Measurement of High Reynolds Number Stratified Turbulent Wake of a Towed Sphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandt, Alan; Kalumuck, Kenneth

2017-11-01

Although aircraft and ships operate at Reynolds numbers significantly greater than one million, there are virtually no extant data on the turbulence of wakes at Re >106, above the drag crisis regime. The present study is designed to characterize the near-field of a stratified wake at large Reynolds numbers, Re 2 x 105 - 106, by towing a large diameter (D 0.5 m) sphere through a thermally stratified fresh water lake and a thermally stratified large salt water towing tank. Stratification produced BV frequencies, N, up to 0.07 s-1 resulting in Froude numbers F = U/ND >= 15. Three component turbulent velocities and temperature measurements were obtained using Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADVs) and an array of fast response thermistors at various downstream distances. Turbulence power spectra of both the velocity and temperature signals exhibited a clear -5/3 slope over an order-of-magnitude range in wavenumber, which is generally not clearly evident in lower Re laboratory experiments. This study is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research Turbulence and Stratified Wakes Program.

Analysis of Turbulent Combustion in Simplified Stratified Charge Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moriyoshi, Yasuo; Morikawa, Hideaki; Komatsu, Eiji

The stratified charge combustion system has been widely studied due to the significant potentials for low fuel consumption rate and low exhaust gas emissions. The fuel-air mixture formation process in a direct-injection stratified charge engine is influenced by various parameters, such as atomization, evaporation, and in-cylinder gas motion at high temperature and high pressure conditions. It is difficult to observe the in-cylinder phenomena in such conditions and also challenging to analyze the following stratified charge combustion. Therefore, the combustion phenomena in simplified stratified charge conditions aiming to analyze the fundamental stratified charge combustion are examined. That is, an experimental apparatus which can control the mixture distribution and the gas motion at ignition timing was developed, and the effects of turbulence intensity, mixture concentration distribution, and mixture composition on stratified charge combustion were examined. As a result, the effects of fuel, charge stratification, and turbulence on combustion characteristics were clarified.

Role of Large Eddies in the Breakdown of the Reynolds Analogy in the Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mccoll, K. A.; Van Heerwaarden, C.; Katul, G. G.; Gentine, P.; Entekhabi, D.

2016-12-01

While the break-down in similarity between turbulent transport of heat and momentum (or Reynolds analogy) is not disputed in the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) under unstably stratified conditions, the causes of this breakdown remain the subject of some debate. One reason for the break-down is hypothesized to be due to a change in the topology of the coherent structures and how they differently transport heat and momentum. As instability increases, coherent structures that are confined to the near-wall region transition to thermal plumes, spanning the entire boundary layer depth. Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory (MOST), which hypothesizes that only local length scales play a role in ASL turbulent transport, implicitly assumes that thermal plumes and other large-scale structures are inactive (i.e., they do not contribute to turbulent transport despite their large energy content). Widely adopted mixing-length models for the ASL also rest on this assumption. The difficulty of characterizing low-wavenumber turbulent motions with field observations motivates the use of high-resolution Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) that are free from sub-grid scale parameterizations and ad-hoc assumptions near the boundary. Despite the low Reynolds number, mild stratification and idealized geometry, DNS-estimated MOST functions are consistent with field experiments as are key low-frequency features of the vertical velocity variance and buoyancy spectra. Parsimonious spectral models for MOST stability correction functions for momentum (φm) and heat (φh) are derived based on idealized vertical velocity variance and buoyancy spectra fit to the corresponding DNS spectra. For φm, a spectral model requiring a local length scale (evolving with local stability conditions) that matches DNS and field observations is derived. In contrast, for φh, the aforementioned model is substantially biased unless contributions from larger length scales are also included. These results suggest that ASL heat transport cannot be precisely MO-similar, and that the breakdown of the Reynolds analogy is at least partially caused by the influence of large eddies on turbulent heat transport.

Inner-outer interactions in the convective atmospheric boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salesky, S.

2017-12-01

Recently, observational and numerical studies have revealed the existence of so-called large scale motions (LSMs) that populate the logarithmic layer of wall-bounded turbulent shear flows and modulate the amplitude and frequency of turbulence dynamics near the ground. Properties of LSMs are well understood in neutrally stratified flows over smooth and rough walls. However, the implications of previous studies for the convective atmospheric boundary layer (CBL) are not entirely clear, since the morphology of both small-scale and large-scale turbulent structures is known to be strongly affected by buoyancy [e.g. Salesky et al., Bound.-Layer Meteorol. 163:41-68 (2017)]. In the present study, inner-outer interactions in the CBL are investigated using a suite of large eddy simulations spanning neutral to highly convective conditions. Simulation results reveal that, as the atmosphere becomes increasingly unstable, the inclination angle of structures near the ground increases from 12-15° to nearly 90°. Furthermore, the scale separation between the inner and outer peaks in the premultiplied velocity spectra decreases until only a single peak remains (comparable in magnitude to the boundary layer depth). The extent to which the amplitude modulation of surface layer turbulence by outer layer structures changes with increasing instability will be considered, following the decoupling procedure proposed by Mathis et al. [J. Fluid Mech., vol 628, 311-337 (2009)]. Frequency modulation of surface layer turbulence also will be examined, following the wavelet analysis approach of Baars et al. [Exp. Fluids, 56:188, (2015)].

Formation of temperature front in stably stratified turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Yoshifumi; Sullivan, Peter; Herring, Jackson

2016-11-01

An important feature of stably stratified turbulence is the significant influence of internal gravity waves which makes stably stratified turbulence unique compared to homogeneous isotropic turbulence. In this paper, we investigate the genesis of temperature fronts-a crucial subject both practically and fundamentally-in stably stratified turbulence using Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of the Navier-Stokes equation under the Boussinesq approximation with 10243 grid points. Vertical profiles of temperature fluctuations show almost vertically periodic sawtooth wavy structures with negative and positive layers stacked together with clear boundaries implying a sharp temperature fronts. The sawtooth waves consist of gradual decreasing temperature fluctuations with rapid recovery to a positive value as the frontal boundary is crossed vertically. This asymmetry of gradients comes from the structure that warm temperature region lies on top of cool temperature region, and can be verified in the skewed probability density function (PDF) of vertical temperature gradient. We try to extract the flow structures and mechanism for the formation and maintenance of the strong temperature front numerically.

CAT-generating mechanisms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wurtele, Morton G.

1987-01-01

The development of instability configurations; the transition from unstable growth of these configurations into turbulence; a description of the nature of that turbulence; the question of decay of turbulence; and the existence of what is called fossil turbulence are discussed.

On the Single-Layer Hydraulics Model for Flows and Ventilation over Unban Areas in Stable Stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C. H.

2015-12-01

Atmospheric stability has substantial effects on the flows and heat/mass transport processes. While extensive studies have been conducted for neutral and unstable stabilities, rather limited studies have been devoted to stable stratification. Major technical reason is the demanding spatio-temporal resolution required to solve the small scales in stratified turbulent flows. Instead of continuous density variation, we use the single-layer hydraulics model (analogous to shallow water equations for global dynamics), to simulate the stratified flows and turbulence structure over hypothetical urban areas. An array of identical ribs in cross flows is used to model an idealized urban surface and the aerodynamic resistance is controlled by the separation among the ribs. Two immiscible fluids (water and air) with a large density difference (three order of magnitude) are used to simulate the stratification. The key assumption is that the density in the (lower) single layer is uniform. As a result, the stratification is measured by the Froude number Fr (= U/(gH)1/2; where U is the flow speed, g the gravitational acceleration and H the single-layer depth). One of the characteristics of single-layer hydraulics model is hydraulic jump which occurs when the flows are slowing down from Fr > 1 (high-speed flows over smoother surfaces) to Fr < 1 (lower-speed flows over rougher surfaces). It is noteworthy that kinetic energy does not conserve across hydraulic jump that, unavoidably, cascades to turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). We thus hypotheses that the elevated TKE could modify the street-level ventilation mechanism in the stratified flows across an abrupt change in surface roughness entering urban areas. Large-eddy simulation and laboratory-scale water channel experiments are sought to improve our understanding of the occurrence of hydraulic jump and the associated street-level ventilation mechanism in the stratified flows over urban areas. Preliminary results, by comparing the dynamics at Fr = 2.4 and Fr = 2.8, demonstrate the notable changes in ventilation performance in the first several rows of ribs of urban areas. Substantial changes in the mean and fluctuating velocities are observed that contribute to the different street-level ventilation mechanism. Detailed results will be reported in the upcoming AGU fall meeting.

Direct Numerical Simulation of a Weakly Stratified Turbulent Wake

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redford, J. A.; Lund, T. S.; Coleman, Gary N.

2014-01-01

Direct numerical simulation (DNS) is used to investigate a time-dependent turbulent wake evolving in a stably stratified background. A large initial Froude number is chosen to allow the wake to become fully turbulent and axisymmetric before stratification affects the spreading rate of the mean defect. The uncertainty introduced by the finite sample size associated with gathering statistics from a simulation of a time-dependent flow is reduced, compared to earlier simulations of this flow. The DNS reveals the buoyancy-induced changes to the turbulence structure, as well as to the mean-defect history and the terms in the mean-momentum and turbulence-kinetic-energy budgets, that characterize the various states of this flow - namely the three-dimensional (essentially unstratified), non-equilibrium (or 'wake-collapse') and quasi-two-dimensional (or 'two-component') regimes observed elsewhere for wakes embedded in both weakly and strongly stratified backgrounds. The wake-collapse regime is not accompanied by transfer (or 'reconversion') of the potential energy of the turbulence to the kinetic energy of the turbulence, implying that this is not an essential feature of stratified-wake dynamics. The dependence upon Reynolds number of the duration of the wake-collapse period is demonstrated, and the effect of the details of the initial/near-field conditions of the wake on its subsequent development is examined.

The stability of stratified spatially periodic shear flows at low Péclet number

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garaud, Pascale, E-mail: pgaraud@ucsc.edu; Gallet, Basile; Bischoff, Tobias

2015-08-15

This work addresses the question of the stability of stratified, spatially periodic shear flows at low Péclet number but high Reynolds number. This little-studied limit is motivated by astrophysical systems, where the Prandtl number is often very small. Furthermore, it can be studied using a reduced set of “low-Péclet-number equations” proposed by Lignières [“The small-Péclet-number approximation in stellar radiative zones,” Astron. Astrophys. 348, 933–939 (1999)]. Through a linear stability analysis, we first determine the conditions for instability to infinitesimal perturbations. We formally extend Squire’s theorem to the low-Péclet-number equations, which shows that the first unstable mode is always two-dimensional. Wemore » then perform an energy stability analysis of the low-Péclet-number equations and prove that for a given value of the Reynolds number, above a critical strength of the stratification, any smooth periodic shear flow is stable to perturbations of arbitrary amplitude. In that parameter regime, the flow can only be laminar and turbulent mixing does not take place. Finding that the conditions for linear and energy stability are different, we thus identify a region in parameter space where finite-amplitude instabilities could exist. Using direct numerical simulations, we indeed find that the system is subject to such finite-amplitude instabilities. We determine numerically how far into the linearly stable region of parameter space turbulence can be sustained.« less

Secondary Circulation Asymmetry in a Meandering, Partially Stratified Estuary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pein, J.; Valle-Levinson, A.; Stanev, E. V.

2018-03-01

Numerical model experiments are used to study the effects of multiple channel bends on estuarine dynamics and, in particular, on secondary flows. These effects are demonstrated by comparing experiments with two different idealized trumpet-shaped estuaries, one straight and another one with a ˜8 km meandering section in the middle of the estuary. Meanders complicate the flow field by introducing secondary processes. For instance, meanders increase turbulence and associated mixing locally within the water column, as well as outside the meandering portion. Furthermore, meanders transform up to 30% of the along-channel momentum into secondary circulation. Production of turbulence and secondary currents is different at flood and ebb tidal phases. At flood, meanders lead to unstable stratification and increased turbulence. At ebb, the flow develops a helical pattern and adjusts to the channel curvature with minimal decrease in density stability. The secondary circulation asymmetry is caused by an interplay between the across-channel baroclinic pressure gradient force and the centrifugal force. During ebb both forces enhance each other, whereas they oppose during flood. As a consequence of this interaction between baroclinic forcing and curving morphology, ebb flows and horizontal buoyancy fluxes increase relative to flood. The enhanced ebb dominance shifts a density front toward the mouth of the estuary, thus reducing salt intrusion.

Control of extreme events in the bubbling onset of wave turbulence.

PubMed

Galuzio, P P; Viana, R L; Lopes, S R

2014-04-01

We show the existence of an intermittent transition from temporal chaos to turbulence in a spatially extended dynamical system, namely, the forced and damped one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation. For some values of the forcing parameter, the system dynamics intermittently switches between ordered states and turbulent states, which may be seen as extreme events in some contexts. In a Fourier phase space, the intermittency takes place due to the loss of transversal stability of unstable periodic orbits embedded in a low-dimensional subspace. We mapped these transversely unstable regions and perturbed the system in order to significantly reduce the occurrence of extreme events of turbulence.

Growth shapes and turbulent spots in unstable systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conrado, Claudine V.; Bohr, Tomas

1995-05-01

We study the growth shapes of localized turbulent patches (turbulent spots) in a class of partial differential equations (PDEs) in two spatial dimensions, of first order in time and in one scalar field u. The PDE's are chosen such that the ``laminar'' state u=0 is unstable, at least convectively (i.e., in a moving frame). We show which symmetry breaking terms are required to generate the characteristic nonconvex growth shapes found in turbulent spots in boundary layers, and how the shapes transform when we vary the coefficients of these terms. Finally, we show how it is possible, in certain cases, to find exact solutions for the nonliear growth shapes and how to measure Lyapunov exponents of growing turbulent spots.

Turbulent circulation above the surface heat source in a stably stratified environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurbatskii, A. F.; Kurbatskaya, L. I.

2016-09-01

The results of the numerical modeling of turbulent structure of the penetrating convection above the urban heat island with a small aspect ratio in a stably stratified medium at rest are presented. The gradient diffusion representations for turbulent momentum and heat fluxes are used, which depend on three parameters — the turbulence kinetic energy, the velocity of its spectral expenditure, and the dispersion of temperature fluctuations. These parameters are found from the closed differential equations of balance in the RANS approach of turbulence description. The distributions of averaged velocity and temperature fields as well as turbulent characteristics agree well with measurement data.

Zombie Turbulence and More in Stratified Couette Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcus, Philip; Barranco, Joe; Pei, Suyang; Jiang, Chung-Hsiang

2016-11-01

Zombie turbulence occurs in rotating, shearing vertically-stratified flows such as stratified Couette flows. The turbulence is triggered by a neutrally-stable eigenmode with a critical layer receptive to finite-amplitude perturbations. Once excited, the critical layer becomes a vortex layer pair that rolls up into discrete vortices. Those vortices excite new critical layers, and the process repeats ad infinitum. When the vortex amplitudes become sufficiently large, the flow becomes turbulent. Although possessing a mid-range energy spectrum with E (k) k - 5 / 3 , the turbulence is non-Kolmogorov, highly anisotropic, and with large turbulent, but coherent, structures that retain the length scales of the spacing between the critical layers. The motivation for this study is protoplanetary disks (PPDs) where new stars form. In the PPD the Brunt-Vaisala frequency N increases as a function of distance from the midplane where it is zero. We cannot trigger the initial finite amplitude instability where N is small (close to the midplane). However, computations in PPDs and Couette flows show that zombie turbulence forms where N is large, and then a new type of turbulence, that is neither zombie nor Kolmogorov turbulence, fills in the remainder of the domain even where N = 0 .

Turbulent resistivity, diffusion and heating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fried, B. D.; Kennel, C. F.; Mackenzie, K.; Coroniti, F. V.; Kindel, J. M.; Stenzel, R.; Taylor, R. J.; White, R.; Wong, A. Y.; Bernstein, W.

1971-01-01

Experimental and theoretical studies are reported on ion acoustic and ion cyclotron turbulence and their roles in anomalous resistivity, viscosity, diffusion and heating and in the structure of collisionless electrostatic shocks. Resistance due to ion acoustic turbulence has been observed in experiments with a streaming cesium plasma in which electron current, potential rise due to turbulent resistivity, spectrum of unstable ion acoustic waves, and associated electron heating were all measured directly. Kinetic theory calculations for an expanding, unstable plasma, give results in agreement with the experiment. In a strong magnetic field, with T sub e/T sub i approximately 1 and current densities typical for present Tokomaks, the plasma is stable to ion acoustic but unstable to current driven electrostatic ion cyclotron waves. Relevant characteristics of these waves are calculated and it is shown that for ion, beta greater than m sub e/m sub i, the electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave has a lower instability threshold than the electrostatic one. However, when ion acoustic turbulence is present experiments with double plasma devices show rapid anomalous heating of an ion beam streaming through a plasma.

Energy Spectra of Strongly Stratified and Rotating Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mahalov, Alex; Nicolaenko, Basil; Zhou, Ye

1998-01-01

Turbulence under strong stratification and rotation is usually characterized as quasi-two dimensional turbulence. We develop a "quasi-two dimensional" energy spectrum which changes smoothly between the Kolmogorov -5/3 law (no stratification), the -2 scalings of Zhou for the case of strong rotation, as well as the -2 scalings for the case of strong rotation and stratification. For strongly stratified turbulence, the model may give the -2 scaling predicted by Herring; and the -5/3 scaling indicated by some mesoscale observations.

Prognostic value of heart rate turbulence for risk assessment in patients with unstable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction

PubMed Central

Harris, Patricia RE; Stein, Phyllis K; Fung, Gordon L; Drew, Barbara J

2013-01-01

Background We sought to examine the prognostic value of heart rate turbulence derived from electrocardiographic recordings initiated in the emergency department for patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) or unstable angina. Methods Twenty-four-hour Holter recordings were started in patients with cardiac symptoms approximately 45 minutes after arrival in the emergency department. Patients subsequently diagnosed with NSTEMI or unstable angina who had recordings with ≥18 hours of sinus rhythm and sufficient data to compute Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk scores were chosen for analysis (n = 166). Endpoints were emergent re-entry to the cardiac emergency department and/or death at 30 days and one year. Results In Cox regression models, heart rate turbulence and TIMI risk scores together were significant predictors of 30-day (model chi square 13.200, P = 0.001, C-statistic 0.725) and one-year (model chi square 31.160, P < 0.001, C-statistic 0.695) endpoints, outperforming either measure alone. Conclusion Measurement of heart rate turbulence, initiated upon arrival at the emergency department, may provide additional incremental value in the risk assessment for patients with NSTEMI or unstable angina. PMID:23976860

Stratified turbulence diagnostics for high-Reynolds-number momentum wakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diamessis, Peter; Zhou, Qi

2017-11-01

We analyze a large-eddy simulation (LES) dataset of the turbulent wake behind a sphere of diameter D translating at speed U in a linearly stratified Boussinesq fluid with buoyancy frequency N. These simulations are performed at Reynolds numbers Re ≡ UD / ν ∈ { 5 ×103 , 105 , 4 ×105 } and various Froude numbers Fr ≡ 2 U /(ND) . The recently obtained data at Re = 4 ×105 , the highest Re attained so far in either simulation or laboratory, and Fr ∈ { 4 , 16 } enable us to systematically investigate the effects of Reynolds number on this prototypical localized stratified turbulent shear flow. Our analysis focuses on the time evolution of various diagnostics of stratified turbulence, such as the horizontal and vertical integral length scales, turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate ɛ, and the local rate of shear between the spontaneously formed layers of vorticity within the larger-scale quasi-horizontal flow structures. This leads to a discussion of the transitions between distinct stratified flow regimes (Brethouwer et al. 2007) in the appropriately defined phase diagram, and we highlight the dynamical role of the Gibson number Gi = ɛ /(νN2) , and its dependence on the body-based Reynolds number Re . ONR Grants N00014-13-1-0665 and N00014-15-1-2513.

A Comparative Analysis of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Model Predictions for Rayleigh-Taylor Instability and Mixing with Constant and Complex Accelerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schilling, Oleg

2016-11-01

Two-, three- and four-equation, single-velocity, multicomponent Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models, based on the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate or lengthscale, are used to simulate At = 0 . 5 Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing with constant and complex accelerations. The constant acceleration case is inspired by the Cabot and Cook (2006) DNS, and the complex acceleration cases are inspired by the unstable/stable and unstable/neutral cases simulated using DNS (Livescu, Wei & Petersen 2011) and the unstable/stable/unstable case simulated using ILES (Ramaprabhu, Karkhanis & Lawrie 2013). The four-equation models couple equations for the mass flux a and negative density-specific volume correlation b to the K- ɛ or K- L equations, while the three-equation models use a two-fluid algebraic closure for b. The lengthscale-based models are also applied with no buoyancy production in the L equation to explore the consequences of neglecting this term. Predicted mixing widths, turbulence statistics, fields, and turbulent transport equation budgets are compared among these models to identify similarities and differences in the turbulence production, dissipation and diffusion physics represented by the closures used in these models. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Dipolar eddies in a decaying stratified turbulent flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voropayev, S. I.; Fernando, H. J. S.; Morrison, R.

2008-02-01

Laboratory experiments on the evolution of dipolar (momentum) eddies in a stratified fluid in the presence of random background motions are described. A turbulent jet puff was used to generate the momentum eddies, and a decaying field of ambient random vortical motions was generated by a towed grid. Data on vorticity/velocity fields of momentum eddies, those of background motions, and their interactions were collected in the presence and absence of the other, and the main characteristics thereof were parametrized. Similarity arguments predict that dipolar eddies in stratified fluids may preserve their identity in decaying grid-generated stratified turbulence, which was verified experimentally. Possible applications of the results include mushroomlike currents and other naturally/artificially generated large dipolar eddies in strongly stratified layers of the ocean, the longevity of which is expected to be determined by the characteristics of the eddies and random background motions.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Testing of RANS Turbulence Models for Stratified Flows Based on DNS Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Venayagamoorthy, S. K.; Koseff, J. R.; Ferziger, J. H.; Shih, L. H.

2003-01-01

In most geophysical flows, turbulence occurs at the smallest scales and one of the two most important additional physical phenomena to account for is strati cation (the other being rotation). In this paper, the main objective is to investigate proposed changes to RANS turbulence models which include the effects of stratifi- cation more explicitly. These proposed changes were developed using a DNS database on strati ed and sheared homogenous turbulence developed by Shih et al. (2000) and are described more fully in Ferziger et al. (2003). The data generated by Shih, et al. (2000) (hereinafter referred to as SKFR) are used to study the parameters in the k- model as a function of the turbulent Froude number, Frk. A modified version of the standard k- model based on the local turbulent Froude number is proposed. The proposed model is applied to a stratified open channel flow, a test case that differs significantly from the flows from which the modified parameters were derived. The turbulence modeling and results are discussed in the next two sections followed by suggestions for future work.

Influence of turbulent atmosphere on laser beams from confocal unstable resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Yu-feng; Wang, Juan; Bi, Xiao-qun; Zhang, Ming-gao; Cheng, Zu-hai

2009-07-01

Based on the laser fields from a positive confocal unstable resonator (ab initio), the propagation characteristics of the beam through turbulent atmosphere are investigated by means of fast Fourier transform algorithm (FFT). To conveniently investigate the propagation characteristics of laser beam through the atmosphere, as far as known, in the previous many works, a mathematical expression was generally artificially predefined to represent the given laser beam, such as Gaussian beam, Hermite-cosh-Gaussian beam, flat topped beam, dark-hollow (annular) beam, etc. In this paper, by basing on the initial built in oscillation of a laser resonator, such as a positive confocal unstable resonator (CUR), we studied the intensity distributions of the output laser field to obtain the propagation characteristics of laser beam through the turbulent atmosphere as functions of different propagation distances. The results show that the turbulence will result in the degradation of the peak value of the laser intensity in the far field, the spread of the far field diagram patterns, and the beam quality characteristics greatly degraded.

On stability and turbulence of fluid flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heisenberg, Werner

1951-01-01

This investigation is divided into two parts, the treatment of the stability problem of fluid flows on the one hand, and that of the turbulent motion on the other. The first part summarizes all previous investigations under a unified point of view, that is, sets up as generally as possible the conditions under which a profile possesses unstable or stable characteristics, and indicates the methods for solution of the stability equation for any arbitrary velocity profile and for calculation of the critical Reynolds number for unstable profiles. In the second part, under certain greatly idealizing assumptions, differential equations for the turbulent motions are derived and from them qualitative information about several properties of the turbulent velocity distribution is obtained.

Influence of atmospheric stability on wind-turbine wakes: A large-eddy simulation study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abkar, Mahdi; Porté-Agel, Fernando

2014-05-01

In this study, large-eddy simulation is combined with a turbine model to investigate the influence of atmospheric stability on wind-turbine wakes. In the simulations, subgrid-scale turbulent fluxes are parameterized using tuning-free Lagrangian scale-dependent dynamic models. These models optimize the local value of the model coefficients based on the dynamics of the resolved scales. The turbine-induced forces are parameterized with an actuator-disk model with rotation. In this technique, blade-element theory is used to calculate the lift and drag forces acting on the blades. Emphasis is placed on the structure and characteristics of wind-turbine wakes in the cases where the incident flows to the turbine have the same mean velocity at the hub height but different stability conditions. The simulation results show that atmospheric stability has a significant effect on the spatial distribution of the mean velocity deficit and turbulent fluxes in the wake region. In particular, the magnitude of the velocity deficit increases with increasing stability in the atmosphere. In addition, the locations of the maximum turbulence intensity and turbulent stresses are closer to the turbine in convective boundary layer compared with neutral and stable ones. Detailed analysis of the resolved turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget inside the wake reveals also that the thermal stratification of the incoming wind considerably affects the magnitude and spatial distribution of the turbulent production, transport term and dissipation rate (transfer of energy to the subgrid scales). It is also shown that the near-wake region can be extended to a farther distance downstream in stable condition compared with neutral and unstable counterparts. In order to isolate the effect of atmospheric stability, additional simulations of neutrally-stratified atmospheric boundary layers are performed with the same turbulence intensity at hub height as convective and stable ones. The results show that the turbulence intensity alone is not sufficient to describe the impact of atmospheric stability on the wind-turbine wakes.

Entrainment-Zone Restratification and Flow Structures in Stratified Shear Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reif, B. Anders Pettersson; Werne, Joseph; Andreassen, Oyvind; Meyer, Christian; Davis-Mansour, Melissa

2002-01-01

Late-time dynamics and morphology of a stratified turbulent shear layer are examined using 1) Reynolds-stress and heat-flux budgets, 2) the single-point structure tensors introduced by Kassinos et al. (2001), and 3) flow visualization via 3D volume rendering. Flux reversal is observed during restratification in the edges of the turbulent layer. We present a first attempt to quantify the turbulence-mean-flow interaction and to characterize the predominant flow structures. Future work will extend this analysis to earlier times and different values of the Reynolds and Richardson numbers.

Single-particle dispersion in stably stratified turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sujovolsky, N. E.; Mininni, P. D.; Rast, M. P.

2018-03-01

We present models for single-particle dispersion in vertical and horizontal directions of stably stratified flows. The model in the vertical direction is based on the observed Lagrangian spectrum of the vertical velocity, while the model in the horizontal direction is a combination of a continuous-time eddy-constrained random walk process with a contribution to transport from horizontal winds. Transport at times larger than the Lagrangian turnover time is not universal and dependent on these winds. The models yield results in good agreement with direct numerical simulations of stratified turbulence, for which single-particle dispersion differs from the well-studied case of homogeneous and isotropic turbulence.

Experimental analysis of an oblique turbulent flame front propagating in a stratified flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Galizzi, C.; Escudie, D.

2010-12-15

This paper details the experimental study of a turbulent V-shaped flame expanding in a nonhomogeneous premixed flow. Its aim is to characterize the effects of stratification on turbulent flame characteristics. The setup consists of a stationary V-shaped flame stabilized on a rod and expanding freely in a lean premixed methane-air flow. One of the two oblique fronts interacts with a stratified slice, which has an equivalence ratio close to one and a thickness greater than that of the flame front. Several techniques such as PIV and CH{sup *} chemiluminescence are used to investigate the instantaneous fields, while laser Doppler anemometrymore » and thermocouples are combined with a concentration probe to provide information on the mean fields. First, in order to provide a reference, the homogeneous turbulent case is studied. Next, the stratified turbulent premixed flame is investigated. Results show significant modifications of the whole flame and of the velocity field upstream of the flame front. The analysis of the geometric properties of the stratified flame indicates an increase in flame brush thickness, closely related to the local equivalence ratio. (author)« less

Mean-field theory of differential rotation in density stratified turbulent convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogachevskii, I.

2018-04-01

A mean-field theory of differential rotation in a density stratified turbulent convection has been developed. This theory is based on the combined effects of the turbulent heat flux and anisotropy of turbulent convection on the Reynolds stress. A coupled system of dynamical budget equations consisting in the equations for the Reynolds stress, the entropy fluctuations and the turbulent heat flux has been solved. To close the system of these equations, the spectral approach, which is valid for large Reynolds and Péclet numbers, has been applied. The adopted model of the background turbulent convection takes into account an increase of the turbulence anisotropy and a decrease of the turbulent correlation time with the rotation rate. This theory yields the radial profile of the differential rotation which is in agreement with that for the solar differential rotation.

Large Eddy Simulations of a Bottom Boundary Layer Under a Shallow Geostrophic Front

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bateman, S. P.; Simeonov, J.; Calantoni, J.

2017-12-01

The unstratified surf zone and the stratified shelf waters are often separated by dynamic fronts that can strongly impact the character of the Ekman bottom boundary layer. Here, we use large eddy simulations to study the turbulent bottom boundary layer associated with a geostrophic current on a stratified shelf of uniform depth. The simulations are initialized with a spatially uniform vertical shear that is in geostrophic balance with a pressure gradient due to a linear horizontal temperature variation. Superposed on the temperature front is a stable vertical temperature gradient. As turbulence develops near the bottom, the turbulence-induced mixing gradually erodes the initial uniform temperature stratification and a well-mixed layer grows in height until the turbulence becomes fully developed. The simulations provide the spatial distribution of the turbulent dissipation and the Reynolds stresses in the fully developed boundary layer. We vary the initial linear stratification and investigate its effect on the height of the bottom boundary layer and the turbulence statistics. The results are compared to previous models and simulations of stratified bottom Ekman layers.

Free Thermal Convection Inside a Stably Stratified FLUID:A Study by Means of Three Dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cenedese, A.; Dore, V.; Moroni, M.

2009-05-01

Free thermal convection refers to the motion of vertical turbulent plumes or domes, which can occur when, an initially in-rest stratified fluid, is submitted to buoyancy forces, caused by a permanent perturbation associated to a heat transfer mechanism. When a fluid, in equilibrium, is stably stratified the external forcing can produce an unstable configuration ensuing the increasing in amplitude of internal waves, and, if it has strength enough, it can definitely erode the stratification, involving an increasing thickness of fluid volume. The entrainment phenomenon justifies the penetrative feature of convection and causes the growth of a convective boundary layer of well mixed fluid (Convective Mixing Layer) against the adjacent stable stratified layer. The non-steady phenomenon of penetrative convection in a stably stratified fluid has been reproduced in laboratory employing a tank filled with water and subjected to heating from below. The goal in the experiment is predicting the convective boundary layer growth as a function of initial and boundary conditions and describing the fate of a tracer dissolved in the fluid phase. The motivations of the research are mostly related to its connections to environmental topics. In nature the dynamics of penetrative convection influences the transport and mixing features of stratified fluids, playing a fundamental role in characterizing and forecasting the distribution of chemical species, with implication for water or air quality in the upper oceans and lakes or in the lower troposphere. When studying turbulent convective phenomenon, dispersion is mostly due to transport by large organized structures while molecular diffusion can be neglected. The knowledge of the horizontal and vertical extension of the structures dominating the flow field appears to be mandatory. In order to better understanding and likely describing the evolution of turbulent structures inside the convective layer, a fully three dimensional experimental technique is required. The equipment employed is suitable for simultaneously providing temperatures inside the domain through thermocouples and Lagrangian particle trajectories obtained by using a 3D-PTV technique. The combined use of a vertical array of thermocouples and 3D-PTV allows, simultaneously, profiling temperature and the 3D velocity components. A properly calibrated stereoscopic system of three monochrome 25 fps CCD cameras has been employed. The combination of image and object space based information is applied to establish the spatio-temporal correspondences between particle position of consecutive time steps, resulting in the reconstruction of 3D trajectories. The vertical dimension of convective structures is associated to the mixing layer height, detected both employing temperature data and statistics of the velocity field. On the other hand, the spatial correlation of the velocity field, providing the plume horizontal dimension, allows the horizontal extension of the mixing region to be determined. This information coupled to the knowledge of the mixing layer height allows the spatial extension of the convective region to be fully described.

Turbulence and Mixing in a Shallow Shelf Sea From Underwater Gliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultze, Larissa K. P.; Merckelbach, Lucas M.; Carpenter, Jeffrey R.

2017-11-01

The seasonal thermocline in shallow shelf seas acts as a natural barrier for boundary-generated turbulence, damping scalar transport to the upper regions of the water column and controlling primary production to a certain extent. To better understand turbulence and mixing conditions within the thermocline, two unique 12 and 17 day data sets with continuous measurements of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (ɛ) collected by autonomous underwater gliders under stratified to well-mixed conditions are presented. A highly intermittent ɛ signal was observed in the stratified thermocline region, which was mainly characterized by quiescent flow (turbulent activity index below 7). The rate of diapycnal mixing remained relatively constant for the majority of the time with peaks of higher fluxes that were responsible for much of the increase in bottom mixed layer temperature. The water column stayed predominantly strongly stratified, with a bulk Richardson number across the thermocline well above 2. A positive relationship between the intensity of turbulence, shear, and stratification was found. The trend between turbulence levels and the bulk Richardson number was relatively weak but suggests that ɛ increases as the bulk Richardson number approaches 1. The results also highlight the interpretation difficulties in both quantifying turbulent thermocline fluxes as well as the responsible mechanisms.

Characterizing turbulent overturns in CTD-data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Haren, Hans; Gostiaux, Louis

2014-06-01

We are concerned with the shape of overturns due to irreversible effects of turbulent mixing through internal wave breaking in the ocean. Vertical (z) overturn displacements (d) are computed from ship-borne SeaBird-911 CTD-data using the well-established method of reordering unstable portions in vertical density profiles. When displayed as a function of z, the displacements d(z) reveal a characteristic zigzag shape. Here, we primarily investigate the particular slope (z/d) of this zigzag signature after assigning the displacements to the end-point depths. Using model-overturns we show that this slope equals ½ for a solid-body-rotation, while a more sophisticated Rankine-vortex overturn-model, here employed in the vertical, has slopes slightly >½ in the interior and >1 along the sides. In the case of a near-homogeneous layer, displacement-points fill a parallelogram with side-edges having a slope of 1. The models are used to interpret overturn shapes in NE-Atlantic-Ocean-data from moderately deep, turbulent waters above Rockall Bank (off Ireland) and from deep, weakly stratified waters above Mount Josephine (off Portugal). These are compared with salinity-compensated intrusion data in Mediterranean-outflow-waters in the Canary Basin. Dynamically, most overturns are found to resemble the half-turn Rankine-vortex model and very few a, small-only, solid-body-rotation. Additionally, the usefulness and uselessness of upcast-CTD-data are discussed for overturn characterization.

Planetesimal and Protoplanet Dynamics in a Turbulent Protoplanetary Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chao-Chin; Mac Low, M.; Menou, K.

2010-01-01

In core accretion scenario of planet formation, kilometer-sized planetesimals are the building blocks toward planetary cores. Their dynamics, however, are strongly influenced by their natal protoplanetary gas disks. It is generally believed that these disks are turbulent, most likely due to magnetorotational instability. The resulting density perturbations in the gas render the movement of the particles a random process. Depending on its strength, this process might cause several interesting consequences in the course of planet formation, specifically the survivability of objects under rapid inward type-I migration and/or collisional destruction. Using the local-shearing-box approximation, we conduct numerical simulations of planetesimals moving in a turbulent, magnetized gas disk, either unstratified or vertically stratified. We produce a fiducial disk model with turbulent accretion of Shakura-Sunyaev alpha about 10-2 and root-mean-square density perturbation of about 10% and statistically characterize the evolution of the orbital properties of the particles moving in the disk. These measurements result in accurate calibration of the random process of particle orbital change, indicating noticeably smaller magnitudes than predicted by global simulations, although the results may depend on the size of the shearing box. We apply these results to revisit the survivability of planetesimals under collisional destruction or protoplanets under type-I migration. Planetesimals are probably secure from collisional destruction, except for kilometer-sized objects situated in the outer regions of a young protoplanetary disk. On the other hand, we confirm earlier studies of local models in that type-I migration probably dominates diffusive migration due to stochastic torques for most planetary cores and terrestrial planets. Discrepancies in the derived magnitude of turbulence between local and global simulations of magnetorotationally unstable disks remains an open issue, with important consequences for planet formation scenarios.

A New Similarity theory for Strongly Unstable Atmospheric Surface Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Yong; She, Zhen-Su

2017-11-01

We apply the structural ensemble dynamics (SED) theory to analyze mean velocity and streamwise turbulence intensity distribution in unstable atmospheric surface layer (ASL). The turbulent kinetic energy balance equation in ASL asserts that above a critical height zL, the buoyancy production cannot be neglected. The SED theory predicts that a stress length function displays a generalized scaling law from z to z 4 / 3. The zL derived from observational data show a two-regime form with Obukhov length L , including a linear dependence for moderate heat flux and a constant regime for large heat flux, extending the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory which is only valid for large | L | . This two-regime description is further extended to model turbulent intensity, with a new similarity coordinate Lz such that the observational data collapse for all L. Finally, we propose a phase diagram for characterizing different ASL flow regimes, and the corresponding flow structures are discussed. In summary, a new similarity theory for unstable atmosphere is constructed, and validated by observational data of the mean velocity and streamwise turbulence intensity distribution for all heat flux regimes.

International Symposium on Stratified Flows (4th) Held in Grenoble, France on June 29-July 2, 1994. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-10-10

G . Pawlal4 L. Arm, 11:30 Measuremtents of a turbulent patch in a rotating, 11:30 Constricted flows from the Pacific to the Indian ilnearly stratified...flow through a channel with an low-Reynolds-number convective boundary layer - underwater sill - 157 198 Z. Zhu, 6. A Lawrence G . N. Colemnan, J. H...vortex 12:15 Hydraulic control analysis of an integrated gravity interactions in stably stratified homogeneous current model - 134 turbulence - 246 ( G

Theory of ITG turbulent saturation in stellarators: identifying mechanisms to reduce turbulent transport

DOE PAGES

Hegna, Chris C.; Terry, Paul W.; Faber, Ben J.

2018-02-01

A three-field fluid model that allows for general three-dimensional equilibrium geometry is developed to describe ion temperature gradient turbulent saturation processes in stellarators. The theory relies on the paradigm of nonlinear transfer of energy from unstable to damped modes at comparable wavelength as the dominant saturation mechanism. The unstable-to-damped mode interaction is enabled by a third mode that for dominant energy transfer channels primarily serves as a regulator of the nonlinear energy transfer rate. The identity of the third wave in the interaction defines different scenarios for turbulent saturation with the dominant scenario depending upon the properties of the 3Dmore » geometry. The nonlinear energy transfer physics is quantified by the product of a turbulent correlation lifetime and a geometric coupling coefficient. The turbulent correlation time is determined by a three-wave frequency mismatch, which at long wavelength can be calculated from the sum of the linear eigenfrequencies of the three modes. Larger turbulent correlation times denote larger levels of nonlinear energy transfer and hence smaller turbulent transport. The theory provides an analytic prediction for how 3D shaping can be tuned to lower turbulent transport through saturation processes.« less

Theory of ITG turbulent saturation in stellarators: identifying mechanisms to reduce turbulent transport

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hegna, Chris C.; Terry, Paul W.; Faber, Ben J.

A three-field fluid model that allows for general three-dimensional equilibrium geometry is developed to describe ion temperature gradient turbulent saturation processes in stellarators. The theory relies on the paradigm of nonlinear transfer of energy from unstable to damped modes at comparable wavelength as the dominant saturation mechanism. The unstable-to-damped mode interaction is enabled by a third mode that for dominant energy transfer channels primarily serves as a regulator of the nonlinear energy transfer rate. The identity of the third wave in the interaction defines different scenarios for turbulent saturation with the dominant scenario depending upon the properties of the 3Dmore » geometry. The nonlinear energy transfer physics is quantified by the product of a turbulent correlation lifetime and a geometric coupling coefficient. The turbulent correlation time is determined by a three-wave frequency mismatch, which at long wavelength can be calculated from the sum of the linear eigenfrequencies of the three modes. Larger turbulent correlation times denote larger levels of nonlinear energy transfer and hence smaller turbulent transport. The theory provides an analytic prediction for how 3D shaping can be tuned to lower turbulent transport through saturation processes.« less

Alfvén Turbulence Driven by High-Dimensional Interior Crisis in the Solar Wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chian, A. C.-L.; Rempel, E. L.; Macau, E. E. N.; Rosa, R. R.; Christiansen, F.

2003-09-01

Alfvén intermittent turbulence has been observed in the solar wind. It has been previously shown that the interplanetary Alfvén intermittent turbulence can appear due to a low-dimensional temporal chaos [1]. In this paper, we study the nonlinear spatiotemporal dynamics of Alfvén waves governed by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation which describes the phase evolution of a large-amplitude Alfvén wave. We investigate the Alfvén turbulence driven by a high-dimensional interior crisis, which is a global bifurcation caused by the collision of a chaotic attractor with an unstable periodic orbit. This nonlinear phenomenon is analyzed using the numerical solutions of the model equation. The identification of the unstable periodic orbits and their invariant manifolds is fundamental for understanding the instability, chaos and turbulence in complex systems such as the solar wind plasma. The high-dimensional dynamical system approach to space environment turbulence developed in this paper can improve our interpretation of the origin and the nature of Alfvén turbulence observed in the solar wind.

Instabilities in a staircase stratified shear flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponetti, G.; Balmforth, N. J.; Eaves, T. S.

2018-01-01

We study stratified shear flow instability where the density profile takes the form of a staircase of interfaces separating uniform layers. Internal gravity waves riding on density interfaces can resonantly interact due to a background shear flow, resulting in the Taylor-Caulfield instability. The many steps of the density profile permit a multitude of interactions between different interfaces, and a rich variety of Taylor-Caulfield instabilities. We analyse the linear instability of a staircase with piecewise-constant density profile embedded in a background linear shear flow, locating all the unstable modes and identifying the strongest. The interaction between nearest-neighbour interfaces leads to the most unstable modes. The nonlinear dynamics of the instabilities are explored in the long-wavelength, weakly stratified limit (the defect approximation). Unstable modes on adjacent interfaces saturate by rolling up the intervening layer into a distinctive billow. These nonlinear structures coexist when stacked vertically and are bordered by the sharp density gradients that are the remnants of the steps of the original staircase. Horizontal averages remain layer-like.

The relationship between eddy-transport and second-order closure models for stratified media and for vortices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donaldson, C. D.

1973-01-01

The question is considered of how complex a model should be used for the calculation of turbulent shear flows. At the present time there are models varying in complexity from very simple eddy-transport models to models in which all the equations for the nonzero second-order correlations are solved simultaneously with the equations for the mean variables. A discussion is presented of the relationship between these two models of turbulent shear flow. Two types of motion are discussed: first, turbulent shear flow in a stratified medium and, second, the motion in a turbulent line vortex. These two cases are instructive because in the first example eddy-transport methods have proven reasonably effective, whereas in the second, they have led to erroneous conclusions. It is not generally appreciated that the simplest form of eddy-transport theory can be derived from second-order closure models of turbulent flow by a suitably limiting process. This limiting process and the suitability of eddy-transport modeling for stratified media and line vortices are discussed.

Lee wave breaking region: the map of instability development scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakovenko, S. N.

2017-10-01

Numerical study of a stably stratified flow above the two-dimensional cosine-shaped obstacle has been performed by DNS and LES. These methods were implemented to solve the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in the Boussinesq approximation, together with by the scalar diffusion equation. The results of scanning in the wide ranges of physical parameters (Reynolds and Prandtl/Schmidt numbers relating to laboratory experiment cases and atmospheric or oceanic situations) are presented for instability and turbulence development scenarios in the overturning internal lee waves. The latter is generated by the obstacle in a flow with the constant inflow values of velocity and stable density gradient. Evolution of lee-wave breaking is explored by visualization of velocity and scalar (density) fields, and the analysis of spectra. Based on the numerical simulation results, the power-law dependence on Reynolds number is demonstrated for the wavelength of the most unstable perturbation.

Turbulence characteristics of surface boundary layer over the Kalpakkam tropical coastal station, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, K. B. R. R. Hari; Srinivas, C. V.; Singh, A. Bagavth; Naidu, C. V.; Baskaran, R.; Venkatraman, B.

2018-05-01

In this study turbulent fluxes and their intensity features are studied in different seasons at the tropical Indian coastal station, Kalpakkam. Measurements from Ultrasonic anemometer at 10 m agl over 30-day period of four seasons (winter 1-30 January; summer/spring 1-30 April; SW monsoon 1-30 July; NE monsoon 1-30 October) in 2013 and 2014 are used for this work. Various surface layer parameters viz, friction velocity (u *), Obukhov length (L), momentum flux (M), turbulent heat flux (H), turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) are computed using eddy correlation method. Results indicate that the study region is highly turbulent in summer followed by NE monsoon, winter and SW monsoon seasons. Derived parameters indicate that shear is the main contributing mechanism for TKE generation during SW monsoon and both shear and buoyancy contributed for the generation of TKE in other seasons. Site specific turbulent intensity relationships were developed by analyzing second order moments of 3D wind components as a function of stability parameter (z/L). The turbulent components of wind followed 1/3 power law in the unstable regime and - 1 power law in the stable regime. Comparisons with previous studies indicate that the turbulent intensity for horizontal winds at the coastal station is relatively less especially in the unstable conditions. The derived relationships are found to be unique and vary seasonally and suggest their application for improved modeling of atmospheric dispersion in the study domain. Rate of dissipation of TKE (ϕ ɛ) for stable and unstable conditions at the observation site is different from the earlier proposed relationships in the literature. Thus, a new relationship is proposed for the better fit of the data at this site.

A Theory of Density Layering in Stratified Turbulence using Statistical State Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitzgerald, J.; Farrell, B.

2016-12-01

Stably stratified turbulent fluids commonly develop density structures that are layered in the vertical direction (e.g., Manucharyan et al., 2015). Within layers, density is approximately constant and stratification is weak. Between layers, density varies rapidly and stratification is strong. A common explanation for the existence of layers invokes the negative diffusion mechanism of Phillips (1972) & Posmentier (1977). The physical principle underlying this mechanism is that the flux-gradient relationship connecting the turbulent fluxes of buoyancy to the background stratification must have the special property of weakening fluxes with strengthening gradient. Under these conditions, the evolution of the stratification is governed by a negative diffusion problem which gives rise to spontaneous layer formation. In previous work on stratified layering, this flux-gradient property is often assumed (e.g, Posmentier, 1977) or drawn from phenomenological models of turbulence (e.g., Balmforth et al., 1998).In this work we develop the theoretical underpinnings of layer formation by applying stochastic turbulence modeling and statistical state dynamics (SSD) to predict the flux-gradient relation and analyze layer formation directly from the equations of motion. We show that for stochastically-forced homogeneous 2D Boussinesq turbulence, the flux-gradient relation can be obtained analytically and indicates that the fluxes always strengthen with stratification. The Phillips mechanism thus does not operate in this maximally simplified scenario. However, when the problem is augmented to include a large scale background shear, we show that the flux-gradient relationship is modified so that the fluxes weaken with stratification. Sheared and stratified 2D Boussinesq turbulence thus spontaneously forms density layers through the Phillips mechanism. Using SSD (Farrell & Ioannou 2003), we obtain a closed, deterministic dynamics for the stratification and the statistical turbulent state. We show that density layers form as a linear instability of the sheared turbulence, associated with a supercritical bifurcation. We further show that SSD predicts the nonlinear equilibration and maintenance of the layers, and captures the phenomena of layer growth and mergers (Radko, 2007).

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Observations of Tidal Straining Within Two Different Ocean Environments in the East China Sea: Stratification and Near-Bottom Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wei; Wei, Hao; Zhao, Liang

2017-11-01

Tidal straining describes the straining effect induced by the vertical shear of oscillatory tidal currents that act on horizontal density gradients. It tends to create tidal periodic stratification and modulate the turbulence in the bottom boundary layer (BBL). Here, we present observations of current, hydrology and turbulence obtained at two mooring stations that are characterized by two typical hydrological environments in the East China Sea (ECS). One is located adjacent to the Changjiang River's mouth, and the other is located over a sloping shelf which is far from the freshwater sources. Tidal straining induces a semidiurnal switching between stable and unstable stratification at both stations. Near-bottom high-frequency velocity measurements further reveal that the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is highly elevated during periods when unstable stratification occurs. A comparison between the TKE dissipation rate (ɛ) and the shear production (P) further reveals that the near-bottom mixing is locally shear-induced most of the time except during the unstable stratification period. Within this period, the magnitude of dissipation exceeds the expected value based on the law of the wall by an order of magnitude. The buoyancy flux that calculated by the balance method is too small to compensate for the existing discrepancy between the dissipation and shear production. Another plausible candidate is the advection of TKE, which may play an important role in the TKE budget during the unstable stratification period.

A formula for the Shakura-Sunyaev turbulent viscosity parameter. [for modeling of accretion disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Canuto, V. M.; Goldman, I.; Hubickyj, O.

1984-01-01

A formula for the Shakura-Suniaev alpha parameter is proposed in terms of the growth rate of the unstable modes of the physical mechanisms that generates turbulence. Turbulent convection is discussed as a particular example. The effect of rotation on turbulent viscosity is considered, and some remarks are made on convective fluxes, disk stability, and other types of instabilities.

Understanding exchanges across turbulent/stratified zones interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Bars, M.; Ribeiro, A.; Le Gal, P.; Aurnou, J. M.

2013-12-01

In many geophysical and astrophysical situations, a turbulent fluid layer is separated from a stably stratified one by a relatively sharp but deformable interface. Examples include the convective and radiative zones in stars, the atmospheric convective layer and overlying stratosphere, the Earth's outer core... While motions in the stratified layer are often neglected, it actually supports oscillatory motions called gravito-inertial waves (GIW) excited by Reynolds stresses, entropy fluctuations and interface deformations associated with the turbulence. Besides their direct observation as for instance in asteroseismology, GIW transport energy, carry momentum, break, mix... and are thus essential for accurate models of global climate and solar or core dynamics. Global integrated models including length scales and time scales spanning many orders of magnitude are required to fully address motions in turbulent and stratified zones and to understand the details of the highly non-linear couplings between rotation, meridional circulation, turbulence and waves: this is clearly very challenging from both analytical and numerical points of view. Here, we present results from two complementary laboratory experiments using water as a working fluid and salt or temperature to control the buoyancy effects, allowing to address the whole range of relevant physical issues in simplified models. In the first set-up, we take benefit from the unusual property of water that its density has a maximum value near 4oC to study its convective and oscillatory motions in a tank with a bottom boundary at about 0oC and a hotter upper surface. High precision local measurements of temperature fluctuations are performed simultaneously in the convective and stratified zones to produce the corresponding power density spectrum and probability density function. In the second set-up, a turbulent jet generated by injection of water impinges upon the interface between a uniform density layer and a stratified one of salted water. The experiment is performed on a rotating table. Velocity measurements are carried out non-intrusively using Particle Imaging Velocimetry in both regions. Our combined results show that (i) the interface acts as a filter which mostly allows for the passing of low frequency perturbations, while (ii) the further propagation of the excited waves in the stratified zone gives rise to selective wave damping, focusing the transported energy and momentum around given frequencies corresponding to selected propagation angles. We explain those results with a simple analytical model, allowing their extension to natural configurations.

Complexity of the laminar-turbulent boundary in pipe flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budanur, Nazmi Burak; Hof, Björn

2018-05-01

Over the past decade, the edge of chaos has proven to be a fruitful starting point for investigations of shear flows when the laminar base flow is linearly stable. Numerous computational studies of shear flows demonstrated the existence of states that separate laminar and turbulent regions of the state space. In addition, some studies determined invariant solutions that reside on this edge. In this paper, we study the unstable manifold of one such solution with the aid of continuous symmetry reduction, which we formulate here for the simultaneous quotiening of axial and azimuthal symmetries. Upon our investigation of the unstable manifold, we discover a previously unknown traveling-wave solution on the laminar-turbulent boundary with a relatively complex structure. By means of low-dimensional projections, we visualize different dynamical paths that connect these solutions to the turbulence. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that the laminar-turbulent boundary exhibits qualitatively different regions whose properties are influenced by the nearby invariant solutions.

Turbulent Heat Transfer from a Thermally Forced Boundary in a Stratified Fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, K. J.; Wells, A.; Flierl, G.

2017-12-01

When a marine-terminating glacier melts into a stratified ocean, a buoyancy-driven flow develops along the ice surface. The resulting turbulent heat and salt fluxes provide a key feedback on the ice melting rate. To build insight into such flows, we consider direct numerical simulations of an analogue problem with convection driven by a thermally forced sidewall in a stably stratified Boussinesq fluid. Our model considers vertical and inclined periodic channels in 2D with a constant background buoyancy gradient. When the lateral or upper boundary is given a sufficient thermal perturbation relative to the ambient, a confined and homogeneous turbulent plume emerges along the heated wall. We present a scaling analysis for the resulting heat transport across the plume, and compare it to simulations over a range of Rayleigh numbers, Prandtl numbers, and wall-inclination angles.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Turbulence and mixing from optimal perturbations to a stratified shear layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaminski, Alexis; Caulfield, C. P.; Taylor, John

2014-11-01

The stability and mixing of stratified shear layers is a canonical problem in fluid dynamics with relevance to flows in the ocean and atmosphere. The Miles-Howard theorem states that a necessary condition for normal-mode instability in parallel, inviscid, steady stratified shear flows is that the gradient Richardson number, Rig is less than 1/4 somewhere in the flow. However, substantial transient growth of non-normal modes may be possible at finite times even when Rig > 1 / 4 everywhere in the flow. We have calculated the ``optimal perturbations'' associated with maximum perturbation energy gain for a stably-stratified shear layer. These optimal perturbations are then used to initialize direct numerical simulations. For small but finite perturbation amplitudes, the optimal perturbations grow at the predicted linear rate initially, but then experience sufficient transient growth to become nonlinear and susceptible to secondary instabilities, which then break down into turbulence. Remarkably, this occurs even in flows for which Rig > 1 / 4 everywhere. We will describe the nonlinear evolution of the optimal perturbations and characterize the resulting turbulence and mixing.

Observations of turbulence in a partially stratified estuary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stagey, M.T.; Monismith, Stephen G.; Burau, J.R.

1999-01-01

The authors present a field study of estuarine turbulence in which profiles of Reynolds stresses were directly measured using an ADCP throughout a 25-h tidal day. The dataset that is discussed quantifies turbulent mixing for a water column in northern San Francisco Bay that experiences a sequence of states that includes a weak ebb and flood that are stratified, followed by a strong, and eventually unstratified, ebb and flood. These measurements show that energetic turbulence is confined to a bottom mixed layer by the overlying stratification. Examination of individual Reynolds stress profiles along with profiles of Richardson number and turbulent Froude number shows that the water column can be divided into regions based on the relative importance of buoyancy effects. Using the measured turbulence production rate P, the dissipation rate e. is estimated. The observed turbulence had values of e/vN2 > 20 all of the time and e/vN2 > 200 most of the time, suggesting that the observed motions were buoyancy affected turbulence rather than internal waves. However, at times, turbulent Froude numbers in much of the upper-water column were less than one, indicating important stratification effects. Taken as a whole, the data show that stratification affects the turbulent velocity variance q2 most severely; that is, observed reductions in u'w' are largely associated with small values of q2 rather than with a dramatic reduction in the efficiency with which turbulent motions produce momentum fluxes. Finally, the dataset is compared to predictions made using the popular Mellor-Yamada level 2.5 closure. These comparisons show that the model tends to underestimate the turbulent kinetic energy in regions of strong stratification where the turbulence is strongly inhomogeneous and to overestimate the turbulent kinetic energy in weakly stratified regions. The length scale does not appear to compensate for these errors, and, as a result, similar errors are seen in the eddy viscosity predictions. It is hypothesized that the underestimation of q2 is due to an inaccurate parameterization of turbulence self-transport from the near-bed region to the overlying stratification. ?? 1999 American Meteorological Society.

Dynamics Evolution Investigation of Mack Mode Instability in a Hypersonic Boundary Layer by Bicoherence Spectrum Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Jian; Jiang, Nan

2012-07-01

The instability of a hypersonic boundary layer on a cone is investigated by bicoherence spectrum analysis. The experiment is conducted at Mach number 6 in a hypersonic wind tunnel. The time series signals of instantaneous fluctuating surface-thermal-flux are measured by Pt-thin-film thermocouple temperature sensors mounted at 28 stations on the cone surface along streamwise direction to investigate the development of the unstable disturbances. The bicoherence spectrum analysis based on wavelet transform is employed to investigate the nonlinear interactions of the instability of Mack modes in hypersonic laminar boundary layer transition. The results show that wavelet bicoherence is a powerful tool in studying the unstable mode nonlinear interaction of hypersonic laminar-turbulent transition. The first mode instability gives rise to frequency shifts to higher unstable modes at the early stage of hypersonic laminar-turbulent transition. The modulations subsequently lead to the second mode instability occurrence. The second mode instability governs the last stage of instability and final breakdown to turbulence with multi-scale disturbances growth.

Convection Enhances Mixing in the Southern Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sohail, Taimoor; Gayen, Bishakhdatta; Hogg, Andrew McC.

2018-05-01

Mixing efficiency is a measure of the energy lost to mixing compared to that lost to viscous dissipation. In a turbulent stratified fluid the mixing efficiency is often assumed constant at η = 0.2, whereas with convection it takes values closer to 1. The value of mixing efficiency when both stratified shear flow and buoyancy-driven convection are active remains uncertain. We use a series of numerical simulations to determine the mixing efficiency in an idealized Southern Ocean model. The model is energetically closed and fully resolves convection and turbulence such that mixing efficiency can be diagnosed. Mixing efficiency decreases with increasing wind stress but is enhanced by turbulent convection and by large thermal gradients in regions with a strongly stratified thermocline. Using scaling theory and the model results, we predict an overall mixing efficiency for the Southern Ocean that is significantly greater than 0.2 while emphasizing that mixing efficiency is not constant.

The effect of sediments on turbulent plume dynamics in a stratified fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stenberg, Erik; Ezhova, Ekaterina; Brandt, Luca

2017-11-01

We report large eddy simulation results of sediment-loaded turbulent plumes in a stratified fluid. The configuration, where the plume is discharged from a round source, provides an idealized model of subglacial discharge from a submarine tidewater glacier and is a starting point for understanding the effect of sediments on the dynamics of the rising plume. The transport of sediments is modeled by means of an advection-diffusion equation where sediment settling velocity is taken into account. We initially follow the experimental setup of Sutherland (Phys. Rev. Fluids, 2016), considering uniformly stratified ambients and further extend the work to pycnocline-type stratifications typical of Greenland fjords. Apart from examining the rise height, radial spread and intrusion of the rising plume, we gain further insights of the plume dynamics by extracting turbulent characteristics and the distribution of the sediments inside the plume.

Return currents in solar flares - Collisionless effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowland, H. L.; Vlahos, L.

1985-01-01

If the primary, precipitating electrons in a solar flare are unstable to beam plasma interactions, it is shown that strong Langmuir turbulence can seriously modify the way in which a return current is carried by the background plasma. In particular, the return (or reverse) current will not be carried by the bulk of the electrons, but by a small number of high velocity electrons. For beam/plasma densities greater than 0.01, this can reduce the effects of collisions on the return current. For higher density beams where the return current could be unstable to current driven instabilities, the effects of strong turbulence anomalous resistivity is shown to prevent the appearance of such instabilities. Again in this regime, how the return current is carried is determined by the beam generated strong turbulence.

Effect of turbulent eddy viscosity on the unstable surface mode above an acoustic liner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marx, David; Aurégan, Yves

2013-07-01

Lined ducts are used to reduce noise radiation from ducts in turbofan engines. In certain conditions they may sustain hydrodynamic instabilities. A local linear stability analysis of the flow in a 2D lined channel is performed using a numerical integration of the governing equations. Several model equations are used, one of them taking into account turbulent eddy viscosity, and a realistic turbulent mean flow profile is used that vanishes at the wall. The stability analysis results are compared to published experimental results. Both the model and the experiments show the existence of an unstable mode, and the importance of taking into account eddy viscosity in the model is shown. When this is done, quantities such as the growth rate and the velocity eigenfunctions are shown to agree correctly.

