Eddies are occurred after the loop connection because of the steep flow direction change. This turbulent, vertiginous flow was

  20. Turbulence in the solar wind

    CERN Document Server

    Bruno, Roberto

    2016-01-01

    This book provides an overview of solar wind turbulence from both the theoretical and observational perspective. It argues that the interplanetary medium offers the best opportunity to directly study turbulent fluctuations in collisionless plasmas. In fact, during expansion, the solar wind evolves towards a state characterized by large-amplitude fluctuations in all observed parameters, which resembles, at least at large scales, the well-known hydrodynamic turbulence. This text starts with historical references to past observations and experiments on turbulent flows. It then introduces the Navier-Stokes equations for a magnetized plasma whose low-frequency turbulence evolution is described within the framework of the MHD approximation. It also considers the scaling of plasma and magnetic field fluctuations and the study of nonlinear energy cascades within the same framework. It reports observations of turbulence in the ecliptic and at high latitude, treating Alfvénic and compressive fluctuations separately in...

  1. High spatial resolution measurements of large-scale three-dimensional structures in a turbulent boundary layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkinson, Callum; Buchmann, Nicolas; Kuehn, Matthias; Soria, Julio

    2011-11-01

    Large-scale three-dimensional (3D) structures in a turbulent boundary layer at Reθ = 2000 are examined via the streamwise extrapolation of time-resolved stereo particle image velocimetry (SPIV) measurements in a wall-normal spanwise plane using Taylor's hypothesis. Two overlapping SPIV systems are used to provide a field of view similar to that of direct numerical simulations (DNS) on the order of 50 δ × 1 . 5 δ × 3 . 0 δ in the streamwise, wall-normal and spanwise directions, respectively, with an interrogation window size of 40+ ×20+ ×60+ wall units. Velocity power spectra are compared with DNS to examine the effective resolution of these measurements and two-point correlations are performed to investigate the integral length scales associated with coherent velocity and vorticity fluctuations. Individual coherent structures are detected to provide statistics on the 3D size, spacing, and angular orientation of large-scale structures, as well as their contribution to the total turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds shear stress. The support of the ARC through Discovery (and LIEF) grants is gratefully acknowledged.

  2. Influence of polymer additives on turbulent energy cascading in forced homogeneous isotropic turbulence studied by direct numerical simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Feng-Chen; Cai Wei-Hua; Zhang Hong-Na; Wang Yue

    2012-01-01

    Direct numerical simulations (DNS) were performed for the forced homogeneous isotropic turbulence (FHIT) with/without polymer additives in order to elaborate the characteristics of the turbulent energy cascading influenced by drag-reducing effects. The finite elastic non-linear extensibility-Peterlin model (FENE-P) was used as the conformation tensor equation for the viscoelastic polymer solution. Detailed analyses of DNS data were carried out in this paper for the turbulence scaling law and the topological dynamics of FHIT as well as the important turbulent parameters, including turbulent kinetic energy spectra, enstrophy and strain, velocity structure function, small-scale intermittency, etc. A natural and straightforward definition for the drag reduction rate was also proposed for the drag-reducing FHIT based on the decrease degree of the turbulent kinetic energy. It was found that the turbulent energy cascading in the FHIT was greatly modified by the drag-reducing polymer additives. The enstrophy and the strain fields in the FHIT of the polymer solution were remarkably weakened as compared with their Newtonian counterparts. The small-scale vortices and the small-scale intermittency were all inhibited by the viscoelastic effects in the FHIT of the polymer solution. However, the scaling law in a fashion of extended self-similarity for the FHIT of the polymer solution, within the presently simulated range of Weissenberg numbers, had no distinct differences compared with that of the Newtonian fluid case

  3. Small-scale dynamo at low magnetic Prandtl numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schober, Jennifer; Schleicher, Dominik; Bovino, Stefano; Klessen, Ralf S.

    2012-12-01

    The present-day Universe is highly magnetized, even though the first magnetic seed fields were most probably extremely weak. To explain the growth of the magnetic field strength over many orders of magnitude, fast amplification processes need to operate. The most efficient mechanism known today is the small-scale dynamo, which converts turbulent kinetic energy into magnetic energy leading to an exponential growth of the magnetic field. The efficiency of the dynamo depends on the type of turbulence indicated by the slope of the turbulence spectrum v(ℓ)∝ℓϑ, where v(ℓ) is the eddy velocity at a scale ℓ. We explore turbulent spectra ranging from incompressible Kolmogorov turbulence with ϑ=1/3 to highly compressible Burgers turbulence with ϑ=1/2. In this work, we analyze the properties of the small-scale dynamo for low magnetic Prandtl numbers Pm, which denotes the ratio of the magnetic Reynolds number, Rm, to the hydrodynamical one, Re. We solve the Kazantsev equation, which describes the evolution of the small-scale magnetic field, using the WKB approximation. In the limit of low magnetic Prandtl numbers, the growth rate is proportional to Rm(1-ϑ)/(1+ϑ). We furthermore discuss the critical magnetic Reynolds number Rmcrit, which is required for small-scale dynamo action. The value of Rmcrit is roughly 100 for Kolmogorov turbulence and 2700 for Burgers. Furthermore, we discuss that Rmcrit provides a stronger constraint in the limit of low Pm than it does for large Pm. We conclude that the small-scale dynamo can operate in the regime of low magnetic Prandtl numbers if the magnetic Reynolds number is large enough. Thus, the magnetic field amplification on small scales can take place in a broad range of physical environments and amplify week magnetic seed fields on short time scales.

  4. Small-scale dynamo at low magnetic Prandtl numbers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schober, Jennifer; Schleicher, Dominik; Bovino, Stefano; Klessen, Ralf S

    2012-12-01

    The present-day Universe is highly magnetized, even though the first magnetic seed fields were most probably extremely weak. To explain the growth of the magnetic field strength over many orders of magnitude, fast amplification processes need to operate. The most efficient mechanism known today is the small-scale dynamo, which converts turbulent kinetic energy into magnetic energy leading to an exponential growth of the magnetic field. The efficiency of the dynamo depends on the type of turbulence indicated by the slope of the turbulence spectrum v(ℓ)∝ℓ^{ϑ}, where v(ℓ) is the eddy velocity at a scale ℓ. We explore turbulent spectra ranging from incompressible Kolmogorov turbulence with ϑ=1/3 to highly compressible Burgers turbulence with ϑ=1/2. In this work, we analyze the properties of the small-scale dynamo for low magnetic Prandtl numbers Pm, which denotes the ratio of the magnetic Reynolds number, Rm, to the hydrodynamical one, Re. We solve the Kazantsev equation, which describes the evolution of the small-scale magnetic field, using the WKB approximation. In the limit of low magnetic Prandtl numbers, the growth rate is proportional to Rm^{(1-ϑ)/(1+ϑ)}. We furthermore discuss the critical magnetic Reynolds number Rm_{crit}, which is required for small-scale dynamo action. The value of Rm_{crit} is roughly 100 for Kolmogorov turbulence and 2700 for Burgers. Furthermore, we discuss that Rm_{crit} provides a stronger constraint in the limit of low Pm than it does for large Pm. We conclude that the small-scale dynamo can operate in the regime of low magnetic Prandtl numbers if the magnetic Reynolds number is large enough. Thus, the magnetic field amplification on small scales can take place in a broad range of physical environments and amplify week magnetic seed fields on short time scales.

  5. Oceanic turbulence - Big bangs or continuous creation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldwell, D. R.

    1983-01-01

    A hypothesis concerning the turbulence characteristics of 'microstructure' patches in the ocean is proposed in which a turbulence field is driven at the same time and scale at which it is observed. The driving energy is converted into turbulence kinetic energy in such a way that the observed overturning thickness scale is linearly related to the length scale. This hypothesis is contrasted with that of Gibson (1982), in which the 'patches' are produced by rare, powerful turbulence generators that have 'fossilized' prior to their observation. Careful attention is given to the sampling process and its assumptions.

  6. LITOS – a new balloon-borne instrument for fine-scale turbulence soundings in the stratosphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Theuerkauf

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available We have developed a new compact balloon payload called LITOS (Leibniz-Institute Turbulence Observations in the Stratosphere for high resolution wind turbulence soundings in the stratosphere up to 35 km altitude. The wind measurements are performed using a constant temperature anemometer (CTA with a vertical resolution of ~2.5 mm, i.e. 2 kHz sampling rate at 5 m/s ascent speed. Thereby, for the first time, it is possible to study the entire turbulence spectrum down to the viscous subrange in the stratosphere. Including telemetry, housekeeping, batteries and recovery unit, the payload weighs less than 5 kg and can be launched from any radiosonde station. Since autumn 2007, LITOS has been successfully launched several times from the Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP in Kühlungsborn, Germany (54° N, 12° E. Two additional soundings were carried out in 2008 and 2009 in Kiruna, Sweden (67° N, 21° E as part of the BEXUS program (Balloon-borne EXperiments for University Students. We describe here the basic principle of CTA measurements and prove the validity of this method in the stratosphere. A first case study allows a clear distinction between non-turbulent regions and a turbulent layer with a thickness of some tens of meters. Since our measurements cover the transition between the inertial and viscous subrange, energy dissipation rates can be calculated with high reliability.

  7. The dimension of attractors underlying periodic turbulent Poiseuille flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keefe, Laurence; Moin, Parviz; Kim, John

    1992-01-01

    A lower bound on the Liapunov dimenison, D-lambda, of the attractor underlying turbulent, periodic Poiseuille flow at a pressure-gradient Reynolds number of 3200 is calculated, on the basis of a coarse-grained (16x33x8) numerical solution, to be approximately 352. Comparison of Liapunov exponent spectra from this and a higher-resolution (16x33x16) simulation on the same spatial domain shows these spectra to have a universal shape when properly scaled. On the basis of these scaling properties, and a partial exponent spectrum from a still higher-resolution (32x33x32) simulation, it is argued that the actual dimension of the attractor underlying motion of the given computational domain is approximately 780. It is suggested that this periodic turbulent shear flow is deterministic chaos, and that a strange attractor does underly solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations in such flows.

  8. High Reynolds Number Turbulence

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Smits, Alexander J

    2007-01-01

    The objectives of the grant were to provide a systematic study to fill the gap between existing research on low Reynolds number turbulent flows to the kinds of turbulent flows encountered on full-scale vehicles...

  9. Response of cellular stoichiometry and phosphorus storage of the cyanobacteria Aphanizomenon flos-aquae to small-scale turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhe; Xiao, Yan; Yang, Jixiang; Li, Chao; Gao, Xia; Guo, Jinsong

    2017-11-01

    Turbulent mixing, in particular on a small scale, affects the growth of microalgae by changing diffusive sublayers and regulating nutrient fluxes of cells. We tested the nutrient flux hypothesis by evaluating the cellular stoichiometry and phosphorus storage of microalgae under different turbulent mixing conditions. Aphanizomenon flos-aquae were cultivated in different stirring batch reactors with turbulent dissipation rates ranging from 0.001 51 m2/s3 to 0.050 58 m2/s3, the latter being the highest range observed in natural aquatic systems. Samples were taken in the exponential growth phase and compared with samples taken when the reactor was completely stagnant. Results indicate that, within a certain range, turbulent mixing stimulates the growth of A. flos-aquae. An inhibitory effect on growth rate was observed at the higher range. Photosynthesis activity, in terms of maximum effective quantum yield of PSII (the ratio of F v/ F m) and cellular chlorophyll a, did not change significantly in response to turbulence. However, Chl a/C mass ratio and C/N molar ratio, showed a unimodal response under a gradient of turbulent mixing, similar to growth rate. Moreover, we found that increases in turbulent mixing might stimulate respiration rates, which might lead to the use of polyphosphate for the synthesis of cellular constituents. More research is required to test and verify the hypothesis that turbulent mixing changes the diffusive sublayer, regulating the nutrient flux of cells.

  10. Beam displacement as a function of temperature and turbulence length scale at two different laser radiation wavelengths.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isterling, William M; Dally, Bassam B; Alwahabi, Zeyad T; Dubovinsky, Miro; Wright, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    Narrow laser beams directed from aircraft may at times pass through the exhaust plume of the engines and potentially degrade some of the laser beam characteristics. This paper reports on controlled studies of laser beam deviation arising from propagation through turbulent hot gases, in a well-characterized laboratory burner, with conditions of relevance to aircraft engine exhaust plumes. The impact of the temperature, laser wavelength, and turbulence length scale on the beam deviation has been investigated. It was found that the laser beam displacement increases with the turbulent integral length scale. The effect of temperature on the laser beam angular deviation, σ, using two different laser wavelengths, namely 4.67 μm and 632.8 nm, was recorded. It was found that the beam deviation for both wavelengths may be semiempirically modeled using a single function of the form, σ=a(b+(1/T)(2))(-1), with two parameters only, a and b, where σ is in microradians and T is the temperature in °C. © 2012 Optical Society of America

  11. Synchronization of two coupled turbulent fires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takagi, Kazushi; Gotoda, Hiroshi; Miyano, Takaya; Murayama, Shogo; Tokuda, Isao T.

    2018-04-01

    We numerically study the scale-free nature of a buoyancy-induced turbulent fire and synchronization of two coupled turbulent fires. A scale-free structure is detected in weighted networks between vortices, while its lifetime obeys a clear power law, indicating intermittent appearances, disappearances, and reappearances of the scale-free property. A significant decrease in the distance between the two fire sources gives rise to a synchronized state in the near field dominated by the unstable motion of large-scale of transverse vortex rings. The synchronized state vanishes in the far field forming well-developed turbulent plumes, regardless of the distance between the two fire sources.

  12. The Belonging to the University Scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karaman, Omer; Cirak, Yuksel

    2017-01-01

    The aim of the study is to develop a belonging to the university scale (BUS) in order to determine the level of fulfillment of the need to belong among university students at the higher education institutions they attend. The population of the investigation includes university students studying at the campus of Ordu University. A 5 point…

  13. A Modified Version of the RNG k–ε Turbulence Model for the Scale-Resolving Simulation of Internal Combustion Engines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vesselin Krassimirov Krastev

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The unsteady and random character of turbulent flow motion is a key aspect of the multidimensional modeling of internal combustion engines (ICEs. A typical example can be found in the prediction of the cycle-to-cycle variability (CCV in modern, highly downsized gasoline direct injection (GDI engines, which strongly depends on the accurate simulation of turbulent in-cylinder flow structures. The current standard for turbulence modeling in ICEs is still represented by the unsteady form of Reynold-averaged Navier Stokes equations (URANS, which allows the simulation of full engine cycles at relatively low computational costs. URANS-based methods, however, are only able to return a statistical description of turbulence, as the effects of all scales of motion are entirely modeled. Therefore, during the last decade, scale-resolving methods such as large eddy simulation (LES or hybrid URANS/LES approaches are gaining increasing attention among the engine-modeling community. In the present paper, we propose a scale-resolving capable modification of the popular RNG k– ε URANS model. The modification is based on a detached-eddy simulation (DES framework and allows one to explicitly set the behavior (URANS, DES or LES of the model in different zones of the computational domain. The resulting zonal formulation has been tested on two reference test cases, comparing the numerical predictions with the available experimental data sets and with previous computational studies. Overall, the scale-resolved part of the computed flow has been found to be consistent with the expected flow physics, thus confirming the validity of the proposed simulation methodology.

  14. ``Large''- vs Small-scale friction control in turbulent channel flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canton, Jacopo; Örlü, Ramis; Chin, Cheng; Schlatter, Philipp

    2017-11-01

    We reconsider the ``large-scale'' control scheme proposed by Hussain and co-workers (Phys. Fluids 10, 1049-1051 1998 and Phys. Rev. Fluids, 2, 62601 2017), using new direct numerical simulations (DNS). The DNS are performed in a turbulent channel at friction Reynolds number Reτ of up to 550 in order to eliminate low-Reynolds-number effects. The purpose of the present contribution is to re-assess this control method in the light of more modern developments in the field, in particular also related to the discovery of (very) large-scale motions. The goals of the paper are as follows: First, we want to better characterise the physics of the control, and assess what external contribution (vortices, forcing, wall motion) are actually needed. Then, we investigate the optimal parameters and, finally, determine which aspects of this control technique actually scale in outer units and can therefore be of use in practical applications. In addition to discussing the mentioned drag-reduction effects, the present contribution will also address the potential effect of the naturally occurring large-scale motions on frictional drag, and give indications on the physical processes for potential drag reduction possible at all Reynolds numbers.

  15. Intrinsic Turbulence Stabilization in a Stellarator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Xanthopoulos

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The magnetic surfaces of modern stellarators are characterized by complex, carefully optimized shaping and exhibit locally compressed regions of strong turbulence drive. Massively parallel computer simulations of plasma turbulence reveal, however, that stellarators also possess two intrinsic mechanisms to mitigate the effect of this drive. In the regime where the length scale of the turbulence is very small compared to the equilibrium scale set by the variation of the magnetic field, the strongest fluctuations form narrow bandlike structures on the magnetic surfaces. Thanks to this localization, the average transport through the surface is significantly smaller than that predicted at locations of peak turbulence. This feature results in a numerically observed upshift of the onset of turbulence on the surface towards higher ion temperature gradients as compared with the prediction from the most unstable regions. In a second regime lacking scale separation, the localization is lost and the fluctuations spread out on the magnetic surface. Nonetheless, stabilization persists through the suppression of the large eddies (relative to the equilibrium scale, leading to a reduced stiffness for the heat flux dependence on the ion temperature gradient. These fundamental differences with tokamak turbulence are exemplified for the QUASAR stellarator [G. H. Neilson et al., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 42, 489 (2014].

  16. Dissipation of Alfven Waves at Fluid Scale through Parametric Decay Instabilities in Low-beta Turbulent Plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, X.; Li, H.; Guo, F.; Li, X.; Roytershteyn, V.

    2017-12-01

    The solar wind is a turbulent magnetized plasma extending from the upper atmosphere of the sun to the edge of the heliosphere. It carries charged particles and magnetic fields originated from the Sun, which have great impact on the geomagnetic environment and human activities in space. In such a magnetized plasma, Alfven waves play a crucial role in carrying energy from the surface of the Sun, injecting into the solar wind and establishing power-law spectra through turbulent energy cascades. On the other hand, in compressible plasmas large amplitude Alfven waves are subject to a parametric decay instability (PDI) which converts an Alfven wave to another counter-propagating Alfven wave and an ion acoustic wave (slow mode). The counter-propagating Alfven wave provides an important ingredient for turbulent cascade, and the slow-mode wave provides a channel for solar wind heating in a spatial scale much larger than ion kinetic scales. Growth and saturation of PDI in quiet plasma have been intensively studied using linear theory and nonlinear simulations in the past. Here using 3D hybrid simulations, we show that PDI is still effective in turbulent low-beta plasmas, generating slow modes and causing ion heating. Selected events in WIND data are analyzed to identify slow modes in the solar wind and the role of PDI, and compared with our simulation results. We also investigate the validity of linear Vlasov theory regarding PDI growth and slow mode damping in turbulent plasmas. Since PDI favors low plasma beta, we expect to see more evidence of PDI in the solar wind close to the Sun, especially from the upcoming NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission which will provide unprecedented wave and plasma data as close as 8.5 solar radii from the Sun.

  17. Disappearance of Anisotropic Intermittency in Large-amplitude MHD Turbulence and Its Comparison with Small-amplitude MHD Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Liping; Zhang, Lei; He, Jiansen; Tu, Chuanyi; Li, Shengtai; Wang, Xin; Wang, Linghua

    2018-03-01

    Multi-order structure functions in the solar wind are reported to display a monofractal scaling when sampled parallel to the local magnetic field and a multifractal scaling when measured perpendicularly. Whether and to what extent will the scaling anisotropy be weakened by the enhancement of turbulence amplitude relative to the background magnetic strength? In this study, based on two runs of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence simulation with different relative levels of turbulence amplitude, we investigate and compare the scaling of multi-order magnetic structure functions and magnetic probability distribution functions (PDFs) as well as their dependence on the direction of the local field. The numerical results show that for the case of large-amplitude MHD turbulence, the multi-order structure functions display a multifractal scaling at all angles to the local magnetic field, with PDFs deviating significantly from the Gaussian distribution and a flatness larger than 3 at all angles. In contrast, for the case of small-amplitude MHD turbulence, the multi-order structure functions and PDFs have different features in the quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular directions: a monofractal scaling and Gaussian-like distribution in the former, and a conversion of a monofractal scaling and Gaussian-like distribution into a multifractal scaling and non-Gaussian tail distribution in the latter. These results hint that when intermittencies are abundant and intense, the multifractal scaling in the structure functions can appear even if it is in the quasi-parallel direction; otherwise, the monofractal scaling in the structure functions remains even if it is in the quasi-perpendicular direction.

  18. Investigation of universal plasma instabilities. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lashinsky, H.

    1977-01-01

    This project was undertaken in order to carry out a comprehensive experimental investigation of universal plasma instabilities under a variety of conditions and a wide range of experimental parameters to scale the results appropriately to make comparisons with plasmas of thermonuclear interest. Of particular importance are the roles played by collisions and resonance particles (Landau damping and excitation) and the various stages in the development of the instabilities i.e., the linear onset of the instability, the quasilinear stage, and the transition to turbulence. General nonlinear effects such as mode locking and mode competition, and the relation of these phenomena to plasma turbulence, are also of great interest and were studied experimentally. The ultimate aim was to measure certain plasma transport coefficients in the plasma under stable and turbulent conditions with the particular view of evaluating the effect of the universal plasma instabilities of plasma confinement in a magnetic field

  19. Visualization of a Turbulent Jet Using Wavelets

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Hui LI

    2001-01-01

    An application of multiresolution image analysis to turbulence was investigated in this paper, in order to visualize the coherent structure and the most essential scales governing turbulence. The digital imaging photograph of jet slice was decomposed by two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform based on Daubechies, Coifman and Baylkin bases. The best choice of orthogonal wavelet basis for analyzing the image of the turbulent structures was first discussed. It is found that these orthonormal wavelet families with index N<10 were inappropriate for multiresolution image analysis of turbulent flow. The multiresolution images of turbulent structures were very similar when using the wavelet basis with the higher index number, even though wavelet bases are different functions. From the image components in orthogonal wavelet spaces with different scales, the further evident of the multi-scale structures in jet can be observed, and the edges of the vortices at different resolutions or scales and the coherent structure can be easily extracted.

  20. Modelling of structural effects on chemical reactions in turbulent flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gammelsaeter, H.R.

    1997-12-31

    Turbulence-chemistry interactions are analysed using algebraic moment closure for the chemical reaction term. The coupling between turbulence and chemical length and time scales generate a complex interaction process. This interaction process is called structural effects in this work. The structural effects are shown to take place on all scales between the largest scale of turbulence and the scales of the molecular motions. The set of equations describing turbulent correlations involved in turbulent reacting flows are derived. Interactions are shown schematically using interaction charts. Algebraic equations for the turbulent correlations in the reaction rate are given using the interaction charts to include the most significant couplings. In the frame of fundamental combustion physics, the structural effects appearing on the small scales of turbulence are proposed modelled using a discrete spectrum of turbulent scales. The well-known problem of averaging the Arrhenius law, the specific reaction rate, is proposed solved using a presumed single variable probability density function and a sub scale model for the reaction volume. Although some uncertainties are expected, the principles are addressed. Fast chemistry modelling is shown to be consistent in the frame of algebraic moment closure when the turbulence-chemistry interaction is accounted for in the turbulent diffusion. The modelling proposed in this thesis is compared with experimental data for an laboratory methane flame and advanced probability density function modelling. The results show promising features. Finally it is shown a comparison with full scale measurements for an industrial burner. All features of the burner are captured with the model. 41 refs., 33 figs.

  1. Aperture averaging in strong oceanic turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gökçe, Muhsin Caner; Baykal, Yahya

    2018-04-01

    Receiver aperture averaging technique is employed in underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) systems to mitigate the effects of oceanic turbulence, thus to improve the system performance. The irradiance flux variance is a measure of the intensity fluctuations on a lens of the receiver aperture. Using the modified Rytov theory which uses the small-scale and large-scale spatial filters, and our previously presented expression that shows the atmospheric structure constant in terms of oceanic turbulence parameters, we evaluate the irradiance flux variance and the aperture averaging factor of a spherical wave in strong oceanic turbulence. Irradiance flux variance variations are examined versus the oceanic turbulence parameters and the receiver aperture diameter are examined in strong oceanic turbulence. Also, the effect of the receiver aperture diameter on the aperture averaging factor is presented in strong oceanic turbulence.

  2. Dissipative structures in magnetorotational turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Johnathan; Latter, Henrik N.

    2018-03-01

    Via the process of accretion, magnetorotational turbulence removes energy from a disk's orbital motion and transforms it into heat. Turbulent heating is far from uniform and is usually concentrated in small regions of intense dissipation, characterised by abrupt magnetic reconnection and higher temperatures. These regions are of interest because they might generate non-thermal emission, in the form of flares and energetic particles, or thermally process solids in protoplanetary disks. Moreover, the nature of the dissipation bears on the fundamental dynamics of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) itself: local simulations indicate that the large-scale properties of the turbulence (e.g. saturation levels, the stress-pressure relationship) depend on the short dissipative scales. In this paper we undertake a numerical study of how the MRI dissipates and the small-scale dissipative structures it employs to do so. We use the Godunov code RAMSES and unstratified compressible shearing boxes. Our simulations reveal that dissipation is concentrated in ribbons of strong magnetic reconnection that are significantly elongated in azimuth, up to a scale height. Dissipative structures are hence meso-scale objects, and potentially provide a route by which large scales and small scales interact. We go on to show how these ribbons evolve over time — forming, merging, breaking apart, and disappearing. Finally, we reveal important couplings between the large-scale density waves generated by the MRI and the small-scale structures, which may illuminate the stress-pressure relationship in MRI turbulence.

  3. Collisionless Reconnection in Magnetohydrodynamic and Kinetic Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loureiro, Nuno F.; Boldyrev, Stanislav

    2017-12-01

    It has recently been proposed that the inertial interval in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is terminated at small scales not by a Kolmogorov-like dissipation region, but rather by a new sub-inertial interval mediated by tearing instability. However, many astrophysical plasmas are nearly collisionless so the MHD approximation is not applicable to turbulence at small scales. In this paper, we propose an extension of the theory of reconnection-mediated turbulence to plasmas which are so weakly collisional that the reconnection occurring in the turbulent eddies is caused by electron inertia rather than by resistivity. We find that the transition scale to reconnection-mediated turbulence depends on the plasma beta and on the assumptions of the plasma turbulence model. However, in all of the cases analyzed, the energy spectra in the reconnection-mediated interval range from E({k}\\perp ){{dk}}\\perp \\propto {k}\\perp -8/3{{dk}}\\perp to E({k}\\perp ){{dk}}\\perp \\propto {k}\\perp -3{{dk}}\\perp .

  4. Wavenumber spectrum of whistler turbulence: Particle-in-cell simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, S.; Gary, S. Peter; Narita, Y.

    2010-01-01

    The forward cascade of decaying whistler turbulence is studied in low beta plasma to understand essential properties of the energy spectrum at electron scales, by using a two-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. This simulation demonstrates turbulence in which the energy cascade rate is greater than the dissipation rate at the electron inertial length. The PIC simulation shows that the magnetic energy spectrum of forward-cascaded whistler turbulence at electron inertial scales is anisotropic and develops a very steep power-law spectrum which is consistent with recent solar wind observations. A comparison of the simulated spectrum with that predicted by a phenomenological turbulence scaling model suggests that the energy cascade at the electron inertial scale depends on both magnetic fluctuations and electron velocity fluctuations, as well as on the whistler dispersion relation. Thus, not only kinetic Alfven turbulence but also whistler turbulence may explain recent solar wind observations of very steep magnetic spectra at short scales.

  5. Wall roughness induces asymptotic ultimate turbulence

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhu, Xiaojue; Verschoof, Ruben Adriaan; Bakhuis, Dennis; Huisman, Sander Gerard; Verzicco, Roberto; Sun, Chao; Lohse, Detlef

    2018-01-01

    Turbulence governs the transport of heat, mass and momentum on multiple scales. In real-world applications, wall-bounded turbulence typically involves surfaces that are rough; however, characterizing and understanding the effects of wall roughness on turbulence remains a challenge. Here, by

  6. Description of group-theoretical model of developed turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saveliev, V L; Gorokhovski, M A

    2008-01-01

    We propose to associate the phenomenon of stationary turbulence with the special self-similar solutions of the Euler equations. These solutions represent the linear superposition of eigenfields of spatial symmetry subgroup generators and imply their dependence on time through the parameter of the symmetry transformation only. From this model, it follows that for developed turbulent process, changing the scale of averaging (filtering) of the velocity field is equivalent to composition of scaling, translation and rotation transformations. We call this property a renormalization-group invariance of filtered turbulent fields. The renormalization group invariance provides an opportunity to transform the averaged Navier-Stokes equation over a small scale (inner threshold of the turbulence) to larger scales by simple scaling. From the methodological point of view, it is significant to note that the turbulent viscosity term appeared not as a result of averaging of the nonlinear term in the Navier-Stokes equation, but from the molecular viscosity term with the help of renormalization group transformation.

  7. Toy models of developed turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.Hnatich

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available We have investigated the advection of a passive scalar quantity by incompressible helical turbulent flow within the framework of extended Kraichnan model. Turbulent fluctuations of velocity field are assumed to have the Gaussian statistics with zero mean and defined noise with finite time-correlation. Actual calculations have been done up to two-loop approximation within the framework of field-theoretic renormalization group approach. It turned out that space parity violation (helicity of turbulent environment does not affect anomalous scaling which is a peculiar attribute of the corresponding model without helicity. However, stability of asymptotic regimes, where anomalous scaling takes place, strongly depends on the amount of helicity. Moreover, helicity gives rise to the turbulent diffusivity, which has been calculated in one-loop approximation.

  8. Effect of plumes on measuring the large scale circulation in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stevens, Richard Johannes Antonius Maria; Clercx, H.J.H.; Lohse, Detlef

    2011-01-01

    We studied the properties of the large-scale circulation (LSC) in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection by using results from direct numerical simulations in which we placed a large number of numerical probes close to the sidewall. The LSC orientation is determined by either a cosine or a

  9. Three-dimensional spatial structures of solar wind turbulence from 10 000-km to 100-km scales

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Narita

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Using the four Cluster spacecraft, we have determined the three-dimensional wave-vector spectra of fluctuating magnetic fields in the solar wind. Three different solar wind intervals of Cluster data are investigated for this purpose, representing three different spatial scales: 10 000 km, 1000 km, and 100 km. The spectra are determined using the wave telescope technique (k-filtering technique without assuming the validity of Taylor's frozen-in-flow hypothesis nor are any assumptions made as to the symmetry properties of the fluctuations. We find that the spectra are anisotropic on all the three scales and the power is extended primarily in the directions perpendicular to the mean magnetic field, as might be expected of two-dimensional turbulence, however, the analyzed fluctuations are not axisymmetric. The lack of axisymmetry invalidates some earlier techniques using single spacecraft observations that were used to estimate the percentage of magnetic energy residing in quasi-two-dimensional power. However, the dominance of two-dimensional turbulence is consistent with the relatively long mean free paths of cosmic rays in observed in the heliosphere. On the other hand, the spectra also exhibit secondary extended structures oblique from the mean magnetic field direction. We discuss possible origins of anisotropy and asymmetry of solar wind turbulence spectra.

  10. Characterization of local turbulence in magnetic confinement devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rajkovic, Milan; Skoric, Milos; Solna, Knut; Antar, Ghassan

    2007-07-01

    A multifractal analysis based on evaluation and interpretation of Large Deviation spectra is applied to plasma edge turbulence data from different devices (MAST and Tore Supra). It is demonstrated that in spite of some universal features there are unique characteristics for each device as well as for different confinement regimes. In the second part of the exposition the issue of estimating the variable power law behavior of spectral densities is addressed. The analysis of this issue is performed using fractional Brownian motion (fBm) as the underlying stochastic model whose parameters are estimated locally in time by wavelet scale spectra. In such a manner information about the inertial range as well as variability of the fBm parameters is obtained giving more information important for understanding edge turbulence and intermittency. (author)

  11. Modeling of turbulent bubbly flows; Modelisation des ecoulements turbulents a bulles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bellakhal, Ghazi

    2005-03-15

    The two-phase flows involve interfacial interactions which modify significantly the structure of the mean and fluctuating flow fields. The design of the two-fluid models adapted to industrial flows requires the taking into account of the effect of these interactions in the closure relations adopted. The work developed in this thesis concerns the development of first order two-fluid models deduced by reduction of second order closures. The adopted reasoning, based on the principle of decomposition of the Reynolds stress tensor into two statistically independent contributions turbulent and pseudo-turbulent parts, allows to preserve the physical contents of the second order relations closure. Analysis of the turbulence structure in two basic flows: homogeneous bubbly flows uniform and with a constant shear allows to deduce a formulation of the two-phase turbulent viscosity involving the characteristic scales of bubbly turbulence, as well as an analytical description of modification of the homogeneous turbulence structure induced by the bubbles presence. The Eulerian two-fluid model was then generalized with the case of the inhomogeneous flows with low void fractions. The numerical results obtained by the application of this model integrated in the computer code MELODIF in the case of free sheared turbulent bubbly flow of wake showed a satisfactory agreement with the experimental data and made it possible to analyze the modification of the characteristic scales of such flow by the interfacial interactions. The two-fluid first order model is generalized finally with the case of high void fractions bubbly flows where the hydrodynamic interactions between the bubbles are not negligible any more. (author)

  12. Transition between inverse and direct energy cascades in multiscale optical turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malkin, V. M.; Fisch, N. J.

