Local and nonlocal strain rate fields and vorticity alignment in turbulent flows

Self-attenuation of extreme events in Navier-Stokes turbulence

Turbulent fluid flows are ubiquitous in nature and technology, and are mathematically described by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. A hallmark of turbulence is spontaneous generation of intense whirls, resulting from amplification of the fluid rotation-rate (vorticity) by its deformation-rate (strain). This interaction, encoded in the non-linearity of Navier-Stokes equations, is non-local, i.e., depends on the entire state of the flow, constituting a serious hindrance in turbulence theory and even establishing regularity of the equations. Here, we unveil a novel aspect of this interaction, by separating strain into local and non-local contributions utilizing the Biot-Savart integral of vorticity in a sphere of radius R. Analyzing highly-resolved numerical turbulent solutions to Navier-Stokes equations, we find that when vorticity becomes very large, the local strain over small R surprisingly counteracts further amplification. This uncovered self-attenuation mechanism is further shown to be connected to local Beltramization of the flow, and could provide a direction in establishing the regularity of Navier-Stokes equations.

Whether a turbulent flow would inevitably develop singular behavior at the smallest length scales is an ongoing intriguing debate. Using large-scale numerical simulations, Buaria et al. find an unexpected non-linear mechanism which counteracts local vorticity growth instead of enabling it.

Role of critical points of the skin friction field in formation of plumes in thermal convection

The dynamics in the thin boundary layers of temperature and velocity is the key to a deeper understanding of turbulent transport of heat and momentum in thermal convection. The velocity gradient at the hot and cold plates of a Rayleigh-Bénard convection cell forms the two-dimensional skin friction field and is related to the formation of thermal plumes in the respective boundary layers. Our analysis is based on a direct numerical simulation of Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a closed cylindrical cell of aspect ratio Γ=1 and focused on the critical points of the skin friction field. We identify triplets of critical points, which are composed of two unstable nodes and a saddle between them, as the characteristic building block of the skin friction field. Isolated triplets as well as networks of triplets are detected. The majority of the ridges of linelike thermal plumes coincide with the unstable manifolds of the saddles. From a dynamical Lagrangian perspective, thermal plumes are formed together with an attractive hyperbolic Lagrangian coherent structure of the skin friction field. We also discuss the differences from the skin friction field in turbulent channel flows from the perspective of the Poincaré-Hopf index theorem for two-dimensional vector fields.

Subfilter scalar-flux vector orientation in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

The geometric orientation of the subfilter-scale scalar-flux vector is examined in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Vector orientation is determined using the eigenframe of the resolved strain-rate tensor. The Schmidt number is kept sufficiently large so as to leave the velocity field, and hence the strain-rate tensor, unaltered by filtering in the viscous-convective subrange. Strong preferential alignment is observed for the case of Gaussian and box filters, whereas the sharp-spectral filter leads to close to a random orientation. The orientation angle obtained with the Gaussian and box filters is largely independent of the filter width and the Schmidt number. It is shown that the alignment direction observed numerically using these two filters is predicted very well by the tensor-diffusivity model. Moreover, preferred alignment of the scalar gradient vector in the eigenframe is shown to mitigate any probable issues of negative diffusivity in the tensor-diffusivity model. Consequentially, the model might not suffer from solution instability when used for large eddy simulations of scalar transport in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Further a priori tests indicate poor alignment of the Smagorinsky and stretched vortex model predictions with the exact subfilter flux. Finally, strong filter dependence of subfilter scalar-flux orientation suggests that explicit filtering may be preferable to implicit filtering in large eddy simulations.

Green's function for a generalized two-dimensional fluid

A Green's function for a generalized two-dimensional (2D) fluid in an unbounded domain (the so-called α turbulence system) is discussed. The generalized 2D fluid is characterized by a relationship between an advected quantity q and the stream function ψ : namely, q=-(-Δ){α/2}ψ . Here, α is a real number and q is referred to as the vorticity. In this study, the Green's function refers to the stream function produced by a delta-functional distribution of q , i.e., a point vortex with unit strength. The Green's function has the form G{(α)}(r)∝r{α-2} , except when α is an even number, where r is the distance from the point vortex. This functional form is known as the Riesz potential. When α is a positive even number, the logarithmic correction to the Riesz potential has the form G(r){(α)}∝r{α-2} ln r . In contrast, when α is a negative even number, G{(α)} is given by the higher-order Laplacian of the delta function. The transition of the small-scale behavior of q at α=2 , a well-known property of forced and dissipative α turbulence, is explained in terms of the Green's function. Moreover, the azimuthal velocity around the point vortex is derived from the Green's function. The functional form of the azimuthal velocity indicates that physically realizable systems for the generalized 2D fluid exist only when α≤3 . The Green's function and physically realizable systems for an anisotropic generalized 2D fluid are presented as an application of the present study.