Analysis of turbulence characteristics over the northern Tibetan Plateau area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, M. S.; Ma, Y. M.; Ma, W. Q.; Hu, Z. Y.; Ishikawa, H.; Su, Z. B.; Sun, G. L.

2006-07-01

Based on CATOP/Tibet [Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP) Asia-Australia Monsoon Project (CA-IMP) on the Tibetan Plateau) turbulent data collected at the Bujiao (BJ) site of the Nagqu area, the turbulent structure and transportation characteristics in the near surface layer during summer are analyzed. The main results show that the relationship between the normalized standard deviation of 3D wind speed and stability satisfies the similarity law tinder both unstable and stable stratifications. The relations of normalized standard deviation of temperature and specific humidity to stability only obey the "-1/3 power law." tinder unstable conditions. In the case of stable stratifications, their relations to stability are dispersing. The sensible heat dominates in the dry period, while in the wet period, the latent heat is larger than the sensible heat.

One-dimensional Turbulence Models of Type I X-ray Bursts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hou, Chen

Type I X-ray bursts are caused by thermonuclear explosions occurring on the surface of an accreting neutron star in a binary star system. Observations and simulations of these phenomena are of great importance for understanding the fundamental properties of neutron stars and dense matter because the equation of state for cold dense matter can be constrained by the mass-radius relationship of neutron stars. During the bursts, turbulence plays a key role in mixing the fuels and driving the unstable nuclear burning process. This dissertation presents one-dimensional models of photospheric radius expansion bursts with a new approach to simulate turbulent advection.more » Compared with the traditional mixing length theory, the one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) model represents turbulent motions by a sequence of maps that are generated according to a stochastic process. The light curves I obtained with the ODT models are in good agreement with those of the KEPLER model in which the mixing length theory and various diffusive processes are applied. The abundance comparison, however, indicates that the differences in turbulent regions and turbulent diffusivities result in more 12C survival during the bursts in the ODT models, which can make a difference in the superbursts phenomena triggered by unstable carbon burning.« less

Wind-tunnel experiments of turbulent flow over a surface-mounted 2-D block in a thermally-stratified boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wei; Markfort, Corey; Porté-Agel, Fernando

2014-11-01

Turbulent flows over complex surface topography have been of great interest in the atmospheric science and wind engineering communities. The geometry of the topography, surface roughness and temperature characteristics as well as the atmospheric thermal stability play important roles in determining momentum and scalar flux distribution. Studies of turbulent flow over simplified topography models, under neutrally stratified boundary-layer conditions, have provided insights into fluid dynamics. However, atmospheric thermal stability has rarely been considered in laboratory experiments, e.g., wind-tunnel experiments. Series of wind-tunnel experiments of thermally-stratified boundary-layer flow over a surface-mounted 2-D block, in a well-controlled boundary-layer wind tunnel, will be presented. Measurements using high-resolution PIV, x-wire/cold-wire anemometry and surface heat flux sensors were conducted to quantify the turbulent flow properties, including the size of the recirculation zone, coherent vortex structures and the subsequent boundary layer recovery. Results will be shown to address thermal stability effects on momentum and scalar flux distribution in the wake, as well as dominant mechanism of turbulent kinetic energy generation and consumption. The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the Swiss National Foundation (Grant 200021-132122), the National Science Foundation (Grant ATM-0854766) and NASA (Grant NNG06GE256).

Cold pulse and rotation reversals with turbulence spreading and residual stress

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hariri, F.; Naulin, V.; Juul Rasmussen, J.

2016-05-15

Transport modeling based on inclusion of turbulence spreading and residual stresses shows internal rotation reversals and polarity reversal of cold pulses, with a clear indication of nonlocal transport effects due to fast spreading in the turbulence intensity field. The effects of turbulence spreading and residual stress are calculated from the gradient of the turbulence intensity. In the model presented in this paper, the flux is carried by the turbulence intensity field, which in itself is subject to radial transport effects. The pulse polarity inversion and the rotation profile reversal positions are close to the radial location of the stable/unstable transition.more » Both effects have no direct explanation within the framework of classical transport modeling, where the fluxes are related directly to the linear growth rates, the turbulence intensity profile is not considered and the corresponding residual stress is absent. Our simulations are in qualitative agreement with measurements from ohmically heated plasmas. Rotation reversal at a finite radius is found in situations not displaying saturated confinement, which we identify as situations where the plasma is nearly everywhere unstable. As an additional and new effect, the model predicts a perturbation of the velocity profile following a cold pulse from the edge. This allows direct experimental confirmation of both the existence of residual stress caused by turbulence intensity profiles and fundamental ideas of transport modeling presented here.« less

Turbulent Mixing in Gravity Currents with Transverse Shear

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Brian; Helfrich, Karl; Scotti, Alberto

2010-11-01

A parallel flow with horizontal shear and horizontal density gradient undergoes an intensification of the shear by gravitational tilting and stretching, rapidly breaking down into turbulence. Such flows have the potential for substantial mixing in estuaries and the coastal ocean. We present high-resolution numerical results for the mixing efficiency of these flows, which can be viewed as gravity currents with transverse shear, and contrast them with the well-studied case of stably stratified, homogeneous turbulence (uniform vertical density and velocity gradients). For a sheared gravity current, the buoyancy flux, turbulent Reynolds stress, and dissipation are well out of equilibrium. The total kinetic energy first increases as potential energy is transferred to the gravity current, but rapidly decays once turbulence sets in. Despite the non-equilibrium character, mixing efficiencies are slightly higher but qualitatively similar to homogeneous stratified turbulence. Efficiency decreases in the highly energetic regime where the dissipation rate is large compared with viscosity and stratification, ɛ/(νN^2)>100, further declining as turbulence decays and kinetic energy dissipation dominates the buoyancy flux. In general, the mixing rate, parameterized by a turbulent eddy diffusivity, increases with the strength of the transverse shear.

Non-linear hydrodynamic instability and turbulence in eccentric astrophysical discs with vertical structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wienkers, A. F.; Ogilvie, G. I.

2018-07-01

Non-linear evolution of the parametric instability of inertial waves inherent to eccentric discs is studied by way of a new local numerical model. Mode coupling of tidal deformation with the disc eccentricity is known to produce exponentially growing eccentricities at certain mean-motion resonances. However, the details of an efficient saturation mechanism balancing this growth still are not fully understood. This paper develops a local numerical model for an eccentric quasi-axisymmetric shearing box which generalizes the often-used Cartesian shearing box model. The numerical method is an overall second-order well-balanced finite volume method which maintains the stratified and oscillatory steady-state solution by construction. This implementation is employed to study the non-linear outcome of the parametric instability in eccentric discs with vertical structure. Stratification is found to constrain the perturbation energy near the mid-plane and localize the effective region of inertial wave breaking that sources turbulence. A saturated marginally sonic turbulent state results from the non-linear breaking of inertial waves and is subsequently unstable to large-scale axisymmetric zonal flow structures. This resulting limit-cycle behaviour reduces access to the eccentric energy source and prevents substantial transport of angular momentum radially through the disc. Still, the saturation of this parametric instability of inertial waves is shown to damp eccentricity on a time-scale of a thousand orbital periods. It may thus be a promising mechanism for intermittently regaining balance with the exponential growth of eccentricity from the eccentric Lindblad resonances and may also help explain the occurrence of 'bursty' dynamics such as the superhump phenomenon.

Interaction of Particles and Turbulence in the Solar Nebula

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dacles-Mariani, Jennifer S.; Dobrovolskis, A. R.; Cuzzi, J. N.; DeVincenzi, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

1996-01-01

The most widely accepted theories for the formation of the Solar system claim that small solid particles continue to settle into a thin layer at the midplane of the Solar nebula until it becomes gravitationally unstable and collapses directly into km-sized planetesimals. This scenario has been challenged on at least two grounds: (1) due to turbulence, the particles may not settle into a thin layer, and (2) a thin layer may not be unstable. The Solar nebula contains at least three sources of turbulence: radial shear, vertical shear, and thermal convection. The first of these is small and probably negligible, while the last is poorly understood. However, the second contribution is likely to be substantial. The particle-rich layer rotates at nearly the Keplerian speed, but the surrounding gaseous nebula rotates slower because it is partly supported by pressure. The resulting shear generates a turbulent boundary layer which stirs the particles away from the midplane, and forestalls gravitational instability. Our previous work used a 'zero-equation' (Prandtl) model to predict the intensity of shear-generated turbulence, and enabled us to demonstrate numerically that settling of particles to the midplane is self-limiting. However, we neglected the possibility that mass loading by particles might damp the turbulence. To explore this, we have developed a more sophisticated 'one-equation' model which incorporates local generation, transport, and dissipation of turbulence, as well as explicit damping of turbulence by particles. We also include a background level of global turbulence to represent other sources. Our results indicate that damping flattens the distribution of particles somewhat, but that background turbulence thickens the particle layer.

Balance in non-hydrostatic rotating stratified turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKiver, William J.; Dritschel, David G.

It is now well established that two distinct types of motion occur in geophysical turbulence: slow motions associated with potential vorticity advection and fast oscillations due to inertiamaster variable this is known as balance. In real geophysical flows, deviations from balance in the form of inertiaimbalance|N/f) where optimal potential vorticity balancenonlinear quasi-geostrophic balance’ procedure expands the equations of motion to second order in Rossby number but retains the exact (unexpanded) definition of potential vorticity. This proves crucial for obtaining an accurate estimate of balanced motions. In the analysis of rotating stratified turbulence at Ro1 and N/f1, this procedure captures a significantly greater fraction of the underlying balance than standard (linear) quasi-geostrophic balance (which is based on the linearized equations about a state of rest). Nonlinear quasi-geostrophic balance also compares well with optimal potential vorticity balance, which captures the greatest fraction of the underlying balance overall.More fundamentally, the results of these analyses indicate that balance dominates in carefully initialized simulations of freely decaying rotating stratified turbulence up to O(1) Rossby numbers when N/f1. The fluid motion exhibits important quasi-geostrophic features with, in particular, typical height-to-width scale ratios remaining comparable to f/N.

Perturbation Effects on a Supercritical C7H16/N2 Mixing Layer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Okongo'o, Nora; Bellan, Josette

2008-01-01

A computational-simulation study has been presented of effects of perturbation wavelengths and initial Reynolds numbers on the transition to turbulence of a heptane/nitrogen mixing layer at supercritical pressure. The governing equations for the simulations were the same as those of related prior studies reported in NASA Tech Briefs. Two-dimensional (2D) simulations were performed with initially im posed span wise perturbations whereas three-dimensional (3D) simulations had both streamwise and spanwise initial perturbations. The 2D simulations were undertaken to ascertain whether perturbations having the shortest unstable wavelength obtained from a linear stability analysis for inviscid flow are unstable in viscous nonlinear flows. The goal of the 3D simulations was to ascertain whether perturbing the mixing layer at different wavelengths affects the transition to turbulence. It was found that transitions to turbulence can be obtained at different perturbation wavelengths, provided that they are longer than the shortest unstable wavelength as determined by 2D linear stability analysis for the inviscid case and that the initial Reynolds number is proportionally increased as the wavelength is decreased. The transitional states thus obtained display different dynamic and mixture characteristics, departing strongly from the behaviors of perfect gases and ideal mixtures.

Vertical variations in the turbulent structure of the surface boundary layer over vineyards under unstable atmospheric conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Due to their highly-structured canopy, turbulent characteristics within and above vineyards, may not conform to those typically exhibited by other agricultural and natural ecosystems. Using data collected as a part of the Grape Remote sensing and Atmospheric Profiling and Evapotranspiration Experime...

Numerical simulations of the stratified oceanic bottom boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, John R.

Numerical simulations are used to consider several problems relevant to the turbulent oceanic bottom boundary layer. In the first study, stratified open channel flow is considered with thermal boundary conditions chosen to approximate a shallow sea. Specifically, a constant heat flux is applied at the free surface and the lower wall is assumed to be adiabatic. When the surface heat flux is strong, turbulent upwellings of low speed fluid from near the lower wall are inhibited by the stable stratification. Subsequent studies consider a stratified bottom Ekman layer over a non-sloping lower wall. The influence of the free surface is removed by using an open boundary condition at the top of the computational domain. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the outer layer stratification on the boundary layer structure. When the density field is initialized with a linear profile, a turbulent mixed layer forms near the wall, which is separated from the outer layer by a strongly stable pycnocline. It is found that the bottom stress is not strongly affected by the outer layer stratification. However, stratification reduces turbulent transport to the outer layer and strongly limits the boundary layer height. The mean shear at the top of the boundary layer is enhanced when the outer layer is stratified, and this shear is strong enough to cause intermittent instabilities above the pycnocline. Turbulence-generated internal gravity waves are observed in the outer layer with a relatively narrow frequency range. An explanation for frequency content of these waves is proposed, starting with an observed broad-banded turbulent spectrum and invoking linear viscous decay to explain the preferential damping of low and high frequency waves. During the course of this work, an open-source computational fluid dynamics code has been developed with a number of advanced features including scalar advection, subgrid-scale models for large-eddy simulation, and distributed memory parallelism.

Elliptical instability in stably stratified fluid interiors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vidal, J.; Hollerbach, R.; Schaeffer, N.; Cebron, D.

2016-12-01

Self-sustained magnetic fields in celestial bodies (planets, moons, stars) are due to flows in internal electrically conducting fluids. These fluid motions are often attributed to convection, as it is the case for the Earth's liquid core and the Sun. However some past or present liquid cores may be stably stratified. Alternative mechanisms may thus be needed to understand the dynamo process in these celestial objects. Turbulent flows driven by mechanical forcings, such as tides or precession, seem very promising since they are dynamo capable. However the effect of density stratification is not clear, because it can stabilize or destabilize mechanically-driven flows.To mimic an elliptical distortion due to tidal forcing in spherical geometry (full sphere and shell), we consider a theoretical base flow with elliptical streamlines and an associated density profile. It allows to keep the numerical efficiency of spectral methods in this geometry. The flow satisfies the stress-free boundary condition. We perform the stability analysis of the base state using three-dimensional simulations to study both the linear and nonlinear regimes. Stable and unstable density profiles are considered. A complementary local stability analysis (WKB) is also performed. We show that elliptical instability can still grow upon a stable stratification. We also study the mixing of the stratification by the elliptical instability. Finally we look at the dynamo capability of these flows.

Self-similar mixing in stratified plane Couette flow for varying Prandtl number

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caulfield, C. P.; Zhou, Qi; Taylor, John

2017-11-01

We investigate fully developed turbulence in statically stable stratified plane Couette flows (the flow between two horizontal plates a distance 2 h apart moving at velocities +/-U0 and held at densities ρa -/+ρ0) using direct numerical simulations at a range of Prandtl numbers Pr ≡ ν / κ ∈ { 0.7 , 7 , 70 } and Reynolds numbers Re ≡U0 h / ν ∈ [ 865 , 280000 ] . We observe significant effects of Pr on the heat and momentum fluxes across the channel gap and on the mean temperature and velocity profile, which can be described through a mixing length model using Monin-Obukhov (M-O) similarity theory. We employ M-O theory to formulate similarity scalings for various flow diagnostics in the gap interior. The mid-channel-gap gradient Richardson number Rig is determined by the length scale ratio h / L , where L is the Obukhov length scale. When h / L >> 1 , Rig asymptotes to a maximum characteristic value of approximately 0.2, for very high Re and for a range of Pr and bulk Richardson number Ri = gρ0 h /(ρaU02) . The flux Richardson number Rif = Rig , implying that such turbulent flows do not access the (strongly) `layered anisotropic stratified turbulence' regime, and that the turbulent Prandtl number is approximately one.

Optical Rogue Waves in Vortex Turbulence.

PubMed

Gibson, Christopher J; Yao, Alison M; Oppo, Gian-Luca

2016-01-29

We present a spatiotemporal mechanism for producing 2D optical rogue waves in the presence of a turbulent state with creation, interaction, and annihilation of optical vortices. Spatially periodic structures with bound phase lose stability to phase unbound turbulent states in complex Ginzburg-Landau and Swift-Hohenberg models with external driving. When the pumping is high and the external driving is low, synchronized oscillations are unstable and lead to spatiotemporal vortex-mediated turbulence with high excursions in amplitude. Nonlinear amplification leads to rogue waves close to turbulent optical vortices, where the amplitude tends to zero, and to probability density functions (PDFs) with long tails typical of extreme optical events.

Turbulence regeneration in pipe flow at moderate Reynolds numbers.

PubMed

Hof, Björn; van Doorne, Casimir W H; Westerweel, Jerry; Nieuwstadt, Frans T M

2005-11-18

We present the results of an experimental investigation into the nature and structure of turbulent pipe flow at moderate Reynolds numbers. A turbulence regeneration mechanism is identified which sustains a symmetric traveling wave within the flow. The periodicity of the mechanism allows comparison to the wavelength of numerically observed exact traveling wave solutions and close agreement is found. The advection speed of the upstream turbulence laminar interface in the experimental flow is observed to form a lower bound on the phase velocities of the exact traveling wave solutions. Overall our observations suggest that the dynamics of the turbulent flow at moderate Reynolds numbers are governed by unstable nonlinear traveling waves.

Box simulations of rotating magnetoconvection. Effects of penetration and turbulent pumping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, U.; Rüdiger, G.

2003-04-01

Various effects of penetration in rotating magnetoconvection are studied by means of three-dimensional numerical simulations employing the code NIRVANA. A local, 2-layer model is applied dividing the computational domain (which is a rectangular box placed tangentially on a sphere at latitude 45deg) in an unstable polytropic region on top of a stable polytropic region. Different realizations of convection are examined parameterized by Taylor numbers Ta=0,6 x 104, 6x 105 and magnetic field strengths β = 5,50,500,5000,infty . We find a rather distinctive behavior of the penetration depth Delta on the system parameters (Ta,β). In non-rotating convection Delta is a monotonically decreasing function of β-1 which is due to magnetic quenching effects. Also, penetration is subject to rotational quenching, i.e. Delta is reduced for increasing rotation rate. In the intermediate regime of (Ta,β), the effects of rotation and magnetic field on Delta do not simply add (see Fig. 3). We find, nevertheless, a very strong reduction of the penetration depth of overshooting turbulence by both rotation and magnetism. Penetrative convection is closely associated with the mixing of a passive scalar quantity advected with the flow. In the long term, the tracer material penetrates significantly deeper into the stable layer than suggested by Delta which is due to the cumulative effect of isolated, fast-moving plumes. In case of a weak magnetic field, penetrative convection also serves to ensure a downward transport of magnetic flux by turbulent pumping with an average rate gammaz ~ -7x 10-3 measured in units of the sound speed at the top z-boundary. For larger magnetic fields the pumping effect is quenched and even changes sign in the convection zone. This effect is suggested as being due to the effect of ``turbulent buoyancy'' which in density-stratified media transports a given magnetic field upwards if it is not too strong (Kichatinov & Rüdiger \\cite{Kichatinov92}).

Effect of small-scale turbulence on feeding rates of larval cod and haddock in stratified water on Georges Bank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregory Lough, R.; Mountain, David G.

A set of vertically stratified MOCNESS tows made on the southern flank of Georges Bank in spring 1981 and 1983 was analyzed to examine the relationship between larval cod and haddock feeding success and turbulent dissipation in a stratified water column. Observed feeding ratios (mean no. prey larval gut -1) for three size classes of larvae were compared with estimated ingestion rates using the Rothschild and Osborn ( Journal of Plankton Research, 10, 1988, 465-474) predator-prey encounter rate model. Simulation of contact rates requires parameter estimates of larval fish and their prey cruising speeds, density of prey, and turbulent velocity of the water column. Turbulent dissipation was estimated from a formulation by James ( Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 5, 1977, 339-353) incorporating both a wind a tidal component. Larval ingestion rates were based on swallowing probabilities derived from calm-water laboratory observations. Model-predicted turbulence profiles generally showed that dissipation rates were low to moderate (10 -11-10 -7 W kg -1). Turbulence was minimal at or below the pycnocline (≈ 25 m) with higher values(1-2 orders of magnitude) near the surface due to wind mixing and at depth due to shear in the tidal current near bottom. In a stratified water column during the day, first-feeding larvae (5-6 mm) were located mostly within or above the pycnocline coincident with their copepod prey (nauplii and copepodites). The 7-8 mm larvae were most abundant within the pycnocline, whereas the 9-10 mm larvae were found within and below the pycnocline. Feeding ratios were relatively low in early morning following darkness when the wind speed was low, but increased by a factor of 2-13 by noon and evening when the wind speed doubled. Comparison of depth-specific feeding ratios with estimated ingestion rates, derived from turbulence-affected contact rates, generally were reasonable after allowing for an average gut evacuation time (4 h), and in many cases the observed and estimated values had similar profiles. However, differences in vertical profiles may be attributed to differential digestion time, pursuit behavior affected by high turbulence, vertical migration of the larger larvae, an optimum light level for feeding, smaller-scale prey patchiness, and the gross estimates of turbulence. Response-surface estimation of averaged feeding ratios as a function of averaged prey density (0-50 m) with a minimum water-column turbulence value predicted that 5-6 mm larvae have a maximum feeding response at the highest prey densities (> 30 prey 1 -1) and lower turbulence estimates (<10 -10 W kg -1). The 7-8 mm and 9-10 mm larvae also have a maximum feeding response at high prey densities and low turbulence, but it extends to lower prey densities (> 10 prey 1 -1) as turbulence increases to intermidiate levels, clearly showing an interaction effect. In general, maximum feeding ratios occur at low to intermediate levels of turbulence where average prey density is greater than 10-20 prey 1 -1.

On the stability analysis of sharply stratified shear flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churilov, Semyon

2018-05-01

When the stability of a sharply stratified shear flow is studied, the density profile is usually taken stepwise and a weak stratification between pycnoclines is neglected. As a consequence, in the instability domain of the flow two-sided neutral curves appear such that the waves corresponding to them are neutrally stable, whereas the neighboring waves on either side of the curve are unstable, in contrast with the classical result of Miles (J Fluid Mech 16:209-227, 1963) who proved that in stratified flows unstable oscillations can be only on one side of the neutral curve. In the paper, the contradiction is resolved and changes in the flow stability pattern under transition from a model stepwise to a continuous density profile are analyzed. On this basis, a simple self-consistent algorithm is proposed for studying the stability of sharply stratified shear flows with a continuous density variation and an arbitrary monotonic velocity profile without inflection points. Because our calculations and the algorithm are both based on the method of stability analysis (Churilov J Fluid Mech 539:25-55, 2005; ibid, 617, 301-326, 2008), which differs essentially from usually used, the paper starts with a brief review of the method and results obtained with it.

Synchronization of two coupled turbulent fires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Inertial floaters in stratified turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sozza, A.; De Lillo, F.; Boffetta, G.

2018-01-01

We investigate numerically the dynamics and statistics of inertial particles transported by stratified turbulence, in the case of particle density intermediate in the average density profile of the fluid. Under these conditions, particles tend to form a thin layer around the corresponding fluid isopycnal. The thickness of the resulting layer is determined by a balance between buoyancy (which attracts the particle to the isopycnal) and inertia (which prevents them from following it exactly). By means of extensive numerical simulations, we explore the parameter space of the system and we find that in a range of parameters particles form fractal clusters within the layer.

Observations of velocity shear driven plasma turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kintner, P. M., Jr.

1976-01-01

Electrostatic and magnetic turbulence observations from HAWKEYE-1 during the low altitude portion of its elliptical orbit over the Southern Hemisphere are presented. The magnetic turbulence is confined near the auroral zone and is similar to that seen at higher altitudes by HEOS-2 in the polar cusp. The electrostatic turbulence is composed of a background component with a power spectral index of 1.89 + or - .26 and an intense component with a power spectral index of 2.80 + or - .34. The intense electrostatic turbulence and the magnetic turbulence correlate with velocity shears in the convective plasma flow. Since velocity shear instabilities are most unstable to wave vectors perpendicular to the magnetic field, the shear correlated turbulence is anticipated to be two dimensional in character and to have a power spectral index of 3 which agrees with that observed in the intense electrostatic turbulence.

Homogeneous wave turbulence driven by tidal flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Internal Gravity Waves Excited by Turbulent Penetrative Convection in Water Around Its Density Maximum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perrard, Stéphane; Le Bars, Michaël; Le Gal, Patrice

This study is devoted to the experimental and numerical analysis of the excitation of gravity waves by turbulent convection. This situation is representative of many geophysical or astrophysical systems such as the convective bottom layer of the atmosphere that radiates internal waves in the stratosphere, or the interaction between the convective and the radiative zones in stars. In our experiments, we use water as a working fluid as it possesses the remarkable property of having a maximum density at 4 °C. Therefore, when establishing on a water layer a temperature gradient between 0 °C at the bottom and room temperature at the top, a turbulent convective region appears spontaneously under a stably stratified zone. In these conditions, gravity waves are excited by the convective fluid motions penetrating the stratified layer. Although this type of flow, called penetrative convection, has already been described, we present here the first velocity field measurement of wave emission and propagation. We show in particular that an intermediate layer that we call the buffer layer emerges between the convective and the stratified zones. In this buffer layer, the angle of propagation of the waves varies with the altitude since it is slaved to the Brunt-Väisälä frequency which evolves rapidly between the convective and the stratified layer. A minimum angle is reached at the end of the buffer layer. Then we observe that an angle of propagation is selected when the waves travel through the stratified layer. We expect this process of wave selection to take place in natural situations.

Effects of Corrugated Temperature Sheets on Optical Propagation along Quasi-Horizontal Paths in the Stably Stratified Atmosphere

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-11

diameter) are consistent with theoretical predictions based on Taylor’s frozen- turbulence hypothesis and the geometrical - optics approximation. Short...theoretical predictions based on Taylor’s frozen- turbulence hypothesis and the geometrical - optics approximation. Short-term (less than a few seconds... turbulent , quasi-horizontal interfaces, or “sheets”. Collocated in- situ and optical field measurements conducted in the atmospheric surface layer

Evidence of Active MHD Instability in EULAG-MHD Simulations of Solar Convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawson, Nicolas; Strugarek, Antoine; Charbonneau, Paul

2015-11-01

We investigate the possible development of magnetohydrodynamical instabilities in the EULAG-MHD “millennium simulation” of Passos & Charbonneau. This simulation sustains a large-scale magnetic cycle characterized by solar-like polarity reversals taking place on a regular multidecadal cadence, and in which zonally oriented bands of strong magnetic fields accumulate below the convective layers, in response to turbulent pumping from above in successive magnetic half-cycles. Key aspects of this simulation include low numerical dissipation and a strongly sub-adiabatic fluid layer underlying the convectively unstable layers corresponding to the modeled solar convection zone. These properties are conducive to the growth and development of two-dimensional instabilities that are otherwise suppressed by stronger dissipation. We find evidence for the action of a non-axisymmetric magnetoshear instability operating in the upper portions of the stably stratified fluid layers. We also investigate the possibility that the Tayler instability may be contributing to the destabilization of the large-scale axisymmetric magnetic component at high latitudes. On the basis of our analyses, we propose a global dynamo scenario whereby the magnetic cycle is driven primarily by turbulent dynamo action in the convecting layers, but MHD instabilities accelerate the dissipation of the magnetic field pumped down into the overshoot and stable layers, thus perhaps significantly influencing the magnetic cycle period. Support for this scenario is found in the distinct global dynamo behaviors observed in an otherwise identical EULAG-MHD simulations, using a different degree of sub-adiabaticity in the stable fluid layers underlying the convection zone.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2014-05-01

The study of particle diffusion and of turbulent sedimentation is of great importance in many geophysical fields, such as in Environmental Science or Oceanography as well as in Bio-environmental and industrial processes. For a long time, the study of diffusion was numerically computed with random free paths, which gives Brownian behavior. (Richardson 1929). These stochastics methods have the objection that do not take into account the flow profile. On the other hand, there are many ways to simulate a fluid flow, but when this is turbulent our aim is to simulate the behaviour of neutral or heavy and inertial particles of biological or geological nature in a turbulent flow, in a simple way with a kinematically simulated model and to validate the results. We use the Kinematic Simulation (KS) model, also known as Synthetic Turbulence, suggested by Kraichnan (1966) and developed further by Castilla et al.(2007), Nicolleau et al.(2012). In this model, velocity field is generated through a Fourier series of random modes. The typical scales and the energy spectrum of the turbulence are inputs of the model. As we do not solve the flow in a discrete grid, but use a random predictive expression, we can simulate the flow at the smallest scales. In an unstratified flow, a KS flow field consists of a random, truncated Fourier representation in space and time, subject to constraints associated with incompressibility, and a prescribed initial energy spectrum. For stratified calculations, two further constraints are imposed, associated with the internal wave field in stratified flows, and the tendency of density variations to suppress vertical motion. With these model modifications, good agreement is found between KS and DNS with regard to the confinement in the vertical direction characteristic of stratified turbulence. Since stratifed flows exhibit this vertical confinement, KS in strictly two dimensions was considered as a first step to understanding dispersion within a stratified flow. The properties of ensemble averages of the separation between two particles in a 2D turbulent flow were considered, and the KS approach was found to give satisfactory answers, with good comparison to experiment. We also compare structure and intermittency between KS and DNS. And experiments (Redondo 1988) The dynamical processes associated with the stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer or in the ocean thermocline are less well understood than those of its convective counterparts. This is due to its complexity, and the fact that buoyancy reduces entrainment across density interfaces. We present results on a numerical simulation of homogeneous and density stratified fluids and of comparable laboratory experiments where a sharp density interface generated by either salt concentration or heat, advances due to grid stirred turbulence Redondo (1988, 1990). The appearance of bursts of turbulence in very stable conditions due to breaking up of the internal waves, confers a sporadic character to the turbulence; these conditions of non-fully developed turbulence could explain this unusual behaviour of the scaling exponents. (Mahjoub et al. 1998, 20009 The structure functions show, in the inertial range, a potential law . The relation is concave in strong mixing situations (instability with fully developed turbulence), and convex in very stable situations (in which the breaking up of the interval waves confers a sporadic character to the turbulence).The multifractal model can not be used to represent situations of non-fully developed turbulence but the use of structure function analysis allows the investigation of intermittent and scale to scale energy transfer even in local non equilibrium flows. The relative diffusion of tracers is strongly dependent on the slope of the energy spectra which tends to Richardson's law also for very steep spectra. (Castilla et al. 2007) Local turbulence is used to establish the geometry of the turbulence mixing, changes in the 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. (1929). A search forr the law of atmosferic diffusion. Beitr. Phys. frei. Atmos. 15:24. Redondo J M (1991). The structure of density interfaces, Ph. D. Thesis, CUP, University of Cambridge. Rodríguez A, Sánchez-Arcilla A, Redondo JM, Mosso C (1999) Macroturbulence measurements with electromagnetic and ultrasonic sensors: a comparison under high-turbulent flows. Exp Fluids 27:31-42 Redondo J M (1987). Effects of ground proximity on dense gas entrainment, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 16, 381-393. Redondo J M, Sanchez M A and Cantalapiedra I R (1995). Turbulent Mechanisms in Stratified Flows, Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, 23, 454-462. Mahjoub O.B., Redondo J.M. and Babiano A.(1998), Structure functions in complex flows, Applied Scientific Research, 59, 299. Mahjoub O.B., Redondo J.M. and Babiano A.,(2000) Hyerarchy flux in nonhomogeneous flows in Turbulent diffusion in the environment Eds. Redondo J.M. and Babiano A. 249-260. Redondo J.M., (1988) Difusion turbulenta por rejilla oscilante. Revista de Geofisica 44, 163-174,. Vindel, J. M., Yagüe, C., & Redondo, J. M. (2008). Structure function analysis and intermittency in the atmospheric boundary layer. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 15(6), 915-929.

Inflectional instabilities in the wall region of bounded turbulent shear flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swearingen, Jerry D.; Blackwelder, Ron F.; Spalart, Philippe R.

1987-01-01

The primary thrust of this research was to identify one or more mechanisms responsible for strong turbulence production events in the wall region of bounded turbulent shear flows. Based upon previous work in a transitional boundary layer, it seemed highly probable that the production events were preceded by an inflectional velocity profile which formed on the interface between the low-speed streak and the surrounding fluid. In bounded transitional flows, this unstable profile developed velocity fluctuations in the streamwise direction and in the direction perpendicular to the sheared surface. The rapid growth of these instabilities leads to a breakdown and production of turbulence. Since bounded turbulent flows have many of the same characteristics, they may also experience a similar type of breakdown and turbulence production mechanism.

Dissipation in the Baltic proper during winter stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lass, Hans Ulrich; Prandke, Hartmut; Liljebladh, Bengt

2003-06-01

Profiles of dissipation rates and stratification between 10 and 120 m depth were measured with a loosely tethered profiler over a 9-day winter period in the Gotland Basin of the Baltic Sea. Supplementary measurements of current profiles were made with moored ADCPs. Temporal and spatial patterns of the stratification were observed by means of towed CTD. Shallow freshwater lenses in the surface mixed layer, mesoscale eddies, inertial oscillations, and inertial waves as part of the internal wave spectrum provided the marine physical environment for the small-scale turbulence. Two well-separated turbulence regimes were detected. The turbulence in the surface mixed layer was well correlated with the wind. The majority of the energy flux from the wind to the turbulent kinetic energy was dissipated within the surface mixed layer. A minor part of this flux was consumed by changes of the potential energy of the fresh water lenses. The penetration depth Hpen of the wind-driven turbulence into the weakly stratified surface mixed layer depended on the local wind speed (W10) as Hpen = cW103/2 Active erosion of the Baltic halocline by wind-driven turbulence is expected for wind speeds greater than 14 m/s. The turbulence in the strongly stratified interior of the water column was quite independent of the meteorological forcing at the sea surface. The integrated production of turbulent kinetic energy exceeded the energy loss of inertial oscillations in the surface layer suggesting additional energy sources which might have been provided by inertial wave radiation during geostrophic adjustment of coastal jets and mesoscale eddies. The averaged dissipation rate profile in the stratified part of the water column, best fitted by ɛ ∝ EN, was different from the scaling of the dissipation in the thermocline of the ocean [, 1986]. The diapycnical mixing coefficient (Kv) was best fit by Kv = a0/N according to [1987] with a0 ≈ 0.87 × 10-7 m2/s2. The diapycnal diffusivity estimated from the dissipation rate was lower than those estimated by the bulk method.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rubin, H.; Bemporad, G.A.

The advanced solar pond (ASP) is characterized by having two thermal layers. The homogeneous thermal layer is adjacent to the pond bottom. On top of this layer a stratified thermal layer is located. One of the major advantages of the solar pond (SP) stems from its capability to store large quantities of thermal energy. In cases of excessive needs for thermal energy, the flow of the thermal layers may be subject to turbulent flow conditions. In this paper the effect of such conditions on transport phenomena in the ASP is analyzed. The analysis indicates that whereas the homogeneous thermal layermore » flows turbulently, the stratified thermal layer may be subject to laminar flow.« less

Predicting seed dispersal using a Lagrangian Stochastic Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, C. I.; Chen, C. W.; Su, M. D.

2017-12-01

Migration and expansion of a plant species are determined by longdistance dispersion (LDD). A more sophisticated mechanical dispersion model is needed for mimicking LDD of wind-driven seeds. This study simulated seed dispersion trajectories in canopy turbulence by using the Lagrangian stochastic dispersion model under varying atmospheric stabilities in conjunction with the effects of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate intermittency. The effects of friction velocity, seed release height, and seed terminal velocity were also studied. The results showed that both the unstable atmosphere and the inclusion of the dissipation rate intermittency in the model could increase seeds' LDD. The number of seeds that escape the canopy volume by dissipation intermittency is increased under unstable atmospheric conditions. As a result, more seeds can be transported a further distance. When dissipation intermittency is included under astrong unstable atmosphere, the peak location of dispersal kernel tends to be closer to the source. Contrasting this, under both neutral and stable conditions when LDD of both are similar, the peak location will be further away from the source. However higher friction velocity, higher seed release height, and lower seed terminal velocity will all increase the LDD of seeds irregardless of atmospheric conditions. The change of LDD due to change in friction velocity, seed release height, or the seed terminal velocity, would be heightened under unstable conditions

Toward a Turbulence Constitutive Relation for Rotating Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ristorcelli, J. R.

1996-01-01

In rapidly rotating turbulent flows the largest scales of the motion are in approximate geostrophic balance. Single-point turbulence closures, in general, cannot attain a geostrophic balance. This article addresses and resolves the possibility of constitutive relation procedures for single-point second order closures for a specific class of rotating or stratified flows. Physical situations in which the geostrophic balance is attained are described. Closely related issues of frame-indifference, horizontal nondivergence, Taylor-Proudman theorem and two-dimensionality are, in the context of both the instantaneous and averaged equations, discussed. It is shown, in the absence of vortex stretching along the axis of rotation, that turbulence is frame-indifferent. A derivation and discussion of a geostrophic constraint which the prognostic equations for second-order statistics must satisfy for turbulence approaching a frame-indifferent limit is given. These flow situations, which include rotating and nonrotating stratified flows, are slowly evolving flows in which the constitutive relation procedures are useful. A nonlinear non-constant coefficient representation for the rapid-pressure strain covariance appearing in the Reynolds stress and heat flux equations consistent with the geostrophic balance is described. The rapid-pressure strain model coefficients are not constants determined by numerical optimization but are functions of the state of the turbulence as parameterized by the Reynolds stresses and the turbulent heat fluxes. The functions are valid for all states of the turbulence attaining their limiting values only when a limit state is achieved. These issues are relevant to strongly vortical flows as well as flows such as the planetary boundary layers, in which there is a transition from a three-dimensional shear driven turbulence to a geostrophic or horizontal turbulence.

Numerical investigation of exact coherent structures in turbulent small-aspect-ratio Taylor-Couette flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krygier, Michael; Crowley, Christopher J.; Schatz, Michael F.; Grigoriev, Roman O.

2017-11-01

As suggested by recent theoretical and experimental studies, fluid turbulence can be described as a walk between neighborhoods of unstable nonchaotic solutions of the Navier-Stokes equation known as exact coherent structures (ECS). Finding ECS in an experimentally-accessible setting is the first step toward rigorous testing of the dynamical role of ECS in 3D turbulence. We found several ECS (both relative periodic orbits and relative equilibria) in a weakly turbulent regime of small-aspect-ratio Taylor-Couette flow with counter-rotating cylinders. This talk will discuss how the geometry of these solutions guides the evolution of turbulent flow in the simulations. This work is supported by the Army Research Office (Contract # W911NF-15-1-0471).

Double-Diffusive Convection at Low Prandtl Number

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garaud, Pascale

2018-01-01

This work reviews present knowledge of double-diffusive convection at low Prandtl number obtained using direct numerical simulations, in both the fingering regime and the oscillatory regime. Particular emphasis is given to modeling the induced turbulent mixing and its impact in various astrophysical applications. The nonlinear saturation of fingering convection at low Prandtl number usually drives small-scale turbulent motions whose transport properties can be predicted reasonably accurately using a simple semi-analytical model. In some instances, large-scale internal gravity waves can be excited by a collective instability and eventually cause layering. The nonlinear saturation of oscillatory double-diffusive convection exhibits much more complex behavior. Weakly stratified systems always spontaneously transition into layered convection associated with very efficient mixing. More strongly stratified systems remain dominated by weak wave turbulence unless they are initialized into a layered state. The effects of rotation, shear, lateral gradients, and magnetic fields are briefly discussed.

Probability Distribution of Turbulent Kinetic Energy Dissipation Rate in Ocean: Observations and Approximations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lozovatsky, I.; Fernando, H. J. S.; Planella-Morato, J.; Liu, Zhiyu; Lee, J.-H.; Jinadasa, S. U. P.

2017-10-01

The probability distribution of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate in stratified ocean usually deviates from the classic lognormal distribution that has been formulated for and often observed in unstratified homogeneous layers of atmospheric and oceanic turbulence. Our measurements of vertical profiles of micro-scale shear, collected in the East China Sea, northern Bay of Bengal, to the south and east of Sri Lanka, and in the Gulf Stream region, show that the probability distributions of the dissipation rate ɛ˜r in the pycnoclines (r ˜ 1.4 m is the averaging scale) can be successfully modeled by the Burr (type XII) probability distribution. In weakly stratified boundary layers, lognormal distribution of ɛ˜r is preferable, although the Burr is an acceptable alternative. The skewness Skɛ and the kurtosis Kɛ of the dissipation rate appear to be well correlated in a wide range of Skɛ and Kɛ variability.

Microstructure of Turbulence in the Stably Stratified Boundary Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorbjan, Zbigniew; Balsley, Ben B.

2008-11-01

The microstructure of a stably stratified boundary layer, with a significant low-level nocturnal jet, is investigated based on observations from the CASES-99 campaign in Kansas, U.S.A. The reported, high-resolution vertical profiles of the temperature, wind speed, wind direction, pressure, and the turbulent dissipation rate, were collected under nocturnal conditions on October 14, 1999, using the CIRES Tethered Lifting System. Two methods for evaluating instantaneous (1-sec) background profiles are applied to the raw data. The background potential temperature is calculated using the “bubble sort” algorithm to produce a monotonically increasing potential temperature with increasing height. Other scalar quantities are smoothed using a running vertical average. The behaviour of background flow, buoyant overturns, turbulent fluctuations, and their respective histograms are presented. Ratios of the considered length scales and the Ozmidov scale are nearly constant with height, a fact that can be applied in practice for estimating instantaneous profiles of the dissipation rate.

A Study on the Effect of Stratified Mixture Formation on Combustion Characteristics in a Constant Volume Combustion Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kihyung; Lee, Changhee; Jeoung, Haeyoung

It is well known that a lean burn engine caused by stratified mixture formation has many kinds of advantages to combustion characteristics, such as higher thermal efficiency and lower CO, NOx levels than conventional homogeneous mixture combustion. Although this combustion can achieve low fuel consumption, it produces much unburned hydrocarbon and soot because of inhomogeneity of the charge mixture in the combustion chamber. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the effect of mixture formation on combustion characteristics in order to obtain the stable lean combustion. In this paper, fundamental studies for stratified combustion were carried out using a constant volume combustion chamber. The effect of mixture formation on the combustion characteristics in the chamber was examined experimentally. In addition, the effect of turbulence on stratified charge combustion process was observed by schlieren photography. From this study, as the swirl intensity increases, (Sv)max is rapidly enhanced and the period of combustion is shortened. We also find that the stratification degree can be quantified by using burning velocity and it was controlled by induced air pressure and turbulent intensity.

Streamwise-Localized Solutions with natural 1-fold symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altmeyer, Sebastian; Willis, Ashley; Hof, Björn

2014-11-01

It has been proposed in recent years that turbulence is organized around unstable invariant solutions, which provide the building blocks of the chaotic dynamics. In direct numerical simulations of pipe flow we show that when imposing a minimal symmetry constraint (reflection in an axial plane only) the formation of turbulence can indeed be explained by dynamical systems concepts. The hypersurface separating laminar from turbulent motion, the edge of turbulence, is spanned by the stable manifolds of an exact invariant solution, a periodic orbit of a spatially localized structure. The turbulent states themselves (turbulent puffs in this case) are shown to arise in a bifurcation sequence from a related localized solution (the upper branch orbit). The rather complex bifurcation sequence involves secondary Hopf bifurcations, frequency locking and a period doubling cascade until eventually turbulent puffs arise. In addition we report preliminary results of the transition sequence for pipe flow without symmetry constraints.

Turbulent Premixed Hydrogen/Air Flames.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-02-15

velocity components i K Kolmogorov scale LC flame length based on a time-averaged unreactedness of 0.5 O-/(0 2 +N2) volumetric fraction of 02 in nonfuel...such effects were observed can be seen directly from the flame lengths , Lc, summarized in Table 2, clearly, L., is consistently shorter for the unstable...al., 1990). Aside from the flame length observations discussed in connection with Table 2, the flame surfaces for stable conditions were much

Unraveling the Mysteries of Turbulence Transport in a Wind Farm

DOE PAGES

Jha, Pankaj K.; Duque, Earl P. N.; Bashioum, Jessica L.; ...

2015-06-26

A true physical understanding of the mysteries involved in the recovery process of the wake momentum deficit, downstream of utility-scale wind turbines in the atmosphere, has not been obtained to date. Field data are not acquired at sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions to dissect some of the mysteries of wake turbulence. It is here that the actuator line method has evolved to become the technology standard in the wind energy community. This work presents the actuator line method embedded into an Open source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) large-eddy simulation solver and applies it to two small wind farms, themore » first one consisting of an array of two National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5 Megawatt (NREL 5-MW) turbines separated by seven rotor diameters in neutral and unstable atmospheric boundary-layer flow and the second one consisting of five NREL 5-MW wind turbines in unstable atmospheric conditions arranged in two staggered arrays of two and three turbines, respectively. Detailed statistics involving power spectral density (PSD) of turbine power along with standard deviations reveal the effects of atmospheric turbulence and its space and time scales. In conclusion, high-resolution surface data extracts provide new insight into the complex recovery process of the wake momentum deficit governed by turbulence transport phenomena.« less

Unraveling the Mysteries of Turbulence Transport in a Wind Farm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jha, Pankaj K.; Duque, Earl P. N.; Bashioum, Jessica L.

A true physical understanding of the mysteries involved in the recovery process of the wake momentum deficit, downstream of utility-scale wind turbines in the atmosphere, has not been obtained to date. Field data are not acquired at sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions to dissect some of the mysteries of wake turbulence. It is here that the actuator line method has evolved to become the technology standard in the wind energy community. This work presents the actuator line method embedded into an Open source Field Operation and Manipulation (OpenFOAM) large-eddy simulation solver and applies it to two small wind farms, themore » first one consisting of an array of two National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5 Megawatt (NREL 5-MW) turbines separated by seven rotor diameters in neutral and unstable atmospheric boundary-layer flow and the second one consisting of five NREL 5-MW wind turbines in unstable atmospheric conditions arranged in two staggered arrays of two and three turbines, respectively. Detailed statistics involving power spectral density (PSD) of turbine power along with standard deviations reveal the effects of atmospheric turbulence and its space and time scales. In conclusion, high-resolution surface data extracts provide new insight into the complex recovery process of the wake momentum deficit governed by turbulence transport phenomena.« less

The Universal Role of Tubulence in the Propagation of Strong Shocks and Detonation Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, John H.

2001-06-01

The passage of a strong shock wave usually results in irreversible physical and chemical changes in the medium. If the chemical reactions are sufficiently exothermic, the shock wave can be self-propagating, i.e., sustained by the chemical energy release via the expansion work of the reaction products. Although shocks and detonations can be globally stable and propagate at constant velocities (in the direction of motion), their structure may be highly unstable and exhibit large hydrodynamic fluctuations, i.e., turbulence. Recent investigations on plastic deformation of polycrystalline material behind shock waves have revealed particle velocity dispersion at the mesoscopic level, a result of vortical rotational motion similar to that of turbulent fluid flows at high Reynolds number.1 Strong ionizing shocks in noble gases2, as well as dissociating shock waves in carbon dioxide,3 also demonstrate a turbulent density fluctuation in the non-equilibrium shock transition zone. Perhaps the most thoroughly investigated unstable structure is that of detonation waves in gaseous explosives.4 Detonation waves in liquid explosives such as nitromethane also take on similar unstable structure as gaseous detonations.5 There are also indications that detonations in solid explosives have a similar unsteady structure under certain conditions. Thus, it appears that it is more of a rule than an exception that the structure of strong shocks and detonations are unstable and exhibit turbulent-like fluctuations as improved diagnostics now permit us to look more closely at the meso- and micro-levels. Increasing attention is now devoted to the understanding of the shock waves at the micro-scale level in recent years. This is motivated by the need to formulate physical and chemical models that contain the correct physics capable of describing quantitatively the shock transition process. It should be noted that, in spite of its unstable 3-D structure, the steady 1-D conservation laws (in the direction of propagation) apply across the shock transition zone if the downstream equilibrium plane is taken far enough away to ensure the decay of the turbulent fluctuations. Thus, the Hugoniot properties of one-dimensional propagation of shock and detonation waves remain valid. However, the conservation laws do not describe the important propagation mechanisms (i.e., the physical and chemical processes that effect the transition from initial to the final state) in the wave structure. Since gaseous detonations enjoy the advantage of being able to be observed experimentally in great detail, its complex turbulent structure is now quite well established. Furthermore, the equation of state for perfect gases is well known and the chemistry of most gas phase reactions is also sufficiently understood quantitatively to permit detailed numerical simulation of the complex detonation structure. Thus, a good database of information exists for gaseous detonation, and in this paper we shall explore the turbulent structure of gaseous detonation with the aim of answering the question as to "why nature prefers to evoke such a complicated manner to effect its propagation." We will then attempt to generalize the discussion to the "terra incognita" of condensed phase materials where the structure is much less understood. 1. Meshcheryakov, Yu.I., and Atroshenko, S.A., Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Fiz., 4, 105-123 (1992). 2. Glass, I.I, and Liu, W.S., J. Fluid Mech., 84(1), 55-77 (1978). 3. Griffiths, R.W., Sanderman, R.J., and Hornung, H.G., J. Phys. D., 8, 1681-1691 (1975). 4. Lee, J.H.S., Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech., 16, 311-336 (1984). 5. Mallory, H.D., J. Appl. Physics, 38, 5302-5306 (1967).

Exact coherent structures and chaotic dynamics in a model of cardiac tissue

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Byrne, Greg; Marcotte, Christopher D.; Grigoriev, Roman O., E-mail: roman.grigoriev@physics.gatech.edu

Unstable nonchaotic solutions embedded in the chaotic attractor can provide significant new insight into chaotic dynamics of both low- and high-dimensional systems. In particular, in turbulent fluid flows, such unstable solutions are referred to as exact coherent structures (ECS) and play an important role in both initiating and sustaining turbulence. The nature of ECS and their role in organizing spatiotemporally chaotic dynamics, however, is reasonably well understood only for systems on relatively small spatial domains lacking continuous Euclidean symmetries. Construction of ECS on large domains and in the presence of continuous translational and/or rotational symmetries remains a challenge. This ismore » especially true for models of excitable media which display spiral turbulence and for which the standard approach to computing ECS completely breaks down. This paper uses the Karma model of cardiac tissue to illustrate a potential approach that could allow computing a new class of ECS on large domains of arbitrary shape by decomposing them into a patchwork of solutions on smaller domains, or tiles, which retain Euclidean symmetries locally.« less

Experimental search for Exact Coherent Structures in turbulent small aspect ratio Taylor-Couette flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crowley, Christopher J.; Krygier, Michael; Grigoriev, Roman O.; Schatz, Michael F.

2017-11-01

Recent theoretical and experimental work suggests that the dynamics of turbulent flows are guided by unstable nonchaotic solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations. These solutions, known as exact coherent structures (ECS), play a key role in a fundamentally deterministic description of turbulence. In order to quantitatively demonstrate that actual turbulence in 3D flows is guided by ECS, high resolution, 3D-3C experimental measurements of the velocity need to be compared to solutions from direct numerical simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations. In this talk, we will present experimental measurements of fully time resolved, velocity measurements in a volume of turbulence in a counter-rotating, small aspect ratio Taylor-Couette flow. This work is supported by the Army Research Office (Contract # W911NF-16-1-0281).

Direct Numerical Simulations of Autoignition in Stratified Dimethyl-ether (DME)/Air Turbulent Mixtures

DOE PAGES

Bansal, Gaurav; Mascarenhas, Ajith; Chen, Jacqueline H.

2014-10-01

In our paper, two- and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of autoignition phenomena in stratified dimethyl-ether (DME)/air turbulent mixtures are performed. A reduced DME oxidation mechanism, which was obtained using rigorous mathematical reduction and stiffness removal procedure from a detailed DME mechanism with 55 species, is used in the present DNS. The reduced DME mechanism consists of 30 chemical species. This study investigates the fundamental aspects of turbulence-mixing-autoignition interaction occurring in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine environments. A homogeneous isotropic turbulence spectrum is used to initialize the velocity field in the domain. Moreover, the computational configuration corresponds to amore » constant volume combustion vessel with inert mass source terms added to the governing equations to mimic the pressure rise due to piston motion, as present in practical engines. DME autoignition is found to be a complex three-staged process; each stage corresponds to a distinct chemical kinetic pathway. The distinct role of turbulence and reaction in generating scalar gradients and hence promoting molecular transport processes are investigated. Then, by applying numerical diagnostic techniques, the different heat release modes present in the igniting mixture are identified. In particular, the contribution of homogeneous autoignition, spontaneous ignition front propagation, and premixed deflagration towards the total heat release are quantified.« less

Momentum and buoyancy transfer in atmospheric turbulent boundary layer over wavy water surface - Part 1: Harmonic wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troitskaya, Yu. I.; Ezhova, E. V.; Zilitinkevich, S. S.

2013-10-01

The surface-drag and mass-transfer coefficients are determined within a self-consistent problem of wave-induced perturbations and mean fields of velocity and density in the air, using a quasi-linear model based on the Reynolds equations with down-gradient turbulence closure. Investigation of a harmonic wave propagating along the wind has disclosed that the surface drag is generally larger for shorter waves. This effect is more pronounced in the unstable and neutral stratification. The stable stratification suppresses turbulence, which leads to weakening of the momentum and mass transfer.

Statistical simulation of the magnetorotational dynamo.

PubMed

Squire, J; Bhattacharjee, A

2015-02-27

Turbulence and dynamo induced by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) are analyzed using quasilinear statistical simulation methods. It is found that homogenous turbulence is unstable to a large-scale dynamo instability, which saturates to an inhomogenous equilibrium with a strong dependence on the magnetic Prandtl number (Pm). Despite its enormously reduced nonlinearity, the dependence of the angular momentum transport on Pm in the quasilinear model is qualitatively similar to that of nonlinear MRI turbulence. This demonstrates the importance of the large-scale dynamo and suggests how dramatically simplified models may be used to gain insight into the astrophysically relevant regimes of very low or high Pm.

Dynamical criterion for a marginally unstable, quasi-linear behavior in a two-layer model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ebisuzaki, W.

1988-01-01

A two-layer quasi-geostrophic flow forced by meridional variations in heating can be in regimes ranging from radiative equilibrium to forced geostrophic turbulence. Between these extremes is a regime where the time-mean (zonal) flow is marginally unstable. Using scaling arguments, it is concluded that such a marginally unstable state should occur when a certain parameter, measuring the strength of wave-wave interactions relative to the beta effect and advection by the thermal wind, is small. Numerical simulations support this proposal. A transition from the marginally unstable regime to a more nonlinear regime is then examined through numerical simulations with different radiative forcings. It is found that transition is not caused by secondary instability of waves in the marginally unstable regime. Instead, the time-mean flow can support a number of marginally unstable normal modes. These normal modes interact with each other, and if they are of sufficient amplitude, the flow enters a more nonlinear regime.

Application of the TEMPEST computer code for simulating hydrogen distribution in model containment structures. [PWR; BWR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trent, D.S.; Eyler, L.L.

In this study several aspects of simulating hydrogen distribution in geometric configurations relevant to reactor containment structures were investigated using the TEMPEST computer code. Of particular interest was the performance of the TEMPEST turbulence model in a density-stratified environment. Computed results illustrated that the TEMPEST numerical procedures predicted the measured phenomena with good accuracy under a variety of conditions and that the turbulence model used is a viable approach in complex turbulent flow simulation.

A Self-Affine Multi-Fractal Wave/Turbulence Discrimination Method Using Data from Single Point Fast Response Sensors in a Nocturnal Atmospheric Boundary Layer

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-10

and passive tracer concentrations, and their cross correlations have generally been used to estimate the magnitude of dispersive atmospheric transport...of gravity waves and turbulence. . 10 III. METHODS .......... ........................ 12 A. Data .......... ........................ 12 B. Analysis ...unstable, i.e., strange. For waves or even limit cycle motion about fixed attractors, self-similarity does not occur. Pertinent to time series analysis , this

Beam-plasma instability in the presence of low-frequency turbulence. [during type 3 solar emission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldman, M. V.; Dubois, D. F.

1982-01-01

General equations are derived for a linear beam-plasma instability in the presence of low-frequency turbulence. Within a 'quasi-linear' statistical approximation, these equations contain Langmuir wave scattering, diffusion, resonant and nonresonant anomalous absorption, and a 'plasma laser' effect. It is proposed that naturally occurring density irregularities in the solar wind may stabilize the beam-unstable Langmuir waves which occur during type III solar emissions.

General scale-dependent anisotropic turbulence and its impact on free space optical communication system performance.

PubMed

Toselli, Italo; Korotkova, Olga

2015-06-01

We generalize a recently introduced model for nonclassic turbulent spatial power spectrum involving anisotropy along two mutually orthogonal axes transverse to the direction of beam propagation by including two scale-dependent weighting factors for these directions. Such a turbulent model may be pertinent to atmospheric fluctuations in the refractive index in stratified regions well above the boundary layer and employed for air-air communication channels. When restricting ourselves to an unpolarized, coherent Gaussian beam and a weak turbulence regime, we examine the effects of such a turbulence type on the OOK FSO link performance by including the results on scintillation flux, probability of fade, SNR, and BERs.

Dynamics of Secondary Large-Scale Structures in ETG Turbulence Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiquan; Y, Kishimoto; Dong, Jiaqi; N, Miyato; T, Matsumoto

2006-01-01

The dynamics of secondary large-scale structures in electron-temperature-gradient (ETG) turbulence is investigated based on gyrofluid simulations in sheared slab geometry. It is found that structural bifurcation to zonal flow dominated or streamer-like states depends on the spectral anisotropy of turbulent ETG fluctuation, which is governed by the magnetic shear. The turbulent electron transport is suppressed by enhanced zonal flows. However, it is still low even if the streamer is formed in ETG turbulence with strong shears. It is shown that the low transport may be related to the secondary excitation of poloidal long-wavelength mode due to the beat wave of the most unstable components or a modulation instability. This large-scale structure with a low frequency and a long wavelength may saturate, or at least contribute to the saturation of ETG fluctuations through a poloidal mode coupling. The result suggests a low fluctuation level in ETG turbulence.

High-Speed Turbulent Reacting Flows: Intrinsic Flame Instability and its Effects on the Turbulent Cascade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poludnenko, Alexei

2016-11-01

Turbulent reacting flows are pervasive both in our daily lives on Earth and in the Universe. They power modern society being at the heart of many energy generation and propulsion systems, such as gas turbines, internal combustion and jet engines. On astronomical scales, thermonuclear turbulent flames are the driver of some of the most powerful explosions in the Universe, knows as Type Ia supernovae. Despite this ubiquity in Nature, turbulent reacting flows still pose a number of fundamental questions often exhibiting surprising and unexpected behavior. In this talk, we will discuss several such phenomena observed in direct numerical simulations of high-speed, premixed, turbulent flames. We show that turbulent flames in certain regimes are intrinsically unstable even in the absence of the surrounding combustor walls or obstacles, which can support the thermoacoustic feedback. Such instability can fundamentally change the structure and dynamics of the turbulent cascade, resulting in a significant (and anisotropic) redistribution of kinetic energy from small to large scales. In particular, three effects are observed. 1) The turbulent burning velocity can develop pulsations with significant peak-to-peak amplitudes. 2) Unstable burning can result in pressure build-up and the formation of pressure waves or shocks when the flame speed approaches or exceeds the speed of a Chapman-Jouguet deflagration. 3) Coupling of pressure and density gradients across the flame can lead to the anisotropic generation of turbulence inside the flame volume and flame acceleration. We extend our earlier analysis, which relied on a simplified single-step reaction model, by demonstrating existence of these effects in realistic chemical flames (hydrogen and methane) and in thermonuclear flames in degenerate, relativistic plasmas found in stellar interiors. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for subgrid-scale LES combustion models. This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under Award No. F4FGA06055G001, and the Department of Defense (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) under a Frontier project award.

EVIDENCE OF ACTIVE MHD INSTABILITY IN EULAG-MHD SIMULATIONS OF SOLAR CONVECTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lawson, Nicolas; Strugarek, Antoine; Charbonneau, Paul, E-mail: nicolas.laws@gmail.ca, E-mail: strugarek@astro.umontreal.ca, E-mail: paulchar@astro.umontreal.ca

We investigate the possible development of magnetohydrodynamical instabilities in the EULAG-MHD “millennium simulation” of Passos and Charbonneau. This simulation sustains a large-scale magnetic cycle characterized by solar-like polarity reversals taking place on a regular multidecadal cadence, and in which zonally oriented bands of strong magnetic fields accumulate below the convective layers, in response to turbulent pumping from above in successive magnetic half-cycles. Key aspects of this simulation include low numerical dissipation and a strongly sub-adiabatic fluid layer underlying the convectively unstable layers corresponding to the modeled solar convection zone. These properties are conducive to the growth and development of two-dimensionalmore » instabilities that are otherwise suppressed by stronger dissipation. We find evidence for the action of a non-axisymmetric magnetoshear instability operating in the upper portions of the stably stratified fluid layers. We also investigate the possibility that the Tayler instability may be contributing to the destabilization of the large-scale axisymmetric magnetic component at high latitudes. On the basis of our analyses, we propose a global dynamo scenario whereby the magnetic cycle is driven primarily by turbulent dynamo action in the convecting layers, but MHD instabilities accelerate the dissipation of the magnetic field pumped down into the overshoot and stable layers, thus perhaps significantly influencing the magnetic cycle period. Support for this scenario is found in the distinct global dynamo behaviors observed in an otherwise identical EULAG-MHD simulations, using a different degree of sub-adiabaticity in the stable fluid layers underlying the convection zone.« less

TURBULENCE AND STEADY FLOWS IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL GLOBAL STRATIFIED MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS OF ACCRETION DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Flock, M.; Dzyurkevich, N.; Klahr, H.