    2018-03-01

    Multiscale turbulence naturally develops and plays an important role in many fluid, gas, and plasma phenomena. Statistical models of multiscale turbulence usually employ Kolmogorov hypotheses of spectral locality of interactions (meaning that interactions primarily occur between pulsations of comparable scales) and scale-invariance of turbulent pulsations. However, optical turbulence described by the nonlinear Schrodinger equation exhibits breaking of both the Kolmogorov locality and scale-invariance. A weaker form of spectral locality that holds for multi-scale optical turbulence enables a derivation of simplified evolution equations that reduce the problem to a single scale modeling. We present the derivation of these equations for Kerr media with random inhomogeneities. Then, we find the analytical solution that exhibits a transition between inverse and direct energy cascades in optical turbulence.

  13. Transition between inverse and direct energy cascades in multiscale optical turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malkin, V M; Fisch, N J

    2018-03-01

    Multiscale turbulence naturally develops and plays an important role in many fluid, gas, and plasma phenomena. Statistical models of multiscale turbulence usually employ Kolmogorov hypotheses of spectral locality of interactions (meaning that interactions primarily occur between pulsations of comparable scales) and scale-invariance of turbulent pulsations. However, optical turbulence described by the nonlinear Schrodinger equation exhibits breaking of both the Kolmogorov locality and scale-invariance. A weaker form of spectral locality that holds for multi-scale optical turbulence enables a derivation of simplified evolution equations that reduce the problem to a single scale modeling. We present the derivation of these equations for Kerr media with random inhomogeneities. Then, we find the analytical solution that exhibits a transition between inverse and direct energy cascades in optical turbulence.

  14. Fractal-Markovian scaling of turbulent bursting process in open channel flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keshavarzi, Ali Reza; Ziaei, Ali Naghi; Homayoun, Emdad; Shirvani, Amin

    2005-01-01

    The turbulent coherent structure of flow in open channel is a chaotic and stochastic process in nature. The coherence structure of the flow or bursting process consists of a series of eddies with a variety of different length scales and it is very important for the entrainment of sediment particles from the bed. In this study, a fractal-Markovian process is applied to the measured turbulent data in open channel. The turbulent data was measured in an experimental flume using three-dimensional acoustic Doppler velocity meter (ADV). A fractal interpolation function (FIF) algorithm was used to simulate more than 500,000 time series data of measured instantaneous velocity fluctuations and Reynolds shear stress. The fractal interpolation functions (FIF) enables to simulate and construct time series of u', v', and u'v' for any particular movement and state in the Markov process. The fractal dimension of the bursting events is calculated for 16 particular movements with the transition probability of the events based on 1st order Markov process. It was found that the average fractal dimensions of the streamwise flow velocity (u') are; 1.73, 1.74, 1.71 and 1.74 with the transition probability of 60.82%, 63.77%, 59.23% and 62.09% for the 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 movements, respectively. It was also found that the fractal dimensions of Reynold stress u'v' for quadrants 1, 2, 3 and 4 are 1.623, 1.623, 1.625 and 1.618, respectively

  15. Generation of compressible modes in MHD turbulence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Jungyeon [Chungnam National Univ., Daejeon (Korea); Lazarian, A. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

    2005-05-01

    Astrophysical turbulence is magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) in nature. We discuss fundamental properties of MHD turbulence and in particular the generation of compressible MHD waves by Alfvenic turbulence and show that this process is inefficient. This allows us to study the evolution of different types of MHD perturbations separately. We describe how to separate MHD fluctuations into three distinct families: Alfven, slow, and fast modes. We find that the degree of suppression of slow and fast modes production by Alfvenic turbulence depends on the strength of the mean field. We review the scaling relations of the modes in strong MHD turbulence. We show that Alfven modes in compressible regime exhibit scalings and anisotropy similar to those in incompressible regime. Slow modes passively mimic Alfven modes. However, fast modes exhibit isotropy and a scaling similar to that of acoustic turbulence both in high and low {beta} plasmas. We show that our findings entail important consequences for star formation theories, cosmic ray propagation, dust dynamics, and gamma ray bursts. We anticipate many more applications of the new insight to MHD turbulence and expect more revisions of the existing paradigms of astrophysical processes as the field matures. (orig.)

  16. Experimental Studies of Turbulent Intensity around a Tidal Turbine Support Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stuart Walker

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Tidal stream energy is a low-carbon energy source. Tidal stream turbines operate in a turbulent environment, and the effect of the structure between the turbine and seabed on this environment is not fully understood. An experimental study using 1:72 scale models based on a commercial turbine design was carried out to study the support structure influence on turbulent intensity around the turbine blades. The study was conducted using the wave-current tank at the Laboratory of Maritime Engineering (LABIMA, University of Florence. A realistic flow environment (ambient turbulent intensity = 11% was established. Turbulent intensity was measured upstream and downstream of a turbine mounted on two different support structures (one resembling a commercial design, the other the same with an additional vertical element, in order to quantify any variation in turbulence and performance between the support structures. Turbine drive power was used to calculate power generation. Acoustic Doppler velocimetry (ADV was used to record and calculate upstream and downstream turbulent intensity. In otherwise identical conditions, performance variation of only 4% was observed between two support structures. Turbulent intensity at 1, 3 and 5 blade diameters, both upstream and downstream, showed variation up to 21% between the two cases. The additional turbulent structures generated by the additional element of the second support structure appears to cause this effect, and the upstream propagation of turbulent intensity is believed to be permitted by surface waves. This result is significant for the prediction of turbine array performance.

  17. On the Energy Spectrum of Strong Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean Carlos Perez

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The energy spectrum of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence attracts interest due to its fundamental importance and its relevance for interpreting astrophysical data. Here we present measurements of the energy spectra from a series of high-resolution direct numerical simulations of magnetohydrodynamics turbulence with a strong guide field and for increasing Reynolds number. The presented simulations, with numerical resolutions up to 2048^{3} mesh points and statistics accumulated over 30 to 150 eddy turnover times, constitute, to the best of our knowledge, the largest statistical sample of steady state magnetohydrodynamics turbulence to date. We study both the balanced case, where the energies associated with Alfvén modes propagating in opposite directions along the guide field, E^{+}(k_{⊥} and E^{-}(k_{⊥}, are equal, and the imbalanced case where the energies are different. In the balanced case, we find that the energy spectrum converges to a power law with exponent -3/2 as the Reynolds number is increased, which is consistent with phenomenological models that include scale-dependent dynamic alignment. For the imbalanced case, with E^{+}>E^{-}, the simulations show that E^{-}∝k_{⊥}^{-3/2} for all Reynolds numbers considered, while E^{+} has a slightly steeper spectrum at small Re. As the Reynolds number increases, E^{+} flattens. Since E^{±} are pinned at the dissipation scale and anchored at the driving scales, we postulate that at sufficiently high Re the spectra will become parallel in the inertial range and scale as E^{+}∝E^{-}∝k_{⊥}^{-3/2}. Questions regarding the universality of the spectrum and the value of the “Kolmogorov constant” are discussed.

  18. Large-scale structure of the Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doroshkevich, A.G.

    1978-01-01

    The problems, discussed at the ''Large-scale Structure of the Universe'' symposium are considered on a popular level. Described are the cell structure of galaxy distribution in the Universe, principles of mathematical galaxy distribution modelling. The images of cell structures, obtained after reprocessing with the computer are given. Discussed are three hypothesis - vortical, entropic, adiabatic, suggesting various processes of galaxy and galaxy clusters origin. A considerable advantage of the adiabatic hypothesis is recognized. The relict radiation, as a method of direct studying the processes taking place in the Universe is considered. The large-scale peculiarities and small-scale fluctuations of the relict radiation temperature enable one to estimate the turbance properties at the pre-galaxy stage. The discussion of problems, pertaining to studying the hot gas, contained in galaxy clusters, the interactions within galaxy clusters and with the inter-galaxy medium, is recognized to be a notable contribution into the development of theoretical and observational cosmology

  19. Homogeneous purely buoyancy driven turbulent flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arakeri, Jaywant; Cholemari, Murali; Pawar, Shashikant

    2010-11-01

    An unstable density difference across a long vertical tube open at both ends leads to convection that is axially homogeneous with a linear density gradient. We report results from such tube convection experiments, with driving density caused by salt concentration difference or temperature difference. At high enough Rayleigh numbers (Ra) the convection is turbulent with zero mean flow and zero mean Reynolds shear stresses; thus turbulent production is purely by buoyancy. We observe different regimes of turbulent convection. At very high Ra the Nusselt number scales as the square root of the Rayleigh number, giving the so-called "ultimate regime" of convection predicted for Rayleigh-Benard convection in limit of infinite Ra. Turbulent convection at intermediate Ra, the Nusselt number scales as Ra^0.3. In both regimes, the flux and the Taylor scale Reynolds number are more than order of magnitude larger than those obtained in Rayleigh-Benard convection. Absence of a mean flow makes this an ideal flow to study shear free turbulence near a wall.

  20. Kinetic turbulence simulations at extreme scale on leadership-class systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Bei [Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Ethier, Stephane [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Tang, William [Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Williams, Timothy [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Ibrahim, Khaled Z. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Madduri, Kamesh [The Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Williams, Samuel [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Oliker, Leonid [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Reliable predictive simulation capability addressing confinement properties in magnetically confined fusion plasmas is critically-important for ITER, a 20 billion dollar international burning plasma device under construction in France. The complex study of kinetic turbulence, which can severely limit the energy confinement and impact the economic viability of fusion systems, requires simulations at extreme scale for such an unprecedented device size. Our newly optimized, global, ab initio particle-in-cell code solving the nonlinear equations underlying gyrokinetic theory achieves excellent performance with respect to "time to solution" at the full capacity of the IBM Blue Gene/Q on 786,432 cores of Mira at ALCF and recently of the 1,572,864 cores of Sequoia at LLNL. Recent multithreading and domain decomposition optimizations in the new GTC-P code represent critically important software advances for modern, low memory per core systems by enabling routine simulations at unprecedented size (130 million grid points ITER-scale) and resolution (65 billion particles).

  1. Self-similar solutions for poloidal magnetic field in turbulent jet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Komissarov, S.S.; Ovchinnikov, I.L.

    1990-01-01

    Evolution of a large-scale magnetic field in a turbulent extragalactic source radio jets is considered. Self-similar solutions for a weak poloidal magnetic field transported by turbulent jet of incompressible fluid are found. It is shown that the radial profiles of the solutions are the eigenfunctions of a linear differential operator. In all the solutions, the strength of a large-scale field decreases more rapidly than that of a small-scale turbulent field. This can be understood as a decay of a large-scale field in the turbulent jet

  2. Flame Speed and Self-Similar Propagation of Expanding Turbulent Premixed Flames

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaudhuri, Swetaprovo; Wu, Fujia; Zhu, Delin; Law, Chung K.

    2012-01-01

    In this Letter we present turbulent flame speeds and their scaling from experimental measurements on constant-pressure, unity Lewis number expanding turbulent flames, propagating in nearly homogeneous isotropic turbulence in a dual-chamber, fan-stirred vessel. It is found that the normalized turbulent flame speed as a function of the average radius scales as a turbulent Reynolds number to the one-half power, where the average radius is the length scale and the thermal diffusivity is the transport property, thus showing self-similar propagation. Utilizing this dependence it is found that the turbulent flame speeds from the present expanding flames and those from the Bunsen geometry in the literature can be unified by a turbulent Reynolds number based on flame length scales using recent theoretical results obtained by spectral closure of the transformed G equation.

  3. Energy spectrum of tearing mode turbulence in sheared background field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Di; Bhattacharjee, Amitava; Huang, Yi-Min

    2018-06-01

    The energy spectrum of tearing mode turbulence in a sheared background magnetic field is studied in this work. We consider the scenario where the nonlinear interaction of overlapping large-scale modes excites a broad spectrum of small-scale modes, generating tearing mode turbulence. The spectrum of such turbulence is of interest since it is relevant to the small-scale back-reaction on the large-scale field. The turbulence we discuss here differs from traditional MHD turbulence mainly in two aspects. One is the existence of many linearly stable small-scale modes which cause an effective damping during the energy cascade. The other is the scale-independent anisotropy induced by the large-scale modes tilting the sheared background field, as opposed to the scale-dependent anisotropy frequently encountered in traditional critically balanced turbulence theories. Due to these two differences, the energy spectrum deviates from a simple power law and takes the form of a power law multiplied by an exponential falloff. Numerical simulations are carried out using visco-resistive MHD equations to verify our theoretical predictions, and a reasonable agreement is found between the numerical results and our model.

  4. Turbulence modulation induced by interaction between a bubble swarm and decaying turbulence in oscillating-grid turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imaizumi, Ryota; Morikawa, Koichi; Higuchi, Masamori; Saito, Takayuki

    2009-01-01

    In this study, the interaction between a bubble swarm and homogeneous isotropic turbulence was experimentally investigated. The objective is to clarify the turbulence modulation induced by interaction between the bubble swarm and the homogeneous isotropic turbulence without mean flow. In order to generate simultaneously ideally homogeneous isotropic turbulence and a sufficiently controlled bubble swarm, we employed both oscillating grid and bubble generators equipped with audio speakers. First, the homogeneous isotropic turbulence was formed by operating the oscillating grid cylindrical acrylic pipe (height: 600 mm, inner diameter: 149 mm) filled with ion-exchanged and degassed water. Second, we stopped the oscillating-grid in arbitrary time after the homogeneous isotropic turbulence was achieved. A few moments later, the controlled bubble swarm (number of bubbles: 3, average equivalent diameter of bubble: 3 mm, bubble Reynolds number: 859, Weber number: 3.48) was launched into the decaying turbulence described above, using the bubble generators. The bubble formation, bubble size and bubble-launch timing are controlled arbitrarily and precisely by this device. In this study, we conducted the following experiments: 1) measurement of the motion of bubbles in rest water and oscillating grid turbulence via high-speed visualization, 2) measurement of the liquid phase motion around the bubbles in rest water via PIV system with LIF method, 3) measurement of the liquid phase motion around the bubbles in oscillating-grid turbulence via PIV system with LIF method. In the vitalization of the liquid-phase motion of both experiments, two high speed video cameras were employed in order to simultaneously film large- and small-scale interrogation areas. The liquid-phase ambient turbulence hastened the change of the bubble motion from zigzag mode to spiral mode. The interaction between the bubble swarm and liquid-phase turbulence increased decay-rate of the turbulence. (author)

  5. Introduction: Scaling and structure in high Reynolds number wall-bounded flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKeon, B.J.; Sreenivasan, K.R.

    2007-05-01

    The papers discussed in this report are dealing with the following aspects: Fundamental scaling relations for canonical flows and asymptotic approach to infinite Reynolds numbers; large and very large scales in near-wall turbulences; the influence of roughness and finite Reynolds number effects; comparison between internal and external flows and the universality of the near-wall region; qualitative and quantitative models of the turbulent boundary layer; the neutrally stable atmospheric surface layer as a model for a canonical zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer (author)

  6. Small-scale turbulence, marine snow formation, and planktivorous feeding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kiørboe, Thomas

    1997-01-01

    predators encounter prey in turbulent environments, and the equations are modified to take predator and prey behaviour into account. Simple equations that describe prey encounter rates for cruising predators, suspension feeders, ambush feeders, and pause-travel predators in calm and turbulent water...... are derived. The influence of fluid motion on post-encounter prey capture (pursuit success) is examined. Experimental results on various copepod and larval fish predators will be used to illustrate the theory. Finally, the significance of size and behaviour is discussed. It is shown that turbulence...... is potentially very important for prey encounter in mm-cm sized planktonic predators, while it is unimportant for most larger and smaller ones....

  7. Stochastic Theory of Turbulence Mixing by Finite Eddies in the Turbulent Boundary Layer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dekker, H.; Leeuw, G. de; Maassen van den Brink, A.

    1995-01-01

    Turbulence mixing is treated by means of a novel formulation of nonlocal K-theory, involving sample paths and a stochastic hypothesis. The theory simplifies for mixing by exchange (strong-eddies) and is then applied to the boundary layer (involving scaling). This maps boundary layer turbulence onto

  8. Transitional–turbulent spots and turbulent–turbulent spots in boundary layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xiaohua; Moin, Parviz; Wallace, James M.; Skarda, Jinhie; Lozano-Durán, Adrián; Hickey, Jean-Pierre

    2017-01-01

    Two observations drawn from a thoroughly validated direct numerical simulation of the canonical spatially developing, zero-pressure gradient, smooth, flat-plate boundary layer are presented here. The first is that, for bypass transition in the narrow sense defined herein, we found that the transitional–turbulent spot inception mechanism is analogous to the secondary instability of boundary-layer natural transition, namely a spanwise vortex filament becomes a Λ vortex and then, a hairpin packet. Long streak meandering does occur but usually when a streak is infected by a nearby existing transitional–turbulent spot. Streak waviness and breakdown are, therefore, not the mechanisms for the inception of transitional–turbulent spots found here. Rather, they only facilitate the growth and spreading of existing transitional–turbulent spots. The second observation is the discovery, in the inner layer of the developed turbulent boundary layer, of what we call turbulent–turbulent spots. These turbulent–turbulent spots are dense concentrations of small-scale vortices with high swirling strength originating from hairpin packets. Although structurally quite similar to the transitional–turbulent spots, these turbulent–turbulent spots are generated locally in the fully turbulent environment, and they are persistent with a systematic variation of detection threshold level. They exert indentation, segmentation, and termination on the viscous sublayer streaks, and they coincide with local concentrations of high levels of Reynolds shear stress, enstrophy, and temperature fluctuations. The sublayer streaks seem to be passive and are often simply the rims of the indentation pockets arising from the turbulent–turbulent spots. PMID:28630304

  9. Zonal Detached-Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Unsteady Flow over Iced Airfoils

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Yue

    2015-07-23

    This paper presentsamultiscale finite-element formulation for the second modeofzonal detached-eddy simulation. The multiscale formulation corrects the lack of stability of the standard Galerkin formulation by incorporating the effect of unresolved scales to the grid (resolved) scales. The stabilization terms arise naturally and are free of userdefined stability parameters. Validation of the method is accomplished via the turbulent flow over tandem cylinders. The boundary-layer separation, free shear-layer rollup, vortex shedding from the upstream cylinder, and interaction with the downstream cylinder are well reproduced. Good agreement with experimental measurements gives credence to the accuracy of zonal detached-eddy simulation in modeling turbulent separated flows. A comprehensive study is then conducted on the performance degradation of ice-contaminated airfoils. NACA 23012 airfoil with a spanwise ice ridge and Gates Learjet Corporation-305 airfoil with a leading-edge horn-shape glaze ice are selected for investigation. Appropriate spanwise domain size and sufficient grid density are determined to enhance the reliability of the simulations. A comparison of lift coefficient and flowfield variables demonstrates the added advantage that the zonal detached-eddy simulation model brings to the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. Spectral analysis and instantaneous visualization of turbulent structures are also highlighted via zonal detached-eddy simulation. Copyright © 2015 by the CFD Lab of McGill University. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.

  10. Tokamak electron heat transport by direct numerical simulation of small scale turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Labit, B.

    2002-10-01

    In a fusion machine, understanding plasma turbulence, which causes a degradation of the measured energy confinement time, would constitute a major progress in this field. In tokamaks, the measured ion and electron thermal conductivities are of comparable magnitude. The possible sources of turbulence are the temperature and density gradients occurring in a fusion plasma. Whereas the heat losses in the ion channel are reasonably well understood, the origin of the electron losses is more uncertain. In addition to the radial velocity associated to the fluctuations of the electric field, electrons are more affected than ions by the magnetic field fluctuations. In experiments, the confinement time can be conveniently expressed in terms of dimensionless parameters. Although still somewhat too imprecise, these scaling laws exhibit strong dependencies on the normalized pressure β or the normalized Larmor radius, ρ * . The present thesis assesses whether a tridimensional, electromagnetic, nonlinear fluid model of plasma turbulence driven by a specific instability can reproduce the dependence of the experimental electron heat losses on the dimensionless parameters β and ρ * . The investigated interchange instability is the Electron Temperature Gradient driven one (ETG). The model is built by using the set of Braginskii equations. The developed simulation code is global in the sense that a fixed heat flux is imposed at the inner boundary, leaving the gradients free to evolve. From the nonlinear simulations, we have put in light three characteristics for the ETG turbulence: the turbulent transport is essentially electrostatic; the potential and pressure fluctuations form radially elongated cells called streamers; the transport level is very low compared to the experimental values. The thermal transport dependence study has shown a very small role of the normalized pressure, which is in contradiction with the Ohkama's formula. On the other hand, the crucial role of the

  11. Turbulent Wing-Leading-Edge Correlation Assessment for the Shuttle Orbiter

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Rudolph A.; Vaughan, Matthew P.

    2009-01-01

    This study was conducted in support of the Orbiter damage assessment activity that takes place for each Shuttle mission since STS-107 (STS - Space Transportation System). As part of the damage assessment activity, the state of boundary layer (laminar or turbulent) during reentry needs to be estimated in order to define the aerothermal environment on the Orbiter. Premature turbulence on the wing leading edge (WLE) is possible if a surface irregularity promotes early transition and the resulting turbulent wedge flow contaminates the WLE flow. The objective of this analysis is to develop a criterion to determine if and when the flow along the WLE experiences turbulent heating given an incoming turbulent boundary layer that contaminates the attachment line. The data to be analyzed were all obtained as part of the MH-13 Space Shuttle Orbiter Aerothermodynamic Test conducted on a 1.8%-scale Orbiter model at Calspan/University of Buffalo Research Center in the Large Energy National Shock Tunnels facility. A rational framework was used to develop a means to assess the state of the WLE flow on the Orbiter during reentry given a contaminated attachment-line flow. Evidence of turbulent flow on the WLE has been recently documented for a few STS missions during the Orbiter s flight history, albeit late in the reentry trajectory. The criterion developed herein will be compared to these flight results.

  12. Spectra of turbulent static pressure fluctuations in jet mixing layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, B. G.; Adrian, R. J.; Nithianandan, C. K.; Planchon, H. P., Jr.

    1977-01-01

    Spectral similarity laws are derived for the power spectra of turbulent static pressure fluctuations by application of dimensional analysis in the limit of large turbulent Reynolds number. The theory predicts that pressure spectra are generated by three distinct types of interaction in the velocity fields: a fourth order interaction between fluctuating velocities, an interaction between the first order mean shear and the third order velocity fluctuations, and an interaction between the second order mean shear rate and the second order fluctuating velocity. Measurements of one-dimensional power spectra of the turbulent static pressure fluctuations in the driven mixing layer of a subsonic, circular jet are presented, and the spectra are examined for evidence of spectral similarity. Spectral similarity is found for the low wavenumber range when the large scale flow on the centerline of the mixing layer is self-preserving. The data are also consistent with the existence of universal inertial subranges for the spectra of each interaction mode.

  13. A Generalized turbulent dispersion model for bubbly flow numerical simulation in NEPTUNE-CFD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Laviéville, Jérôme, E-mail: Jerome-marcel.lavieville@edf.fr; Mérigoux, Nicolas, E-mail: nicolas.merigoux@edf.fr; Guingo, Mathieu, E-mail: mathieu.guingo@edf.fr; Baudry, Cyril, E-mail: Cyril.baudry@edf.fr; Mimouni, Stéphane, E-mail: stephane.mimouni@edf.fr

    2017-02-15

    The NEPTUNE-CFD code, based upon an Eulerian multi-fluid model, is developed within the framework of the NEPTUNE project, financially supported by EDF (Electricité de France), CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives), IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire) and AREVA-NP. NEPTUNE-CFD is mainly focused on Nuclear Safety applications involving two-phase water-steam flows, like two-phase Pressurized Shock (PTS) and Departure from Nucleate Boiling (DNB). Many of these applications involve bubbly flows, particularly, for application to flows in PWR fuel assemblies, including studies related to DNB. Considering a very usual model for interfacial forces acting on bubbles, including drag, virtual mass and lift forces, the turbulent dispersion force is often added to moderate the lift effect in orthogonal directions to the main flow and get the right dispersion shape. This paper presents a formal derivation of this force, considering on the one hand, the fluctuating part of drag and virtual mass, and on the other hand, Turbulent Pressure derivation obtained by comparison between Lagrangian and Eulerian description of bubbles motion. An extension of the Tchen’s theory is used to express the turbulent kinetic energy of bubbles and the two-fluid turbulent covariance tensor in terms of liquid turbulent velocities and time scale. The model obtained by this way, called Generalized Turbulent Dispersion Model (GTD), does not require any user parameter. The model is validated against Liu & Bankoff air-water experiment, Arizona State University (ASU) experiment, DEBORA experiment and Texas A&M University (TAMU) boiling flow experiments.

  14. A new scaling law for temperature variance profile in the mixing zone of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yin; Xu, Wei; He, Xiao-Zhou; Yik, Hiu-Fai; Wang, Xiao-Ping; Schumacher, Jorg; Tong, Penger

    2017-11-01

    We report a combined experimental and numerical study of the scaling properties of the temperature variance profile η(z) along the central z axis of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a thin disk cell and an upright cylinder of aspect ratio unity. In the mixing zone outside the thermal boundary layer region, the measured η(z) is found to scale with the cell height H in both cells and obey a power law, η(z) (z/H)ɛ, with the obtained values of ɛ being very close to -1. Based on the experimental and numerical findings, we derive a new equation for η(z) in the mixing zone, which has a power-law solution in good agreement with the experimental and numerical results. Our work thus provides a common framework for understanding the effect of boundary layer fluctuations on the scaling properties of the temperature variance profile in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection. This work was supported in part by Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

  15. Cascade of circulations in fluid turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eyink, Gregory L

    2006-12-01

    Kelvin's theorem on conservation of circulations is an essential ingredient of Taylor's theory of turbulent energy dissipation by the process of vortex-line stretching. In previous work, we have proposed a nonlinear mechanism for the breakdown of Kelvin's theorem in ideal turbulence at infinite Reynolds number. We develop here a detailed physical theory of this cascade of circulations. Our analysis is based upon an effective equation for large-scale coarse-grained velocity, which contains a turbulent-induced vortex force that can violate Kelvin's theorem. We show that singularities of sufficient strength, which are observed to exist in turbulent flow, can lead to nonvanishing dissipation of circulation for an arbitrarily small coarse-graining length in the effective equations. This result is an analog for circulation of Onsager's theorem on energy dissipation for singular Euler solutions. The physical mechanism of the breakdown of Kelvin's theorem is diffusion of lines of large-scale vorticity out of the advected loop. This phenomenon can be viewed as a classical analog of the Josephson-Anderson phase-slip phenomenon in superfluids due to quantized vortex lines. We show that the circulation cascade is local in scale and use this locality to develop concrete expressions for the turbulent vortex force by a multiscale gradient expansion. We discuss implications for Taylor's theory of turbulent dissipation and we point out some related cascade phenomena, in particular for magnetic flux in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence.

  16. Turbulent entrainment across turbulent-nonturbulent interfaces in stably stratified mixing layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, T.; Riley, J. J.; Nagata, K.

    2017-10-01

    The entrainment process in stably stratified mixing layers is studied in relation to the turbulent-nonturbulent interface (TNTI) using direct numerical simulations. The statistics are calculated with the interface coordinate in an Eulerian frame as well as with the Lagrangian fluid particles entrained from the nonturbulent to the turbulent regions. The characteristics of entrainment change as the buoyancy Reynolds number Reb decreases and the flow begins to layer. The baroclinic torque delays the enstrophy growth of the entrained fluids at small Reb, while this effect is less efficient for large Reb. The entrained particle movement within the TNTI layer is dominated by the small dissipative scales, and the rapid decay of the kinetic energy dissipation rate due to buoyancy causes the entrained particle movement relative to the interface location to become slower. Although the Eulerian statistics confirm that there exists turbulent fluid with strong vorticity or with large buoyancy frequency near the TNTI, the entrained fluid particles circumvent these regions by passing through the TNTI in strain-dominant regions or in regions with small buoyancy frequency. The multiparticle statistics show that once the nonturbulent fluid volumes are entrained, they are deformed into flattened shapes in the vertical direction and diffuse in the horizontal direction. When Reb is large enough for small-scale turbulence to exist, the entrained fluid is able to penetrate into the turbulent core region. Once the flow begins to layer with decreasing Reb, however, the entrained fluid volume remains near the outer edge of the turbulent region and forms a stably stratified layer without vertical overturning.

  17. Effect of non-Poisson samples on turbulence spectra from laser velocimetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sree, Dave; Kjelgaard, Scott O.; Sellers, William L., III

    1994-01-01

    Spectral analysis of laser velocimetry (LV) data plays an important role in characterizing a turbulent flow and in estimating the associated turbulence scales, which can be helpful in validating theoretical and numerical turbulence models. The determination of turbulence scales is critically dependent on the accuracy of the spectral estimates. Spectral estimations from 'individual realization' laser velocimetry data are typically based on the assumption of a Poisson sampling process. What this Note has demonstrated is that the sampling distribution must be considered before spectral estimates are used to infer turbulence scales.

  18. Wall roughness induces asymptotic ultimate turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xiaojue; Verschoof, Ruben A.; Bakhuis, Dennis; Huisman, Sander G.; Verzicco, Roberto; Sun, Chao; Lohse, Detlef

    2018-04-01

    Turbulence governs the transport of heat, mass and momentum on multiple scales. In real-world applications, wall-bounded turbulence typically involves surfaces that are rough; however, characterizing and understanding the effects of wall roughness on turbulence remains a challenge. Here, by combining extensive experiments and numerical simulations, we examine the paradigmatic Taylor-Couette system, which describes the closed flow between two independently rotating coaxial cylinders. We show how wall roughness greatly enhances the overall transport properties and the corresponding scaling exponents associated with wall-bounded turbulence. We reveal that if only one of the walls is rough, the bulk velocity is slaved to the rough side, due to the much stronger coupling to that wall by the detaching flow structures. If both walls are rough, the viscosity dependence is eliminated, giving rise to asymptotic ultimate turbulence—the upper limit of transport—the existence of which was predicted more than 50 years ago. In this limit, the scaling laws can be extrapolated to arbitrarily large Reynolds numbers.

  19. Large Eddy simulation of turbulence: A subgrid scale model including shear, vorticity, rotation, and buoyancy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canuto, V. M.

    1994-01-01

    The Reynolds numbers that characterize geophysical and astrophysical turbulence (Re approximately equals 10(exp 8) for the planetary boundary layer and Re approximately equals 10(exp 14) for the Sun's interior) are too large to allow a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the fundamental Navier-Stokes and temperature equations. In fact, the spatial number of grid points N approximately Re(exp 9/4) exceeds the computational capability of today's supercomputers. Alternative treatments are the ensemble-time average approach, and/or the volume average approach. Since the first method (Reynolds stress approach) is largely analytical, the resulting turbulence equations entail manageable computational requirements and can thus be linked to a stellar evolutionary code or, in the geophysical case, to general circulation models. In the volume average approach, one carries out a large eddy simulation (LES) which resolves numerically the largest scales, while the unresolved scales must be treated theoretically with a subgrid scale model (SGS). Contrary to the ensemble average approach, the LES+SGS approach has considerable computational requirements. Even if this prevents (for the time being) a LES+SGS model to be linked to stellar or geophysical codes, it is still of the greatest relevance as an 'experimental tool' to be used, inter alia, to improve the parameterizations needed in the ensemble average approach. Such a methodology has been successfully adopted in studies of the convective planetary boundary layer. Experienc e with the LES+SGS approach from different fields has shown that its reliability depends on the healthiness of the SGS model for numerical stability as well as for physical completeness. At present, the most widely used SGS model, the Smagorinsky model, accounts for the effect of the shear induced by the large resolved scales on the unresolved scales but does not account for the effects of buoyancy, anisotropy, rotation, and stable stratification. The

  20. Scales of Marine Turbulence in Cook Strait (New Zealand) in the Context of Tidal Energy Turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Craig

    2017-04-01

    Cook Strait, the channel separating New Zealand's North and South Islands, is at it's narrowest around 22 km across with flows driven by a semidiurnal tide, wind and a baroclinic pressure gradient. Water depths are around 250-300 m in the main part of the channel, with shoals to the south and the submerged Fishermans Rock (aka pinnacle) in the centre northwest of the Strait. The substantial tidal flow speed is due to the tide being nearly out of phase comparing the ends of the strait and further enhanced by a narrowing of the strait. It has significant potential for a tidal energy resource suitable for extraction due to both its significant energy levels but also its proximity to electricity infrastructure and nationally high uptake of renewable energy in general. Here we describe recent flow and turbulence data and contextualise them in terms of scales relevant to marine energy extraction. With flow speeds reaching 3 m s-1 in a water column of > 200 m depth the setting is heuristically known to be highly turbulent. Turbulent energy dissipation rates are modest but high for oceans, around 5x10-5 W kg-1. Thorpe scales, the observed quantity representing the energy-bearing scale, are often as much as one quarter of the water depth. This means eddy sizes can potentially be larger than blade length. A boundary-layer structure was apparent but highly variable. This has implications for both operation of tidal turbines, as well as modulating their effect on the environment. Fishermans Rock itself is interesting as if can be considered a proxy for a larger array of turbines.