2011-07-10

We present full 2{pi} global three-dimensional stratified magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of accretion disks. We interpret our results in the context of protoplanetary disks. We investigate the turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) using the PLUTO Godunov code in spherical coordinates with the accurate and robust HLLD Riemann solver. We follow the turbulence for more than 1500 orbits at the innermost radius of the domain to measure the overall strength of turbulent motions and the detailed accretion flow pattern. We find that regions within two scale heights of the midplane have a turbulent Mach number of about 0.1 and amore » magnetic pressure two to three orders of magnitude less than the gas pressure, while in those outside three scale heights the magnetic pressure equals or exceeds the gas pressure and the turbulence is transonic, leading to large density fluctuations. The strongest large-scale density disturbances are spiral density waves, and the strongest of these waves has m = 5. No clear meridional circulation appears in the calculations because fluctuating radial pressure gradients lead to changes in the orbital frequency, comparable in importance to the stress gradients that drive the meridional flows in viscous models. The net mass flow rate is well reproduced by a viscous model using the mean stress distribution taken from the MHD calculation. The strength of the mean turbulent magnetic field is inversely proportional to the radius, so the fields are approximately force-free on the largest scales. Consequently, the accretion stress falls off as the inverse square of the radius.« less

Three-dimensional Numerical Simulations of Rayleigh-Taylor Unstable Flames in Type Ia Supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zingale, M.; Woosley, S. E.; Rendleman, C. A.; Day, M. S.; Bell, J. B.

2005-10-01

Flame instabilities play a dominant role in accelerating the burning front to a large fraction of the speed of sound in a Type Ia supernova. We present a three-dimensional numerical simulation of a Rayleigh-Taylor unstable carbon flame, following its evolution through the transition to turbulence. A low-Mach number hydrodynamics method is used, freeing us from the harsh time step restrictions imposed by sound waves. We fully resolve the thermal structure of the flame and its reaction zone, eliminating the need for a flame model. A single density is considered, 1.5×107 g cm-3, and half-carbon, half-oxygen fuel: conditions under which the flame propagated in the flamelet regime in our related two-dimensional study. We compare to a corresponding two-dimensional simulation and show that while fire polishing keeps the small features suppressed in two dimensions, turbulence wrinkles the flame on far smaller scales in the three-dimensional case, suggesting that the transition to the distributed burning regime occurs at higher densities in three dimensions. Detailed turbulence diagnostics are provided. We show that the turbulence follows a Kolmogorov spectrum and is highly anisotropic on the large scales, with a much larger integral scale in the direction of gravity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that it becomes more isotropic as it cascades down to small scales. On the basis of the turbulent statistics and the flame properties of our simulation, we compute the Gibson scale. We show the progress of the turbulent flame through a classic combustion regime diagram, indicating that the flame just enters the distributed burning regime near the end of our simulation.

Testing and validation of multi-lidar scanning strategies for wind energy applications: Testing and validation of multi-lidar scanning strategies for wind energy applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Newman, Jennifer F.; Bonin, Timothy A.; Klein, Petra M.

Several factors cause lidars to measure different values of turbulence than an anemometer on a tower, including volume averaging, instrument noise, and the use of a scanning circle to estimate the wind field. One way to avoid the use of a scanning circle is to deploy multiple scanning lidars and point them toward the same volume in space to collect velocity measurements and extract high-resolution turbulence information. This paper explores the use of two multi-lidar scanning strategies, the tri-Doppler technique and the virtual tower technique, for measuring 3-D turbulence. In Summer 2013, a vertically profiling Leosphere WindCube lidar and threemore » Halo Photonics Streamline lidars were operated at the Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Radiation Measurement site to test these multi-lidar scanning strategies. During the first half of the field campaign, all three scanning lidars were pointed at approximately the same point in space and a tri-Doppler analysis was completed to calculate the three-dimensional wind vector every second. Next, all three scanning lidars were used to build a “virtual tower” above the WindCube lidar. Results indicate that the tri-Doppler technique measures higher values of horizontal turbulence than the WindCube lidar under stable atmospheric conditions, reduces variance contamination under unstable conditions, and can measure highresolution profiles of mean wind speed and direction. The virtual tower technique provides adequate turbulence information under stable conditions but cannot capture the full temporal variability of turbulence experienced under unstable conditions because of the time needed to readjust the scans.« less

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

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Falceta-Gonçalves, D.; Kowal, G.

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 growthmore » 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.« less

Strongly Stratified Turbulence Wakes and Mixing Produced by Fractal Wakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimitrieva, Natalia; Redondo, Jose Manuel; Chashechkin, Yuli; Fraunie, Philippe; Velascos, David

2017-04-01

This paper describes Shliering and Shadowgraph experiments of the wake induced mixing produced by tranversing a vertical or horizontal fractal grid through the interfase between two miscible fluids at low Atwood and Reynolds numbers. This is a configuration design to models the mixing across isopycnals in stably-stratified flows in many environmental relevant situations (either in the atmosphere or in the ocean. The initial unstable stratification is characterized by a reduced gravity: g' = gΔρ ρ where g is gravity, Δρ being the initial density step and ρ the reference density. Here the Atwood number is A = g' _ 2 g . The topology of the fractal wake within the strong stratification, and the internal wave field produces both a turbulent cascade and a wave cascade, with frecuen parametric resonances, the envelope of the mixing front is found to follow a complex non steady 3rd order polinomial function with a maximum at about 4-5 Brunt-Vaisalla non-dimensional time scales: t/N δ = c1(t/N) + c2g Δρ ρ (t/N)2 -c3(t/N)3. Conductivity probes and Shliering and Shadowgraph visual techniques, including CIV with (Laser induced fluorescence and digitization of the light attenuation across the tank) are used in order to investigate the density gradients and the three-dimensionality of the expanding and contracting wake. Fractal analysis is also used in order to estimate the fastest and slowest growing wavelengths. The large scale structures are observed to increase in wave-length as the mixing progresses, and the processes involved in this increase in scale are also examined.Measurements of the pointwise and horizontally averaged concentrations confirm the picture obtained from past flow visualization studies. They show that the fluid passes through the mixing region with relatively small amounts of molecular mixing,and the molecular effects only dominate on longer time scales when the small scales have penetrated through the large scale structures. The Non-stationary dynamicss and structure of stratified fluid flows around a wedge were also studied based of the fundamental equations set using numerical modeling. Due to breaking of naturally existing background diffusion flux of stratifying agent by an impermeable surface of the wedge a complex multi-level vortex system of compensatory fluid motions is formed around the obstacle. The flow is characterized by a wide range of values of internal scales that are absent in a homogeneous liquid. Numerical solution of the fundamental system with the boundary conditions is constructed using a solver such as stratifiedFoam developed within the frame of the open source computational package OpenFOAM using the finite volume method. The computations were performed in parallel using computing resources of the Scientific Research Supercomputer Complex of MSU (SRCC MSU) and the technological platform UniHUB. The evolution of the flow pattern of the wedge by stratified flow has been demonstrated. The complex structure of the fields of physical quantities and their gradients has been shown. Observed in experiment are multiple flow components, including upstream disturbances, internal waves and the downstream wake with submerged transient vortices well reproduced. Structural elements of flow differ in size and laws of variation in space and time. Rich fine flow structure visualized in vicinity and far from the obstacle. The global efficiency of the mixing process is measured and compared with previous estimates of mixing efficiency.

ON HYDRODYNAMIC MOTIONS IN DEAD ZONES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oishi, Jeffrey S.; Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark, E-mail: jsoishi@astro.berkeley.ed, E-mail: mordecai@amnh.or

We investigate fluid motions near the midplane of vertically stratified accretion disks with highly resistive midplanes. In such disks, the magnetorotational instability drives turbulence in thin layers surrounding a resistive, stable dead zone. The turbulent layers in turn drive motions in the dead zone. We examine the properties of these motions using three-dimensional, stratified, local, shearing-box, non-ideal, magnetohydrodynamical simulations. Although the turbulence in the active zones provides a source of vorticity to the midplane, no evidence for coherent vortices is found in our simulations. It appears that this is because of strong vertical oscillations in the dead zone. By analyzingmore » time series of azimuthally averaged flow quantities, we identify an axisymmetric wave mode particular to models with dead zones. This mode is reduced in amplitude, but not suppressed entirely, by changing the equation of state from isothermal to ideal. These waves are too low frequency to affect sedimentation of dust to the midplane, but may have significance for the gravitational stability of the resulting midplane dust layers.« less

A novel method to create high density stratification with matching refractive index for optical flow investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krohn, Benedikt; Manera, Annalisa; Petrov, Victor

2018-04-01

Turbulent mixing in stratified environments represents a challenging task in experimental turbulence research, especially when large density gradients are desired. When optical measurement techniques like particle image velocimetry (PIV) are applied to stratified liquids, it is common practice to combine two aqueous solutions with different density but equal refractive index, to suppress particle image deflections. While refractive image matching (RIM) has been developed in the late 1970s, the achieved limit of 4% density ratio was not rivalled up to day. In the present work, we report a methodology, based on the behavior of excess properties and their change in a multicomponent system while mixing, that allows RIM for solutions with higher density differences. The methodology is then successfully demonstrated using a ternary combination of water, isopropanol and glycerol, for which RIM in presence of a density ratio of 8.6% has been achieved. Qualitative PIV results of a turbulent buoyant jet with 8.6% density ratio are shown.

Transition to turbulence in stratified shear flow: experiments in an inclined square duct

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, Colin; Linden, Paul

2013-11-01

We describe laboratory experiments of countercurrent stratified shear flow in an inclined square duct. To achieve this, a long water tank was partitioned into regions of higher and lower density saltwater that are connected by an inclined square duct. The flow regime was characterized to be turbulent, intermittent, Holmboe or laminar as a function of the duct inclination, θ, and the density difference, Δρ , between the two reservoirs. The density difference and duct angle were systematically varied and a phase plane of flow regime was developed. The transition between the interrmittent regime and turbulence was experimentally determined to occur at θΔρ ~= 20 [degrees kg m-3]. This critical combination of parameters fits into the buoyancy-compensated Reynolds number scaling proposed by Brethouwer et al. (J. Fluid Mech., 2007). The turbulent interfacial thickness was found to be a function of the inclination angle, which can be predicted using the buoyancy lengthscale from Waite and Bartello (J. Fluid Mech., 2004) and others. Furthermore, we measured the density profiles at multiple points along the duct, and using these profiles, we modeled the entrainment at the interface. Support provided by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States.

Performance of four turbulence closure models implemented using a generic length scale method

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, J.C.; Sherwood, C.R.; Arango, H.G.; Signell, R.P.

2005-01-01

A two-equation turbulence model (one equation for turbulence kinetic energy and a second for a generic turbulence length-scale quantity) proposed by Umlauf and Burchard [J. Marine Research 61 (2003) 235] is implemented in a three-dimensional oceanographic model (Regional Oceanographic Modeling System; ROMS v2.0). These two equations, along with several stability functions, can represent many popular turbulence closures, including the k-kl (Mellor-Yamada Level 2.5), k-??, and k-?? schemes. The implementation adds flexibility to the model by providing an unprecedented range of turbulence closure selections in a single 3D oceanographic model and allows comparison and evaluation of turbulence models in an otherwise identical numerical environment. This also allows evaluation of the effect of turbulence models on other processes such as suspended-sediment distribution or ecological processes. Performance of the turbulence models and sediment-transport schemes is investigated with three test cases for (1) steady barotropic flow in a rectangular channel, (2) wind-induced surface mixed-layer deepening in a stratified fluid, and (3) oscillatory stratified pressure-gradient driven flow (estuarine circulation) in a rectangular channel. Results from k-??, k-??, and gen (a new closure proposed by Umlauf and Burchard [J. Marine Research 61 (2003) 235]) are very similar for these cases, but the k-kl closure results depend on a wall-proximity function that must be chosen to suit the flow. Greater variations appear in simulations of suspended-sediment concentrations than in salinity simulations because the transport of suspended-sediment amplifies minor variations in the methods. The amplification is caused by the added physics of a vertical settling rate, bottom stress dependent resuspension, and diffusive transport of sediment in regions of well mixed salt and temperature. Despite the amplified sensitivity of sediment to turbulence models in the estuary test case, the four closures investigated here all generated estuarine turbidity maxima that were similar in their shape, location, and concentrations. 

Generation of Alfvenic Waves and Turbulence in Magnetic Reconnection Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoshino, M.

2014-12-01

The magneto-hydro-dynamic (MHD) linear stability for the plasma sheet with a localized bulk plasma flow parallel to the neutral sheet is investigated. We find three different unstable modes propagating parallel to the anti-parallel magnetic field line, and we call them as "streaming　tearing'', "streaming sausage'', and "streaming kink'' mode. The streaming tearing and sausage modes have the tearing mode-like structure with symmetric density fluctuation to the neutral sheet, and the streaming kink mode has the asymmetric fluctuation.　The growth rate of the streaming tearing mode decreases with increasing the magnetic Reynolds number, while those of the streaming　sausage and kink modes do not strongly depend on the Reynolds number. The wavelengths of these unstable modes are of the order of the thickness of plasma sheet, which behavior is almost same as the standard　tearing mode with no bulk flow. Roughly speaking the growth rates of　three modes become faster than the standard tearing mode. The situation of the plasma sheet with the bulk flow can be realized in the reconnection exhaust with the Alfvenic reconnection jet, and the unstable modes may be regarded as one of the generation processes of Alfvenic　turbulence in the plasma sheet during magnetic reconnection.

Wind tunnel simulations of wind turbine wake interactions in neutral and stratified wind flow.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hancock, P. E.; Pascheke, F.

2010-09-01

A second programme of work is about to commence as part of a further four years of funding for the UK-EPSRC SUPERGEN-Wind large-wind-farm consortium. The first part of the initial programme at Surrey was to establish and set up appropriate techniques for both on- and off-shore boundary layers (though with an emphasis on the latter) at a suitable scale, and to build suitable rotating model wind turbines. The EnFlo wind tunnel, a UK-NCAS special facility, is capable of creating scaled neutral, stable and unstable boundary layers in its 20m long working section. The model turbines are 1/300-scale of 5MW-size, speed controlled with phase-lock measurement capability, and the blade design takes into account low Reynolds-number effects. Velocity measurements are primarily made using two-component LDA, combined with a ‘cold-wire' probe in order to measure the local turbulent heat flux. Simulation of off-shore wakes is particularly constrained because i) at wind tunnel scale the inherently low surface roughness can be below that for fully rough conditions, ii) the power required to stratify the flow varies as the square of the flow speed, and could easily be impractically large, iii) low blade Reynolds number. The boundary layer simulations, set up to give near-equilibrium conditions in terms of streamwise development, and the model turbines have been designed against these constraints, but not all constraints can be always met simultaneously in practice. Most measurements so far have been made behind just one or two turbines in neutral off- and on-shore boundary layers, at stations up to 12 disk diameters downstream. These show how, for example, the wake of a turbine affects the development of the wake of a downwind turbine that is laterally off-set by say half or one diameter, and how the unaffected part from the first turbine merges with the affected wake of the second. As expected a lower level of atmospheric turbulence causes the wakes to develop and fill-in more slowly compared with the on-shore case. A turbine can also suppress the level of atmospheric turbulence below hub height. In neutral flow, the wakes grow in width and height. However, even in mild stable stratification the vertical development of the wake deficit can be completely inhibited; at least some reduction would be expected arising from the stabilizing influence on vertical fluctuations. The width in contrast develops at about the same rate. As anticipated, the wake development is slower still in the stable case because of the lower level ambient turbulence. The maximum deficit is at a lower height than it is for neutral flow. Various aspects of the turbulence in the wake have been investigated. Second-phase work will examine a larger number of wake-turbine and wake-wake interactions, make a more detailed study of how turbines alter the atmospheric turbulence, and examine more cases of stratification. Work is also in hand related to turbines in or near forested regions, and it is expected that aspects of the physics will have links with the effect a large wind farm will have on the ABL and on the wind resource for a downwind farm. The work will produce a series of test cases to assist in the development of better wake and wind resource prediction models as well as a better understanding of wake physics.

Theoretical studies of solar oscillations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldreich, P.

1980-01-01

Possible sources for the excitation of the solar 5 minute oscillations were investigated and a linear non-adiabatic stability code was applied to a preliminary study of the solar g-modes with periods near 160 minutes. Although no definitive conclusions concerning the excitation of these modes were reached, the excitation of the 5 minute oscillations by turbulent stresses in the convection zone remains a viable possibility. Theoretical calculations do not offer much support for the identification of the 160 minute global solar oscillation (reported by several independent observers) as a solar g-mode. A significant advance was made in attempting to reconcile mixing-length theory with the results of the calculations of linearly unstable normal modes. Calculations show that in a convective envelope prepared according to mixing length theory, the only linearly unstable modes are those which correspond to the turbulent eddies which are the basic element of the heuristic mixing length theory.

Parametric instability and wave turbulence driven by tidal excitation of internal waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Reun, Thomas; Favier, Benjamin; Le Bars, Michael

2018-04-01

We investigate the stability of stratified fluid layers undergoing homogeneous and periodic tidal deformation. We first introduce a local model which allows to study velocity and buoyancy fluctuations in a Lagrangian domain periodically stretched and sheared by the tidal base flow. While keeping the key physical ingredients only, such a model is efficient to simulate planetary regimes where tidal amplitudes and dissipation are small. With this model, we prove that tidal flows are able to drive parametric subharmonic resonances of internal waves, in a way reminiscent of the elliptical instability in rotating fluids. The growth rates computed via Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) are in very good agreement with WKB analysis and Floquet theory. We also investigate the turbulence driven by this instability mechanism. With spatio-temporal analysis, we show that it is a weak internal wave turbulence occurring at small Froude and buoyancy Reynolds numbers. When the gap between the excitation and the Brunt-V\\"ais\\"al\\"a frequencies is increased, the frequency spectrum of this wave turbulence displays a -2 power law reminiscent of the high-frequency branch of the Garett and Munk spectrum (Garrett & Munk 1979) which has been measured in the oceans. In addition, we find that the mixing efficiency is altered compared to what is computed in the context of DNS of stratified turbulence excited at small Froude and large buoyancy Reynolds numbers and is consistent with a superposition of waves.

Finescale parameterizations of energy dissipation in a region of strong internal tides and sheared flow, the Lucky-Strike segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasquet, Simon; Bouruet-Aubertot, Pascale; Reverdin, Gilles; Turnherr, Andreas; Laurent, Lou St.

2016-06-01

The relevance of finescale parameterizations of dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy is addressed using finescale and microstructure measurements collected in the Lucky Strike segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). There, high amplitude internal tides and a strongly sheared mean flow sustain a high level of dissipation rate and turbulent mixing. Two sets of parameterizations are considered: the first ones (Gregg, 1989; Kunze et al., 2006) were derived to estimate dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy induced by internal wave breaking, while the second one aimed to estimate dissipation induced by shear instability of a strongly sheared mean flow and is a function of the Richardson number (Kunze et al., 1990; Polzin, 1996). The latter parameterization has low skill in reproducing the observed dissipation rate when shear unstable events are resolved presumably because there is no scale separation between the duration of unstable events and the inverse growth rate of unstable billows. Instead GM based parameterizations were found to be relevant although slight biases were observed. Part of these biases result from the small value of the upper vertical wavenumber integration limit in the computation of shear variance in Kunze et al. (2006) parameterization that does not take into account internal wave signal of high vertical wavenumbers. We showed that significant improvement is obtained when the upper integration limit is set using a signal to noise ratio criterion and that the spatial structure of dissipation rates is reproduced with this parameterization.

Gravitational Instability of a Dust Layer Composed of Porous Silicate Dust Aggregates in a Protoplanetary Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tatsuuma, Misako; Michikoshi, Shugo; Kokubo, Eiichiro

2018-03-01

Planetesimal formation is one of the most important unsolved problems in planet formation theory. In particular, rocky planetesimal formation is difficult because silicate dust grains are easily broken when they collide. It has recently been proposed that they can grow as porous aggregates when their monomer radius is smaller than ∼10 nm, which can also avoid the radial drift toward the central star. However, the stability of a layer composed of such porous silicate dust aggregates has not been investigated. Therefore, we investigate the gravitational instability (GI) of this dust layer. To evaluate the disk stability, we calculate Toomre’s stability parameter Q, for which we need to evaluate the equilibrium random velocity of dust aggregates. We calculate the equilibrium random velocity considering gravitational scattering and collisions between dust aggregates, drag by mean flow of gas, stirring by gas turbulence, and gravitational scattering by gas density fluctuation due to turbulence. We derive the condition of the GI using the disk mass, dust-to-gas ratio, turbulent strength, orbital radius, and dust monomer radius. We find that, for the minimum mass solar nebula model at 1 au, the dust layer becomes gravitationally unstable when the turbulent strength α ≲ 10‑5. If the dust-to-gas ratio is increased twice, the GI occurs for α ≲ 10‑4. We also find that the dust layer is more unstable in disks with larger mass, higher dust-to-gas ratio, and weaker turbulent strength, at larger orbital radius, and with a larger monomer radius.

Stratified turbulent Bunsen flames: flame surface analysis and flame surface density modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramaekers, W. J. S.; van Oijen, J. A.; de Goey, L. P. H.

2012-12-01

In this paper it is investigated whether the Flame Surface Density (FSD) model, developed for turbulent premixed combustion, is also applicable to stratified flames. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent stratified Bunsen flames have been carried out, using the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) reduction method for reaction kinetics. Before examining the suitability of the FSD model, flame surfaces are characterized in terms of thickness, curvature and stratification. All flames are in the Thin Reaction Zones regime, and the maximum equivalence ratio range covers 0.1⩽φ⩽1.3. For all flames, local flame thicknesses correspond very well to those observed in stretchless, steady premixed flamelets. Extracted curvature radii and mixing length scales are significantly larger than the flame thickness, implying that the stratified flames all burn in a premixed mode. The remaining challenge is accounting for the large variation in (subfilter) mass burning rate. In this contribution, the FSD model is proven to be applicable for Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of stratified flames for the equivalence ratio range 0.1⩽φ⩽1.3. Subfilter mass burning rate variations are taken into account by a subfilter Probability Density Function (PDF) for the mixture fraction, on which the mass burning rate directly depends. A priori analysis point out that for small stratifications (0.4⩽φ⩽1.0), the replacement of the subfilter PDF (obtained from DNS data) by the corresponding Dirac function is appropriate. Integration of the Dirac function with the mass burning rate m=m(φ), can then adequately model the filtered mass burning rate obtained from filtered DNS data. For a larger stratification (0.1⩽φ⩽1.3), and filter widths up to ten flame thicknesses, a β-function for the subfilter PDF yields substantially better predictions than a Dirac function. Finally, inclusion of a simple algebraic model for the FSD resulted only in small additional deviations from DNS data, thereby rendering this approach promising for application in LES.

Inclusion of surface gravity wave effects in vertical mixing parameterizations with application to Chesapeake Bay, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, A. W.; Sanford, L. P.; Scully, M. E.; Suttles, S. E.

2016-02-01

Enhancement of wind-driven mixing by Langmuir turbulence (LT) may have important implications for exchanges of mass and momentum in estuarine and coastal waters, but the transient nature of LT and observational constraints make quantifying its impact on vertical exchange difficult. Recent studies have shown that wind events can be of first order importance to circulation and mixing in estuaries, prompting this investigation into the ability of second-moment turbulence closure schemes to model wind-wave enhanced mixing in an estuarine environment. An instrumented turbulence tower was deployed in middle reaches of Chesapeake Bay in 2013 and collected observations of coherent structures consistent with LT that occurred under regions of breaking waves. Wave and turbulence measurements collected from a vertical array of Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADVs) provided direct estimates of TKE, dissipation, turbulent length scale, and the surface wave field. Direct measurements of air-sea momentum and sensible heat fluxes were collected by a co-located ultrasonic anemometer deployed 3m above the water surface. Analyses of the data indicate that the combined presence of breaking waves and LT significantly influences air-sea momentum transfer, enhancing vertical mixing and acting to align stress in the surface mixed layer in the direction of Lagrangian shear. Here these observations are compared to the predictions of commonly used second-moment turbulence closures schemes, modified to account for the influence of wave breaking and LT. LT parameterizations are evaluated under neutrally stratified conditions and buoyancy damping parameterizations are evaluated under stably stratified conditions. We compare predicted turbulent quantities to observations for a variety of wind, wave, and stratification conditions. The effects of fetch-limited wave growth, surface buoyancy flux, and tidal distortion on wave mixing parameterizations will also be discussed.

Numerical Investigation of Statistical Turbulence Effects on Beam Propagation through 2-D Shear Mixing Layer

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

instrumental in helping me refine my grid and flow profile to produce my investigation flow field. Dr. Brooks and Dr. Grismer helped me by getting me current ...wavelength of the source and changes in the index of refraction from density changes in the medium. They are directly attributed to three physical phenomenon...Turbulence arises from injection of energy into the fluid causing the motion to become unstable. This source of this energy injection is usually

Plasma Wave Turbulence and Particle Heating Caused by Electron Beams, Radiation, and Pinches.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

34Vlasov turbulence, this means that Poisson’s equation for F(k;t )m dr exp(- k-r)(g (r,t)-’(0,t)) the field fluctuations must be taken into account ...effect can work in principle for a narrow band cm -. , and therefore an electron plasma frequency off, = 35 width spectrum. In Sec. IV, we discuss some...sufficiently intense to saturate the beam-unstable modes. Such levels appear to produce either fundmental or harmonic emission." 1 Both have been

Applications of the k – ω Model in Stellar Evolutionary Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Yan, E-mail: ly@ynao.ac.cn

The k – ω model for turbulence was first proposed by Kolmogorov. A new k – ω model for stellar convection was developed by Li, which could reasonably describe turbulent convection not only in the convectively unstable zone, but also in the overshooting regions. We revised the k – ω model by improving several model assumptions (including the macro-length of turbulence, convective heat flux, and turbulent mixing diffusivity, etc.), making it applicable not only for convective envelopes, but also for convective cores. Eight parameters are introduced in the revised k – ω model. It should be noted that the Reynoldsmore » stress (turbulent pressure) is neglected in the equation of hydrostatic support. We applied it into solar models and 5 M {sub ⊙} stellar models to calibrate the eight model parameters, as well as to investigate the effects of the convective overshooting on the Sun and intermediate mass stellar models.« less

Exceeding the Asymptotic Limit of Polymer Drag Reduction.

PubMed

Choueiri, George H; Lopez, Jose M; Hof, Björn

2018-03-23

The drag of turbulent flows can be drastically decreased by adding small amounts of high molecular weight polymers. While drag reduction initially increases with polymer concentration, it eventually saturates to what is known as the maximum drag reduction (MDR) asymptote; this asymptote is generally attributed to the dynamics being reduced to a marginal yet persistent state of subdued turbulent motion. Contrary to this accepted view, we show that, for an appropriate choice of parameters, polymers can reduce the drag beyond the suggested asymptotic limit, eliminating turbulence and giving way to laminar flow. At higher polymer concentrations, however, the laminar state becomes unstable, resulting in a fluctuating flow with the characteristic drag of the MDR asymptote. Our findings indicate that the asymptotic state is hence dynamically disconnected from ordinary turbulence.

Exceeding the Asymptotic Limit of Polymer Drag Reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choueiri, George H.; Lopez, Jose M.; Hof, Björn

2018-03-01

The drag of turbulent flows can be drastically decreased by adding small amounts of high molecular weight polymers. While drag reduction initially increases with polymer concentration, it eventually saturates to what is known as the maximum drag reduction (MDR) asymptote; this asymptote is generally attributed to the dynamics being reduced to a marginal yet persistent state of subdued turbulent motion. Contrary to this accepted view, we show that, for an appropriate choice of parameters, polymers can reduce the drag beyond the suggested asymptotic limit, eliminating turbulence and giving way to laminar flow. At higher polymer concentrations, however, the laminar state becomes unstable, resulting in a fluctuating flow with the characteristic drag of the MDR asymptote. Our findings indicate that the asymptotic state is hence dynamically disconnected from ordinary turbulence.

Observation of Turbulent Intermittency Scaling with Magnetic Helicity in an MHD Plasma Wind Tunnel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaffner, D. A.; Wan, A.; Brown, M. R.

2014-04-01

The intermittency in turbulent magnetic field fluctuations has been observed to scale with the amount of magnetic helicity injected into a laboratory plasma. An unstable spheromak injected into the MHD wind tunnel of the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment displays turbulent magnetic and plasma fluctuations as it relaxes into a Taylor state. The level of intermittency of this turbulence is determined by finding the flatness of the probability distribution function of increments for magnetic pickup coil fluctuations B˙(t). The intermittency increases with the injected helicity, but spectral indices are unaffected by this variation. While evidence is provided which supports the hypothesis that current sheets and reconnection sites are related to the generation of this intermittent signal, the true nature of the observed intermittency remains unknown.

Linking Dynamics of the Near-surface Flow to Deeper Boundary Layer Forcing in the Nocturnal Boundary Layer

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

Kaimal and Finnigan (1994), modified) Figure 2.2 illustrates the evolution from unstable CBL to a nocturnal Stable Bound- ary Layer ( SBL ) in the absence...mixed layer acts as a cap for the SBL . The SBL persists through the night until sunrise when surface heating resumes and a new unstable layer begins...to form at the surface, gradually returning to a CBL. 7 2.2.1 Dynamics of the stable boundary layer Because the SBL is stably stratified, buoyancy

Internal Wave Generation by Convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lecoanet, Daniel Michael

In nature, it is not unusual to find stably stratified fluid adjacent to convectively unstable fluid. This can occur in the Earth's atmosphere, where the troposphere is convective and the stratosphere is stably stratified; in lakes, where surface solar heating can drive convection above stably stratified fresh water; in the oceans, where geothermal heating can drive convection near the ocean floor, but the water above is stably stratified due to salinity gradients; possible in the Earth's liquid core, where gradients in thermal conductivity and composition diffusivities maybe lead to different layers of stable or unstable liquid metal; and, in stars, as most stars contain at least one convective and at least one radiative (stably stratified) zone. Internal waves propagate in stably stratified fluids. The characterization of the internal waves generated by convection is an open problem in geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics. Internal waves can play a dynamically important role via nonlocal transport. Momentum transport by convectively excited internal waves is thought to generate the quasi-biennial oscillation of zonal wind in the equatorial stratosphere, an important physical phenomenon used to calibrate global climate models. Angular momentum transport by convectively excited internal waves may play a crucial role in setting the initial rotation rates of neutron stars. In the last year of life of a massive star, convectively excited internal waves may transport even energy to the surface layers to unbind them, launching a wind. In each of these cases, internal waves are able to transport some quantity--momentum, angular momentum, energy--across large, stable buoyancy gradients. Thus, internal waves represent an important, if unusual, transport mechanism. This thesis advances our understanding of internal wave generation by convection. Chapter 2 provides an underlying theoretical framework to study this problem. It describes a detailed calculation of the internal gravity wave spectrum, using the Lighthill theory of wave excitation by turbulence. We use a Green's function approach, in which we convolve a convective source term with the Green's function of different internal gravity waves. The remainder of the thesis is a circuitous attempt to verify these analytical predictions. I test the predictions of Chapter 2 via numerical simulation. The first step is to identify a code suitable for this study. I helped develop the Dedalus code framework to study internal wave generation by convection. Dedalus can solve many different partial differential equations using the pseudo-spectral numerical method. In Chapter 3, I demonstrate Dedalus' ability to solve different equations used to model convection in astrophysics. I consider both the propagation and damping of internal waves, and the properties of low Rayleigh number convective steady states, in six different equation sets used in the astrophysics literature. This shows that Dedalus can be used to solve the equations of interest. Next, in Chapter 4, I verify the high accuracy of Dedalus by comparing it to the popular astrophysics code Athena in a standard Kelvin-Helmholtz instability test problem. Dedalus performs admirably in comparison to Athena, and provides a high standard for other codes solving the fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Chapter 5 demonstrates that Dedalus can simulate convective adjacent to a stably stratified region, by studying convective mixing near carbon flames. The convective overshoot and mixing is well-resolved, and is able to generate internal waves. Confident in Dedalus' ability to study the problem at hand, Chapter 6 describes simulations inspired by water experiments of internal wave generation by convection. The experiments exploit water's unusual property that its density maximum is at 4°C, rather than at 0°C. We use a similar equation of state in Dedalus, and study internal gravity waves generation by convection in a water-like fluid. We test two models of wave generation: bulk excitation (equivalent to the Lighthill theory described in Chapter 2), and surface excitation. We find the bulk excitation model accurately reproduces the waves generated in the simulations, validating the calculations of Chapter 2.

Mass dependency of turbulent parameters in stationary glow discharge plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Titus, J. B.; Alexander, A. B.; Wiggins, D. L.

A direct current glow discharge tube is used to determine how mass changes the effects of certain turbulence characteristics in a weakly ionized gas. Helium, neon, argon, and krypton plasmas were created, and an axial magnetic field, varied from 0.0 to 550.0 Gauss, was used to enhance mass dependent properties of turbulence. From the power spectra of light emission variations associated with velocity fluctuations, determination of mass dependency on turbulent characteristic unstable modes, energy associated with turbulence, and the rate at which energy is transferred from scale to scale are measured. The magnetic field strength is found to be toomore » weak to overcome particle diffusion to the walls to affect the turbulence in all four types of plasmas, though mass dependency is still detected. Though the total energy and the rate at which the energy moves between scales are mass invariant, the amplitude of the instability modes that characterize each plasma are dependent on mass.« less

Homogeneous purely buoyancy driven turbulent flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

The Effects of Double Diffusion and Background Turbulence on the Persistence of Submarine Wakes

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

acoustic detection of submerged objects. 14. SUBJECT TERMS fluid dynamics, submarine, wakes, turbulence 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 41 16. PRICE CODE...microstructure-based observations of stratified wakes offer a viable method for the non- acoustic detection of submerged objects. vi THIS PAGE...25 viii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Velocity Profiles of Towed and Jet- Propelled Body

Numerical simulation of turbulent stratified flame propagation in a closed vessel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gruselle, Catherine; Lartigue, Ghislain; Pepiot, Perrine; Moureau, Vincent; D'Angelo, Yves

2012-11-01

Reducing pollutants emissions while keeping a high combustion efficiency and a low fuel consumption is an important challenge for both gas turbine (GT) and internal combustion engines (ICE). To fulfill these new constraints, stratified combustion may constitute an efficient strategy. A tabulated chemistry approach based on FPI combined to a low-Mach number method is applied in the analysis of a turbulent propane-air flame with equivalence ratio (ER) stratification, which has been studied experimentally by Balusamy [S. Balusamy, Ph.D Thesis, INSA-Rouen (2010)]. Flame topology, along with flame velocity statistics, are well reproduced in the simulation, even if time-history effects are not accounted for in the tabulated approach. However, these effects may become significant when exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is introduced. To better quantify them, both ER and EGR-stratified two-dimensional flames are simulated using finite-rate chemistry and a semi-detailed mechanism for propane oxidation. The numerical implementation is first investigated in terms of efficiency and accuracy, with a focus on splitting errors. The resulting flames are then analyzed to investigate potential extensions of the FPI technique to EGR stratification.

Measuring mixing efficiency in experiments of strongly stratified turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Augier, P.; Campagne, A.; Valran, T.; Calpe Linares, M.; Mohanan, A. V.; Micard, D.; Viboud, S.; Segalini, A.; Mordant, N.; Sommeria, J.; Lindborg, E.

2017-12-01

Oceanic and atmospheric models need better parameterization of the mixing efficiency. Therefore, we need to measure this quantity for flows representative of geophysical flows, both in terms of types of flows (with vortices and/or waves) and of dynamical regimes. In order to reach sufficiently large Reynolds number for strongly stratified flows, experiments for which salt is used to produce the stratification have to be carried out in a large rotating platform of at least 10-meter diameter.We present new experiments done in summer 2017 to study experimentally strongly stratified turbulence and mixing efficiency in the Coriolis platform. The flow is forced by a slow periodic movement of an array of large vertical or horizontal cylinders. The velocity field is measured by 3D-2C scanned horizontal particles image velocimetry (PIV) and 2D vertical PIV. Six density-temperature probes are used to measure vertical and horizontal profiles and signals at fixed positions.We will show how we rely heavily on open-science methods for this study. Our new results on the mixing efficiency will be presented and discussed in terms of mixing parameterization.

Direct numerical simulation of a high Ka CH 4/air stratified premixed jet flame

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Haiou; Hawkes, Evatt R.; Savard, Bruno

Here, direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a high Karlovitz number (Ka) CH 4/air stratified premixed jet flame was performed and used to provide insights into fundamentals of turbulent stratified premixed flames and their modelling implications. The flame exhibits significant stratification where the central jet has an equivalence ratio of 0.4, which is surrounded by a pilot flame with an equivalence ratio of 0.9. A reduced chemical mechanism for CH 4/air combustion based on GRI-Mech3.0 was used, including 268 elementary reactions and 28 transported species.

Direct numerical simulation of a high Ka CH 4/air stratified premixed jet flame

DOE PAGES

Wang, Haiou; Hawkes, Evatt R.; Savard, Bruno; ...

2018-04-24

Here, direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a high Karlovitz number (Ka) CH 4/air stratified premixed jet flame was performed and used to provide insights into fundamentals of turbulent stratified premixed flames and their modelling implications. The flame exhibits significant stratification where the central jet has an equivalence ratio of 0.4, which is surrounded by a pilot flame with an equivalence ratio of 0.9. A reduced chemical mechanism for CH 4/air combustion based on GRI-Mech3.0 was used, including 268 elementary reactions and 28 transported species.

The effect of different methods to compute N on estimates of mixing in stratified flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fringer, Oliver; Arthur, Robert; Venayagamoorthy, Subhas; Koseff, Jeffrey

2017-11-01

The background stratification is typically well defined in idealized numerical models of stratified flows, although it is more difficult to define in observations. This may have important ramifications for estimates of mixing which rely on knowledge of the background stratification against which turbulence must work to mix the density field. Using direct numerical simulation data of breaking internal waves on slopes, we demonstrate a discrepancy in ocean mixing estimates depending on the method in which the background stratification is computed. Two common methods are employed to calculate the buoyancy frequency N, namely a three-dimensionally resorted density field (often used in numerical models) and a locally-resorted vertical density profile (often used in the field). We show that how N is calculated has a significant effect on the flux Richardson number Rf, which is often used to parameterize turbulent mixing, and the turbulence activity number Gi, which leads to errors when estimating the mixing efficiency using Gi-based parameterizations. Supported by ONR Grant N00014-08-1-0904 and LLNL Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Transport and Lagrangian Statistics in Rotating Stratified Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenberg, D. L.

2015-12-01

Transport plays a crucial role in geophysical flows, both in theatmosphere and in the ocean. Transport in such flows is ultimatelycontrolled by small-scale turbulence, although the large scales arein geostrophic balance between pressure gradient, gravity and Coriolisforces. As a result of the seemingly random nature of the flow, singleparticles are dispersed by the flow and on time scales significantlylonger than the eddy turn-over time, they undergo a diffusive motionwhose diffusion coefficient is the integral of the velocity correlationfunction. On intermediate time scales, in homogeneous, isotropic turbuilence(HIT) the separation between particle pairs has been argued to grow withtime according to the Richardson law: <(Δ x)2(t)> ~ t3, with aproportionality constant that depends on the initial particleseparation. The description of the phenomena associated withthe dispersion of single particles, or of particle pairs, ultimatelyrests on relatively simple statistical properties of the flowvelocity transporting the particles, in particular on its temporalcorrelation function. In this work, we investigate particle dispersionin the anisotropic case of rotating stratified turbulence examining whetherthe dependence on initial particle separation differs from HIT,particularly in the presence of an inverse cascade.

Experimental study of mixing mechanisms in stably stratified Taylor-Couette flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Augier, Pierre; Caulfield, Colm-Cille; Dalziel, Stuart

2014-11-01

We consider experimentally the mechanisms of mixing in stably stratified Taylor-Couette (TC) flow in a TC apparatus for which both cylinders can rotate independently. In the case for which only the inner cylinder rotates, centrifugal instability rapidly splits an initially linear density profile into an array of thin nearly homogeneous layers. Shadowgraph, PIV and density profiles measured by a moving conductivity probe allow us to characterise this process and the resulting flow. In particular, we observe turbulent intrusions of mixed fluid propagating relatively slowly around the tank at the interfaces between the layers, leading to a time-dependent variation in the sharpness and turbulent activity at these interfaces, whose period scales with (but is much larger than) the rotation period. Interestingly, the turbulent intrusions are anti-correlated between adjacent interfaces leading to snake-skin-like patterns in the spatio-temporal diagrams of the density profiles. We also explore how the presence of a density stratification modifies end effects at the top and bottom of the cylinders, in both the presence and absence of primary centrifugal instability.

Effective control of complex turbulent dynamical systems through statistical functionals.

PubMed

Majda, Andrew J; Qi, Di

2017-05-30

Turbulent dynamical systems characterized by both a high-dimensional phase space and a large number of instabilities are ubiquitous among complex systems in science and engineering, including climate, material, and neural science. Control of these complex systems is a grand challenge, for example, in mitigating the effects of climate change or safe design of technology with fully developed shear turbulence. Control of flows in the transition to turbulence, where there is a small dimension of instabilities about a basic mean state, is an important and successful discipline. In complex turbulent dynamical systems, it is impossible to track and control the large dimension of instabilities, which strongly interact and exchange energy, and new control strategies are needed. The goal of this paper is to propose an effective statistical control strategy for complex turbulent dynamical systems based on a recent statistical energy principle and statistical linear response theory. We illustrate the potential practical efficiency and verify this effective statistical control strategy on the 40D Lorenz 1996 model in forcing regimes with various types of fully turbulent dynamics with nearly one-half of the phase space unstable.

Shoaling internal solitary waves of depression over gentle slopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivera, Gustavo; Diamessis, Peter

2017-11-01

The shoaling of an internal solitary wave (ISW) of depression over gentle slopes is explored through fully nonlinear and non-hydrostatic simulations using a high resolution/accuracy deformed spectral multidomain penalty method. During shoaling, the wave does not disintegrate as in the case of steeper slope but, instead, maintains its symmetric shape. At the core of the wave, an unstable region forms, characterized by the entrapment of heavier-over-light fluid. The formation of this convective instability is attributed to the vertical stretching by the ISW of the near-surface vorticity layer associated with the baroclinic background current. According to recent field observations in the South China Sea, the unstable region drives localized turbulent mixing within the wave, estimated to be up to four times larger than that in the open ocean, in the form of a recirculating trapped core. In this talk, emphasis is placed on the structure of the unstable region and the persistence of a possible recirculating core using simulations which capture 2D wave propagation combined with 3D representation of the transition to turbulence. As such, a preliminary understanding of the underlying fluid mechanics and the potential broader oceanic significance of ISWs with trapped cores is offered. Financial support gratefully acknowledged to NSF OCE Grant 1634257.

Evaluation of three lidar scanning strategies for turbulence measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newman, J. F.; Klein, P. M.; Wharton, S.; Sathe, A.; Bonin, T. A.; Chilson, P. B.; Muschinski, A.

2015-11-01

Several errors occur when a traditional Doppler-beam swinging (DBS) or velocity-azimuth display (VAD) strategy is used to measure turbulence with a lidar. To mitigate some of these errors, a scanning strategy was recently developed which employs six beam positions to independently estimate the u, v, and w velocity variances and covariances. In order to assess the ability of these different scanning techniques to measure turbulence, a Halo scanning lidar, WindCube v2 pulsed lidar and ZephIR continuous wave lidar were deployed at field sites in Oklahoma and Colorado with collocated sonic anemometers. Results indicate that the six-beam strategy mitigates some of the errors caused by VAD and DBS scans, but the strategy is strongly affected by errors in the variance measured at the different beam positions. The ZephIR and WindCube lidars overestimated horizontal variance values by over 60 % under unstable conditions as a result of variance contamination, where additional variance components contaminate the true value of the variance. A correction method was developed for the WindCube lidar that uses variance calculated from the vertical beam position to reduce variance contamination in the u and v variance components. The correction method reduced WindCube variance estimates by over 20 % at both the Oklahoma and Colorado sites under unstable conditions, when variance contamination is largest. This correction method can be easily applied to other lidars that contain a vertical beam position and is a promising method for accurately estimating turbulence with commercially available lidars.

Evaluation of three lidar scanning strategies for turbulence measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newman, Jennifer F.; Klein, Petra M.; Wharton, Sonia; Sathe, Ameya; Bonin, Timothy A.; Chilson, Phillip B.; Muschinski, Andreas

2016-05-01

Several errors occur when a traditional Doppler beam swinging (DBS) or velocity-azimuth display (VAD) strategy is used to measure turbulence with a lidar. To mitigate some of these errors, a scanning strategy was recently developed which employs six beam positions to independently estimate the u, v, and w velocity variances and covariances. In order to assess the ability of these different scanning techniques to measure turbulence, a Halo scanning lidar, WindCube v2 pulsed lidar, and ZephIR continuous wave lidar were deployed at field sites in Oklahoma and Colorado with collocated sonic anemometers.Results indicate that the six-beam strategy mitigates some of the errors caused by VAD and DBS scans, but the strategy is strongly affected by errors in the variance measured at the different beam positions. The ZephIR and WindCube lidars overestimated horizontal variance values by over 60 % under unstable conditions as a result of variance contamination, where additional variance components contaminate the true value of the variance. A correction method was developed for the WindCube lidar that uses variance calculated from the vertical beam position to reduce variance contamination in the u and v variance components. The correction method reduced WindCube variance estimates by over 20 % at both the Oklahoma and Colorado sites under unstable conditions, when variance contamination is largest. This correction method can be easily applied to other lidars that contain a vertical beam position and is a promising method for accurately estimating turbulence with commercially available lidars.

Scaling oxygen microprofiles at the sediment interface of deep stratified waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwefel, Robert; Hondzo, Miki; Wüest, Alfred; Bouffard, Damien

2017-02-01

Dissolved oxygen microprofiles at the sediment-water interface of Lake Geneva were measured concurrently with velocities 0.25 to 2 m above the sediment. The measurements and scaling analyses indicate dissolved oxygen fluctuations and turbulent fluxes in exceedance of molecular diffusion in the proximity of the sediment-water interface. The measurements allowed the parameterization of the turbulent diffusion as a function of the dimensionless height above the sediment and the turbulence above the sediment-water interface. Turbulent diffusion depended strongly on the friction velocity and differed from formulations reported in the literature that are based on concepts of turbulent and developed wall-bounded flows. The dissolved oxygen microprofiles and proposed parameterization of turbulent diffusion enable a foundation for the similarity scaling of oxygen microprofiles in proximity to the sediment. The proposed scaling allows the estimation of diffusive boundary layer thickness, oxygen flux, and oxygen microprofile distribution in the near-sediment boundary layer.

Turbulence in the presence of internal waves in the bottom boundary layer of the California inner shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Rachel M.; Simeonov, Julian A.; Calantoni, Joseph; Stacey, Mark T.; Variano, Evan A.

2018-05-01

Turbulence measurements were collected in the bottom boundary layer of the California inner shelf near Point Sal, CA, for 2 months during summer 2015. The water column at Point Sal is stratified by temperature, and internal bores propagate through the region regularly. We collected velocity, temperature, and turbulence data on the inner shelf at a 30-m deep site. We estimated the turbulent shear production ( P), turbulent dissipation rate ( ɛ), and vertical diffusive transport ( T), to investigate the near-bed local turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget. We observed that the local TKE budget showed an approximate balance ( P ≈ ɛ) during the observational period, and that buoyancy generally did not affect the TKE balance. On a finer resolution timescale, we explored the balance between dissipation and models for production and observed that internal waves did not affect the balance in TKE at this depth.

A diapycnal diffusivity model for stratified environmental flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouffard, Damien; Boegman, Leon

2013-06-01

The vertical diffusivity of density, Kρ, regulates ocean circulation, climate and coastal water quality. Kρ is difficult to measure and model in these stratified turbulent flows, resulting in the need for the development of Kρ parameterizations from more readily measurable flow quantities. Typically, Kρ is parameterized from turbulent temperature fluctuations using the Osborn-Cox model or from the buoyancy frequency, N, kinematic viscosity, ν, and the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy, ɛ, using the Osborn model. More recently, Shih et al. (2005, J. Fluid Mech. 525: 193-214) proposed a laboratory scale parameterization for Kρ, at Prandtl number (ratio of the viscosity over the molecular diffusivity) Pr = 0.7, in terms of the turbulence intensity parameter, Re=ɛ/(νN), which is the ratio between the destabilizing effect of turbulence to the stabilizing effects of stratification and viscosity. In the present study, we extend the SKIF parameterization, against extensive sets of published data, over 0.7 < Pr < 700 and validate it at field scale. Our results show that the SKIF model must be modified to include a new Buoyancy-controlled mixing regime, between the Molecular and Transitional regimes, where Kρ is captured using the molecular diffusivity and Osborn model, respectively. The Buoyancy-controlled regime occurs over 10Pr

Sharp magnetic structures from dynamos with density stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabbari, Sarah; Brandenburg, Axel; Kleeorin, Nathan; Rogachevskii, Igor

2017-05-01

Recent direct numerical simulations (DNS) of large-scale turbulent dynamos in strongly stratified layers have resulted in surprisingly sharp bipolar structures at the surface. Here, we present new DNS of helically and non-helically forced turbulence with and without rotation and compare with corresponding mean-field simulations (MFS) to show that these structures are a generic outcome of a broader class of dynamos in density-stratified layers. The MFS agree qualitatively with the DNS, but the period of oscillations tends to be longer in the DNS. In both DNS and MFS, the sharp structures are produced by converging flows at the surface and might be driven in non-linear stage of evolution by the Lorentz force associated with the large-scale dynamo-driven magnetic field if the dynamo number is at least 2.5 times supercritical.

Spectral transfers and zonal flow dynamics in the generalized Charney-Hasegawa-Mima model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lashmore-Davies, C.N.; Thyagaraja, A.; McCarthy, D.R.

2005-12-15

The mechanism of four nonlinearly interacting drift or Rossby waves is used as the basic process underlying the turbulent evolution of both the Charney-Hasegawa-Mima-equation (CHME) and its generalized modification (GCHME). Hasegawa and Kodama's concept of equivalent action (or quanta) is applied to the four-wave system and shown to control the distribution of energy and enstrophy between the modes. A numerical study of the GCHME is described in which the initial state contains a single finite-amplitude drift wave (the pump wave), and all the modulationally unstable modes are present at the same low level (10{sup -6} times the pump amplitude). Themore » simulation shows that at first the fastest-growing modulationally unstable modes dominate but reveals that at a later time, before pump depletion occurs, long- and short-wavelength modes, driven by pairs of fast-growing modes, grow at 2{gamma}{sub max}. The numerical simulation illustrates the development of a spectrum of turbulent modes from a finite-amplitude pump wave.« less

Routes to turbulence in the rotating disk boundary-layer of a rotor-stator cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yim, Eunok; Serre, Eric; Martinand, Denis; Chomaz, Jean-Marc

2016-11-01

The rotating disk is an important classical problem, due to the similarities between the 3D boundary layers on a disk and a swept aircraft wing. It is nowadays admitted that a direct transition to turbulence may exist through a steep-fronted nonlinear global mode located at the boundary between the locally connectively and absolutely unstable regions (Pier 2003; Viaud et al. 2008, 2011; Imayama et al. 2014 and others). However, recent studies (Healey 2010; Harris et al. 2012; Imayama et al. 2013) suggest that there may be an alternative route starting at lower critical Reynolds number, based on convective travelling waves but this scenario is still not fully validated and proven. To better characterize such transition, direct numerical simulations are performed in a closed cylindrical rotor-stator cavity (without hub) up to Re = O (105) . All boundaries are no slip and for the stable region around the rotation axis prevents the disturbances coming from the very unstable stator boundary to disturb the rotor boundary layer. Different transition scenarii to turbulence are investigated when the rotor boundary layer is forced at different positions and forcing amplitude. The associated dynamics of coherent structures in various flow regions are also investigated when increasing Re .

Characterizing Urban Turbulence Under Haze Pollution: Insights into Temperature-Humidity Dissimilarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Xiaofeng; Sun, Yele; Miao, Shiguang

2016-03-01

We present a description of urban boundary-layer turbulence characteristics under conditions of severe haze pollution, an emerging issue of interest to air-pollution-relevant investigations. Comparative analysis between clean and hazy episodes reveals their remarkable difference in atmospheric stability. A stability signature is then identified in temperature-humidity de-correlation and dissimilarity. Such a signature is noteworthy, because the accuracy of a reliable parametrization of the heat-to-moisture transport efficiency is substantiated in unstable and stable conditions rather than in near-neutral conditions.

Development of Turbulent Magnetic Reconnection in a Magnetic Island

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Can; Lu, Quanming; Wang, Rongsheng

In this paper, with two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we report that the electron Kelvin–Helmholtz instability is unstable in the current layer associated with a large-scale magnetic island, which is formed in multiple X-line guide field reconnections. The current sheet is fragmented into many small current sheets with widths down to the order of the electron inertial length. Secondary magnetic reconnection then occurs in these fragmented current sheets, which leads to a turbulent state. The electrons are highly energized in such a process.

PLANETESIMAL FORMATION BY GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY OF A POROUS DUST DISK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Michikoshi, Shugo; Kokubo, Eiichiro, E-mail: michikos@ccs.tsukuba.ac.jp, E-mail: kokubo@th.nao.ac.jp

2016-07-10

It has recently been proposed that porous icy dust aggregates are formed by the pairwise accretion of dust aggregates beyond the snowline. We calculate the equilibrium random velocity of porous dust aggregates, taking into account mutual gravitational scattering, collisions, gas drag, and turbulent stirring and scattering. We find that the disk of porous dust aggregates becomes gravitationally unstable as the aggregates evolve through gravitational compression in the minimum-mass solar nebula model for a reasonable range of turbulence strength, which leads to rapid formation of planetesimals.

Convective thermal fluxes in unsteady non-homogeneous flows generating complex three dimensional vorticity patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellez Alvarez, Jackson David; Redondo, Jose Manuel; Sanchez, Jesu Mary

2016-04-01

The improvements in experimental methods and high resolution image analysis are nowadays able to detect subtle changes in the structure of the turbulence over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales [1], we compare the scaling shown by different mixing fronts driven by buoyancy that form convective driven mixing. We use PIV and density front tracking in several experimental configurations akin to geophysical overturning [2, 3]. We parametrize the role of unstable stratification by means of the Rayleigh and Atwood numbers and compare the scaling and the multifractal structure functions of the different markers used to visualize the non-homogeneous. Both reactive and passive scalar tracers are used to investigate the mixing structure and the intermittency of the flow. Different initial conditions are compared and the mixing efficiency of the overall turbulent process is evaluated [4 - 6]. Diffusion is measured in the transition from a homogeneous linearly stratified fluid to a cellular or layered structure by means of Thermoelectric generated heating and cooling [2, 4]. Patterns arise by setting up a convective flow generated by a buoyant heat flux either in the base or in a side wall of the convective enclosure [1, 6]. The experiments described here investigate high Prandtl number mixing using brine or sugar solutions and fresh water in order to form a density interface and low Prandtl number mixing with only temperature gradients [7]. The set of dimensionless parameters define conditions of numeric and small scale laboratory modeling of environmental flows. Fields of velocity, density and their gradients were computed and visualized [8, 9]. When convective heating and cooling takes place the combination of internal waves and buoyant turbulence is much more complicated if the Rayleigh and Reynolds numbers are high in order to study entrainment and mixing. The experiments described here investigate high Prandtl number mixing using salt or sugar solutions and fresh water in order to form density interfaces. The Reynolds number can be reduced adding Glicerine the set of dimensionless parameters define different conditions of both numeric and small scale laboratory applied often in modeling environmental flows. Fields of velocity, density and their gradients are computed using advanced visualization [8 9]. Visualizations are performed by PIV, Particle tracking and shadowgraph. When convective heating and cooling takes place the patterns depend on the parameter space region of the initial conditions We also map the different transitions between two and three dimensional convection in an enclosure with several complex driven flows. The size of the water tank is of 0.2 x 0.2 x 0.1 m and the heat sources or sinks can be regulated both in power and sign [2-4]. The thermal convective driven flows are generated by Seebeck and Peltier effects in 4 wall extended positions of 0.05 x 0.05 cm each. The parameter range of convective cell array varies strongly with the Topology of the boundary conditions. At present side heat fluxes are considered and estimated as a function of Rayleigh, Peclet and Nusselt numbers, [4-6] The evolution of the mixing fronts are compared and the topological characteristics of the merging of plumes and jets in different configurations presenting detailed comparison of the evolution of RM and RT, Jets and Plumes in overall mixing. The relation between structure functions, fractal analysis and spectral analysis can be very useful to determine the evolution of scales. Experimental and numerical results on the advance of a mixing or non-mixing front occurring at a density interface due to body forces [12] can be compared with the convective fronts. The evolution of the turbulent mixing layer and its complex configuration is studied taking into account the dependence on the initial modes at the early stages, Self-similar information [13]. Spectral and Fractal analysis on the images seems very useful in order to estimate dominant mixing structures as well as the basic instabilities than drive the turbulent direct and inverse cascades [12]. References [1] Mahjoub O.B.; Redondo J.M.; and Babiano A. (2000). Hyerarchy flux in nonhomogeneous flows in turbulent diffusion in the environment Eds. Redondo J.M. and Babiano A. 249-260. [2] Redondo J.M. (1992). Termodinámica de los procesos irreversibles, efectos termoeléctricos. Rev. Termoelectricidad2, 16-29. AIT. Pamplona. [3] Dalziel, S. B. (1994). Perturbations and coherent flow in Rayleigh-Taylor instability in 4th International Workshop on the Physics of Compressible Turbulent Mixing, ed. P. F. Linden, D. L. Youngs, & S. B. Dalziel; 32-41. [4] Redondo J.M.; Sanchez J.M.; Pascual I.; Noriega, G.F. (1995). Thermoelectric regulation for electric cabinets: XVI International Conference in Thermoelectrics, 02-G20. Ed. V. Vedernikov. 456-468. St. Petersburg, Russia. [5] Mahjoub, O.B; Redondo J.M.; Babiano A. (1998).Structure functions in complex flows: Applied Scientific Research. 59, 299-313. Kluwer. [6] Matulka A.; Redondo J. M.; and Carrillo A. (2008). Experiments in stratified and rotating decaying 2D flows, Il Nuovo Cimento 31, 5-6, 757-770. 2008. [7] Redondo, J.M.; Tellez, J; Sotillos, L.; Gonzalez-Nieto, Pilar L.; Sanchez, J.M.; Furmanek P.,; Diez M (2014). Complex Convective Thermal Fluxes and Vorticity Structure: Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 17, EGU2015-14773, 2015 - EGU General Assembly 2015. [8] Nicolleau, F.C.G.A.; Cambon, C.; Redondo, J.M.; Vassilicos, J.C.; Reeks, M.; Nowakowski, A.F. (Eds.) (2012). New Approaches in Modeling Multiphase Flows and Dispersion in Turbulence, Fractal Methods and Synthetic Turbulence: ERCOFTAC Series. [9] Redondo J. M.; Sanchez M. A.; and Cantalapiedra I. R. (1995). Turbulent Mechanisms in Stratified Flows, Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, 23, 454-462. [10] Matulka A.; Redondo J.M.; and Carrillo A. (2008) Experiments in stratified and rotating decaying 2D flows. II Nuovo Cimento 31, 5-6, 757-770. 2008. [11] Fraunie P., Berreba S. Chashechkin Yu.D., Velasco D. and Redondo J.M. (2008). Large eddy simulation and laboratory experiments on the decay of grid wakes in strongly stratified flows. II Nuovo Cimento C 31, 909-930. [12] Matulka, A.; López, P.; Redondo, J. M.; and Tarquis, A. (2014). On the entrainment coefficient in a forced plume: quantitative effects of source parameters. Nonlin. Processes Geophys. 21, 269-278. [13] Castilla R.; Oñate E.; and Redondo J.M. (2007) Models, Experiments and Computations in Turbulence. CIMNE, Barcelona, 255.

Turbulent entrainment in a strongly stratified barrier layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, H. T.; Sarkar, S.