  1. Field Measurements to Characterize Turbulent Inflow for Marine Hydrokinetic Devices - Marrowstone Island, WA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richmond, M. C.; Thomson, J. M.; Durgesh, V.; Polagye, B. L.

    2011-12-01

    Field measurements are essential for developing an improved understanding of turbulent inflow conditions that affect the design and operation of marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) devices. The Marrowstone Island site in Puget Sound, Washington State is a potential location for installing MHK devices, as it experiences strong tides and associated currents. Here, field measurements from Nodule Point on the eastern side of Marrowstone Island are used to characterize the turbulence in terms of velocity variance as a function of length and time scales. The field measurements were performed using Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV) and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) instruments. Both were deployed on a bottom-mounted tripod at the site by the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington (APL-UW). The ADV acquired single point, temporally resolved velocity data from 17-21 Feb 2011, at a height of 4.6 m above the seabed at a sampling frequency of 32 Hz. The ADCP measured the velocity profile over the water column from a height of 2.6 m above the seabed up to the sea-surface in 36 bins, with each bin of 0.5 m size. The ADCP acquired data from 11-27 Feb 2011 at a sampling frequency of 2 Hz. Analysis of the ADV measurements shows distinct dynamic regions by scale: anisotropic eddies at large scales, an isotropic turbulent cascade (-5/3 slope in frequency spectra) at mesoscales, and contamination by Doppler noise at small scales. While Doppler noise is an order of magnitude greater for the ADCP measurements, the turbulence bulk statistics are consistent between the two instruments. There are significant variations in turbulence statistics with stage of the tidal currents (i.e., from slack to non-slack tidal conditions), however an average turbulent intensity of 10% is a robust, canonical value for this site. The ADCP velocity profiles are useful in quantifying the variability in velocity along the water column, and the ensemble averaged velocity profiles may be

  2. Kolmogorov Behavior of Near-Wall Turbulence and Its Application in Turbulence Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shih, Tsan-Hsing; Lumley, John L.

    1992-01-01

    The near-wall behavior of turbulence is re-examined in a way different from that proposed by Hanjalic and Launder and followers. It is shown that at a certain distance from the wall, all energetic large eddies will reduce to Kolmogorov eddies (the smallest eddies in turbulence). All the important wall parameters, such as friction velocity, viscous length scale, and mean strain rate at the wall, are characterized by Kolmogorov microscales. According to this Kolmogorov behavior of near-wall turbulence, the turbulence quantities, such as turbulent kinetic energy, dissipation rate, etc. at the location where the large eddies become Kolmogorov eddies, can be estimated by using both direct numerical simulation (DNS) data and asymptotic analysis of near-wall turbulence. This information will provide useful boundary conditions for the turbulent transport equations. As an example, the concept is incorporated in the standard k-epsilon model which is then applied to channel and boundary flows. Using appropriate boundary conditions (based on Kolmogorov behavior of near-wall turbulence), there is no need for any wall-modification to the k-epsilon equations (including model constants). Results compare very well with the DNS and experimental data.

  3. Interstellar turbulence and shock waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bykov, A.M.

    1982-01-01

    Random deflections of shock fronts propagated through the turbulent interstellar medium can produce the strong electro-density fluctuations on scales l> or approx. =10 13 cm inferred from pulsar radio scintillations. The development of turbulence in the hot-phase ISM is discussed

  4. Large-scale motions in the universe: a review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burstein, D.

    1990-01-01

    The expansion of the universe can be retarded in localised regions within the universe both by the presence of gravity and by non-gravitational motions generated in the post-recombination universe. The motions of galaxies thus generated are called 'peculiar motions', and the amplitudes, size scales and coherence of these peculiar motions are among the most direct records of the structure of the universe. As such, measurements of these properties of the present-day universe provide some of the severest tests of cosmological theories. This is a review of the current evidence for large-scale motions of galaxies out to a distance of ∼5000 km s -1 (in an expanding universe, distance is proportional to radial velocity). 'Large-scale' in this context refers to motions that are correlated over size scales larger than the typical sizes of groups of galaxies, up to and including the size of the volume surveyed. To orient the reader into this relatively new field of study, a short modern history is given together with an explanation of the terminology. Careful consideration is given to the data used to measure the distances, and hence the peculiar motions, of galaxies. The evidence for large-scale motions is presented in a graphical fashion, using only the most reliable data for galaxies spanning a wide range in optical properties and over the complete range of galactic environments. The kinds of systematic errors that can affect this analysis are discussed, and the reliability of these motions is assessed. The predictions of two models of large-scale motion are compared to the observations, and special emphasis is placed on those motions in which our own Galaxy directly partakes. (author)

  5. ENERGY DISSIPATION PROCESSES IN SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Y.; Wei, F. S.; Feng, X. S.; Sun, T. R.; Zuo, P. B. [SIGMA Weather Group, State Key Laboratory for Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Xu, X. J. [Space Science Institute, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao (China); Zhang, J., E-mail: yw@spaceweather.ac.cn [School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MSN 3F3, Fairfax, Virginia 22030 (United States)

    2015-12-15

    Turbulence is a chaotic flow regime filled by irregular flows. The dissipation of turbulence is a fundamental problem in the realm of physics. Theoretically, dissipation ultimately cannot be achieved without collisions, and so how turbulent kinetic energy is dissipated in the nearly collisionless solar wind is a challenging problem. Wave particle interactions and magnetic reconnection (MR) are two possible dissipation mechanisms, but which mechanism dominates is still a controversial topic. Here we analyze the dissipation region scaling around a solar wind MR region. We find that the MR region shows unique multifractal scaling in the dissipation range, while the ambient solar wind turbulence reveals a monofractal dissipation process for most of the time. These results provide the first observational evidences for intermittent multifractal dissipation region scaling around a MR site, and they also have significant implications for the fundamental energy dissipation process.

  6. Gyrokinetic simulations of turbulent transport: size scaling and chaotic behaviour

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villard, L; Brunner, S; Casati, A; Aghdam, S Khosh; Lapillonne, X; McMillan, B F; Bottino, A; Dannert, T; Goerler, T; Hatzky, R; Jenko, F; Merz, F; Chowdhury, J; Ganesh, R; Garbet, X; Grandgirard, V; Latu, G; Sarazin, Y; Idomura, Y; Jolliet, S

    2010-01-01

    Important steps towards the understanding of turbulent transport have been made with the development of the gyrokinetic framework for describing turbulence and with the emergence of numerical codes able to solve the set of gyrokinetic equations. This paper presents some of the main recent advances in gyrokinetic theory and computing of turbulence. Solving 5D gyrokinetic equations for each species requires state-of-the-art high performance computing techniques involving massively parallel computers and parallel scalable algorithms. The various numerical schemes that have been explored until now, Lagrangian, Eulerian and semi-Lagrangian, each have their advantages and drawbacks. A past controversy regarding the finite size effect (finite ρ * ) in ITG turbulence has now been resolved. It has triggered an intensive benchmarking effort and careful examination of the convergence properties of the different numerical approaches. Now, both Eulerian and Lagrangian global codes are shown to agree and to converge to the flux-tube result in the ρ * → 0 limit. It is found, however, that an appropriate treatment of geometrical terms is necessary: inconsistent approximations that are sometimes used can lead to important discrepancies. Turbulent processes are characterized by a chaotic behaviour, often accompanied by bursts and avalanches. Performing ensemble averages of statistically independent simulations, starting from different initial conditions, is presented as a way to assess the intrinsic variability of turbulent fluxes and obtain reliable estimates of the standard deviation. Further developments concerning non-adiabatic electron dynamics around mode-rational surfaces and electromagnetic effects are discussed.

  7. Turbulence measurements in fusion plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Conway, G D

    2008-01-01

    Turbulence measurements in magnetically confined toroidal plasmas have a long history and relevance due to the detrimental role of turbulence induced transport on particle, energy, impurity and momentum confinement. The turbulence-the microscopic random fluctuations in particle density, temperature, potential and magnetic field-is generally driven by radial gradients in the plasma density and temperature. The correlation between the turbulence properties and global confinement, via enhanced diffusion, convection and direct conduction, is now well documented. Theory, together with recent measurements, also indicates that non-linear interactions within the turbulence generate large scale zonal flows and geodesic oscillations, which can feed back onto the turbulence and equilibrium profiles creating a complex interdependence. An overview of the current status and understanding of plasma turbulence measurements in the closed flux surface region of magnetic confinement fusion devices is presented, highlighting some recent developments and outstanding problems.

  8. On temperature spectra in grid turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jayesh; Tong, C.; Warhaft, Z.

    1994-01-01

    This paper reports wind tunnel measurements of passive temperature spectra in decaying grid generated turbulence both with and without a mean transverse temperature gradient. The measurements cover a turbulence Reynolds number range 60 l 3/4 l . The remarkably low Reynolds number onset (Re l ∼70) of Kolmogorov--Obukhov--Corrsin scaling in isotropic grid turbulence is contrasted to the case of scalars in (anisotropic) shear flows where KOC scaling only appears at very high-Reynolds numbers (Re l ∼10 5 ). It is also shown that when the temperature fluctuations are inserted very close to the grid in the absence of a gradient (by means of a mandoline), the temperature spectrum behaves in a similar way to the linear gradient case, i.e., a spectrum with a scaling exponent close to -5/3 is observed, a result noted earlier in heated grid experiments. However, when the scalar is inserted farther downstream of the grid (in the fully developed turbulence), the spectrum has a scaling region of -1.3 and its dilation with Re is less well defined than for the other cases. The velocity spectrum is also shown to have a scaling region, of slope -1.3, and its onset occurs at higher Reynolds number than for the case of the scalar experiments that exhibit the KOC scaling

  9. A Galilean and tensorial invariant k-epsilon model for near wall turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Z.; Shih, T. H.

    1993-01-01

    A k-epsilon model is proposed for wall bounded turbulent flows. In this model, the eddy viscosity is characterized by a turbulent velocity scale and a turbulent time scale. The time scale is bounded from below by the Kolmogorov time scale. The dissipation rate equation is reformulated using this time scale and no singularity exists at the wall. A new parameter R = k/S(nu) is introduced to characterize the damping function in the eddy viscosity. This parameter is determined by local properties of both the mean and the turbulent flow fields and is free from any geometry parameter. The proposed model is then Galilean and tensorial invariant. The model constants used are the same as in the high Reynolds number Standard k-epsilon Model. Thus, the proposed model will also be suitable for flows far from the wall. Turbulent channel flows and turbulent boundary layer flows with and without pressure gradients are calculated. Comparisons with the data from direct numerical simulations and experiments show that the model predictions are excellent for turbulent channel flows and turbulent boundary layers with favorable pressure gradients, good for turbulent boundary layers with zero pressure gradients, and fair for turbulent boundary layer with adverse pressure gradients.

  10. Turbulence Generation in Combustion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1987-07-22

    flame length . This work is summarized in this section. I1.1 Model for Turbulent Burning Velocity For a range of turbulence conditions including...Variable density effects have been added in an approximation, and an expression for the length of jet flames has been developed. The flame length expression...of jet mixing and jet flame length data using fractals, College of Engineering, Energy Report E-86-02, Comell University, Ithaca, NY, 1986. Results

  11. Measurements of the vertical correlation in turbulence under broken waves

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Claus; Deigaard, Rolf; Sutherland, James

    1998-01-01

    Turbulence measurements have been carried out in the surf zone of a wave flume. The purpose of the measurements is to determine the length scale of the turbulence generated by the wave breaking. The length scale of the turbulence is estimated on basis of the correlation between simultaneous measu...... measurements of the vertical turbulent fluctuations, taken at different levels above the bed, (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved....

  12. Inertial range spectrum of field-aligned whistler turbulence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dwivedi, Navin Kumar; Singh, Shobhana

    2017-01-01

    the background magnetic field is exploited to derive the inertial range scaling laws corresponding to the electric field and magnetic field fluctuations. The model is based on the concept of Iroshnikov-Kraichnan inertial range magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. The present phenomenological turbulence scaling model...

  13. Turbulence Heating ObserveR - satellite mission proposal

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vaivads, A.; Retinò, A.; J. Soucek; Yu.V. Khotyaintsev; F. Valentini (Francesco); C.P. Escoubet; O. Alexandrova; M. André; S.D. Bale; M. Balikhin; D. Burgess; E. Camporeale (Enrico); D. Caprioli; C.H.K. Chen; E. Clacey; C.M. Cully; J. De Keyser; J.P. Eastwood; A.N. Fazakerley; S. Eriksson; M.L. Goldstein; D.B. Graham; S. Haaland; M. Hoshino; H. Ji; H. Karimabadi; H. Kucharek; B. Lavraud; F. Marcucci; W.H. Matthaeus; T.E. Moore; R. Nakamura; Y. Narita; Z. Nemecek; C. Norgren; H. Opgenoorth; M. Palmroth; D. Perrone; J.-L. Pinçon; P. Rathsman; H. Rothkaehl; F. Sahraoui; S. Servidio; L. Sorriso-Valvo; R. Vainio; Z. Vörös; R.F. Wimmer-Schweingruber

    2016-01-01

    textabstractThe Universe is permeated by hot, turbulent, magnetized plasmas. Turbulent plasma is a major constituent of active galactic nuclei, supernova remnants, the intergalactic and interstellar medium, the solar corona, the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere, just to mention a few

  14. Group-kinetic theory and modeling of atmospheric turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tchen, C. M.

    1989-01-01

    A group kinetic method is developed for analyzing eddy transport properties and relaxation to equilibrium. The purpose is to derive the spectral structure of turbulence in incompressible and compressible media. Of particular interest are: direct and inverse cascade, boundary layer turbulence, Rossby wave turbulence, two phase turbulence; compressible turbulence, and soliton turbulence. Soliton turbulence can be found in large scale turbulence, turbulence connected with surface gravity waves and nonlinear propagation of acoustical and optical waves. By letting the pressure gradient represent the elementary interaction among fluid elements and by raising the Navier-Stokes equation to higher dimensionality, the master equation was obtained for the description of the microdynamical state of turbulence.

  15. Self-consistent viscous heating of rapidly compressed turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campos, Alejandro; Morgan, Brandon

    2017-11-01

    Given turbulence subjected to infinitely rapid deformations, linear terms representing interactions between the mean flow and the turbulence dictate the evolution of the flow, whereas non-linear terms corresponding to turbulence-turbulence interactions are safely ignored. For rapidly deformed flows where the turbulence Reynolds number is not sufficiently large, viscous effects can't be neglected and tend to play a prominent role, as shown in the study of Davidovits & Fisch (2016). For such a case, the rapid increase of viscosity in a plasma-as compared to the weaker scaling of viscosity in a fluid-leads to the sudden viscous dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy. As shown in Davidovits & Fisch, increases in temperature caused by the direct compression of the plasma drive sufficiently large values of viscosity. We report on numerical simulations of turbulence where the increase in temperature is the result of both the direct compression (an inviscid mechanism) and the self-consistent viscous transfer of energy from the turbulent scales towards the thermal energy. A comparison between implicit large-eddy simulations against well-resolved direct numerical simulations is included to asses the effect of the numerical and subgrid-scale dissipation on the self-consistent viscous This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

  16. Multiple mechanisms generate a universal scaling with dissipation for the air-water gas transfer velocity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katul, Gabriel; Liu, Heping

    2017-02-01

    A large corpus of field and laboratory experiments support the finding that the water side transfer velocity kL of sparingly soluble gases near air-water interfaces scales as kL˜(νɛ)1/4, where ν is the kinematic water viscosity and ɛ is the mean turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate. Originally predicted from surface renewal theory, this scaling appears to hold for marine and coastal systems and across many environmental conditions. It is shown that multiple approaches to representing the effects of turbulence on kL lead to this expression when the Kolmogorov microscale is assumed to be the most efficient transporting eddy near the interface. The approaches considered range from simplified surface renewal schemes with distinct models for renewal durations, scaling and dimensional considerations, and a new structure function approach derived using analogies between scalar and momentum transfer. The work offers a new perspective as to why the aforementioned 1/4 scaling is robust.

  17. Scaling and Universality at Dynamical Quantum Phase Transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heyl, Markus

    2015-10-02

    Dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) at critical times appear as nonanalyticities during nonequilibrium quantum real-time evolution. Although there is evidence for a close relationship between DQPTs and equilibrium phase transitions, a major challenge is still to connect to fundamental concepts such as scaling and universality. In this work, renormalization group transformations in complex parameter space are formulated for quantum quenches in Ising models showing that the DQPTs are critical points associated with unstable fixed points of equilibrium Ising models. Therefore, these DQPTs obey scaling and universality. On the basis of numerical simulations, signatures of these DQPTs in the dynamical buildup of spin correlations are found with an associated power-law scaling determined solely by the fixed point's universality class. An outlook is given on how to explore this dynamical scaling experimentally in systems of trapped ions.

  18. New class of turbulence in active fluids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bratanov, Vasil; Frey, Erwin

    2015-01-01

    Turbulence is a fundamental and ubiquitous phenomenon in nature, occurring from astrophysical to biophysical scales. At the same time, it is widely recognized as one of the key unsolved problems in modern physics, representing a paradigmatic example of nonlinear dynamics far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Whereas in the past, most theoretical work in this area has been devoted to Navier–Stokes flows, there is now a growing awareness of the need to extend the research focus to systems with more general patterns of energy injection and dissipation. These include various types of complex fluids and plasmas, as well as active systems consisting of self-propelled particles, like dense bacterial suspensions. Recently, a continuum model has been proposed for such “living fluids” that is based on the Navier–Stokes equations, but extends them to include some of the most general terms admitted by the symmetry of the problem [Wensink HH, et al. (2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:14308–14313]. This introduces a cubic nonlinearity, related to the Toner–Tu theory of flocking, which can interact with the quadratic Navier–Stokes nonlinearity. We show that as a result of the subtle interaction between these two terms, the energy spectra at large spatial scales exhibit power laws that are not universal, but depend on both finite-size effects and physical parameters. Our combined numerical and analytical analysis reveals the origin of this effect and even provides a way to understand it quantitatively. Turbulence in active fluids, characterized by this kind of nonlinear self-organization, defines a new class of turbulent flows. PMID:26598708

  19. A group-kinetic theory of turbulent collective collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tchen, C.M.; Misguich, J.H.

    1983-05-01

    The main objective is the derivation of the kinetic equation of turbulence which has a memory in the turbulent collision integral. We consider the basic pair-interaction, and the interaction between a fluctuation and the organized cluster of other fluctuations in the collection systems, called the multiple interaction. By a group-scaling procedure, a fluctuation is decomposed into three groups to represent the three coupled transport processes of evolution, transport coefficient, and relaxation. The kinetic equation of the scaled singlet distribution is capable of investigating the spectrum of turbulence without the need of the knowledge of the pair distribution. The exact propagator describes the detailed trajectory in the phase space, and is fundamental to the Lagrangian-Eulerian transformation. We calculate the propagator and its scaled groups by means of a probability of retrograde transition. Thus our derivation of the kinetic equation of the distribution involves a parallel development of the kinetic equations of the propagator and the transition probability. In this way, we can avoid the assumptions of independence and normality. Our result shows that the multiple interaction contributes to a shielding and an enchancement of the collision in weak turbulence and strong turbulence, respectively. The weak turbulence is dominated by the wave resonance, and the strong turbulence is dominated by the diffusion

  20. A priori study of subgrid-scale flux of a passive scalar in isotropic homogeneous turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chumakov, Sergei

    2008-01-01

    We perform a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of forced homogeneous isotropic turbulence with a passive scalar that is forced by mean gradient. The DNS data are used to study the properties of subgrid-scale flux of a passive scalar in the framework of large eddy simulation (LES), such as alignment trends between the flux, resolved, and subgrid-scale flow structures. It is shown that the direction of the flux is strongly coupled with the subgrid-scale stress axes rather than the resolved flow quantities such as strain, vorticity, or scalar gradient. We derive an approximate transport equation for the subgrid-scale flux of a scalar and look at the relative importance of the terms in the transport equation. A particular form of LES tensor-viscosity model for the scalar flux is investigated, which includes the subgrid-scale stress. Effect of different models for the subgrid-scale stress on the model for the subgrid-scale flux is studied.

  1. A priori study of subgrid-scale flux of a passive scalar in isotropic homogeneous turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chumakov, Sergei G

    2008-09-01

    We perform a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of forced homogeneous isotropic turbulence with a passive scalar that is forced by mean gradient. The DNS data are used to study the properties of subgrid-scale flux of a passive scalar in the framework of large eddy simulation (LES), such as alignment trends between the flux, resolved, and subgrid-scale flow structures. It is shown that the direction of the flux is strongly coupled with the subgrid-scale stress axes rather than the resolved flow quantities such as strain, vorticity, or scalar gradient. We derive an approximate transport equation for the subgrid-scale flux of a scalar and look at the relative importance of the terms in the transport equation. A particular form of LES tensor-viscosity model for the scalar flux is investigated, which includes the subgrid-scale stress. Effect of different models for the subgrid-scale stress on the model for the subgrid-scale flux is studied.

  2. Near bed suspended sediment flux by single turbulent events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amirshahi, Seyed Mohammad; Kwoll, Eva; Winter, Christian

    2018-01-01

    The role of small scale single turbulent events in the vertical mixing of near bed suspended sediments was explored in a shallow shelf sea environment. High frequency velocity and suspended sediment concentration (SSC; calibrated from the backscatter intensity) were collected using an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV). Using quadrant analysis, the despiked velocity time series was divided into turbulent events and small background fluctuations. Reynolds stress and Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) calculated from all velocity samples, were compared to the same turbulent statistics calculated only from velocity samples classified as turbulent events (Reevents and TKEevents). The comparison showed that Reevents and TKEevents was increased 3 and 1.6 times, respectively, when small background fluctuations were removed and that the correlation with SSC for TKE could be improved through removal of the latter. The correlation between instantaneous vertical turbulent flux (w ‧) and SSC fluctuations (SSC ‧) exhibits a tidal pattern with the maximum correlation at peak ebb and flood currents, when strong turbulent events appear. Individual turbulent events were characterized by type, strength, duration and length. Cumulative vertical turbulent sediment fluxes and average SSC associated with individual turbulent events were calculated. Over the tidal cycle, ejections and sweeps were the most dominant events, transporting 50% and 36% of the cumulative vertical turbulent event sediment flux, respectively. Although the contribution of outward interactions to the vertical turbulent event sediment flux was low (11%), single outward interaction events were capable of inducing similar SSC ‧ as sweep events. The results suggest that on time scales of tens of minutes to hours, TKE may be appropriate to quantify turbulence in sediment transport studies, but that event characteristics, particular the upward turbulent flux need to be accounted for when considering sediment transport

  3. Atmospheric waves and the nature of buoyancy turbulence in the context of the waves VS 2D-turbulence debate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewan, E. M.

    1986-01-01

    The problem of how to empirically distinguish between velocity fluctuations due to turbulence and those due to atmospheric waves is addressed. The physical differences between waves and turbulence are reviewed. New theoretical ideas on the subject of bouyancy range turbulence are presented. A unique scale K sub B is given that allows one to differentiate between waves and turbulence for the special case of theta = 0 (i.e., horizontal propagating waves).

  4. Stochastic time scale for the Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szydlowski, M.; Golda, Z.

    1986-01-01

    An intrinsic time scale is naturally defined within stochastic gradient dynamical systems. It should be interpreted as a ''relaxation time'' to a local potential minimum after the system has been randomly perturbed. It is shown that for a flat Friedman-like cosmological model this time scale is of order of the age of the Universe. 7 refs. (author)

  5. GRAVITATIONALLY UNSTABLE FLAMES: RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR STRETCHING VERSUS TURBULENT WRINKLING

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hicks, E. P.; Rosner, R.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we provide support for the Rayleigh-Taylor-(RT)-based subgrid model used in full-star simulations of deflagrations in Type Ia supernovae explosions. We use the results of a parameter study of two-dimensional direct numerical simulations of an RT unstable model flame to distinguish between the two main types of subgrid models (RT or turbulence dominated) in the flamelet regime. First, we give scalings for the turbulent flame speed, the Reynolds number, the viscous scale, and the size of the burning region as the non-dimensional gravity (G) is varied. The flame speed is well predicted by an RT-based flame speed model. Next, the above scalings are used to calculate the Karlovitz number (Ka) and to discuss appropriate combustion regimes. No transition to thin reaction zones is seen at Ka = 1, although such a transition is expected by turbulence-dominated subgrid models. Finally, we confirm a basic physical premise of the RT subgrid model, namely, that the flame is fractal, and thus self-similar. By modeling the turbulent flame speed, we demonstrate that it is affected more by large-scale RT stretching than by small-scale turbulent wrinkling. In this way, the RT instability controls the flame directly from the large scales. Overall, these results support the RT subgrid model.

  6. Direct numerical simulation of fractal-generated turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, H; Hasegawa, Y; Ushijima, T; Nagata, K; Sakai, Y; Hayase, T

    2013-01-01

    We simulate fractal-generated turbulence (Hurst and Vassilicos 2007 Phys. Fluids 19 035103)) by means of a direct numerical simulation and address its fundamental characteristics. We examine whether the fractal-generated turbulence in the upstream region has a nature similar to that of a wake. We propose an equation for predicting peak values of the velocity fluctuation intensity and devise a method for formulating the functional form of the quantity of interest by focusing on the time scale of decaying turbulence, and we examine those forms for the turbulent kinetic energy and rms of pressure fluctuation through this method. By using the method, both of these functional forms are found to be power-law functions in the downstream region, even though these profiles follow exponential functions around these peaks. In addition, decay exponents of these quantities are estimated. The integral length scales of velocity fluctuations for transverse as well as streamwise directions are essentially constant in the downstream direction. Decaying turbulence having both these characteristics conflicts with decaying turbulence described by the theory predicting exponential decay. We discuss a factor causing the difference by focusing on the functional form of the transfer function of homogeneous, isotropic turbulence. (paper)

  7. A Parsimonious and Universal Description of Turbulent Velocity Increments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barndorff-Nielsen, O.E.; Blæsild, P.; Schmiegel, J.

    boundary layer experiment with Taylor-Reynolds numbers Rλ = 80,190,17000, respectively. The application of a time change in terms of the scale parameter δ of the normal inverse Gaussian distribution reveals some universal features that are inherent to the pdf of all three data sets....

  8. MFGA-IDT2 workshop: Astrophysical and geophysical fluid mechanics: the impact of data on turbulence theories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schertzer, D.; Falgarone, E.

    very large scale of the Universe. The presentations and the round table at the end of the workshop pointed out the following: - the necessity of this type of confrontation which makes intervene numerical simulations, laboratory experiments, phenomenology as well as a very large diversity of geophysical and astrophysical data, - presumably a relative need for new geophysical data, whereas there have been recent astrophysical experiments which yield interesting data and exciting questions; - the need to develop a closer intercomparison between various intermittency models (in particular Log-Poisson /Log Levy models). Two main questions were underlined, in particular during the round table: - the behaviour of the extremes of intermittency, in particular the question of divergence or convergence of the highest statistical moments (equivalently, do the probability distributions have algebraic or more rapid falloffs?); - the extension of scaling ranges; in other words do we need to divide geophysics and astrophysics in many small (nearly) isotropic subranges or is it sufficient to use anisotropic scaling notions over wider ranges? 4 The contributions in this special issue Recalling that some of the most useful insights into the nature of turbulence in fluids have come from observations of geophysical flows, Van Atta gives a review of the impacts of geophysical turbulence data into theories. His paper starts from Taylor's inference of the nearly isotropy of atmospheric turbulence and the corresponding elegant theoretical developments by von Karman of the theory of isotropic turbulence, up to underline the fact that the observed extremely large intermittency in geophysical turbulence also raised new fundamental questions for turbulence theory. The paper discusses the potential contribution to theoretical development from the available or currently being made geophysical turbulence measurements, as well as from some recent laboratory measurements and direct numerical

  9. MFGA-IDT2 workshop: Astrophysical and geophysical fluid mechanics: the impact of data on turbulence theories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Schertzer

    1996-01-01

    ... up to the very large scale of the Universe. The presentations and the round table at the end of the workshop pointed out the following: - the necessity of this type of confrontation which makes intervene numerical simulations, laboratory experiments, phenomenology as well as a very large diversity of geophysical and astrophysical data, - presumably a relative need for new geophysical data, whereas there have been recent astrophysical experiments which yield interesting data and exciting questions; - the need to develop a closer intercomparison between various intermittency models (in particular Log-Poisson /Log Levy models. Two main questions were underlined, in particular during the round table: - the behaviour of the extremes of intermittency, in particular the question of divergence or convergence of the highest statistical moments (equivalently, do the probability distributions have algebraic or more rapid falloffs?; - the extension of scaling ranges; in other words do we need to divide geophysics and astrophysics in many small (nearly isotropic subranges or is it sufficient to use anisotropic scaling notions over wider ranges? 4 The contributions in this special issue Recalling that some of the most useful insights into the nature of turbulence in fluids have come from observations of geophysical flows, Van Atta gives a review of the impacts of geophysical turbulence data into theories. His paper starts from Taylor's inference of the nearly isotropy of atmospheric turbulence and the corresponding elegant theoretical developments by von Karman of the theory of isotropic turbulence, up to underline the fact that the observed extremely large intermittency in geophysical turbulence also raised new fundamental questions for turbulence theory. The paper discusses the potential contribution to theoretical development from the available or currently being made geophysical turbulence measurements, as well as from some recent laboratory measurements and direct numerical

  10. Characterization of edge turbulence in relation to edge magnetic field configuration in Ohmic L-mode plasmas in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hnat, B.; Dudson, B. D.; Dendy, R. O.; Counsell, G. F.; Kirk, A.; MAST Team

    2008-08-01

    Ion saturation current (Isat) measurements of edge plasma turbulence are analysed for six MAST L-mode plasmas that differ primarily in their edge magnetic field configurations. The analysis techniques are designed to capture the strong nonlinearities of the datasets. First, absolute moments of the data are examined to obtain accurate values of scaling exponents. This confirms dual scaling behaviour in all samples, with the temporal scale τ ≈ 40-60 µs separating the two regimes. Strong universality is then identified in the functional form of the probability density function (PDF) for Isat fluctuations, which is well approximated by the Fréchet distribution on temporal scales τ 40 µs, the PDFs appear to converge to the Gumbel distribution, which has been previously identified as a universal feature of many other complex phenomena. The optimal fitting parameters k = 1.15 for Fréchet and a = 1.35 for Gumbel provide a simple quantitative characterization of the full spectrum of fluctuations. It is concluded that, to good approximation, the properties of the edge turbulence are independent of the edge magnetic field configuration.

  11. Cosmic ray acceleration in sources of the supersonic turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bykov, A.M.; Toptygin, I.N.

    1981-01-01

    The mechanism of particle acceleration by the supersonic turbulence is studied. The supersonic turbulence is defined as an ensemble of large- and small-scale plasma motions, in which along with the ranges of smooth parameter variation there are randomly distributed shock wave fronts. Particle interaction with the large-scale turbulence is described by the transfer equation which is true at any relation between the Larmor radius and the transport length. The large-scale turbulence can accelerate particles only due to compressibility effects of the medium. The basic theoretical results concerning turbulence properties in compressed media are presented. Concrete physical conditions and the possibility of acceleration of cosmic rays in the interplanetary space, in the vicinity of suppergiant stars of the O and B class with a great loss of mass and strong stellar winds, in supernova remnants, in the interstellar medium and some extragalactic radio sources are considered [ru

  12. Probing cosmology with the homogeneity scale of the Universe through large scale structure surveys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ntelis, Pierros

    2017-01-01

    This thesis exposes my contribution to the measurement of homogeneity scale using galaxies, with the cosmological interpretation of results. In physics, any model is characterized by a set of principles. Most models in cosmology are based on the Cosmological Principle, which states that the universe is statistically homogeneous and isotropic on a large scales. Today, this principle is considered to be true since it is respected by those cosmological models that accurately describe the observations. However, while the isotropy of the universe is now confirmed by many experiments, it is not the case for the homogeneity. To study cosmic homogeneity, we propose to not only test a model but to test directly one of the postulates of modern cosmology. Since 1998 the measurements of cosmic distances using type Ia supernovae, we know that the universe is now in a phase of accelerated expansion. This phenomenon can be explained by the addition of an unknown energy component, which is called dark energy. Since dark energy is responsible for the expansion of the universe, we can study this mysterious fluid by measuring the rate of expansion of the universe. The universe has imprinted in its matter distribution a standard ruler, the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) scale. By measuring this scale at different times during the evolution of our universe, it is then possible to measure the rate of expansion of the universe and thus characterize this dark energy. Alternatively, we can use the homogeneity scale to study this dark energy. Studying the homogeneity and the BAO scale requires the statistical study of the matter distribution of the universe at large scales, superior to tens of Mega-parsecs. Galaxies and quasars are formed in the vast over densities of matter and they are very luminous: these sources trace the distribution of matter. By measuring the emission spectra of these sources using large spectroscopic surveys, such as BOSS and eBOSS, we can measure their positions

  13. Laminar and Turbulent Dynamos in Chiral Magnetohydrodynamics. II. Simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schober, Jennifer; Rogachevskii, Igor; Brandenburg, Axel; Boyarsky, Alexey; Fröhlich, Jürg; Ruchayskiy, Oleg; Kleeorin, Nathan

    2018-05-01

    Using direct numerical simulations (DNS), we study laminar and turbulent dynamos in chiral magnetohydrodynamics with an extended set of equations that accounts for an additional contribution to the electric current due to the chiral magnetic effect (CME). This quantum phenomenon originates from an asymmetry between left- and right-handed relativistic fermions in the presence of a magnetic field and gives rise to a chiral dynamo. We show that the magnetic field evolution proceeds in three stages: (1) a small-scale chiral dynamo instability, (2) production of chiral magnetically driven turbulence and excitation of a large-scale dynamo instability due to a new chiral effect (α μ effect), and (3) saturation of magnetic helicity and magnetic field growth controlled by a conservation law for the total chirality. The α μ effect becomes dominant at large fluid and magnetic Reynolds numbers and is not related to kinetic helicity. The growth rate of the large-scale magnetic field and its characteristic scale measured in the numerical simulations agree well with theoretical predictions based on mean-field theory. The previously discussed two-stage chiral magnetic scenario did not include stage (2), during which the characteristic scale of magnetic field variations can increase by many orders of magnitude. Based on the findings from numerical simulations, the relevance of the CME and the chiral effects revealed in the relativistic plasma of the early universe and of proto-neutron stars are discussed.

  14. A weakened cascade model for turbulence in astrophysical plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Howes, G. G.; TenBarge, J. M.; Dorland, W.

    2011-01-01

    A refined cascade model for kinetic turbulence in weakly collisional astrophysical plasmas is presented that includes both the transition between weak and strong turbulence and the effect of nonlocal interactions on the nonlinear transfer of energy. The model describes the transition between weak and strong MHD turbulence and the complementary transition from strong kinetic Alfven wave (KAW) turbulence to weak dissipating KAW turbulence, a new regime of weak turbulence in which the effects of shearing by large scale motions and kinetic dissipation play an important role. The inclusion of the effect of nonlocal motions on the nonlinear energy cascade rate in the dissipation range, specifically the shearing by large-scale motions, is proposed to explain the nearly power-law energy spectra observed in the dissipation range of both kinetic numerical simulations and solar wind observations.

  15. Anomalous roughness of turbulent interfaces with system size dependent local roughness exponent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balankin, Alexander S.; Matamoros, Daniel Morales

    2005-01-01

    In a system far from equilibrium the system size can play the role of control parameter that governs the spatiotemporal dynamics of the system. Accordingly, the kinetic roughness of interfaces in systems far from equilibrium may depend on the system size. To get an insight into this problem, we performed a detailed study of rough interfaces formed in paper combustion experiments. Using paper sheets of different width λ, we found that the turbulent flame fronts display anomalous multi-scaling characterized by non-universal global roughness exponent α and by the system size dependent spectrum of local roughness exponents, ζ q (λ)=ζ 1 (1)q -ω λ φ q =0.93q -0.15 . The structure factor of turbulent flame fronts also exhibits unconventional scaling dependence on λ. These results are expected to apply to a broad range of far from equilibrium systems when the kinetic energy fluctuations exceed a certain critical value.

  16. Spatio-temporal characteristics of large scale motions in a turbulent boundary layer from direct wall shear stress measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pabon, Rommel; Barnard, Casey; Ukeiley, Lawrence; Sheplak, Mark

    2016-11-01

    Particle image velocimetry (PIV) and fluctuating wall shear stress experiments were performed on a flat plate turbulent boundary layer (TBL) under zero pressure gradient conditions. The fluctuating wall shear stress was measured using a microelectromechanical 1mm × 1mm floating element capacitive shear stress sensor (CSSS) developed at the University of Florida. The experiments elucidated the imprint of the organized motions in a TBL on the wall shear stress through its direct measurement. Spatial autocorrelation of the streamwise velocity from the PIV snapshots revealed large scale motions that scale on the order of boundary layer thickness. However, the captured inclination angle was lower than that determined using the classic method by means of wall shear stress and hot-wire anemometry (HWA) temporal cross-correlations and a frozen field hypothesis using a convection velocity. The current study suggests the large size of these motions begins to degrade the applicability of the frozen field hypothesis for the time resolved HWA experiments. The simultaneous PIV and CSSS measurements are also used for spatial reconstruction of the velocity field during conditionally sampled intense wall shear stress events. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1315138.

  17. Log-Normal Turbulence Dissipation in Global Ocean Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearson, Brodie; Fox-Kemper, Baylor

    2018-03-01

    Data from turbulent numerical simulations of the global ocean demonstrate that the dissipation of kinetic energy obeys a nearly log-normal distribution even at large horizontal scales O (10 km ) . As the horizontal scales of resolved turbulence are larger than the ocean is deep, the Kolmogorov-Yaglom theory for intermittency in 3D homogeneous, isotropic turbulence cannot apply; instead, the down-scale potential enstrophy cascade of quasigeostrophic turbulence should. Yet, energy dissipation obeys approximate log-normality—robustly across depths, seasons, regions, and subgrid schemes. The distribution parameters, skewness and kurtosis, show small systematic departures from log-normality with depth and subgrid friction schemes. Log-normality suggests that a few high-dissipation locations dominate the integrated energy and enstrophy budgets, which should be taken into account when making inferences from simplified models and inferring global energy budgets from sparse observations.

  18. Direct Numerical Simulation of heat transfer in a turbulent flume

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergant, R.; Tiselj, I.

    2001-01-01

    Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) can be used for the description of turbulent heat transfer in the fluid at low Reynolds numbers. DNS means precise solving of Navier-Stoke's equations without any extra turbulent models. DNS should be able to describe all relevant length scales and time scales in observed turbulent flow. The largest length scale is actually dimension of system and the smallest length and time scale is equal to Kolmogorov scale. In the present work simulations of fully developed turbulent velocity and temperature fields were performed in a turbulent flume (open channel) with pseudo-spectral approach at Reynolds number 2670 (friction Reynolds number 171) and constant Prandtl number 5.4, considering the fluid temperature as a passive scalar. Two ideal thermal boundary conditions were taken into account on the heated wall. The first one was an ideal isothermal boundary condition and the second one an ideal isoflux boundary condition. We observed different parameters like mean temperature and velocity, fluctuations of temperature and velocity, and auto-correlation functions.(author)

  19. The smallest thermal scales in a turbulent channel flow at Prandtl number

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergant, R.; Tiselj, I.

    2004-01-01

    For describing the turbulent heat transfer from a wall to a fluid at low Reynolds (Re < 10000) and low Prandtl numbers (Pr < 20) a direct numerical simulation (DNS) can be used, which describes all the length and time scales of the phenomenon. The object of this paper is to find out the influence of the smallest temperature scales on the largest ones, which are responsible for the macro behavior of the near-wall heat transfer. Simulation, performed at Re = 2650 and Pr = 1, was calculated for velocity field with the DNS accuracy and for three different temperature fields. First temperature field, calculated with the DNS accuracy, was used as a reference to the second and third temperature fields where the highest Fourier coefficients in streamwise and spanwise directions were filtered and damped. It means, that the smallest temperature scales were not described with DNS accuracy anymore. New approach shows that results, for at least first and second order statistics, are comparable to the DNS ones without filtering and damping. (author)

  20. Reversing flow causes passive shark scale actuation in a separating turbulent boundary layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Amy; Gemmell, Bradford; Motta, Phil; Habegger, Laura; Du Clos, Kevin; Devey, Sean; Stanley, Caleb; Santos, Leo

    2017-11-01

    Control of flow separation by shortfin mako skin in experiments has been demonstrated, but the mechanism is still poorly understood yet must be to some extent Re independent. The hypothesized mechanisms inherent in the shark skin for controlling flow separation are: (1) the scales, which are capable of being bristled only by reversing flow, inhibit flow reversal events from further development into larger-scale separation and (2) the cavities formed when scales bristle induces mixing of high momentum flow towards the wall thus energizing the flow close to the surface. Two studies were carried out to measure passive scale actuation caused by reversing flow. A small flow channel induced an unsteady, wake flow over the scales prompting reversing flow events and scale actuation. To resolve the flow and scale movements simultaneously we used specialized optics at high magnification (1 mm field of view) at 50,000 fps. In another study, 3D printed models of shark scales, or microflaps (bristling capability up to 50 degrees), were set into a flat plate. Using a tripped, turbulent boundary layer grown over the long flat plate and a localized adverse pressure gradient, a separation bubble was generated within which the microflaps were placed. Passive flow actuation of both shark scales and microflaps by reversing flow was observed. Funding from Army Research Office and NSF REU site Grant.

  1. Scalar transport across the turbulent/non-turbulent interface in jets: Schmidt number effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Tiago S.; B. da Silva, Carlos; Idmec Team

    2016-11-01

    The dynamics of a passive scalar field near a turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI) is analysed through direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent planar jets, with Reynolds numbers ranging from 142 <= Reλ <= 246 , and Schmidt numbers from 0 . 07 <= Sc <= 7 . The steepness of the scalar gradient, as observed from conditional profiles near the TNTI, increases with the Schmidt number. Conditional scalar gradient budgets show that for low and moderate Schmidt numbers a diffusive superlayer emerges at the TNTI, where the scalar gradient diffusion dominates, while the production is negligible. For low Schmidt numbers the growth of the turbulent front is commanded by the molecular diffusion, whereas the scalar gradient convection is negligible. The authors acknowledge the Laboratory for Advanced Computing at University of Coimbra for providing HPC, computing, consulting resources that have contributed to the research results reported within this paper. URL http://www.lca.uc.pt.

  2. Chaos Synchronization in Navier-Stokes Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lalescu, Cristian; Meneveau, Charles; Eyink, Gregory

    2013-03-01

    Chaos synchronization (CS) has been studied for some time now (Pecora & Carroll 1990), for systems with only a few degrees of freedom as well as for systems described by partial differential equations (Boccaletti et al 2002). CS in general is said to be present in coupled dynamical systems when a specific property of each system has the same time evolution for all, even though the evolution itself is chaotic. The Navier-Stokes (NS) equations describe the velocity for a wide range of fluids, and their solutions are usually called turbulent if fluctuation amplitudes decrease as a power of their wavenumber. There have been some studies of CS for continuous systems (Kocarev et al 1997), but CS for NS turbulence seems not to have been investigated so far. We focus on the synchronization of the small scales of a turbulent flow for which the time history of large scales is prescribed. Our DNS results show that high-wavenumbers in turbulence are fully slaved to modes with wavenumbers up to a critical fraction of the Kolmogorov dissipation wavenumber. The motivation for our work is to study deeply sub-Kolmogorov scales in fully developed turbulence (Schumacher 2007), which we found to be recoverable even at very high Reynolds number from simulations with moderate resolutions. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation's CDI-II program, project CMMI-0941530

  3. Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: the ``atom'' of geophysical turbulence?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smyth, William

    2017-11-01

    Observations of small-scale turbulence in Earth's atmosphere and oceans have most commonly been interpreted in terms of the Kolmogorov theory of isotropic turbulence, despite the fact that the observed turbulence is significantly anisotropic due to density stratification and sheared large-scale flows. I will describe an alternative picture in which turbulence consists of distinct events that occur sporadically in space and time. The simplest model for an individual event is the ``Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) ansatz'', in which turbulence relieves the dynamic instability of a localized shear layer. I will summarize evidence that the KH ansatz is a valid description of observed turbulence events, using microstructure measurements from the equatorial Pacific ocean as an example. While the KH ansatz has been under study for many decades and is reasonably well understood, the bigger picture is much less clear. How are the KH events distributed in space and time? How do different events interact with each other? I will describe some tentative steps toward a more thorough understanding.

  4. ADIABATIC HEATING OF CONTRACTING TURBULENT FLUIDS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robertson, Brant; Goldreich, Peter

    2012-01-01

    Turbulence influences the behavior of many astrophysical systems, frequently by providing non-thermal pressure support through random bulk motions. Although turbulence is commonly studied in systems with constant volume and mean density, turbulent astrophysical gases often expand or contract under the influence of pressure or gravity. Here, we examine the behavior of turbulence in contracting volumes using idealized models of compressed gases. Employing numerical simulations and an analytical model, we identify a simple mechanism by which the turbulent motions of contracting gases 'adiabatically heat', experiencing an increase in their random bulk velocities until the largest eddies in the gas circulate over a Hubble time of the contraction. Adiabatic heating provides a mechanism for sustaining turbulence in gases where no large-scale driving exists. We describe this mechanism in detail and discuss some potential applications to turbulence in astrophysical settings.

  5. Inflation in a Scale Invariant Universe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ferreira, Pedro G. [Oxford U.; Hill, Christopher T. [Fermilab; Noller, Johannes [Zurich U.; Ross, Graham G. [Oxford U., Theor. Phys.

    2018-02-16

    A scale-invariant universe can have a period of accelerated expansion at early times: inflation. We use a frame-invariant approach to calculate inflationary observables in a scale invariant theory of gravity involving two scalar fields - the spectral indices, the tensor to scalar ratio, the level of isocurvature modes and non-Gaussianity. We show that scale symmetry leads to an exact cancellation of isocurvature modes and that, in the scale-symmetry broken phase, this theory is well described by a single scalar field theory. We find the predictions of this theory strongly compatible with current observations.

  6. Two regimes of flux scaling in axially homogeneous turbulent convection in vertical tube

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pawar, Shashikant S.; Arakeri, Jaywant H.

    2016-08-01

    From experiments of axially homogeneous turbulent convection in a vertical tube using heat (Prandtl number Pr≃6 ) and brine (Pr≃600 ) we show that at sufficiently high Rayleigh numbers (Rag), the Nusselt number Nug˜(RagPr)1/2, which corresponds to the so-called ultimate regime scaling. In heat experiments below certain Rag,however,there is transition to a new regime, Nug˜(RagPr)0.3. This transition also seems to exist in earlier reported data for Pr=1 and Pr≃600 , at different Rag. However, the transition occurs at a single Grashof number, Grgc≃1.6 ×105 , and unified flux scalings for Pr≥1 , Nug/Pr˜Grg0.3, and Nug/Pr˜Grg1/2 can be given for the two regimes.

  7. Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Large-Scale University Research Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Sharlissa; Shangraw, R. F., Jr.

    2011-01-01

    Both publicly and privately funded research projects managed by universities are growing in size and scope. Complex, large-scale projects (over $50 million) pose new management challenges and risks for universities. This paper explores the relationship between project success and a variety of factors in large-scale university projects. First, we…

  8. Scaling and universality in urban economic diversification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youn, Hyejin; Bettencourt, Luís M A; Lobo, José; Strumsky, Deborah; Samaniego, Horacio; West, Geoffrey B

    2016-01-01

    Understanding cities is central to addressing major global challenges from climate change to economic resilience. Although increasingly perceived as fundamental socio-economic units, the detailed fabric of urban economic activities is only recently accessible to comprehensive analyses with the availability of large datasets. Here, we study abundances of business categories across US metropolitan statistical areas, and provide a framework for measuring the intrinsic diversity of economic activities that transcends scales of the classification scheme. A universal structure common to all cities is revealed, manifesting self-similarity in internal economic structure as well as aggregated metrics (GDP, patents, crime). We present a simple mathematical derivation of the universality, and provide a model, together with its economic implications of open-ended diversity created by urbanization, for understanding the observed empirical distribution. Given the universal distribution, scaling analyses for individual business categories enable us to determine their relative abundances as a function of city size. These results shed light on the processes of economic differentiation with scale, suggesting a general structure for the growth of national economies as integrated urban systems. © 2016 The Authors.

  9. Preferrential Concentration of Particles in Protoplanetary Nebula Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartlep, Thomas; Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.

    2015-01-01

    Preferential concentration in turbulence is a process that causes inertial particles to cluster in regions of high strain (in-between high vorticity regions), with specifics depending on their stopping time or Stokes number. This process is thought to be of importance in various problems including cloud droplet formation and aerosol transport in the atmosphere, sprays, and also in the formation of asteroids and comets in protoplanetary nebulae. In protoplanetary nebulae, the initial accretion of primitive bodies from freely-floating particles remains a problematic subject. Traditional growth-by-sticking models encounter a formidable "meter-size barrier" [1] in turbulent nebulae. One scenario that can lead directly from independent nebula particulates to large objects, avoiding the problematic m-km size range, involves formation of dense clumps of aerodynamically selected, typically mm-size particles in protoplanetary turbulence. There is evidence that at least the ordinary chondrite parent bodies were initially composed entirely of a homogeneous mix of such particles generally known as "chondrules" [2]. Thus, while it is arcane, turbulent preferential concentration acting directly on chondrule size particles are worthy of deeper study. Here, we present the statistical determination of particle multiplier distributions from numerical simulations of particle-laden isotopic turbulence, and a cascade model for modeling turbulent concentration at lengthscales and Reynolds numbers not accessible by numerical simulations. We find that the multiplier distributions are scale dependent at the very largest scales but have scale-invariant properties under a particular variable normalization at smaller scales.

  10. Plasma Turbulence in Earth's Magnetotail Observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackler, D. A.; Avanov, L. A.; Boardsen, S. A.; Pollock, C. J.

    2017-12-01

    Magnetic reconnection, a process in which the magnetic topology undergoes multi-scale changes, is a significant mechanism for particle energization as well as energy dissipation. Reconnection is observed to occur in thin current sheets generated between two regions of magnetized plasma merging with a non-zero shear angle. Within a thinning current sheet, the dominant scale size approaches first the ion and then electron kinetic scale. The plasma becomes demagnetized, field lines transform, then once again the plasma becomes frozen-in. The reconnection process accelerates particles, leading to heated jets of plasma. Turbulence is another fundamental process in collision less plasmas. Despite decades of turbulence studies, an essential science question remains as to how turbulent energy dissipates at small scales by heating and accelerating particles. Turbulence in both plasmas and fluids has a fundamental property in that it follows an energy cascade into smaller scales. Energy introduced into a fluid or plasma can cause large scale motion, introducing vorticity, which merge and interact to make increasingly smaller eddies. It has been hypothesized that turbulent energy in magnetized plasmas may be dissipated by magnetic reconnection, just as viscosity dissipates energy in neutral fluid turbulence. The focus of this study is to use the new high temporal resolution suite of instruments on board the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission to explore this hypothesis. An observable feature of the energy cascade in a turbulent magnetized plasma is its similarity to classical hydrodynamics in that the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of turbulent fluctuations follows a Kolmogorov-like power law (Image-5/3). We use highly accurate (0.1 nT) Flux Gate Magnetometer (FGM) data to derive the PSD as a function of frequency in the magnetic fluctuations. Given that we are able to confirm the turbulent nature of the flow field; we apply the method of Partial Variance of Increments (PVI

  11. Decaying and kicked turbulence in a shell model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hooghoudt, Jan Otto; Lohse, Detlef; Toschi, Federico

    2001-01-01

    Decaying and periodically kicked turbulence are analyzed within the Gledzer–Ohkitani–Yamada shell model, to allow for sufficiently large scaling regimes. Energy is transferred towards the small scales in intermittent bursts. Nevertheless, mean field arguments are sufficient to account for the ens......Decaying and periodically kicked turbulence are analyzed within the Gledzer–Ohkitani–Yamada shell model, to allow for sufficiently large scaling regimes. Energy is transferred towards the small scales in intermittent bursts. Nevertheless, mean field arguments are sufficient to account...

  12. Vortex forcing model for turbulent flow over spanwise-heterogeneous topogrpahies: scaling arguments and similarity solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, William; Yang, Jianzhi

    2017-11-01

    Spanwise surface heterogeneity beneath high-Reynolds number, fully-rough wall turbulence is known to induce mean secondary flows in the form of counter-rotating streamwise vortices. The secondary flows are a manifestation of Prandtl's secondary flow of the second kind - driven and sustained by spatial heterogeneity of components of the turbulent (Reynolds averaged) stress tensor. The spacing between adjacent surface heterogeneities serves as a control on the spatial extent of the counter-rotating cells, while their intensity is controlled by the spanwise gradient in imposed drag (where larger gradients associated with more dramatic transitions in roughness induce stronger cells). In this work, we have performed an order of magnitude analysis of the mean (Reynolds averaged) streamwise vorticity transport equation, revealing the scaling dependence of circulation upon spanwise spacing. The scaling arguments are supported by simulation data. Then, we demonstrate that mean streamwise velocity can be predicted a priori via a similarity solution to the mean streamwise vorticity transport equation. A vortex forcing term was used to represent the affects of spanwise topographic heterogeneity within the flow. Efficacy of the vortex forcing term was established with large-eddy simulation cases, wherein vortex forcing model parameters were altered to capture different values of spanwise spacing.

  13. Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence revisited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goldreich, P.; Sridhar, S.

    1997-01-01

    In 1965, Kraichnan proposed that MHD turbulence occurs as a result of collisions between oppositely directed Alfvacute en wave packets. Recent work has generated some controversy over the nature of nonlinear couplings between colliding Alfvacute en waves. We find that the resolution to much of the confusion lies in the existence of a new type of turbulence, intermediate turbulence, in which the cascade of energy in the inertial range exhibits properties intermediate between those of weak and strong turbulent cascades. Some properties of intermediate MHD turbulence are the following: (1) in common with weak turbulent cascades, wave packets belonging to the inertial range are long-lived; (2) however, components of the strain tensor are so large that, similar to the situation in strong turbulence, perturbation theory is not applicable; (3) the breakdown of perturbation theory results from the divergence of neighboring field lines due to wave packets whose perturbations in velocity and magnetic fields are localized, but whose perturbations in displacement are not; (4) three-wave interactions dominate individual collisions between wave packets, but interactions of all orders n≥3 make comparable contributions to the intermediate turbulent energy cascade; (5) successive collisions are correlated since wave packets are distorted as they follow diverging field lines; (6) in common with the weak MHD cascade, there is no parallel cascade of energy, and the cascade to small perpendicular scales strengthens as it reaches higher wavenumbers; (7) for an appropriate weak excitation, there is a natural progression from a weak, through an intermediate, to a strong cascade. copyright 1997 The American Astronomical Society

  14. Validation of turbulence models for LMFBR outlet plenum flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Y.B.; Golay, M.W.

    1977-01-01

    Small scale experiments involving water flows are used to provide mean flow and turbulence field data for LMFBR outlet plenum flows. Measurements are performed at Reynolds number (Re) values of 33000 and 70000 in a 1/15 - scale FFTF geometry and at Re = 35000 in a 3/80-scale CRBR geometry. The experimental behavior is predicted using two different two-equation turbulence model computer programs, TEACH-T and VARR-II. It is found that the qualitative nature of the flow field within the plenum depends strongly upon the distribution of the mean inlet flow field, importantly also upon the degree of inlet turbulence, and also upon the turbulent momentum exchange model used in the calculations. In the FFTF geometry, the TEACH-T predictions agree well with the experiments. 7 refs

  15. Intermittent heating of the solar corona by MHD turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    É. Buchlin

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available As the dissipation mechanisms considered for the heating of the solar corona would be sufficiently efficient only in the presence of small scales, turbulence is thought to be a key player in the coronal heating processes: it allows indeed to transfer energy from the large scales to these small scales. While Direct numerical simulations which have been performed to investigate the properties of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the corona have provided interesting results, they are limited to small Reynolds numbers. We present here a model of coronal loop turbulence involving shell-models and Alfvén waves propagation, allowing the much faster computation of spectra and turbulence statistics at higher Reynolds numbers. We also present first results of the forward-modelling of spectroscopic observables in the UV.

  16. High-Resolution Global Modeling of the Effects of Subgrid-Scale Clouds and Turbulence on Precipitating Cloud Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bogenschutz, Peter [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Moeng, Chin-Hoh [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

    2015-10-13

    The PI’s at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Chin-Hoh Moeng and Peter Bogenschutz, have primarily focused their time on the implementation of the Simplified-Higher Order Turbulence Closure (SHOC; Bogenschutz and Krueger 2013) to the Multi-scale Modeling Framework (MMF) global model and testing of SHOC on deep convective cloud regimes.

  17. Turbulent mixing and removal of ozone within an Amazon rainforest canopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freire, L. S.; Gerken, T.; Ruiz-Plancarte, J.; Wei, D.; Fuentes, J. D.; Katul, G. G.; Dias, N. L.; Acevedo, O. C.; Chamecki, M.

    2017-03-01

    Simultaneous profiles of turbulence statistics and mean ozone mixing ratio are used to establish a relation between eddy diffusivity and ozone mixing within the Amazon forest. A one-dimensional diffusion model is proposed and used to infer mixing time scales from the eddy diffusivity profiles. Data and model results indicate that during daytime conditions, the upper (lower) half of the canopy is well (partially) mixed most of the time and that most of the vertical extent of the forest can be mixed in less than an hour. During nighttime, most of the canopy is predominantly poorly mixed, except for periods with bursts of intermittent turbulence. Even though turbulence is faster than chemistry during daytime, both processes have comparable time scales in the lower canopy layers during nighttime conditions. Nonchemical loss time scales (associated with stomatal uptake and dry deposition) for the entire forest are comparable to turbulent mixing time scale in the lower canopy during the day and in the entire canopy during the night, indicating a tight coupling between turbulent transport and dry deposition and stomatal uptake processes. Because of the significant time of day and height variability of the turbulent mixing time scale inside the canopy, it is important to take it into account when studying chemical and biophysical processes happening in the forest environment. The method proposed here to estimate turbulent mixing time scales is a reliable alternative to currently used models, especially for situations in which the vertical distribution of the time scale is relevant.

  18. TURBULENT DISKS ARE NEVER STABLE: FRAGMENTATION AND TURBULENCE-PROMOTED PLANET FORMATION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hopkins, Philip F. [TAPIR, Mailcode 350-17, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Christiansen, Jessie L., E-mail: phopkins@caltech.edu [SETI Institute/NASA Ames Research Center, M/S 244-30, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)

    2013-10-10

    A fundamental assumption in our understanding of disks is that when the Toomre Q >> 1, the disk is stable against fragmentation into self-gravitating objects (and so cannot form planets via direct collapse). But if disks are turbulent, this neglects a spectrum of stochastic density fluctuations that can produce rare, high-density mass concentrations. Here, we use a recently developed analytic framework to predict the statistics of these fluctuations, i.e., the rate of fragmentation and mass spectrum of fragments formed in a turbulent Keplerian disk. Turbulent disks are never completely stable: we calculate the (always finite) probability of forming self-gravitating structures via stochastic turbulent density fluctuations in such disks. Modest sub-sonic turbulence above Mach number M∼0.1 can produce a few stochastic fragmentation or 'direct collapse' events over ∼Myr timescales, even if Q >> 1 and cooling is slow (t{sub cool} >> t{sub orbit}). In transsonic turbulence this extends to Q ∼ 100. We derive the true Q-criterion needed to suppress such events, which scales exponentially with Mach number. We specify to turbulence driven by magneto-rotational instability, convection, or spiral waves and derive equivalent criteria in terms of Q and the cooling time. Cooling times ∼> 50 t{sub dyn} may be required to completely suppress fragmentation. These gravo-turbulent events produce mass spectra peaked near ∼(Q M{sub disk}/M{sub *}){sup 2} M{sub disk} (rocky-to-giant planet masses, increasing with distance from the star). We apply this to protoplanetary disk models and show that even minimum-mass solar nebulae could experience stochastic collapse events, provided a source of turbulence.

  19. TURBULENT DISKS ARE NEVER STABLE: FRAGMENTATION AND TURBULENCE-PROMOTED PLANET FORMATION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hopkins, Philip F.; Christiansen, Jessie L.

    2013-01-01

    A fundamental assumption in our understanding of disks is that when the Toomre Q >> 1, the disk is stable against fragmentation into self-gravitating objects (and so cannot form planets via direct collapse). But if disks are turbulent, this neglects a spectrum of stochastic density fluctuations that can produce rare, high-density mass concentrations. Here, we use a recently developed analytic framework to predict the statistics of these fluctuations, i.e., the rate of fragmentation and mass spectrum of fragments formed in a turbulent Keplerian disk. Turbulent disks are never completely stable: we calculate the (always finite) probability of forming self-gravitating structures via stochastic turbulent density fluctuations in such disks. Modest sub-sonic turbulence above Mach number M∼0.1 can produce a few stochastic fragmentation or 'direct collapse' events over ∼Myr timescales, even if Q >> 1 and cooling is slow (t cool >> t orbit ). In transsonic turbulence this extends to Q ∼ 100. We derive the true Q-criterion needed to suppress such events, which scales exponentially with Mach number. We specify to turbulence driven by magneto-rotational instability, convection, or spiral waves and derive equivalent criteria in terms of Q and the cooling time. Cooling times ∼> 50 t dyn may be required to completely suppress fragmentation. These gravo-turbulent events produce mass spectra peaked near ∼(Q M disk /M * ) 2 M disk (rocky-to-giant planet masses, increasing with distance from the star). We apply this to protoplanetary disk models and show that even minimum-mass solar nebulae could experience stochastic collapse events, provided a source of turbulence

  20. Non-Gaussianity and cross-scale coupling in interplanetary magnetic field turbulence during a rope-rope magnetic reconnection event

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miranda, Rodrigo A.; Schelin, Adriane B.; Chian, Abraham C.-L.; Ferreira, José L.

    2018-03-01

    In a recent paper (Chian et al., 2016) it was shown that magnetic reconnection at the interface region between two magnetic flux ropes is responsible for the genesis of interplanetary intermittent turbulence. The normalized third-order moment (skewness) and the normalized fourth-order moment (kurtosis) display a quadratic relation with a parabolic shape that is commonly observed in observational data from turbulence in fluids and plasmas, and is linked to non-Gaussian fluctuations due to coherent structures. In this paper we perform a detailed study of the relation between the skewness and the kurtosis of the modulus of the magnetic field |B| during a triple interplanetary magnetic flux rope event. In addition, we investigate the skewness-kurtosis relation of two-point differences of |B| for the same event. The parabolic relation displays scale dependence and is found to be enhanced during magnetic reconnection, rendering support for the generation of non-Gaussian coherent structures via rope-rope magnetic reconnection. Our results also indicate that a direct coupling between the scales of magnetic flux ropes and the scales within the inertial subrange occurs in the solar wind.

  1. Turbulent transport regimes and the SOL heat flux width

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myra, J. R.; D'Ippolito, D. A.; Russell, D. A.

    2014-10-01

    Understanding the responsible mechanisms and resulting scaling of the scrape-off layer (SOL) heat flux width is important for predicting viable operating regimes in future tokamaks, and for seeking possible mitigation schemes. Simulation and theory results using reduced edge/SOL turbulence models have produced SOL widths and scalings in reasonable accord with experiments in many cases. In this work, we attempt to qualitatively and conceptually understand various regimes of edge/SOL turbulence and the role of turbulent transport in establishing the SOL heat flux width. Relevant considerations include the type and spectral characteristics of underlying instabilities, the location of the gradient drive relative to the SOL, the nonlinear saturation mechanism, and the parallel heat transport regime. Recent SOLT turbulence code results are employed to understand the roles of these considerations and to develop analytical scalings. We find a heat flux width scaling with major radius R that is generally positive, consistent with older results reviewed in. The possible relationship of turbulence mechanisms to the heuristic drift mechanism is considered, together with implications for future experiments. Work supported by US DOE grant DE-FG02-97ER54392.

  2. Challenges in Scale-Resolving Simulations of turbulent wake flows with coherent structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Filipe S.; Eça, Luís; Vaz, Guilherme; Girimaji, Sharath S.