2017-06-01

Large-eddy simulation (LES) is used to investigate how turbulence in the wind-driven ocean mixed layer erodes the stratification of barrier layers. The model consists of a stratified Ekman layer that is driven by a surface wind. Simulations at a wide range of N0/f are performed to quantify the effect of turbulence and stratification on the entrainment rate. Here, N0 is the buoyancy frequency in the barrier layer and f is the Coriolis parameter. The evolution of the mixed layer follows two stages: a rapid initial deepening and a late-time growth at a considerably slower rate. During the first stage, the mixed layer thickens to the depth that is proportional to u∗/fN0 where u∗ is the frictional velocity. During the second stage, the turbulence in the mixed layer continues to deepen further into the barrier layer, and the turbulent length scale is shown to scale with u∗/N0, independent of f. The late-time entrainment rate E follows the law of E=0.035Ri∗-1/2 where Ri∗ is the Richardson number. The exponent of -1/2 is identical but the coefficient of 0.035 is much smaller relative to the value of 2-3/2 for the nonrotating boundary layer. Simulations using the KPP model (version applicable to this simple case without additional effects of Langmuir turbulence or surface buoyancy flux) also yield the entrainment scaling of E∝Ri∗-1/2; however, the proportionality coefficient varies with the stratification. The structure of the Ekman current is examined to illustrate the strong effect of stratification in the limit of large N0/f.

Coupled mesoscale-LES modeling of a diurnal cycle during the CWEX-13 field campaign: From weather to boundary-layer eddies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Munoz-Esparza, Domingo; Lundquist, Julie K.; Sauer, Jeremy A.

Multiscale modeling of a diurnal cycle of real-world conditions is presented for the first time, validated using data from the CWEX-13 field experiment. Dynamical downscaling from synoptic-scale down to resolved three-dimensional eddies in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) was performed, spanning 4 orders of magnitude in horizontal grid resolution: from 111 km down to 8.2 m (30 m) in stable (convective) conditions. Computationally efficient mesoscale-to-microscale transition was made possible by the generalized cell perturbation method with time-varying parameters derived from mesoscale forcing conditions, which substantially reduced the fetch to achieve fully developed turbulence. In addition, careful design of the simulationsmore » was made to inhibit the presence of under-resolved convection at convection-resolving mesoscale resolution and to ensure proper turbulence representation in stably-stratified conditions. Comparison to in situ wind-profiling lidar and near-surface sonic anemometer measurements demonstrated the ability to reproduce the ABL structure throughout the entire diurnal cycle with a high degree of fidelity. The multiscale simulations exhibit realistic atmospheric features such as convective rolls and global intermittency. Also, the diurnal evolution of turbulence was accurately simulated, with probability density functions of resolved turbulent velocity fluctuations nearly identical to the lidar measurements. Explicit representation of turbulence in the stably-stratified ABL was found to provide the right balance with larger scales, resulting in the development of intra-hour variability as observed by the wind lidar; this variability was not captured by the mesoscale model. Furthermore, multiscale simulations improved mean ABL characteristics such as horizontal velocity, vertical wind shear, and turbulence.« less

Coupled mesoscale-LES modeling of a diurnal cycle during the CWEX-13 field campaign: From weather to boundary-layer eddies

DOE PAGES

Munoz-Esparza, Domingo; Lundquist, Julie K.; Sauer, Jeremy A.; ...

2017-04-25

Multiscale modeling of a diurnal cycle of real-world conditions is presented for the first time, validated using data from the CWEX-13 field experiment. Dynamical downscaling from synoptic-scale down to resolved three-dimensional eddies in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) was performed, spanning 4 orders of magnitude in horizontal grid resolution: from 111 km down to 8.2 m (30 m) in stable (convective) conditions. Computationally efficient mesoscale-to-microscale transition was made possible by the generalized cell perturbation method with time-varying parameters derived from mesoscale forcing conditions, which substantially reduced the fetch to achieve fully developed turbulence. In addition, careful design of the simulationsmore » was made to inhibit the presence of under-resolved convection at convection-resolving mesoscale resolution and to ensure proper turbulence representation in stably-stratified conditions. Comparison to in situ wind-profiling lidar and near-surface sonic anemometer measurements demonstrated the ability to reproduce the ABL structure throughout the entire diurnal cycle with a high degree of fidelity. The multiscale simulations exhibit realistic atmospheric features such as convective rolls and global intermittency. Also, the diurnal evolution of turbulence was accurately simulated, with probability density functions of resolved turbulent velocity fluctuations nearly identical to the lidar measurements. Explicit representation of turbulence in the stably-stratified ABL was found to provide the right balance with larger scales, resulting in the development of intra-hour variability as observed by the wind lidar; this variability was not captured by the mesoscale model. Furthermore, multiscale simulations improved mean ABL characteristics such as horizontal velocity, vertical wind shear, and turbulence.« less

Recurrence networks from multivariate signals for uncovering dynamic transitions of horizontal oil-water stratified flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Zhong-Ke; Zhang, Xin-Wang; Jin, Ning-De; Donner, Reik V.; Marwan, Norbert; Kurths, Jürgen

2013-09-01

Characterizing the mechanism of drop formation at the interface of horizontal oil-water stratified flows is a fundamental problem eliciting a great deal of attention from different disciplines. We experimentally and theoretically investigate the formation and transition of horizontal oil-water stratified flows. We design a new multi-sector conductance sensor and measure multivariate signals from two different stratified flow patterns. Using the Adaptive Optimal Kernel Time-Frequency Representation (AOK TFR) we first characterize the flow behavior from an energy and frequency point of view. Then, we infer multivariate recurrence networks from the experimental data and investigate the cross-transitivity for each constructed network. We find that the cross-transitivity allows quantitatively uncovering the flow behavior when the stratified flow evolves from a stable state to an unstable one and recovers deeper insights into the mechanism governing the formation of droplets at the interface of stratified flows, a task that existing methods based on AOK TFR fail to work. These findings present a first step towards an improved understanding of the dynamic mechanism leading to the transition of horizontal oil-water stratified flows from a complex-network perspective.

A scaling law for the mixing efficiency in weakly rotating unforced stratified turbulence in the atmosphere and the oceans based on the slowing down of energy transfer to the small scales because of waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pouquet, A.; Marino, R.; Rosenberg, D. L.; Herbert, C.

2017-12-01

We present a simple model for the scaling properties of the flux Richardson number R_f (the ratio of buoyancy flux B to total momentum flux B/[B+ɛ_V]) in weakly rotating unforced stratified flows characterized by their Rossby, Froude and Reynolds numbers Ro, Fr and Re. The model is based on: (i) quasi-equipartition between kinetic and potential modes, because of gravity waves and statistical equilibria; (ii) sub-dominant vertical velocity compared to the rms value of the velocity, U, due to the dominance of two-dimensional modes and the incompressibility condition; and (iii) slowing-down and weakening of the energy transfer to small scales due to eddy-wave interactions in a weak-turbulence temporal framework where the transfer time τ_{transf} is lengthened by the inverse Froude number, namely τ_{transf}=τ_{NL}^2/τ_{w}, τ_{NL}=L/U and τ_{w}=1/N being respectively the eddy turn-over time and the wave (Brunt Vaissala) period, with L a charaacteristic scale. Three regimes in Fr, as for stratified flows, are observed using a large data base: dominant waves, eddy-wave interactions and strong turbulence. In terms of the turbulence intensity (or buoyancy Reynolds number) R_I=ɛ_V/[νN^2], with ν the viscosity and ɛ_V the kinetic energy dissipation rate, these regimes are delimited by R_I˜0.1 and R_I˜280. In the intermediate regime, the phenomenology predicts and the numerical data confirms that a linear growth in Fr is obtained for the effective kinetic energy transfer when compared to its dimensional evaluation U^3/L. Defining the mixing efficiency as Γ_f=R_f/[1-R_f], the model allows for the prediction of the scaling Γ_f˜R_I^{-1/2}, observed previously at high Froude number, but which we also find for the intermediate regime. Thus, Γ_f is not constant, contrary to the classical Osborn model, as also found in several studies without rotation. As turbulence strengthens, smaller buoyancy fluxes point to a decoupling of the velocity and temperature fluctuations, the latter becoming passive and independent of U, and one can recover the same R_I^{-1/2} scaling in the strong turbulence regime as well.

An immersed boundary method for direct and large eddy simulation of stratified flows in complex geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapaka, Narsimha R.; Sarkar, Sutanu

2016-10-01

A sharp-interface Immersed Boundary Method (IBM) is developed to simulate density-stratified turbulent flows in complex geometry using a Cartesian grid. The basic numerical scheme corresponds to a central second-order finite difference method, third-order Runge-Kutta integration in time for the advective terms and an alternating direction implicit (ADI) scheme for the viscous and diffusive terms. The solver developed here allows for both direct numerical simulation (DNS) and large eddy simulation (LES) approaches. Methods to enhance the mass conservation and numerical stability of the solver to simulate high Reynolds number flows are discussed. Convergence with second-order accuracy is demonstrated in flow past a cylinder. The solver is validated against past laboratory and numerical results in flow past a sphere, and in channel flow with and without stratification. Since topographically generated internal waves are believed to result in a substantial fraction of turbulent mixing in the ocean, we are motivated to examine oscillating tidal flow over a triangular obstacle to assess the ability of this computational model to represent nonlinear internal waves and turbulence. Results in laboratory-scale (order of few meters) simulations show that the wave energy flux, mean flow properties and turbulent kinetic energy agree well with our previous results obtained using a body-fitted grid (BFG). The deviation of IBM results from BFG results is found to increase with increasing nonlinearity in the wave field that is associated with either increasing steepness of the topography relative to the internal wave propagation angle or with the amplitude of the oscillatory forcing. LES is performed on a large scale ridge, of the order of few kilometers in length, that has the same geometrical shape and same non-dimensional values for the governing flow and environmental parameters as the laboratory-scale topography, but significantly larger Reynolds number. A non-linear drag law is utilized in the large-scale application to parameterize turbulent losses due to bottom friction at high Reynolds number. The large scale problem exhibits qualitatively similar behavior to the laboratory scale problem with some differences: slightly larger intensification of the boundary flow and somewhat higher non-dimensional values for the energy fluxed away by the internal wave field. The phasing of wave breaking and turbulence exhibits little difference between small-scale and large-scale obstacles as long as the important non-dimensional parameters are kept the same. We conclude that IBM is a viable approach to the simulation of internal waves and turbulence in high Reynolds number stratified flows over topography.

Ways and possibilities of controlling turbulent shear flows - A selection of problems pursued at HFI and DLR in Berlin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiedler, Heinrich E.

1991-01-01

Recent works on flow stability and turbulence are reviewed with emphasis on the flow control of free and wall-bounded flows. Axisymmetric jets in counterflow are considered for two characteristic cases: a stable case at low velocity ratios and an unstable case at higher velocity ratios. Among mixing layers, excited layers are covered as well as density-inhomogeneous flows, where countergradient, homogeneous, and cogradient cases are reviewed. The influences of boundary conditions are analyzed, and focus is placed on feedback condition, flow distortion, accelerated flow, and two- and three-dimensional studies. Attention is given to stability investigations and riblets as a means for reducing surface friction in a turbulent flow.

Gravity Wave Breaking over the Central Alps: Role of Complex Terrain.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Qingfang; Doyle, James D.

2004-09-01

The characteristics of gravity waves excited by the complex terrain of the central Alps during the intensive observational period (IOP) 8 of the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) is studied through the analysis of aircraft in situ measurements, GPS dropsondes, radiosondes, airborne lidar data, and numerical simulations.Mountain wave breaking occurred over the central Alps on 21 October 1999, associated with wind shear, wind turning, and a critical level with Richardson number less than unity just above the flight level (5.7 km) of the research aircraft NCAR Electra. The Electra flew two repeated transverses across the Ötztaler Alpen, during which localized turbulence was sampled. The observed maximum vertical motion was 9 m s-1, corresponding to a turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) maximum of 10.5 m2 s-2. Spectrum analysis indicates an inertia subrange up to 5-km wavelength and multiple energy-containing spikes corresponding to a wide range of wavelengths.Manual analysis of GPS dropsonde data indicates the presence of strong flow descent and a downslope windstorm over the lee slope of the Ötztaler Alpen. Farther downstream, a transition occurs across a deep hydraulic jump associated with the ascent of isentropes and local wind reversal. During the first transverse, the turbulent region is convectively unstable as indicated by a positive sensible heat flux within the turbulent portion of the segment. The TKE derived from the flight-level data indicates multiple narrow spikes, which match the patterns shown in the diagnosed buoyancy production rate of TKE. The turbulence is nonisotropic with the major TKE contribution from the -wind component. The convectively unstable zone is advected downstream during the second transverse and the turbulence becomes much stronger and more isotropic.The downslope windstorm, flow descent, and transition to turbulence through a hydraulic jump are captured by a real-data Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Predition System (COAMPS) simulation. Several idealized simulations are performed motivated by the observations of multiscale waves forced by the complex terrain underneath. The simulations indicate that multiscale terrain promotes wave breaking, increases mountain drag, and enhances the downslope winds and TKE generation.

Control of wave-driven turbulence and surface heating on the mixing of microplastic marine debris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukulka, T.; Lavender Law, K. L.; Proskurowski, G. K.

2016-02-01

Buoyant microplastic marine debris (MPMD) is a pollutant in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) that is submerged by turbulent transport processes. Langmuir circulation (LC) is a turbulent process driven by wind and surface waves that enhances mixing in the OSBL. Sea surface cooling also contributes to OSBL turbulence by driving convection. On the other hand, sea surface heating stratifies and stabilizes the water column to reduce turbulent motion. We analyze observed MPMD surface concentrations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to reveal a significant increase in MPMD concentrations during surface heating and a decrease during surface cooling. Turbulence resolving large eddy simulations of the OSBL for an idealized diurnal heating cycle suggest that turbulent downward fluxes of buoyant tracers are enhanced at night, facilitating deep submergence of plastics, and suppressed in heating conditions, resulting in surface trapped MPMD. Simulations agree with observations if enhanced mixing due to LC is included. Our results demonstrate the controlling influence of surface heat fluxes and LC on turbulent transport in the OSBL and on vertical distributions of buoyant marine particles.

Gyrokinetic Studies of Turbulence Reduction with Reverse Shear ETG Transport Barriers or Lithium Walls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammett, G. W.; Peterson, J. L.; Granstedt, E. M.; Bell, R.; Guttenfelder, W.; Kaye, S.; Leblanc, B.; Mikkelsen, D. R.; Smith, D. R.; Yuh, H. Y.; Candy, J.

2012-03-01

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) can achieve high electron confinement regimes that are super-critically unstable to the electron temperature gradient (ETG) instability. These electron internal transport barriers (e-ITBs) occur when the magnetic shear becomes strongly negative. Using the gyrokinetic code GYRO, the first nonlinear ETG simulations of NSTX e-ITB plasmas demonstrate reduced turbulence consistent with this observation. This is qualitatively consistent with a secondary instability picture of reduced ETG turbulence at negative shear (Jenko and Dorland PRL 2002). Local simulations identify a strongly upshifted nonlinear critical gradient for thermal transport that depends on magnetic shear. Global simulations show that ETG-driven turbulence outside of the barrier is large enough to be experimentally relevant, but cannot propagate very far into the barrier. We also use GYRO to study turbulence in regimes that might be expected in the Lithium Torus eXperiment (LTX). While lithium has experimentally been shown to raise the edge temperature and improve performance, there can still be some turbulence from density-gradient-driven trapped electron modes, and a temperature pinch is found in some cases. (Supported by DOE.)

Validation of a turbulent Kelvin-Helmholtz shear layer model using a high-energy-density OMEGA laser experiment.

PubMed

Hurricane, O A; Smalyuk, V A; Raman, K; Schilling, O; Hansen, J F; Langstaff, G; Martinez, D; Park, H-S; Remington, B A; Robey, H F; Greenough, J A; Wallace, R; Di Stefano, C A; Drake, R P; Marion, D; Krauland, C M; Kuranz, C C

2012-10-12

Following the successful demonstration of an OMEGA laser-driven platform for generating and studying nearly two-dimensional unstable plasma shear layers [Hurricane et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 056305 (2009); Harding et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 045005 (2009)], this Letter reports on the first quantitative measurement of turbulent mixing in a high-energy-density plasma. As a blast wave moves parallel to an unperturbed interface between a low-density foam and a high-density plastic, baroclinic vorticity is deposited at the interface and a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability-driven turbulent mixing layer is created in the postshock flow due to surface roughness. The spatial scale and density profile of the turbulent layer are diagnosed using x-ray radiography with sufficiently small uncertainty so that the data can be used to ~0.17 μm) in the postshock plasma flow are consistent with an "inertial subrange," within which a Kolmogorov turbulent energy cascade can be active. An illustration of comparing the data set with the predictions of a two-equation turbulence model in the ares radiation hydrodynamics code is also presented.

Shock Corrugation by Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duffell, Paul C.; MacFadyen, Andrew I.

2014-08-01

Afterglow jets are Rayleigh-Taylor unstable and therefore turbulent during the early part of their deceleration. There are also several processes which actively cool the jet. In this Letter, we demonstrate that if cooling significantly increases the compressibility of the flow, the turbulence collides with the forward shock, destabilizing and corrugating it. In this case, the forward shock is turbulent enough to produce the magnetic fields responsible for synchrotron emission via small-scale turbulent dynamo. We calculate light curves assuming the magnetic field is in energy equipartition with the turbulent kinetic energy and discover that dynamic magnetic fields are well approximated by a constant magnetic-to-thermal energy ratio of 1%, though there is a sizeable delay in the time of peak flux as the magnetic field turns on only after the turbulence has activated. The reverse shock is found to be significantly more magnetized than the forward shock, with a magnetic-to-thermal energy ratio of the order of 10%. This work motivates future Rayleigh-Taylor calculations using more physical cooling models.

Numerical Study of Wake Vortex Behavior in Turbulent Domains with Ambient Stratification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Switzer, George F.; Proctor, Fred H.

2000-01-01

A three-dimensional large eddy simulation model is used to investigate the sensitivity of ambient stratification with turbulence on the behavior of aircraft wake vortices. Modeled ambient turbulence levels range from very weak to moderate, and stratification levels range from strongly stable to unstable. The results of profound significance from this study are: 1) very little sensitivity between vortex linking time and the level of stratification, 2) the mean vortex separation remained nearly constant regardless of stratification and turbulence (at least prior to linking), 3) the wake vortices did not rise regardless of the level of stratification, and 4) for very strong stratification, the vortex stopped descending and quickly dissipated even before vortex linking could occur. These results are supported by experimental data and are contrary to conclusions from other numerical studies that assume laminar flow and/or relatively-low Reynolds numbers.

Angular Momentum Transport in Convectively Unstable Shear Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Käpylä, Petri J.; Brandenburg, Axel; Korpi, Maarit J.; Snellman, Jan E.; Narayan, Ramesh

2010-08-01

Angular momentum transport due to hydrodynamic turbulent convection is studied using local three-dimensional numerical simulations employing the shearing box approximation. We determine the turbulent viscosity from non-rotating runs over a range of values of the shear parameter and use a simple analytical model in order to extract the non-diffusive contribution (Λ-effect) to the stress in runs where rotation is included. Our results suggest that the turbulent viscosity is on the order of the mixing length estimate and weakly affected by rotation. The Λ-effect is non-zero and a factor of 2-4 smaller than the turbulent viscosity in the slow rotation regime. We demonstrate that for Keplerian shear, the angular momentum transport can change sign and be outward when the rotation period is greater than the turnover time, i.e., when the Coriolis number is below unity. This result seems to be relatively independent of the value of the Rayleigh number.

Turbulent patterns in wall-bounded flows: A Turing instability?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manneville, Paul

2012-06-01

In their way to/from turbulence, plane wall-bounded flows display an interesting transitional regime where laminar and turbulent oblique bands alternate, the origin of which is still mysterious. In line with Barkley's recent work about the pipe flow transition involving reaction-diffusion concepts, we consider plane Couette flow in the same perspective and transform Waleffe's classical four-variable model of self-sustaining process into a reaction-diffusion model. We show that, upon fulfillment of a condition on the relative diffusivities of its variables, the featureless turbulent regime becomes unstable against patterning as the result of a Turing instability. A reduced two-variable model helps us to delineate the appropriate region of parameter space. An intrinsic status is therefore given to the pattern's wavelength for the first time. Virtues and limitations of the model are discussed, calling for a microscopic support of the phenomenological approach.

Direct numerical simulation of the laminar-turbulent transition at hypersonic flow speeds on a supercomputer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Egorov, I. V.; Novikov, A. V.; Fedorov, A. V.

2017-08-01

A method for direct numerical simulation of three-dimensional unsteady disturbances leading to a laminar-turbulent transition at hypersonic flow speeds is proposed. The simulation relies on solving the full three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes equations. The computational technique is intended for multiprocessor supercomputers and is based on a fully implicit monotone approximation scheme and the Newton-Raphson method for solving systems of nonlinear difference equations. This approach is used to study the development of three-dimensional unstable disturbances in a flat-plate and compression-corner boundary layers in early laminar-turbulent transition stages at the free-stream Mach number M = 5.37. The three-dimensional disturbance field is visualized in order to reveal and discuss features of the instability development at the linear and nonlinear stages. The distribution of the skin friction coefficient is used to detect laminar and transient flow regimes and determine the onset of the laminar-turbulent transition.

Statistical parameters of thermally driven turbulent anabatic flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hilel, Roni; Liberzon, Dan

2016-11-01

Field measurements of thermally driven turbulent anabatic flow over a moderate slope are reported. A collocated hot-films-sonic anemometer (Combo) obtained the finer scales of the flow by implementing a Neural Networks based in-situ calibration technique. Eight days of continuous measurements of the wind and temperature fluctuations reviled a diurnal pattern of unstable stratification that forced development of highly turbulent unidirectional up slope flow. Empirical fits of important turbulence statistics were obtained from velocity fluctuations' time series alongside fully resolved spectra of velocity field components and characteristic length scales. TKE and TI showed linear dependence on Re, while velocity derivative skewness and dissipation rates indicated the anisotropic nature of the flow. Empirical fits of normalized velocity fluctuations power density spectra were derived as spectral shapes exhibited high level of similarity. Bursting phenomenon was detected at 15% of the total time. Frequency of occurrence, spectral characteristics and possible generation mechanism are discussed. BSF Grant #2014075.

Evaluation of three lidar scanning strategies for turbulence measurements

DOE PAGES

Newman, Jennifer F.; Klein, Petra M.; Wharton, Sonia; ...

2016-05-03

Several errors occur when a traditional Doppler beam swinging (DBS) or velocity–azimuth display (VAD) strategy is used to measure turbulence with a lidar. To mitigate some of these errors, a scanning strategy was recently developed which employs six beam positions to independently estimate the u, v, and w velocity variances and covariances. In order to assess the ability of these different scanning techniques to measure turbulence, a Halo scanning lidar, WindCube v2 pulsed lidar, and ZephIR continuous wave lidar were deployed at field sites in Oklahoma and Colorado with collocated sonic anemometers.Results indicate that the six-beam strategy mitigates some of the errors caused bymore » VAD and DBS scans, but the strategy is strongly affected by errors in the variance measured at the different beam positions. The ZephIR and WindCube lidars overestimated horizontal variance values by over 60 % under unstable conditions as a result of variance contamination, where additional variance components contaminate the true value of the variance. A correction method was developed for the WindCube lidar that uses variance calculated from the vertical beam position to reduce variance contamination in the u and v variance components. The correction method reduced WindCube variance estimates by over 20 % at both the Oklahoma and Colorado sites under unstable conditions, when variance contamination is largest. This correction method can be easily applied to other lidars that contain a vertical beam position and is a promising method for accurately estimating turbulence with commercially available lidars.« less

Evaluation of three lidar scanning strategies for turbulence measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Newman, Jennifer F.; Klein, Petra M.; Wharton, Sonia

Several errors occur when a traditional Doppler beam swinging (DBS) or velocity–azimuth display (VAD) strategy is used to measure turbulence with a lidar. To mitigate some of these errors, a scanning strategy was recently developed which employs six beam positions to independently estimate the u, v, and w velocity variances and covariances. In order to assess the ability of these different scanning techniques to measure turbulence, a Halo scanning lidar, WindCube v2 pulsed lidar, and ZephIR continuous wave lidar were deployed at field sites in Oklahoma and Colorado with collocated sonic anemometers.Results indicate that the six-beam strategy mitigates some of the errors caused bymore » VAD and DBS scans, but the strategy is strongly affected by errors in the variance measured at the different beam positions. The ZephIR and WindCube lidars overestimated horizontal variance values by over 60 % under unstable conditions as a result of variance contamination, where additional variance components contaminate the true value of the variance. A correction method was developed for the WindCube lidar that uses variance calculated from the vertical beam position to reduce variance contamination in the u and v variance components. The correction method reduced WindCube variance estimates by over 20 % at both the Oklahoma and Colorado sites under unstable conditions, when variance contamination is largest. This correction method can be easily applied to other lidars that contain a vertical beam position and is a promising method for accurately estimating turbulence with commercially available lidars.« less

DNS of helicity-induced stratified turbulent flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandy, Abhilash J.; Rahimi, Abbas

2013-11-01

Helical flows undergoing density stratification have wide applications in meteorological phenomena such as dust devils, tornadoes, and hurricanes due to the complexity and disasters caused by them. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of transition to turbulence in a stably stratified Boussinesq fluid are presented for different rotation and stratification intensities. In order to understand the effect of velocity on the energy cascade, comparisons are made between helicity initiated and non-helical flows. Results show that stratification decelerates the helicity decay and causes velocity and vorticity to align with each other. With respect to the helical and non-helical flow comparisons, the total energy in the presence of stratification decays faster with helicity. In addition, the behavior of length scales were examined by comparing temporal variations of the vertical shearing of velocities. Results showed a growing asymmetry with time in the case of helical flow, while non-helical flow stayed close to begin symmetric.

Initiation of slug flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hanratty, T.J.; Woods, B.D.

The initiation of slug flow in a horizontal pipe can be predicted either by considering the stability of a slug or by considering the stability of a stratified flow. Measurements of the shedding rate of slugs are used to define necessary conditions for the existence of a slug. Recent results show that slugs develop from an unstable stratified flow through the evolution of small wavelength waves into large wavelength waves that have the possibility of growing to form a slug. The mechanism appears to be quite different for fluids with viscosities close to water than for fluids with large viscositiesmore » (20 centipoise).« less

Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahrt, L.

2014-01-01

Atmospheric boundary layers with weak stratification are relatively well described by similarity theory and numerical models for stationary horizontally homogeneous conditions. With common strong stratification, similarity theory becomes unreliable. The turbulence structure and interactions with the mean flow and small-scale nonturbulent motions assume a variety of scenarios. The turbulence is intermittent and may no longer fully satisfy the usual conditions for the definition of turbulence. Nonturbulent motions include wave-like motions and solitary modes, two-dimensional vortical modes, microfronts, intermittent drainage flows, and a host of more complex structures. The main source of turbulence may not be at the surface, but rather may result from shear above the surface inversion. The turbulence is typically not in equilibrium with the nonturbulent motions, sometimes preventing the formation of an inertial subrange. New observational and analysis techniques are expected to advance our understanding of the very stable boundary layer.

A Numerical Study of Wind-Turbine Wakes for Three Atmospheric Stability Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Shengbai; Archer, Cristina L.

2017-10-01

The effects of atmospheric stability on wind-turbine wakes are studied via large-eddy simulations. Three stability conditions are considered: stable, neutral, and unstable, with the same geostrophic wind speed aloft and the same Coriolis frequency. Both a single 5-MW turbine and a wind farm of five turbines are studied. The single-turbine wake is strongly correlated with stability, in terms of velocity deficit, turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) and temperature distribution. Because of the Coriolis effect, the wake shape deviates from a Gaussian distribution. For the wind-farm simulations, the separation of the core region and outer region is clear for the stable and neutral cases, but less distinct for the unstable case. The unstable case exhibits strong horizontal variations in wind speed. Local accelerations such as related to aisle jets are also observed, whose features depend on stability. The added TKE in the wind farm increases with stability. The highest power extraction and lowest power deficit are observed for the unstable case.

Unstable flow structures in the Blasius boundary layer.

PubMed

Wedin, H; Bottaro, A; Hanifi, A; Zampogna, G

2014-04-01

Finite amplitude coherent structures with a reflection symmetry in the spanwise direction of a parallel boundary layer flow are reported together with a preliminary analysis of their stability. The search for the solutions is based on the self-sustaining process originally described by Waleffe (Phys. Fluids 9, 883 (1997)). This requires adding a body force to the Navier-Stokes equations; to locate a relevant nonlinear solution it is necessary to perform a continuation in the nonlinear regime and parameter space in order to render the body force of vanishing amplitude. Some states computed display a spanwise spacing between streaks of the same length scale as turbulence flow structures observed in experiments (S.K. Robinson, Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 23, 601 (1991)), and are found to be situated within the buffer layer. The exact coherent structures are unstable to small amplitude perturbations and thus may be part of a set of unstable nonlinear states of possible use to describe the turbulent transition. The nonlinear solutions survive down to a displacement thickness Reynolds number Re * = 496 , displaying a 4-vortex structure and an amplitude of the streamwise root-mean-square velocity of 6% scaled with the free-stream velocity. At this Re* the exact coherent structure bifurcates supercritically and this is the point where the laminar Blasius flow starts to cohabit the phase space with alternative simple exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations.

Penetrative cellular convection in a stratified atmosphere. [of stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Massaguer, J. M.; Latour, J.; Toomre, J.; Zahn, J.-P.

1984-01-01

In the present investigation of penetrative convection within a simple compressible model, the middle one of the three layers of differing stratification prior to the onset of convection is a convectively unstable polytrope bounded above and below by two stably stratified polytropes. One- and two-mode steady solutions with hexagonal planforms have been studied for Rayleigh numbers up to aobut 1000 times critical, and for a range of Prandtl numbers, horizontal wavenumbers, and stratifications. These indicate that the penetration into the lower stable layer by downward plumes is substantially larger in a stratified medium than in a Boussinesq fluid, and produces an extended region of adiabatic stratification. The strong asymmetry between upward and downward penetration in compressible media has major implications for the mixing of stable regions above and below stellar convection zones.

Turbulent transport across an interface between dry and humid air in a stratified environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallana, Luca; de Santi, Francesca; di Savino, Silvio; Iovieno, Michele; Ricchiardone, Renzo; Tordella, Daniela

2014-11-01

The transport of energy and water vapor across a thin layer which separates two decaying isotropic turbulent flows with different kinetic energy and humidity is considered. The interface is placed in a shearless stratified environment in temporal decay. This system reproduces a few aspects of small scale turbulent transport across a dry air/moist air interface in an atmospheric like context. In our incompressible DNS at Reλ = 250 , Boussinesq's approximation is used for momentum and energy transport while the vapor is modeled as a passive scalar (Kumar, Schumacher & Shaw 2014). We investigated different stratification levels with an initial Fr between 0.8 and 8 in presence of a kinetic energy ratio equal to 7. As the buoyancy term becomes of the same order of the inertial ones, a spatial redistribution of kinetic energy, dissipation and vapor concentration is observed. This eventually leads to the onset of a well of kinetic energy in the low energy side of the mixing layer which blocks the entrainment of dry air. Results are discussed and compared with laboratory and numerical experiments. A posteriori estimates of the eventual compression/expansion of fluid particles inside the interfacial mixing layer are given (Nance & Durran 1994).

Rayleigh Light Scattering for Concentration Measurements in Turbulent Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pitts, William M.

1996-01-01

Despite intensive research over a number of years, an understanding of scalar mixing in turbulent flows remains elusive. An understanding is required because turbulent mixing has a pivotal role in a wide variety of natural and technologically important processes. As an example, the mixing and transport of pollutants in the atmosphere and in bodies of water are often dependent on turbulent mixing processes. Turbulent mixing is also central to turbulent combustion which underlies most hydrocarbon energy use in modern societies as well as in unwanted fire behavior. Development of models for combusting flows is therefore crucial, however, an understanding of scalar mixing is required before useful models of turbulent mixing and, ultimately, turbulent combustion can be developed. An important subset of turbulent flows is axisymmetric turbulent jets and plumes because they are relatively simple to generate, and because the provide an appropriate test bed for the development of general theories of turbulent mixing which can be applied to more complex geometries and flows. This paper focuses on a number of experimental techniques which have been developed at the National Institute of Standards and Development for measuring concentration in binary axisymmetric turbulent jets. In order to demonstrate the value of these diagnostics, some of the more important results from earlier and on-going investigations are summarized. Topics addressed include the similarity behavior of variable density axisymmetric jets, the behavior of absolutely unstable axisymmetric helium jets, and the role of large scale structures and scalar dissipation in these flows.

Understanding Accretion Disks through Three Dimensional Radiation MHD Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Yan-Fei

I study the structures and thermal properties of black hole accretion disks in the radiation pressure dominated regime. Angular momentum transfer in the disk is provided by the turbulence generated by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI), which is calculated self-consistently with a recently developed 3D radiation magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) code based on Athena. This code, developed by my collaborators and myself, couples both the radiation momentum and energy source terms with the ideal MHD equations by modifying the standard Godunov method to handle the stiff radiation source terms. We solve the two momentum equations of the radiation transfer equations with a variable Eddington tensor (VET), which is calculated with a time independent short characteristic module. This code is well tested and accurate in both optically thin and optically thick regimes. It is also accurate for both radiation pressure and gas pressure dominated flows. With this code, I find that when photon viscosity becomes significant, the ratio between Maxwell stress and Reynolds stress from the MRI turbulence can increase significantly with radiation pressure. The thermal instability of the radiation pressure dominated disk is then studied with vertically stratified shearing box simulations. Unlike the previous results claiming that the radiation pressure dominated disk with MRI turbulence can reach a steady state without showing any unstable behavior, I find that the radiation pressure dominated disks always either collapse or expand until we have to stop the simulations. During the thermal runaway, the heating and cooling rates from the simulations are consistent with the general criterion of thermal instability. However, details of the thermal runaway are different from the predictions of the standard alpha disk model, as many assumptions in that model are not satisfied in the simulations. We also identify the key reasons why previous simulations do not find the instability. The thermal instability has many important implications for understanding the observations of both X-ray binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). However, direct comparisons between observations and the simulations require global radiation MHD simulations, which will be the main focus of my future work.

Effect of atmospheric turbulence on wind turbine wakes: An LES study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Y. T.; Porté-Agel, F.

2012-04-01

A comprehensive numerical study of atmospheric turbulence effect on wind-turbine wakes is presented. Large-eddy simulations of neutrally-stratified boundary layers developed over different flat surfaces (forest, farmland, grass, and snow) are performed to investigate the structure of turbine wakes in cases where the incident flows to the wind turbine have the same mean velocity at the hub height but different mean wind shears and turbulence intensity levels. The simulation results show that the different wind shears and turbulence intensity levels of the incoming flow lead to considerable influence on the spatial distribution of the mean velocity deficit, turbulence intensity, and turbulent shear stress in the wake region downstream of the turbine. In general, the recovery of the turbine-induced wake (velocity deficit) is faster and the turbulence intensity level is higher and has its maximum closer to the turbine for wakes of turbines over rougher terrain. In order to isolate the effect of turbulence intensity from that of wind shear, simulations have also been performed with synthetic inflow velocity fields that have the same mean wind shear but different turbulence intensity levels. We find that the effect of the inflow turbulence intensity on the wake recovery and turbulence levels is stronger than that of the mean shear.

The tidally averaged momentum balance in a partially and periodically stratified estuary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stacey, M.T.; Brennan, Matthew L.; Burau, J.R.; Monismith, Stephen G.

2010-01-01

Observations of turbulent stresses and mean velocities over an entire spring-neap cycle are used to evaluate the dynamics of tidally averaged flows in a partially stratified estuarine channel. In a depth-averaged sense, the net flow in this channel is up estuary due to interaction of tidal forcing with the geometry of the larger basin. The depth-variable tidally averaged flow has the form of an estuarine exchange flow (downstream at the surface, upstream at depth) and varies in response to the neap-spring transition. The weakening of the tidally averaged exchange during the spring tides appears to be a result of decreased stratification on the tidal time scale rather than changes in bed stress. The dynamics of the estuarine exchange flow are defined by a balance between the vertical divergence of the tidally averaged turbulent stress and the tidally averaged pressure gradient in the lower water column. In the upper water column, tidal stresses are important contributors, particularly during the neap tides. The usefulness of an effective eddy viscosity in the tidally averaged momentum equation is explored, and it is seen that the effective eddy viscosity on the subtidal time scale would need to be negative to close the momentum balance. This is due to the dominant contribution of tidally varying turbulent momentum fluxes, which have no specific relation to the subtidal circulation. Using a water column model, the validity of an effective eddy viscosity is explored; for periodically stratified water columns, a negative effective viscosity is required. ?? 2010 American Meteorological Society.

On the growth of turbulent regions in laminar boundary layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gad-El-hak, M.; Riley, J. J.; Blackwelder, R. F.

1981-01-01

Turbulent spots evolving in a laminar boundary layer on a nominally zero pressure gradient flat plate are investigated. The plate is towed through an 18 m water channel, using a carriage that rides on a continuously replenished oil film giving a vibrationless tow. Turbulent spots are initiated using a solenoid valve that ejects a small amount of fluid through a minute hole on the working surface. A novel visualization technique that utilizes fluorescent dye excited by a sheet of laser light is employed. Some new aspects of the growth and entrainment of turbulent spots, especially with regard to lateral growth, are inferred from the present experiments. To supplement the information on lateral spreading, a turbulent wedge created by placing a roughness element in the laminar boundary layer is also studied both visually and with probe measurements. The present results show that, in addition to entrainment, another mechanism is needed to explain the lateral growth characteristics of a turbulent region in a laminar boundary layer. This mechanism, termed growth by destabilization, appears to be a result of the turbulence destabilizing the unstable laminar boundary layer in its vicinity. To further understand the growth mechanisms, the turbulence in the spot is modulated using drag-reducing additives and salinity stratification.

Fire suppression as a thermal implosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novozhilov, Vasily

2017-01-01

The present paper discusses the possibility of the thermal implosion scenario. This process would be a reverse of the well known thermal explosion (autoignition) phenomenon. The mechanism for thermal implosion scenario is proposed which involves quick suppression of the turbulent diffusion flame. Classical concept of the thermal explosion is discussed first. Then a possible scenario for the reverse process (thermal implosion) is discussed and illustrated by a relevant mathematical model. Based on the arguments presented in the paper, thermal implosion may be observed as an unstable equilibrium point on the generalized Semenov diagram for turbulent flame, however this hypothesis requires ultimate experimental confirmation.

Zonal flow as pattern formation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parker, Jeffrey B.; Krommes, John A.

2013-10-15

Zonal flows are well known to arise spontaneously out of turbulence. We show that for statistically averaged equations of the stochastically forced generalized Hasegawa-Mima model, steady-state zonal flows, and inhomogeneous turbulence fit into the framework of pattern formation. There are many implications. First, the wavelength of the zonal flows is not unique. Indeed, in an idealized, infinite system, any wavelength within a certain continuous band corresponds to a solution. Second, of these wavelengths, only those within a smaller subband are linearly stable. Unstable wavelengths must evolve to reach a stable wavelength; this process manifests as merging jets.

Simplification and Validation of a Spectral-Tensor Model for Turbulence Including Atmospheric Stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chougule, Abhijit; Mann, Jakob; Kelly, Mark; Larsen, Gunner C.

2018-06-01

A spectral-tensor model of non-neutral, atmospheric-boundary-layer turbulence is evaluated using Eulerian statistics from single-point measurements of the wind speed and temperature at heights up to 100 m, assuming constant vertical gradients of mean wind speed and temperature. The model has been previously described in terms of the dissipation rate ɛ , the length scale of energy-containing eddies L, a turbulence anisotropy parameter Γ, the Richardson number Ri, and the normalized rate of destruction of temperature variance η _θ ≡ ɛ _θ /ɛ . Here, the latter two parameters are collapsed into a single atmospheric stability parameter z / L using Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, where z is the height above the Earth's surface, and L is the Obukhov length corresponding to Ri,η _θ. Model outputs of the one-dimensional velocity spectra, as well as cospectra of the streamwise and/or vertical velocity components, and/or temperature, and cross-spectra for the spatial separation of all three velocity components and temperature, are compared with measurements. As a function of the four model parameters, spectra and cospectra are reproduced quite well, but horizontal temperature fluxes are slightly underestimated in stable conditions. In moderately unstable stratification, our model reproduces spectra only up to a scale ˜ 1 km. The model also overestimates coherences for vertical separations, but is less severe in unstable than in stable cases.

A stochastic perturbation method to generate inflow turbulence in large-eddy simulation models: Application to neutrally stratified atmospheric boundary layers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muñoz-Esparza, D.; Kosović, B.; Beeck, J. van

2015-03-15

Despite the variety of existing methods, efficient generation of turbulent inflow conditions for large-eddy simulation (LES) models remains a challenging and active research area. Herein, we extend our previous research on the cell perturbation method, which uses a novel stochastic approach based upon finite amplitude perturbations of the potential temperature field applied within a region near the inflow boundaries of the LES domain [Muñoz-Esparza et al., “Bridging the transition from mesoscale to microscale turbulence in numerical weather prediction models,” Boundary-Layer Meteorol., 153, 409–440 (2014)]. The objective was twofold: (i) to identify the governing parameters of the method and their optimummore » values and (ii) to generalize the results over a broad range of atmospheric large-scale forcing conditions, U{sub g} = 5 − 25 m s{sup −1}, where U{sub g} is the geostrophic wind. We identified the perturbation Eckert number, Ec=U{sub g}{sup 2}/ρc{sub p}θ{sup ~}{sub pm}, to be the parameter governing the flow transition to turbulence in neutrally stratified boundary layers. Here, θ{sup ~}{sub pm} is the maximum perturbation amplitude applied, c{sub p} is the specific heat capacity at constant pressure, and ρ is the density. The optimal Eckert number was found for nonlinear perturbations allowed by Ec ≈ 0.16, which instigate formation of hairpin-like vortices that most rapidly transition to a developed turbulent state. Larger Ec numbers (linear small-amplitude perturbations) result in streaky structures requiring larger fetches to reach the quasi-equilibrium solution, while smaller Ec numbers lead to buoyancy dominated perturbations exhibiting difficulties for hairpin-like vortices to emerge. Cell perturbations with wavelengths within the inertial range of three-dimensional turbulence achieved identical quasi-equilibrium values of resolved turbulent kinetic energy, q, and Reynolds-shear stress, . In contrast, large-scale perturbations acting at the production range exhibited reduced levels of , due to the formation of coherent streamwise structures, while q was maintained, requiring larger fetches for the turbulent solution to stabilize. Additionally, the cell perturbation method was compared to a synthetic turbulence generator. The proposed stochastic approach provided at least the same efficiency in developing realistic turbulence, while accelerating the formation of large-scales associated with production of turbulent kinetic energy. Also, it is computationally inexpensive and does not require any turbulent information.« less

A second-order modelling of a stably stratified sheared turbulence submitted to a non-vertical shear

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouzaiane, Mounir; Ben Abdallah, Hichem; Lili, Taieb

2004-09-01

In this work, the evolution of homogeneous stably stratified turbulence submitted to a non-vertical shear is studied using second-order closure models. Two cases of turbulent flows are considered. Firstly, the case of a purely horizontal shear is considered. In this case, the evolution of the turbulence is studied according to the Richardson number Ri which is varied from 0.2 to 2.0 when other parameters are kept constant. In the second case, two components of shear are present. The turbulence is submitted to a vertical component Sv = partU1/partx3 = S cos(thgr) and a horizontal component Sh = partU1/partx2 = S sin(thgr). In this case, we study the influence of shear inclination angle thgr on the evolution of turbulence. In both cases, we are referred respectively to the recent direct numerical simulations of Jacobitz (2002 J. Turbulence 3 055) and Jacobitz and Sarkar (1998 Phys. Fluids 10 1158-68) which are, to our knowledge, the most recent results of the above-mentioned flows. Transport equations of second-order moments \\overline{u_{i} u_{j}} , \\overline{u_{i} \\rho } , \\overline{\\rho^{2}} are derived. The Shih-Lumley (SL) (Shih T H 1996 Turbulence Transition and Modeling ed H D S Henningson, A V Johansson and P H Alfredsson (Dordrecht: Kluwer); Shih and Lumley J L 1989 27th Aerospace Meeting 9-12 January, Center of Turbulent Research, Nevada) and the Craft-Launder (CL) (Craft T J and Launder B E 1989 Turbulent Shear Flow Stanford University, USA, pp 12-1-12-6 Launder B E 1996 Turbulence Transition and Modeling ed H D S Henningson, A V Johansson and P H Alfredsson (Dordrecht: Kluwer)) second-order models are retained for the pressure-strain correlation phgrij and the pressure-scalar gradient correlation phgrirgr. The corresponding models are also retained for the dissipation egr of the turbulent kinetic energy and an algebraic model is retained for the dissipation egrrgrrgr of the variance of the scalar. A fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is used for the numerical integration of the closed systems of non-linear dimensionless differential equations. A good agreement between the predictions of second-order models and values of direct numerical simulation of Jacobitz has been generally observed for the principal component of anisotropy b12. A qualitative agreement has been observed for the ratios K/E and Krgr/E of the kinetic and potential energies to the total energy E.

How Turbulence Enables Core-collapse Supernova Explosions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mabanta, Quintin A.; Murphy, Jeremiah W.

2018-03-01

An important result in core-collapse supernova (CCSN) theory is that spherically symmetric, one-dimensional simulations routinely fail to explode, yet multidimensional simulations often explode. Numerical investigations suggest that turbulence eases the condition for explosion, but how it does it is not fully understood. We develop a turbulence model for neutrino-driven convection, and show that this turbulence model reduces the condition for explosions by about 30%, in concordance with multidimensional simulations. In addition, we identify which turbulent terms enable explosions. Contrary to prior suggestions, turbulent ram pressure is not the dominant factor in reducing the condition for explosion. Instead, there are many contributing factors, with ram pressure being only one of them, but the dominant factor is turbulent dissipation (TD). Primarily, TD provides extra heating, adding significant thermal pressure and reducing the condition for explosion. The source of this TD power is turbulent kinetic energy, which ultimately derives its energy from the higher potential of an unstable convective profile. Investigating a turbulence model in conjunction with an explosion condition enables insight that is difficult to glean from merely analyzing complex multidimensional simulations. An explosion condition presents a clear diagnostic to explain why stars explode, and the turbulence model allows us to explore how turbulence enables explosion. Although we find that TD is a significant contributor to successful supernova explosions, it is important to note that this work is to some extent qualitative. Therefore, we suggest ways to further verify and validate our predictions with multidimensional simulations.

A spatial length scale analysis of turbulent temperature and velocity fluctuations within and above an orchard canopy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Y.S.; Miller, D.R.; Anderson, D.E.; Cionco, R.M.; Lin, J.D.

1992-01-01

Turbulent flow within and above an almond orchard was measured with three-dimensional wind sensors and fine-wire thermocouple sensors arranged in a horizontal array. The data showed organized turbulent structures as indicated by coherent asymmetric ramp patterns in the time series traces across the sensor array. Space-time correlation analysis indicated that velocity and temperature fluctuations were significantly correlated over a transverse distance more than 4m. Integral length scales of velocity and temperature fluctuations were substantially greater in unstable conditions than those in stable conditions. The coherence spectral analysis indicated that Davenport's geometric similarity hypothesis was satisfied in the lower frequency region. From the geometric similarity hypothesis, the spatial extents of large ramp structures were also estimated with the coherence functions.

Scale Properties of Anisotropic and Isotropic Turbulence in the Urban Surface Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hao; Yuan, Renmin; Mei, Jie; Sun, Jianning; Liu, Qi; Wang, Yu

2017-11-01

The scale properties of anisotropic and isotropic turbulence in the urban surface layer are investigated. A dimensionless anisotropic tensor is introduced and the turbulent tensor anisotropic coefficient, defined as C, where C = 3d3 + 1 (d3 is the minimum eigenvalue of the tensor) is used to characterize the turbulence anisotropy or isotropy. Turbulence is isotropic when C ≈ 1, and anisotropic when C ≪ 1. Three-dimensional velocity data collected using a sonic anemometer are analyzed to obtain the anisotropic characteristics of atmospheric turbulence in the urban surface layer, and the tensor anisotropic coefficient of turbulent eddies at different spatial scales calculated. The analysis shows that C is strongly dependent on atmospheric stability ξ = (z-zd)/L_{{it{MO}}}, where z is the measurement height, zd is the displacement height, and L_{{it{MO}}} is the Obukhov length. The turbulence at a specific scale in unstable conditions (i.e., ξ < 0) is closer to isotropic than that at the same scale under stable conditions. The maximum isotropic scale of turbulence is determined based on the characteristics of the power spectrum in three directions. Turbulence does not behave isotropically when the eddy scale is greater than the maximum isotropic scale, whereas it is horizontally isotropic at relatively large scales. The maximum isotropic scale of turbulence is compared to the outer scale of temperature, which is obtained by fitting the temperature fluctuation spectrum using the von Karman turbulent model. The results show that the outer scale of temperature is greater than the maximum isotropic scale of turbulence.

The Construction of the Chinese Academic System: Its History and Present Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yan, Guangcai

2009-01-01

The rise and development of China's academic system is a process that started from "passively accepting Western Learning" to today's "catching up with Western Learning and even exceeding it". In the last century, China experienced a turbulent and unstable social environment in which academics and politics have always been…

On the Transition from Two-Dimensional to Three-Dimensional MHD Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thess, A.; Zikanov, Oleg

2004-01-01

We report a theoretical investigation of the robustness of two-dimensional inviscid MHD flows at low magnetic Reynolds numbers with respect to three-dimensional perturbations. We analyze three model problems, namely flow in the interior of a triaxial ellipsoid, an unbounded vortex with elliptical streamlines, and a vortex sheet parallel to the magnetic field. We demonstrate that motion perpendicular to the magnetic field with elliptical streamlines becomes unstable with respect to the elliptical instability once the velocity has reached a critical magnitude whose value tends to zero as the eccentricity of the streamlines becomes large. Furthermore, vortex sheets parallel to the magnetic field, which are unstable for any velocity and any magnetic field, are found to emit eddies with vorticity perpendicular to the magnetic field and with an aspect ratio proportional to N(sup 1/2). The results suggest that purely two-dimensional motion without Joule energy dissipation is a singular type of flow which does not represent the asymptotic behaviour of three-dimensional MHD turbulence in the limit of infinitely strong magnetic fields.

Predator prey oscillations in a simple cascade model of drift wave turbulence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berionni, V.; Guercan, Oe. D.

2011-11-15

A reduced three shell limit of a simple cascade model of drift wave turbulence, which emphasizes nonlocal interactions with a large scale mode, is considered. It is shown to describe both the well known predator prey dynamics between the drift waves and zonal flows and to reduce to the standard three wave interaction equations. Here, this model is considered as a dynamical system whose characteristics are investigated. The analytical solutions for the purely nonlinear limit are given in terms of the Jacobi elliptic functions. An approximate analytical solution involving Jacobi elliptic functions and exponential growth is computed using scale separationmore » for the case of unstable solutions that are observed when the energy injection rate is high. The fixed points of the system are determined, and the behavior around these fixed points is studied. The system is shown to display periodic solutions corresponding to limit cycle oscillations, apparently chaotic phase space orbits, as well as unstable solutions that grow slowly while oscillating rapidly. The period doubling route to transition to chaos is examined.« less

Three-Phased Wake Vortex Decay

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Proctor, Fred H.; Ahmad, Nashat N.; Switzer, George S.; LimonDuparcmeur, Fanny M.

2010-01-01

A detailed parametric study is conducted that examines vortex decay within turbulent and stratified atmospheres. The study uses a large eddy simulation model to simulate the out-of-ground effect behavior of wake vortices due to their interaction with atmospheric turbulence and thermal stratification. This paper presents results from a parametric investigation and suggests improvements for existing fast-time wake prediction models. This paper also describes a three-phased decay for wake vortices. The third phase is characterized by a relatively slow rate of circulation decay, and is associated with the ringvortex stage that occurs following vortex linking. The three-phased decay is most prevalent for wakes imbedded within environments having low-turbulence and near-neutral stratification.

Instability of water-ice interface under turbulent flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izumi, Norihiro; Naito, Kensuke; Yokokawa, Miwa

2015-04-01

It is known that plane water-ice interface becomes unstable to evolve into a train of waves. The underside of ice formed on the water surface of rivers are often observed to be covered with ice ripples. Relatively steep channels which discharge melting water from glaciers are characterized by beds covered with a series of steps. Though the flowing agent inducing instability is not water but gas including water vapor, a similar train of steps have been recently observed on the Polar Ice Caps on Mars (Spiral Troughs). They are expected to be caused by the instability of water-ice interface induced by flowing fluid on ice. There have been some studies on this instability in terms of linear stability analysis. Recently, Caporeale and Ridolfi (2012) have proposed a complete linear stability analysis in the case of laminar flow, and found that plane water-ice interface is unstable in the range of sufficiently large Reynolds numbers, and that the important parameters are the Reynolds number, the slope angle, and the water surface temperature. However, the flow inducing instability on water-ice interface in the field should be in the turbulent regime. Extension of the analysis to the case of fully developed turbulent flow with larger Reynolds numbers is needed. We have performed a linear stability analysis on the instability of water-ice interface under turbulent flow conditions with the use of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the mixing length turbulent model, the continuity equation of flow, the diffusion/dispersion equation of heat, and the Stefan equation. In order to reproduce the accurate velocity distribution and the heat transfer in the vicinity of smooth walls with the use of the mixing length model, it is important to take into account of the rapid decrease in the mixing length in the viscous sublayer. We employ the Driest model (1956) to the formulation. In addition, as the thermal boundary condition at the water surface, we describe the continuity of the heat fluxes from inside of water to the water surface and from the water surface to the surrounding air with the use of the heat transfer coefficient. The boundary condition then becomes the Robin boundary condition. It is found from the analysis, that the instability takes place in the range of large Froude numbers and small wavenumbers in the wavenumber-Froude number plane. It is also found that the unstable region does not show a significant difference when the Reynolds number is larger than somewhere around 5,000.

From Near-Neutral to Strongly Stratified: Adequately Modelling the Clear-Sky Nocturnal Boundary Layer at Cabauw.

PubMed

Baas, P; van de Wiel, B J H; van der Linden, S J A; Bosveld, F C

2018-01-01

The performance of an atmospheric single-column model (SCM) is studied systematically for stably-stratified conditions. To this end, 11 years (2005-2015) of daily SCM simulations were compared to observations from the Cabauw observatory, The Netherlands. Each individual clear-sky night was classified in terms of the ambient geostrophic wind speed with a [Formula: see text] bin-width. Nights with overcast conditions were filtered out by selecting only those nights with an average net radiation of less than [Formula: see text]. A similar procedure was applied to the observational dataset. A comparison of observed and modelled ensemble-averaged profiles of wind speed and potential temperature and time series of turbulent fluxes showed that the model represents the dynamics of the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) at Cabauw very well for a broad range of mechanical forcing conditions. No obvious difference in model performance was found between near-neutral and strongly-stratified conditions. Furthermore, observed NBL regime transitions are represented in a natural way. The reference model version performs much better than a model version that applies excessive vertical mixing as is done in several (global) operational models. Model sensitivity runs showed that for weak-wind conditions the inversion strength depends much more on details of the land-atmosphere coupling than on the turbulent mixing. The presented results indicate that in principle the physical parametrizations of large-scale atmospheric models are sufficiently equipped for modelling stably-stratified conditions for a wide range of forcing conditions.

From Near-Neutral to Strongly Stratified: Adequately Modelling the Clear-Sky Nocturnal Boundary Layer at Cabauw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baas, P.; van de Wiel, B. J. H.; van der Linden, S. J. A.; Bosveld, F. C.

2018-02-01

The performance of an atmospheric single-column model (SCM) is studied systematically for stably-stratified conditions. To this end, 11 years (2005-2015) of daily SCM simulations were compared to observations from the Cabauw observatory, The Netherlands. Each individual clear-sky night was classified in terms of the ambient geostrophic wind speed with a 1 m s^{-1} bin-width. Nights with overcast conditions were filtered out by selecting only those nights with an average net radiation of less than - 30 W m^{-2}. A similar procedure was applied to the observational dataset. A comparison of observed and modelled ensemble-averaged profiles of wind speed and potential temperature and time series of turbulent fluxes showed that the model represents the dynamics of the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) at Cabauw very well for a broad range of mechanical forcing conditions. No obvious difference in model performance was found between near-neutral and strongly-stratified conditions. Furthermore, observed NBL regime transitions are represented in a natural way. The reference model version performs much better than a model version that applies excessive vertical mixing as is done in several (global) operational models. Model sensitivity runs showed that for weak-wind conditions the inversion strength depends much more on details of the land-atmosphere coupling than on the turbulent mixing. The presented results indicate that in principle the physical parametrizations of large-scale atmospheric models are sufficiently equipped for modelling stably-stratified conditions for a wide range of forcing conditions.

On the Structure of the Mixing Zone at an Unstable Contact Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meshkov, E. E.

2018-01-01

The interface between two media of different densities (contact boundary) moving with an acceleration directed from the less dense medium to the more dense one is unstable (Rayleigh-Taylor instability) [1, 2]. The initial perturbations of the interface grow indefinitely and, as a result, a medium mixing zone growing with time is formed at the interface. The structure of such a mixing zone at gas-gas and gas-liquid interfaces is discussed on the basis of laboratory experiments on shock tubes of various types. It is concluded that the regions of turbulent and laminar flows are combined in the mixing zone.

A comparison of near-surface potential temperature variance budgets for unstable atmospheric flows over vegetated and non-vegetated flat surfaces and a gentle slope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hang, C.; Nadeau, D.; Pardyjak, E.; Parlange, M. B.

2017-12-01

Over the past decades, researchers have made much progress toward a fundamental understanding of the budgets of turbulence variables over flat and homogeneous terrain, and only more recently over complex terrain. However, temperature variance budgets, which are parameterized in most meteorological models, are still poorly understood even under relatively idealized conditions. In this work, we rely on near-surface turbulence observations collected as part of the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) program. Data collected in May 2013 in western Utah at three field sites subjected to similar large-scale forcing are analyzed: a desert playa (dry lakebed), characterized by a at surface devoid of vegetation; a vegetated site, characterized by at valley oor covered with greasewood vegetation, and a mountain terrain site with a slope angle of 2 -4° and covered by high-elevation vegetation. The analysis reveals the presence of a 5-m layer where the production and dissipation terms of potential temperature variance (θ2) drop rapidly below this level. During convective periods, vertical advection and turbulent transport of θ2 can often be non-negligible, in particular at Playa and Slope sites. In addition, within the 5-m layer, turbulent transport of θ2 acts as a sink term at all sites of interest. Neither the ratio of turbulent transport to production nor the ratio of production to dissipation show a stability dependence during the unstable periods studied. A short-period comparison of dissipation rates calculated using dissipation-scale resolving hot-wire/cold-wire anemometry and several common indirect methods using sonic anemometry is presented for data acquired at Playa site. The results indicates that the dissipation rates from all methods follow similar trends, however the magnitudes can differ by a factor of 2 - 3.

Anatomy of small-scale mixing along a Northeast Atlantic transect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurado, Elena; Dijkstra, Henk A.; van der Woerd, Hans; Brussaard, Corina

2010-05-01

The study of turbulence occurring at the smallest scales, in the energy dissipation range, is required when evaluating interrelations between turbulent mixing and phytoplankton distribution. To derive microturbulent parameters, microstructure profiler surveys, consisting in high resolution temperature, salinity or velocity vertical profiles have been performed in localized regions of the open ocean. However, they are very localized and based on few datasets, difficult to extrapolate to other regions due to the dependence on the local background conditions. During the STRATIPHYT-I cruise (July-August 2009) from Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) to Reykjavik (Iceland), high resolution measurements of both turbulent mixing (with a Self Contained Autonomous Micro Profiler, SCAMP) and phytoplankton have been carried out in the top 100 m of the ocean. With these data, the gradient from a more stratified, warmer surface water tropical environment to a less stratified subpolar ocean environment is covered. Adding up a total of 15 stations and 148 profiles, it constitutes the most extensive dataset of directly derived vertical mixing coefficients in a latitudinal transect of the Northeast Atlantic. In the presentation, the focus is on the explanation of the changes in turbulent mixing along the cruise section, recalling in its latitudinal gradient and presenting parameters that can further help to evaluate effects in the phytoplankton distribution. Side issues such as the encountered disagreement between heat and density eddy diffusivities and an analysis of the main source of instabilities through GOTM model and an internal wave analysis, are also treated in detail.

The Interaction of Large Amplitude Internal Seiches with a Shallow Sloping Lakebed: Observations of Benthic Turbulence in Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada

PubMed Central

Cossu, Remo; Wells, Mathew G.