    2018-06-01

    The objective of this work is to investigate the challenges encountered in Scale-Resolving Simulations (SRS) of turbulent wake flows driven by spatially-developing coherent structures. SRS of practical interest are expressly intended for efficiently computing such flows by resolving only the most important features of the coherent structures and modelling the remainder as stochastic field. The success of SRS methods depends upon three important factors: i) ability to identify key flow mechanisms responsible for the generation of coherent structures; ii) determine the optimum range of resolution required to adequately capture key elements of coherent structures; and iii) ensure that the modelled part is comprised nearly exclusively of fully-developed stochastic turbulence. This study considers the canonical case of the flow around a circular cylinder to address the aforementioned three key issues. It is first demonstrated using experimental evidence that the vortex-shedding instability and flow-structure development involves four important stages. A series of SRS computations of progressively increasing resolution (decreasing cut-off length) are performed. An a priori basis for locating the origin of the coherent structures development is proposed and examined. The criterion is based on the fact that the coherent structures are generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. The most important finding is that the key aspects of coherent structures can be resolved only if the effective computational Reynolds number (based on total viscosity) exceeds the critical value of the KH instability in laminar flows. Finally, a quantitative criterion assessing the nature of the unresolved field based on the strain-rate ratio of mean and unresolved fields is examined. The two proposed conditions and rationale offer a quantitative basis for developing "good practice" guidelines for SRS of complex turbulent wake flows with coherent structures.

  3. PROTOSTELLAR OUTFLOW EVOLUTION IN TURBULENT ENVIRONMENTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cunningham, Andrew J.; Frank, Adam; Carroll, Jonathan; Blackman, Eric G.; Quillen, Alice C.

    2009-01-01

    The link between turbulence in star-forming environments and protostellar jets remains controversial. To explore issues of turbulence and fossil cavities driven by young stellar outflows, we present a series of numerical simulations tracking the evolution of transient protostellar jets driven into a turbulent medium. Our simulations show both the effect of turbulence on outflow structures and, conversely, the effect of outflows on the ambient turbulence. We demonstrate how turbulence will lead to strong modifications in jet morphology. More importantly, we demonstrate that individual transient outflows have the capacity to re-energize decaying turbulence. Our simulations support a scenario in which the directed energy/momentum associated with cavities is randomized as the cavities are disrupted by dynamical instabilities seeded by the ambient turbulence. Consideration of the energy power spectra of the simulations reveals that the disruption of the cavities powers an energy cascade consistent with Burgers'-type turbulence and produces a driving scale length associated with the cavity propagation length. We conclude that fossil cavities interacting either with a turbulent medium or with other cavities have the capacity to sustain or create turbulent flows in star-forming environments. In the last section, we contrast our work and its conclusions with previous studies which claim that jets cannot be the source of turbulence.

  4. Pulsating Instability of Turbulent Thermonuclear Flames in Type Ia Supernovae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poludnenko, Alexei Y.

    2014-01-01

    Presently, one of the main explosion scenarios of type Ia supernovae (SNIa), aimed at explaining both "normal" and subluminous events, is the thermonuclear incineration of a white-dwarf in a single-degenerate system. The underlying engine of such explosions is the turbulent thermonuclear flame. Modern, large-scale, multidimensional simulations of SNIa cannot resolve the internal flame structure, and instead must include a subgrid-scale prescription for the turbulent-flame properties. As a result, development of robust, parameter-free, large-scale models of SNIa crucially relies on the detailed understanding of the turbulent flame properties during each stage of the flame evolution. Due to the complexity of the flame dynamics, such understanding must be validated by the first-principles direct numerical simulations (DNS). In our previous work, we showed that sufficiently fast turbulent flames are inherently susceptible to the development of detonations, which may provide the mechanism for the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in the delayed-detonation model of SNIa. Here we extend this study by performing detailed analysis of the turbulent flame properties at turbulent intensities below the critical threshold for DDT. We carried out a suite of 3D DNS of turbulent flames for a broad range of turbulent intensities and system sizes using a simplified, single-step, Arrhenius-type reaction kinetics. Our results show that at the later stages of the explosion, as the turbulence intensity increases prior to the possible onset of DDT, the flame front will become violently unstable. We find that the burning rate exhibits periodic pulsations with the energy release rate varying by almost an order of magnitude. Furthermore, such flame pulsations can produce pressure waves and shocks as the flame speed approaches the critical Chapman-Jouguet deflagration speed. Finally, in contrast with the current theoretical understanding, such fast turbulent flames can propagate at

  5. Modelling and simulation of turbulence and heat transfer in wall-bounded flows

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Popovac, M.

    2006-01-01

    At present it is widely accepted that there is no universal turbulence model, i.e. no turbulence model can give acceptably good predictions for all turbulent flows that are found in nature or engineering. Every turbulence model is based on certain assumptions, and hence it is aimed at certain type

  6. Correlation of optical emission and turbulent length scale in a coaxial jet diffusion flame

    OpenAIRE

    松山, 新吾; Matsuyama, Shingo

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates the correlation between optical emission and turbulent length scale in a coaxial jet diffusion flame. To simulate the H2O emission from an H2/O2 diffusion flame, radiative transfer is calculated on flame data obtained by numerical simulation. H2O emission characteristics are examined for a one-dimensional opposed-flow diffusion flame. The results indicate that H2O emission intensity is linearly dependent on flame thickness. The simulation of H2O emission is then exte...

  7. Characterisation of minimal-span plane Couette turbulence with pressure gradients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekimoto, Atsushi; Atkinson, Callum; Soria, Julio

    2018-04-01

    The turbulence statistics and dynamics in the spanwise-minimal plane Couette flow with pressure gradients, so-called, Couette-Poiseuille (C-P) flow, are investigated using direct numerical simulation. The large-scale motion is limited in the spanwise box dimension as in the minimal-span channel turbulence of Flores & Jiménez (Phys. Fluids, vol. 22, 2010, 071704). The effect of the top wall, where normal pressure-driven Poiseuille flow is realised, is distinguished from the events on the bottom wall, where the pressure gradient results in mild or almost-zero wall-shear stress. A proper scaling of turbulence statistics in minimal-span C-P flows is presented. Also the ‘shear-less’ wall-bounded turbulence, where the Corrsin shear parameter is very weak compared to normal wall-bounded turbulence, represents local separation, which is also observed as spanwise streaks of reversed flow in full-size plane C-P turbulence. The local separation is a multi-scale event, which grows up to the order of the channel height even in the minimal-span geometry.

  8. Quantum universe on extremely small space-time scales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuzmichev, V.E.; Kuzmichev, V.V.

    2010-01-01

    The semiclassical approach to the quantum geometrodynamical model is used for the description of the properties of the Universe on extremely small space-time scales. Under this approach, the matter in the Universe has two components of the quantum nature which behave as antigravitating fluids. The first component does not vanish in the limit h → 0 and can be associated with dark energy. The second component is described by an extremely rigid equation of state and goes to zero after the transition to large spacetime scales. On small space-time scales, this quantum correction turns out to be significant. It determines the geometry of the Universe near the initial cosmological singularity point. This geometry is conformal to a unit four-sphere embedded in a five-dimensional Euclidean flat space. During the consequent expansion of the Universe, when reaching the post-Planck era, the geometry of the Universe changes into that conformal to a unit four-hyperboloid in a five-dimensional Lorentzsignatured flat space. This agrees with the hypothesis about the possible change of geometry after the origin of the expanding Universe from the region near the initial singularity point. The origin of the Universe can be interpreted as a quantum transition of the system from a region in the phase space forbidden for the classical motion, but where a trajectory in imaginary time exists, into a region, where the equations of motion have the solution which describes the evolution of the Universe in real time. Near the boundary between two regions, from the side of real time, the Universe undergoes almost an exponential expansion which passes smoothly into the expansion under the action of radiation dominating over matter which is described by the standard cosmological model.

  9. Turbulent Boundary Layer Over Geophysical-like Topographies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chamorro, L. P.; Hamed, A. M.; Castillo, L.

    2016-12-01

    An experimental investigation of the flow and the turbulence structure over 2D and 3D large-scale wavy walls was performed using high-resolution planar particle image velocimetry in a refractive-index-matching (RIM) channel. Extensive measurements were performed to characterize the developing and developed flows. The 2D wall is described by a sinusoidal wave in the streamwise direction with amplitude to wavelength ratio a/λx = 0.05, while the 3D wall has an additional wave superimposed in the spanwise direction with a/λy = 0.1. The flow over these walls was characterized at Reynolds numbers of 4000 and 40000, based on the bulk velocity and the channel half height. The walls have an amplitude to boundary layer thickness ratio a/δ99 ≈ 0.1 and resemble large-scale and geophysical-like roughnesses found in rivers beds and natural terrain. Instantaneous velocity fields and time-averaged turbulence quantities reveal strong coupling between large-scale topography and the turbulence dynamics near the wall. Turbulence statistics for both walls show the presence of a well-structured shear layer past the roughness crests. Analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy production rate suggests that the shear layer is responsible for the majority of turbulence production across both walls. However, the 3D wall exhibits preferential spanwise flows that are thought to result in the multiple distinctive flow features for the 3D wall including comparatively reduced spanwise vorticity and decreased turbulence levels. Further insight on the effect of roughness three-dimensionality and Reynolds number is drawn in both the developed and developing regions through proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and quadrant analysis.

  10. Scale-similar clustering of heavy particles in the inertial range of turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariki, Taketo; Yoshida, Kyo; Matsuda, Keigo; Yoshimatsu, Katsunori

    2018-03-01

    Heavy particle clustering in turbulence is discussed from both phenomenological and analytical points of view, where the -4 /3 power law of the pair-correlation function is obtained in the inertial range. A closure theory explains the power law in terms of the balance between turbulence mixing and preferential-concentration mechanism. The obtained -4 /3 power law is supported by a direct numerical simulation of particle-laden turbulence.

  11. Dissipation element analysis of turbulent scalar fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Lipo; Peters, Norbert

    2008-01-01

    Dissipation element analysis is a new approach for studying turbulent scalar fields. Gradient trajectories starting from each material point in a scalar field Φ'(x-vector,t) in ascending directions will inevitably reach a maximal and a minimal point. The ensemble of material points sharing the same pair ending points is named a dissipation element. Dissipation elements can be parameterized by the length scale l and the scalar difference Δφ ', which are defined as the straight line connecting the two extremal points and the scalar difference at these points, respectively. The decomposition of a turbulent field into dissipation elements is space-filling. This allows us to reconstruct certain statistical quantities of fine scale turbulence which cannot be obtained otherwise. The marginal probability density function (PDF) of the length scale distribution based on a Poisson random cutting-reconnection process shows satisfactory agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) results. In order to obtain the further information that is needed for the modeling of scalar mixing in turbulence, such as the marginal PDF of the length of elements and all conditional moments as well as their scaling exponents, there is a need to model the joint PDF of l and Δφ ' as well. A compensation-defect model is put forward in this work to show the dependence of Δφ ' on l. The agreement between the model prediction and DNS results is satisfactory, which may provide another explanation of the Kolmogorov scaling and help to improve turbulent mixing models. Furthermore, intermittency and cliff structure can also be related to and explained from the joint PDF.

  12. Statistical Mechanics of Turbulent Dynamos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shebalin, John V.

    2014-01-01

    Incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence and magnetic dynamos, which occur in magnetofluids with large fluid and magnetic Reynolds numbers, will be discussed. When Reynolds numbers are large and energy decays slowly, the distribution of energy with respect to length scale becomes quasi-stationary and MHD turbulence can be described statistically. In the limit of infinite Reynolds numbers, viscosity and resistivity become zero and if these values are used in the MHD equations ab initio, a model system called ideal MHD turbulence results. This model system is typically confined in simple geometries with some form of homogeneous boundary conditions, allowing for velocity and magnetic field to be represented by orthogonal function expansions. One advantage to this is that the coefficients of the expansions form a set of nonlinearly interacting variables whose behavior can be described by equilibrium statistical mechanics, i.e., by a canonical ensemble theory based on the global invariants (energy, cross helicity and magnetic helicity) of ideal MHD turbulence. Another advantage is that truncated expansions provide a finite dynamical system whose time evolution can be numerically simulated to test the predictions of the associated statistical mechanics. If ensemble predictions are the same as time averages, then the system is said to be ergodic; if not, the system is nonergodic. Although it had been implicitly assumed in the early days of ideal MHD statistical theory development that these finite dynamical systems were ergodic, numerical simulations provided sufficient evidence that they were, in fact, nonergodic. Specifically, while canonical ensemble theory predicted that expansion coefficients would be (i) zero-mean random variables with (ii) energy that decreased with length scale, it was found that although (ii) was correct, (i) was not and the expected ergodicity was broken. The exact cause of this broken ergodicity was explained, after much

  13. Measurements of Turbulence at Two Tidal Energy Sites in Puget Sound, WA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomson, Jim; Polagye, Brian; Durgesh, Vibhav; Richmond, Marshall C.

    2012-06-05

    Field measurements of turbulence are pre- sented from two sites in Puget Sound, WA (USA) that are proposed for electrical power generation using tidal current turbines. Rapidly sampled data from multiple acoustic Doppler instruments are analyzed to obtain statistical mea- sures of fluctuations in both the magnitude and direction of the tidal currents. The resulting turbulence intensities (i.e., the turbulent velocity fluctuations normalized by the harmonic tidal currents) are typically 10% at the hub- heights (i.e., the relevant depth bin) of the proposed turbines. Length and time scales of the turbulence are also analyzed. Large-scale, anisotropic eddies dominate the energy spectra, which may be the result of proximity to headlands at each site. At small scales, an isotropic turbulent cascade is observed and used to estimate the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy. Data quality and sampling parameters are discussed, with an emphasis on the removal of Doppler noise from turbulence statistics.

  14. Dynamic structure in self-sustained turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, K.; Itoh, S.; Yagi, M.; Fukuyama, A.

    1995-06-01

    Dynamical equation for the self-sustained and pressure-driven turbulence in toroidal plasmas is derived. The growth rate of the dressed-test mode, which belongs to the subcritical turbulence, is obtained as a function of the turbulent transport coefficient. In the limit of the low fluctuation level, the mode has the feature of the nonlinear instability and shows the explosive growth. The growth rate vanishes when the driven transport reaches to the stationarily-turbulent level. The stationary solution is thermodynamically stable. The characteristic time, by which the stationary and self-sustained turbulence is established, scales with the ion-sound transit time and is accelerated by the bad magnetic curvature. Influences of the pressure gradient as well as the radial electric field inhomogeneity are quantified. (author)

  15. SPECTRA OF STRONG MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION SIMULATIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beresnyak, Andrey

    2014-01-01

    Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is present in a variety of solar and astrophysical environments. Solar wind fluctuations with frequencies lower than 0.1 Hz are believed to be mostly governed by Alfvénic turbulence with particle transport depending on the power spectrum and the anisotropy of such turbulence. Recently, conflicting spectral slopes for the inertial range of MHD turbulence have been reported by different groups. Spectral shapes from earlier simulations showed that MHD turbulence is less scale-local compared with hydrodynamic turbulence. This is why higher-resolution simulations, and careful and rigorous numerical analysis is especially needed for the MHD case. In this Letter, we present two groups of simulations with resolution up to 4096 3 , which are numerically well-resolved and have been analyzed with an exact and well-tested method of scaling study. Our results from both simulation groups indicate that the asymptotic power spectral slope for all energy-related quantities, such as total energy and residual energy, is around –1.7, close to Kolmogorov's –5/3. This suggests that residual energy is a constant fraction of the total energy and that in the asymptotic regime of Alfvénic turbulence magnetic and kinetic spectra have the same scaling. The –1.5 slope for energy and the –2 slope for residual energy, which have been suggested earlier, are incompatible with our numerics

  16. Interstellar turbulence model : A self-consistent coupling of plasma and neutral fluids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaikh, Dastgeer; Zank, Gary P.; Pogorelov, Nikolai

    2006-01-01

    We present results of a preliminary investigation of interstellar turbulence based on a self-consistent two-dimensional fluid simulation model. Our model describes a partially ionized magnetofluid interstellar medium (ISM) that couples a neutral hydrogen fluid to a plasma through charge exchange interactions and assumes that the ISM turbulent correlation scales are much bigger than the shock characteristic length-scales, but smaller than the charge exchange mean free path length-scales. The shocks have no influence on the ISM turbulent fluctuations. We find that nonlinear interactions in coupled plasma-neutral ISM turbulence are influenced substantially by charge exchange processes

  17. A new energy transfer model for turbulent free shear flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liou, William W.-W.

    1992-01-01

    A new model for the energy transfer mechanism in the large-scale turbulent kinetic energy equation is proposed. An estimate of the characteristic length scale of the energy containing large structures is obtained from the wavelength associated with the structures predicted by a weakly nonlinear analysis for turbulent free shear flows. With the inclusion of the proposed energy transfer model, the weakly nonlinear wave models for the turbulent large-scale structures are self-contained and are likely to be independent flow geometries. The model is tested against a plane mixing layer. Reasonably good agreement is achieved. Finally, it is shown by using the Liapunov function method, the balance between the production and the drainage of the kinetic energy of the turbulent large-scale structures is asymptotically stable as their amplitude saturates. The saturation of the wave amplitude provides an alternative indicator for flow self-similarity.

  18. Characteristics of transitional and turbulent jet diffusion flames in microgravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahadori, Yousef M.; Small, James F., Jr.; Hegde, Uday G.; Zhou, Liming; Stocker, Dennis P.

    1995-01-01

    This paper presents the ground-based results obtained to date in preparation of a proposed space experiment to study the role of large-scale structures in microgravity transitional and turbulent gas-jet diffusion flames by investigating the dynamics of vortex/flame interactions and their influence on flame characteristics. The overall objective is to gain an understanding of the fundamental characteristics of transitional and turbulent gas-jet diffusion flames. Understanding of the role of large-scale structures on the characteristics of microgravity transitional and turbulent flames will ultimately lead to improved understanding of normal-gravity turbulent combustion.

  19. Decay of passive scalar fluctuations in axisymmetric turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshimatsu, Katsunori; Davidson, Peter A.; Kaneda, Yukio

    2016-11-01

    Passive scalar fluctuations in axisymmetric Saffman turbulence are examined theoretically and numerically. Theoretical predictions are verified by direct numerical simulation (DNS). According to the DNS, self-similar decay of the turbulence and the persistency of the large-scale anisotropy are found for its fully developed turbulence. The DNS confirms the time-independence of the Corrsin integral.

  20. Scaling of plasma turbulence resulting from parametric instabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ott, E.

    1976-01-01

    Dimensional analysis is used to obtain results on the turbulent state resulting from parametric instabilities of an initially cold plasma. The results include the possibility of an applied magnetic field, multiple ion species, and arbitrary dimensionality

  1. The deterministic chaos and random noise in turbulent jet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yao, Tian-Liang; Liu, Hai-Feng; Xu, Jian-Liang; Li, Wei-Feng

    2014-01-01

    A turbulent flow is usually treated as a superposition of coherent structure and incoherent turbulence. In this paper, the largest Lyapunov exponent and the random noise in the near field of round jet and plane jet are estimated with our previously proposed method of chaotic time series analysis [T. L. Yao, et al., Chaos 22, 033102 (2012)]. The results show that the largest Lyapunov exponents of the round jet and plane jet are in direct proportion to the reciprocal of the integral time scale of turbulence, which is in accordance with the results of the dimensional analysis, and the proportionality coefficients are equal. In addition, the random noise of the round jet and plane jet has the same linear relation with the Kolmogorov velocity scale of turbulence. As a result, the random noise may well be from the incoherent disturbance in turbulence, and the coherent structure in turbulence may well follow the rule of chaotic motion

  2. Lagrangian statistics across the turbulent-nonturbulent interface in a turbulent plane jet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taveira, Rodrigo R; Diogo, José S; Lopes, Diogo C; da Silva, Carlos B

    2013-10-01

    Lagrangian statistics from millions of particles are used to study the turbulent entrainment mechanism in a direct numerical simulation of a turbulent plane jet at Re(λ) ≈ 110. The particles (tracers) are initially seeded at the irrotational region of the jet near the turbulent shear layer and are followed as they are drawn into the turbulent region across the turbulent-nonturbulent interface (TNTI), allowing the study of the enstrophy buildup and thereby characterizing the turbulent entrainment mechanism in the jet. The use of Lagrangian statistics following fluid particles gives a more correct description of the entrainment mechanism than in previous works since the statistics in relation to the TNTI position involve data from the trajectories of the entraining fluid particles. The Lagrangian statistics for the particles show the existence of a velocity jump and a characteristic vorticity jump (with a thickness which is one order of magnitude greater than the Kolmogorov microscale), in agreement with previous results using Eulerian statistics. The particles initially acquire enstrophy by viscous diffusion and later by enstrophy production, which becomes "active" only deep inside the turbulent region. Both enstrophy diffusion and production near the TNTI differ substantially from inside the turbulent region. Only about 1% of all particles find their way into pockets of irrotational flow engulfed into the turbulent shear layer region, indicating that "engulfment" is not significant for the present flow, indirectly suggesting that the entrainment is largely due to "nibbling" small-scale mechanisms acting along the entire TNTI surface. Probability density functions of particle positions suggests that the particles spend more time crossing the region near the TNTI than traveling inside the turbulent region, consistent with the particles moving tangent to the interface around the time they cross it.

  3. Magnetic Reconnection May Control the Ion-scale Spectral Break of Solar Wind Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vech, Daniel; Mallet, Alfred; Klein, Kristopher G.; Kasper, Justin C.

    2018-03-01

    The power spectral density of magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind exhibits several power-law-like frequency ranges with a well-defined break between approximately 0.1 and 1 Hz in the spacecraft frame. The exact dependence of this break scale on solar wind parameters has been extensively studied but is not yet fully understood. Recent studies have suggested that reconnection may induce a break in the spectrum at a “disruption scale” {λ }{{D}}, which may be larger than the fundamental ion kinetic scales, producing an unusually steep spectrum just below the break. We present a statistical investigation of the dependence of the break scale on the proton gyroradius ρ i , ion inertial length d i , ion sound radius ρ s , proton–cyclotron resonance scale ρ c , and disruption scale {λ }{{D}} as a function of {β }\\perp i. We find that the steepest spectral indices of the dissipation range occur when β e is in the range of 0.1–1 and the break scale is only slightly larger than the ion sound scale (a situation occurring 41% of the time at 1 au), in qualitative agreement with the reconnection model. In this range, the break scale shows a remarkably good correlation with {λ }{{D}}. Our findings suggest that, at least at low β e , reconnection may play an important role in the development of the dissipation range turbulent cascade and cause unusually steep (steeper than ‑3) spectral indices.

  4. Scaling and universality in magnetocaloric materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Smith, Anders; Nielsen, Kaspar Kirstein; Bahl, Christian R. H.

    2014-01-01

    -order phase transition within the context of the theory of critical phenomena. Sufficiently close to the critical temperature of a second-order material, the scaling of the isothermal entropy change will be determined by the critical exponents and will be the same as that of the singular part of the entropy......The magnetocaloric effect of a magnetic material is characterized by two quantities, the isothermal entropy change and the adiabatic temperature change, both of which are functions of temperature and applied magnetic field. We discuss the scaling properties of these quantities close to a second...... fields are not universal, showing significant variation for models in the same universality class. As regards the adiabatic temperature change, it is not determined exclusively by the singular part of the free energy and its derivatives. We show that the field dependence of the adiabatic temperature...

  5. Measurement of beam driven hydrodynamic turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norem, J.; Black, E.; Bandura, L.; Errede, D.; Cummings, M. A. C.

    2003-01-01

    Cooling intense muon beams in liquid hydrogen absorbers introduces kW of heating to the cold fluid, which will drive turbulent flow. The amount of turbulence may be sufficient to help cool the liquid, but calculations are difficult. We have used a 20 MeV electron beam in a water tank to look at the scale of the beam driven convection and turbulence. The density and flow measurements are made with schlieren and Ronchi systems. We describe the optical systems and the turbulence measured. These data are being used to calibrate hydrodynamic calculations of convection driven and forced flow cooling in muon cooling absorbers

  6. Non-linear variability in geophysics scaling and fractals

    CERN Document Server

    Lovejoy, S

    1991-01-01

    consequences of broken symmetry -here parity-is studied. In this model, turbulence is dominated by a hierarchy of helical (corkscrew) structures. The authors stress the unique features of such pseudo-scalar cascades as well as the extreme nature of the resulting (intermittent) fluctuations. Intermittent turbulent cascades was also the theme of a paper by us in which we show that universality classes exist for continuous cascades (in which an infinite number of cascade steps occur over a finite range of scales). This result is the multiplicative analogue of the familiar central limit theorem for the addition of random variables. Finally, an interesting paper by Pasmanter investigates the scaling associated with anomolous diffusion in a chaotic tidal basin model involving a small number of degrees of freedom. Although the statistical literature is replete with techniques for dealing with those random processes characterized by both exponentially decaying (non-scaling) autocorrelations and exponentially decaying...

  7. Containerless Ripple Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putterman, Seth; Wright, William; Duval, Walter; Panzarella, Charles

    2002-11-01

    One of the longest standing unsolved problems in physics relates to the behavior of fluids that are driven far from equilibrium such as occurs when they become turbulent due to fast flow through a grid or tidal motions. In turbulent flows the distribution of vortex energy as a function of the inverse length scale [or wavenumber 'k'] of motion is proportional to 1/k5/3 which is the celebrated law of Kolmogorov. Although this law gives a good description of the average motion, fluctuations around the average are huge. This stands in contrast with thermally activated motion where large fluctuations around thermal equilibrium are highly unfavorable. The problem of turbulence is the problem of understanding why large fluctuations are so prevalent which is also called the problem of 'intermittency'. Turbulence is a remarkable problem in that its solution sits simultaneously at the forefront of physics, mathematics, engineering and computer science. A recent conference [March 2002] on 'Statistical Hydrodynamics' organized by the Los Alamos Laboratory Center for Nonlinear Studies brought together researchers in all of these fields. Although turbulence is generally thought to be described by the Navier-Stokes Equations of fluid mechanics the solution as well as its existence has eluded researchers for over 100 years. In fact proof of the existence of such a solution qualifies for a 1 M millennium prize. As part of our NASA funded research we have proposed building a bridge between vortex turbulence and wave turbulence. The latter occurs when high amplitude waves of various wavelengths are allowed to mutually interact in a fluid. In particular we have proposed measuring the interaction of ripples [capillary waves] that run around on the surface of a fluid sphere suspended in a microgravity environment. The problem of ripple turbulence poses similar mathematical challenges to the problem of vortex turbulence. The waves can have a high amplitude and a strong nonlinear

  8. Containerless Ripple Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putterman, Seth; Wright, William; Duval, Walter; Panzarella, Charles

    2002-01-01

    One of the longest standing unsolved problems in physics relates to the behavior of fluids that are driven far from equilibrium such as occurs when they become turbulent due to fast flow through a grid or tidal motions. In turbulent flows the distribution of vortex energy as a function of the inverse length scale [or wavenumber 'k'] of motion is proportional to 1/k(sup 5/3) which is the celebrated law of Kolmogorov. Although this law gives a good description of the average motion, fluctuations around the average are huge. This stands in contrast with thermally activated motion where large fluctuations around thermal equilibrium are highly unfavorable. The problem of turbulence is the problem of understanding why large fluctuations are so prevalent which is also called the problem of 'intermittency'. Turbulence is a remarkable problem in that its solution sits simultaneously at the forefront of physics, mathematics, engineering and computer science. A recent conference [March 2002] on 'Statistical Hydrodynamics' organized by the Los Alamos Laboratory Center for Nonlinear Studies brought together researchers in all of these fields. Although turbulence is generally thought to be described by the Navier-Stokes Equations of fluid mechanics the solution as well as its existence has eluded researchers for over 100 years. In fact proof of the existence of such a solution qualifies for a 1 M$ millennium prize. As part of our NASA funded research we have proposed building a bridge between vortex turbulence and wave turbulence. The latter occurs when high amplitude waves of various wavelengths are allowed to mutually interact in a fluid. In particular we have proposed measuring the interaction of ripples [capillary waves] that run around on the surface of a fluid sphere suspended in a microgravity environment. The problem of ripple turbulence poses similar mathematical challenges to the problem of vortex turbulence. The waves can have a high amplitude and a strong nonlinear

  9. Large scale simulation numerical study of transition to turbulence in jets; Etude numerique par simulation des grandes echelles de la transition a la turbulence dans les jets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Urbin, Gerald [Institut National Polytechnique, 38 - Grenoble (France)

    1998-02-02

    This study highlights the potentialities of the numerical technique of large scale simulation in describing and understanding the turbulent flows in a complex geometry. Particularly, it is focussed on flows of free jet, confined jets and multiple jets of high solidity grid. Spatial simulations of the circular zone close to a free jet, of high Reynolds number were performed. In spite of an evident sensitivity to upstream conditions good agreement between our statistical predictions and different experimental measurements was obtained. The multiple coherent vortical structures implied in the transition to turbulence of the jet were found. At the same time, helical or annular axisymmetric vortices were observed. Also, an original vortical arrangement was evidenced, resulting from the alternating inclination and local pairing of these rings. It could been forced through an ad-hoc excitation which modifies subsequently drastically the jet development. When an axisymmetric excitation is imposed after formation of annular structures, pairs of counter-rotative longitudinal vortices occur and generate lateral jets. Their nature and presence in case of a helical excitation are discussed. An efficient method for controlling their number is developed. Then, one is studied the very low frequency periodic phenomenon of backward-facing transition to turbulence which develops in the confined jet and grid multiple jets (a phenomenon generic in numerous flows). It was found to depend not only on the characteristic of the re-circulation (pre-transition) zones but also on the upstream flow (zone of post-transition stagnation, pressure effect). Large scale transversal motions of the fluid have been found beginning from the grid. An interpretation of this phenomenon is suggested 193 refs., 109 figs.

  10. Experimental investigation of small scale geometries in a turbulent round jet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gampert, Markus; Schaefer, Philip; Peters, Norbert, E-mail: mgampert@itv.rwth-aachen.de [Institute for Combustion Technology, RWTH Aachen Templergraben 64, 52056 Aachen (Germany)

    2011-12-22

    In the present work, we present a method to gather highly accurate three-dimensional measurements of a scalar field in order to experimentally validate the theory of dissipation elements as developped by Wang and Peters (2006, 2008). Combining a two-dimensional high-speed Rayleigh scattering technique with Taylor's hypothesis allows to resolve the concentration field of gaseous propane discharging into ambient air from a turbulent round jet at a Reynolds number (based on nozzle diameter and exit velocity) of 2,800 down to the Kolmogorov scale in every spatial direction. Based on the acquired data, the normalized probability density function of the length of dissipation elements P-tilde (l-tilde) is investigated at various downstream positions x/d = 15 - 40 and an excellent agreement with the theoretically derived model equation is obtained.

  11. Turbulent Helicity in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chkhetiani, Otto G.; Kurgansky, Michael V.; Vazaeva, Natalia V.

    2018-05-01

    We consider the assumption postulated by Deusebio and Lindborg (J Fluid Mech 755:654-671, 2014) that the helicity injected into the Ekman boundary layer undergoes a cascade, with preservation of its sign (right- or alternatively left-handedness), which is a signature of the system rotation, from large to small scales, down to the Kolmogorov microscale of turbulence. At the same time, recent direct field measurements of turbulent helicity in the steppe region of southern Russia near Tsimlyansk Reservoir show the opposite sign of helicity from that expected. A possible explanation for this phenomenon may be the joint action of different scales of atmospheric flows within the boundary layer, including the sea-breeze circulation over the test site. In this regard, we consider a superposition of the classic Ekman spiral solution and Prandtl's jet-like slope-wind profile to describe the planetary boundary-layer wind structure. The latter solution mimics a hydrostatic shallow breeze circulation over a non-uniformly heated surface. A 180°-wide sector on the hodograph plane exists, within which the relative orientation of the Ekman and Prandtl velocity profiles favours the left rotation with height of the resulting wind velocity vector in the lowermost part of the boundary layer. This explains the negative (left-handed) helicity cascade toward small-scale turbulent motions, which agrees with the direct field measurements of turbulent helicity in Tsimlyansk. A simple turbulent relaxation model is proposed that explains the measured positive values of the relatively minor contribution to turbulent helicity from the vertical components of velocity and vorticity.

  12. Inflow Turbulence Generation Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xiaohua

    2017-01-01

    Research activities on inflow turbulence generation methods have been vigorous over the past quarter century, accompanying advances in eddy-resolving computations of spatially developing turbulent flows with direct numerical simulation, large-eddy simulation (LES), and hybrid Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes-LES. The weak recycling method, rooted in scaling arguments on the canonical incompressible boundary layer, has been applied to supersonic boundary layer, rough surface boundary layer, and microscale urban canopy LES coupled with mesoscale numerical weather forecasting. Synthetic methods, originating from analytical approximation to homogeneous isotropic turbulence, have branched out into several robust methods, including the synthetic random Fourier method, synthetic digital filtering method, synthetic coherent eddy method, and synthetic volume forcing method. This article reviews major progress in inflow turbulence generation methods with an emphasis on fundamental ideas, key milestones, representative applications, and critical issues. Directions for future research in the field are also highlighted.

  13. Symposium on turbulence, 7th, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO, September 21-23, 1981, Proceedings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patterson, G.K.; Zakin, J.L.