2013-01-01

Observations of the interactions of large amplitude internal seiches with the sloping boundary of Lake Simcoe, Canada show a pronounced asymmetry between up- and downwelling. Data were obtained during a 42-day period in late summer with an ADCP and an array of four thermistor chains located in a 5 km line at the depths where the thermocline intersects the shallow slope of the lakebed. The thermocline is located at depths of 12–14 m during the strongly stratified period of late summer. During periods of strong westerly winds the thermocline is deflected as much as 8 m vertically and interacts directly with the lakebed at depth between 14–18 m. When the thermocline was rising at the boundary, the stratification resembles a turbulent bore that propagates up the sloping lakebed with a speed of 0.05–0.15 m s−1 and a Froude number close to unity. There were strong temperature overturns associated with the abrupt changes in temperature across the bore. Based on the size of overturns in the near bed stratification, we show that the inferred turbulent diffusivity varies by up to two orders of magnitude between up- and downwellings. When the thermocline was rising, estimates of turbulent diffusivity were high with KZ ∼10−4 m2s−1, whereas during downwelling events the near-bed stratification was greatly increased and the turbulence was reduced. This asymmetry is consistent with previous field observations and underlines the importance of shear-induced convection in benthic bottom boundary layers of stratified lakes. PMID:23472085

Modelling turbulent vertical mixing sensitivity using a 1-D version of NEMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reffray, G.; Bourdalle-Badie, R.; Calone, C.

2014-08-01

Through two numerical experiments, a 1-D vertical model called NEMO1D was used to investigate physical and numerical turbulent-mixing behaviour. The results show that all the turbulent closures tested (k + l from Blanke and Delecluse, 1993 and two equation models: Generic Lengh Scale closures from Umlauf and Burchard, 2003) are able to correctly reproduce the classical test of Kato and Phillips (1969) under favourable numerical conditions while some solutions may diverge depending on the degradation of the spatial and time discretization. The performances of turbulence models were then compared with data measured over a one-year period (mid-2010 to mid-2011) at the PAPA station, located in the North Pacific Ocean. The modelled temperature and salinity were in good agreement with the observations, with a maximum temperature error between -2 and 2 °C during the stratified period (June to October). However the results also depend on the numerical conditions. The vertical RMSE varied, for different turbulent closures, from 0.1 to 0.3 °C during the stratified period and from 0.03 to 0.15 °C during the homogeneous period. This 1-D configuration at the PAPA station (called PAPA1D) is now available in NEMO as a reference configuration including the input files and atmospheric forcing set described in this paper. Thus, all the results described can be recovered by downloading and launching PAPA1D. The configuration is described on the NEMO site (http://www.nemo-ocean.eu/Using-NEMO/Configurations/C1D_PAPA). This package is a good starting point for further investigation of vertical processes.

Modelling turbulent vertical mixing sensitivity using a 1-D version of NEMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reffray, G.; Bourdalle-Badie, R.; Calone, C.

2015-01-01

Through two numerical experiments, a 1-D vertical model called NEMO1D was used to investigate physical and numerical turbulent-mixing behaviour. The results show that all the turbulent closures tested (k+l from Blanke and Delecluse, 1993, and two equation models: generic length scale closures from Umlauf and Burchard, 2003) are able to correctly reproduce the classical test of Kato and Phillips (1969) under favourable numerical conditions while some solutions may diverge depending on the degradation of the spatial and time discretization. The performances of turbulence models were then compared with data measured over a 1-year period (mid-2010 to mid-2011) at the PAPA station, located in the North Pacific Ocean. The modelled temperature and salinity were in good agreement with the observations, with a maximum temperature error between -2 and 2 °C during the stratified period (June to October). However, the results also depend on the numerical conditions. The vertical RMSE varied, for different turbulent closures, from 0.1 to 0.3 °C during the stratified period and from 0.03 to 0.15 °C during the homogeneous period. This 1-D configuration at the PAPA station (called PAPA1D) is now available in NEMO as a reference configuration including the input files and atmospheric forcing set described in this paper. Thus, all the results described can be recovered by downloading and launching PAPA1D. The configuration is described on the NEMO site (http://www.nemo-ocean.eu/Using-NEMO/Configurations/C1D_PAPA). This package is a good starting point for further investigation of vertical processes.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moll, Ryan; Garaud, Pascale, E-mail: rmoll@soe.ucsc.edu

Oscillatory double-diffusive convection (ODDC, more traditionally called semiconvection) is a form of linear double-diffusive instability that occurs in fluids that are unstably stratified in temperature (Schwarzschild unstable), but stably stratified in chemical composition (Ledoux stable). This scenario is thought to be quite common in the interiors of stars and giant planets, and understanding the transport of heat and chemical species by ODDC is of great importance to stellar and planetary evolution models. Fluids unstable to ODDC have a tendency to form convective thermocompositional layers that significantly enhance the fluxes of temperature and chemical composition compared with microscopic diffusion. Although a numbermore » of recent studies have focused on studying properties of both layered and nonlayered ODDC, few have addressed how additional physical processes such as global rotation affect its dynamics. In this work, we study first how rotation affects the linear stability properties of rotating ODDC. Using direct numerical simulations, we then analyze the effect of rotation on properties of layered and nonlayered ODDC, and we study how the angle of the rotation axis with respect to the direction of gravity affects layering. We find that rotating systems can be broadly grouped into two categories based on the strength of rotation. The qualitative behavior in the more weakly rotating group is similar to nonrotating ODDC, but strongly rotating systems become dominated by vortices that are invariant in the direction of the rotation vector and strongly influence transport. We find that whenever layers form, rotation always acts to reduce thermal and compositional transport.« less

The Effect of Rotation on Oscillatory Double-diffusive Convection (Semiconvection)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moll, Ryan; Garaud, Pascale

2017-01-01

Oscillatory double-diffusive convection (ODDC, more traditionally called semiconvection) is a form of linear double-diffusive instability that occurs in fluids that are unstably stratified in temperature (Schwarzschild unstable), but stably stratified in chemical composition (Ledoux stable). This scenario is thought to be quite common in the interiors of stars and giant planets, and understanding the transport of heat and chemical species by ODDC is of great importance to stellar and planetary evolution models. Fluids unstable to ODDC have a tendency to form convective thermocompositional layers that significantly enhance the fluxes of temperature and chemical composition compared with microscopic diffusion. Although a number of recent studies have focused on studying properties of both layered and nonlayered ODDC, few have addressed how additional physical processes such as global rotation affect its dynamics. In this work, we study first how rotation affects the linear stability properties of rotating ODDC. Using direct numerical simulations, we then analyze the effect of rotation on properties of layered and nonlayered ODDC, and we study how the angle of the rotation axis with respect to the direction of gravity affects layering. We find that rotating systems can be broadly grouped into two categories based on the strength of rotation. The qualitative behavior in the more weakly rotating group is similar to nonrotating ODDC, but strongly rotating systems become dominated by vortices that are invariant in the direction of the rotation vector and strongly influence transport. We find that whenever layers form, rotation always acts to reduce thermal and compositional transport.

Inertial dissipation method applied to derive turbulent fluxes over the ocean during the Surface of the Ocean, Fluxes and Interactions with the Atmosphere/Atlantic Stratocumulus Transition Experiment (SOFIA/ASTEX) and Structure des Echanges Mer-Atmosphere, Proprietes des Heterogeneites Oceaniques: Recherche Experimentale (SEMAPHORE) experiments with low to moderate wind speeds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dupuis, HéLèNe; Taylor, Peter K.; Weill, Alain; Katsaros, K.

1997-09-01

The transfer coefficients for momentum and heat have been determined for 10 m neutral wind speeds (U10n) between 0 and 12 m/s using data from the Surface of the Ocean, Fluxes and Interactions with the Atmosphere (SOFIA) and Structure des Echanges Mer-Atmosphere, Proprietes des Heterogeneites Oceaniques: Recherche Experimentale (SEMAPHORE) experiments. The inertial dissipation method was applied to wind and pseudo virtual temperature spectra from a sonic anemometer, mounted on a platform (ship) which was moving through the turbulence field. Under unstable conditions the assumptions concerning the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget appeared incorrect. Using a bulk estimate for the stability parameter, Z/L (where Z is the height and L is the Obukhov length), this resulted in anomalously low drag coefficients compared to neutral conditions. Determining Z/L iteratively, a low rate of convergence was achieved. It was concluded that the divergence of the turbulent transport of TKE was not negligible under unstable conditions. By minimizing the dependence of the calculated neutral drag coefficient on stability, this term was estimated at about -0.65Z/L. The resulting turbulent fluxes were then in close agreement with other studies at moderate wind speed. The drag and exchange coefficients for low wind speeds were found to be Cen × 103 = 2.79U10n-1 + 0.66 (U10n < 5.2 m/s), Cen × 103 = Chn × 103 = 1.2 (U10n ≥ 5.2 m/s), and Cdn × 103 = 11.710n-2 + 0.668 (U10n < 5.5 m/s), which imply a rapid increase of the coefficient values as the wind decreased within the smooth flow regime. The frozen turbulence hypothesis and the assumptions of isotropy and an inertial subrange were found to remain valid at these low wind speeds for these shipboard measurements. Incorporation of a free convection parameterization had little effect.

Inhomogeneous helicity effect in the solar angular-momentum transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokoi, Nobumitsu

2017-04-01

Coupled with mean absolute vorticity Ω∗ (rotation and mean relative vorticity), inhomogeneous turbulent helicity is expected to contribute to the generation of global flow structure against the linear and angular momentum mixing due to turbulent or eddy viscosity. This inhomogeneous helicity effect was originally derived in Yokoi & Yoshizawa (1993) [1], and recently has been validated by direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of rotating helical turbulence [2]. Turbulence effect enters the mean-vorticity equation through the turbulent vortexmotive force ⟨u'×ω'⟩ [u': velocity fluctuation, ω'(= ∇× u'): vorticity fluctuation], which is the vorticity counterpart of the electromotive force ⟨u'× b'⟩ (b': magnetic fluctuation) in the mean magnetic-field induction. The mean velocity induction δU is proportional to the vortexmotive force. According to the theoretical result [1,2], it is expressed as δU = -νT∇×Ω∗-ηT(∇2H)Ω∗, where ηT is the transport coefficient, H = ⟨u'ṡω'⟩ the turbulent helicity, and Ω∗ the mean absolute vorticity. The first term corresponds to the enhanced diffusion due to turbulent viscosity νT. The second term expresses the large-scale flow generation due to inhomogeneous helicity. Since helicity is self-generated in rotating stratified turbulence [3], an inhomogeneous helicity distribution is expected to exist in the solar convection zone. A rising flow with expansion near the surface of the Sun generates a strongly negative helicity there [4]. This spatial distribution of helicity would lead to a positive Laplacian of turbulent helicity (∇2H > 0) in the subsurface layer of the Sun. In the combination with the large-scale vorticity associated with the meridional circulation, the inhomogeneous helicity effect works for accelerating the mean velocity in the azimuthal direction. The relevance of this inhomogeneous helicity effect in the solar convection zone is discussed further. References [1] Yokoi, N. and Yoshizawa, A., "Statistical analysis of the effects of helicity in inhomogeneous turbulence," Phys. Fluids A, 5, 464-477 (1993). [2] Yokoi, N. and Brandenburg, A., "Large-scale flow generation by inhomogeneous helicity," Phys. Rev. E, 93, 033125-1-14 (2016). [3] Marino, R., Mininni, P., Rosenberg, D., and Pouquet, A., "Emergence of helicity in rotating stratified turbulence," Phys. Rev. E, 87, 033016-1-9 (2013). [4] Duarte, L. D. V., Wicht, J., Browning, M. K., and Gastine, T., "Helicity inversion in spherical convection as a means for equatorward dynamo wave propagation," Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 456, 1708-1722 (2016).

Particle dispersion in a stably stratified channel flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasquero, C.; Armenio, V.

2003-04-01

The motion of particles in a stably stratified channel flow is relevant in geophysic and environmental applications. In the present research this problem has been studied numerically using a mixed Lagrangian-Eulerian technique (Lagrangian motion of an ensemble of particles in an Eulerian field) by means of large eddy simulation. A stratified channel flows can be decomposed into a buoyancy affected region, with a strong turbulent activity, close to the walls, and into a buoyancy dominated region, where turbulence is strongly inhibited, in the center of the channel. For strong stratifications, counter gradient heat fluxes steepen the density gradient moving hot fluid up and cold fluid down. The stratification in the central region of the channel becomes extremely stable. However, the vertical turbulent energy, defined as the difference between the total vertical kinetic energy and its temporal average, is very strong. Particle statistics have shown that this can be related to the presence of high frequency internal waves, that do not contribute to dispersion because of their highly coherent behavior. Vertical stratification is shown to reduce or increase the decorrelation time for vertical motion, depending on the Richardson number. When stratification is increased there are two competing effects: Structures have a smaller vertical scale (acting to reduce the decorrelation time) and vertical velocities are smaller (acting to increase the decorrelation time, since particles stay for a longer time into a given structure in the flow). It has been shown that for low stratification the first mechanism dominates, while for large stratification the second effect is more important. The research is in progress and results for both fluid and inertial particles will be presented at the conference.

Evaluation of parameterization for turbulent fluxes of momentum and heat in stably stratified surface layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sodemann, H.; Foken, Th.

2003-04-01

General Circulation Models calculate the energy exchange between surface and atmosphere by means of parameterisations for turbulent fluxes of momentum and heat in the surface layer. However, currently implemented parameterisations after Louis (1979) create large discrepancies between predictions and observational data, especially in stably stratified surface layers. This work evaluates a new surface layer parameterisation proposed by Zilitinkevich et al. (2002), which was specifically developed to improve energy flux predictions in stable stratification. The evaluation comprises a detailed study of important surface layer characteristics, a sensitivity study of the parameterisation, and a direct comparison to observational data from Antarctica and predictions by the Louis (1979) parameterisation. The stability structure of the stable surface layer was found to be very complex, and strongly influenced fluxes in the surface layer. The sensitivity study revealed that the new parameterisation depends strongly on the ratio between roughness length and roughness temperature, which were both observed to be very variable parameters. The comparison between predictions and measurements showed good agreement for momentum fluxes, but large discrepancies for heat fluxes. A stability dependent evaluation of selected data showed better agreement for the new parameterisation of Zilitinkevich et al. (2002) than for the Louis (1979) scheme. Nevertheless, this comparison underlines the need for more detailed and physically sound concepts for parameterisations of heat fluxes in stably stratified surface layers. Zilitinkevich, S. S., V. Perov and J. C. King (2002). "Near-surface turbulent fluxes in stable stratification: Calculation techniques for use in General Circulation Models." Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 128(583): 1571--1587. Louis, J. F. (1979). "A Parametric Model of Vertical Eddy Fluxes in the Atmosphere." Bound.-Layer Meteor. 17(2): 187--202.

Linear signatures in nonlinear gyrokinetics: interpreting turbulence with pseudospectra

DOE PAGES

Hatch, D. R.; Jenko, F.; Navarro, A. Banon; ...

2016-07-26

A notable feature of plasma turbulence is its propensity to retain features of the underlying linear eigenmodes in a strongly turbulent state—a property that can be exploited to predict various aspects of the turbulence using only linear information. In this context, this work examines gradient-driven gyrokinetic plasma turbulence through three lenses—linear eigenvalue spectra, pseudospectra, and singular value decomposition (SVD). We study a reduced gyrokinetic model whose linear eigenvalue spectra include ion temperature gradient driven modes, stable drift waves, and kinetic modes representing Landau damping. The goal is to characterize in which ways, if any, these familiar ingredients are manifest inmore » the nonlinear turbulent state. This pursuit is aided by the use of pseudospectra, which provide a more nuanced view of the linear operator by characterizing its response to perturbations. We introduce a new technique whereby the nonlinearly evolved phase space structures extracted with SVD are linked to the linear operator using concepts motivated by pseudospectra. Using this technique, we identify nonlinear structures that have connections to not only the most unstable eigenmode but also subdominant modes that are nonlinearly excited. The general picture that emerges is a system in which signatures of the linear physics persist in the turbulence, albeit in ways that cannot be fully explained by the linear eigenvalue approach; a non-modal treatment is necessary to understand key features of the turbulence.« less

Enhancement of 3D guide field magnetic reconnection by self-generated kinetic turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alejandro Munoz Sepulveda, Patricio; Buechner, Joerg

2017-04-01

Kinetic plasma turbulence is ubiquitous in magnetic reconnection in laboratory, space and astrophysical plasmas. Most of previous investigations focused on the role of low-frequency/Alfvénic turbulence in homogeneous plasmas. High-frequency/electron-scale turbulence in the reconnecting current sheets, however, have been rarely addressed. Our aim is to investigate the role of this self-generated turbulence via kinetic instabilities in 3D magnetic reconnection. For this sake, we carried out 3D fully-kinetic Particle-in-Cell (PiC) code numerical simulations of force free current sheets with a guide magnetic field, a common situation in the plasmas of interest. We show that the dynamically evolving kinetic turbulence spectra is broadband, with a power-law spectrum between the lower hybrid and up to the electron frequencies with a spectral index near 2.7 at the reconnection site. This result is directly in the frequency-domain, without change of frame of reference assuming Taylor's hypothesis. The evolution of the turbulence correlates with the growth and rate of magnetic reconnection and can be explained by unstable waves caused by (kinetic) streaming instabilities driven by electron current. This provides a plausible explanation for the enhancement of magnetic reconnection due to turbulence observed in laboratory experiments like MRX, VTF and VINETA-II, as well as of in-situ measurements in the Earth's magnetosphere by the MMS spacecraft.

Magnetic Flux Concentrations in Stratified Turbulent Plasma Due to Negative Effective Magnetic Pressure Instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabbari, S.; Brandenburg, A.

2014-12-01

Recent studies have suggested a new mechanism that can be used to explain the formation of magnetic spots or bipolar regions in highly stratified turbulent plasmas. According to this model, a large-scale magnetic field suppresses the turbulent pressure, which leads to a negative contribution of turbulence to the effective magnetic pressure. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) have confirmed that the negative contribution is large enough so that the effective magnetic pressure becomes negative and leads to a large-scale instability, which we refer to as negative effective magnetic pressure Instability (NEMPI). NEMPI was used to explain the formation of active regions and sunspots on the solar surface. One step toward improving this model was to combine dynamo in- stability with NEMPI. The dynamo is known to be responsible for the solar large-scale magnetic field and to play a role in solar activity. In this context, we studied stratified turbulent plasmas in spherical geometry, where the background field was generated by alpha squared dynamo. For NEMPI to be excited, the initial magnetic field should be in a proper range, so we used quenching function for alpha. Using the Pencil Code and mean field simulations (MFS), we showed that in the presence of dynamo-generated magnetic fields, we deal with a coupled system, where both instabilities, dynamo and NEMPI, work together and lead to the formation of magnetic structures (Jabbari et al. 2013). We also studied a similar system in plane geometry in the presence of rotation and confirmed that for slow rotation NEMPI works, but as the Coriolis number increases, the rotation suppresses NEMPI. By increasing the Coriolis number even further, the combination of fast rotation and high stratification excites a dynamo, which leads again to a coupled system of dynamo and NEMPI (Jabbari et al. 2014). Another important finding concerning NEMPI is the case where the instability is excited by a vertical magnetic field (Brandenburg et al. 2013). When the field is vertical, the resulting magnetic flux concentrations lead to the magnetic spots and can be of equipartition field strength. DNS, MFS, and implicit large eddy simulations (ILES) confirm that in a proper parameter regime, vertical imposed fields lead to the formation of circular magnetic spots (Brandenburg et al. 2014).

Vortex instability in turbulent free-space propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavery, Martin P. J.

2018-04-01

The spatial structuring of optical fields is integral within many next generation optical metrology and communication techniques. A verifiable physical model of the propagation of these optical fields in a turbulent environment is important for developing effective mitigation techniques for the modal degradation that occurs in a free-space link. We present a method to simulate this modal degradation that agrees with recently reported experimental findings. A 1.5 km free-space link is emulated by decomposing the optical turbulence that accumulates over a long distance link, into many, weakly perturbing steps of 10 m. This simulation shows that the high-order vortex at the centre of the helical phase profiles in modes that carry orbital angular momentum of | {\\ell }| ≥slant 2{\\hslash } are unstable and fracture into many vortices when they propagate over the link. This splitting presents issues for the application of turbulence mitigation techniques. The usefulness of pre-correction, post-correction, and complex field conjugation techniques are discussed.

Completing the mechanical energy pathways in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection.

PubMed

Gayen, Bishakhdatta; Hughes, Graham O; Griffiths, Ross W

2013-09-20

A new, more complete view of the mechanical energy budget for Rayleigh-Bénard convection is developed and examined using three-dimensional numerical simulations at large Rayleigh numbers and Prandtl number of 1. The driving role of available potential energy is highlighted. The relative magnitudes of different energy conversions or pathways change significantly over the range of Rayleigh numbers Ra ~ 10(7)-10(13). At Ra < 10(7) small-scale turbulent motions are energized directly from available potential energy via turbulent buoyancy flux and kinetic energy is dissipated at comparable rates by both the large- and small-scale motions. In contrast, at Ra ≥ 10(10) most of the available potential energy goes into kinetic energy of the large-scale flow, which undergoes shear instabilities that sustain small-scale turbulence. The irreversible mixing is largely confined to the unstable boundary layer, its rate exactly equal to the generation of available potential energy by the boundary fluxes, and mixing efficiency is 50%.

Inverse cascades and resonant triads in rotating and stratified turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oks, D.; Mininni, P. D.; Marino, R.; Pouquet, A.

2017-11-01

Kraichnan's seminal ideas on inverse cascades yielded new tools to study common phenomena in geophysical turbulent flows. In the atmosphere and the oceans, rotation and stratification result in a flow that can be approximated as two-dimensional at very large scales but which requires considering three-dimensional effects to fully describe turbulent transport processes and non-linear phenomena. Motions can thus be classified into two classes: fast modes consisting of inertia-gravity waves and slow quasi-geostrophic modes for which the Coriolis force and horizontal pressure gradients are close to balance. In this paper, we review previous results on the strength of the inverse cascade in rotating and stratified flows and then present new results on the effect of varying the strength of rotation and stratification (measured by the inverse Prandtl ratio N/f, of the Coriolis frequency to the Brunt-Väisäla frequency) on the amplitude of the waves and on the flow quasi-geostrophic behavior. We show that the inverse cascade is more efficient in the range of N/f for which resonant triads do not exist, 1 /2 ≤N /f ≤2 . We then use the spatio-temporal spectrum to show that in this range slow modes dominate the dynamics, while the strength of the waves (and their relevance in the flow dynamics) is weaker.

Noise, anti-noise and fluid flow control.

PubMed

Williams, J E Ffowcs

2002-05-15

This paper celebrates Thomas Young's discovery that wave interference was responsible for much that is known about light and colour. A substantial programme of work has been aimed at controlling the noise of aerodynamic flows. Much of that field can be explained in terms of interference and it is argued in this paper that the theoretical techniques for analysing noise can also be seen to rest on interference effects. Interference can change the character of wave fields to produce, out of well-ordered fields, wave systems quite different from the interfering wave elements. Lighthill's acoustic analogy is described as an example of this effect, an example in which the exact model of turbulence-generated noise is seen to consist of elementary interfering sound waves; waves that are sometimes heard in advance of their sources. The paper goes on to describe an emerging field of technology where sound is suppressed by superimposing on it a destructively interfering secondary sound; one designed and manufactured specifically for interference. That sound is known as anti-sound, or anti-noise when the sound is chaotic enough. Examples are then referred to where the noisy effect to be controlled is actually a disturbance of a linearly unstable system; a disturbance that is destroyed by destructive interference with a deliberately constructed antidote. The practical benefits of this kind of instability control are much greater and can even change the whole character of flows. It is argued that completely unnatural unstable conditions can be held with active controllers generating destructively interfering elements. Examples are given in which gravitational instability of stratified fluids can be prevented. The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability of shear flows can also be avoided by simple controls. Those are speculative examples of what might be possible in future developments of an interference effect, which has made anti-noise a useful technology.

MHD Instability and Turbulence in the Tachocline

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Werne, Joe; Wagner, William J. (Technical Monitor)

2003-01-01

The focus of this project was to study the physical processes that govern tachocline dynamics and structure. Specific features explored included stratification, shear, waves, and toroidal and poloidal background fields. In order to address recent theoretical work on anisotropic mixing and dynamics in the tachocline, we were particularly interested in such anisotropic mixing for the specific tachocline processes studied. Transition to turbulence often shapes the largest-scale features that appear spontaneously in a flow during the development of turbulence. The resulting large-scale straining field can control the subsequent dynamics; therefore, anticipation of the large-scale straining field that results for individual realizations of the transition to turbulence can be important for subsequent dynamics, flow morphology, and transport characteristics. As a result, we paid particular attention to the development of turbulence in the stratified and sheared environment of the tachocline. This is complicated by the fact that the linearly stability of sheared MHD flows is non-self-adjoint, implying that normal asymptotic linear stability theory may not be relevant.

A Simple Parameterization of Mixing of Passive Scalars in Turbulent Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Examples of the Influence of Turbine Wakes on Downwind Power Output, Surface Wind Speed, Turbulence and Flow Convergence in Large Wind Farms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takle, E. S.; Rajewski, D. A.; Lundquist, J. K.; Doorenbos, R. K.

2014-12-01

We have analyzed turbine power and concurrent wind speed, direction and turbulence data from surface 10-m flux towers in a large wind farm for experiments during four summer periods as part of the Crop Wind Energy Experiment (CWEX). We use these data to analyze surface differences for a near-wake (within 2.5 D of the turbine line), far wake (17 D downwind of the turbine line), and double wake (impacted by two lines of turbines about 34 D downwind of the first turbine line) locations. Composites are categorized by10 degree directional intervals and three ambient stability categories as defined by Rajewski et al. (2013): neutral (|z/L|<0.05), stable (z/L>0.05) and unstable (z/L<-0.05), where z is the height of the measurement and L is the Monin-Obhukov length. The dominant influence of the turbines is under stably stratified conditions (i. e., mostly at night). A 25% to 40% increase in mean wind speed occurs when turbine wakes are moving over the downwind station at a distance of 2.8 D and 5.4 D (D = fan diameter). For the double wake condition (flux station leeward of two lines of turbines) we find a daytime (unstable conditions) speed reduction of 20% for southerly wind, but for nighttime (stable conditions) the surface speeds are enhancedby 40-60% for SSW-SW winds. The speedup is reduced as wind directions shift to the west. We interpret these speed variations as due to the rotation of the wake and interaction (or not) with higher speed air above the rotor layer in highly sheared nocturnal low-level jet conditions. From a cluster of flux stations and three profiling lidars deployed within and around a cluster of turbines in 2013 (CWEX-13) we found evidence of mesoscale influences. In particular, surface convergence (wind direction deflection of 10-20 degrees) was observed during periods of low nighttime winds (hub-height winds of 4-6 m/s) with power reduction of 50-75%. This is consistent with a similar range of deflection observed from a line of turbines in CWEX-11, In the mid to late afternoon hours when hub-height wind speeds are between 5-10 m/s convergence periods have been observed, with power enhancements of 20-40% at several locations around the farm.

Effect of Swirl on Turbulent Structures in Supersonic Jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rao, Ram Mohan; Lundgren, Thomas S.

1998-01-01

Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) is used to study the mechanism of generation and evolution of turbulence structures in a temporally evolving supersonic swirling round jet and also to examine the resulting acoustic radiations. Fourier spectral expansions are used in the streamwise and azimuthal directions and a 1-D b-spline Galerkin representation is used in the radial direction. Spectral-like accuracy is achieved using this numerical scheme. Direct numerical simulations, using the b-spline spectral method, are carried out starting from mean flow initial conditions which are perturbed by the most unstable linear stability eigenfunctions. It is observed that the initial helical instability waves evolve into helical vortices which eventually breakdown into smaller scales of turbulence. 'Rib' structures similar to those seen in incompressible mixing layer flow of Rogers and Moserl are observed. The jet core breakdown stage exhibits increased acoustic radiations.

Zonostrophic instability driven by discrete particle noise

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

St-Onge, D. A.; Krommes, J. A.

The consequences of discrete particle noise for a system possessing a possibly unstable collective mode are discussed. It is argued that a zonostrophic instability (of homogeneous turbulence to the formation of zonal flows) occurs just below the threshold for linear instability. The scenario provides a new interpretation of the random forcing that is ubiquitously invoked in stochastic models such as the second-order cumulant expansion or stochastic structural instability theory; neither intrinsic turbulence nor coupling to extrinsic turbulence is required. A representative calculation of the zonostrophic neutral curve is made for a simple two-field model of toroidal ion-temperature-gradient-driven modes. To themore » extent that the damping of zonal flows is controlled by the ion-ion collision rate, the point of zonostrophic instability is independent of that rate. Published by AIP Publishing.« less

Zonostrophic instability driven by discrete particle noise

DOE PAGES

St-Onge, D. A.; Krommes, J. A.

2017-04-01

The consequences of discrete particle noise for a system possessing a possibly unstable collective mode are discussed. It is argued that a zonostrophic instability (of homogeneous turbulence to the formation of zonal flows) occurs just below the threshold for linear instability. The scenario provides a new interpretation of the random forcing that is ubiquitously invoked in stochastic models such as the second-order cumulant expansion or stochastic structural instability theory; neither intrinsic turbulence nor coupling to extrinsic turbulence is required. A representative calculation of the zonostrophic neutral curve is made for a simple two-field model of toroidal ion-temperature-gradient-driven modes. To themore » extent that the damping of zonal flows is controlled by the ion-ion collision rate, the point of zonostrophic instability is independent of that rate. Published by AIP Publishing.« less

Gravity or turbulence? - III. Evidence of pure thermal Jeans fragmentation at ˜0.1 pc scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palau, Aina; Ballesteros-Paredes, Javier; Vázquez-Semadeni, Enrique; Sánchez-Monge, Álvaro; Estalella, Robert; Fall, S. Michael; Zapata, Luis A.; Camacho, Vianey; Gómez, Laura; Naranjo-Romero, Raúl; Busquet, Gemma; Fontani, Francesco

2015-11-01

We combine previously published interferometric and single-dish data of relatively nearby massive dense cores that are actively forming stars to test whether their `fragmentation level' is controlled by turbulent or thermal support. We find no clear correlation between the fragmentation level and velocity dispersion, nor between the observed number of fragments and the number of fragments expected when the gravitationally unstable mass is calculated including various prescriptions for `turbulent support'. On the other hand, the best correlation is found for the case of pure thermal Jeans fragmentation, for which we infer a core formation efficiency around 13 per cent, consistent with previous works. We conclude that the dominant factor determining the fragmentation level of star-forming massive dense cores at 0.1 pc scale seems to be thermal Jeans fragmentation.

Numerical study of dynamo action at low magnetic Prandtl numbers.

PubMed

Ponty, Y; Mininni, P D; Montgomery, D C; Pinton, J-F; Politano, H; Pouquet, A

2005-04-29

We present a three-pronged numerical approach to the dynamo problem at low magnetic Prandtl numbers P(M). The difficulty of resolving a large range of scales is circumvented by combining direct numerical simulations, a Lagrangian-averaged model and large-eddy simulations. The flow is generated by the Taylor-Green forcing; it combines a well defined structure at large scales and turbulent fluctuations at small scales. Our main findings are (i) dynamos are observed from P(M)=1 down to P(M)=10(-2), (ii) the critical magnetic Reynolds number increases sharply with P(M)(-1) as turbulence sets in and then it saturates, and (iii) in the linear growth phase, unstable magnetic modes move to smaller scales as P(M) is decreased. Then the dynamo grows at large scales and modifies the turbulent velocity fluctuations.

Chaos in driven Alfvén systems: unstable periodic orbits and chaotic saddles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chian, A. C.-L.; Santana, W. M.; Rempel, E. L.; Borotto, F. A.; Hada, T.; Kamide, Y.

2007-01-01

The chaotic dynamics of Alfvén waves in space plasmas governed by the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation, in the low-dimensional limit described by stationary spatial solutions, is studied. A bifurcation diagram is constructed, by varying the driver amplitude, to identify a number of nonlinear dynamical processes including saddle-node bifurcation, boundary crisis, and interior crisis. The roles played by unstable periodic orbits and chaotic saddles in these transitions are analyzed, and the conversion from a chaotic saddle to a chaotic attractor in these dynamical processes is demonstrated. In particular, the phenomenon of gap-filling in the chaotic transition from weak chaos to strong chaos via an interior crisis is investigated. A coupling unstable periodic orbit created by an explosion, within the gaps of the chaotic saddles embedded in a chaotic attractor following an interior crisis, is found numerically. The gap-filling unstable periodic orbits are responsible for coupling the banded chaotic saddle (BCS) to the surrounding chaotic saddle (SCS), leading to crisis-induced intermittency. The physical relevance of chaos for Alfvén intermittent turbulence observed in the solar wind is discussed.

Numerical study of the ignition behavior of a post-discharge kernel injected into a turbulent stratified cross-flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaravel, Thomas; Labahn, Jeffrey; Ihme, Matthias

2017-11-01

The reliable initiation of flame ignition by high-energy spark kernels is critical for the operability of aviation gas turbines. The evolution of a spark kernel ejected by an igniter into a turbulent stratified environment is investigated using detailed numerical simulations with complex chemistry. At early times post ejection, comparisons of simulation results with high-speed Schlieren data show that the initial trajectory of the kernel is well reproduced, with a significant amount of air entrainment from the surrounding flow that is induced by the kernel ejection. After transiting in a non-flammable mixture, the kernel reaches a second stream of flammable methane-air mixture, where the successful of the kernel ignition was found to depend on the local flow state and operating conditions. By performing parametric studies, the probability of kernel ignition was identified, and compared with experimental observations. The ignition behavior is characterized by analyzing the local chemical structure, and its stochastic variability is also investigated.

Electromotive force due to magnetohydrodynamic fluctuations in sheared rotating turbulence

DOE PAGES

Squire, J.; Bhattacharjee, A.

2015-11-02

Here, this article presents a calculation of the mean electromotive force arising from general small-scale magnetohydrodynamical turbulence, within the framework of the second-order correlation approximation. With the goal of improving understanding of the accretion disk dynamo, effects arising through small-scale magnetic fluctuations, velocity gradients, density and turbulence stratification, and rotation, are included. The primary result, which supplements numerical findings, is that an off-diagonal turbulent resistivity due to magnetic fluctuations can produce large-scale dynamo action-the magnetic analog of the "shear-current" effect. In addition, consideration of alpha effects in the stratified regions of disks gives the puzzling result that there is nomore » strong prediction for a sign of alpha, since the effects due to kinetic and magnetic fluctuations, as well as those due to shear and rotation, are each of opposing signs and tend to cancel each other.« less

Some observations of a sheared Rayleigh-Taylor/Benard instability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Humphrey, J. A. C.; Marcus, D. L.

1987-01-01

An account is provided of preliminary flow visualization observations made in an unstably stratified flow with shear superimposed. The structures observed appear to be the superposition of a Rayleigh-Taylor/Benard instability and a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Aside from its intrinsic fundamental value, the study of these structures is of special interest to theoreticians developing nonlinear stability calculation methodologies.

Stability of miscible displacements across stratified porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shariati, Maryam; Yortsos, Yanis C.

2001-08-01

We consider the stability of miscible displacements across stratified porous media, where the heterogeneity is along the direction of displacement. Asymptotic results for long and short wavelengths are derived. It is found that heterogeneity has a long-wave effect on the instability, which, in the absence of gravity, becomes nontrivial when the viscosity profiles are nonmonotonic. In the latter case, profiles with end-point viscosities, predicted to be stable using the Saffman-Taylor criterion, can become unstable, if the permeability contrast in the direction of displacement is sufficiently large. Conversely, profiles with end-point viscosities predicted to be unstable, can become stable, if the permeability decrease in the direction of displacement is sufficiently large. Analogous results are found in the presence of gravity, but without the nonmonotonic restriction on the viscosity profile. The increase or decrease in the propensity for instability as the permeability increases or decreases, respectively, reflects the variation of the two different components of the effective fluid mobility. While permeability remains frozen in space, viscosity varies following the concentration field. Thus, the condition for instability does not solely depend on the overall fluid mobility, as in the case of displacements in homogeneous media, but it is additionally dependent on the permeability variation.

Excitation of nonaxisymmetric perturbations by the axisymmetric explosive magnetorotational instability in Keplerian discs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shtemler, Yu.; Mond, M.; Liverts, E.

2018-02-01

The excitation of nonaxisymmetric quasi-resonant triads by clustering around a dominant axisymmetric explosively unstable magnetorotational instability (MRI) in Keplerian discs is investigated. Clustering, namely, the mutual interactions of a large number of quasi-resonant triads that are connected by a single dominant explosively unstable axisymmetric triad, is invoked in order to provide a viable mechanism for the stabilization of the explosive nature of the latter. The results, however, are of wider scope as the proposed clustering scenario also provides a strong mechanism for the excitation of high-amplitude nonaxisymmetric perturbations. The latter play a major role in the nonlinear evolution of the MRI on the route to fully developed turbulence.

Intermittency and emergence of coherent structures in wave turbulence of a vibrating plate.

PubMed

Mordant, Nicolas; Miquel, Benjamin

2017-10-01

We report numerical investigations of wave turbulence in a vibrating plate. The possibility to implement advanced measurement techniques and long-time numerical simulations makes this system extremely valuable for wave turbulence studies. The purely 2D character of dynamics of the elastic plate makes it much simpler to handle compared to much more complex 3D physical systems that are typical of geo- and astrophysical issues (ocean surface or internal waves, magnetized plasmas or strongly rotating and/or stratified flows). When the forcing is small the observed wave turbulence is consistent with the predictions of the weak turbulent theory. Here we focus on the case of stronger forcing for which coherent structures can be observed. These structures look similar to the folds and D-cones that are commonly observed for strongly deformed static thin elastic sheets (crumpled paper) except that they evolve dynamically in our forced system. We describe their evolution and show that their emergence is associated with statistical intermittency (lack of self similarity) of strongly nonlinear wave turbulence. This behavior is reminiscent of intermittency in Navier-Stokes turbulence. Experimental data show hints of the weak to strong turbulence transition. However, due to technical limitations and dissipation, the strong nonlinear regime remains out of reach of experiments and therefore has been explored numerically.

Intermittency and emergence of coherent structures in wave turbulence of a vibrating plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mordant, Nicolas; Miquel, Benjamin

2017-10-01

We report numerical investigations of wave turbulence in a vibrating plate. The possibility to implement advanced measurement techniques and long-time numerical simulations makes this system extremely valuable for wave turbulence studies. The purely 2D character of dynamics of the elastic plate makes it much simpler to handle compared to much more complex 3D physical systems that are typical of geo- and astrophysical issues (ocean surface or internal waves, magnetized plasmas or strongly rotating and/or stratified flows). When the forcing is small the observed wave turbulence is consistent with the predictions of the weak turbulent theory. Here we focus on the case of stronger forcing for which coherent structures can be observed. These structures look similar to the folds and D-cones that are commonly observed for strongly deformed static thin elastic sheets (crumpled paper) except that they evolve dynamically in our forced system. We describe their evolution and show that their emergence is associated with statistical intermittency (lack of self similarity) of strongly nonlinear wave turbulence. This behavior is reminiscent of intermittency in Navier-Stokes turbulence. Experimental data show hints of the weak to strong turbulence transition. However, due to technical limitations and dissipation, the strong nonlinear regime remains out of reach of experiments and therefore has been explored numerically.

Effects of slope on the formation of dunes in dilute, turbulent pyroclastic currents: May 18th, 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bendana, Sylvana; Brand, Brittany D.; Self, Stephen

2014-05-01

The flanks of Mt St Helens volcano (MSH) are draped with thin, cross-stratified and stratified pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits. These are known as the proximal bedded deposits produced during the May 18th, 1980 eruption of MSH. While the concentrated portions of the afternoon PDCs followed deep topographic drainages down the steep flanks of the volcano, the dilute overriding cloud partially decoupled to develop fully dilute, turbulent PDCs on the flanks of the volcano (Beeson, D.L. 1988. Proximal Flank Facies of the May 18, 1980 Ignimbrite: Mt. St. Helens, Washington.). The deposits along the flank thus vary greatly from those found in the pumice plain, which are generally thick, massive, poorly-sorted, block-rich deposits associated with the more concentrated portions of the flow (Brand et al, accepted. Dynamics of pyroclastic density currents: Conditions that promote substrate erosion and self-channelization - Mount St Helens, Washington (USA). JVGR). We explore the influence of topography on the formation of these dilute currents and influence of slope on the currents transport and depositional mechanisms. The deposits on steeper slopes (>15°) are fines depleted relative to the proximal bedded deposits on shallower slopes (<15°). Bedform amplitude and wavelength increase with increasing slope, as does the occurrence of regressive dunes. Increasing slope causes an increase in flow velocity and thus an increase in flow turbulence. The fines depleted deposits suggest that fine ash elutriation is more efficient in flows with stronger turbulence. The longer wavelength and amplitudes suggest that bedform morphology is directly related to flow velocity, an important finding since the controls on bedform wavelength and amplitude in density stratified flows remains poorly constrained. The occurrence of regressive dunes, often interpreted as high flow-regime bedforms, on steeper slopes relative to progressive dunes on shallower slopes further attests to the control of velocity and flow regime on bedform morphology. Samples collected from recently exposed deposits and analyzed by grain size measurements, density analyses, and crystal morphoscopy studies further assess modes of origin and transport of dilute PDCs.

Global multifluid simulations of the magnetorotational instability in radially stratified protoplanetary discs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodgers-Lee, D.; Ray, T. P.; Downes, T. P.

2016-11-01

The redistribution of angular momentum is a long standing problem in our understanding of protoplanetary disc (PPD) evolution. The magnetorotational instability (MRI) is considered a likely mechanism. We present the results of a study involving multifluid global simulations including Ohmic dissipation, ambipolar diffusion and the Hall effect in a dynamic, self-consistent way. We focus on the turbulence resulting from the non-linear development of the MRI in radially stratified PPDs and compare with ideal magnetohydrodynamics simulations. In the multifluid simulations, the disc is initially set up to transition from a weak Hall-dominated regime, where the Hall effect is the dominant non-ideal effect but approximately the same as or weaker than the inductive term, to a strong Hall-dominated regime, where the Hall effect dominates the inductive term. As the simulations progress, a substantial portion of the disc develops into a weak Hall-dominated disc. We find a transition from turbulent to laminar flow in the inner regions of the disc, but without any corresponding overall density feature. We introduce a dimensionless parameter, αRM, to characterize accretion with αRM ≳ 0.1 corresponding to turbulent transport. We calculate the eddy turnover time, teddy, and compared this with an effective recombination time-scale, trcb, to determine whether the presence of turbulence necessitates non-equilibrium ionization calculations. We find that trcb is typically around three orders of magnitude smaller than teddy. Also, the ionization fraction does not vary appreciably. These two results suggest that these multifluid simulations should be comparable to single-fluid non-ideal simulations.

Free-stream turbulence and concave curvature effects on heated, transitional boundary layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, J.; Simon, T. W.

1991-01-01

An experimental investigation of the transition process on flat-plate and concave curved-wall boundary layers for various free-stream turbulence levels was performed. Results show that for transition of a flat-plate, the two forms of boundary layer behavior, identified as laminar-like and turbulent-like, cannot be thought of as separate Blasius and fully-turbulent profiles, respectively. Thus, simple transition models in which the desired quantity is assumed to be an average, weighted on intermittency, of the theoretical laminar and fully turbulent values is not expected to be successful. Deviation of the flow identified as laminar-like from theoretical laminar behavior is shown to be due to recovery after the passage of a turbulent spot, while deviation of the flow identified as turbulent-like from the full-turbulent values is thought to be due to incomplete establishment of the fully-turbulent power spectral distribution. Turbulent Prandtl numbers for the transitional flow, computed from measured shear stress, turbulent heat flux and mean velocity and temperature profiles, were less than unity. For the curved-wall case with low free-stream turbulence intensity, the existence of Gortler vortices on the concave wall within both laminar and turbulent flows was established using liquid crystal visualization and spanwise velocity and temperature traverses. Transition was found to occur via a vortex breakdown mode. The vortex wavelength was quite irregular in both the laminar and turbulent flows, but the vortices were stable in time and space. The upwash was found to be more unstable, with higher levels of u' and u'v', and lower skin friction coefficients and shape factors. Turbulent Prandtl numbers, measured using a triple-wire probe, were found to be near unity for all post-transitional profiles, indicating no gross violation of Reynolds analogy. No evidence of streamwise vortices was seen in the high turbulence intensity case.

Dynamical Structure and Turbulence in Cirrus Clouds: Aircraft Observations during FIRE.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gultepe, I.; Starr, D. O'c.

1995-12-01

Aircraft data collected during the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment (FIRE)I are used to examine dynamical processes operating in cirrus cloud systems observed on 19 and 28 October 1986. Measurements from Lagrangian spiral soundings and constant-altitude flight legs are analyzed. Comparisons are made with observations in clear air. Each cirrus case contained a statically stable layer, a conditionally unstable or neutrally stratified layer (ice pseudoadiabatic) in which convection was prevalent, and a neutral layer in which convection was intermittent. The analysis indicates that a mixture of phenomena occurred including small-scale convective cells, gravity waves (2-9 km), quasi-two-dimensional waves (10-20 km), and larger two-dimensional mesoscale waves (100 km). The intermediate-scale waves, observed both in clear air and in the cloud systems, likely played an important role in the development of the cloud systems given the magnitude of the associated vertical air velocity. The spectra of perturbations of wind components for layers where convection was prevalent were characterized by a 5/3 power law dependence, while a 2/4 dependence was found at other levels in the cloud systems. A steeper spectral slope (3) was found in the more stable cloud-base layer on 19 October. Samples in clear air also showed a (2.4) dependence. Flight-leg-averaged eddy potential heat fluxes (H=±8 W m2) were comparable to observations in marine stratocumulus clouds. Calculated turbulence dissipation rates agree with previously published studies, which indicate a general enhancement within cloud systems (106 to 103 m2 s3 in cloud versus values less than 0.5×106 m2 s3 in clear air).

Transition to subcritical turbulence in a tokamak plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Wyk, F.; Highcock, E. G.; Schekochihin, A. A.; Roach, C. M.; Field, A. R.; Dorland, W.

2016-12-01

Tokamak turbulence, driven by the ion-temperature gradient and occurring in the presence of flow shear, is investigated by means of local, ion-scale, electrostatic gyrokinetic simulations (with both kinetic ions and electrons) of the conditions in the outer core of the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST). A parameter scan in the local values of the ion-temperature gradient and flow shear is performed. It is demonstrated that the experimentally observed state is near the stability threshold and that this stability threshold is nonlinear: sheared turbulence is subcritical, i.e. the system is formally stable to small perturbations, but, given a large enough initial perturbation, it transitions to a turbulent state. A scenario for such a transition is proposed and supported by numerical results: close to threshold, the nonlinear saturated state and the associated anomalous heat transport are dominated by long-lived coherent structures, which drift across the domain, have finite amplitudes, but are not volume filling; as the system is taken away from the threshold into the more unstable regime, the number of these structures increases until they overlap and a more conventional chaotic state emerges. Whereas this appears to represent a new scenario for transition to turbulence in tokamak plasmas, it is reminiscent of the behaviour of other subcritically turbulent systems, e.g. pipe flows and Keplerian magnetorotational accretion flows.

Explaining the convector effect in canopy turbulence by means of large-eddy simulation

DOE PAGES

Banerjee, Tirtha; De Roo, Frederik; Mauder, Matthias

2017-06-20

Semi-arid forests are found to sustain a massive sensible heat flux in spite of having a low surface to air temperature difference by lowering the aerodynamic resistance to heat transfer ( r H) – a property called the canopy convector effect (CCE). In this work large-eddy simulations are used to demonstrate that the CCE appears more generally in canopy turbulence. It is indeed a generic feature of canopy turbulence: r H of a canopy is found to reduce with increasing unstable stratification, which effectively increases the aerodynamic roughness for the same physical roughness of the canopy. This relation offers a sufficientmore » condition to construct a general description of the CCE. In addition, we review existing parameterizations for r H from the evapotranspiration literature and test to what extent they are able to capture the CCE, thereby exploring the possibility of an improved parameterization.« less

Towards the computation of time-periodic inertial range dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Veen, L.; Vela-Martín, A.; Kawahara, G.

2018-04-01

We explore the possibility of computing simple invariant solutions, like travelling waves or periodic orbits, in Large Eddy Simulation (LES) on a periodic domain with constant external forcing. The absence of material boundaries and the simple forcing mechanism make this system a comparatively simple target for the study of turbulent dynamics through invariant solutions. We show, that in spite of the application of eddy viscosity the computations are still rather challenging and must be performed on GPU cards rather than conventional coupled CPUs. We investigate the onset of turbulence in this system by means of bifurcation analysis, and present a long-period, large-amplitude unstable periodic orbit that is filtered from a turbulent time series. Although this orbit is computed on a coarse grid, with only a small separation between the integral scale and the LES filter length, the periodic dynamics seem to capture a regeneration process of the large-scale vortices.

Driven and decaying turbulence simulations of low–mass star formation: From clumps to cores to protostars

DOE PAGES

Offner, Stella S. R.; Klein, Richard I.; McKee, Christopher F.

2008-10-20

Molecular clouds are observed to be turbulent, but the origin of this turbulence is not well understood. As a result, there are two different approaches to simulating molecular clouds, one in which the turbulence is allowed to decay after it is initialized, and one in which it is driven. We use the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code, Orion, to perform high-resolution simulations of molecular cloud cores and protostars in environments with both driven and decaying turbulence. We include self-gravity, use a barotropic equation of state, and represent regions exceeding the maximum grid resolution with sink particles. We analyze the propertiesmore » of bound cores such as size, shape, line width, and rotational energy, and we find reasonable agreement with observation. At high resolution the different rates of core accretion in the two cases have a significant effect on protostellar system development. Clumps forming in a decaying turbulence environment produce high-multiplicity protostellar systems with Toomre Q unstable disks that exhibit characteristics of the competitive accretion model for star formation. In contrast, cores forming in the context of continuously driven turbulence and virial equilibrium form smaller protostellar systems with fewer low-mass members. Furthermore, our simulations of driven and decaying turbulence show some statistically significant differences, particularly in the production of brown dwarfs and core rotation, but the uncertainties are large enough that we are not able to conclude whether observations favor one or the other.« less

Local energy flux estimates for unstable conditions using variance data in semiarid rangelands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kustas, William P.; Blanford, J.H.; Stannard, D.I.; Daughtry, C.S.T.; Nichols, W.D.; Weltz, M.A.

1994-01-01

A network of meteorological stations was installed during the Monsoon '90 field campaign in the Walnut Gulch experimental watershed. The study area has a fairly complex surface. The vegetation cover is heterogeneous and sparse, and the terrain is mildly hilly, but dissected by ephemeral channels. Besides measurement of some of the standard weather data such as wind speed, air temperature, and solar radiation, these sites also contained instruments for estimating the local surface energy balance. The approach utilized measurements of net radiation (Rn), soil heat flux (G) and Monin-Obukhov similarity theory applied to first- and second-order turbulent statistics of wind speed and temperature for determining the sensible heat flux (H). The latent heat flux (LE) was solved as a residual in the surface energy balance equation, namely, LE = −(Rn + G + H). This procedure (VAR-RESID) for estimating the energy fluxes satisfied monetary constraints and the requirement for low maintenance and continued operation through the harsh environmental conditions experienced in semiarid regions. Comparison of energy fluxes using this approach with more traditional eddy correlation techniques showed differences were within 20% under unstable conditions. Similar variability in flux estimates over the study area was present in the eddy correlation data. Hence, estimates of H and LE using the VAR-RESID approach under unstable conditions were considered satisfactory. Also, with second-order statistics of vertical velocity collected at several sites, the local momentum roughness length was estimated. This is an important parameter used in modeling the turbulent transfer of momentum and sensible heat fluxes across the surface-atmosphere interface.

Finite element solution to passive scalar transport behind line sources under neutral and unstable stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chun-Ho; Leung, Dennis Y. C.

2006-02-01

This study employed a direct numerical simulation (DNS) technique to contrast the plume behaviours and mixing of passive scalar emitted from line sources (aligned with the spanwise direction) in neutrally and unstably stratified open-channel flows. The DNS model was developed using the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) employing trilinear brick elements with equal-order interpolating polynomials that solved the momentum and continuity equations, together with conservation of energy and mass equations in incompressible flow. The second-order accurate fractional-step method was used to handle the implicit velocity-pressure coupling in incompressible flow. It also segregated the solution to the advection and diffusion terms, which were then integrated in time, respectively, by the explicit third-order accurate Runge-Kutta method and the implicit second-order accurate Crank-Nicolson method. The buoyancy term under unstable stratification was integrated in time explicitly by the first-order accurate Euler method. The DNS FEM model calculated the scalar-plume development and the mean plume path. In particular, it calculated the plume meandering in the wall-normal direction under unstable stratification that agreed well with the laboratory and field measurements, as well as previous modelling results available in literature.

Transition of planar Couette flow at infinite Reynolds numbers.

PubMed

Itano, Tomoaki; Akinaga, Takeshi; Generalis, Sotos C; Sugihara-Seki, Masako

2013-11-01

An outline of the state space of planar Couette flow at high Reynolds numbers (Re<10^{5}) is investigated via a variety of efficient numerical techniques. It is verified from nonlinear analysis that the lower branch of the hairpin vortex state (HVS) asymptotically approaches the primary (laminar) state with increasing Re. It is also predicted that the lower branch of the HVS at high Re belongs to the stability boundary that initiates a transition to turbulence, and that one of the unstable manifolds of the lower branch of HVS lies on the boundary. These facts suggest HVS may provide a criterion to estimate a minimum perturbation arising transition to turbulent states at the infinite Re limit.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andronov, V.A.; Zhidov, I.G.; Meskov, E.E.

This report describes an extensive program of investigations conducted at Arzamas-16 in Russia over the past several decades. The focus of the work is on material interface instability and the mixing of two materials. Part 1 of the report discusses analytical and computational studies of hydrodynamic instabilities and turbulent mixing. The EGAK codes are described and results are illustrated for several types of unstable flow. Semiempirical turbulence transport equations are derived for the mixing of two materials, and their capabilities are illustrated for several examples. Part 2 discusses the experimental studies that have been performed to investigate instabilities and turbulentmore » mixing. Shock-tube and jelly techniques are described in considerable detail. Results are presented for many circumstances and configurations.« less

A systematic comparison of two-equation Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence models applied to shock-cloud interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodson, Matthew D.; Heitsch, Fabian; Eklund, Karl; Williams, Virginia A.

2017-07-01

Turbulence models attempt to account for unresolved dynamics and diffusion in hydrodynamical simulations. We develop a common framework for two-equation Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence models, and we implement six models in the athena code. We verify each implementation with the standard subsonic mixing layer, although the level of agreement depends on the definition of the mixing layer width. We then test the validity of each model into the supersonic regime, showing that compressibility corrections can improve agreement with experiment. For models with buoyancy effects, we also verify our implementation via the growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a stratified medium. The models are then applied to the ubiquitous astrophysical shock-cloud interaction in three dimensions. We focus on the mixing of shock and cloud material, comparing results from turbulence models to high-resolution simulations (up to 200 cells per cloud radius) and ensemble-averaged simulations. We find that the turbulence models lead to increased spreading and mixing of the cloud, although no two models predict the same result. Increased mixing is also observed in inviscid simulations at resolutions greater than 100 cells per radius, which suggests that the turbulent mixing begins to be resolved.

Wave–turbulence interaction-induced vertical mixing and its effects in ocean and climate models

PubMed Central

Qiao, Fangli; Yuan, Yeli; Deng, Jia; Dai, Dejun; Song, Zhenya

2016-01-01

Heated from above, the oceans are stably stratified. Therefore, the performance of general ocean circulation models and climate studies through coupled atmosphere–ocean models depends critically on vertical mixing of energy and momentum in the water column. Many of the traditional general circulation models are based on total kinetic energy (TKE), in which the roles of waves are averaged out. Although theoretical calculations suggest that waves could greatly enhance coexisting turbulence, no field measurements on turbulence have ever validated this mechanism directly. To address this problem, a specially designed field experiment has been conducted. The experimental results indicate that the wave–turbulence interaction-induced enhancement of the background turbulence is indeed the predominant mechanism for turbulence generation and enhancement. Based on this understanding, we propose a new parametrization for vertical mixing as an additive part to the traditional TKE approach. This new result reconfirmed the past theoretical model that had been tested and validated in numerical model experiments and field observations. It firmly establishes the critical role of wave–turbulence interaction effects in both general ocean circulation models and atmosphere–ocean coupled models, which could greatly improve the understanding of the sea surface temperature and water column properties distributions, and hence model-based climate forecasting capability. PMID:26953182

The problem of atmospheric turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toomre, J.; HILL; MERRYFIELD; GOUGH

1984-01-01

All ground-based observations of the solar five-minute oscillations are affected by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere that leads to substantial refractive index variations. The turbulent motions serve to mix an air mass that is thermally stratified in the vertical, thereby producing intermittent thermal fluctuations over a wide range of heights in the atmosphere. These thermal structures yield refractive index changes that deflect the light path in a complicated way, producing intricate variations of amplitude and phase in what might have started out as simple plane waves. Since the fluid turbulence is statistical in nature, so too is the optical turbulence which is an integral measure of the refractive index changes along the light travel path. All of this produces what is usually called atmospheric seeing, which consists of image motion, blurring and distortion across the field of view. The effects of atmospheric seeing upon observations of five-minute oscillations carried out from the ground were assessed. This will help to provide a baseline estimate of the scienctific benefits that might accrue if one were able to observe the same oscillations from a space observatory unfettered by seeing effects.

How we compute N matters to estimates of mixing in stratified flows

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arthur, Robert S.; Venayagamoorthy, Subhas K.; Koseff, Jeffrey R.

We know that most commonly used models for turbulent mixing in the ocean rely on a background stratification against which turbulence must work to stir the fluid. While this background stratification is typically well defined in idealized numerical models, it is more difficult to capture in observations. Here, a potential discrepancy in ocean mixing estimates due to the chosen calculation of the background stratification is explored using direct numerical simulation data of breaking internal waves on slopes. There are two different methods for computing the buoyancy frequencymore » $N$$, one based on a three-dimensionally sorted density field (often used in numerical models) and the other based on locally sorted vertical density profiles (often used in the field), are used to quantify the effect of$$N$$on turbulence quantities. It is shown that how$$N$$is calculated changes not only the flux Richardson number$$R_{f}$$, which is often used to parameterize turbulent mixing, but also the turbulence activity number or the Gibson number$$Gi$$, leading to potential errors in estimates of the mixing efficiency using$$Gi$-based parameterizations.« less

How we compute N matters to estimates of mixing in stratified flows

DOE PAGES

Arthur, Robert S.; Venayagamoorthy, Subhas K.; Koseff, Jeffrey R.; ...

2017-10-13

We know that most commonly used models for turbulent mixing in the ocean rely on a background stratification against which turbulence must work to stir the fluid. While this background stratification is typically well defined in idealized numerical models, it is more difficult to capture in observations. Here, a potential discrepancy in ocean mixing estimates due to the chosen calculation of the background stratification is explored using direct numerical simulation data of breaking internal waves on slopes. There are two different methods for computing the buoyancy frequencymore » $N$$, one based on a three-dimensionally sorted density field (often used in numerical models) and the other based on locally sorted vertical density profiles (often used in the field), are used to quantify the effect of$$N$$on turbulence quantities. It is shown that how$$N$$is calculated changes not only the flux Richardson number$$R_{f}$$, which is often used to parameterize turbulent mixing, but also the turbulence activity number or the Gibson number$$Gi$$, leading to potential errors in estimates of the mixing efficiency using$$Gi$-based parameterizations.« less

Morphology of the scattering targets: Fresnel and turbulent mechanisms, part 2.1A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Royrvik, O.

1984-01-01

Refractive index fluctuations cause coherent scattering and reflection of VHF radio waves from the clear air in the altitude region between 0 and approximately 90 km. Similar echoes from the stratosphere/troposphere and the mesosphere are observed at UHF and MF/HF frequencies, respectively. The nature of the refractive index fluctuations has been studied for many years without producing a clear consensus on what mechanism causes them. It is believed that the irregularities can originate from two different mechanisms: turbulent mixing of the gradient of refractive index, and stable horizontally stratified laminae of sharp gradients in the refractive index. In order to explain observations of volume dependence and aspect sensitivity of the echo power in the MST region, a diversity of submechanisms has been proposed. They include isotropic and anisotropic turbulent scattering, Fresnel scattering and reflection, and diffuse reflection. Isotropic turbulent scattering is believed to cause a majority of the clear air echoes observed by MST radars. The mechanism requires active turbulence mixing of a preexisting gradient in the refractive index profile.

Connecting Clump Sizes in Turbulent Disk Galaxies to Instability Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, David B.; Glazebrook, Karl; Abraham, Roberto G.; Damjanov, Ivana; White, Heidi A.; Obreschkow, Danail; Basset, Robert; Bekiaris, Georgios; Wisnioski, Emily; Green, Andy; Bolatto, Alberto D.