    1983-01-01

    Investigations related to the study of boundary layers are discussed, taking into account the simulation of turbulent shear flows, turbulent shear flows behind two-dimensional obstacles placed on a plane boundary, the development of turbulent boundary layers in open channel flows, the turbulent kinetic energy balance in a conical diffuser, strong adverse pressure gradient effects on supersonic turbulent boundary layers, the effects of upstream boundary layer thickness upon flow past a backward-facing step, and a turbulent wall jet issued from a Coanda nozzle. Other topics considered are concerned with scalar transport and combustion, particulate flows, experimental techniques and signal processing, thermal anemometry, complient surface and polymer effects, the coherent structure of turbulence, laser Doppler anemometry, and the transition to turbulence. Attention is given to a pattern recognition study of coherent motion in a transpired turbulent boundary layer, investigations of flow visualization techniques for detecting turbulent bursts, and the frequency response of cold wires

  14. Economics of Utility Scale Photovoltaics at Purdue University

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnett, William

    The research for this case study shows that utility scale solar photovoltaics has become a competitive energy investment option, even when a campus operates a power plant at low electricity rates. To evaluate this an economic model called SEEMS (Solar Economic Evaluation Modelling Spreadsheets) was developed to evaluate a number of financial scenarios in Real Time Pricing for universities. The three main financing structures considered are 1) land leasing, 2) university direct purchase, and 3) third party purchase. Unlike other commercially available models SEEMS specifically accounts for real time pricing, where the local utility provides electricity at an hourly rate that changes with the expected demand. In addition, SEEMS also includes a random simulation that allows the model to predict the likelihood of success for a given solar installation strategy. The research showed that there are several options for utility scale solar that are financially attractive. The most practical financing structure is with a third party partnership because of the opportunity to take advantage of tax incentives. Other options could become more attractive if non-financial benefits are considered. The case study for this research, Purdue University, has a unique opportunity to integrate utility-scale solar electricity into its strategic planning. Currently Purdue is updating its master plan which will define how land is developed. Purdue is also developing a sustainability plan that will define long term environmental goals. In addition, the university is developing over 500 acres of land west of campus as part of its Aerospace Innovation District. This research helps make the case for including utility-scale solar electricity as part of the university's strategic planning.

  15. Turbulent Flow Over Large Roughness Elements: Effect of Frontal and Plan Solidity on Turbulence Statistics and Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Placidi, M.; Ganapathisubramani, B.

    2018-04-01

    Wind-tunnel experiments were carried out on fully-rough boundary layers with large roughness (δ /h ≈ 10, where h is the height of the roughness elements and δ is the boundary-layer thickness). Twelve different surface conditions were created by using LEGO™ bricks of uniform height. Six cases are tested for a fixed plan solidity (λ _P) with variations in frontal density (λ _F), while the other six cases have varying λ _P for fixed λ _F. Particle image velocimetry and floating-element drag-balance measurements were performed. The current results complement those contained in Placidi and Ganapathisubramani (J Fluid Mech 782:541-566, 2015), extending the previous analysis to the turbulence statistics and spatial structure. Results indicate that mean velocity profiles in defect form agree with Townsend's similarity hypothesis with varying λ _F, however, the agreement is worse for cases with varying λ _P. The streamwise and wall-normal turbulent stresses, as well as the Reynolds shear stresses, show a lack of similarity across most examined cases. This suggests that the critical height of the roughness for which outer-layer similarity holds depends not only on the height of the roughness, but also on the local wall morphology. A new criterion based on shelter solidity, defined as the sheltered plan area per unit wall-parallel area, which is similar to the `effective shelter area' in Raupach and Shaw (Boundary-Layer Meteorol 22:79-90, 1982), is found to capture the departure of the turbulence statistics from outer-layer similarity. Despite this lack of similarity reported in the turbulence statistics, proper orthogonal decomposition analysis, as well as two-point spatial correlations, show that some form of universal flow structure is present, as all cases exhibit virtually identical proper orthogonal decomposition mode shapes and correlation fields. Finally, reduced models based on proper orthogonal decomposition reveal that the small scales of the turbulence

  16. Spectral properties of electromagnetic turbulence in plasmas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Shaikh

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available We report on the nonlinear turbulent processes associated with electromagnetic waves in plasmas. We focus on low-frequency (in comparison with the electron gyrofrequency nonlinearly interacting electron whistlers and nonlinearly interacting Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (H-MHD fluctuations in a magnetized plasma. Nonlinear whistler mode turbulence study in a magnetized plasma involves incompressible electrons and immobile ions. Two-dimensional turbulent interactions and subsequent energy cascades are critically influenced by the electron whisters that behave distinctly for scales smaller and larger than the electron skin depth. It is found that in whistler mode turbulence there results a dual cascade primarily due to the forward spectral migration of energy that coexists with a backward spectral transfer of mean squared magnetic potential. Finally, inclusion of the ion dynamics, resulting from a two fluid description of the H-MHD plasma, leads to several interesting results that are typically observed in the solar wind plasma. Particularly in the solar wind, the high-time-resolution databases identify a spectral break at the end of the MHD inertial range spectrum that corresponds to a high-frequency regime. In the latter, turbulent cascades cannot be explained by the usual MHD model and a finite frequency effect (in comparison with the ion gyrofrequency arising from the ion inertia is essentially included to discern the dynamics of the smaller length scales (in comparison with the ion skin depth. This leads to a nonlinear H-MHD model, which is presented in this paper. With the help of our 3-D H-MHD code, we find that the characteristic turbulent interactions in the high-frequency regime evolve typically on kinetic-Alfvén time-scales. The turbulent fluctuation associated with kinetic-Alfvén interactions are compressive and anisotropic and possess equipartition of the kinetic and magnetic energies.

  17. Interaction between combustion and turbulence in modelling of emissions; Palamisen ja turbulenssin vuorovaikutus paeaestoejen mallinnuksessa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oksanen, A.; Maeki-Mantila, E. [Tampere Univ. of Technology (Finland). Inst. of Energy and Process Technology

    1997-10-01

    The aim of the project has been to model and simulate gas phase combustion taking into account the interaction between the chemical reactions and turbulence, respectively. Especially the modelling of nitric oxide and carbon monoxide were included in the computations which were applied into two laboratory-scale test cases namely into the about 300 kW natural gas burner by International Flame Research Foundation and into the smaller natural gas jet flame by delft University of Technology. Both test cases were calculated in two dimensional axially symmetric chambers with the swirl numbers equal to 0.56 and zero in the IFRF and Delft flames, respectively. In this study it was necessary to take into account as well as possible the effect of turbulence on the chemical reactions. Therefore, the Eddy Dissipation Concept Model (EDC) together with the local extinction was chosen to describe both the combustion reactions of methane and carbon monoxide and the formation and reduction of nitric oxide, too. In this study two different turbulent time scales were used namely the Kolmogorov time scale in the fine structure conditions without and with the factor taking more into account the fine structure conditions, respectively. It can be noticed the computational results are more similar with the experimental data when the factor was used. The prediction of chemical time scale was based on the principle by Gran et Melaaen and Magnussen. (orig.)

  18. Exact Theory of Compressible Fluid Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drivas, Theodore; Eyink, Gregory

    2017-11-01

    We obtain exact results for compressible turbulence with any equation of state, using coarse-graining/filtering. We find two mechanisms of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation: scale-local energy cascade and ``pressure-work defect'', or pressure-work at viscous scales exceeding that in the inertial-range. Planar shocks in an ideal gas dissipate all kinetic energy by pressure-work defect, but the effect is omitted by standard LES modeling of pressure-dilatation. We also obtain a novel inverse cascade of thermodynamic entropy, injected by microscopic entropy production, cascaded upscale, and removed by large-scale cooling. This nonlinear process is missed by the Kovasznay linear mode decomposition, treating entropy as a passive scalar. For small Mach number we recover the incompressible ``negentropy cascade'' predicted by Obukhov. We derive exact Kolmogorov 4/5th-type laws for energy and entropy cascades, constraining scaling exponents of velocity, density, and internal energy to sub-Kolmogorov values. Although precise exponents and detailed physics are Mach-dependent, our exact results hold at all Mach numbers. Flow realizations at infinite Reynolds are ``dissipative weak solutions'' of compressible Euler equations, similarly as Onsager proposed for incompressible turbulence.

  19. Turbulent Transport in a Three-dimensional Solar Wind

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shiota, D. [Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601 (Japan); Zank, G. P.; Adhikari, L.; Hunana, P. [Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR), Department of Space Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35805 (United States); Telloni, D. [INAF—Astrophysical Observatory of Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, I-10025 Pino Torinese (Italy); Bruno, R., E-mail: shiota@isee.nagoya-u.ac.jp [INAF-IAPS Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Roma (Italy)

    2017-03-01

    Turbulence in the solar wind can play essential roles in the heating of coronal and solar wind plasma and the acceleration of the solar wind and energetic particles. Turbulence sources are not well understood and thought to be partly enhanced by interaction with the large-scale inhomogeneity of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field and/or transported from the solar corona. To investigate the interaction with background inhomogeneity and the turbulence sources, we have developed a new 3D MHD model that includes the transport and dissipation of turbulence using the theoretical model of Zank et al. We solve for the temporal and spatial evolution of three moments or variables, the energy in the forward and backward fluctuating modes and the residual energy and their three corresponding correlation lengths. The transport model is coupled to our 3D model of the inhomogeneous solar wind. We present results of the coupled solar wind-turbulence model assuming a simple tilted dipole magnetic configuration that mimics solar minimum conditions, together with several comparative intermediate cases. By considering eight possible solar wind and turbulence source configurations, we show that the large-scale solar wind and IMF inhomogeneity and the strength of the turbulence sources significantly affect the distribution of turbulence in the heliosphere within 6 au. We compare the predicted turbulence distribution results from a complete solar minimum model with in situ measurements made by the Helios and Ulysses spacecraft, finding that the synthetic profiles of the turbulence intensities show reasonable agreement with observations.

  20. Transport due to ion pressure gradient turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Connor, J.W.

    1986-01-01

    Turbulent transport due to the ion pressure gradient (or temperature drift) instability is thought to be significant when etasub(i)=d(ln Tsub(i))/d(ln n)>1. The invariance properties of the governing equations under scale transformations are used to discuss the characteristics of this turbulence. This approach not only clarifies the relationships between earlier treatments but also, in certain limits, completely determines the scaling properties of the fluctuations and the consequent thermal transport. (author)

  1. Turbulence near the wall in tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nedospasov, A.V.

    1989-01-01

    Causes of plasma turbulence in the shadow of poloidal limiter of tokamak are discussed. Current to limiter along the magnetic field plays the determining role. In this case the plasma on the external surrounding of torr is unstable relatively to channeled perturbations. Conditions of strong and weak recycling in limiter are considered. It is shown that in case of strong recycling, the amplitude and scale of turbulence pulsations and turbulent temperature conductivity of the plasma can be determined by low temperature of electrons near the limiter surface

  2. Hierarchy compensation of non-homogeneous intermittent atmospheric turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redondo, Jose M.; Mahjoub, Otman B.; Cantalapiedra, Inma R.

    2010-05-01

    In this work a study both the internal turbulence energy cascade intermittency evaluated from wind speed series in the atmospheric boundary layer, as well as the role of external or forcing intermittency based on the flatness (Vindel et al 2008)is carried out. The degree of intermittency in the stratified ABL flow (Cuxart et al. 2000) can be studied as the deviation, from the linear form, of the absolute scaling exponents of the structure functions as well as generalizing for non-isotropic and non-homogeneous turbulence, even in non-inertial ranges (in the Kolmogorov-Kraichnan sense) where the scaling exponents are not constant. The degree of intermittency, evaluated in the non-local quasi-inertial range, is explained from the variation with scale of the energy transfer as well as the dissipation. The scale to scale transfer and the structure function scaling exponents are calculated and from these the intermittency parametres. The turbulent diffusivity could also be estimated and compared with Richardson's law. Some two point correlations and time lag calculations are used to investigate the time and spatial integral length scales obtained from both Lagrangian and Eulerian correlations and functions, and we compare these results with both theoretical and laboratory data. We develop a theoretical description of how to measure the different levels of intermittency following (Mahjoub et al. 1998, 2000) and the role of locality in higher order exponents of structure function analysis. Vindel J.M., Yague C. and Redondo J.M. (2008) Structure function analysis and intermittency in the ABL. Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 15, 915-929. Cuxart J, Yague C, Morales G, Terradellas E, Orbe J, Calvo J, Fernández A, Soler M R, Infante C, Buenestado P, Espinalt A, Joergensen H E, Rees J M, Vilá J, Redondo J M, Cantalapiedra R and Conangla L (2000): Stable atmospheric boundary-layer experiment in Spain (Sables 98): a report, Boundary-Layer Meteorology 96, 337-370 Mahjoub O

  3. Hydromagnetic waves, turbulence, and collisionless processes in the interplanetary medium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnes, A.

    1983-01-01

    The solar wind does not flow quietly. It seethes and undulates, fluctuating on time scales that range from the solar rotation period down to fractions of milliseconds. Most of the power in interplanetary waves and turbulence lies at hydromagnetic scales. These fluctuations are normally of large amplitude, containing enough energy to affect solar and galactic cosmic rays, and may be the remnants of a coronal turbulence field powerful enough to play a major role in accelerating the solar wind itself. The origin and evolution of interplanetary hydromagnetic waves and turbulence, and their influence on the large-scale dynamics of the solar wind are among the most fundamental questions of solar-terrestrial physics. First hydrodynamic waves and turbulences in the interplanetary medium are discussed in two sections, respectively. Because the length and time scales for hydromagnetic fluctuations are very much smaller than the corresponding Coulomb collision scales of the plasma ions and electrons, the interplanetary variations are modelled as fluctuations in a magnetohydrodynamic fluid. In the last section, collisionless phenomena are discussed. They are of qualitative significance. (Auth.)

  4. Characterizing the Severe Turbulence Environments Associated With Commercial Aviation Accidents: A Real-Time Turbulence Model (RTTM) Designed for the Operational Prediction of Hazardous Aviation Turbulence Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Michael L.; Lux, Kevin M.; Cetola, Jeffrey D.; Huffman, Allan W.; Riordan, Allen J.; Slusser, Sarah W.; Lin, Yuh-Lang; Charney, Joseph J.; Waight, Kenneth T.

    2004-01-01

    Real-time prediction of environments predisposed to producing moderate-severe aviation turbulence is studied. We describe the numerical model and its postprocessing system designed for said prediction of environments predisposed to severe aviation turbulence as well as presenting numerous examples of its utility. The numerical model is MASS version 5.13, which is integrated over three different grid matrices in real time on a university work station in support of NASA Langley Research Center s B-757 turbulence research flight missions. The postprocessing system includes several turbulence-related products, including four turbulence forecasting indices, winds, streamlines, turbulence kinetic energy, and Richardson numbers. Additionally, there are convective products including precipitation, cloud height, cloud mass fluxes, lifted index, and K-index. Furthermore, soundings, sounding parameters, and Froude number plots are also provided. The horizontal cross-section plot products are provided from 16 000 to 46 000 ft in 2000-ft intervals. Products are available every 3 hours at the 60- and 30-km grid interval and every 1.5 hours at the 15-km grid interval. The model is initialized from the NWS ETA analyses and integrated two times a day.

  5. Cellular burning in lean premixed turbulent hydrogen-air flames: Coupling experimental and computational analysis at the laboratory scale

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Day, M S; Bell, J B; Beckner, V E; Lijewski, M J; Cheng, R K; Tachibana, S

    2009-01-01

    One strategy for reducing US dependence on petroleum is to develop new combustion technologies for burning the fuel-lean mixtures of hydrogen or hydrogen-rich syngas fuels obtained from the gasification of coal and biomass. Fuel-flexible combustion systems based on lean premixed combustion have the potential for dramatically reducing pollutant emissions in transportation systems, heat and stationary power generation. However, lean premixed flames are highly susceptible to fluid-dynamical combustion instabilities making robust and reliable systems difficult to design. Low swirl burners are emerging as an important technology for meeting design requirements in terms of both reliability and emissions for next generation combustion devices. In this paper, we present simulations of a lean, premixed hydrogen flame stabilized on a laboratory-scale low swirl burner. The simulations use detailed chemistry and transport without incorporating explicit models for turbulence or turbulence/chemistry interaction. Here we discuss the overall structure of the flame and compare with experimental data. We also use the simulation data to elucidate the characteristics of the turbulent flame interaction and how this impacts the analysis of experimental measurements.

  6. Turbulence and turbulence-generated structural loading in wind turbine clusters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frandsen, Sten Tronæs

    2007-01-01

    of the model is that it became part of the Danish standard for wind turbine design DS 472 (2001) in August 2001 and it is part of the corresponding international standard, IEC61400-1 (2005). Also, extreme loading under normal operation for wake conditions and the efficiency of very large wind farms......Turbulence - in terms of standard deviation of wind speed fluctuations - and other flow characteristics are different in the interior of wind farms relative to the free flow and action must be taken to ensure sufficient structural sustainability of the wind turbines exposed to “wind farm flow......”. The standard deviation of wind speed fluctuations is a known key parameter for both extreme- and fatigue loading, and it is argued and found to be justified that a model for change in turbulence intensity alone may account for increased fatigue loading in wind farms. Changes in scale of turbulence...

  7. Electron magnetic reconnection without ion coupling in Earth's turbulent magnetosheath

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phan, T. D.; Eastwood, J. P.; Shay, M. A.; Drake, J. F.; Sonnerup, B. U. Ö.; Fujimoto, M.; Cassak, P. A.; Øieroset, M.; Burch, J. L.; Torbert, R. B.; Rager, A. C.; Dorelli, J. C.; Gershman, D. J.; Pollock, C.; Pyakurel, P. S.; Haggerty, C. C.; Khotyaintsev, Y.; Lavraud, B.; Saito, Y.; Oka, M.; Ergun, R. E.; Retino, A.; Le Contel, O.; Argall, M. R.; Giles, B. L.; Moore, T. E.; Wilder, F. D.; Strangeway, R. J.; Russell, C. T.; Lindqvist, P. A.; Magnes, W.

    2018-05-01

    Magnetic reconnection in current sheets is a magnetic-to-particle energy conversion process that is fundamental to many space and laboratory plasma systems. In the standard model of reconnection, this process occurs in a minuscule electron-scale diffusion region1,2. On larger scales, ions couple to the newly reconnected magnetic-field lines and are ejected away from the diffusion region in the form of bi-directional ion jets at the ion Alfvén speed3-5. Much of the energy conversion occurs in spatially extended ion exhausts downstream of the diffusion region6. In turbulent plasmas, which contain a large number of small-scale current sheets, reconnection has long been suggested to have a major role in the dissipation of turbulent energy at kinetic scales7-11. However, evidence for reconnection plasma jetting in small-scale turbulent plasmas has so far been lacking. Here we report observations made in Earth's turbulent magnetosheath region (downstream of the bow shock) of an electron-scale current sheet in which diverging bi-directional super-ion-Alfvénic electron jets, parallel electric fields and enhanced magnetic-to-particle energy conversion were detected. Contrary to the standard model of reconnection, the thin reconnecting current sheet was not embedded in a wider ion-scale current layer and no ion jets were detected. Observations of this and other similar, but unidirectional, electron jet events without signatures of ion reconnection reveal a form of reconnection that can drive turbulent energy transfer and dissipation in electron-scale current sheets without ion coupling.

  8. Off-equilibrium infrared structure of self-interacting scalar fields: Universal scaling, vortex-antivortex superfluid dynamics, and Bose-Einstein condensation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Jian; Schlichting, Soeren; Venugopalan, Raju; Wang, Qun

    2018-05-01

    We map the infrared dynamics of a relativistic single-component (N =1 ) interacting scalar field theory to that of nonrelativistic complex scalar fields. The Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation, describing the real-time dynamics of single-component ultracold Bose gases, is obtained at first nontrivial order in an expansion proportional to the powers of λ ϕ2/m2 where λ , ϕ , and m are the coupling constant, the scalar field, and the particle mass respectively. Our analytical studies are corroborated by numerical simulations of the spatial and momentum structure of overoccupied scalar fields in (2+1)-dimensions. Universal scaling of infrared modes, vortex-antivortex superfluid dynamics, and the off-equilibrium formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate are observed. Our results for the universal scaling exponents are in agreement with those extracted in the numerical simulations of the GP equation. As in these simulations, we observe coarsening phase kinetics in the Bose superfluid with strongly anomalous scaling exponents relative to that of vertex resummed kinetic theory. Our relativistic field theory framework further allows one to study more closely the coupling between superfluid and normal fluid modes, specifically the turbulent momentum and spatial structure of the coupling between a quasiparticle cascade to the infrared and an energy cascade to the ultraviolet. We outline possible applications of the formalism to the dynamics of vortex-antivortex formation and to the off-equilibrium dynamics of the strongly interacting matter formed in heavy-ion collisions.

  9. Direct numerical simulation of turbulent reacting flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, J.H. [Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (United States)

    1993-12-01

    The development of turbulent combustion models that reflect some of the most important characteristics of turbulent reacting flows requires knowledge about the behavior of key quantities in well defined combustion regimes. In turbulent flames, the coupling between the turbulence and the chemistry is so strong in certain regimes that is is very difficult to isolate the role played by one individual phenomenon. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) is an extremely useful tool to study in detail the turbulence-chemistry interactions in certain well defined regimes. Globally, non-premixed flames are controlled by two limiting cases: the fast chemistry limit, where the turbulent fluctuations. In between these two limits, finite-rate chemical effects are important and the turbulence interacts strongly with the chemical processes. This regime is important because industrial burners operate in regimes in which, locally the flame undergoes extinction, or is at least in some nonequilibrium condition. Furthermore, these nonequilibrium conditions strongly influence the production of pollutants. To quantify the finite-rate chemistry effect, direct numerical simulations are performed to study the interaction between an initially laminar non-premixed flame and a three-dimensional field of homogeneous isotropic decaying turbulence. Emphasis is placed on the dynamics of extinction and on transient effects on the fine scale mixing process. Differential molecular diffusion among species is also examined with this approach, both for nonreacting and reacting situations. To address the problem of large-scale mixing and to examine the effects of mean shear, efforts are underway to perform large eddy simulations of round three-dimensional jets.

  10. The Student Perception of University Support and Structure Scale: Development and Validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wintre, Maxine G.; Gates, Shawn K. E.; Pancer, W. Mark; Pratt, Michael S.; Polivy, Janet; Birnie-Lefcovitch, S.; Adams, Gerald

    2009-01-01

    A new scale, the Student Perception of University Support and Structure Scale (SPUSS), was developed for research on the transition to university. The scale was based on concepts derived from Baumrind's (1971) theory of parenting styles. Data were obtained from two separate cohorts of freshmen (n=759 and 397) attending six Canadian universities of…

  11. Some Aspects of Scaling and Universality in Magnetocaloric Materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Smith, Anders; Nielsen, Kaspar Kirstein; Bahl, Christian R.H.

    2014-01-01

    The magnetocaloric effect of a magnetic material is characterized by two quantities, the isothermal entropy change and the adiabatic temperature change, both of which are functions of temperature and applied magnetic field. We discuss the scaling properties of these quantities close to a second...... order phase transition within the context of critical scaling theory. In the critical region the isothermal entropy change will exhibit universal scaling exponents. However, this is only true close to Tc and for small fields; we show that for finite fields the scaling exponents in general become field...... dependent, even at Tc. Furthermore, the scaling exponents at finite fields are not universal: Two models with the same critical exponents can exhibit markedly different scaling behaviour even at relatively low fields. Turning to the adiabatic temperature change, we argue that it is not determined...

  12. Energy Spectra of Vortex Distributions in Two-Dimensional Quantum Turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashton S. Bradley

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available We theoretically explore key concepts of two-dimensional turbulence in a homogeneous compressible superfluid described by a dissipative two-dimensional Gross-Pitaeveskii equation. Such a fluid supports quantized vortices that have a size characterized by the healing length ξ. We show that, for the divergence-free portion of the superfluid velocity field, the kinetic-energy spectrum over wave number k may be decomposed into an ultraviolet regime (k≫ξ^{-1} having a universal k^{-3} scaling arising from the vortex core structure, and an infrared regime (k≪ξ^{-1} with a spectrum that arises purely from the configuration of the vortices. The Novikov power-law distribution of intervortex distances with exponent -1/3 for vortices of the same sign of circulation leads to an infrared kinetic-energy spectrum with a Kolmogorov k^{-5/3} power law, which is consistent with the existence of an inertial range. The presence of these k^{-3} and k^{-5/3} power laws, together with the constraint of continuity at the smallest configurational scale k≈ξ^{-1}, allows us to derive a new analytical expression for the Kolmogorov constant that we test against a numerical simulation of a forced homogeneous, compressible, two-dimensional superfluid. The numerical simulation corroborates our analysis of the spectral features of the kinetic-energy distribution, once we introduce the concept of a clustered fraction consisting of the fraction of vortices that have the same sign of circulation as their nearest neighboring vortices. Our analysis presents a new approach to understanding two-dimensional quantum turbulence and interpreting similarities and differences with classical two-dimensional turbulence, and suggests new methods to characterize vortex turbulence in two-dimensional quantum fluids via vortex position and circulation measurements.

  13. Role of Elasto-Inertial Turbulence in Polymer Drag Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubief, Yves; Sid, Samir; Terrapon, Vincent

    2017-11-01

    Elasto-Inertial Turbulence (EIT) is a peculiar state of turbulence found in dilute polymer solutions flowing in parallel wall flows over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. At subcritical Reynolds numbers, appropriate boundary conditions trigger EIT, a self-sustaining cycle of energy transfers between thin sheets of stretched polymers and velocity perturbations, which translates into an increase of friction drag. For critical and supercritical Reynolds numbers, polymer additives may lead to significant drag reduction, bounded by the asymptotic state known as Maximum Drag Reduction (MDR). The present research investigates the role of EIT in the dynamics of critical and supercritical Reynolds number wall flows. Using high-fidelity direct numerical simulations of channel flows and the FENE-P model, we establish that (i) EIT is two-dimensional, (ii) the scales essential to the existence of EIT are sub-Kolmogorov, and (iii) EIT drives MDR at low and possibly moderate Reynolds number turbulent flows. These findings were validated in two different codes and using unprecedented resolutions for polymer flows. YD is grateful for the support of Binational Science Foundation. SS and VT acknowledges Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), MarieCurie Career Integration Grant and computing allocation from University of Liege and PRACE.

  14. Experimental scaling law for the subcritical transition to turbulence in plane Poiseuille flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemoult, Grégoire; Aider, Jean-Luc; Wesfreid, José Eduardo

    2012-02-01

    We present an experimental study of the transition to turbulence in a plane Poiseuille flow. Using a well-controlled perturbation, we analyze the flow by using extensive particle image velocimetry and flow visualization (using laser-induced fluorescence) measurements, and use the deformation of the mean velocity profile as a criterion to characterize the state of the flow. From a large parametric study, four different states are defined, depending on the values of the Reynolds number and the amplitude of the perturbation. We discuss the role of coherent structures, such as hairpin vortices, in the transition. We find that the minimal amplitude of the perturbation triggering transition scales asymptotically as Re(-1).

  15. Chaotic Lagrangian models for turbulent relative dispersion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lacorata, Guglielmo; Vulpiani, Angelo

    2017-04-01

    A deterministic multiscale dynamical system is introduced and discussed as a prototype model for relative dispersion in stationary, homogeneous, and isotropic turbulence. Unlike stochastic diffusion models, here trajectory transport and mixing properties are entirely controlled by Lagrangian chaos. The anomalous "sweeping effect," a known drawback common to kinematic simulations, is removed through the use of quasi-Lagrangian coordinates. Lagrangian dispersion statistics of the model are accurately analyzed by computing the finite-scale Lyapunov exponent (FSLE), which is the optimal measure of the scaling properties of dispersion. FSLE scaling exponents provide a severe test to decide whether model simulations are in agreement with theoretical expectations and/or observation. The results of our numerical experiments cover a wide range of "Reynolds numbers" and show that chaotic deterministic flows can be very efficient, and numerically low-cost, models of turbulent trajectories in stationary, homogeneous, and isotropic conditions. The mathematics of the model is relatively simple, and, in a geophysical context, potential applications may regard small-scale parametrization issues in general circulation models, mixed layer, and/or boundary layer turbulence models as well as Lagrangian predictability studies.

  16. Vortex dynamics and Lagrangian statistics in a model for active turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Martin; Wilczek, Michael

    2018-02-14

    Cellular suspensions such as dense bacterial flows exhibit a turbulence-like phase under certain conditions. We study this phenomenon of "active turbulence" statistically by using numerical tools. Following Wensink et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 14308 (2012)), we model active turbulence by means of a generalized Navier-Stokes equation. Two-point velocity statistics of active turbulence, both in the Eulerian and the Lagrangian frame, is explored. We characterize the scale-dependent features of two-point statistics in this system. Furthermore, we extend this statistical study with measurements of vortex dynamics in this system. Our observations suggest that the large-scale statistics of active turbulence is close to Gaussian with sub-Gaussian tails.

  17. Turbulent effective absorptivity and refractivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rax, J.M.

    1984-09-01

    The problem of wave propagation in a turbulent magnetized plasma is investigated. Considering small scale, low frequency density fluctuations we solve the Maxwell equations and show that the eikonal approximation remains valid with an effective refractivity and an effective absorptivity taking into account the energy diffusion due to the turbulent motion. Then the result is applied to the problem of lower hybrid waves scattering by drift waves density fluctuations in tokamaks

  18. The H i-to-H{sub 2} Transition in a Turbulent Medium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bialy, Shmuel; Sternberg, Amiel [Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978 (Israel); Burkhart, Blakesley, E-mail: shmuelbi@mail.tau.ac.il [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA (United States)

    2017-07-10

    We study the effect of density fluctuations induced by turbulence on the H i/H{sub 2} structure in photodissociation regions (PDRs) both analytically and numerically. We perform magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations for both subsonic and supersonic turbulent gas and chemical H i/H{sub 2} balance calculations. We derive atomic-to-molecular density profiles and the H i column density probability density function (PDF) assuming chemical equilibrium. We find that, while the H i/H{sub 2} density profiles are strongly perturbed in turbulent gas, the mean H i column density is well approximated by the uniform-density analytic formula of Sternberg et al. The PDF width depends on (a) the radiation intensity–to–mean density ratio, (b) the sonic Mach number, and (c) the turbulence decorrelation scale, or driving scale. We derive an analytic model for the H i PDF and demonstrate how our model, combined with 21 cm observations, can be used to constrain the Mach number and driving scale of turbulent gas. As an example, we apply our model to observations of H i in the Perseus molecular cloud. We show that a narrow observed H i PDF may imply small-scale decorrelation, pointing to the potential importance of subcloud-scale turbulence driving.

  19. Turbulent diffusion modelling for windflow and dispersion analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartzis, J.G.

    1988-01-01

    The need for simple but reliable models for turbulent diffusion for windflow and atmospheric dispersion analysis is a necessity today if one takes into consideration the relatively high demand in computer time and costs for such an analysis, arising mainly from the often large solution domains needed, the terrain complexity and the transient nature of the phenomena. In the accident consequence assessment often there is a need for a relatively large number of cases to be analysed increasing further the computer time and costs. Within the framework of searching for relatively simple and universal eddy viscosity/diffusivity models, a new three dimensional non isotropic model is proposed applicable to any domain complexity and any atmospheric stability conditions. The model utilizes the transport equation for turbulent kinetic energy but introduces a new approach in effective length scale estimation based on the flow global characteristics and local atmospheric stability. The model is discussed in detail and predictions are given for flow field and boundary layer thickness. The results are compared with experimental data with satisfactory results

  20. Existence of k⁻¹ power-law scaling in the equilibrium regions of wall-bounded turbulence explained by Heisenberg's eddy viscosity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katul, Gabriel G; Porporato, Amilcare; Nikora, Vladimir

    2012-12-01

    The existence of a "-1" power-law scaling at low wavenumbers in the longitudinal velocity spectrum of wall-bounded turbulence was explained by multiple mechanisms; however, experimental support has not been uniform across laboratory studies. This letter shows that Heisenberg's eddy viscosity approach can provide a theoretical framework that bridges these multiple mechanisms and explains the elusiveness of the "-1" power law in some experiments. Novel theoretical outcomes are conjectured about the role of intermittency and very-large scale motions in modifying the k⁻¹ scaling.

  1. On the theory of turbulent flame velocity

    OpenAIRE

    Bychkov, Vitaly; Akkerman, Vyacheslav; Petchenko, Arkady

    2012-01-01

    The renormalization ideas of self-similar dynamics of a strongly turbulent flame front are applied to the case of a flame with realistically large thermal expansion of the burning matter. In that case a flame front is corrugated both by external turbulence and the intrinsic flame instability. The analytical formulas for the velocity of flame propagation are obtained. It is demonstrated that the flame instability is of principal importance when the integral turbulent length scale is much large...

  2. Kinetic energy budgets near the turbulent/nonturbulent interface in jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taveira, Rodrigo R.; da Silva, Carlos B.