2017-04-01

In this letter we study the mean sizes of Hα clumps in turbulent disk galaxies relative to kinematics, gas fractions, and Toomre Q. We use ˜100 pc resolution HST images, IFU kinematics, and gas fractions of a sample of rare, nearby turbulent disks with properties closely matched to z˜ 1.5{--}2 main-sequence galaxies (the DYNAMO sample). We find linear correlations of normalized mean clump sizes with both the gas fraction and the velocity dispersion-to-rotation velocity ratio of the host galaxy. We show that these correlations are consistent with predictions derived from a model of instabilities in a self-gravitating disk (the so-called “violent disk instability model”). We also observe, using a two-fluid model for Q, a correlation between the size of clumps and self-gravity-driven unstable regions. These results are most consistent with the hypothesis that massive star-forming clumps in turbulent disks are the result of instabilities in self-gravitating gas-rich disks, and therefore provide a direct connection between resolved clump sizes and this in situ mechanism.

Turbulence characteristics of velocity and scalars in an internal boundary-layer above a lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahlee, E.; Rutgersson, A.; Podgrajsek, E.

2012-12-01

We analyze turbulence measurements, including methane, from a small island in a Swedish lake. The turbulence structure was found to be highly influenced by the surrounding land during daytime. Variance spectra of both horizontal velocity and scalars during both unstable and stable stratification displayed a low frequency peak. The energy at lower frequencies displayed a daily variation, increasing in the morning and decreasing in the afternoon. We interpret this behavior as a sign of spectral lag, where the low frequency energy, large eddies, originate from the convective boundary layer above the surrounding land. When the air is advected over the lake the small eddies rapidly equilibrates with new surface forcing. However, the larger eddies remain for an appreciable distance and influence the turbulence in the developing lake boundary layer. The variance of the horizontal velocity is increased by these large eddies however, momentum fluxes and scalar variances and fluxes appear unaffected. The drag coefficient, Stanton number and Dalton number used to parameterize the momentum flux, heat flux and latent heat flux respectively all compare very well with parameterizations developed for open ocean conditions.

On the secondary instability of the most dangerous Goertler vortex

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otto, S. R.; Denier, James P.

1993-01-01

Recent studies have demonstrated the most unstable Goertler vortex mode is found in flows, both two and three-dimensional, with regions of (moderately) large body curvature and these modes reside within a thin layer situated at the base of the conventional boundary layer. Further work concerning the nonlinear development of the most dangerous mode demonstrates that the flow results in a self induced flow reversal. However, prior to the point at which flow reversal is encountered, the total streamwise velocity profile is found to be highly inflectional in nature. Previous work then suggests that the nonlinear vortex state will become unstable to secondary, inviscid, Rayleigh wave instabilities prior to the point of flow reversal. Our concern is with the secondary instability of the nonlinear vortex states, which result from the streamwise evolution of the most unstable Goertler vortex mode, with the aim of determining whether such modes can induce a transition to a fully turbulent state before separation is encountered.

Planet-disc interaction in laminar and turbulent discs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoll, Moritz H. R.; Picogna, Giovanni; Kley, Wilhelm

2017-07-01

In weakly ionised discs turbulence can be generated through the vertical shear instability (VSI). Embedded planets are affected by a stochastic component in the torques acting on them, which can impact their migration. In this work we study the interplay between a growing planet embedded in a protoplanetary disc and the VSI turbulence. We performed a series of 3D hydrodynamical simulations for locally isothermal discs with embedded planets in the mass range from 5 to 100 Earth masses. We study planets embedded in an inviscid disc that is VSI unstable, becomes turbulent, and generates angular momentum transport with an effective α = 5 × 10-4. This is compared to the corresponding viscous disc using exactly this α-value. In general we find that the planets have only a weak impact on the disc turbulence. Only for the largest planet (100 M⊕) does the turbulent activity become enhanced inside of the planet. The depth and width of a gap created by the more massive planets (30,100 M⊕) in the turbulent disc equal exactly that of the corresponding viscous case, leading to very similar torque strengths acting on the planet, with small stochastic fluctuations for the VSI disc. At the gap edges vortices are generated that are stronger and longer-lived in the VSI disc. Low mass planets (with Mp ≤ 10 M⊕) do not open gaps in the disc in either case, but generate for the turbulent disc an overdensity behind the planet that exerts a significant negative torque. This can boost the inward migration in VSI turbulent discs well above the Type I rate. Owing to the finite turbulence level in realistic 3D discs the gap depth will always be limited and migration will not stall in inviscid discs.

Turbidity current with a roof: Direct numerical simulation of self-stratified turbulent channel flow driven by suspended sediment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cantero, Mariano I.; Balachandar, S.; Cantelli, Alessandro; Pirmez, Carlos; Parker, Gary

2009-03-01

In this work we present direct numerical simulations (DNS) of sediment-laden channel flows. In contrast to previous studies, where the flow has been driven by a constant, uniform pressure gradient, our flows are driven by the excess density imposed by suspended sediment. This configuration provides a simplified model of a turbidity current and is thus called the turbidity current with a roof configuration. Our calculations elucidate with DNS for the first time several fascinating features of sediment-laden flows, which may be summarized as follows. First, the presence of sediment breaks the symmetry of the flow because of a tendency to self-stratify. More specifically, this self-stratification is manifested in terms of a Reynolds-averaged suspended sediment concentration that declines in the upward normal direction and a Reynolds-averaged velocity profile with a maximum that is below the channel centerline. Second, this self-stratification damps the turbulence, particularly near the bottom wall. Two regimes are observed, one in which the flow remains turbulent but the level of turbulence is reduced and another in which the flow relaminarizes in a region near the bottom wall, i.e., bed. Third, the analysis allows the determination of a criterion for the break between these two regimes in terms of an appropriately defined dimensionless settling velocity. The results provide guidance for the improvement of Reynolds-averaged closures for turbulent flow in regard to stratification effects. Although the analysis reported here is not performed at the scale of large oceanic turbidity currents, which have sufficiently large Reynolds numbers to be inaccessible via DNS at this time, the implication of flow relaminarization is of considerable importance. Even a swift oceanic turbidity current which at some point crosses the threshold into the regime of relaminarization may lose the capacity to reentrain sediment that settles on the bed and thus may quickly die as it loses its driving force.

Modeling and simulation of combustion dynamics in lean-premixed swirl-stabilized gas-turbine engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Ying

This research focuses on the modeling and simulation of combustion dynamics in lean-premixed gas-turbines engines. The primary objectives are: (1) to establish an efficient and accurate numerical framework for the treatment of unsteady flame dynamics; and (2) to investigate the parameters and mechanisms responsible for driving flow oscillations in a lean-premixed gas-turbine combustor. The energy transfer mechanisms among mean flow motions, periodic motions and background turbulent motions in turbulent reacting flow are first explored using a triple decomposition technique. Then a comprehensive numerical study of the combustion dynamics in a lean-premixed swirl-stabilized combustor is performed. The analysis treats the conservation equations in three dimensions and takes into account finite-rate chemical reactions and variable thermophysical properties. Turbulence closure is achieved using a large-eddy-simulation (LES) technique. The compressible-flow version of the Smagorinsky model is employed to describe subgrid-scale turbulent motions and their effect on large-scale structures. A level-set flamelet library approach is used to simulate premixed turbulent combustion. In this approach, the mean flame location is modeled using a level-set G-equation, where G is defined as a distance function. Thermophysical properties are obtained using a presumed probability density function (PDF) along with a laminar flamelet library. The governing equations and the associated boundary conditions are solved by means of a four-step Runge-Kutta scheme along with the implementation of the message passing interface (MPI) parallel computing architecture. The analysis allows for a detailed investigation into the interaction between turbulent flow motions and oscillatory combustion of a swirl-stabilized injector. Results show good agreement with an analytical solution and experimental data in terms of acoustic properties and flame evolution. A study of flame bifurcation from a stable state to an unstable state indicates that the inlet flow temperature and equivalence ratio are the two most important variables determining the stability characteristics of the combustor. Under unstable operating conditions, several physical processes responsible for driving combustion instabilities in the chamber have been identified and quantified. These processes include vortex shedding and acoustic interaction, coupling between the flame evolution and local flow oscillations, vortex and flame interaction and coupling between heat release and acoustic motions. The effects of inlet swirl number on the flow development and flame dynamics in the chamber are also carefully studied. In the last part of this thesis, an analytical model is developed using triple decomposition techniques to model the combustion response of turbulent premixed flames to acoustic oscillations.

Numerical study of the effects of Planetary Boundary Layer structure on the pollutant dispersion within built-up areas.

PubMed

Miao, Yucong; Liu, Shuhua; Zheng, Yijia; Wang, Shu; Liu, Zhenxin; Zhang, Bihui

2015-06-01

The effects of different Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) structures on pollutant dispersion processes within two idealized street canyon configurations and a realistic urban area were numerically examined by a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. The boundary conditions of different PBL structures/conditions were provided by simulations of the Weather Researching and Forecasting model. The simulated results of the idealized 2D and 3D street canyon experiments showed that the increment of PBL instability favored the downward transport of momentum from the upper flow above the roof to the pedestrian level within the street canyon. As a result, the flow and turbulent fields within the street canyon under the more unstable PBL condition are stronger. Therefore, more pollutants within the street canyon would be removed by the stronger advection and turbulent diffusion processes under the unstable PBL condition. On the contrary, more pollutants would be concentrated in the street canyon under the stable PBL condition. In addition, the simulations of the realistic building cluster experiments showed that the density of buildings was a crucial factor determining the dynamic effects of the PBL structure on the flow patterns. The momentum field within a denser building configuration was mostly transported from the upper flow, and was more sensitive to the PBL structures than that of the sparser building configuration. Finally, it was recommended to use the Mellor-Yamada-Nakanishi-Niino (MYNN) PBL scheme, which can explicitly output the needed turbulent variables, to provide the boundary conditions to the CFD simulation. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Upper ocean mixing processes and their impact on the mixed layer heat balance during the onset of the Atlantic Cold Tongue.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dengler, M.; Brandt, P.; McPhaden, M. J.; Thomsen, S.; Krahmann, G.; Fischer, T.; Freitag, P.; Hummels, R.

2012-04-01

An extensive measurement program within the Atlantic Cold Tongue (ACT) region was carried out during the ACT onset in boreal summer 2011. During two consecutive cruises shipboard microstructure profiles, conductivity-temperature-depth-O2 (CTD-O2) profiles and shipboard velocity profiles were collected between mid-May and mid-July. The shipboard measurements were complemented by a Glider swarm experiment during which 5400 CTD-O2 profiles were collected along specified transects within the ACT region. One of those Gliders was equipped with a MicroRider turbulence package and collected a 5-week microstructure time series of about hourly-resolution in the center of the cold tongue on the equator at 10°W. The MicroRider/Glider package was circling a PIRATA mooring from which additionally high-resolution acoustic Doppler current profiles are available for this time period to allow analysis of the background conditions. In this contribution we use a subset from the above data to detail mixing processes in the upper stratified ocean and describe the background conditions favoring enhanced mixing. From end of May to mid-July, sea surface temperature decreased from 26°C to below 22°C at 10°W. During the whole period of autonomous microstructure observations, strong bursts of turbulence were observed extending from the mixed layer into the upper thermocline. These bursts lasted for 3-5 hours and were found to penetrate to about 30m below the base of the mixed layer. They were observed to occur predominately during night-time while during day-time they were less frequent. Dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy (ɛ) during these bursts were above 3x10-6Wkg-1 in the upper stratified water column and turbulent eddy diffusivities (Kρ) often reached 1x10-3m2s-1. The data set suggests that strength and frequency of occurrence of the turbulent bursts is modulated by the presents of Tropical Instability Waves which additionally enhance background shear at the equator. The presents of internal waves having frequencies close to the buoyancy frequency during enhanced mixing events will be discussed. From the first 6 days of microstructure data, a diapycnal heat flux divergence from the mixed layer into the upper stratified ocean of 80Wm-2 was inferred. Other contributions to the mixed layer heat balance will be examined to evaluate their relevance during ACT onset.

Helicity, geostrophic balance and mixing in rotating stratified turbulence: a multi-scale problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pouquet, A.; Marino, R.; Mininni, P.; Rorai, C.; Rosenberg, D. L.

2012-12-01

Helicity, geostrophic balance and mixing in rotating stratified turbulence: a multi-scale problem A. Pouquet, R. Marino, P. D. Mininni, C. Rorai & D. Rosenberg, NCAR Interactions between winds and waves have important roles in planetary and oceanic boundary layers, affecting momentum, heat and CO2 transport. Within the Abyssal Southern Ocean at Mid latitude, this may result in a mixed layer which is too shallow in climate models thereby affecting the overall evolution because of poor handling of wave breaking as in Kelvin-Helmoltz instabilities: gravity waves couple nonlinearly on slow time scales and undergo steepening through resonant interactions, or due to the presence of shear. In the oceans, sub-mesoscale frontogenesis and significant departure from quasi-geostrophy can be seen as turbulence intensifies. The ensuing anomalous vertical dispersion may not be simply modeled by a random walk, due to intermittent structures, wave propagation and to their interactions. Conversely, the energy and seeds required for such intermittent events to occur, say in the stable planetary boundary layer, may come from the wave field that is perturbed, or from winds and the effect of topography. Under the assumption of stationarity, weak nonlinearities, dissipation and forcing, one obtains large-scale geostrophic balance linking pressure gradient, gravity and Coriolis force. The role of helicity (velocity-vorticity correlations) has not received as much attention, outside the realm of astrophysics when considering the growth of large-scale magnetic fields. However, it is measured routinely in the atmosphere in order to gauge the likelihood of supercell convective storms to strengthen, and it may be a factor to consider in the formation of hurricanes. In this context, we examine the transition from a wave-dominated regime to an isotropic small-scale turbulent one in rotating flows with helical forcing. Using a direct numerical simulation (DNS) on a 3072^3 grid with Rossby and Reynolds numbers of 0.07 and 27000, one can resolve both the Zeman scale at which the inertial and eddy turn-over times equalize, and the dissipation scale. We show that fully helical vertical columns dominate at intermediate scales, presumably self-similar and shrouded by a sea of small-scale vortex filaments as in Kolmogorov turbulence. Helicity has a profound effect on the structures of the flow, and a previously developed model that includes a helical component in its eddy viscosity and eddy noise shows a measurable improvement. Indeed, if dimensionless parameters for inertial and gravity waves are reachable numerically, the Reynolds number is too low in DNS for geophysics unless one uses parametrizations of small scale interactions. For spin-down stably-stratified flows, energy and helicity undergo a substantially slower decay than in the unstratified case, and a type of large-scale cyclostrophic balance is invoked to explain this behavior. The decay rate is similar to that occurring in the unstratified rotating case, as modeled by taking into account the quasi-conservation of helicity. We finally mention helicity production when rotation and stratification are both combined. In conclusion, much remains to be done, e.g. examining transport properties of rotating stratified turbulence, such as the effect of helicity on mixing in geophysical flows that can be studied with high-performance computing allowing multi-scale interactions and intermittency to develop.

Hub vortex instability within wind turbine wakes: Effects of wind turbulence, loading conditions, and blade aerodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashton, Ryan; Viola, Francesco; Camarri, Simone; Gallaire, Francois; Iungo, Giacomo Valerio

2016-11-01

The near wake of wind turbines is characterized by the presence of the hub vortex, which is a coherent vorticity structure generated from the interaction between the root vortices and the boundary layer evolving over the turbine nacelle. By moving downstream, the hub vortex undergoes an instability with growth rate, azimuthal and axial wavenumbers determined by the characteristics of the incoming wind and turbine aerodynamics. Thus, a large variability of the hub vortex instability is expected for wind energy applications with consequent effects on wake downstream evolution, wake interactions within a wind farm, power production, and fatigue loads on turbines invested by wakes generated upstream. In order to predict characteristics of the hub vortex instability for different operating conditions, linear stability analysis is carried out by considering different statistics of the incoming wind turbulence, thrust coefficient, tip speed ratio, and blade lift distribution of a wind turbine. Axial and azimuthal wake velocity fields are modeled through Carton-McWilliams velocity profiles by mimicking the presence of the hub vortex, helicoidal tip vortices, and matching the wind turbine thrust coefficient predicted through the actuator disk model. The linear stability analysis shows that hub vortex instability is strongly affected by the wind turbine loading conditions, and specifically it is promoted by a larger thrust coefficient. A higher load of the wind turbines produces an enhanced axial velocity deficit and, in turn, higher shear in the radial direction of the streamwise velocity. The axial velocity shear within the turbine wake is also the main physical mechanism promoting the hub vortex instability when varying the lift distribution over the blade span for a specific loading condition. Cases with a larger velocity deficit in proximity of the wake center and less aerodynamic load towards the blade tip result to be more unstable. Moreover, wake swirl promotes hub vortex instability, and it can also affect the azimuthal wave number of the most unstable mode. Finally, higher Reynolds stresses and turbulent eddy viscosity decrease both growth rate and azimuthal wave number of the most unstable mode.

A Large-Eddy Simulation Study of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Influence on Stratified Flows over Terrain

DOE PAGES

Sauer, Jeremy A.; Munoz-Esparza, Domingo; Canfield, Jesse M.; ...

2016-06-24

In this study, the impact of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) interactions with large-scale stably stratified flow over an isolated, two-dimensional hill is investigated using turbulence-resolving large-eddy simulations. The onset of internal gravity wave breaking and leeside flow response regimes of trapped lee waves and nonlinear breakdown (or hydraulic-jump-like state) as they depend on the classical inverse Froude number, Fr -1 = Nh/U g, is explored in detail. Here, N is the Brunt–Väisälä frequency, h is the hill height, and U g is the geostrophic wind. The results here demonstrate that the presence of a turbulent ABL influences mountain wave (MW) development in critical aspects, such as dissipation of trapped lee waves and amplified stagnation zone turbulence through Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. It is shown that the nature of interactions between the large-scale flow and the ABL is better characterized by a proposed inverse compensated Froude number, Frmore » $$-1\\atop{c}$$ = N(h - z i)/U g, where z i is the ABL height. In addition, it is found that the onset of the nonlinear-breakdown regime, Fr$$-1\\atop{c}$$ ≈ 1.0, is initiated when the vertical wavelength becomes comparable to the sufficiently energetic scales of turbulence in the stagnation zone and ABL, yielding an abrupt change in leeside flow response. Lastly, energy spectra are presented in the context of MW flows, supporting the existence of a clear transition in leeside flow response, and illustrating two distinct energy distribution states for the trapped-lee-wave and the nonlinear-breakdown regimes.« less

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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.

Variations of characteristic time scales in rotating stratified turbulence using a large parametric numerical study.

PubMed

Rosenberg, D; Marino, R; Herbert, C; Pouquet, A

2016-01-01

We study rotating stratified turbulence (RST) making use of numerical data stemming from a large parametric study varying the Reynolds, Froude and Rossby numbers, Re, Fr and Ro in a broad range of values. The computations are performed using periodic boundary conditions on grids of 1024(3) points, with no modeling of the small scales, no forcing and with large-scale random initial conditions for the velocity field only, and there are altogether 65 runs analyzed in this paper. The buoyancy Reynolds number defined as R(B) = ReFr2 varies from negligible values to ≈ 10(5), approaching atmospheric or oceanic regimes. This preliminary analysis deals with the variation of characteristic time scales of RST with dimensionless parameters, focusing on the role played by the partition of energy between the kinetic and potential modes, as a key ingredient for modeling the dynamics of such flows. We find that neither rotation nor the ratio of the Brunt-Väisälä frequency to the inertial frequency seem to play a major role in the absence of forcing in the global dynamics of the small-scale kinetic and potential modes. Specifically, in these computations, mostly in regimes of wave turbulence, characteristic times based on the ratio of energy to dissipation of the velocity and temperature fluctuations, T(V) and T(P), vary substantially with parameters. Their ratio γ=T(V)/T(P) follows roughly a bell-shaped curve in terms of Richardson number Ri. It reaches a plateau - on which time scales become comparable, γ≈0.6 - when the turbulence has significantly strengthened, leading to numerous destabilization events together with a tendency towards an isotropization of the flow.

Enhanced Representation of Turbulent Flow Phenomena in Large-Eddy Simulations of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer using Grid Refinement with Pseudo-Spectral Numerics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torkelson, G. Q.; Stoll, R., II

2017-12-01

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is a tool commonly used to study the turbulent transport of momentum, heat, and moisture in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL). For a wide range of ABL LES applications, representing the full range of turbulent length scales in the flow field is a challenge. This is an acute problem in regions of the ABL with strong velocity or scalar gradients, which are typically poorly resolved by standard computational grids (e.g., near the ground surface, in the entrainment zone). Most efforts to address this problem have focused on advanced sub-grid scale (SGS) turbulence model development, or on the use of massive computational resources. While some work exists using embedded meshes, very little has been done on the use of grid refinement. Here, we explore the benefits of grid refinement in a pseudo-spectral LES numerical code. The code utilizes both uniform refinement of the grid in horizontal directions, and stretching of the grid in the vertical direction. Combining the two techniques allows us to refine areas of the flow while maintaining an acceptable grid aspect ratio. In tests that used only refinement of the vertical grid spacing, large grid aspect ratios were found to cause a significant unphysical spike in the stream-wise velocity variance near the ground surface. This was especially problematic in simulations of stably-stratified ABL flows. The use of advanced SGS models was not sufficient to alleviate this issue. The new refinement technique is evaluated using a series of idealized simulation test cases of neutrally and stably stratified ABLs. These test cases illustrate the ability of grid refinement to increase computational efficiency without loss in the representation of statistical features of the flow field.

Scaling laws for mixing and dissipation in unforced rotating stratified turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pouquet, A.; Rosenberg, D.; Marino, R.; Herbert, C.

2018-06-01

We present a model for the scaling of mixing in weakly rotating stratified flows characterized by their Rossby, Froude and Reynolds numbers Ro, Fr, Re. It is based on quasi-equipartition between kinetic and potential modes, sub-dominant vertical velocity and lessening of the energy transfer to small scales as measured by the ratio rE of kinetic energy dissipation to its dimensional expression. We determine their domains of validity for a numerical study of the unforced Boussinesq equations mostly on grids of 10243 points, with Ro/Fr> 2.5 and with 1600< Re<1.9x104; the Prandtl number is one, initial conditions are either isotropic and at large scale for the velocity, and zero for the temperature {\\theta}, or in geostrophic balance. Three regimes in Fr are observed: dominant waves, eddy-wave interactions and strong turbulence. A wave-turbulence balance for the transfer time leads to rE growing linearly with Fr in the intermediate regime, with a saturation at ~0.3 or more, depending on initial conditions for larger Froude numbers. The Ellison scale is also found to scale linearly with Fr, and the flux Richardson number Rf transitions for roughly the same parameter values as well. Putting together the 3 relationships of the model allows for the prediction of mixing efficiency scaling as Fr-2~RB-1 in the low and intermediate regimes, whereas for higher Fr, it scales as RB-1/2, as already observed: as turbulence strengthens, rE~1, the velocity is isotropic and smaller buoyancy fluxes altogether correspond to a decoupling of velocity and temperature fluctuations, the latter becoming passive.

Biogenic mixing induced by intermediate Reynolds number swimming in stratified fluids

PubMed Central

Wang, Shiyan; Ardekani, Arezoo M.

2015-01-01

We study fully resolved motion of interacting swimmers in density stratified fluids using an archetypal swimming model called “squirmer”. The intermediate Reynolds number regime is particularly important, because the vast majority of organisms in the aphotic ocean (i.e. regions that are 200 m beneath the sea surface) are small (mm-cm) and their motion is governed by the balance of inertial and viscous forces. Our study shows that the mixing efficiency and the diapycnal eddy diffusivity, a measure of vertical mass flux, within a suspension of squirmers increases with Reynolds number. The mixing efficiency is in the range of O(0.0001–0.04) when the swimming Reynolds number is in the range of O(0.1–100). The values of diapycnal eddy diffusivity and Cox number are two orders of magnitude larger for vertically swimming cells compared to horizontally swimming cells. For a suspension of squirmers in a decaying isotropic turbulence, we find that the diapycnal eddy diffusivity enhances due to the strong viscous dissipation generated by squirmers as well as the interaction of squirmers with the background turbulence. PMID:26628288

Biogenic mixing induced by intermediate Reynolds number swimming in stratified fluids.

PubMed

Wang, Shiyan; Ardekani, Arezoo M

2015-12-02

We study fully resolved motion of interacting swimmers in density stratified fluids using an archetypal swimming model called "squirmer". The intermediate Reynolds number regime is particularly important, because the vast majority of organisms in the aphotic ocean (i.e. regions that are 200 m beneath the sea surface) are small (mm-cm) and their motion is governed by the balance of inertial and viscous forces. Our study shows that the mixing efficiency and the diapycnal eddy diffusivity, a measure of vertical mass flux, within a suspension of squirmers increases with Reynolds number. The mixing efficiency is in the range of O(0.0001-0.04) when the swimming Reynolds number is in the range of O(0.1-100). The values of diapycnal eddy diffusivity and Cox number are two orders of magnitude larger for vertically swimming cells compared to horizontally swimming cells. For a suspension of squirmers in a decaying isotropic turbulence, we find that the diapycnal eddy diffusivity enhances due to the strong viscous dissipation generated by squirmers as well as the interaction of squirmers with the background turbulence.

Complex Convective Thermal Fluxes and Vorticity Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redondo, Jose M.; Tellez, Jackson; Sotillos, Laura; Lopez Gonzalez-Nieto, Pilar; Sanchez, Jesus M.; Furmanek, Petr; Diez, Margarita

2015-04-01

Local Diffusion and the topological structure of vorticity and velocity fields is measured in the transition from a homogeneous linearly stratified fluid to a cellular or layered structure by means of convective cooling and/or heating[1,2]. Patterns arise by setting up a convective flow generated by an array of Thermoelectric devices (Peltier/Seebeck cells) these are controlled by thermal PID generating a buoyant heat flux [2]. The experiments described here investigate high Prandtl number mixing using brine and fresh water in order to form density interfaces and low Prandtl number mixing with temperature gradients. The set of dimensionless parameters define conditions of numeric and small scale laboratory modeling of environmental flows. Fields of velocity, density and their gradients were computed and visualized [3,4]. When convective heating and cooling takes place the combination of internal waves and buoyant turbulence is much more complicated if the Rayleigh and Reynolds numbers are high in order to study entrainment and mixing. Using ESS and selfsimilarity structures in the velocity and vorticity fieds and intermittency [3,5] that forms in the non-homogeneous flow is related to mixing and stiring. The evolution of the mixing fronts are compared and the topological characteristics of the merging of plumes and jets in different configurations presenting detailed comparison of the evolution of RM and RT, Jets and Plumes in overall mixing. The relation between structure functions, fractal analysis and spectral analysis can be very useful to determine the evolution of scales. Experimental and numerical results on the advance of a mixing or nonmixing front occurring at a density interface due to body forces [6]and gravitational acceleration are analyzed considering the fractal and spectral structure of the fronts like in removable plate experiments for Rayleigh-Taylor flows. The evolution of the turbulent mixing layer and its complex configuration is studied taking into account the dependence on the initial modes at the early stages and its spectral, self-similar information [3,7-9]. Spectral and Fractal analysis on the images has been used in order to estimate dominant mixing structures as well as the dispersion relations of basic instabilities [4,8. Comparison of the range of entrainment values from laboratory experiments with those ocurring in nature, both in the atmosphere and ocean or in Astrophysics shows the importance of modeling correctly the integral lengthscales of the turbulence. The Entrainment may actually be related to the ratio of the flux to gradient Richardson numbers as well as the Turbulent Schmidt or Prandtl number [6,8] and their structure functions [5]. Turbulent mixing diagnostics are based on schlieren and shadowgraph visualization, planar laser sheet, laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and particle image velocimetry (PIV). We are interested by the influence of initial conditions [9](flux gradients of various sizes) on the transition to turbulent mixing, the influence of subsequent vortices and waves, initially in a one dimensional or plane configuration and furthermore in a two-three dimensional configuration with the interface oblique with respect to the horizontal. [1] Redondo J.M. (1992) Termodinámica de los procesos irreversibles, efectos termoeléctricos Rev. Termoelectricidad 2, 16-29.AIT.Pamplona. [2] Redondo J.M., Sanchez J.M. Pascual I. Noriega,G.F.(1995).Thermoelectric regulation for electric cabinets. XVI International Conference in Thermoelectrics, 02-G20. Ed. V. Vedernikov. 456-468. St. Petersburg, Russia. [3] Nicolleau, F.C.G.A.; Cambon, C.; Redondo, J.M.; Vassilicos, J.C.; Reeks, M.; Nowakowski, A.F. (Eds.)(2012) New Approaches in Modeling Multiphase Flows and Dispersion in Turbulence, Fractal Methods and Synthetic Turbulence. ERCOFTAC Series. [4] Redondo J M, Sanchez M A and Cantalapiedra I R (1995). Turbulent Mechanisms in Stratified Flows, Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, 23, 454-462. [5] Mahjoub O.B., Redondo J.M. and Babiano A.(2000) Hyerarchy flux in nonhomogeneous flows in Turbulent diffusion in the environment Eds. Redondo J.M. and Babiano A. 249-260. [6] Matulka A., Redondo J.M. and Carrillo A.(2008) Experiments in stratified and rotating decaying 2D flows, Il Nuovo Cimento 31, 5-6, 757-770. 2008. [7]Fraunie P., Berreba S. Chashechkin Yu.D., Velasco D. and Redondo J.M. (2008) Large eddy simulation and laboratory experiments on the decay of grid wakes in strongly stratified flows. Il Nuovo Cimento C 31, 909-930. [8]Matulka, A., López, P., Redondo, J. M., and Tarquis, A.(2014) On the entrainment coefficient in a forced plume: quantitative effects of source parameters, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 269-278. [9] Castilla R., Oñate E. and Redondo J.M. (2007) Models, Experiments and Computations in Turbulence. CIMNE, Barcelona, 255.

Connecting the failure of K-theory inside and above vegetation canopies and ejection-sweep cycles by a large eddy simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Banerjee, Tirtha; De Roo, Frederik; Mauder, Matthias

Parameterizations of biosphere-atmosphere interaction processes in climate models and other hydrological applications require characterization of turbulent transport of momentum and scalars between vegetation canopies and the atmosphere, which is often modeled using a turbulent analogy to molecular diffusion processes. However, simple flux-gradient approaches (K-theory) fail for canopy turbulence. One cause is turbulent transport by large coherent eddies at the canopy scale, which can be linked to sweep-ejection events, and bear signatures of non-local organized eddy motions. K-theory, that parameterizes the turbulent flux or stress proportional to the local concentration or velocity gradient, fails to account for these non-local organized motions. The connection to sweep-ejection cycles and the local turbulent flux can be traced back to the turbulence triple momentmore » $$\\overline{C'W'W'}$$. In this work, we use large-eddy simulation to investigate the diagnostic connection between the failure of K-theory and sweep-ejection motions. Analyzed schemes are quadrant analysis (QA) and a complete and incomplete cumulant expansion (CEM and ICEM) method. The latter approaches introduce a turbulence timescale in the modeling. Furthermore, we find that the momentum flux needs a different formulation for the turbulence timescale than the sensible heat flux. In conclusion, accounting for buoyancy in stratified conditions is also deemed to be important in addition to accounting for non-local events to predict the correct momentum or scalar fluxes.« less

Connecting the failure of K-theory inside and above vegetation canopies and ejection-sweep cycles by a large eddy simulation

DOE PAGES

Banerjee, Tirtha; De Roo, Frederik; Mauder, Matthias

2017-10-19

Parameterizations of biosphere-atmosphere interaction processes in climate models and other hydrological applications require characterization of turbulent transport of momentum and scalars between vegetation canopies and the atmosphere, which is often modeled using a turbulent analogy to molecular diffusion processes. However, simple flux-gradient approaches (K-theory) fail for canopy turbulence. One cause is turbulent transport by large coherent eddies at the canopy scale, which can be linked to sweep-ejection events, and bear signatures of non-local organized eddy motions. K-theory, that parameterizes the turbulent flux or stress proportional to the local concentration or velocity gradient, fails to account for these non-local organized motions. The connection to sweep-ejection cycles and the local turbulent flux can be traced back to the turbulence triple momentmore » $$\\overline{C'W'W'}$$. In this work, we use large-eddy simulation to investigate the diagnostic connection between the failure of K-theory and sweep-ejection motions. Analyzed schemes are quadrant analysis (QA) and a complete and incomplete cumulant expansion (CEM and ICEM) method. The latter approaches introduce a turbulence timescale in the modeling. Furthermore, we find that the momentum flux needs a different formulation for the turbulence timescale than the sensible heat flux. In conclusion, accounting for buoyancy in stratified conditions is also deemed to be important in addition to accounting for non-local events to predict the correct momentum or scalar fluxes.« less

Simulations of Turbulent Flow Over Complex Terrain Using an Immersed-Boundary Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLeon, Rey; Sandusky, Micah; Senocak, Inanc

2018-02-01

We present an immersed-boundary method to simulate high-Reynolds-number turbulent flow over the complex terrain of Askervein and Bolund Hills under neutrally-stratified conditions. We reconstruct both the velocity and the eddy-viscosity fields in the terrain-normal direction to produce turbulent stresses as would be expected from the application of a surface-parametrization scheme based on Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. We find that it is essential to be consistent in the underlying assumptions for the velocity reconstruction and the eddy-viscosity relation to produce good results. To this end, we reconstruct the tangential component of the velocity field using a logarithmic velocity profile and adopt the mixing-length model in the near-surface turbulence model. We use a linear interpolation to reconstruct the normal component of the velocity to enforce the impermeability condition. Our approach works well for both the Askervein and Bolund Hills when the flow is attached to the surface, but shows slight disagreement in regions of flow recirculation, despite capturing the flow reversal.

Simulations of Turbulent Flow Over Complex Terrain Using an Immersed-Boundary Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLeon, Rey; Sandusky, Micah; Senocak, Inanc

2018-06-01

We present an immersed-boundary method to simulate high-Reynolds-number turbulent flow over the complex terrain of Askervein and Bolund Hills under neutrally-stratified conditions. We reconstruct both the velocity and the eddy-viscosity fields in the terrain-normal direction to produce turbulent stresses as would be expected from the application of a surface-parametrization scheme based on Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. We find that it is essential to be consistent in the underlying assumptions for the velocity reconstruction and the eddy-viscosity relation to produce good results. To this end, we reconstruct the tangential component of the velocity field using a logarithmic velocity profile and adopt the mixing-length model in the near-surface turbulence model. We use a linear interpolation to reconstruct the normal component of the velocity to enforce the impermeability condition. Our approach works well for both the Askervein and Bolund Hills when the flow is attached to the surface, but shows slight disagreement in regions of flow recirculation, despite capturing the flow reversal.

Magnetorotational instability and dynamo action in gravito-turbulent astrophysical discs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riols, A.; Latter, H.

2018-02-01

Though usually treated in isolation, the magnetorotational and gravitational instabilities (MRI and GI) may coincide at certain radii and evolutionary stages of protoplanetary discs and active galactic nuclei. Their mutual interactions could profoundly influence several important processes, such as accretion variability and outbursts, fragmentation and disc truncation, or large-scale magnetic field production. Direct numerical simulations of both instabilities are computationally challenging and remain relatively unexplored. In this paper, we aim to redress this neglect via a set of 3D vertically stratified shearing-box simulations, combining self-gravity and magnetic fields. We show that gravito-turbulence greatly weakens the zero-net-flux MRI. In the limit of efficient cooling (and thus enhanced GI), the MRI is completely suppressed, and yet strong magnetic fields are sustained by the gravito-turbulence. This turbulent `spiral wave' dynamo may have widespread application, especially in galactic discs. Finally, we present preliminary work showing that a strong net-vertical-flux revives the MRI and supports a magnetically dominated state in which the GI is secondary.

Measurement of atmospheric surface layer turbulence using unmanned aerial vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, Sean; Canter, Caleb

2017-11-01

We describe measurements of the turbulence within the atmospheric surface layer using highly instrumented and autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Results from the CLOUDMAP measurement campaign in Stillwater Oklahoma are presented including turbulence statistics measured during the transition from stably stratified to convective conditions. The measurements were made using pre-fabricated fixed-wing remote-control aircraft adapted to fly autonomously and carry multi-hole pressure probes, pressure, temperature and humidity sensors. Two aircraft were flown simultaneously, with one flying a flight path intended to profile the boundary layer up to 100 m and the other flying at a constant fixed altitude of 50 m. The evolution of various turbulent statistics was determined from these flights, including Reynolds stresses, correlations, spectra and structure functions. These results were compared to those measured by a sonic anemometer located on a 7.5 m tower. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through Grant #CBET-1351411 and by National Science Foundation award #1539070, Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (CLOUDMAP).

Measurement of atmospheric surface layer turbulence using unmanned aerial vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witte, Brandon; Smith, Lorli; Schlagenhauf, Cornelia; Bailey, Sean

2016-11-01

We describe measurements of the turbulence within the atmospheric surface layer using highly instrumented and autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Results from the CLOUDMAP measurement campaign in Stillwater Oklahoma are presented including turbulence statistics measured during the transition from stably stratified to convective conditions. The measurements were made using pre-fabricated fixed-wing remote-control aircraft adapted to fly autonomously and carry multi-hole pressure probes, pressure, temperature and humidity sensors. Two aircraft were flown simultaneously, with one flying a flight path intended to profile the boundary layer up to 100 m and the other flying at a constant fixed altitude of 50 m. The evolution of various turbulent statistics was determined from these flights, including Reynolds stresses, correlations, spectra and structure functions. These results were compared to those measured by a sonic anemometer located on a 7.5 m tower. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through Grant #CBET-1351411 and by National Science Foundation award #1539070, Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (CLOUDMAP).

Flow Transition in Gas Turbine Airfoil Boundary Layers: Fundamentals and Empiricisms.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

another perspective in Figure 18, which is plotted for three selected dimensionless wavenumbers. Kahawita and Meroney [95] utilized a linearized...the results indicate stabilization for 0. less than about 0.3 (long wavelengths) and destabilization for higher values of a0. Kahawita and Meroney...are fairly large and buoyancy effects are negligible. However, if the boundary layer is unstably stratified, the results of Kahawita and Meroney [95

What happens to full-f gyrokinetic transport and turbulence in a toroidal wedge simulation?

DOE PAGES

Kim, Kyuho; Chang, C. S.; Seo, Janghoon; ...

2017-01-24

Here, in order to save the computing time or to fit the simulation size into a limited computing hardware in a gyrokinetic turbulence simulation of a tokamak plasma, a toroidal wedge simulation may be utilized in which only a partial toroidal section is modeled with a periodic boundary condition in the toroidal direction. The most severe restriction in the wedge simulation is expected to be in the longest wavelength turbulence, i.e., ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence. The global full-f gyrokinetic code XGC1 is used to compare the transport and turbulence properties from a toroidal wedge simulation against the fullmore » torus simulation in an ITG unstable plasma in a model toroidal geometry. It is found that (1) the convergence study in the wedge number needs to be conducted all the way down to the full torus in order to avoid a false convergence, (2) a reasonably accurate simulation can be performed if the correct wedge number N can be identified, (3) the validity of a wedge simulation may be checked by performing a wave-number spectral analysis of the turbulence amplitude |δΦ| and assuring that the variation of δΦ between the discrete kθ values is less than 25% compared to the peak |δΦ|, and (4) a frequency spectrum may not be used for the validity check of a wedge simulation.« less

What happens to full-f gyrokinetic transport and turbulence in a toroidal wedge simulation?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Kyuho; Chang, C. S.; Seo, Janghoon

Here, in order to save the computing time or to fit the simulation size into a limited computing hardware in a gyrokinetic turbulence simulation of a tokamak plasma, a toroidal wedge simulation may be utilized in which only a partial toroidal section is modeled with a periodic boundary condition in the toroidal direction. The most severe restriction in the wedge simulation is expected to be in the longest wavelength turbulence, i.e., ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence. The global full-f gyrokinetic code XGC1 is used to compare the transport and turbulence properties from a toroidal wedge simulation against the fullmore » torus simulation in an ITG unstable plasma in a model toroidal geometry. It is found that (1) the convergence study in the wedge number needs to be conducted all the way down to the full torus in order to avoid a false convergence, (2) a reasonably accurate simulation can be performed if the correct wedge number N can be identified, (3) the validity of a wedge simulation may be checked by performing a wave-number spectral analysis of the turbulence amplitude |δΦ| and assuring that the variation of δΦ between the discrete kθ values is less than 25% compared to the peak |δΦ|, and (4) a frequency spectrum may not be used for the validity check of a wedge simulation.« less

Statistically accurate low-order models for uncertainty quantification in turbulent dynamical systems.

PubMed

Sapsis, Themistoklis P; Majda, Andrew J

2013-08-20

A framework for low-order predictive statistical modeling and uncertainty quantification in turbulent dynamical systems is developed here. These reduced-order, modified quasilinear Gaussian (ROMQG) algorithms apply to turbulent dynamical systems in which there is significant linear instability or linear nonnormal dynamics in the unperturbed system and energy-conserving nonlinear interactions that transfer energy from the unstable modes to the stable modes where dissipation occurs, resulting in a statistical steady state; such turbulent dynamical systems are ubiquitous in geophysical and engineering turbulence. The ROMQG method involves constructing a low-order, nonlinear, dynamical system for the mean and covariance statistics in the reduced subspace that has the unperturbed statistics as a stable fixed point and optimally incorporates the indirect effect of non-Gaussian third-order statistics for the unperturbed system in a systematic calibration stage. This calibration procedure is achieved through information involving only the mean and covariance statistics for the unperturbed equilibrium. The performance of the ROMQG algorithm is assessed on two stringent test cases: the 40-mode Lorenz 96 model mimicking midlatitude atmospheric turbulence and two-layer baroclinic models for high-latitude ocean turbulence with over 125,000 degrees of freedom. In the Lorenz 96 model, the ROMQG algorithm with just a single mode captures the transient response to random or deterministic forcing. For the baroclinic ocean turbulence models, the inexpensive ROMQG algorithm with 252 modes, less than 0.2% of the total, captures the nonlinear response of the energy, the heat flux, and even the one-dimensional energy and heat flux spectra.

Role of Magnetic Diffusion Induced by Turbulent Magnetic Reconnection for Star Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazarian, Alex; Santos de Lima, R.; de Gouveia Dal Pino, E.

2010-01-01

The diffusion of astrophysical magnetic fields in conducting fluids in the presence of turbulence depends on whether magnetic fields can change their topology or reconnect in highly conducting media. Recent progress in understanding fast magnetic reconnection in the presence of turbulence is reassuring that the magnetic field behavior in the computer simulations and turbulent astrophysical environments is similar, as far as the magnetic reconnection is concerned. This makes it meaningful to perform MHD simulations of turbulent flows in order to understand the diffusion of magnetic field in astrophysical environments. Our study of magnetic field diffusion reveals important propertie s of the process. First of all, our 3D MHD simulations initiated with anti-correlating magnetic field and gaseous density exhibit at later times a decorrelation of the magnetic field and density, which corresponds well to the observations of the interstellar media. In the presence of gravity, our 3D simulations show the decrease of the flux to mass ratio with density concentration when turbulence is present. We observe this effect both in the situations when we start with the equilibrium distributions of gas and magnetic field and when we start with collapsing dynamically unstable configurations. Thus the process of turbulent magnetic field removal should be applicable both to quasistatic subcritical molecular clouds and cores and violently collapsing supercritical entities. The increase of the gravitational potential as well as the magnetization of the gas increases the segregation of the mass and flux in the saturated final state of simulations, supporting the notion that turbulent diffusivity relaxes the magnetic field + gas system in the gravitational field to its minimal energy state. At the same time, turbulence of high level may get the system unbound making the flux to mass ratio more uniform through the simulation box.

3D DNS and LES of Breaking Inertia-Gravity Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remmler, S.; Fruman, M. D.; Hickel, S.; Achatz, U.

2012-04-01

As inertia-gravity waves we refer to gravity waves that have a sufficiently low frequency and correspondingly large horizontal wavelength to be strongly influenced by the Coriolis force. Inertia-gravity waves are very active in the middle atmosphere and their breaking is potentially an important influence on the circulation in this region. The parametrization of this process requires a good theoretical understanding, which we want to enhance with the present study. Primary linear instabilities of an inertia-gravity wave and "2.5-dimensional" nonlinear simulations (where the spatial dependence is two dimensional but the velocity and vorticity fields are three-dimensional) with the wave perturbed by its leading primary instabilities by Achatz [1] have shown that the breaking differs significantly from that of high-frequency gravity waves due to the strongly sheared component of velocity perpendicular to the plane of wave-propagation. Fruman & Achatz [2] investigated the three-dimensionalization of the breaking by computing the secondary linear instabilities of the same waves using singular vector analysis. These secondary instabilities are variations perpendicular to the direction of the primary perturbation and the wave itself, and their wavelengths are an order of magnitude shorter than both. In continuation of this work, we carried out fully three-dimensional nonlinear simulations of inertia-gravity waves perturbed by their leading primary and secondary instabilities. The direct numerical simulation (DNS) was made tractable by restricting the domain size to the dominant scales selected by the linear analyses. The study includes both convectively stable and unstable waves. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fully three-dimensional nonlinear direct numerical simulation of inertia-gravity waves at realistic Reynolds numbers with complete resolution of the smallest turbulence scales. Previous simulations either were restricted to high frequency gravity waves (e. g. Fritts et al. [3]), or the ratio N/f was artificially reduced (e. g. Lelong & Dunkerton [4]). The present simulations give us insight into the three-dimensional breaking process as well as the emerging turbulence. We assess the possibility of reducing the computational costs of three-dimensional simulations by using an implicit turbulence subgrid-scale parametrization based on the Adaptive Local Deconvolution Method (ALDM) for stratified turbulence [5]. In addition, we have performed ensembles of nonlinear 2.5-dimensional DNS, like those in Achatz [1] but with a small amount of noise superposed to the initial state, and compared the results with coarse-resolution simulations using either ALDM as well as with standard LES schemes. We found that the results of the models with parametrized turbulence, which are orders of magnitude more computationally economical than the DNS, compare favorably with the DNS in terms of the decay of the wave amplitude with time (the quantity most important for application to gravity-wave drag parametrization) suggesting that they may be trusted in future simulations of gravity wave breaking.

MHD Instability and Turbulence in the Tachocline

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Werne, Joseph

2001-01-01

In this quarter we have begun simulations on the Cray T3E at PSC and we are debugging our code on the TSC. The PSC simulations are examining stratified shear turbulence with a flow-aligned magnetic field and passive tracer particles. We have conducted analysis of neutral simulations to establish a firm basis of comparison. Second-order structure functions have been computed, fit, and compared to theoretical expressions relating the dissipation fields and the structure-function-fit parameters. Agreement with high-Reynolds number observations is excellent, giving us confidence that the lower-Re simulations are relevant to higher-Re flows. We have also evaluated the neutral layer anisotropy.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hicks, E. P.; Rosner, R., E-mail: eph2001@columbia.edu

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.more » 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.« less

Suppression of turbulent energy cascade due to phase separation in homogenous binary mixture fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takagi, Youhei; Okamoto, Sachiya

2015-11-01

When a multi-component fluid mixture becomes themophysically unstable state by quenching from well-melting condition, phase separation due to spinodal decomposition occurs, and a self-organized structure is formed. During phase separation, free energy is consumed for the structure formation. In our previous report, the phase separation in homogenous turbulence was numerically simulated and the coarsening process of phase separation was discussed. In this study, we extended our numerical model to a high Schmidt number fluid corresponding to actual polymer solution. The governing equations were continuity, Navier-Stokes, and Chan-Hiliard equations as same as our previous report. The flow filed was an isotropic homogenous turbulence, and the dimensionless parameters in the Chan-Hilliard equation were estimated based on the thermophysical condition of binary mixture. From the numerical results, it was found that turbulent energy cascade was drastically suppressed in the inertial subrange by phase separation for the high Schmidt number flow. By using the identification of turbulent and phase separation structure, we discussed the relation between total energy balance and the structures formation processes. This study is financially supported by the Grand-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (No. T26820045) from the Ministry of Education, Cul-ture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

Observations of Large-Amplitude, Parallel, Electrostatic Waves Associated with the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilder, F. D.; Ergun, R. E.; Schwartz, S. J.; Newman, D. L.; Eriksson, S.; Stawarz, J. E.; Goldman, M. V.; Goodrich, K. A.; Gershman, D. J.; Malaspina, D.;

Parameter dimension of turbulence-induced phase errors and its effects on estimation in phase diversity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thelen, Brian J.; Paxman, Richard G.

1994-01-01

The method of phase diversity has been used in the context of incoherent imaging to estimate jointly an object that is being imaged and phase aberrations induced by atmospheric turbulence. The method requires a parametric model for the phase-aberration function. Typically, the parameters are coefficients to a finite set of basis functions. Care must be taken in selecting a parameterization that properly balances accuracy in the representation of the phase-aberration function with stability in the estimates. It is well known that over parameterization can result in unstable estimates. Thus a certain amount of model mismatch is often desirable. We derive expressions that quantify the bias and variance in object and aberration estimates as a function of parameter dimension.

Reduced-order model based feedback control of the modified Hasegawa-Wakatani model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goumiri, I. R.; Rowley, C. W.; Ma, Z.

2013-04-15

In this work, the development of model-based feedback control that stabilizes an unstable equilibrium is obtained for the Modified Hasegawa-Wakatani (MHW) equations, a classic model in plasma turbulence. First, a balanced truncation (a model reduction technique that has proven successful in flow control design problems) is applied to obtain a low dimensional model of the linearized MHW equation. Then, a model-based feedback controller is designed for the reduced order model using linear quadratic regulators. Finally, a linear quadratic Gaussian controller which is more resistant to disturbances is deduced. The controller is applied on the non-reduced, nonlinear MHW equations to stabilizemore » the equilibrium and suppress the transition to drift-wave induced turbulence.« less

Reduced-Order Model Based Feedback Control For Modified Hasegawa-Wakatani Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goumiri, I. R.; Rowley, C. W.; Ma, Z.

2013-01-28

In this work, the development of model-based feedback control that stabilizes an unstable equilibrium is obtained for the Modi ed Hasegawa-Wakatani (MHW) equations, a classic model in plasma turbulence. First, a balanced truncation (a model reduction technique that has proven successful in ow control design problems) is applied to obtain a low dimensional model of the linearized MHW equation. Then a modelbased feedback controller is designed for the reduced order model using linear quadratic regulators (LQR). Finally, a linear quadratic gaussian (LQG) controller, which is more resistant to disturbances is deduced. The controller is applied on the non-reduced, nonlinear MHWmore » equations to stabilize the equilibrium and suppress the transition to drift-wave induced turbulence.« less

Fluid mechanical dispersion of airborne pollutants inside urban street canyons subjecting to multi-component ventilation and unstable thermal stratifications.

PubMed

Mei, Shuo-Jun; Liu, Cheng-Wei; Liu, Di; Zhao, Fu-Yun; Wang, Han-Qing; Li, Xiao-Hong

2016-09-15

The pedestrian level pollutant transport in street canyons with multiple aspect ratios (H/W) is numerically investigated in the present work, regarding of various unstable thermal stratification scenarios and plain surrounding. Non-isothermal turbulent wind flow, temperature field and pollutant spread within and above the street canyons are solved by the realizable k-ε turbulence model along with the enhanced wall treatment. One-vortex flow regime is observed for shallow canyons with H/W=0.5, whereas multi-vortex flow regime is observed for deep canyons with H/W=2.0. Both one-vortex and multi-vortex regimes could be observed for the street canyons with H/W=1.0, where the secondary vortex could be initiated by the flow separation and intensified by unstable thermal stratification. Air exchange rate (AER) and pollutant retention time are adopted to respectively evaluate the street canyon ventilation and pollutant removal performance. A second-order polynomial functional relationship is established between AER and Richardson number (Ri). Similar functional relationship could be established between retention time and Ri, and it is only valid for canyons with one-vortex flow regime. In addition, retention time could be prolonged abruptly for canyons with multi-vortex flow regime. Very weak secondary vortex is presented at the ground level of deep canyons with mild stratification, where pollutants are highly accumulated. However, with the decrease of Ri, pollutant concentration adjacent to the ground reduces accordingly. Present research could be applied to guide the urban design and city planning for enhancing pedestrian environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing the Impacts of Low Level Jets over Wind Turbines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutierrez Rodriguez, Walter; Araya, Guillermo; Ruiz-Columbie, Arquimedes; Tutkun, Murat; Castillo, Luciano

2015-11-01

Low Level Jets (LLJs) are defined as regions of relatively strong winds in the lower part of the atmosphere. They are a common feature over the Great Plains in the United States. This paper is focused on the determination of the static/dynamic impacts that real LLJs in West Texas have over wind turbines and wind farms. High-frequency (50Hz) observational data from the 200-m meteorological tower (Reese, Texas) have been input as inflow conditions into the NREL FAST code in order to evaluate the LLJ's structural impacts on a typical wind turbine. Then, the effect of the LLJ on the wind turbine's wake is considered to evaluate the overall impact on the wind farm. It has been observed that during a LLJ event the levels of turbulence intensity and turbulence kinetic energy are significantly much lower than those during unstable conditions. Also, low-frequency oscillations prevail during stable conditions when LLJs are present, as opposed to high-frequency oscillations which are more prevalent during unstable conditions. Additionally, in LLJs the energy concentrates in particular frequencies that stress the turbine whereas turbine signals show frequencies that are also present in the incoming wind. Grants: NSF-CBET #1157246, NSF-CMMI #1100948, NSF-PIRE # NSF-OISE-1243482.

Numerical Simulation of Flow in a Whirling Annular Seal and Comparison with Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Athavale, M. M.; Hendricks, R. C.; Steinetz, B. M.

1995-01-01

The turbulent flow field in a simulated annular seal with a large clearance/radius ratio (0.015) and a whirling rotor was simulated using an advanced 3D CFD code SCISEAL. A circular whirl orbit with synchronous whirl was imposed on the rotor center. The flow field was rendered quasi-steady by making a transformation to a totaling frame. Standard k-epsilon model with wall functions was used to treat the turbulence. Experimentally measured values of flow parameters were used to specify the seal inlet and exit boundary conditions. The computed flow-field in terms of the velocity and pressure is compared with the experimental measurements inside the seal. The agreement between the numerical results and experimental data with correction is fair to good. The capability of current advanced CFD methodology to analyze this complex flow field is demonstrated. The methodology can also be extended to other whirl frequencies. Half- (or sub-) synchronous (fluid film unstable motion) and synchronous (rotor centrifugal force unbalance) whirls are the most unstable whirl modes in turbomachinery seals, and the flow code capability of simulating the flows in steady as well as whirling seals will prove to be extremely useful in the design, analyses, and performance predictions of annular as well as other types of seals.

Estimation of turbulence intensity and shear factor for diurnal and nocturnal periods with an URANS flow solver coupled with WRF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veiga Rodrigues, C.; Palma, J. M. L. M.

2014-06-01

Mesoscale results using the WRF model were downscaled from 3 km to 250 m resolution in a one-way coupling with VENTOS®/M. The results were compared against field measurements at one site comprising 4 meteorological masts, each with two sets of cup anemometers and wind vanes. The results showed that the addition of VENTOS®/M to the model chain improved the wind speed RMSE. Regarding the prediction of wind direction ambivalent results were obtained. Special attention was given to the prediction of turbulence intensity, particularly in reproducing its inverse proportionality with increasing wind speed (cf. IEC 61400-1 standard). The typical use of computational models in wind resource assessment, i.e., relying on decoupled methodologies and neutrally-stratified regimes, does not allow the representation of turbulence intensity for all wind speeds. The results obtained with VENTOS®/M were in agreement with the measured turbulence characteristics at both high and low wind speeds. Such was achieved without the coupling of any turbulence related field, relying solely on the turbulence model embedded in VENTOS®/M and its respective wall boundary conditions, based on Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. The behaviour under different stratification regimes was verified by analysing diurnal and nocturnal events separately.

The Role of Scale in the Development and Evolution of Stratified Shear Turbulence, Entrainment and Mixing

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

plan for the DNS runs of this project, which will be performed by using NGA (Desjardins et al., 2008), an in-house flow solver for variable density low...examined at geophysically relevant Reynolds numbers. In this project, the LES capabilities of the NGA computational framework is used. 4 REFERENCES

FLOW STRUCTURE AND TURBULENT DIFFUSION AROUND A THREE-DIMENSIONAL HILL. FLUID MODELING STUDY ON EFFECTS OF STRATIFICATION. PART I. FLOW STRUCTURE

EPA Science Inventory

This research program was initiated with the overall objective of gaining understanding of the flow and diffusion of pollutants in complex terrain under both neutral and stably stratified conditions. This report covers the first phase of the project; it describes the flow structu...

Characterization of Combustion Dynamics, Detection, and Prevention of an Unstable Combustion State Based on a Complex-Network Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gotoda, Hiroshi; Kinugawa, Hikaru; Tsujimoto, Ryosuke; Domen, Shohei; Okuno, Yuta

2017-04-01

Complex-network theory has attracted considerable attention for nearly a decade, and it enables us to encompass our understanding of nonlinear dynamics in complex systems in a wide range of fields, including applied physics and mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering. We conduct an experimental study using a pragmatic online detection methodology based on complex-network theory to prevent a limiting unstable state such as blowout in a confined turbulent combustion system. This study introduces a modified version of the natural visibility algorithm based on the idea of a visibility limit to serve as a pragmatic online detector. The average degree of the modified version of the natural visibility graph allows us to detect the onset of blowout, resulting in online prevention.

Current-driven plasma acceleration versus current-driven energy dissipation. I - Wave stability theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelly, A. J.; Jahn, R. G.; Choueiri, E. Y.

1990-01-01

The dominant unstable electrostatic wave modes of an electromagnetically accelerated plasma are investigated. The study is the first part of a three-phase program aimed at characterizing the current-driven turbulent dissipation degrading the efficiency of Lorentz force plasma accelerators such as the MPD thruster. The analysis uses a kinetic theory that includes magnetic and thermal effects as well as those of an electron current transverse to the magnetic field and collisions, thus combining all the features of previous models. Analytical and numerical solutions allow a detailed description of threshold criteria, finite growth behavior, destabilization mechanisms and maximized-growth characteristics of the dominant unstable modes. The lower hybrid current-driven instability is implicated as dominant and was found to preserve its character in the collisional plasma regime.

Relations between overturning length scales at the Spanish planetary boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López, Pilar; Cano, José L.

2016-04-01

We analyze the behavior of the maximum Thorpe displacement (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LTat the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), extending previous research with new data and improving our studies related to the novel use of the Thorpe method applied to ABL. The maximum Thorpe displacements vary between -900 m and 950 m for the different field campaigns. The maximum Thorpe displacement is always greater under convective conditions than under stable ones, independently of its sign. The Thorpe scale LT ranges between 0.2 m and 680 m for the different data sets which cover different stratified mixing conditions (turbulence shear-driven and convective regions). The Thorpe scale does not exceed several tens of meters under stable and neutral stratification conditions related to instantaneous density gradients. In contrast, under convective conditions, Thorpe scales are relatively large, they exceed hundreds of meters which may be related to convective bursts. We analyze the relation between (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LT and we deduce that they verify a power law. We also deduce that there is a difference in exponents of the power laws for convective conditions and shear-driven conditions. These different power laws could identify overturns created under different mechanisms. References Cuxart, J., Yagüe, C., Morales, G., Terradellas, E., Orbe, J., Calvo, J., Fernández, A., Soler, M., Infante, C., Buenestado, P., Espinalt, Joergensen, H., Rees, J., Vilà, J., Redondo, J., Cantalapiedra, I. and Conangla, L.: Stable atmospheric boundary-layer experiment in Spain (Sables 98). A report, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 96, 337-370, 2000. Dillon, T. M.: Vertical Overturns: A Comparison of Thorpe and Ozmidov Length Scales, J. Geophys. Res., 87(C12), 9601-9613, 1982. Itsweire, E. C.: Measurements of vertical overturns in stably stratified turbulent flow, Phys. Fluids, 27(4), 764-766, 1984. Kitade, Y., Matsuyama, M. and Yoshida, J.: Distribution of overturn induced by internal tides and Thorpe scale in Uchiura Bay, Journal of Oceanography, 59, 845-850, 2003. López P., Cano J. L., Cano D. and Tijera M.: Thorpe method applied to planetary boundary layer data, Il Nuovo Cimento, 31C(5-6), 881-892, 2008. DOI: 10.1393/ncc/i2009-10338-3. Lorke A. and Wüest A.: Probability density of displacement and overturning length scales under diverse stratification, J. Geophys. Res., 107 (C12), 3214-3225, 2002. Piera, J., Roget, E. and Catalan, J.: Turbulent patch identification in microstructure profiles: a method based on wavelet denoising and Thorpe displacement analysis, J. Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 19, 1390-1402, 2002. Piera, J.: Signal processing of microstructure profiles: integrating turbulent spatial scales in aquatic ecological modelling, Ph. D. Thesis, Gerona University, Spain, 2004. Smyth, W. D. and Moum, J. N.: Length scales of turbulence in stably stratified mixing layers, Phys. Fluids., 12, 1327-1342, 2000. Thorpe, S.A.: Turbulence and Mixing in a Scottish Loch, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London (Ser. A), 286(1334), 125-18, 1977.