    2013-01-01

    The dynamics of the kinetic energy near the turbulent/nonturbulent (T/NT) interface separating the turbulent from the irrotational flow regions is analysed using three direct numerical simulations of turbulent planar jets, with Reynolds numbers based on the Taylor micro-scale across the jet shear layer in the range Reλ ≈ 120-160. Important levels of kinetic energy are already present in the irrotational region near the T/NT interface. The mean pressure and kinetic energy are well described by the Bernoulli equation in this region and agree with recent results obtained from rapid distortion theory in the turbulent region [M. A. C. Teixeira and C. B. da Silva, "Turbulence dynamics near a turbulent/non-turbulent interface," J. Fluid Mech. 695, 257-287 (2012)], 10.1017/jfm.2012.17 while the normal Reynolds stresses agree with the theoretical predictions from Phillips ["The irrotational motion outside a free turbulent boundary," Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 51, 220 (1955)], 10.1017/S0305004100030073. The use of conditional statistics in relation to the distance from the T/NT interface allow a detailed study of the build up of kinetic energy across the T/NT interface, pointing to a very different picture than using classical statistics. Conditional kinetic energy budgets show that apart from the viscous dissipation of kinetic energy, the maximum of all the mechanisms governing the kinetic energy are concentrated in a very narrow region distancing about one to two Taylor micro-scales from the T/NT interface. The (total and fluctuating) kinetic energy starts increasing in the irrotational region by pressure-velocity interactions - a mechanism that can act at distance, and continue to grow by advection (for the total kinetic energy) and turbulent diffusion (for the turbulent kinetic energy) inside the turbulent region. These mechanisms tend to occur preferentially around the core of the large-scale vortices existing near T/NT interface. The production of turbulent

  3. Probes of large-scale structure in the Universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suto, Yasushi; Gorski, K.; Juszkiewicz, R.; Silk, J.

    1988-01-01

    Recent progress in observational techniques has made it possible to confront quantitatively various models for the large-scale structure of the Universe with detailed observational data. We develop a general formalism to show that the gravitational instability theory for the origin of large-scale structure is now capable of critically confronting observational results on cosmic microwave background radiation angular anisotropies, large-scale bulk motions and large-scale clumpiness in the galaxy counts. (author)

  4. ESTIMATION OF TURBULENT DIFFUSIVITY WITH DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF STELLAR CONVECTION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hotta, H.; Iida, Y.; Yokoyama, T., E-mail: hotta.h@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

    2012-05-20

    We investigate the value of horizontal turbulent diffusivity {eta} by numerical calculation of thermal convection. In this study, we introduce a new method whereby the turbulent diffusivity is estimated by monitoring the time development of the passive scalar, which is initially distributed in a given Gaussian function with a spatial scale d{sub 0}. Our conclusions are as follows: (1) assuming the relation {eta} = L{sub c} v{sub rms}/3, where v{sub rms} is the root-mean-square (rms) velocity, the characteristic length L{sub c} is restricted by the shortest one among the pressure (density) scale height and the region depth. (2) The value of turbulent diffusivity becomes greater with the larger initial distribution scale d{sub 0}. (3) The approximation of turbulent diffusion holds better when the ratio of the initial distribution scale d{sub 0} to the characteristic length L{sub c} is larger.

  5. The role of the intense vorticity structures in the turbulent structure of the jet edge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reis, Ricardo J. N.; da Silva, Carlos B.; Pereira, José C. F.

    In free shear flows (jets, mixing layers and wakes) there is an highly contorted interface dividing the turbulent from the non-turbulent flow: the turbulent/non-turbulent (T/NT) interface. Across this interface important exchanges of mass, momentum and heat take place, in a process known as turbulent entrainment. Recently, the classical idea of the turbulent entrainment caused by engulfing [1] have been questioned, and it has been shown that the entrainment is mainly caused by small scale eddy motions (nibbling) [2, 3]). However, it is still argued that the entrainment rate is still largely governed by the large scale motions induced by the intense vorticity structures (IVS). The goal of the present work is to assess characterize the geometry and analyze the influence of these large scales structures in shaping the turbulent/nonturbulent interface.

  6. Whither turbulence and big data in the 21st century?

    CERN Document Server

    Castillo, Luciano; Danaila, Luminita; Glauser, Mark

    2017-01-01

    This volume provides a snapshot of the current and future trends in turbulence research across a range of disciplines. It provides an overview of the key challenges that face scientific and engineering communities in the context of huge databases of turbulence information currently being generated, yet poorly mined. These challenges include coherent structures and their control, wall turbulence and control, multi-scale turbulence, the impact of turbulence on energy generation and turbulence data manipulation strategies. The motivation for this volume is to assist the reader to make physical sense of these data deluges so as to inform both the research community as well as to advance practical outcomes from what is learned. Outcomes presented in this collection provide industry with information that impacts their activities, such as minimizing impact of wind farms, opportunities for understanding large scale wind events and large eddy simulation of the hydrodynamics of bays and lakes thereby increasing energy ...

  7. Hydrodynamical and magnetohydrodynamic global bifurcations in a highly turbulent von Karman flow; Bifurcations globales hydrodynamiques et magnetohydrodynamiques dans un ecoulement de von Karman turbulent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ravelet, F

    2005-09-15

    We report experimental studies of the turbulent von Karman flow, inertially stirred between counter-rotating impellers. We first study the flow and its transition from laminar to turbulent regime. We highlight the role of slowly varying large scales, due to the presence of an azimuthal mixing layer. The large scales of this flow can be unstable in turbulent regime. We study the statistics of the transitions between the different mean states. The second part is dedicated to an experiment in liquid sodium, called VKS2. We optimize the time-averaged flow in order to allow kinematic dynamo action. We report the very first results of the experiment, and discuss the role of the large scales temporal non-stationariness. (author)

  8. Random forcing of geostrophic motion in rotating stratified turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waite, Michael L.

    2017-12-01

    Random forcing of geostrophic motion is a common approach in idealized simulations of rotating stratified turbulence. Such forcing represents the injection of energy into large-scale balanced motion, and the resulting breakdown of quasi-geostrophic turbulence into inertia-gravity waves and stratified turbulence can shed light on the turbulent cascade processes of the atmospheric mesoscale. White noise forcing is commonly employed, which excites all frequencies equally, including frequencies much higher than the natural frequencies of large-scale vortices. In this paper, the effects of these high frequencies in the forcing are investigated. Geostrophic motion is randomly forced with red noise over a range of decorrelation time scales τ, from a few time steps to twice the large-scale vortex time scale. It is found that short τ (i.e., nearly white noise) results in about 46% more gravity wave energy than longer τ, despite the fact that waves are not directly forced. We argue that this effect is due to wave-vortex interactions, through which the high frequencies in the forcing are able to excite waves at their natural frequencies. It is concluded that white noise forcing should be avoided, even if it is only applied to the geostrophic motion, when a careful investigation of spontaneous wave generation is needed.

  9. Suppression of Phase Mixing in Drift-Kinetic Plasma Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, J. T.; Dellar, P. J.; Schekochihin, A. A.; Highcock, E. G.

    2017-12-01

    The solar wind and interstellar medium are examples of strongly magnetised, weakly collisional, astrophysical plasmas. Their turbulent fluctuations are strongly anisotropic, with small amplitudes, and frequencies much lower than the Larmor frequency. This regime is described by gyrokinetic theory, a reduced five-dimensional kinetic system describing averages over Larmor orbits. A turbulent plasma may transfer free energy, a measure of fluctuation amplitudes, from injection at large scales, typically by an instability, to dissipation at small physical scales like a turbulent fluid. Alternatively, a turbulent plasma may form fine scale structures in velocity space via phase-mixing, the mechanism that leads to Landau damping in linear plasma theory. Macroscopic plasma properties like heat and momentum transport are affected by both mechanisms. While each is understood in isolation, their interaction is not. We study this interaction using a Hankel-Hermite velocity space representation of gyrokinetic theory. The Hankel transform interacts neatly with the Bessel functions that arise from averaging over Larmor orbits, so the perpendicular velocity space is decoupled for linearized problems. The Hermite transform expresses phase mixing as nearest-neighbor coupling between parallel velocity space scales represented by Hermite mode numbers. We use this representation to study transfer mechanisms in drift-kinetic plasma turbulence, the long wavelength limit of gyrokinetic theory. We show that phase space is divided into two regions, with one transfer mechanism dominating in each. Most energy is contained in the region where the fluid-like nonlinear cascade dominates. Moreover, in that region the nonlinear cascade interferes with phase mixing by exciting an "anti phase mixing" transfer of free energy from small to large velocity space scales. This cancels out the usual phase mixing, and renders the overall behavior fluid-like. These results profoundly change our understanding

  10. Experimental investigation of torque scaling and coherent structures in turbulent Taylor–Couette flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tokgoz, S; Elsinga, G E; Delfos, R; Westerweel, J

    2011-01-01

    The effect of flow structures to the torque values of fully turbulent Taylor-Couette flow was experimentally studied using tomographic PIV. The measurements were performed for various relative cylinder rotation speeds and Reynolds numbers, based on a study of Ravelet et al. (2010). We confirmed that the flow structures are strongly influenced by the rotation number. Our analyses using time-averaged mean flow showed the presence of Taylor vortices for the two smallest rotation numbers that were studied. Increasing the rotation number initially resulted in the shape deformation of the Taylor vortices. Further increment towards only outer cylinder rotation, showed transition to the dominance of the small scale vortices and absence of Taylor vortex-like structures. We compared the transition of the flow structures with the curves of dimensionless torque. Sudden changes of the flow structures confirmed the presence of transition points on the torque curve, where the dominance of small and large scale vortical structures on the mean flow interchanges.

  11. Behaviour of turbulence models near a turbulent/non-turbulent interface revisited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrey, P.; Aupoix, B.

    2006-01-01

    The behaviour of turbulence models near a turbulent/non-turbulent interface is investigated. The analysis holds as well for two-equation as for Reynolds stress turbulence models using Daly and Harlow diffusion model. The behaviour near the interface is shown not to be a power law, as usually considered, but a more complex parametric solution. Why previous works seemed to numerically confirm the power law solution is explained. Constraints for turbulence modelling, i.e., for ensuring that models have a good behaviour near a turbulent/non-turbulent interface so that the solution is not sensitive to small turbulence levels imposed in the irrotational flow, are drawn

  12. Scaling and universality of ac conduction in disordered solids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schrøder, Thomas; Dyre, Jeppe

    2000-01-01

    Recent scaling results for the ac conductivity of ionic glasses by Roling et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2160 (1997)] and Sidebottom [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3653 (1999)] are discussed. We prove that Sidebottom's version of scaling is completely general. A new approximation to the universal ac conduct...... conductivity arising in the extreme disorder limit of the symmetric hopping model, the "diffusion cluster approximation," is presented and compared to computer simulations and experiments.......Recent scaling results for the ac conductivity of ionic glasses by Roling et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2160 (1997)] and Sidebottom [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3653 (1999)] are discussed. We prove that Sidebottom's version of scaling is completely general. A new approximation to the universal ac...

  13. Sudden Relaminarization and Lifetimes in Forced Isotropic Turbulence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linkmann, Moritz F; Morozov, Alexander

    2015-09-25

    We demonstrate an unexpected connection between isotropic turbulence and wall-bounded shear flows. We perform direct numerical simulations of isotropic turbulence forced at large scales at moderate Reynolds numbers and observe sudden transitions from a chaotic dynamics to a spatially simple flow, analogous to the laminar state in wall bounded shear flows. We find that the survival probabilities of turbulence are exponential and the typical lifetimes increase superexponentially with the Reynolds number. Our results suggest that both isotropic turbulence and wall-bounded shear flows qualitatively share the same phase-space dynamics.

  14. Turbulent intermittent structure in non-homogeneous non-local flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahjoub, O. B.; Castilla, R.; Vindel, J. M.; Redondo, J. M.

    2010-05-01

    Data from SABLES98 experimental campaign have been used in order to study the influence of stability (from weak to strong stratification) on intermittency [1]. Standard instrumentation, 14 thermocouples and 3 sonic anemometers at three levels (5.8, 13.5 and 32 m) were available in September 1998 and calculations are done in order to evaluate structure functions and the scale to scale characteristics. Using BDF [2-4] as well as other models of cascades, the spectral equilibrium values were used to calculate fluxes of momentum and heat as well as non-homogeneous models and the turbulent mixing produced. The differences in structure and higher order moments between stable, convective and neutral turbulence were used to identify differences in turbulent intermittent mixing and velocity PDF's. The intermittency of atmospheric turbulence in strongly stable situations affected by buoyancy and internal waves are seen to modify the structure functions exponents and intermittency, depending on the modulus of the Richardson's number,Ri, as well as of the Monin-Obukhov and Ozmidov lengthscales. The topological aspects of the turbulence affected by stratification reduce the vertical length-scales to a maximum described by the Thorpe and the Ozmidov lenth-scales, but intermittency, Kurtosis and other higher order descriptors of the turbulence based on spectral wavelet analysis are also affected in a complex way [5,6]. The relationship between stratification, intermittency, µ(Ri) and the fractal dimension of the stable flows and between the dispersion, the fractal dimension are discussed. The data analyzed is from the campaign SABLES-98 at the north-west Iberian Peninsula plateau.(Cuxart et al. 2000). Conditional statistics of the relationship between µ(Ri) are confirmed as in (Vindel et al 2008)[4] and compared with laboratory experiments and with 2D-3D aspects of the turbulence cascade. The use of BDF [3] model comparing the corresponding relative scaling exponents which are

  15. Is Fish Response related to Velocity and Turbulence Magnitudes? (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, C. A.; Hockley, F. A.; Cable, J.

    2013-12-01

    Riverine fish are subject to heterogeneous velocities and turbulence, and may use this to their advantage by selecting regions which balance energy expenditure for station holding whilst maximising energy gain through feeding opportunities. This study investigated microhabitat selection by guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in terms of the three-dimensional velocity structure generated by idealised boulders in an experimental flume. Velocity and turbulence influenced intra-species variation in swimming behaviour with respect to size, sex and parasite intensity. With increasing body length, fish swam further and more frequently between boulder regions. Larger guppies spent more time in the high velocity and low turbulence region, whereas smaller guppies preferred the low velocity and high shear stress region directly behind the boulders. Male guppies selected the region of low velocity, indicating a possible reduced swimming ability due to hydrodynamic drag imposed by their fins. With increasing parasite (Gyrodactylus turnbulli) burden, fish preferentially selected the region of moderate velocity which had the lowest bulk measure of turbulence of all regions and was also the most spatially homogeneous velocity and turbulence region. Overall the least amount of time was spent in the recirculation zone which had the highest magnitude of shear stresses and mean vertical turbulent length scale to fish length ratio. Shear stresses were a factor of two greater than in the most frequented moderate velocity region, while mean vertical turbulent length scale to fish length ratio were six times greater. Indeed the mean longitudinal turbulent scale was 2-6 times greater than the fish length in all regions. While it is impossible to discriminate between these two turbulence parameters (shear stress and turbulent length to fish length ratio) in influencing the fish preference, our study infers that there is a bias towards fish spending more time in a region where both the bulk

  16. Evaluation of Scaling Approaches for the Oceanic Dissipation Rate of Turbulent Kinetic Energy in the Surface Ocean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esters, L. T.; Ward, B.; Sutherland, G.; Ten Doeschate, A.; Landwehr, S.; Bell, T. G.; Christensen, K. H.

    2016-02-01

    The air-sea exchange of heat, gas and momentum plays an important role for the Earth's weather and global climate. The exchange processes between ocean and atmosphere are influenced by the prevailing surface ocean dynamics. This surface ocean is a highly turbulent region where there is enhanced production of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). The dissipation rate of TKE (ɛ) in the surface ocean is an important process for governing the depth of both the mixing and mixed layers, which are important length-scales for many aspects of ocean research. However, there exist very limited observations of ɛ under open ocean conditions and consequently our understanding of how to model the dissipation profile is very limited. The approaches to model profiles of ɛ that exist, differ by orders of magnitude depending on their underlying theoretical assumption and included physical processes. Therefore, scaling ɛ is not straight forward and requires open ocean measurements of ɛ to validate the respective scaling laws. This validated scaling of ɛ, is for example required to produce accurate mixed layer depths in global climate models. Errors in the depth of the ocean surface boundary layer can lead to biases in sea surface temperature. Here, we present open ocean measurements of ɛ from the Air-Sea Interaction Profiler (ASIP) collected during several cruises in different ocean basins. ASIP is an autonomous upwardly rising microstructure profiler allowing undisturbed profiling up to the ocean surface. These direct measurements of ɛ under various types of atmospheric and oceanic conditions along with measurements of atmospheric fluxes and wave conditions allow us to make a unique assessment of several scaling approaches based on wind, wave and buoyancy forcing. This will allow us to best assess the most appropriate ɛ-based parameterisation for air-sea exchange.

  17. Spectrum evolution of primordial cosmic turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Futamase, T.; Matsuda, T.

    1980-01-01

    The evolution of primordial cosmic turbulence prior to the epoch of plasma recombination is investigated numerically using the Wiener-Hermite expansion technique which gives reasonable results for laboratory turbulence. It is found that the Kolmogorov spectrum is established only within a narrow range of wavenumber space for reasonable parameter sets, because the expansion of the Universe has a tendency to suppress an energy cascade from larger eddies to smaller ones. The present result does not agree with that obtained by Kurskov and Ozernoi, who computed the decay of turbulence in a fictitious non-expanding frame using the Heisenberg closure hypothesis, while it was done in a physical frame in the present work. (author)

  18. Flux driven turbulence in tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garbet, X.; Ghendrih, P.; Ottaviani, M.; Sarazin, Y.; Beyer, P.; Benkadda, S.; Waltz, R.E.

    1999-01-01

    This work deals with tokamak plasma turbulence in the case where fluxes are fixed and profiles are allowed to fluctuate. These systems are intermittent. In particular, radially propagating fronts, are usually observed over a broad range of time and spatial scales. The existence of these fronts provide a way to understand the fast transport events sometimes observed in tokamaks. It is also shown that the confinement scaling law can still be of the gyroBohm type in spite of these large scale transport events. Some departure from the gyroBohm prediction is observed at low flux, i.e. when the gradients are close to the instability threshold. Finally, it is found that the diffusivity is not the same for a turbulence calculated at fixed flux than at fixed temperature gradient, with the same time averaged profile. (author)

  19. Exact Turbulence Law in Collisionless Plasmas: Hybrid Simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hellinger, P.; Verdini, A.; Landi, S.; Franci, L.; Matteini, L.

    2017-12-01

    An exact vectorial law for turbulence in homogeneous incompressible Hall-MHD is derived and tested in two-dimensional hybrid simulations of plasma turbulence. The simulations confirm the validity of the MHD exact law in the kinetic regime, the simulated turbulence exhibits a clear inertial range on large scales where the MHD cascade flux dominates. The simulation results also indicate that in the sub-ion range the cascade continues via the Hall term and that the total cascade rate tends to decrease at around the ion scales, especially in high-beta plasmas. This decrease is like owing to formation of non-thermal features, such as collisionless ion energization, that can not be retained in the Hall MHD approximation.

  20. 3D fluid simulations of tokamak edge turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zeiler, A.; Biskamp, D.; Drake, J.F.; Guzdar, P.N.

    1995-09-01

    3D simulations of drift resistive ballooning turbulence are presented. The turbulence is basically controlled by a parameter α, the ratio of the drift wave frequency to the ideal ballooning growth rate. If this parameters is small (α≤1, corresponding to Ohmic or L-mode plasmas), the system is dominated by ballooning turbulence, which is strongly peaked at the outside of the torus. If it is large (α≥1, corresponding to H-mode plasmas) field line curvature plays a minor role. The turbulence is nonlinearly sustained even if curvature is removed and all modes are linearly stable due to magnetic shear. In the nonlinear regime without curvature the system obeys a different scaling law compared to the low α regime. The transport scaling is discussed in both regimes and the implications for OH-, L-mode and H-mode transport are discussed. (orig.)

  1. Bioinspired surfaces for turbulent drag reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golovin, Kevin B; Gose, James W; Perlin, Marc; Ceccio, Steven L; Tuteja, Anish

    2016-08-06

    In this review, we discuss how superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) can provide friction drag reduction in turbulent flow. Whereas biomimetic SHSs are known to reduce drag in laminar flow, turbulence adds many new challenges. We first provide an overview on designing SHSs, and how these surfaces can cause slip in the laminar regime. We then discuss recent studies evaluating drag on SHSs in turbulent flow, both computationally and experimentally. The effects of streamwise and spanwise slip for canonical, structured surfaces are well characterized by direct numerical simulations, and several experimental studies have validated these results. However, the complex and hierarchical textures of scalable SHSs that can be applied over large areas generate additional complications. Many studies on such surfaces have measured no drag reduction, or even a drag increase in turbulent flow. We discuss how surface wettability, roughness effects and some newly found scaling laws can help explain these varied results. Overall, we discuss how, to effectively reduce drag in turbulent flow, an SHS should have: preferentially streamwise-aligned features to enhance favourable slip, a capillary resistance of the order of megapascals, and a roughness no larger than 0.5, when non-dimensionalized by the viscous length scale.This article is part of the themed issue 'Bioinspired hierarchically structured surfaces for green science'. © 2016 The Author(s).

  2. Dynamic Stochastic Superresolution of sparsely observed turbulent systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Branicki, M.; Majda, A.J.

    2013-01-01

    Real-time capture of the relevant features of the unresolved turbulent dynamics of complex natural systems from sparse noisy observations and imperfect models is a notoriously difficult problem. The resulting lack of observational resolution and statistical accuracy in estimating the important turbulent processes, which intermittently send significant energy to the large-scale fluctuations, hinders efficient parameterization and real-time prediction using discretized PDE models. This issue is particularly subtle and important when dealing with turbulent geophysical systems with an vast range of interacting spatio-temporal scales and rough energy spectra near the mesh scale of numerical models. Here, we introduce and study a suite of general Dynamic Stochastic Superresolution (DSS) algorithms and show that, by appropriately filtering sparse regular observations with the help of cheap stochastic exactly solvable models, one can derive stochastically ‘superresolved’ velocity fields and gain insight into the important characteristics of the unresolved dynamics, including the detection of the so-called black swans. The DSS algorithms operate in Fourier domain and exploit the fact that the coarse observation network aliases high-wavenumber information into the resolved waveband. It is shown that these cheap algorithms are robust and have significant skill on a test bed of turbulent solutions from realistic nonlinear turbulent spatially extended systems in the presence of a significant model error. In particular, the DSS algorithms are capable of successfully capturing time-localized extreme events in the unresolved modes, and they provide good and robust skill for recovery of the unresolved processes in terms of pattern correlation. Moreover, we show that DSS improves the skill for recovering the primary modes associated with the sparse observation mesh which is equally important in applications. The skill of the various DSS algorithms depends on the energy spectrum

  3. Development of a large scale structure in the rod gap region for turbulent in-line flow through closely spaced rod arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hooper, J.D.

    1984-01-01

    Experimental studies of developed axial single-phase flow through closely spaced rod arrays have shown, with reducing p/d ratio, the development of high axial and azimuthal turbulence intensities in the rod gap region. Associated with this is the existence of very high levels of the azimuthal Reynolds shear stress component either side of the rod gap centre. Spatial correlation analysis of the three turbulent velocity components has shown a large scale coherent and almost periodic structure in the rod gap region. The structure is markedly different to the currently accepted secondary flow model. 14 references

  4. Synthetic three-dimensional turbulent passive scalar fields via the minimal Lagrangian map

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosales, Carlos

    2011-07-01

    A method for simple but realistic generation of three-dimensional synthetic turbulent passive scalar fields is presented. The method is an extension of the minimal turnover Lagrangian map approach (MTLM) [C. Rosales and C. Meneveau, Phys. Rev. E 78, 016313 (2008)] formulated for the generation of synthetic turbulent velocity fields. In this development, the minimal Lagrangian map is applied to deform simultaneously a vector field and an advected scalar field. This deformation takes place over a hierarchy of spatial scales encompassing a range from integral to dissipative scales. For each scale, fluid particles are mapped transporting the scalar property, without interaction or diffusional effects, from their initial configuration to new positions determined only by their velocity at the beginning of the motion and a parameter chosen to accumulate deformation for the equivalent of the phenomenological "turn-over" time scale. The procedure is studied for the case of inertial-convective regime. It is found that many features of passive scalar turbulence are well reproduced by this simple kinematical construction. Fundamental statistics of the resulting synthetic scalar fields, evaluated through the flatness and probability density functions of the scalar gradient and scalar increments, reproduce quite well the known statistical characteristics of passive scalars in turbulent fields. High-order statistics are also consistent with those observed in real hydrodynamic turbulence. The anomalous scaling of real turbulence is well reproduced for different kind of structure functions, with good quantitative agreement in general, for the scaling exponents. The spatial structure of the scalar field is also quite realistic, as well as several characteristics of the dissipation fields for the scalar variance and kinetic energy. Similarly, the statistical geometry at dissipative scales that ensues from the coupling of velocity and scalar gradients behaves in agreement with what is

  5. Regeneration of near-wall turbulence structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, James M.; Kim, John J.; Waleffe, Fabian A.

    1993-01-01

    An examination of the regeneration mechanisms of near-wall turbulence and an attempt to investigate the critical Reynolds number conjecture of Waleffe & Kim is presented. The basis is an extension of the 'minimal channel' approach of Jimenez and Moin which emphasizes the near-wall region and further reduces the complexity of the turbulent flow. Reduction of the flow Reynolds number to the minimum value which will allow turbulence to be sustained has the effect of reducing the ratio of the largest scales to the smallest scales or, equivalently, of causing the near-wall region to fill more of the area between the channel walls. In addition, since each wall may have an active near-wall region, half of the channel is always somewhat redundant. If a plane Couette flow is instead chosen as the base flow, this redundancy is eliminated: the mean shear of a plane Couette flow has a single sign, and at low Reynolds numbers, the two wall regions share a single set of structures. A minimal flow with these modifications possesses, by construction, the strongest constraints which allow sustained turbulence, producing a greatly simplified flow in which the regeneration process can be examined.

  6. Dissipation of Turbulence in the Solar Wind as Measured by Cluster

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Melvyn

    2012-01-01

    Turbulence in fluids and plasmas is a scale-dependent process that generates fluctuations towards ever-smaller scales until dissipation occurs. Recent Cluster observations in the solar wind demonstrate the existence of a cascade of magnetic energy from the scale of the proton Larmor radius, where kinetic properties of ions invalidate fluid approximations, down to the electron Larmor radius, where electrons become demagnetized. The cascade is quasi-two-dimensional and has been interpreted as consisting of highly oblique kinetic Alfvenic fluctuations that dissipate near at the electron gyroradius scale via proton and electron Landau damping. Here we investigate for the first time the spatial properties of the turbulence at these scales. We report the presence of thin current sheets and discontinuities with spatial sizes greater than or approximately equal to the proton Larmor radius. These isolated structures may be manifestations of intermittency, and such would localize sites of turbulent dissipation. Studying the relationship between turbulent dissipation, reconnection and intermittency is crucial for understanding the dynamics of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.

  7. Turbulent jet in confined counterflow

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The mean flowfield of a turbulent jet issuing into a confined, uniform counterflow was investigated computationally. Based on dimensional analysis, the jet penetration length was shown to scale with jet-to-counterflow momentum flux ratio. This scaling and the computational results reproduce the well-known correct limit of ...

  8. A generalized self-similar spectrum for decaying homogeneous and isotropic turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Pingfan; Pumir, Alain; Xu, Haitao

    2017-11-01

    The spectrum of turbulence in dissipative and inertial range can be described by the celebrated Kolmogorov theory. However, there is no general solution of the spectrum in the large scales, especially for statistically unsteady turbulent flows. Here we propose a generalized self-similar form that contains two length-scales, the integral scale and the Kolmogorov scale, for decaying homogeneous and isotropic turbulence. With the help of the local spectral energy transfer hypothesis by Pao (Phys. Fluids, 1965), we derive and solve for the explicit form of the energy spectrum and the energy transfer function, from which the second- and third-order velocity structure functions can also be obtained. We check and verify our assumptions by direct numerical simulations (DNS), and our solutions of the velocity structure functions compare well with hot-wire measurements of high-Reynolds number wind-tunnel turbulence. Financial supports from NSFC under Grant Number 11672157, from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and from the MPG are gratefully acknowledged.

  9. A Simple Parameterization of Mixing of Passive Scalars in Turbulent Flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nithianantham, Ajithshanthar; Venayagamoorthy, Karan

    2015-11-01

    A practical model for quantifying the turbulent diascalar diffusivity is proposed as Ks = 1 . 1γ'LTk 1 / 2 , where LT is defined as the Thorpe length scale, k is the turbulent kinetic energy and γ' is one-half of the mechanical to scalar time scale ratio, which was shown by previous researchers to be approximately 0 . 7 . The novelty of the proposed model lies in the use of LT, which is a widely used length scale in stably stratified flows (almost exclusively used in oceanography), for quantifying turbulent mixing in unstratified flows. LT can be readily obtained in the field using a Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) profiler. The turbulent kinetic energy is mostly contained in the large scales of the flow field and hence can be measured in the field or modeled in numerical simulations. Comparisons using DNS data show remarkably good agreement between the predicted and exact diffusivities. Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation.

  10. The roles of turbulence on plasma heating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawamura, Takaichi; Kawabe, Takaya.

    1976-06-01

    In this paper, the characteristic features of the turbulent heating are reviewed, which is considered to be one of the strong candidates of the further heating method in fusion reactor systems, referring to the works in the Institute of Plasma Physics, Nagoya University. The roles of turbulence in plasma heating including toroidal plasma heating are discussed from several points of view. The relation between the heating rate of plasma particles and the thermalization (randomization) frequency is theoretically investigated and the role of plasma turbulence in the fast thermalization is shown. The experimental results on fluctuation and heating of electrons and ions in turbulently heated plasmas are presented. The influence of turbulence, which is responsible for the particle heating, on the diffusion across the confinement magnetic field is considered for the application in the toroidal plasmas. It is pointed out that the turbulent fields in the fast turbulent heating give only a minor effect to the loss of particles across the magnetic field. It can be said that the enhanced fluctuation in turbulent plasma gives its field energy to the plasma particles while it can play the role of the fast thermalization of the ordered motion of particles that is produced in the plasma by some acceleration process. (Kato, T.)

  11. Turbulent mixed convection from a large, high temperature, vertical flat surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, G.; Greif, R.; Siebers, D.; Tieszen, S.

    2005-01-01

    Turbulent mixed convection heat transfer at high temperatures and large length scales is an important and seldom studied phenomenon that can represent a significant part of the overall heat transfer in applications ranging from solar central receivers to objects in fires. This work is part of a study to validate turbulence models for predicting heat transfer to or from surfaces at large temperature differences and large length scales. Here, turbulent, three-dimensional, mixed convection heat transfer in air from a large (3m square) vertical flat surface at high temperatures is studied using two RANS turbulence models: a standard k-ε model and the v2-bar -f model. Predictions for three cases spanning the range of the experiment (Siebers, D.L., Schwind, R.G., Moffat, R.F., 1982. Experimental mixed convection from a large, vertical plate in a horizontal flow. Paper MC13, vol. 3, Proc. 7th Int. Heat Transfer Conf., Munich; Siebers, D.L., 1983. Experimental mixed convection heat transfer from a large, vertical surface in a horizontal flow. PhD thesis, Stanford University) from forced (GrH/ReL2=0.18) to mixed (GrH/ReL2=3.06) to natural (GrH/ReL2=∼) convection are compared with data. The results show a decrease in the heat transfer coefficient as GrH/ReL2 is increased from 0.18 to 3.06, for a free-stream velocity of 4.4m/s. In the natural convection case, the experimental heat transfer coefficient is approximately constant in the fully turbulent region, whereas the calculated heat transfer coefficients show a slight increase with height. For the three cases studied, the calculated and experimental heat transfer coefficients agree to within 5-35% over most of the surface with the v2-bar -f model results showing better agreement with the data. Calculated temperature and velocity profiles show good agreement with the data

  12. Anomalous diffusion in geophysical and laboratory turbulence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Tsinober

    1994-01-01

    Full Text Available We present an overview and some new results on anomalous diffusion of passive scalar in turbulent flows (including those used by Richardson in his famous paper in 1926. The obtained results are based on the analysis of the properties of invariant quantities (energy, enstrophy, dissipation, enstrophy generation, helicity density, etc. - i.e. independent of the choice of the system of reference as the most appropriate to describe physical processes - in three different turbulent laboratory flows (grid-flow, jet and boundary layer, see Tsinober et al. (1992 and Kit et al. (1993. The emphasis is made on the relations between the asymptotic properties of the intermittency exponents of higher order moments of different turbulent fields (energy, dissipation, helicity, spontaneous breaking of isotropy and reflexional symmetry and the variability of turbulent diffusion in the atmospheric boundary layer, in the troposphere and in the stratosphere. It is argued that local spontaneous breaking of isotropy of turbulent flow results in anomalous scaling laws for turbulent diffusion (as compared to the scaling law of Richardson which are observed, as a rule, in different atmospheric layers from the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL to the stratosphere. Breaking of rotational symmetry is important in the ABL, whereas reflexional symmetry breaking is dominating in the troposphere locally and in the stratosphere globally. The results are of speculative nature and further analysis is necessary to validate or disprove the claims made, since the correspondence with the experimental results may occur for the wrong reasons as happens from time to time in the field of turbulence.