Transition to turbulence under low-pressure turbine conditions.

PubMed

Simon, T W; Kaszeta, R W

2001-05-01

In this paper, the topic of laminar to turbulent flow transition, as applied to the design of gas turbines, is discussed. Transition comes about when a flow becomes sufficiently unstable that the orderly vorticity structure of the laminar layer becomes randomly oriented. Vorticity with a streamwise component leads to rapid growth of eddies of a wide range of sizes and eventually to turbulent flow. Under "natural" transition, infinitesimal disturbances of selected frequencies grow. "Bypass transition" is a term coined to describe a similar process, but one driven by strong external disturbances. Transition proceeds so rapidly that the processes associated with "natural" transition seem to be "bypassed." Because the flow environment in the turbine is disturbed by wakes from upstream airfoils, eddies from combustor flows, jets from film cooling, separation zones on upstream airfoils and steps in the duct walls, transition is of the bypass mode. In this paper, we discuss work that has been done to characterize and model bypass transition, as applied to the turbine environment.

Large-eddy and unsteady RANS simulations of a shock-accelerated heavy gas cylinder

DOE PAGES

Morgan, B. E.; Greenough, J. A.

2015-04-08

Two-dimensional numerical simulations of the Richtmyer–Meshkov unstable “shock-jet” problem are conducted using both large-eddy simulation (LES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) approaches in an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian hydrodynamics code. Turbulence statistics are extracted from LES by running an ensemble of simulations with multimode perturbations to the initial conditions. Detailed grid convergence studies are conducted, and LES results are found to agree well with both experiment and high-order simulations conducted by Shankar et al. (Phys Fluids 23, 024102, 2011). URANS results using a k–L approach are found to be highly sensitive to initialization of the turbulence lengthscale L and to the timemore » at which L becomes resolved on the computational mesh. As a result, it is observed that a gradient diffusion closure for turbulent species flux is a poor approximation at early times, and a new closure based on the mass-flux velocity is proposed for low-Reynolds-number mixing.« less

Does deep ocean mixing drive upwelling or downwelling of abyssal waters?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrari, R. M.; McDougall, T. J.; Mashayek, A.; Nikurashin, M.; Campin, J. M.

2016-02-01

It is generally understood that small-scale mixing, such as is caused by breaking internal waves, drives upwelling of the densest ocean waters that sink to the ocean bottom at high latitudes. However the observational evidence that the turbulent fluxes generated by small-scale mixing in the stratified ocean interior are more vigorous close to the ocean bottom than above implies that small-scale mixing converts light waters into denser ones, thus driving a net sinking of abyssal water. Using a combination of numerical models and observations, it will be shown that abyssal waters return to the surface along weakly stratified boundary layers, where the small-scale mixing of density decays to zero. The net ocean meridional overturning circulation is thus the small residual of a large sinking of waters, driven by small-scale mixing in the stratified interior, and a comparably large upwelling, driven by the reduced small-scale mixing along the ocean boundaries.

Overturn of magma ocean ilmenite cumulate layer: Implications for lunar magmatic evolution and formation of a lunar core

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hess, P. C.; Parmentier, E. M.

1993-01-01

We explore a model for the chemical evolution of the lunar interior that explains the origin and evolution of lunar magmatism and possibly the existence of a lunar core. A magma ocean formed during accretion differentiates into the anorthositic crust and chemically stratified cumulate mantle. The cumulative mantle is gravitationally unstable with dense ilmenite cumulate layers overlying olivine-orthopyroxene cumulates with Fe/Mg that decreases with depth. The dense ilmenite layer sinks to the center of the moon forming the core. The remainder of the gravitationally unstable cumulate pile also overturns. Any remaining primitive lunar mantle rises to its level of neutral buoyancy in the cumulate pile. Perhaps melting of primitive lunar mantle due to this decompression results in early lunar Mg-rich magmatism. Because of its high concentration of incompatible heat producing elements, the ilmenite core heats the overlying orthopyroxene-bearing cumulates. As a conductively thickening thermal boundary layer becomes unstable, the resulting mantle plumes rise, decompress, and partially melt to generate the mare basalts. This model explains both the timing and chemical characteristics of lunar magmatism.

Cross Helicity and Turbulent Magnetic Diffusivity in the Solar Convection Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rüdiger, G.; Kitchatinov, L. L.; Brandenburg, A.

2011-03-01

In a density-stratified turbulent medium, the cross helicity < u'ṡ B'> is considered as a result of the interaction of the velocity fluctuations and a large-scale magnetic field. By means of a quasilinear theory and by numerical simulations, we find the cross helicity and the mean vertical magnetic field to be anti-correlated. In the high-conductivity limit the ratio of the helicity and the mean magnetic field equals the ratio of the magnetic eddy diffusivity and the (known) density scale height. The result can be used to predict that the cross helicity at the solar surface will exceed the value of 1 gauss km s-1. Its sign is anti-correlated to that of the radial mean magnetic field. Alternatively, we can use our result to determine the value of the turbulent magnetic diffusivity from observations of the cross helicity.

Analysis of Aircraft, Radiosonde and Radar Observations in Cirrus Clouds Observed During FIRE II: The Interactions Between Environmental Structure, Turbulence and Cloud Microphysical Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Samantha A.; DelGenio, Anthony D.

1999-01-01

Ways to determine the turbulence intensity and the horizontal variability in cirrus clouds have been investigated using FIRE-II aircraft, radiosonde and radar data. Higher turbulence intensities were found within some, but not all, of the neutrally stratified layers. It was also demonstrated that the stability of cirrus layers with high extinction values decrease in time, possibly as a result of radiative destabilization. However, these features could not be directly related to each other in any simple manner. A simple linear relationship was observed between the amount of horizontal variability in the ice water content and its average value. This was also true for the extinction and ice crystal number concentrations. A relationship was also suggested between the variability in cloud depth and the environmental stability across the depth of the cloud layer, which requires further investigation.

Synergy of Stochastic and Systematic Energization of Plasmas during Turbulent Reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pisokas, Theophilos; Vlahos, Loukas; Isliker, Heinz

2018-01-01

The important characteristic of turbulent reconnection is that it combines large-scale magnetic disturbances (δ B/B∼ 1) with randomly distributed unstable current sheets (UCSs). Many well-known nonlinear MHD structures (strong turbulence, current sheet(s), shock(s)) lead asymptotically to the state of turbulent reconnection. We analyze in this article, for the first time, the energization of electrons and ions in a large-scale environment that combines large-amplitude disturbances propagating with sub-Alfvénic speed with UCSs. The magnetic disturbances interact stochastically (second-order Fermi) with the charged particles and play a crucial role in the heating of the particles, while the UCSs interact systematically (first-order Fermi) and play a crucial role in the formation of the high-energy tail. The synergy of stochastic and systematic acceleration provided by the mixture of magnetic disturbances and UCSs influences the energetics of the thermal and nonthermal particles, the power-law index, and the length of time the particles remain inside the energy release volume. We show that this synergy can explain the observed very fast and impulsive particle acceleration and the slightly delayed formation of a superhot particle population.

Intensity and angle-of-arrival spectra of laser light propagating through axially homogeneous buoyancy-driven turbulence.

PubMed

Pawar, Shashikant S; Arakeri, Jaywant H

2016-08-01

Frequency spectra obtained from the measurements of light intensity and angle of arrival (AOA) of parallel laser light propagating through the axially homogeneous, axisymmetric buoyancy-driven turbulent flow at high Rayleigh numbers in a long (length-to-diameter ratio of about 10) vertical tube are reported. The flow is driven by an unstable density difference created across the tube ends using brine and fresh water. The highest Rayleigh number is about 8×10⁹. The aim of the present work is to find whether the conventional Obukhov-Corrsin scaling or Bolgiano-Obukhov (BO) scaling is obtained for the intensity and AOA spectra in the case of light propagation in a buoyancy-driven turbulent medium. Theoretical relations for the frequency spectra of log amplitude and AOA fluctuations developed for homogeneous isotropic turbulent media are modified for the buoyancy-driven flow in the present case to obtain the asymptotic scalings for the high and low frequency ranges. For low frequencies, the spectra of intensity and vertical AOA fluctuations obtained from measurements follow BO scaling, while scaling for the spectra of horizontal AOA fluctuations shows a small departure from BO scaling.

Zonostrophic turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galperin, Boris; Sukoriansky, Semion; Dikovskaya, Nadejda

2008-12-01

Geostrophic turbulence is a flow regime attained by turbulent, rotating, stably stratified fluids in near-geostrophic balance. When a small-scale forcing is present, flows in this regime may develop an inverse energy cascade. Geostrophic turbulence has been used in geophysical fluid dynamics as a relatively simple model of the large-scale planetary and terrestrial circulations. When the meridional variation of the Coriolis parameter (or a β-effect) is taken into account, the horizontal flow symmetry breaks down giving rise to the emergence of jet flows. In a certain parameter range, a new flow regime comes to life. Its main characteristics include strongly anisotropic kinetic energy spectrum and slowly evolving systems of alternating zonal jets. This regime is a subset of geostrophic turbulence and has been coined zonostrophic turbulence; it can develop both on a β-plane and on the surface of a rotating sphere. This regime was first discovered in computer simulations but later revealed in the laboratory experiments, in the deep terrestrial oceans, and on solar giant planets where it is believed to be the primary physical mechanism responsible for the generation and maintenance of the stable systems of alternating zonal jets. The hallmarks of zonostrophic turbulence are the anisotropic inverse energy cascade and complicated interaction between turbulence and Rossby-Haurwitz waves. Addressing the goals of the conference 'Turbulent Mixing and Beyond' that took place in August 2007 in Trieste, Italy, this paper exposes the regime of zonostrophic turbulence to a wide scientific community, provides a survey of this regime, elaborates its main characteristics, offers novel approaches to describe and understand this phenomenon, and discusses its applicability as a model of the large-scale planetary and terrestrial circulations.

Velocity fields and optical turbulence near the boundary in a strongly convective laboratory flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matt, Silvia; Hou, Weilin; Goode, Wesley; Hellman, Samuel

2016-05-01

Boundary layers around moving underwater vehicles or other platforms can be a limiting factor for optical communication. Turbulence in the boundary layer of a body moving through a stratified medium can lead to small variations in the index of refraction, which impede optical signals. As a first step towards investigating this boundary layer effect on underwater optics, we study the flow near the boundary in the Rayleigh-Bénard laboratory tank at the Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center. The tank is set up to generate temperature-driven, i.e., convective turbulence, and allows control of the turbulence intensity. This controlled turbulence environment is complemented by computational fluid dynamics simulations to visualize and quantify multi-scale flow patterns. The boundary layer dynamics in the laboratory tank are quantified using a state-of-the-art Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system to examine the boundary layer velocities and turbulence parameters. The velocity fields and flow dynamics from the PIV are compared to the numerical model and show the model to accurately reproduce the velocity range and flow dynamics. The temperature variations and thus optical turbulence effects can then be inferred from the model temperature data. Optical turbulence is also visible in the raw data from the PIV system. The newly collected data are consistent with previously reported measurements from high-resolution Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter profilers (Nortek Vectrino), as well as fast thermistor probes and novel next-generation fiber-optics temperature sensors. This multi-level approach to studying optical turbulence near a boundary, combining in-situ measurements, optical techniques, and numerical simulations, can provide new insight and aid in mitigating turbulence impacts on underwater optical signal transmission.

On Cascade Energy Transfer in Convective Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shestakov, A. V.; Stepanov, R. A.; Frick, P. G.

2017-12-01

The paper is devoted to specificities of the cascade processes in developed turbulence existing on a background of the density (temperature) gradient either parallel (turbulence in a stably stratified (SS) medium) or antiparallel (convective turbulence (CT)) to the gravitational force. Our main attention is paid to the Obukhov-Bolgiano (OB) regime, which presumes a balance between the buoyancy and nonlinear forces in a sufficiently extensive part of the inertial interval. Up to now, there has been no reliable evidence of the existence of the OB regime, although fragments of spectra with slopes close to-11/5 and-7/5 were detected in some works on the numerical simulations of convective turbulence. The paper presents a critical comparison of these data with the results obtained in this work using the cascade model of convective turbulence, which makes it possible to consider a wide range of control parameters. The cascade model is new and was obtained by the generalization of the class of helical cascade models to the case of turbulent convection. It is shown that, in developed turbulence, which is characterized by an interval with a constant spectral flux of kinetic energy, the buoyancy force cannot compete with nonlinear interactions and has no essential effect on the dynamics of the inertial interval. It is the buoyancy force that supplies the cascade process with energy in convective turbulence but only in the maximum scales. Under the SS conditions, the buoyancy forces reduce the energy of turbulent pulsations. In the case of stable stratification, the buoyancy force reduces the turbulence pulsation energy. The OB regime arises in none of these cases, but, in the scales beyond the inertial interval, Kolmogorov's turbulence with the "-5/3" law, in which temperature behaves like a passive admixture, is established. The observed deviations from the "-5/3" spectrum, erroneously interpreted as the OB regime, are manifested in the case of insufficient separation of the macroscale of turbulence and the dissipative scale.

Characteristics of turbulence in the troposphere and lower stratosphere over the Indian Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sunilkumar, S. V.; Muhsin, M.; Parameswaran, K.; Venkat Ratnam, M.; Ramkumar, Geetha; Rajeev, K.; Krishna Murthy, B. V.; Sambhu Namboodiri, K. V.; Subrahmanyam, K. V.; Kishore Kumar, K.; Shankar Das, Siddarth

2015-10-01

Characteristics of turbulence in the troposphere and lower stratosphere at Trivandrum (8.5°N, 76.9°E) and Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E), two tropical stations located in the Indian Peninsula, are studied using GPS-radiosonde observations during the period of December 2010 to March 2014 as part of the Tropical Tropopause Dynamics (TTD) Experiment under the CAWSES-India program. This study relies on the detection of turbulence applying Thorpe analysis to the temperature profile, taking into account the impact of atmospheric moisture and instrumental noise on static stability. In general, the tropospheric turbulence is largely intermittent in space and time. The altitude region very close to the convective tropopause (COT), 10-15 km, is relatively more turbulent than the lower troposphere from 3 to 8 km. Though the occurrence of turbulence decreases significantly above the COT, occasionally a rather thin layer of turbulence (thickness <1 km) is observed in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) very close to the cold point tropopause (CPT). Even though broad turbulent layers, with thickness >2 km, are the persisting features that can be observed in the 5-15 km altitude region in multiple observations at both the sites at least during Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) season, prominent multiple thin layers of stratified turbulence in the lower troposphere lasting for a day or less are observed only at Trivandrum in all seasons. In general, the turbulence strength in the 5-15 km altitude region at Gadanki is generally larger than that at Trivandrum. Below 15 km, while the turbulence is mainly governed by the convective instability at Gadanki, wind-shear driven (dynamic) instability also contributes considerably for the generation of turbulence at Trivandrum. While the generation of turbulence above 15 km is dominated by dynamic instability, in the lower stratosphere (LS) it is mainly due to strong wind shears.

Coherent structures and turbulence evolution in magnetized non-neutral plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romé, M.; Chen, S.; Maero, G.

2018-01-01

The evolution of turbulence of a magnetized pure electron plasma confined in a Penning-Malmberg trap is investigated by means of a two-dimensional particle-in-cell numerical code. The transverse plasma dynamics is studied both in the case of free evolution and under the influence of non-axisymmetric, multipolar radio-frequency drives applied on the circular conducting boundary. In the latter case the radio-frequency fields are chosen in the frequency range of the low-order azimuthal (diocotron) modes of the plasma in order to investigate their effect on the insurgence of azimuthal instabilities and the formation and evolution of coherent structures, possibly preventing the relaxation to a fully-developed turbulent state. Different initial density distributions (rings and spirals) are considered, so that evolutions characterized by different levels of turbulence and intermittency are obtained. The time evolution of integral and spectral quantities of interest are computed using a multiresolution analysis based on a wavelet decomposition of density maps. Qualitative features of turbulent relaxation are found to be similar in conditions of both free and forced evolution, but the analysis allows one to highlight fine details of the flow beyond the self-similarity turbulence properties, so that the influence of the initial conditions and the effect of the external forcing can be distinguished. In particular, the presence of small inhomogeneities in the initial density configuration turns out to lead to quite different final states, especially in the presence of competing unstable diocotron modes characterized by similar growth rates.

Pulsating Instability of Turbulent Thermonuclear Flames in Type Ia Supernovae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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 speeds, which are much higher than the characteristic speeds of turbulent fluctuations. These effects can qualitatively change the dynamics of the explosion and, therefore, must be properly accounted for in the turbulent-flame subgrid-scale models.

Ocean mixing beneath Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, West Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Satoshi; Jenkins, Adrian; Dutrieux, Pierre; Forryan, Alexander; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.; Firing, Yvonne

2016-12-01

Ice shelves around Antarctica are vulnerable to an increase in ocean-driven melting, with the melt rate depending on ocean temperature and the strength of flow inside the ice-shelf cavities. We present measurements of velocity, temperature, salinity, turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, and thermal variance dissipation rate beneath Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, West Antarctica. These measurements were obtained by CTD, ADCP, and turbulence sensors mounted on an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The highest turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate is found near the grounding line. The thermal variance dissipation rate increases closer to the ice-shelf base, with a maximum value found ˜0.5 m away from the ice. The measurements of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate near the ice are used to estimate basal melting of the ice shelf. The dissipation-rate-based melt rate estimates is sensitive to the stability correction parameter in the linear approximation of universal function of the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory for stratified boundary layers. We argue that our estimates of basal melting from dissipation rates are within a range of previous estimates of basal melting.

Turbulent structure of stably stratified inhomogeneous flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iida, Oaki

2018-04-01

Effects of buoyancy force stabilizing disturbances are investigated on the inhomogeneous flow where disturbances are dispersed from the turbulent to non-turbulent field in the direction perpendicular to the gravity force. Attaching the fringe region, where disturbances are excited by the artificial body force, a Fourier spectral method is used for the inhomogeneous flow stirred at one side of the cuboid computational box. As a result, it is found that the turbulent kinetic energy is dispersed as layered structures elongated in the streamwise direction through the vibrating motion. A close look at the layered structures shows that they are flanked by colder fluids at the top and hotter fluids at the bottom, and hence vertically compressed and horizontally expanded by the buoyancy related to the countergradient heat flux, though they are punctuated by the vertical expansion of fluids at the forefront of the layered structures, which is related to the downgradient heat flux, indicating that the layered structures are gravity currents. However, the phase between temperature fluctuations and vertical velocity is shifted by π/2 rad, indicating that temperature fluctuations are generated by the propagation of internal gravity waves.

Buoyancy fluxes in stratified flows: observations and parameterizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monismith, Stephen; Koseff, Jeffrey; Walter, Ryan; Squibb, Michael; Woodson, Brock; Davis, Kristen; Pawlak, Geno; Dunckley, Jamie

2017-11-01

We present a synthesis of observations of turbulent buoyancy fluxes, B, made at five sites where flows and turbulence are primarily associated with internal waves, both breaking and non-breaking. In four cases, B was calculated from the covariance of velocity and density whereas in the fifth case, it was inferred from the rate of temperature variance dissipation, χ . Overall, we find that the flux Richardson number, Rif , depends on the Gibson number, Gi = ɛ / νN2 : when Gi < 100, Rif 0.27 , and when Gi > 100 Rif 2.7 Gi-0.5 , in agreement with the functional relationship found originally using direct numerical simulation (DNS). Our observations do not match well other DNS-derived models that parameterize Rif in terms of the gradient Richardson number, Ri, or the turbulence Froude numbers, FrK and Frt . Similarly, Rif (Gi) is found to be the same for all the covariance data sets, despite the fact that these 4 flows produce turbulence that falls in different regimes defined by several pairs chosen from the 5 non-dimensional numbers that the Buckingham Π theorem shows may affect Rif .

Collisionless effects on beam-return current systems in solar flares

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vlahos, L.; Rowland, H. L.

1985-01-01

A theoretical study of the beam-return current system (BRCS) in solar flares shows that the precipitating electrons modify the way in which the return current (RC) is carried by the background plasma. In particular it is found that the RC is not carried by the bulk of the electrons but by a small number of high-velocity electrons. For beam/plasma densities exceeding approximately 0.001, this can reduce the effects of collisions and heating by the RC. For higher-density beams, where the RC could be unstable to current-driven instabilities, the effects of strong turbulence anomalous resistivity prevent the appearance of such instabilities. The main conclusion is that the BRCS is interconnected, and that the beam-generated strong turbulence determines how the RC is carried.

Simulations and observations of cloudtop processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siems, S. T.; Bretherton, C. S.; Baker, M. B.

1990-01-01

Turbulent entrainment at zero mean shear stratified interfaces has been studied extensively in the laboratory and theoretically for the classical situation in which density is a passive tracer of the mixing and the turbulent motions producing the entrainment are directed toward the interface. It is the purpose of the numerical simulations and data analysis to investigate these processes and, specifically, to focus on the following questions: (1) Can local cooling below cloudtop play an important role in setting up convective circulations within the cloud, and bringing about entrainment; (2) Can Cloudtop Entrainment Instability (CEI) alone lead to runaway entrainment under geophysically realistic conditions; and (3) What are the important mechanisms of entrainment at cloudtop under zero or low mean shear conditions.

Turbulence suppression at water density interfaces: observations under moderate wind forcing.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcello Falcieri, Francesco; Kanth, Lakshmi H.; Benetazzo, Alvise; Bergamasco, Andrea; Bonaldo, Davide; Barbariol, Francesco; Malačič, Vlado; Sclavo, Mauro; Carniel, Sandro

2016-04-01

Water column stratification has a strong influence on the behaviour of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rates. Density gradient interfaces, due to thermohaline characteristics and to suspended sediment concentration, can act as a barrier and significantly damp TKE. Between January 30th - February 4th 2014 (CARPET2014 oceanographic campaign on R/V URANIA) we collected the very first turbulence data in the Gulf of Trieste (a small bay located in the North-eartern part of the Adriatic Sea). Observation consisted of 38 CTD casts and 478 microstructure profiles (145 ensembles) collected with a free-falling probe (MSS90L). Among those 48 were grouped in three sets of yoyo casts, each lasting for about 12 consecutive hours. The meteorological conditions during the campaign were of moderate wind (average wind speed 10 m s-1) and heat flux (net negative heat flux ranging from 150 to 400 W m-2). The water column characteristics in the Gulf during the campaign evolved from well-mixed to stratified conditions with waters intruding from the Adriatic Sea at the bottom. Two types of water intrusions were found during yoyo casts: one coming from the Adriatic Sea northern coast (i.e. warmer, saltier and more turbid) and one coming from the open sea in front of the Po Delta (i.e. cooler, fresher and less turbid). Our observations show that under moderate wind forcing, the GOT was not completely mixed due to the interfaces created by the bottom waters intruding from the open sea. The comparison of microstructure profiles collected during well mixed and stratified conditions permitted us to highlight the effect of different stratification on TKE dissipation rates. While during well mixed condition TKE profiles are governed just by their forcing, the two intrusions showed different impacts on TKE dissipation rate profiles. The coastal one, with high turbidity, acted as a barrier to surface driven turbulence dumping it of almost two order of magnitude, while the one coming from the open sea, with low sediment concentrations and a smaller vertical density gradient, was not able to suppress downward penetration of turbulence from the surface.

Sediment Suspension by Straining-Induced Convection at the Head of Salinity Intrusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qianjiang; Wu, Jiaxue

2018-01-01

The tidal straining can generate convective motions and exert a periodic modification of turbulence and sediment transport in estuarine and coastal bottom boundary layers. However, the evidence and physics of convection and sediment suspension induced by tidal straining have not been straightforward. To examine these questions, mooring and transect surveys have been conducted in September 2015 in the region of the Yangtze River plume influence. Field observations and scaling analyses indicate an occurrence of convective motions at the head of saline wedge. Theoretical analyses of stratification evolution in the saline wedge show that unstable stratification and resultant convection are induced by tidal straining. Vertical turbulent velocity and eddy viscosity at the head of saline wedge are both larger than their neutral counterparts in the main body, largely enhancing sediment suspension at the head of saline wedge. Moreover, sediment suspension in both neutral and convection-affected flows is supported by the variance of vertical turbulent velocity, rather than the shearing stress. Finally, the stability correction functions in the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory can be simply derived from the local turbulent kinetic energy balance to successfully describe the effects of tidal straining on turbulent length scale, eddy viscosity, and sediment diffusivity in the convection-affected flow. These recognitions may provide novel understanding of estuarine turbidity maxima, and the dynamical structure and processes for coastal hypoxia.

Mass Transport and Turbulence in Gravitationally Unstable Disk Galaxies. I. The Case of Pure Self-gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldbaum, Nathan J.; Krumholz, Mark R.; Forbes, John C.

2015-12-01

The role of gravitational instability-driven turbulence in determining the structure and evolution of disk galaxies, and the extent to which gravity rather than feedback can explain galaxy properties, remains an open question. To address it, we present high-resolution adaptive mesh refinement simulations of Milky Way-like isolated disk galaxies, including realistic heating and cooling rates and a physically motivated prescription for star formation, but no form of star formation feedback. After an initial transient, our galaxies reach a state of fully nonlinear gravitational instability. In this state, gravity drives turbulence and radial inflow. Despite the lack of feedback, the gas in our galaxy models shows substantial turbulent velocity dispersions, indicating that gravitational instability alone may be able to power the velocity dispersions observed in nearby disk galaxies on 100 pc scales. Moreover, the rate of mass transport produced by this turbulence approaches ˜ 1 {M}⊙ yr-1 for Milky Way-like conditions, sufficient to fully fuel star formation in the inner disks of galaxies. In a companion paper, we add feedback to our models, and use the comparison between the two cases to understand which galaxy properties depend sensitively on feedback and which can be understood as the product of gravity alone. All of the code, initial conditions, and simulation data for our model are publicly available.

Large Eddy Simulation of Wall-Bounded Turbulent Flows with the Lattice Boltzmann Method: Effect of Collision Model, SGS Model and Grid Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pradhan, Aniruddhe; Akhavan, Rayhaneh

2017-11-01

Effect of collision model, subgrid-scale model and grid resolution in Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of wall-bounded turbulent flows with the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is investigated in turbulent channel flow. The Single Relaxation Time (SRT) collision model is found to be more accurate than Multi-Relaxation Time (MRT) collision model in well-resolved LES. Accurate LES requires grid resolutions of Δ+ <= 4 in the near-wall region, which is comparable to Δ+ <= 2 required in DNS. At larger grid resolutions SRT becomes unstable, while MRT remains stable but gives unacceptably large errors. LES with no model gave errors comparable to the Dynamic Smagorinsky Model (DSM) and the Wall Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model. The resulting errors in the prediction of the friction coefficient in turbulent channel flow at a bulk Reynolds Number of 7860 (Reτ 442) with Δ+ = 4 and no-model, DSM and WALE were 1.7%, 2.6%, 3.1% with SRT, and 8.3% 7.5% 8.7% with MRT, respectively. These results suggest that LES of wall-bounded turbulent flows with LBM requires either grid-embedding in the near-wall region, with grid resolutions comparable to DNS, or a wall model. Results of LES with grid-embedding and wall models will be discussed.

Turbulence-enhanced bottom melting of a horizontal glacier--lake interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keitzl, T.; Mellado, J. P.; Notz, D.

2014-12-01

We use laboratory tank experiments and direct numerical simulations to investigate the meltrates of a horizontal bottom glacier--lake interface as a function of lake temperature. Existing parameterisations of such meltrates are usually based on empirical fits to field observations. To understand the meltrates of an ice--water interface more systematically we study an idealised system in terms of its temperature-driven buoyancy forcing. In such systems, the meltrate can be expressed analytically for a stable stratification. Here we investigate the unstable case and present how the meltrate depends on the lake temperature when the water beneath the ice is overturning and turbulent. We use laboratory tank experiments and direct numerical simulations to study an idealised ice--water boundary. The laboratory tank experiments provide robust observation-based mean-temperature profiles. The numerical simulations provide the full three-dimensional structure of the turbulent flow down to scales not accessible in the laboratory, with a minimum 0.2mm gridspacing. Our laboratory mean-temperature profiles agree well with the numerical simulations and lend credibility to our numerical setup. The structure of the turbulent flow in our simulations is well described by two self-similar subregions, a diffusion-dominated inner layer close to the ice and a turbulence-dominated outer layer far from the ice. We provide an explicit expression for the parameterisation of the meltrate of a horizontal glacier--lake interface as a function of lake temperature.

Early Warning Signals for Regime Transition in the Stable Boundary Layer: A Model Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Hooijdonk, I. G. S.; Moene, A. F.; Scheffer, M.; Clercx, H. J. H.; van de Wiel, B. J. H.

2017-02-01

The evening transition is investigated in an idealized model for the nocturnal boundary layer. From earlier studies it is known that the nocturnal boundary layer may manifest itself in two distinct regimes, depending on the ambient synoptic conditions: strong-wind or overcast conditions typically lead to weakly stable, turbulent nights; clear-sky and weak-wind conditions, on the other hand, lead to very stable, weakly turbulent conditions. Previously, the dynamical behaviour near the transition between these regimes was investigated in an idealized setting, relying on Monin-Obukhov (MO) similarity to describe turbulent transport. Here, we investigate a similar set-up, using direct numerical simulation; in contrast to MO-based models, this type of simulation does not need to rely on turbulence closure assumptions. We show that previous predictions are verified, but now independent of turbulence parametrizations. Also, it appears that a regime shift to the very stable state is signaled in advance by specific changes in the dynamics of the turbulent boundary layer. Here, we show how these changes may be used to infer a quantitative estimate of the transition point from the weakly stable boundary layer to the very stable boundary layer. In addition, it is shown that the idealized, nocturnal boundary-layer system shares important similarities with generic non-linear dynamical systems that exhibit critical transitions. Therefore, the presence of other, generic early warning signals is tested as well. Indeed, indications are found that such signals are present in stably stratified turbulent flows.

Intermittency and Topology of Shock Induced Mixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellez, Jackson; Redondo, Jose M.; Ben Mahjoub, Otman; Malik, Nadeem; Vila, Teresa

2016-04-01

The advance of a Rayleigh-Taylor front is described in Linden & Redondo (1991),[1-3] and may be shown to follow a quadratic law in time where the width of the growing region of instability depends on the local mixing efficiency of the different density fluids that accelerate against each other g is the acceleration and A is the Atwood number defined as the diference of densities divided by their sum. This results show the independence of the large amplitude structures on the initial conditions the width of the mixing region depends also on the intermittency of the turbulence. Then dimensional analysis may also depend on the relevant reduced acceleration driven time and the molecular reactive time akin to Damkholer number and the fractal structure of the contact zone [2,4]. Detailed experiments and simulations on RT and RM shock induced fronts analized with respect to structure functions are able to determine which mechanisms are most effective in local mixing which increase the effective fractal dimension, as well as the effect of higher order geometrical parameters, such as the structure functions, in non-homogeneous fluids (Mahjoub et al 1998)[5]. The structure of a Mixing blob shows a relatively sharp head with most of the mixing taking place at the sides due to what seems to be shear instability very similar to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, but with sideways accelerations. The formation of the blobs and spikes with their secondary instabilities produces a turbulent cascade, evident just after about 1 non-dimensional time unit, from a virtual time origin that takes into account the linear growth phase, as can be seen by the growth of the fractal dimension for different volume fractions. Two-dimensional cuts of the 3D flow also show that vortex flows have closed or spiral streamlines around their core. Examples of such flows can be also seen in the laboratory, for example at the interface of atwo-layer stratified fluid in a tank in which case streamlines are more regular. Mixing in turbulent flows remains less well understood, and in spite research some basic problems are still virtually unexplored. Th e indications suggest that mixing in non-decaying and accelerating turbulent flows are different from those in vortical and steady flows. Fluid element pairs separate, neither linearly nor exponentially but according to a generalized intermittent Richardson's law. Fractal analysis in the laboratory shows that fluid element pairs travel close to each other for a long time until they separate quite suddenly suggest that straining regions around hyperbolic points play an important role in the violent turbulent stirring and in the mechanisms by which turbulence causes fluid element pairs to move apart [6,7]. So the eddies that are most effective in separating fluid elements are those that have a size comparable to the instantaneous separation between the two fluid elements. This is seen in both RT and RM instabilities. For a constant acceleration, the RT instability is found to grow self -similarly according to mixing coefficients which when measured over a comprehensive range of density ratio (Atwood nubers)show that the results are found applicable to supernova exlposions.For an impulsive acceleration (RM), there are two components. The RM impulse from a shock is greatly reduced at high Mach number due to compressive effects in reasonable agreement with linear theory. The ensuing motion is essentially incompressible and described by a power law However, the exponents obtained from the compressible RM experiments are larger than those obtained from incompressible RT experiments. The discrepancy is not well understood but intermittency differences could explain the role of compressibility in fractal media. [1] Linden P.F., Redondo J.M. and Youngs D. (1994) Molecular mixing in Rayleigh-Taylor Instability. Jour. Fluid Mech. 265, 97-124. [2] Redondo, J.M., 1990. The structure of density interfaces. Ph.D. Thesis. DAMTP, University of Cambridge. Cambridge [3] Redondo J.M. (1996) Vertical microstructure and mixing in stratified flows. Advances in Turbulence VI. Eds. S. Gavrilakis et al. 605-608. [4] Redondo J.M.,M.A. Sanchez y R. Castilla (2000) Vortical structures in stratified turbulent flows, Turbulent diffusion in the environment. Eds. Redondo J.M. and Babiano A. 113-120. [5] Mahjoub, O. B., Babiano A. and Redondo, J. M.: Structure functions in complex flows, Flow, Turbulence and Combustion, 59,299-313, 1998. [6] Malik, N.A. Vassilicos, J.C. 1999 A Lagrangian model of turbulent dispersion with turbulent-like flow structure: comparison with direct numerical simulation for two-particle statistics. Phys. Fluids, 11, 1572-1580. [7] Fung, J.C.H., Hunt, J.C.R., Malik, N.A. and Perkins, R.J.(1992. Kinematic simulation of homogeneous turbulence by unsteady random Fourier modes. J. Fluid Mech.236-281. [8] Tarquis, A. M., Platonov, A., Matulka, A., Grau, J., Sekula, E., Diez, M., & Redondo, J. M. (2014). Application of multifractal analysis to the study of SAR features and oil spills on the ocean surface. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 21(2), 439-450. [9] Fraunie, P., Berreba, S., Chashechkin, Y. D., Velasco, D., & Redondo, J. M. (2008). Large eddy simulation and laboratory experiments on the decay of grid wakes in strongly stratified flows. Nuovo Cimento C, 31, 909-930.

The Production of Turbulence in Boundary Layers -- The Role of Microscale Coherent Motions.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

unstable and it breaks up as it moves away from the wall. The wall layer must be thin and vortex stretching, due to inviscid image effects, dominate...how a Typical eddy ultimately creates the long streaks is not clear. It is entirely possible that the viscous image of the rolled up vorticity forms...clarified, especially the formation of the long streaky structure, and secondary hairpin vorticity. It appears that the outer region microscale coherent

Can a numerically stable subgrid-scale model for turbulent flow computation be ideally accurate?: a preliminary theoretical study for the Gaussian filtered Navier-Stokes equations.

PubMed

Ida, Masato; Taniguchi, Nobuyuki

2003-09-01

This paper introduces a candidate for the origin of the numerical instabilities in large eddy simulation repeatedly observed in academic and practical industrial flow computations. Without resorting to any subgrid-scale modeling, but based on a simple assumption regarding the streamwise component of flow velocity, it is shown theoretically that in a channel-flow computation, the application of the Gaussian filtering to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations yields a numerically unstable term, a cross-derivative term, which is similar to one appearing in the Gaussian filtered Vlasov equation derived by Klimas [J. Comput. Phys. 68, 202 (1987)] and also to one derived recently by Kobayashi and Shimomura [Phys. Fluids 15, L29 (2003)] from the tensor-diffusivity subgrid-scale term in a dynamic mixed model. The present result predicts that not only the numerical methods and the subgrid-scale models employed but also only the applied filtering process can be a seed of this numerical instability. An investigation concerning the relationship between the turbulent energy scattering and the unstable term shows that the instability of the term does not necessarily represent the backscatter of kinetic energy which has been considered a possible origin of numerical instabilities in large eddy simulation. The present findings raise the question whether a numerically stable subgrid-scale model can be ideally accurate.

Instability of Non-uniform Toroidal Magnetic Fields in Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirabayashi, Kota; Hoshino, Masahiro

2016-05-01

We present a new type of instability that is expected to drive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence from a purely toroidal magnetic field in an accretion disk. It is already known that in a differentially rotating system, the uniform toroidal magnetic field is unstable due to magnetorotational instability (MRI) under a non-axisymmetric and vertical perturbation, while it is stable under a purely vertical perturbation. Contrary to the previous study, this paper proposes an unstable mode completely confined to the equatorial plane, driven by the expansive nature of the magnetic pressure gradient force under a non-uniform toroidal field. The basic nature of this growing eigenmode, which we name “magneto-gradient driven instability,” is studied using linear analysis, and the corresponding nonlinear evolution is then investigated using two-dimensional ideal MHD simulations. Although a single localized magnetic field channel alone cannot provide sufficient Maxwell stress to contribute significantly to the angular momentum transport, we find that the mode coupling between neighboring toroidal fields under multiple localized magnetic field channels drastically generates a highly turbulent state and leads to the enhanced transport of angular momentum, which is comparable to the efficiency seen in previous studies on MRIs. This horizontally confined mode may play an important role in the saturation of an MRI through complementray growth with the toroidal MRIs and coupling with magnetic reconnection.

INSTABILITY OF NON-UNIFORM TOROIDAL MAGNETIC FIELDS IN ACCRETION DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hirabayashi, Kota; Hoshino, Masahiro, E-mail: hirabayashi-k@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

We present a new type of instability that is expected to drive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence from a purely toroidal magnetic field in an accretion disk. It is already known that in a differentially rotating system, the uniform toroidal magnetic field is unstable due to magnetorotational instability (MRI) under a non-axisymmetric and vertical perturbation, while it is stable under a purely vertical perturbation. Contrary to the previous study, this paper proposes an unstable mode completely confined to the equatorial plane, driven by the expansive nature of the magnetic pressure gradient force under a non-uniform toroidal field. The basic nature of thismore » growing eigenmode, which we name “magneto-gradient driven instability,” is studied using linear analysis, and the corresponding nonlinear evolution is then investigated using two-dimensional ideal MHD simulations. Although a single localized magnetic field channel alone cannot provide sufficient Maxwell stress to contribute significantly to the angular momentum transport, we find that the mode coupling between neighboring toroidal fields under multiple localized magnetic field channels drastically generates a highly turbulent state and leads to the enhanced transport of angular momentum, which is comparable to the efficiency seen in previous studies on MRIs. This horizontally confined mode may play an important role in the saturation of an MRI through complementray growth with the toroidal MRIs and coupling with magnetic reconnection.« less

The Alignment of the Mean Wind and Stress Vectors in the Unstable Surface Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardes, M.; Dias, N. L.

2010-01-01

A significant non-alignment between the mean horizontal wind vector and the stress vector was observed for turbulence measurements both above the water surface of a large lake, and over a land surface (soybean crop). Possible causes for this discrepancy such as flow distortion, averaging times and the procedure used for extracting the turbulent fluctuations (low-pass filtering and filter widths etc.), were dismissed after a detailed analysis. Minimum averaging times always less than 30 min were established by calculating ogives, and error bounds for the turbulent stresses were derived with three different approaches, based on integral time scales (first-crossing and lag-window estimates) and on a bootstrap technique. It was found that the mean absolute value of the angle between the mean wind and stress vectors is highly related to atmospheric stability, with the non-alignment increasing distinctively with increasing instability. Given a coordinate rotation that aligns the mean wind with the x direction, this behaviour can be explained by the growth of the relative error of the u- w component with instability. As a result, under more unstable conditions the u- w and the v- w components become of the same order of magnitude, and the local stress vector gives the impression of being non-aligned with the mean wind vector. The relative error of the v- w component is large enough to make it undistinguishable from zero throughout the range of stabilities. Therefore, the standard assumptions of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory hold: it is fair to assume that the v- w stress component is actually zero, and that the non-alignment is a purely statistical effect. An analysis of the dimensionless budgets of the u- w and the v- w components confirms this interpretation, with both shear and buoyant production of u- w decreasing with increasing instability. In the v- w budget, shear production is zero by definition, while buoyancy displays very low-intensity fluctuations around zero. As local free convection is approached, the turbulence becomes effectively axisymetrical, and a practical limit seems to exist beyond which it is not possible to measure the u- w component accurately.

[Effects of atmospheric thermally stratified condition on sensible heat within forest canopy].

PubMed

Diao, Yi-Wei; Wang, An-Zhi; Guan, De-Xin; Jin, Chang-Jie; Pei, Tie-Fan

2010-01-01

By using Eulerian second-order closure model, this paper studied the source-sink distribution and flux characteristics of sensible heat within forest canopy under atmospheric thermally stratified condition. In the daytime, a notable feature for the atmospheric stratification of forest canopy was the unstable stratification above the canopy and the stable stratification under the canopy. The changes of temperature profile indicated there was a 'hot spot' at about 2/3 of canopy height. The counter-gradient fluxes within the canopy were discovered by modeling the heat flux under weak stable atmospheric condition. Simulations of the diurnal variation of sensible heat flux were consistent with the measurements (R2 = 0.9035, P < 0.01). Adding buoyancy in the sensible heat balance equation could increase the simulation accuracy of inversion model, and improve the simulation capability for heat flux balance.

Flux and turbulence measurements at a densely built-up site in Marseille: Heat, mass (water and carbon dioxide), and momentum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimmond, C. S. B.; Salmond, J. A.; Oke, T. R.; Offerle, B.; Lemonsu, A.

2004-12-01

Eddy covariance (EC) observations above the densely built-up center of Marseille during the Expérience sur site pour contraindre les modèles de pollution atmosphérique et de transport d'émissions (ESCOMPTE) summertime measurement campaign extend current understanding of surface atmosphere exchanges in cities. The instrument array presented opportunities to address issues of the representativeness of local-scale fluxes in urban settings. Separate EC systems operated at two levels, and a telescoping tower allowed the pair to be exposed at two different sets of heights. The flux and turbulence observations taken at the four heights, stratified by wind conditions (mistral wind and sea breeze), are used to address the partitioning of the surface energy balance in an area with large roughness elements. The turbulent sensible heat flux dominates in the daytime, although the storage heat flux is a significant term that peaks before solar noon. The turbulent latent heat flux is small but not negligible. Carbon dioxide fluxes show that this central city district is almost always a source, but the vegetation reduces the magnitude of the fluxes in the afternoon. The atmosphere in such a heavily developed area is rarely stable. The turbulence characteristics support the empirical functions proposed by M. Roth.

Computation of three-dimensional multiphase flow dynamics by Fully-Coupled Immersed Flow (FCIF) solver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miao, Sha; Hendrickson, Kelli; Liu, Yuming

2017-12-01

This work presents a Fully-Coupled Immersed Flow (FCIF) solver for the three-dimensional simulation of fluid-fluid interaction by coupling two distinct flow solvers using an Immersed Boundary (IB) method. The FCIF solver captures dynamic interactions between two fluids with disparate flow properties, while retaining the desirable simplicity of non-boundary-conforming grids. For illustration, we couple an IB-based unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (uRANS) simulator with a depth-integrated (long-wave) solver for the application of slug development with turbulent gas and laminar liquid. We perform a series of validations including turbulent/laminar flows over prescribed wavy boundaries and freely-evolving viscous fluids. These confirm the effectiveness and accuracy of both one-way and two-way coupling in the FCIF solver. Finally, we present a simulation example of the evolution from a stratified turbulent/laminar flow through the initiation of a slug that nearly bridges the channel. The results show both the interfacial wave dynamics excited by the turbulent gas forcing and the influence of the liquid on the gas turbulence. These results demonstrate that the FCIF solver effectively captures the essential physics of gas-liquid interaction and can serve as a useful tool for the mechanistic study of slug generation in two-phase gas/liquid flows in channels and pipes.

Supergranulation and multiscale flows in the solar photosphere. Global observations vs. a theory of anisotropic turbulent convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rincon, F.; Roudier, T.; Schekochihin, A. A.; Rieutord, M.

2017-03-01

The Sun provides us with the only spatially well-resolved astrophysical example of turbulent thermal convection. While various aspects of solar photospheric turbulence, such as granulation (one-Megameter horizontal scale), are well understood, the questions of the physical origin and dynamical organization of larger-scale flows, such as the 30-Megameters supergranulation and flows deep in the solar convection zone, remain largely open in spite of their importance for solar dynamics and magnetism. Here, we present a new critical global observational characterization of multiscale photospheric flows and subsequently formulate an anisotropic extension of the Bolgiano-Obukhov theory of hydrodynamic stratified turbulence that may explain several of their distinctive dynamical properties. Our combined analysis suggests that photospheric flows in the horizontal range of scales between supergranulation and granulation have a typical vertical correlation scale of 2.5 to 4 Megameters and operate in a strongly anisotropic, self-similar, nonlinear, buoyant dynamical regime. While the theory remains speculative at this stage, it lends itself to quantitative comparisons with future high-resolution acoustic tomography of subsurface layers and advanced numerical models. Such a validation exercise may also lead to new insights into the asymptotic dynamical regimes in which other, unresolved turbulent anisotropic astrophysical fluid systems supporting waves or instabilities operate.

Generation and Evolution of Internal Waves in Luzon Strait

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Generation and Evolution of Internal Waves in Luzon...inertial waves , nonlinear internal waves (NLIWs), and turbulence mixing––in the ocean and thereby help develop improved parameterizations of mixing for...ocean models. Mixing within the stratified ocean is a particular focus as the complex interplay of internal waves from a variety of sources and

Generation and Evolution of Internal Waves in Luzon Strait

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Distribution approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Generation and Evolution of Internal Waves in...internal tides, inertial waves , nonlinear internal waves (NLIWs), and turbulence mixing––in the ocean and thereby help develop improved parameterizations of...mixing for ocean models. Mixing within the stratified ocean is a particular focus as the complex interplay of internal waves from a variety of

TURBULENT MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC RECONNECTION MEDIATED BY THE PLASMOID INSTABILITY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Yi-Min; Bhattacharjee, A., E-mail: yiminh@princeton.edu

2016-02-10

It has been established that the Sweet–Parker current layer in high Lundquist number reconnection is unstable to the super-Alfvénic plasmoid instability. Past two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations have demonstrated that the plasmoid instability leads to a new regime where the Sweet–Parker current layer changes into a chain of plasmoids connected by secondary current sheets, and the averaged reconnection rate becomes nearly independent of the Lundquist number. In this work, a three-dimensional simulation with a guide field shows that the additional degree of freedom allows plasmoid instabilities to grow at oblique angles, which interact and lead to self-generated turbulent reconnection. The averaged reconnectionmore » rate in the self-generated turbulent state is of the order of a hundredth of the characteristic Alfvén speed, which is similar to the two-dimensional result but is an order of magnitude lower than the fastest reconnection rate reported in recent studies of externally driven three-dimensional turbulent reconnection. Kinematic and magnetic energy fluctuations both form elongated eddies along the direction of the local magnetic field, which is a signature of anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. Both energy fluctuations satisfy power-law spectra in the inertial range, where the magnetic energy spectral index is in the range from −2.3 to −2.1, while the kinetic energy spectral index is slightly steeper, in the range from −2.5 to −2.3. The anisotropy of turbulence eddies is found to be nearly scale-independent, in contrast with the prediction of the Goldreich–Sridhar theory for anisotropic turbulence in a homogeneous plasma permeated by a uniform magnetic field.« less

Magnetorotational dynamo chimeras. The missing link to turbulent accretion disk dynamo models?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riols, A.; Rincon, F.; Cossu, C.; Lesur, G.; Ogilvie, G. I.; Longaretti, P.-Y.

2017-02-01

In Keplerian accretion disks, turbulence and magnetic fields may be jointly excited through a subcritical dynamo mechanisminvolving magnetorotational instability (MRI). This dynamo may notably contribute to explaining the time-variability of various accreting systems, as high-resolution simulations of MRI dynamo turbulence exhibit statistical self-organization into large-scale cyclic dynamics. However, understanding the physics underlying these statistical states and assessing their exact astrophysical relevance is theoretically challenging. The study of simple periodic nonlinear MRI dynamo solutions has recently proven useful in this respect, and has highlighted the role of turbulent magnetic diffusion in the seeming impossibility of a dynamo at low magnetic Prandtl number (Pm), a common regime in disks. Arguably though, these simple laminar structures may not be fully representative of the complex, statistically self-organized states expected in astrophysical regimes. Here, we aim at closing this seeming discrepancy by reporting the numerical discovery of exactly periodic, yet semi-statistical "chimeral MRI dynamo states" which are the organized outcome of a succession of MRI-unstable, non-axisymmetric dynamical stages of different forms and amplitudes. Interestingly, these states, while reminiscent of the statistical complexity of turbulent simulations, involve the same physical principles as simpler laminar cycles, and their analysis further confirms the theory that subcritical turbulent magnetic diffusion impedes the sustainment of an MRI dynamo at low Pm. Overall, chimera dynamo cycles therefore offer an unprecedented dual physical and statistical perspective on dynamos in rotating shear flows, which may prove useful in devising more accurate, yet intuitive mean-field models of time-dependent turbulent disk dynamos. Movies associated to Fig. 1 are available at http://www.aanda.org

On the Transition from Potential Flow to Turbulence Around a Microsphere Oscillating in Superfluid ^4{He}

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niemetz, M.; Hänninen, R.; Schoepe, W.

2017-05-01

The flow of superfluid ^4{He} around a translationally oscillating sphere, levitating without mechanical support, can either be laminar or turbulent, depending on the velocity amplitude. Below a critical velocity v_c that scales as ω ^{1/2} and is temperature independent below 1 K, the flow is laminar (potential flow). Below 0.5 K, the linear drag force is caused by ballistic phonon scattering that vanishes as T^4 until background damping, measured in the empty cell, becomes dominant for T < 0.1 K. Increasing the velocity amplitude above v_c leads to a transition from potential flow to turbulence, where the large turbulent drag force varies as (v^2 - v_c^2). In a small velocity interval Δ v {/} v_c ≤ 3% above v_c, the flow is unstable below 0.5 K, switching intermittently between both patterns. From time series recorded at constant temperature and driving force, the lifetimes of both phases are analyzed statistically. We observe metastable states of potential flow which, after a mean lifetime of 25 min, ultimately break down due to vorticity created by natural background radioactivity. The lifetimes of the turbulent phases have an exponential distribution, and the mean increases exponentially with Δ v^2. We investigate the frequency at which the vortex rings are shed from the sphere. Our results are compared with recent data of other authors on vortex shedding by moving a laser beam through a Bose-Einstein condensate. Finally, we show that our observed transition to turbulence belongs to the class of "supertransient chaos" where lifetimes of the turbulent states increase faster than exponentially.

Turbulence Kinetic Energy budget during the afternoon transition - Part 1: Observed surface TKE budget and boundary layer description for 10 intensive observation period days

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nilsson, E.; Lohou, F.; Lothon, M.; Pardyjak, E.; Mahrt, L.; Darbieu, C.

2015-11-01

The decay of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) and its budget in the afternoon period from mid-day until zero buoyancy flux at the surface is studied in a two-part paper by means of measurements from the Boundary Layer Late Afternoon and Sunset Turbulence (BLLAST) field campaign for 10 Intensive Observation Period days. Here, in Part 1, near-surface measurements from a small tower are used to estimate a TKE budget. The overall boundary layer characteristics and meso-scale situation at the site are also described based upon taller tower measurements, radiosoundings and remote sensing instrumentation. Analysis of the TKE budget during the afternoon transition reveals a variety of different surface layer dynamics in terms of TKE and TKE decay. This is largely attributed to variations in the 8 m wind speed, which is responsible for different amounts of near-surface shear production on different afternoons and variations within some of the afternoon periods. The partitioning of near surface production into local dissipation and transport in neutral and unstably stratified conditions was investigated. Although variations exist both between and within afternoons, as a rule of thumb, our results suggest that about 50 % of the near surface production of TKE is compensated by local dissipation near the surface, leaving about 50 % available for transport. This result indicates that it is important to also consider TKE transport as a factor influencing the near-surface TKE decay rate, which in many earlier studies has mainly been linked with the production terms of TKE by buoyancy and wind shear. We also conclude that the TKE tendency is smaller than the other budget terms, indicating a quasi-stationary evolution of TKE in the afternoon transition. Even though the TKE tendency was observed to be small, a strong correlation to mean buoyancy production of -0.69 was found for the afternoon period. For comparison with previous results, the TKE budget terms are normalized with friction velocity and measurement height and discussed in the framework of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. Empirically fitted expressions are presented. Alternatively, we also suggest a non-local parametrization of dissipation using a TKE-length scale model which takes into account the boundary layer depth in addition to distance above the ground. The non-local formulation is shown to give a better description of dissipation compared to a local parametrization.

Turbulence kinetic energy budget during the afternoon transition - Part 1: Observed surface TKE budget and boundary layer description for 10 intensive observation period days

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nilsson, Erik; Lohou, Fabienne; Lothon, Marie; Pardyjak, Eric; Mahrt, Larry; Darbieu, Clara

2016-07-01

The decay of turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) and its budget in the afternoon period from midday until zero-buoyancy flux at the surface is studied in a two-part paper by means of measurements from the Boundary Layer Late Afternoon and Sunset Turbulence (BLLAST) field campaign for 10 intensive observation period days. Here, in Part 1, near-surface measurements from a small tower are used to estimate a TKE budget. The overall boundary layer characteristics and mesoscale situation at the site are also described based upon taller tower measurements, radiosoundings and remote sensing instrumentation. Analysis of the TKE budget during the afternoon transition reveals a variety of different surface layer dynamics in terms of TKE and TKE decay. This is largely attributed to variations in the 8 m wind speed, which is responsible for different amounts of near-surface shear production on different afternoons and variations within some of the afternoon periods. The partitioning of near-surface production into local dissipation and transport in neutral and unstably stratified conditions was investigated. Although variations exist both between and within afternoons, as a rule of thumb, our results suggest that about 50 % of the near-surface production of TKE is compensated for by local dissipation near the surface, leaving about 50 % available for transport. This result indicates that it is important to also consider TKE transport as a factor influencing the near-surface TKE decay rate, which in many earlier studies has mainly been linked with the production terms of TKE by buoyancy and wind shear. We also conclude that the TKE tendency is smaller than the other budget terms, indicating a quasi-stationary evolution of TKE in the afternoon transition. Even though the TKE tendency was observed to be small, a strong correlation to mean buoyancy production of -0.69 was found for the afternoon period. For comparison with previous results, the TKE budget terms are normalized with friction velocity and measurement height and discussed in the framework of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. Empirically fitted expressions are presented. Alternatively, we also suggest a non-local parametrization of dissipation using a TKE-length scale model which takes into account the boundary layer depth in addition to distance above the ground. The non-local formulation is shown to give a better description of dissipation compared to a local parametrization.

Interface Instabilities in the Interstellar Medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, J. H., Jr.; Siopis, C.; Whitaker, R. W.; Lovelace, R. V. E.

1995-01-01

In the present communication, we reexamine two limiting cases of star-forming mechanisms involving self-gravity, thermodynamics, and velocity fields, that we believe must be ubiquitous in the ISM -- the generally oblique collision of supersonic gas streams or turbulent eddies. The general case of oblique collisions has not yet been examined. However, two limiting cases have been studied in detail: (1) The head-on collision of two identical gas streams that form dense, cool accretion shocks that become unstable and may form Jeans mass clouds, which subsequently undergo collapse. (2) Linearly unstable tangential velocity discontinuities, which result in Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instabilities and related phenomena. The compressible K-H instabilities exhibit rich and unexpected behaviors. Moreover a new thermal-dynamic (T-D) mode was discovered that arises from the coupling of the perturbed thermal behavior and the unperturbed flow. The T-D mode has the curious characteristic that it may be strongly unstable to interface modes when the global modes in either medium are absolutely thermally stable. In the present communication additional models of case 1 are described and discussed, and self-gravity is added in the linear theory of tangential discontinuities, case 2. We prove that self-gravity fundamentally changes the behavior of interfacial modes -- density discontinuities (or steps) are inherently unstable on roughly the free-fall timescale of the denser medium to perturbations of all wavelengths.

Toward large eddy simulation of turbulent flow over an airfoil

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choi, Haecheon

1993-01-01

The flow field over an airfoil contains several distinct flow characteristics, e.g. laminar, transitional, turbulent boundary layer flow, flow separation, unstable free shear layers, and a wake. This diversity of flow regimes taxes the presently available Reynolds averaged turbulence models. Such models are generally tuned to predict a particular flow regime, and adjustments are necessary for the prediction of a different flow regime. Similar difficulties are likely to emerge when the large eddy simulation technique is applied with the widely used Smagorinsky model. This model has not been successful in correctly representing different turbulent flow fields with a single universal constant and has an incorrect near-wall behavior. Germano et al. (1991) and Ghosal, Lund & Moin have developed a new subgrid-scale model, the dynamic model, which is very promising in alleviating many of the persistent inadequacies of the Smagorinsky model: the model coefficient is computed dynamically as the calculation progresses rather than input a priori. The model has been remarkably successful in prediction of several turbulent and transitional flows. We plan to simulate turbulent flow over a '2D' airfoil using the large eddy simulation technique. Our primary objective is to assess the performance of the newly developed dynamic subgrid-scale model for computation of complex flows about aircraft components and to compare the results with those obtained using the Reynolds average approach and experiments. The present computation represents the first application of large eddy simulation to a flow of aeronautical interest and a key demonstration of the capabilities of the large eddy simulation technique.

A unified theory of stable auroral red arc formation at the plasmapause

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cornwall, J. M.; Coroniti, F. V.; Thorne, R. M.

1970-01-01

A theory is proposed that SAR-arcs are generated at the plasmapause as a consequence of the turbulent dissipation of ring current energy. During the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm, the plasmapause expands outward into the symmetric ring current. When the cold plasma densities reach about 100/cu cm, ring current protons become unstable and generate intense ion cyclotron wave turbulence in a narrow region 1/2 earth radius wide (just inside the plasmapause). Approximately one-half of the ring current energy is dissipated into wave turbulence which in turn is absorbed through a Landau resonant interaction with plasma spheric electrons. The combined thermal heat flux to the ionosphere due to Landau absorption of the wave energy and proton-electron Coulomb dissipation is sufficient to drive SAR-arcs at the observed intensities. It is predicted that the arcs should be localized to a narrow latitudinal range just within the stormtime plasmapause. They should occur at all local times and persist for the 10 to 20 hour duration of the plasma-pause expansion.

Turbulence in the Ott-Antonsen equation for arrays of coupled phase oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfrum, M.; Gurevich, S. V.; Omel'chenko, O. E.

2016-02-01

In this paper we study the transition to synchrony in an one-dimensional array of oscillators with non-local coupling. For its description in the continuum limit of a large number of phase oscillators, we use a corresponding Ott-Antonsen equation, which is an integro-differential equation for the evolution of the macroscopic profiles of the local mean field. Recently, it was reported that in the spatially extended case at the synchronisation threshold there appear partially coherent plane waves with different wave numbers, which are organised in the well-known Eckhaus scenario. In this paper, we show that for Kuramoto-Sakaguchi phase oscillators the phase lag parameter in the interaction function can induce a Benjamin-Feir-type instability of the partially coherent plane waves. The emerging collective macroscopic chaos appears as an intermediate stage between complete incoherence and stable partially coherent plane waves. We give an analytic treatment of the Benjamin-Feir instability and its onset in a codimension-two bifurcation in the Ott-Antonsen equation as well as a numerical study of the transition from phase turbulence to amplitude turbulence inside the Benjamin-Feir unstable region.

Large-Eddy Simulation of Flow and Pollutant Transport in Urban Street Canyons with Ground Heating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xian-Xiang; Britter, Rex E.; Koh, Tieh Yong; Norford, Leslie K.; Liu, Chun-Ho; Entekhabi, Dara; Leung, Dennis Y. C.

2010-11-01

Our study employed large-eddy simulation (LES) based on a one-equation subgrid-scale model to investigate the flow field and pollutant dispersion characteristics inside urban street canyons. Unstable thermal stratification was produced by heating the ground of the street canyon. Using the Boussinesq approximation, thermal buoyancy forces were taken into account in both the Navier-Stokes equations and the transport equation for subgrid-scale turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). The LESs were validated against experimental data obtained in wind-tunnel studies before the model was applied to study the detailed turbulence, temperature, and pollutant dispersion characteristics in the street canyon of aspect ratio 1. The effects of different Richardson numbers ( Ri) were investigated. The ground heating significantly enhanced mean flow, turbulence, and pollutant flux inside the street canyon, but weakened the shear at the roof level. The mean flow was observed to be no longer isolated from the free stream and fresh air could be entrained into the street canyon at the roof-level leeward corner. Weighed against higher temperature, the ground heating facilitated pollutant removal from the street canyon.