  13. Large eddy simulations of compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grete, Philipp

    2016-01-01

    Supersonic, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is thought to play an important role in many processes - especially in astrophysics, where detailed three-dimensional observations are scarce. Simulations can partially fill this gap and help to understand these processes. However, direct simulations with realistic parameters are often not feasible. Consequently, large eddy simulations (LES) have emerged as a viable alternative. In LES the overall complexity is reduced by simulating only large and intermediate scales directly. The smallest scales, usually referred to as subgrid-scales (SGS), are introduced to the simulation by means of an SGS model. Thus, the overall quality of an LES with respect to properly accounting for small-scale physics crucially depends on the quality of the SGS model. While there has been a lot of successful research on SGS models in the hydrodynamic regime for decades, SGS modeling in MHD is a rather recent topic, in particular, in the compressible regime. In this thesis, we derive and validate a new nonlinear MHD SGS model that explicitly takes compressibility effects into account. A filter is used to separate the large and intermediate scales, and it is thought to mimic finite resolution effects. In the derivation, we use a deconvolution approach on the filter kernel. With this approach, we are able to derive nonlinear closures for all SGS terms in MHD: the turbulent Reynolds and Maxwell stresses, and the turbulent electromotive force (EMF). We validate the new closures both a priori and a posteriori. In the a priori tests, we use high-resolution reference data of stationary, homogeneous, isotropic MHD turbulence to compare exact SGS quantities against predictions by the closures. The comparison includes, for example, correlations of turbulent fluxes, the average dissipative behavior, and alignment of SGS vectors such as the EMF. In order to quantify the performance of the new nonlinear closure, this comparison is conducted from the

  14. Large eddy simulations of compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grete, Philipp

    2017-02-01

    Supersonic, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is thought to play an important role in many processes - especially in astrophysics, where detailed three-dimensional observations are scarce. Simulations can partially fill this gap and help to understand these processes. However, direct simulations with realistic parameters are often not feasible. Consequently, large eddy simulations (LES) have emerged as a viable alternative. In LES the overall complexity is reduced by simulating only large and intermediate scales directly. The smallest scales, usually referred to as subgrid-scales (SGS), are introduced to the simulation by means of an SGS model. Thus, the overall quality of an LES with respect to properly accounting for small-scale physics crucially depends on the quality of the SGS model. While there has been a lot of successful research on SGS models in the hydrodynamic regime for decades, SGS modeling in MHD is a rather recent topic, in particular, in the compressible regime. In this thesis, we derive and validate a new nonlinear MHD SGS model that explicitly takes compressibility effects into account. A filter is used to separate the large and intermediate scales, and it is thought to mimic finite resolution effects. In the derivation, we use a deconvolution approach on the filter kernel. With this approach, we are able to derive nonlinear closures for all SGS terms in MHD: the turbulent Reynolds and Maxwell stresses, and the turbulent electromotive force (EMF). We validate the new closures both a priori and a posteriori. In the a priori tests, we use high-resolution reference data of stationary, homogeneous, isotropic MHD turbulence to compare exact SGS quantities against predictions by the closures. The comparison includes, for example, correlations of turbulent fluxes, the average dissipative behavior, and alignment of SGS vectors such as the EMF. In order to quantify the performance of the new nonlinear closure, this comparison is conducted from the

  15. Introduction to the theory of fluid and magnetofluid turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montgomery, D.

    1984-03-01

    This set of notes was transcribed from the tape recording of three lectures given at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Nagoya University, in June, 1983. The lectures were intended to provide an introduction to the theory of magnetofluid turbulence which is a relatively new branch of plasma physics. It is related more closely to classic fluid dynamics than to the nonlinear theory of plasma oscillation. For this reason, fluid turbulence theory was reviewed as the background of the subject. The first lecture is on the origins of fluid and magnetofluid turbulence. The universal transition to turbulence takes place at sufficiently high Reynolds number, well above the critical threshold. The second lecture is on closures, attempt on dynamical theories. The Navier-Stokes case is discussed, and the attempt to reduce the number of the degrees of freedom, the importance of helicity in MHD, the direct interaction approximation (DIA) and others are explained. The third lecture is on the cascade and inverse cascade in fluid and magnetofluid. The idea of cascade was introduced into the theory of Navier-Stokes turbulence around 1941. The calculation of a form for inertial range energy spectra, the relation with dissipation rate, the tendency of migrating to long wavelength, the simulation of decaying turbulence, the numbers characterizing MHD and others are discussed. (Kako, I.)

  16. Numerical aspects of drift kinetic turbulence: Ill-posedness, regularization and a priori estimates of sub-grid-scale terms

    KAUST Repository

    Samtaney, Ravi

    2012-01-01

    We present a numerical method based on an Eulerian approach to solve the Vlasov-Poisson system for 4D drift kinetic turbulence. Our numerical approach uses a conservative formulation with high-order (fourth and higher) evaluation of the numerical fluxes coupled with a fourth-order accurate Poisson solver. The fluxes are computed using a low-dissipation high-order upwind differencing method or a tuned high-resolution finite difference method with no numerical dissipation. Numerical results are presented for the case of imposed ion temperature and density gradients. Different forms of controlled regularization to achieve a well-posed system are used to obtain convergent resolved simulations. The regularization of the equations is achieved by means of a simple collisional model, by inclusion of an ad-hoc hyperviscosity or artificial viscosity term or by implicit dissipation in upwind schemes. Comparisons between the various methods and regularizations are presented. We apply a filtering formalism to the Vlasov equation and derive sub-grid-scale (SGS) terms analogous to the Reynolds stress terms in hydrodynamic turbulence. We present a priori quantifications of these SGS terms in resolved simulations of drift-kinetic turbulence by applying a sharp filter. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.

  17. Numerical aspects of drift kinetic turbulence: ill-posedness, regularization and a priori estimates of sub-grid-scale terms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samtaney, Ravi

    2012-01-01

    We present a numerical method based on an Eulerian approach to solve the Vlasov-Poisson system for 4D drift kinetic turbulence. Our numerical approach uses a conservative formulation with high-order (fourth and higher) evaluation of the numerical fluxes coupled with a fourth-order accurate Poisson solver. The fluxes are computed using a low-dissipation high-order upwind differencing method or a tuned high-resolution finite difference method with no numerical dissipation. Numerical results are presented for the case of imposed ion temperature and density gradients. Different forms of controlled regularization to achieve a well-posed system are used to obtain convergent resolved simulations. The regularization of the equations is achieved by means of a simple collisional model, by inclusion of an ad-hoc hyperviscosity or artificial viscosity term or by implicit dissipation in upwind schemes. Comparisons between the various methods and regularizations are presented. We apply a filtering formalism to the Vlasov equation and derive sub-grid-scale (SGS) terms analogous to the Reynolds stress terms in hydrodynamic turbulence. We present a priori quantifications of these SGS terms in resolved simulations of drift-kinetic turbulence by applying a sharp filter.

  18. Large eddy simulation of bundle turbulent flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hassan, Y.A.; Barsamian, H.R.

    1995-01-01

    Large eddy simulation may be defined as simulation of a turbulent flow in which the large scale motions are explicitly resolved while the small scale motions are modeled. This results into a system of equations that require closure models. The closure models relate the effects of the small scale motions onto the large scale motions. There have been several models developed, the most popular is the Smagorinsky eddy viscosity model. A new model has recently been introduced by Lee that modified the Smagorinsky model. Using both of the above mentioned closure models, two different geometric arrangements were used in the simulation of turbulent cross flow within rigid tube bundles. An inlined array simulations was performed for a deep bundle (10,816 nodes) as well as an inlet/outlet simulation (57,600 nodes). Comparisons were made to available experimental data. Flow visualization enabled the distinction of different characteristics within the flow such as jet switching effects in the wake of the bundle flow for the inlet/outlet simulation case, as well as within tube bundles. The results indicate that the large eddy simulation technique is capable of turbulence prediction and may be used as a viable engineering tool with the careful consideration of the subgrid scale model. (author)

  19. Simulation of turbulent flows with and without combustion with emphasis on the impact of coherent structures on the turbulent mixing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cunha Galeazzo, Flavio Cesar

    2016-07-01

    The analysis of turbulent mixing in complex turbulent flows is a challenging task. The effective mixing of entrained fluids to a molecular level is a vital part of the dynamics of turbulent flows, especially when combustion is involved. The work has shown the limitations of the steady-state simulations and acknowledged the need of applying high-fidelity unsteady methods for the calculation of flows with pronounced unsteadiness promoted by large-scale coherent structures or other sources.

  20. New Theories on Boundary Layer Transition and Turbulence Formation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaoqun Liu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is a short review of our recent DNS work on physics of late boundary layer transition and turbulence. Based on our DNS observation, we propose a new theory on boundary layer transition, which has five steps, that is, receptivity, linear instability, large vortex structure formation, small length scale generation, loss of symmetry and randomization to turbulence. For turbulence generation and sustenance, the classical theory, described with Richardson's energy cascade and Kolmogorov length scale, is not observed by our DNS. We proposed a new theory on turbulence generation that all small length scales are generated by “shear layer instability” through multiple level ejections and sweeps and consequent multiple level positive and negative spikes, but not by “vortex breakdown.” We believe “shear layer instability” is the “mother of turbulence.” The energy transferring from large vortices to small vortices is carried out by multiple level sweeps, but does not follow Kolmogorov's theory that large vortices pass energy to small ones through vortex stretch and breakdown. The loss of symmetry starts from the second level ring cycle in the middle of the flow field and spreads to the bottom of the boundary layer and then the whole flow field.

  1. EVOLUTION OF SHOCKS AND TURBULENCE IN MAJOR CLUSTER MERGERS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paul, S.; Mannheim, K.; Iapichino, L.; Miniati, F.; Bagchi, J.

    2011-01-01

    We performed a set of cosmological simulations of major mergers in galaxy clusters, in order to study the evolution of merger shocks and the subsequent injection of turbulence in the post-shock region and in the intra-cluster medium (ICM). The computations have been performed with the grid-based, adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamical code Enzo, using a refinement criterion especially designed for refining turbulent flows in the vicinity of shocks. When a major merger event occurs, a substantial amount of turbulence energy is injected in the ICM of the newly formed cluster. Our simulations show that the shock launched after a major merger develops an ellipsoidal shape and gets broken by the interaction with the filamentary cosmic web around the merging cluster. The size of the post-shock region along the direction of shock propagation is of the order of 300 kpc h -1 , and the turbulent velocity dispersion in this region is larger than 100 km s -1 . We performed a scaling analysis of the turbulence energy within our cluster sample. The best fit for the scaling of the turbulence energy with the cluster mass is consistent with M 5/3 , which is also the scaling law for the thermal energy in the self-similar cluster model. This clearly indicates the close relation between virialization and injection of turbulence in the cluster evolution. As for the turbulence in the cluster core, we found that within 2 Gyr after the major merger (the timescale for the shock propagation in the ICM), the ratio of the turbulent to total pressure is larger than 10%, and after about 4 Gyr it is still larger than 5%, a typical value for nearly relaxed clusters. Turbulence at the cluster center is thus sustained for several gigayears, which is substantially longer than typically assumed in the turbulent re-acceleration models, invoked to explain the statistics of observed radio halos. Striking similarities in the morphology and other physical parameters between our simulations and the

  2. Fully developed turbulence via Feigenbaum's period-doubling bifurcations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duong-van, M.

    1987-08-01

    Since its publication in 1978, Feigenbaum's predictions of the onset of turbulence via period-doubling bifurcations have been thoroughly borne out experimentally. In this paper, Feigenbaum's theory is extended into the regime in which we expect to see fully developed turbulence. We develop a method of averaging that imposes correlations in the fluctuating system generated by this map. With this averaging method, the field variable is obtained by coarse-graining, while microscopic fluctuations are preserved in all averaging scales. Fully developed turbulence will be shown to be a result of microscopic fluctuations with proper averaging. Furthermore, this model preserves Feigenbaum's results on the physics of bifurcations at the onset of turbulence while yielding additional physics both at the onset of turbulence and in the fully developed turbulence regime

  3. SYMPOSIUM ON TURBULENCE AND COMBUSTION - SPECIAL SYMPOSIUM TO BRING TOGETHER TOP RESEARCHERS IN THE FIELDS OF FLUID TURBULENCE AND COMBUSTION TO PROMOTE ADVANCES IN TURBULENT, REACTING FLOWS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caughey, David

    2010-10-08

    A Symposium on Turbulence and Combustion was held at Cornell University on August 3-4, 2009. The overall goal of the Symposium was to promote future advances in the study of turbulence and combustion, through an unique forum intended to foster interactions between leading members of these two research communities. The Symposium program consisted of twelve invited lectures given by world-class experts in these fields, two poster sessions consisting of nearly 50 presentations, an open forum, and other informal activities designed to foster discussion. Topics covered in the lectures included turbulent dispersion, wall-bounded flows, mixing, finite-rate chemistry, and others, using experiment, modeling, and computations, and included perspectives from an international community of leading researchers from academia, national laboratories, and industry.

  4. Ballistic propagation of turbulence front in tokamak edge plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugita, Satoru; Itoh, Kimitaka; Itoh, Sanae-I; Yagi, Masatoshi; Fuhr, Guillaume; Beyer, Peter; Benkadda, Sadruddin

    2012-01-01

    The flux-driven nonlinear simulation of resistive ballooning mode turbulence with tokamak edge geometry is performed to study the non-steady component in the edge turbulence. The large-scale and dynamical events in transport are investigated in a situation where the mean flow is suppressed. Two types of dynamics are observed. One is the radial propagation of the pulse of pressure gradient, the other is the appearance/disappearance of radially elongated global structure of turbulent heat flux. The ballistic propagation is observed in the pulse of pressure gradient, which is associated with the front of turbulent heat flux. We focus on this ballistic propagation phenomenon. Both of the bump of pressure gradient and the front of heat flux propagate inward and outward direction. It is confirmed that the strong fluctuation propagates with the pulse front. It is observed that the number of pulses going outward is close to those going inward. This ballistic phenomenon does not contradict to the turbulence spreading theory. Statistical characteristics of the ballistic propagation of pulses are evaluated and compared with scaling laws which is given by the turbulence spreading theory. It is found that they give qualitatively good agreement. (paper)

  5. Nearly incompressible MHD turbulence in the solar wind

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matthaeus, W.H.; Zhou, Y.

    1989-01-01

    Observational studies indicate that solar wind plasma and magnetic field fluctuations may be meaningfully viewed as an example of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. This paper presents a brief summary of some relevant results of turbulence theory and reviews a turbulence style description of 'typical' solar wind conditions. Recent results, particularly those regarding the radial evolution of inertial range cross helicity, support the viewpoint that interplanetary turbulence is active and evolving with heliocentric distance. A number of observed properties can be understood by appeal to incompressible turbulence mechanisms. This connection may be understood by appeal to incompressible turbulence mechanisms. This connection may be understood in terms of theories of pseudosound density fluctuations and nearly incompressible magnetohydrodynamics, which are also reviewed here. Finally, we summarize a recent two-scale dynamical theory of the radial and temporal evolution of the turbulence, which may provide an additional framework for understanding the observations. (author). 49 refs

  6. Stochastic model of Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abarzhi, S.I.; Cadjan, M.; Fedotov, S.

    2007-01-01

    We propose a stochastic model to describe the random character of the dissipation process in Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing. The parameter alpha, used conventionally to characterize the mixing growth-rate, is not a universal constant and is very sensitive to the statistical properties of the dissipation. The ratio between the rates of momentum loss and momentum gain is the statistic invariant and a robust parameter to diagnose with or without turbulent diffusion accounted for

  7. Turbulence and Coherent Structure in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer near the Eyewall of Hurricane Hugo (1989)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, J. A.; Marks, F. D.; Montgomery, M. T.; Black, P. G.

    2008-12-01

    In this talk we present an analysis of observational data collected from NOAA'S WP-3D research aircraft during the eyewall penetration of category five Hurricane Hugo (1989). The 1 Hz flight level data near 450m above the sea surface comprising wind velocity, temperature, pressure and relative humidity are used to estimate the turbulence intensity and fluxes. In the turbulent flux calculation, the universal shape spectra and co-spectra derived using the 40 Hz data collected during the Coupled Boundary Layer Air-sea Transfer (CBLAST) Hurricane experiment are applied to correct the high frequency part of the data collected in Hurricane Hugo. Since the stationarity assumption required for standard eddy correlations is not always satisfied, different methods are summarized for computing the turbulence parameters. In addition, a wavelet analysis is conducted to investigate the time and special scales of roll vortices or coherent structures that are believed important elements of the eye/eyewall mixing processes that support intense storms.

  8. Oscillations of a Turbulent Jet Incident Upon an Edge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J.C. Lin; D. Rockwell

    2000-09-19

    For the case of a jet originating from a fully turbulent channel flow and impinging upon a sharp edge, the possible onset and nature of coherent oscillations has remained unexplored. In this investigation, high-image-density particle image velocimetry and surface pressure measurements are employed to determine the instantaneous, whole-field characteristics of the turbulent jet-edge interaction in relation to the loading of the edge. It is demonstrated that even in absence of acoustic resonant or fluid-elastic effects, highly coherent, self-sustained oscillations rapidly emerge above the turbulent background. Two clearly identifiable modes of instability are evident. These modes involve large-scale vortices that are phase-locked to the gross undulations of the jet and its interaction with the edge, and small-scale vortices, which are not phase-locked. Time-resolved imaging of instantaneous vorticity and velocity reveals the form, orientation, and strength of the large-scale concentrations of vorticity approaching the edge in relation to rapid agglomeration of small-scale vorticity concentrations. Such vorticity field-edge interactions exhibit rich complexity, relative to the simplified pattern of vortex-edge interaction traditionally employed for the quasi-laminar edgetone. Furthermore, these interactions yield highly nonlinear surface pressure signatures. The origin of this nonlinearity, involving coexistence of multiple frequency components, is interpreted in terms of large- and small-scale vortices embedded in distributed vorticity layers at the edge. Eruption of the surface boundary layer on the edge due to passage of the large-scale vortex does not occur; rather apparent secondary vorticity concentrations are simply due to distension of the oppositely-signed vorticity layer at the tip of the edge. The ensemble-averaged turbulent statistics of the jet quickly take on an identity that is distinct from the statistics of the turbulent boundary layer in the channel

  9. Self-sustained large-scale flow in turbulent cryogenic convection

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Niemela, J. J.; Skrbek, Ladislav; Sreenivasan, K. R.; Donnelly, R. J.

    2002-01-01

    Roč. 126, 1/2 (2002), s. 297-302 ISSN 0022-2291 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1010914 Keywords : thermal convection * turbulence * cryogenic Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics Impact factor: 1.139, year: 2002

  10. Scale interaction and arrangement in a turbulent boundary layer perturbed by a wall-mounted cylindrical element

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Zhanqi; Jiang, Nan

    2018-05-01

    This study reports the modifications of scale interaction and arrangement in a turbulent boundary layer perturbed by a wall-mounted circular cylinder. Hot-wire measurements were executed at multiple streamwise and wall-normal wise locations downstream of the cylindrical element. The streamwise fluctuating signals were decomposed into large-, small-, and dissipative-scale signatures by corresponding cutoff filters. The scale interaction under the cylindrical perturbation was elaborated by comparing the small- and dissipative-scale amplitude/frequency modulation effects downstream of the cylinder element with the results observed in the unperturbed case. It was obtained that the large-scale fluctuations perform a stronger amplitude modulation on both the small and dissipative scales in the near-wall region. At the wall-normal positions of the cylinder height, the small-scale amplitude modulation coefficients are redistributed by the cylinder wake. The similar observation was noted in small-scale frequency modulation; however, the dissipative-scale frequency modulation seems to be independent of the cylindrical perturbation. The phase-relationship observation indicated that the cylindrical perturbation shortens the time shifts between both the small- and dissipative-scale variations (amplitude and frequency) and large-scale fluctuations. Then, the integral time scale dependence of the phase-relationship between the small/dissipative scales and large scales was also discussed. Furthermore, the discrepancy of small- and dissipative-scale time shifts relative to the large-scale motions was examined, which indicates that the small-scale amplitude/frequency leads the dissipative scales.

  11. Numerical schemes for one-point closure turbulence models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larcher, Aurelien

    2010-01-01

    First-order Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models are studied in this thesis. These latter consist of the Navier-Stokes equations, supplemented with a system of balance equations describing the evolution of characteristic scalar quantities called 'turbulent scales'. In so doing, the contribution of the turbulent agitation to the momentum can be determined by adding a diffusive coefficient (called 'turbulent viscosity') in the Navier-Stokes equations, such that it is defined as a function of the turbulent scales. The numerical analysis problems, which are studied in this dissertation, are treated in the frame of a fractional step algorithm, consisting of an approximation on regular meshes of the Navier-Stokes equations by the nonconforming Crouzeix-Raviart finite elements, and a set of scalar convection-diffusion balance equations discretized by the standard finite volume method. A monotone numerical scheme based on the standard finite volume method is proposed so as to ensure that the turbulent scales, like the turbulent kinetic energy (k) and its dissipation rate (ε), remain positive in the case of the standard k - ε model, as well as the k - ε RNG and the extended k - ε - ν 2 models. The convergence of the proposed numerical scheme is then studied on a system composed of the incompressible Stokes equations and a steady convection-diffusion equation, which are both coupled by the viscosities and the turbulent production term. This reduced model allows to deal with the main difficulty encountered in the analysis of such problems: the definition of the turbulent production term leads to consider a class of convection-diffusion problems with an irregular right-hand side belonging to L 1 . Finally, to step towards the unsteady problem, the convergence of the finite volume scheme for a model convection-diffusion equation with L 1 data is proved. The a priori estimates on the solution and on its time derivative are obtained in discrete norms, for

  12. The Effects of Buoyancy on Characteristics of Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idicheria, Cherian; Boxx, Isaac; Clemens, Noel

    2002-11-01

    This work addresses the influence of buoyant forces on the underlying structure of turbulent nonpremixed jet flames. Buoyancy effects are investigated by studying transitional and turbulent propane and ethylene flames (Re_D=2500-10500) at normal, low and microgravity conditions. The reduced gravity experiments are conducted by dropping a combustion rig in the University of Texas 1.25-second drop tower and the NASA Glenn 2.2-second drop tower. The diagnostic employed is high-speed luminosity imaging using a CCD camera. The images obtained are used to compare flame length, mean, RMS and flame tip oscillation characteristics The results showed that, in contrast to previous studies, the high Reynolds number flames at all gravity levels were essentially identical. Furthermore, the parameter ξL (Becker and Yamazaki, 1978) is sufficient for quantifying the effects of buoyancy on the flame characteristics. The large-scale structure and flame tip dynamics are essentially identical to those of purely momentum driven flames provided ξL is less than approximately 3.

  13. Potential-vorticity inversion and the wave-turbulence jigsaw: some recent clarifications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. E. McIntyre

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Two key ideas stand out as crucial to understanding atmosphere-ocean dynamics, and the dynamics of other planets including the gas giants. The first key idea is the invertibility principle for potential vorticity (PV. Without it, one can hardly give a coherent account of even so important and elementary a process as Rossby-wave propagation, going beyond the simplest textbook cases. Still less can one fully understand nonlinear processes like the self-sharpening or narrowing of jets – the once-mysterious "negative viscosity" phenomenon. The second key idea, also crucial to understanding jets, might be summarized in the phrase "there is no such thing as turbulence without waves", meaning Rossby waves especially. Without this idea one cannot begin to make sense of, for instance, momentum budgets and eddy momentum transports in complex large-scale flows. Like the invertibility principle the idea has long been recognized, or at least adumbrated. However, it is worth articulating explicitly if only because it can be forgotten when, in the usual way, we speak of "turbulence" and "turbulence theory" as if they were autonomous concepts. In many cases of interest, such as the well-studied terrestrial stratosphere, reality is more accurately described as a highly inhomogeneous "wave-turbulence jigsaw puzzle" in which wavelike and turbulent regions fit together and crucially affect each other's evolution. This modifies, for instance, formulae for the Rhines scale interpreted as indicating the comparable importance of wavelike and turbulent dynamics. Also, weakly inhomogeneous turbulence theory is altogether inapplicable. For instance there is no scale separation. Eddy scales are not much smaller than the sizes of the individual turbulent regions in the jigsaw. Here I review some recent progress in clarifying these ideas and their implications.

  14. Scaling of turbulence spectra measured in strong shear flow near the Earth’s surface

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikkelsen, Torben Krogh; Larsen, Søren Ejling; Ejsing Jørgensen, Hans

    2017-01-01

    Within the lowest kilometer of the Earth's atmosphere, in the so-called atmospheric boundary layer, winds are often gusty and turbulent. Nearest to the ground, the turbulence is predominately generated by mechanical wall-bounded wind shear, whereas at higher altitudes turbulent mixing of heat...... subrange with a distinct inverse-linear power law for turbulence in a strongly sheared high-Reynolds number wall-bounded flow, as is encountered in the lowest sheared part of the atmospheric boundary layer, also known as the eddy surface layer. This paper presents observations of spectra measured...... and moisture also play a role. The variance (square of the standard deviation) of the fluctuation around the mean wind speed is a measure of the kinetic energy content of the turbulence. This kinetic energy can be resolved into the spectral distributions, or spectra, as functions of eddy size, wavenumber...

  15. MULTIFLUID MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENT DECAY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Downes, T. P.; O'Sullivan, S.

    2011-01-01

    It is generally believed that turbulence has a significant impact on the dynamics and evolution of molecular clouds and the star formation that occurs within them. Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects are known to influence the nature of this turbulence. We present the results of a suite of 512 3 resolution simulations of the decay of initially super-Alfvenic and supersonic fully multifluid MHD turbulence. We find that ambipolar diffusion increases the rate of decay of the turbulence while the Hall effect has virtually no impact. The decay of the kinetic energy can be fitted as a power law in time and the exponent is found to be -1.34 for fully multifluid MHD turbulence. The power spectra of density, velocity, and magnetic field are all steepened significantly by the inclusion of non-ideal terms. The dominant reason for this steepening is ambipolar diffusion with the Hall effect again playing a minimal role except at short length scales where it creates extra structure in the magnetic field. Interestingly we find that, at least at these resolutions, the majority of the physics of multifluid turbulence can be captured by simply introducing fixed (in time and space) resistive terms into the induction equation without the need for a full multifluid MHD treatment. The velocity dispersion is also examined and, in common with previously published results, it is found not to be power law in nature.

  16. Fluctuations of a passive scalar in a turbulent mixing layer

    KAUST Repository

    Attili, Antonio

    2013-09-19

    The turbulent flow originating downstream of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a mixing layer has great relevance in many applications, ranging from atmospheric physics to combustion in technical devices. The mixing of a substance by the turbulent velocity field is usually involved. In this paper, a detailed statistical analysis of fluctuations of a passive scalar in the fully developed region of a turbulent mixing layer from a direct numerical simulation is presented. Passive scalar spectra show inertial ranges characterized by scaling exponents −4/3 and −3/2 in the streamwise and spanwise directions, in agreement with a recent theoretical analysis of passive scalar scaling in shear flows [Celani et al., J. Fluid Mech. 523, 99 (2005)]. Scaling exponents of high-order structure functions in the streamwise direction show saturation of intermittency with an asymptotic exponent ζ∞=0.4 at large orders. Saturation of intermittency is confirmed by the self-similarity of the tails of the probability density functions of the scalar increments at different scales r with the scaling factor r−ζ∞ and by the analysis of the cumulative probability of large fluctuations. Conversely, intermittency saturation is not observed for the spanwise increments and the relative scaling exponents agree with recent results for homogeneous isotropic turbulence with mean scalar gradient. Probability density functions of the scalar increments in the three directions are compared to assess anisotropy.

  17. Fluctuations of a passive scalar in a turbulent mixing layer

    KAUST Repository

    Attili, Antonio; Bisetti, Fabrizio

    2013-01-01

    The turbulent flow originating downstream of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a mixing layer has great relevance in many applications, ranging from atmospheric physics to combustion in technical devices. The mixing of a substance by the turbulent velocity field is usually involved. In this paper, a detailed statistical analysis of fluctuations of a passive scalar in the fully developed region of a turbulent mixing layer from a direct numerical simulation is presented. Passive scalar spectra show inertial ranges characterized by scaling exponents −4/3 and −3/2 in the streamwise and spanwise directions, in agreement with a recent theoretical analysis of passive scalar scaling in shear flows [Celani et al., J. Fluid Mech. 523, 99 (2005)]. Scaling exponents of high-order structure functions in the streamwise direction show saturation of intermittency with an asymptotic exponent ζ∞=0.4 at large orders. Saturation of intermittency is confirmed by the self-similarity of the tails of the probability density functions of the scalar increments at different scales r with the scaling factor r−ζ∞ and by the analysis of the cumulative probability of large fluctuations. Conversely, intermittency saturation is not observed for the spanwise increments and the relative scaling exponents agree with recent results for homogeneous isotropic turbulence with mean scalar gradient. Probability density functions of the scalar increments in the three directions are compared to assess anisotropy.

  18. The Statistical Mechanics of Ideal MHD Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shebalin, John V.

    2003-01-01

    Turbulence is a universal, nonlinear phenomenon found in all energetic fluid and plasma motion. In particular. understanding magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence and incorporating its effects in the computation and prediction of the flow of ionized gases in space, for example, are great challenges that must be met if such computations and predictions are to be meaningful. Although a general solution to the "problem of turbulence" does not exist in closed form, numerical integrations allow us to explore the phase space of solutions for both ideal and dissipative flows. For homogeneous, incompressible turbulence, Fourier methods are appropriate, and phase space is defined by the Fourier coefficients of the physical fields. In the case of ideal MHD flows, a fairly robust statistical mechanics has been developed, in which the symmetry and ergodic properties of phase space is understood. A discussion of these properties will illuminate our principal discovery: Coherent structure and randomness co-exist in ideal MHD turbulence. For dissipative flows, as opposed to ideal flows, progress beyond the dimensional analysis of Kolmogorov has been difficult. Here, some possible future directions that draw on the ideal results will also be discussed. Our conclusion will be that while ideal turbulence is now well understood, real turbulence still presents great challenges.

  19. Measurements of Turbulence Attenuation by a Dilute Dispersion of Solid Particles in Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eaton, John; Hwang, Wontae; Cabral, Patrick

    2002-11-01

    This research addresses turbulent gas flows laden with fine solid particles at sufficiently large mass loading that strong two-way coupling occurs. By two-way coupling we mean that the particle motion is governed largely by the flow, while the particles affect the gas-phase mean flow and the turbulence properties. Our main interest is in understanding how the particles affect the turbulence. Computational techniques have been developed which can accurately predict flows carrying particles that are much smaller than the smallest scales of turbulence. Also, advanced computational techniques and burgeoning computer resources make it feasible to fully resolve very large particles moving through turbulent flows. However, flows with particle diameters of the same order as the Kolmogorov scale of the turbulence are notoriously difficult to predict. Some simple flows show strong turbulence attenuation with reductions in the turbulent kinetic energy by up to a factor of five. On the other hand, some seemingly similar flows show almost no modification. No model has been proposed that allows prediction of when the strong attenuation will occur. Unfortunately, many technological and natural two-phase flows fall into this regime, so there is a strong need for new physical understanding and modeling capability. Our objective is to study the simplest possible turbulent particle-laden flow, namely homogeneous, isotropic turbulence with a uniform dispersion of monodisperse particles. We chose such a simple flow for two reasons. First, the simplicity allows us to probe the interaction in more detail and offers analytical simplicity in interpreting the results. Secondly, this flow can be addressed by numerical simulation, and many research groups are already working on calculating the flow. Our detailed data can help guide some of these efforts. By using microgravity, we can further simplify the flow to the case of no mean velocity for either the turbulence or the particles. In fact

  20. ANISOTROPIC INTERMITTENCY OF MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osman, K. T.; Kiyani, K. H.; Chapman, S. C.; Hnat, B.

    2014-01-01

    A higher-order multiscale analysis of spatial anisotropy in inertial range magnetohydrodynamic turbulence is presented using measurements from the STEREO spacecraft in fast ambient solar wind. We show for the first time that, when measuring parallel to the local magnetic field direction, the full statistical signature of the magnetic and Elsässer field fluctuations is that of a non-Gaussian globally scale-invariant process. This is distinct from the classic multiexponent statistics observed when the local magnetic field is perpendicular to the flow direction. These observations are interpreted as evidence for the weakness, or absence, of a parallel magnetofluid turbulence energy cascade. As such, these results present strong observational constraints on the statistical nature of intermittency in turbulent plasmas