Nonlinear electromagnetic gyrokinetic particle simulations with the electron hybrid model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishimura, Y.; Lin, Z.; Chen, L.; Hahm, T.; Wang, W.; Lee, W.

2006-10-01

The electromagnetic model with fluid electrons is successfully implemented into the global gyrokinetic code GTC. In the ideal MHD limit, shear Alfven wave oscillation and continuum damping is demonstrated. Nonlinear electromagnetic simulation is further pursued in the presence of finite ηi. Turbulence transport in the AITG unstable β regime is studied. This work is supported by Department of Energy (DOE) Grant DE-FG02-03ER54724, Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC02-04ER54796 (UCI), DOE Contract No. DE-AC02-76CH03073 (PPPL), and in part by SciDAC Center for Gyrokinetic Particle Simulation of Turbulent Transport in Burning Plasmas. Z. Lin, et al., Science 281, 1835 (1998). F. Zonca and L. Chen, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 30, 2240 (1998); G. Zhao and L. Chen, Phys. Plasmas 9, 861 (2002).

Statespace geometry of puff formation in pipe flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budanur, Nazmi Burak; Hof, Bjoern

2017-11-01

Localized patches of chaotically moving fluid known as puffs play a central role in the transition to turbulence in pipe flow. Puffs coexist with the laminar flow and their large-scale dynamics sets the critical Reynolds number: When the rate of puff splitting exceeds that of decaying, turbulence in a long pipe becomes sustained in a statistical sense. Since puffs appear despite the linear stability of the Hagen-Poiseuille flow, one expects them to emerge from the bifurcations of finite-amplitude solutions of Navier-Stokes equations. In numerical simulations of pipe flow, Avila et al., discovered a pair of streamwise localized relative periodic orbits, which are time-periodic solutions with spatial drifts. We combine symmetry reduction and Poincaré section methods to compute the unstable manifolds of these orbits, revealing statespace structures associated with different stages of puff formation.

Defect Proliferation in Active Nematic Suspensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Prashant; Bowick, Mark J.; Giomi, Luca; Marchetti, M. Cristina

2014-03-01

The rich structure of equilibrium nematic suspensions, with their characteristic disclination defects, is modified when active forces come into play. The uniform nematic state is known to be unstable to splay (extensile) or bend (contractile) deformations above a critical activity. At even higher activity the flow becomes oscillatory and eventually turbulent. Using hydrodynamics, we classify the active flow regimes as functions of activity and order parameter friction for both contractile and extensile systems. The turbulent regime is marked by a non-zero steady state density of mobile defect pairs. The defect density itself scales with an ``active Ericksen number,'' defined as the ratio of the rate at which activity is injected into the system to the relaxation rate of orientational deformations. The work at Syracuse University was supported by the NSF on grant DMR-1004789 and by the Syracuse Soft Matter Program.

Characterization of turbulence stability through the identification of multifractional Brownian motions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, K. C.

2013-02-01

Multifractional Brownian motions have become popular as flexible models in describing real-life signals of high-frequency features in geoscience, microeconomics, and turbulence, to name a few. The time-changing Hurst exponent, which describes regularity levels depending on time measurements, and variance, which relates to an energy level, are two parameters that characterize multifractional Brownian motions. This research suggests a combined method of estimating the time-changing Hurst exponent and variance using the local variation of sampled paths of signals. The method consists of two phases: initially estimating global variance and then accurately estimating the time-changing Hurst exponent. A simulation study shows its performance in estimation of the parameters. The proposed method is applied to characterization of atmospheric stability in which descriptive statistics from the estimated time-changing Hurst exponent and variance classify stable atmosphere flows from unstable ones.

Studying Turbulence Using Numerical Simulation Databases - IX: Proceedings of the 2002 Summer Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bradshaw, Peter (Editor); Rogers, Michael M. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The ninth Summer Program of the Center for Turbulence Research was held during the period July 29th - August 23rd, 2002. The increase in number of participants, noted in the Preface to the Proceedings of the 2000 Program, continues: this year there were 50 participants from ten countries, and 30 hosts from Stanford and NASA-Ames. This Proceedings volume contains 32 papers that span a wide range of topics and an enormous range of physical scales. The papers have been divided into seven groups: Acoustics, RANS modeling, Combustion, Large-eddy simulation (LES), LES Numerics, Stratified Flows, and Fundamentals, In several cases, a paper could have fitted in more than one group so the classification is somewhat arbitrary.

Chinks in Solar Dynamo Theory: Turbulent Diffusion, Dynamo Waves and Magnetic Helicity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeLuca, E. E.; Hurlburt, N.

1998-01-01

In this first year of our investigation we explored the role of compressibility and stratification in the dissipation of magnetic fields. The predictions of Mean Field Electrodynamics have been questioned because of the strong feedback of small scale magnetic structure on the velocity fields. In 2-D, this nonlinear feedback results in a lengthening of the turbulent decay time. In 3-D alpha-quenching is predicted. Previous studies assumed a homogeneous fluid. This first year we present recent results from 2-D compressible MHD decay simulations in a highly stratified atmosphere that more closely resembles to solar convection zone. We have applied for NCCS T3E time to assist in the performance of our 3-D calculations.

Accretion disc dynamo activity in local simulations spanning weak-to-strong net vertical magnetic flux regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvesen, Greg; Simon, Jacob B.; Armitage, Philip J.; Begelman, Mitchell C.

2016-03-01

Strongly magnetized accretion discs around black holes have attractive features that may explain enigmatic aspects of X-ray binary behaviour. The structure and evolution of these discs are governed by a dynamo-like mechanism, which channels part of the accretion power liberated by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) into an ordered toroidal magnetic field. To study dynamo activity, we performed three-dimensional, stratified, isothermal, ideal magnetohydrodynamic shearing box simulations. The strength of the self-sustained toroidal magnetic field depends on the net vertical magnetic flux, which we vary across almost the entire range over which the MRI is linearly unstable. We quantify disc structure and dynamo properties as a function of the initial ratio of mid-plane gas pressure to vertical magnetic field pressure, β _0^mid = p_gas / p_B. For 10^5 ≥ β _0^mid ≥ 10 the effective α-viscosity parameter scales as a power law. Dynamo activity persists up to and including β _0^mid = 10^2, at which point the entire vertical column of the disc is magnetic pressure dominated. Still stronger fields result in a highly inhomogeneous disc structure, with large density fluctuations. We show that the turbulent steady state βmid in our simulations is well matched by the analytic model of Begelman et al. describing the creation and buoyant escape of toroidal field, while the vertical structure of the disc can be broadly reproduced using this model. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for observed properties of X-ray binaries.

Critical Layers and Protoplanetary Disk Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umurhan, Orkan M.; Shariff, Karim; Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.

2016-10-01

A linear analysis of the zombie vortex instability (ZVI) is performed in a stratified shearing sheet setting for three model barotropic shear flows. The linear analysis is done by utilizing a Green’s function formulation to resolve the critical layers of the associated normal-mode problem. The instability is the result of a resonant interaction between a Rossby wave and a gravity wave that we refer to as Z-modes. The associated critical layer is the location where the Doppler-shifted frequency of a distant Rossby wave equals the local Brunt-Väisälä frequency. The minimum required Rossby number for instability, {\\mathtt{Ro}}=0.2, is confirmed for parameter values reported in the literature. It is also found that the shear layer supports the instability in the limit where stratification vanishes. The ZVI is examined in a jet model, finding that the instability can occur for {\\mathtt{Ro}}=0.05. Nonlinear vorticity forcing due to unstable Z-modes is shown to result in the creation of a jet flow at the critical layer emerging as the result of the competition between the vertical lifting of perturbation radial vorticity and the radial transport of perturbation vertical vorticity. We find that the picture of this instability leading to a form of nonlinearly driven self-replicating pattern of creation and destruction is warranted: a parent jet spawns a growing child jet at associated critical layers. A mature child jet creates a next generation of child jets at associated critical layers of the former while simultaneously contributing to its own destruction via the Rossby wave instability.

Nonlinear Electromagnetic Stabilization of Plasma Microturbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whelan, G. G.; Pueschel, M. J.; Terry, P. W.

2018-04-01

The physical causes for the strong stabilizing effect of finite plasma β on ion-temperature-gradient-driven turbulence, which far exceeds quasilinear estimates, are identified from nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. The primary contribution stems from a resonance of frequencies in the dominant nonlinear interaction between the unstable mode, the stable mode, and zonal flows, which maximizes the triplet correlation time and therefore the energy transfer efficiency. A modification to mixing-length transport estimates is constructed, which reproduces nonlinear heat fluxes throughout the examined β range.

Twisting Plasma

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-06-08

A close-up of twisting plasma above the Sun's surface produced a nice display of turbulence by caused combative magnetic forces (June 7-8, 2016) over a day and a half. The plasma does not break away, but just spins and twists the entire period. Images were taken in extreme ultraviolet light. The mass we observed is part of a longer, darkish filament angling down from the upper left of the frame. Filaments are unstable clouds of plasma suspended above the Sun by magnetic forces. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20739

Turbulence and wave particle interactions in solar-terrestrial plasmas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dulk, G. A.

1982-01-01

Theoretical modelling of two dimensional compressible convection in the Sun shows that convective flows can extend over many pressure scale heights without the nonlinear motions becoming supersonic, and that compressional work arising from pressure fluctuations can be comparable to that by buoyancy forces. These results are contrary to what was supposed in prevailing mixing length models for solar convection, and they imply a much greater degree of organized flow extending over the full depth of the convection zone. The nonlinear penetration of motions into the stable region below the convection zone was emphasized. These compressible flows are dominated by downward directed plumes in the unstable zone. Their strong penetration into the region of stable stratification below excites a broad spectrum of internal gravity waves there, and these in turn feed back upon the convection in the unstable zone to produce a rich time dependence.

Waves on radial film flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cholemari, Murali R.; Arakeri, Jaywant H.

2005-08-01

We study the stability of surface waves on the radial film flow created by a vertical cylindrical water jet striking a horizontal plate. In such flows, surface waves have been found to be unstable and can cause transition to turbulence. This surface-wave-induced transition is different from the well-known Tollmien-Schlichting wave-induced transition. The present study aims at understanding the instability and the transition process. We do a temporal stability analysis by assuming the flow to be locally two-dimensional but including spatial variations to first order in the basic flow. The waves are found to be dispersive, mostly unstable, and faster than the mean flow. Spatial variation is the major destabilizing factor. Experiments are done to test the results of the linear stability analysis and to document the wave breakup and transition. Comparison between theory and experiments is fairly good and indicates the adequacy of the model.

Determination of billows and other turbulent structures, part 4.1A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rastogi, P. K.

1984-01-01

Billows are regular, wave-like arrays of cross-flow vortices that develop in stratified oceanic or atmospheric flows with large shear. Atmospheric billows can become manifest through condensation. Billows are frequently seen in their characteristic cloud forms in the lower atmosphere. Under suitable viewing conditions, billows can also be seen in noctilucent clouds that form near the polar mesosphere during the summer months. Other turbulent structures -- related to billows -- are the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) and cat's eye structures that occur in fully developed turbulent shear flows. Shear flows may contain perturbations at many different horizontal wavelengths and vertical scales. Realistic theoretical models have been constructed to study the stability and growth of these perturbations. The extent to which billows and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability have been observed in the atmosphere with the use of radars is outlined. Most of these observations are confined to the troposphere. Suggestions are made for improved radar experiments that are required to detect these structures at higher altitudes.

The Effect of Small Scale Turbulence on the Physiology of Microcystis aeruginosa cyanobacterium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkinson, Anne; Hondzo, Miki; Guala, Michele

2014-11-01

Microcystis aeruginosa is a single-celled blue-green alga, or cyanobacterium, that is responsible for poor water quality and microcystin production, which in high concentrations can be harmful to humans and animals. These harmful effects arise during cyanobacterium blooms. Blooms occur mainly in the summer when the algae grow uncontrollably and bond together to form colonies which accumulate on the surface of freshwater ecosystems. The relationship between fluid motion generated by wind and internal waves in stratified aquatic ecosystems and Microcystis can help explain the mechanisms of such blooms. We investigated the effect of small scale fluid motion on the physiology of Microcystis in a reactor with two underwater speakers. Different turbulent intensities were achieved by systematically changing the input signal frequency (30-50 Hz) and magnitude (0.1-0.2V) to the speakers. The role of turbulence is quantified by relating energy dissipation rates with the cell number, chlorophyll amount, dissolved oxygen production/uptake, and pH. The results suggest that turbulence mediates the physiology of Microcystis. The findings could be instrumental in designing restoration strategies that can minimize Microcystis blooms. This work was supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and University of Minnesota start-up funding.

Characterisation of the atmospheric surface layer over a debris cover glacier in the Nepal Himalayas.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Litt, M.; Steiner, J. F.; Stigter, E.; Bierkens, M. F.; Shea, J. M.; Immerzeel, W. W.

2017-12-01

A significant area of Himalayan glaciers tongues is covered by debris. Turbulent exchanges of sensible and latent heat at the debris surface directly act on its surface energy balance (SEB). At the same time, the large turbulent water vapour exchanges at high altitude modify the debris water content and thus its thermal properties. These must be correctly accounted for in SEB models and a proper characterisation of the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) is therefore needed. We installed an eddy-correlation system (Campbell IRGASON) during a period of 15 days over the Lirung glacier in the Langtang Valley in Nepal in the Nepal Himalaya, during the transition period between the monsoon and the dry season. We present the main characteristics of our set-up and the implication of our ASL characterisation on the parameterisation of the turbulent fluxes. During the day, moderate winds blow up-valley and the ASL is mostly unstable. Latent (sensible) heat fluxes scale between 50 and 150 (50 and 250) Wm-2 during the day, thus drying and cooling the debris and playing a significant role in the SEB. During the night, weak down-glacier winds are observed and fluxes remain weak. Spectral analysis of the turbulent data indicate that flow characteristics do not fulfil theoretical requirements needed to estimate turbulent fluxes using bulk methods and at this site our data show they would work only for the sensible heat flux evaluation.

Characterising the structure of quasi-periodic mixing events in stratified turbulent Taylor-Couette flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Kanwar Nain; Partridge, Jamie; Dalziel, Stuart; Caulfield, C. P.; Mathematical Underpinnings of Stratified Turbulence (MUST) Team

2017-11-01

We present results from experiments conducted to study mixing in a two-layer stably-stratified turbulent Taylor-Couette flow. It has previously been observed that there is a quasi-periodic mixing event located at the interface separating the layers. We observe, through conductivity probe measurements, that the power of the mixing event in the frequency spectrum of the density data at the interface is higher when measured near the inner cylinder than in the middle of the annular gap. This is consistent with Oglethorpe's (2014) hypothesis that the mixing structure is triggered near the inner cylinder, and then advects and decays or disperses radially. We also observe that at Ri =g/'Ro (RiΩi)2 7 , where Ri, Ro are the inner and outer cylinder radius, respectively, g ' the reduced gravity characterising the density jump between the layers and Ωi is the rotation rate of the inner cylinder, the power drops significantly at all radial locations, which is reminiscent of the onset of the enhanced flux regime as observed by Oglethorpe et al. (2013). We perform experiments to characterise the spatial extent and dynamics of this mixing structure using particle image velocimetry (PIV) giving further insights into this important mixing process. EPSRC programme Grant EP/K034529/1 & SGPC-CCT Scholarship.

Bursting and critical layer frequencies in minimal turbulent dynamics and connections to exact coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Jae Sung; Shekar, Ashwin; Graham, Michael D.

2018-01-01

The dynamics of the turbulent near-wall region is known to be dominated by coherent structures. These near-wall coherent structures are observed to burst in a very intermittent fashion, exporting turbulent kinetic energy to the rest of the flow. In addition, they are closely related to invariant solutions known as exact coherent states (ECS), some of which display nonlinear critical layer dynamics (motions that are highly localized around the surface on which the streamwise velocity matches the wave speed of ECS). The present work aims to investigate temporal coherence in minimal channel flow relevant to turbulent bursting and critical layer dynamics and its connection to the instability of ECS. It is seen that the minimal channel turbulence displays frequencies very close to those displayed by an ECS family recently identified in the channel flow geometry. The frequencies of these ECS are determined by critical layer structures and thus might be described as "critical layer frequencies." While the bursting frequency is predominant near the wall, the ECS frequencies (critical layer frequencies) become predominant over the bursting frequency at larger distances from the wall, and increasingly so as Reynolds number increases. Turbulent bursts are classified into strong and relatively weak classes with respect to an intermittent approach to a lower branch ECS. This temporally intermittent approach is closely related to an intermittent low drag event, called hibernating turbulence, found in minimal and large domains. The relationship between the strong burst and the instability of the lower branch ECS is further discussed in state space. The state-space dynamics of strong bursts is very similar to that of the unstable manifolds of the lower branch ECS. In particular, strong bursting processes are always preceded by hibernation events. This precursor dynamics to strong turbulence may aid in development of more effective control schemes by a way of anticipating dynamics such as intermittent hibernating dynamics.

TURBULENT TRANSPORT IN A STRONGLY STRATIFIED FORCED SHEAR LAYER WITH THERMAL DIFFUSION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garaud, Pascale

2016-04-10

This work presents numerical results on the transport of heat and chemical species by shear-induced turbulence in strongly stratified, thermally diffusive environments. The shear instabilities driven in this regime are sometimes called “secular” shear instabilities, and can take place when the Richardson number of the flow is large, provided the Péclet number is small. We have identified a set of simple criteria to determine whether these instabilities can take place or not. Generally speaking, we find that they may be relevant whenever the thermal diffusivity of the fluid is very large (typically larger than 10{sup 14} cm{sup 2} s{sup −1}),more » which is the case in the outer layers of high-mass stars (M ≥ 10 M{sub ⊙}), for instance. Using a simple model setup in which the shear is forced by a spatially sinusoidal, constant-amplitude body-force, we have identified several regimes ranging from effectively unstratified to very strongly stratified, each with its own set of dynamical properties. Unless the system is in one of the two extreme regimes (effectively unstratified or completely stable), however, we find that (1) only about 10% of the input power is used toward heat transport, while the remaining 90% is viscously dissipated; (2) that the effective compositional mixing coefficient is well-approximated by the model of Zahn, with D ≃ 0.02κ{sub T}/J where κ{sub T} is the thermal diffusivity and J is the Richardson number. These results need to be confirmed, however, with simulations in different model setups and at higher effective Reynolds number.« less

Seasonal and latitudinal variations of surface fluxes at two Arctic terrestrial sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grachev, Andrey A.; Persson, P. Ola G.; Uttal, Taneil; Akish, Elena A.; Cox, Christopher J.; Morris, Sara M.; Fairall, Christopher W.; Stone, Robert S.; Lesins, Glen; Makshtas, Alexander P.; Repina, Irina A.

2017-11-01

This observational study compares seasonal variations of surface fluxes (turbulent, radiative, and soil heat) and other ancillary atmospheric/surface/permafrost data based on in-situ measurements made at terrestrial research observatories located near the coast of the Arctic Ocean. Hourly-averaged multiyear data sets collected at Eureka (Nunavut, Canada) and Tiksi (East Siberia, Russia) are analyzed in more detail to elucidate similarities and differences in the seasonal cycles at these two Arctic stations, which are situated at significantly different latitudes (80.0°N and 71.6°N, respectively). While significant gross similarities exist in the annual cycles of various meteorological parameters and fluxes, the differences in latitude, local topography, cloud cover, snowfall, and soil characteristics produce noticeable differences in fluxes and in the structures of the atmospheric boundary layer and upper soil temperature profiles. An important factor is that even though higher latitude sites (in this case Eureka) generally receive less annual incoming solar radiation but more total daily incoming solar radiation throughout the summer months than lower latitude sites (in this case Tiksi). This leads to a counter-intuitive state where the average active layer (or thaw line) is deeper and the topsoil temperature in midsummer are higher in Eureka which is located almost 10° north of Tiksi. The study further highlights the differences in the seasonal and latitudinal variations of the incoming shortwave and net radiation as well as the moderating cloudiness effects that lead to temporal and spatial differences in the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer and the uppermost ground layer. Specifically the warm season (Arctic summer) is shorter and mid-summer amplitude of the surface fluxes near solar noon is generally less in Eureka than in Tiksi. During the dark Polar night and cold seasons (Arctic winter) when the ground is covered with snow and air temperatures are sufficiently below freezing, the near-surface environment is generally stably stratified and the hourly averaged turbulent fluxes are quite small and irregular with on average small downward sensible heat fluxes and upward latent heat and carbon dioxide fluxes. The magnitude of the turbulent fluxes increases rapidly when surface snow disappears and the air temperatures rise above freezing during spring melt and eventually reaches a summer maximum. Throughout the summer months strong upward sensible and latent heat fluxes and downward carbon dioxide (uptake by the surface) are typically observed indicating persistent unstable (convective) stratification. Due to the combined effects of day length and solar zenith angle, the convective boundary layer forms in the High Arctic (e.g., in Eureka) and can reach long-lived quasi-stationary states in summer. During late summer and early autumn all turbulent fluxes rapidly decrease in magnitude when the air temperature decreases and falls below freezing. Unlike Eureka, a pronounced zero-curtain effect consisting of a sustained surface temperature hiatus at the freezing point is observed in Tiksi during fall due to wetter and/or water saturated soils.

Stability, intermittency and universal Thorpe length distribution in a laboratory turbulent stratified shear flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Odier, Philippe; Ecke, Robert E.

Stratified shear flows occur in many geophysical contexts, from oceanic overflows and river estuaries to wind-driven thermocline layers. In this study, we explore a turbulent wall-bounded shear flow of lighter miscible fluid into a quiescent fluid of higher density with a range of Richardson numbersmore » $$0.05\\lesssim Ri\\lesssim 1$$. In order to find a stability parameter that allows close comparison with linear theory and with idealized experiments and numerics, we investigate different definitions of$Ri$$. We find that a gradient Richardson number defined on fluid interface sections where there is no overturning at or adjacent to the maximum density gradient position provides an excellent stability parameter, which captures the Miles–Howard linear stability criterion. For small $$Ri$$ the flow exhibits robust Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, whereas for larger $$Ri$$ interfacial overturning is more intermittent with less frequent Kelvin–Helmholtz events and emerging Holmboe wave instability consistent with a thicker velocity layer compared with the density layer. We compute the perturbed fraction of interface as a quantitative measure of the flow intermittency, which is approximately 1 for the smallest $$Ri$$ but decreases rapidly as $$Ri$ increases, consistent with linear theory. For the perturbed regions, we use the Thorpe scale to characterize the overturning properties of these flows. The probability distribution of the non-zero Thorpe length yields a universal exponential form, suggesting that much of the overturning results from increasingly intermittent Kelvin–Helmholtz instability events. Finally, the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy, conditioned on the intermittency fraction, has a similar form, suggesting an explanation for the universal scaling collapse of the Thorpe length distribution.« less

Stability, intermittency and universal Thorpe length distribution in a laboratory turbulent stratified shear flow

DOE PAGES

Odier, Philippe; Ecke, Robert E.

2017-02-21

Stratified shear flows occur in many geophysical contexts, from oceanic overflows and river estuaries to wind-driven thermocline layers. In this study, we explore a turbulent wall-bounded shear flow of lighter miscible fluid into a quiescent fluid of higher density with a range of Richardson numbersmore » $$0.05\\lesssim Ri\\lesssim 1$$. In order to find a stability parameter that allows close comparison with linear theory and with idealized experiments and numerics, we investigate different definitions of$Ri$$. We find that a gradient Richardson number defined on fluid interface sections where there is no overturning at or adjacent to the maximum density gradient position provides an excellent stability parameter, which captures the Miles–Howard linear stability criterion. For small $$Ri$$ the flow exhibits robust Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, whereas for larger $$Ri$$ interfacial overturning is more intermittent with less frequent Kelvin–Helmholtz events and emerging Holmboe wave instability consistent with a thicker velocity layer compared with the density layer. We compute the perturbed fraction of interface as a quantitative measure of the flow intermittency, which is approximately 1 for the smallest $$Ri$$ but decreases rapidly as $$Ri$ increases, consistent with linear theory. For the perturbed regions, we use the Thorpe scale to characterize the overturning properties of these flows. The probability distribution of the non-zero Thorpe length yields a universal exponential form, suggesting that much of the overturning results from increasingly intermittent Kelvin–Helmholtz instability events. Finally, the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy, conditioned on the intermittency fraction, has a similar form, suggesting an explanation for the universal scaling collapse of the Thorpe length distribution.« less

The structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer in offshore flow over the sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garratt, J. R.; Ryan, B. F.

1989-04-01

Observations obtained mainly from a research aircraft are presented of the mean and turbulent structure of the stably stratified internal boundary layer (IBL) over the sea formed by warm air advection from land to sea. The potential temperature and humidity fields reveal the vertical extent of the IBL, for fetches out to several hundred of kilometres, geostrophic winds of 20 25 m s-1, and potential temperature differences between undisturbed continental air and the sea surface of 7 to 17 K. The dependence of IBL depth on these external parameters is discussed in the context of the numerical results of Garratt (1987), and some discrepancies are noted. Wind observations show the development of a low-level wind maximum (wind component normal to the coast) and rotation of the wind to smaller cross-isobar flow angles. Potential temperature (θ) profiles within the IBL reveal quite a different structure to that found in the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) over land. Over the sea, θ profiles have large positive curvature with vertical gradients increasing monotonically with height; this reflects the dominance of turbulent cooling within the layer. The behaviour is consistent with known behaviour in the NBL over land where curvature becomes negative (vertical gradients of θ decreasing with height) as radiative cooling becomes dominant. Turbulent properties are discussed in terms of non-dimensional quantities, normalised by the surface friction velocity, as functions of normalised height using the IBL depth. Vertical profiles of these and the normalised wavelength of the spectral maximum agree well with known results for the stable boundary layer over land (Caughey et al., 1979).

Interaction Between the Atmospheric Boundary Layer and Wind Energy: From Continental-Scale to Turbine-Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

St. Martin, Clara Mae

Wind turbines and groups of wind turbines, or "wind plants", interact with the complex and heterogeneous boundary layer of the atmosphere. We define the boundary layer as the portion of the atmosphere directly influenced by the surface, and this layer exhibits variability on a range of temporal and spatial scales. While early developments in wind energy could ignore some of this variability, recent work demonstrates that improved understanding of atmosphere-turbine interactions leads to the discovery of new ways to approach turbine technology development as well as processes such as performance validation and turbine operations. This interaction with the atmosphere occurs at several spatial and temporal scales from continental-scale to turbine-scale. Understanding atmospheric variability over continental-scales and across plants can facilitate reliance on wind energy as a baseload energy source on the electrical grid. On turbine scales, understanding the atmosphere's contribution to the variability in power production can improve the accuracy of power production estimates as we continue to implement more wind energy onto the grid. Wind speed and directional variability within a plant will affect wind turbine wakes within the plants and among neighboring plants, and a deeper knowledge of these variations can help mitigate effects of wakes and possibly even allow the manipulation of these wakes for increased production. Herein, I present the extent of my PhD work, in which I studied outstanding questions at these scales at the intersections of wind energy and atmospheric science. My work consists of four distinct projects. At the coarsest scales, I analyze the separation between wind plant sites needed for statistical independence in order to reduce variability for grid-integration of wind. At lower wind speeds, periods of unstable and more turbulent conditions produce more power than periods of stable and less turbulent conditions, while at wind speeds closer to rated wind speed, periods of unstable and more turbulent conditions produce less power than periods of stable and less turbulent conditions. Using these new, stability- and turbulence-specific power curves to calculate annual energy production (AEP) estimates results in smaller AEPs than if calculated using no stability and turbulence filters, which could have implications for manufacturers and operators. In my third project, I address the problem of expensive power production validation. Rather than erecting towers to provide upwind wind measurements, I explore the utility of using nacelle-mounted anemometers for power curve verification studies. I calculate empirical nacelle transfer functions (NTFs) with upwind tower and turbine measurements. The fifth-order and second-order NTFs show a linear relationship between upwind wind speed and nacelle wind speed at wind speeds less than about 9 m s-1 , but this relationship becomes non-linear at wind speeds higher than about 9 m s-1. The use of NTFs results in AEPs within 1 % of an AEP using upwind wind speeds. Additionally, during periods of unstable conditions as well as during more turbulent conditions, the nacelle-mounted anemometer underestimates the upwind wind speed more than during periods of stable conditions and less turbulence conditions at some wind speed bins below rated speed. Finally, in my fourth project, I consider spatial scales on the order of a wind plant. Using power production data from over 300 turbines from four neighboring wind farms in the western US along with simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting model's Wind Farm Parameterization (WRF-WFP), I investigate the advantage of using the WFP to simulate wakes. During this case, winds from the west and north-northwest range from about 5 to 11 m s-1. A down-ramp occurs in this case study, which WRF predicts too early. The early prediction of the down-ramp likely affects the error in WRF-predicted power, the results of which show exaggerated wake effects. While these projects span a range of spatio-temporal scales, a unifying theme is the important aspect of atmospheric variation on wind power production, wind power production estimates, and means for facilitating the integration of wind-generated electricity into power grids. Future work, such as universal NTFs for sites with similar characteristics, NTFs for waked turbines, or the deployment of lidars on turbine nacelles for operation purposes, should continue to study the mutually-important interconnections between these two fields. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Turbulence Variance Characteristics in the Unstable Atmospheric Boundary Layer above Flat Pine Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asanuma, Jun

Variances of the velocity components and scalars are important as indicators of the turbulence intensity. They also can be utilized to estimate surface fluxes in several types of "variance methods", and the estimated fluxes can be regional values if the variances from which they are calculated are regionally representative measurements. On these motivations, variances measured by an aircraft in the unstable ABL over a flat pine forest during HAPEX-Mobilhy were analyzed within the context of the similarity scaling arguments. The variances of temperature and vertical velocity within the atmospheric surface layer were found to follow closely the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, and to yield reasonable estimates of the surface sensible heat fluxes when they are used in variance methods. This gives a validation to the variance methods with aircraft measurements. On the other hand, the specific humidity variances were influenced by the surface heterogeneity and clearly fail to obey MOS. A simple analysis based on the similarity law for free convection produced a comprehensible and quantitative picture regarding the effect of the surface flux heterogeneity on the statistical moments, and revealed that variances of the active and passive scalars become dissimilar because of their different roles in turbulence. The analysis also indicated that the mean quantities are also affected by the heterogeneity but to a less extent than the variances. The temperature variances in the mixed layer (ML) were examined by using a generalized top-down bottom-up diffusion model with some combinations of velocity scales and inversion flux models. The results showed that the surface shear stress exerts considerable influence on the lower ML. Also with the temperature and vertical velocity variances ML variance methods were tested, and their feasibility was investigated. Finally, the variances in the ML were analyzed in terms of the local similarity concept; the results confirmed the original hypothesis by Panofsky and McCormick that the local scaling in terms of the local buoyancy flux defines the lower bound of the moments.

Double-diffusive convection and baroclinic instability in a differentially heated and initially stratified rotating system: the barostrat instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vincze, Miklos; Borcia, Ion; Harlander, Uwe; Le Gal, Patrice

2016-12-01

A water-filled differentially heated rotating annulus with initially prepared stable vertical salinity profiles is studied in the laboratory. Based on two-dimensional horizontal particle image velocimetry data and infrared camera visualizations, we describe the appearance and the characteristics of the baroclinic instability in this original configuration. First, we show that when the salinity profile is linear and confined between two non-stratified layers at top and bottom, only two separate shallow fluid layers can be destabilized. These unstable layers appear nearby the top and the bottom of the tank with a stratified motionless zone between them. This laboratory arrangement is thus particularly interesting to model geophysical or astrophysical situations where stratified regions are often juxtaposed to convective ones. Then, for more general but stable initial density profiles, statistical measures are introduced to quantify the extent of the baroclinic instability at given depths and to analyze the connections between this depth-dependence and the vertical salinity profiles. We find that, although the presence of stable stratification generally hinders full-depth overturning, double-diffusive convection can lead to development of multicellular sideways convection in shallow layers and subsequently to a multilayered baroclinic instability. Therefore we conclude that by decreasing the characteristic vertical scale of the flow, stratification may even enhance the formation of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies (and thus, mixing) in a local sense.

Analysis of turbulent transport and mixing in transitional Rayleigh–Taylor unstable flow using direct numerical simulation data

DOE PAGES

Schilling, Oleg; Mueschke, Nicholas J.

2010-10-18

Data from a 1152X760X1280 direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a transitional Rayleigh-Taylor mixing layer modeled after a small Atwood number water channel experiment is used to comprehensively investigate the structure of mean and turbulent transport and mixing. The simulation had physical parameters and initial conditions approximating those in the experiment. The budgets of the mean vertical momentum, heavy-fluid mass fraction, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, heavy-fluid mass fraction variance, and heavy-fluid mass fraction variance dissipation rate equations are constructed using Reynolds averaging applied to the DNS data. The relative importance of mean and turbulent production, turbulent dissipationmore » and destruction, and turbulent transport are investigated as a function of Reynolds number and across the mixing layer to provide insight into the flow dynamics not presently available from experiments. The analysis of the budgets supports the assumption for small Atwood number, Rayleigh/Taylor driven flows that the principal transport mechanisms are buoyancy production, turbulent production, turbulent dissipation, and turbulent diffusion (shear and mean field production are negligible). As the Reynolds number increases, the turbulent production in the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate equation becomes the dominant production term, while the buoyancy production plateaus. Distinctions between momentum and scalar transport are also noted, where the turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate both grow in time and are peaked near the center plane of the mixing layer, while the heavy-fluid mass fraction variance and its dissipation rate initially grow and then begin to decrease as mixing progresses and reduces density fluctuations. All terms in the transport equations generally grow or decay, with no qualitative change in their profile, except for the pressure flux contribution to the total turbulent kinetic energy flux, which changes sign early in time (a countergradient effect). The production-to-dissipation ratios corresponding to the turbulent kinetic energy and heavy-fluid mass fraction variance are large and vary strongly at small evolution times, decrease with time, and nearly asymptote as the flow enters a self-similar regime. The late-time turbulent kinetic energy production-to-dissipation ratio is larger than observed in shear-driven turbulent flows. The order of magnitude estimates of the terms in the transport equations are shown to be consistent with the DNS at late-time, and also confirms both the dominant terms and their evolutionary behavior. Thus, these results are useful for identifying the dynamically important terms requiring closure, and assessing the accuracy of the predictions of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes and large-eddy simulation models of turbulent transport and mixing in transitional Rayleigh-Taylor instability-generated flow.« less

A NEW MODEL FOR MIXING BY DOUBLE-DIFFUSIVE CONVECTION (SEMI-CONVECTION). III. THERMAL AND COMPOSITIONAL TRANSPORT THROUGH NON-LAYERED ODDC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moll, Ryan; Garaud, Pascale; Stellmach, Stephan, E-mail: rmoll@soe.ucsc.edu

2016-05-20

Oscillatory double-diffusive convection (ODDC; also known as semi-convection) refers to a type of double-diffusive instability that occurs in regions of planetary and stellar interiors that have a destabilizing thermal stratification and a stabilizing mean molecular weight stratification. In this series of papers, we use an extensive suite of three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations to quantify the transport of heat and chemical species by ODDC. Rosenblum et al. first showed that ODDC can either spontaneously form layers that significantly enhance the transport of heat and chemical species compared to microscopic transport or remain in a state dominated by large-scale gravity waves, inmore » which there is a more modest enhancement of the turbulent transport rates. Subsequent studies in this series focused on identifying under what conditions layers form and quantifying transport through layered systems. Here we proceed to characterize transport through systems that are unstable to ODDC, but do not undergo spontaneous layer formation. We measure the thermal and compositional fluxes in non-layered ODDC from both two-dimensional (2D) and 3D numerical simulations, and show that 3D simulations are well approximated by similar simulations in a 2D domain. We find that the turbulent mixing rate in this regime is weak and can, to a first-level approximation, be neglected. We conclude by summarizing the findings of papers I through III into a single prescription for transport systems unstable to ODDC.« less

MEAN-FIELD MODELING OF AN α{sup 2} DYNAMO COUPLED WITH DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF RIGIDLY ROTATING CONVECTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Masada, Youhei; Sano, Takayoshi, E-mail: ymasada@harbor.kobe-u.ac.jp, E-mail: sano@ile.osaka-u.ac.jp

2014-10-10

The mechanism of large-scale dynamos in rigidly rotating stratified convection is explored by direct numerical simulations (DNS) in Cartesian geometry. A mean-field dynamo model is also constructed using turbulent velocity profiles consistently extracted from the corresponding DNS results. By quantitative comparison between the DNS and our mean-field model, it is demonstrated that the oscillatory α{sup 2} dynamo wave, excited and sustained in the convection zone, is responsible for large-scale magnetic activities such as cyclic polarity reversal and spatiotemporal migration. The results provide strong evidence that a nonuniformity of the α-effect, which is a natural outcome of rotating stratified convection, canmore » be an important prerequisite for large-scale stellar dynamos, even without the Ω-effect.« less

Diffusive Shock Acceleration and Turbulent Reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrel, Christian; Vlahos, Loukas; Isliker, Heinz; Pisokas, Theophilos

2018-05-01

Diffusive Shock Acceleration (DSA) cannot efficiently accelerate particles without the presence of self-consistently generated or pre-existing strong turbulence (δB/B ˜ 1) in the vicinity of the shock. The problem we address in this article is: if large amplitude magnetic disturbances are present upstream and downstream of a shock then Turbulent Reconnection (TR) will set in and will participate not only in the elastic scattering of particles but also in their heating and acceleration. We demonstrate that large amplitude magnetic disturbances and Unstable Current Sheets (UCS), spontaneously formed in the strong turbulence in the vicinity of a shock, can accelerate particles as efficiently as DSA in large scale systems and on long time scales. We start our analysis with "elastic" scatterers upstream and downstream and estimate the energy distribution of particles escaping from the shock, recovering the well known results from the DSA theory. Next we analyze the additional interaction of the particles with active scatterers (magnetic disturbances and UCS) upstream and downstream of the shock. We show that the asymptotic energy distribution of the particles accelerated by DSA/TR has very similar characteristics with the one due to DSA alone, but the synergy of DSA with TR is much more efficient: The acceleration time is an order of magnitude shorter and the maximum energy reached two orders of magnitude higher. We claim that DSA is the dominant acceleration mechanism in a short period before TR is established, and then strong turbulence will dominate the heating and acceleration of the particles. In other words, the shock serves as the mechanism to set up a strongly turbulent environment, in which the acceleration mechanism will ultimately be the synergy of DSA and TR.

Turbulent mixing& combustion in TNT explosions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuhl, A L; Ferguson, R E; Oppenheim, A K

2000-12-12

Effects of turbulent mixing induced by explosion of a 1-g spherical TNT charge in air are investigated. The detonation wave in the charge transforms the solid explosive (C{sub 7}H{sub 5}N{sub 3}O{sub 6}) to gaseous products, rich in C{sub (S)}, and CO. The detonation pressure ({approx}210 kb) causes the products to expand rapidly, driving a blast wave into the surrounding air (Brode, 1959). The interface between the products and air is unstable (Richtmyer, 1960; Meshkov, 1960; Anisimov & Zel'dovich, 1977). As shown in Collage Ia-c, this region rapidly transitions into a turbulent mixing layer (Kuhl, 1996). As the embedded shock, I,more » implodes, it draws the mixing structures (Taylor cavities) into the origin (Collage Id-e). In this way air becomes distributed throughout the hot detonation products gases. This process is enhanced by shock reflections from confining walls. In either case (confined or unconfined), rapid combustion takes place where the expanded detonation products play the role of fuel. This leads to a dramatic increase in chamber pressure (Fig. 1)-in contrast to a corresponding TNT explosion in nitrogen. The problem was modeled as turbulent combustion in an unmixed system at large Reynolds, Peclet and Damkohler numbers (Kuhl et al, 1997). The numerical solution was obtained by a high-order Godunov scheme (Colella & Glaz, 1985). Adaptive Mesh Refinement (Berger & Colella, 1989) was used to follow the turbulent mixing on the computational grid in as much detail as possible. The results reveal all the dynamic features (Fig. 2) of the exothermic process of combustion controlled by fluid-mechanic transport in a highly turbulent field (Kuhl & Oppenheim, 1997), in contrast to the conventional reaction-diffusion mechanism of Zel'dovich & Frank-Kamenetskii (1938).« less

The role of atmospheric stability/turbulence on wakes at the Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barthelmie, R. J.; Churchfield, M. J.; Moriarty, P. J.; Lundquist, J. K.; Oxley, G. S.; Hahn, S.; Pryor, S. C.

2015-06-01

The aim of the paper is to present results from the NREL SOWFA project that compares simulations from models of different fidelity to meteorological and turbine data from the Egmond aan Zee wind farm. Initial results illustrate that wake behavior and impacts are strongly impacted by turbulence intensity [1]. This includes both power losses from wakes and loading illustrated by the out of plane bending moment. Here we focus on understanding the relationship between turbulence and atmospheric stability and whether power losses due to wakes can effectively be characterized by measures of turbulence alone or whether atmospheric stability as a whole plays a fundamental role in wake behavior. The study defines atmospheric stability using the Monin-Obukhov length estimated based on the temperature difference between 116 and 70 m. The data subset selected using this method for the calculation of the Monin-Obukhov length indicate little diurnal or directional dependence of the stability classes but a dominance of stable classes in the spring/unstable classes in fall and of near-neutral classes at high wind speeds (Figure 2). The analysis is complicated by the need to define turbulence intensity. We can select the ratio of the standard deviation of wind speed to mean wind speed in each observation period using data from the meteorological mast, in which case a substantial amount of data must be excluded due to the presence of the wind farm. An alternative is to use data from the wind turbines which could provide a larger data set for analysis. These approaches are examined and compared to illustrate their robustness. Finally, power losses from wakes are categorized according to stability and/or turbulence in order to understand their relative importance in determining the behavior of wind turbine wakes.

The role of atmospheric stability/turbulence on wakes at the Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farm

DOE PAGES

Barthelmie, R. J.; Churchfield, Matthew J.; Moriarty, Patrick J.; ...

2015-06-18

Here, the aim of the paper is to present results from the NREL SOWFA project that compares simulations from models of different fidelity to meteorological and turbine data from the Egmond aan Zee wind farm. Initial results illustrate that wake behavior and impacts are strongly impacted by turbulence intensity. This includes both power losses from wakes and loading illustrated by the out of plane bending moment. Here we focus on understanding the relationship between turbulence and atmospheric stability and whether power losses due to wakes can effectively be characterized by measures of turbulence alone or whether atmospheric stability as amore » whole plays a fundamental role in wake behavior. The study defines atmospheric stability using the Monin-Obukhov length estimated based on the temperature difference between 116 and 70 m. The data subset selected using this method for the calculation of the Monin-Obukhov length indicate little diurnal or directional dependence of the stability classes but a dominance of stable classes in the spring/unstable classes in fall and of near-neutral classes at high wind speeds. The analysis is complicated by the need to define turbulence intensity. We can select the ratio of the standard deviation of wind speed to mean wind speed in each observation period using data from the meteorological mast, in which case a substantial amount of data must be excluded due to the presence of the wind farm. An alternative is to use data from the wind turbines which could provide a larger data set for analysis. These approaches are examined and compared to illustrate their robustness. Finally, power losses from wakes are categorized according to stability and/or turbulence in order to understand their relative importance in determining the behavior of wind turbine wakes.« less

Wind turbine power production and annual energy production depend on atmospheric stability and turbulence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

St. Martin, Clara M.; Lundquist, Julie K.; Clifton, Andrew

Using detailed upwind and nacelle-based measurements from a General Electric (GE) 1.5sle model with a 77 m rotor diameter, we calculate power curves and annual energy production (AEP) and explore their sensitivity to different atmospheric parameters to provide guidelines for the use of stability and turbulence filters in segregating power curves. The wind measurements upwind of the turbine include anemometers mounted on a 135 m meteorological tower as well as profiles from a lidar. We calculate power curves for different regimes based on turbulence parameters such as turbulence intensity (TI) as well as atmospheric stability parameters such as the bulk Richardson number ( Rmore » B). We also calculate AEP with and without these atmospheric filters and highlight differences between the results of these calculations. The power curves for different TI regimes reveal that increased TI undermines power production at wind speeds near rated, but TI increases power production at lower wind speeds at this site, the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Similarly, power curves for different R B regimes reveal that periods of stable conditions produce more power at wind speeds near rated and periods of unstable conditions produce more power at lower wind speeds. AEP results suggest that calculations without filtering for these atmospheric regimes may overestimate the AEP. Because of statistically significant differences between power curves and AEP calculated with these turbulence and stability filters for this turbine at this site, we suggest implementing an additional step in analyzing power performance data to incorporate effects of atmospheric stability and turbulence across the rotor disk.« less

Wind turbine power production and annual energy production depend on atmospheric stability and turbulence

DOE PAGES

St. Martin, Clara M.; Lundquist, Julie K.; Clifton, Andrew; ...

2016-11-01

Using detailed upwind and nacelle-based measurements from a General Electric (GE) 1.5sle model with a 77 m rotor diameter, we calculate power curves and annual energy production (AEP) and explore their sensitivity to different atmospheric parameters to provide guidelines for the use of stability and turbulence filters in segregating power curves. The wind measurements upwind of the turbine include anemometers mounted on a 135 m meteorological tower as well as profiles from a lidar. We calculate power curves for different regimes based on turbulence parameters such as turbulence intensity (TI) as well as atmospheric stability parameters such as the bulk Richardson number ( Rmore » B). We also calculate AEP with and without these atmospheric filters and highlight differences between the results of these calculations. The power curves for different TI regimes reveal that increased TI undermines power production at wind speeds near rated, but TI increases power production at lower wind speeds at this site, the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Similarly, power curves for different R B regimes reveal that periods of stable conditions produce more power at wind speeds near rated and periods of unstable conditions produce more power at lower wind speeds. AEP results suggest that calculations without filtering for these atmospheric regimes may overestimate the AEP. Because of statistically significant differences between power curves and AEP calculated with these turbulence and stability filters for this turbine at this site, we suggest implementing an additional step in analyzing power performance data to incorporate effects of atmospheric stability and turbulence across the rotor disk.« less

Axisymmetric Shearing Box Models of Magnetized Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Xiaoyue; Gammie, Charles F.

2008-01-01

The local model, or shearing box, has proven a useful model for studying the dynamics of astrophysical disks. Here we consider the evolution of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in an axisymmetric local model in order to evaluate the limitations of global axisymmetric models. An exploration of the model parameter space shows the following: (1) The magnetic energy and α-decay approximately exponentially after an initial burst of turbulence. For our code, HAM, the decay time τ propto Res , where Res/2 is the number of zones per scale height. (2) In the initial burst of turbulence the magnetic energy is amplified by a factor proportional to Res3/4λR, where λR is the radial scale of the initial field. This scaling applies only if the most unstable wavelength of the magnetorotational instability is resolved and the final field is subthermal. (3) The shearing box is a resonant cavity and in linear theory exhibits a discrete set of compressive modes. These modes are excited by the MHD turbulence and are visible as quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in temporal power spectra of fluid variables at low spatial resolution. At high resolution the QPOs are hidden by a noise continuum. (4) In axisymmetry disk turbulence is local. The correlation function of the turbulence is limited in radial extent, and the peak magnetic energy density is independent of the radial extent of the box LR for LR > 2H. (5) Similar results are obtained for the HAM, ZEUS, and ATHENA codes; ATHENA has an effective resolution that is nearly double that of HAM and ZEUS. (6) Similar results are obtained for 2D and 3D runs at similar resolution, but only for particular choices of the initial field strength and radial scale of the initial magnetic field.

Relationship between wave energy and free energy from pickup ions in the Comet Halley environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huddleston, D. E.; Johnstone, A. D.

1992-01-01

The free energy available from the implanted heavy ion population at Comet Halley is calculated by assuming that the initial unstable velocity space ring distribution of the ions evolves toward a bispherical shell. Ultimately this free energy adds to the turbulence in the solar wind. Upstream and downstream free energies are obtained separately for the conditions observed along the Giotto spacecraft trajectory. The results indicate that the waves are mostly upstream propagating in the solar wind frame. The total free energy density always exceeds the measured wave energy density because, as expected in the nonlinear process of ion scattering, the available energy is not all immediately released. An estimate of the amount which has been released can be obtained from the measured oxygen ion distributions and again it exceeds that observed. The theoretical analysis is extended to calculate the k spectrum of the cometary-ion-generated turbulence.

A high-resolution model of the planetary boundary layer - Sensitivity tests and comparisons with SESAME-79 data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, D.; Anthes, R. A.

1982-01-01

A one-dimensional, planetary boundary layer (PBL) model is presented and verified using April 10, 1979 SESAME data. The model contains two modules to account for two different regimes of turbulent mixing. Separate parameterizations are made for stable and unstable conditions, with a predictive slab model for surface temperature. Atmospheric variables in the surface layer are calculated with a prognostic model, with moisture included in the coupled surface/PBL modeling. Sensitivity tests are performed for factors such as moisture availability, albedo, surface roughness, and thermal capacity, and a 24 hr simulation is summarized for day and night conditions. The comparison with the SESAME data comprises three hour intervals, using a time-dependent geostrophic wind. Close correlations were found with daytime conditions, but not in nighttime thermal structure, while the turbulence was faithfully predicted. Both geostrophic flow and surface characteristics were shown to have significant effects on the model predictions

Computational Relativistic Astrophysics Using the Flow Field-Dependent Variation Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richardson, G. A.; Chung, T. J.

2002-01-01

We present our method for solving general relativistic nonideal hydrodynamics. Relativistic effects become pronounced in such cases as jet formation from black hole magnetized accretion disks which may lead to the study of gamma-ray bursts. Nonideal flows are present where radiation, magnetic forces, viscosities, and turbulence play an important role. Our concern in this paper is to reexamine existing numerical simulation tools as to the accuracy and efficiency of computations and introduce a new approach known as the flow field-dependent variation (FDV) method. The main feature of the FDV method consists of accommodating discontinuities of shock waves and high gradients of flow variables such as occur in turbulence and unstable motions. In this paper, the physics involved in the solution of relativistic hydrodynamics and solution strategies of the FDV theory are elaborated. The general relativistic astrophysical flow and shock solver (GRAFSS) is introduced, and some simple example problems for computational relativistic astrophysics (CRA) are demonstrated.

Suppressing electron turbulence and triggering internal transport barriers with reversed magnetic shear in the National Spherical Torus Experimenta)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterson, J. L.; Bell, R.; Candy, J.; Guttenfelder, W.; Hammett, G. W.; Kaye, S. M.; LeBlanc, B.; Mikkelsen, D. R.; Smith, D. R.; Yuh, H. Y.

2012-05-01

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)] can achieve high electron plasma confinement regimes that are super-critically unstable to the electron temperature gradient driven (ETG) instability. These plasmas, dubbed electron internal transport barriers (e-ITBs), occur when the magnetic shear becomes strongly negative. Using the gyrokinetic code GYRO [J. Candy and R. E. Waltz, J. Comput. Phys. 186, 545 (2003)], the first nonlinear ETG simulations of NSTX e-ITB plasmas reinforce this observation. Local simulations identify a strongly upshifted nonlinear critical gradient for thermal transport that depends on magnetic shear. Global simulations show e-ITB formation can occur when the magnetic shear becomes strongly negative. While the ETG-driven thermal flux at the outer edge of the barrier is large enough to be experimentally relevant, the turbulence cannot propagate past the barrier into the plasma interior.

Measurements of turbulence and fossil turbulence near ampere seamount

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gibson, Carl H.; Nabatov, Valeriy; Ozmidov, Rostislav

1993-10-01

Measurements of temperature and velocity microstructure near and downstream of a shallow seamount are used to compare fossil turbulence versus non-fossil turbulence models for the evolution of turbulence microstructure patches in the stratified ocean. According to non-fossil oceanic turbulence models, all overturn length scales LT of the microstructure grow and collapse in constant proportion to each other and to the turbulence energy (Oboukov) scale LO and the inertial buoyancy (Ozmidov) scale L R≡(ɛ/N 3) 1/2 of the patches; that is, with LTrms ≈1.2 LR and viscous dissipation rate ɛ ≈ ɛ 0∗. According to the Gibson fossil turbulence model, all microstructure originates from completely active turbulence with ɛ ⩾ ɛ 0 ≈ 3L T2N 3(≈ 28ɛ 0∗) and L T/√6 ≈ L Trms, but this rapidly decays into a more persistent active-fossil state with ɛ0⩾ ɛ⩾ ɛF ≈ 30 vN2, where N is the buoyancy frequency and v is the kinematic viscosity and, without further energy supply, finally reaches a completely fossil turbulence hydrodynamic state of internal wave motions, with ɛ ⩽ ɛF. The last turbulence eddies, with ɛ ≈ ɛF, vanish at a buoyant-inertial-viscous (fossil Kolmogorov) scale LKF that is much smaller than the remnant overturn scales LT for large ɛ0/ ɛF ratios. These density, temperature, and salinity overturns with LT ≈ 0.6 LR0 ≫ 0.6 LR persist as turbulence fossils (by retaining the memory of ɛo) and collapse very slowly. In the near wake below the summit depth of Ampere seamount, a much larger proportion of completely active turbulence patches was found than is usually found in the ocean interior away from sources. Dissipation rates ɛ and turbulence activity coefficients A T ≡ (ɛ/ɛ 0) 1/2 of microstructure patches were found to decrease downstream, suggesting that the active turbulence indicated by the patches with AT ⩾ 1 was caused by the presence of the seamount as a turbulence source. Therefore, the turbulence and mixing processes of ocean layers far away from turbulence sources probably have been undersampled by microstructure data sets lacking any AT ⩾ 1 patches. This is because large fractions of the mixing and viscous dissipation of the patches occur in short-lived active turbulence regimes that are too brief to be detected. Consequently, large underestimates of the true space-time average turbulence fluxes and turbulence and scalar dissipation rates may result if non-fossil turbulence models are assumed in ocean microstructure data interpretation.

Jet-mixing of initially-stratified liquid-liquid pipe flows: experiments and numerical simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, Stuart; Ibarra-Hernandes, Roberto; Xie, Zhihua; Markides, Christos; Matar, Omar

2016-11-01

Low pipeline velocities lead to stratification and so-called 'phase slip' in horizontal liquid-liquid flows due to differences in liquid densities and viscosities. Stratified flows have no suitable single point for sampling, from which average phase properties (e.g. fractions) can be established. Inline mixing, achieved by static mixers or jets in cross-flow (JICF), is often used to overcome liquid-liquid stratification by establishing unstable two-phase dispersions for sampling. Achieving dispersions in liquid-liquid pipeline flows using JICF is the subject of this experimental and modelling work. The experimental facility involves a matched refractive index liquid-liquid-solid system, featuring an ETFE test section, and experimental liquids which are silicone oil and a 51-wt% glycerol solution. The matching then allows the dispersed fluid phase fractions and velocity fields to be established through advanced optical techniques, namely PLIF (for phase) and PTV or PIV (for velocity fields). CFD codes using the volume of a fluid (VOF) method are then used to demonstrate JICF breakup and dispersion in stratified pipeline flows. A number of simple jet configurations are described and their dispersion effectiveness is compared with the experimental results. Funding from Cameron for Ph.D. studentship (SW) gratefully acknowledged.

Diffusion of magnetic field via turbulent reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos de Lima, Reinaldo; Lazarian, Alexander; de Gouveia Dal Pino, Elisabete M.; Cho, Jungyeon

2010-05-01

The diffusion of astrophysical magnetic fields in conducting fluids in the presence of turbulence depends on whether magnetic fields can change their topology via reconnection in highly conducting media. Recent progress in understanding fast magnetic reconnection in the presence of turbulence is reassuring that the magnetic field behavior in computer simulations and turbulent astrophysical environments is similar, as far as magnetic reconnection is concerned. This makes it meaningful to perform MHD simulations of turbulent flows in order to understand the diffusion of magnetic field in astrophysical environments. Our studies of magnetic field diffusion in turbulent medium reveal interesting new phenomena. First of all, our 3D MHD simulations initiated with anti-correlating magnetic field and gaseous density exhibit at later times a de-correlation of the magnetic field and density, which corresponds well to the observations of the interstellar media. While earlier studies stressed the role of either ambipolar diffusion or time-dependent turbulent fluctuations for de-correlating magnetic field and density, we get the effect of permanent de-correlation with one fluid code, i.e. without invoking ambipolar diffusion. In addition, in the presence of gravity and turbulence, our 3D simulations show the decrease of the magnetic flux-to-mass ratio as the gaseous density at the center of the gravitational potential increases. We observe this effect both in the situations when we start with equilibrium distributions of gas and magnetic field and when we follow the evolution of collapsing dynamically unstable configurations. Thus the process of turbulent magnetic field removal should be applicable both to quasi-static subcritical molecular clouds and cores and violently collapsing supercritical entities. The increase of the gravitational potential as well as the magnetization of the gas increases the segregation of the mass and magnetic flux in the saturated final state of the simulations, supporting the notion that the reconnection-enabled diffusivity relaxes the magnetic field + gas system in the gravitational field to its minimal energy state. This effect is expected to play an important role in star formation, from its initial stages of concentrating interstellar gas to the final stages of the accretion to the forming protostar.

Heating and scattering of ring-beam distributions by turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gray, P. C.; Pontius, D. H., Jr.; Matthaeus, W. H.

1995-01-01

Pickup ions in the solar wind are initially are born in ring-beam distributions, i.e. f(v) varies as delta(v(sub perpendicular) - V(sub sw)sin(Theta)) delta(v(sub parallel) - V(sub sw)cos(Theta)), where Theta is the angle between the solar wind velocity and the IMF(Interplanetary Magnetic Field), and V(sub sw) is the solar wind speed. Often the distribution has been presumed to relax to a distribution that is isotropic in Theta and essentially mono-energetic, a shell or a 'bi-spherical distribution.' However solar wind turbulence is capable of heating the ring distribution on the timescale of a few tens of gyroperiods, a timescale not greatly distinct from that required for pitch angle scattering to a shell. To describe this effect, we have performed test-particle studies of the heating/scattering of the ring beam distribution by MHD turbulence, adopting various models for the MHD fluctuations, including slab and fully dynamic 2D and 3D incompressible turbulence. Furthermore, a system composed of a cold ion ring and a background plasma is unstable to several kinetic plasma instabilities. We carried out kinetic simulations of the ring beam distribution, showing that plasma instabilities also rapidly energize and scatter particles. Results will be presented comparing relaxation and heating rates of the ring-beam distribution by the various mechanisms.

Quantifying Diapycnal Mixing in an Energetic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivey, Gregory N.; Bluteau, Cynthia E.; Jones, Nicole L.

2018-01-01

Turbulent diapycnal mixing controls global circulation and the distribution of tracers in the ocean. For turbulence in stratified shear flows, we introduce a new turbulent length scale Lρ dependent on χ. We show the flux Richardson number Rif is determined by the dimensionless ratio of three length scales: the Ozmidov scale LO, the Corrsin shear scale LS, and Lρ. This new model predicts that Rif varies from 0 to 0.5, which we test primarily against energetic field observations collected in 100 m of water on the Australian North West Shelf (NWS), in addition to laboratory observations. The field observations consisted of turbulence microstructure vertical profiles taken near moored temperature and velocity turbulence time series. Irrespective of the value of the gradient Richardson number Ri, both instruments yielded a median Rif=0.17, while the observed Rif ranged from 0.01 to 0.50, in agreement with the predicted range of Rif. Using a Prandtl mixing length model, we show that diapycnal mixing Kρ can be predicted from Lρ and the background vertical shear S. Using field and laboratory observations, we show that Lρ=0.3LE where LE is the Ellison length scale. The diapycnal diffusivity can thus be calculated from Kρ=0.09LES2. This prediction agrees very well with the diapycnal mixing estimates obtained from our moored turbulence instruments for observed diffusivities as large as 10-1 m2s-1. Moorings with relatively low sampling rates can thus provide long time series estimates of diapycnal mixing rates, significantly increasing the number of diapycnal mixing estimates in the ocean.

Comparison between measured and predicted turbulence frequency spectra in ITG and TEM regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Citrin, J.; Arnichand, H.; Bernardo, J.; Bourdelle, C.; Garbet, X.; Jenko, F.; Hacquin, S.; Pueschel, M. J.; Sabot, R.

2017-06-01

The observation of distinct peaks in tokamak core reflectometry measurements—named quasi-coherent-modes (QCMs)—are identified as a signature of trapped-electron-mode (TEM) turbulence (Arnichand et al 2016 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 58 014037). This phenomenon is investigated with detailed linear and nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations using the Gene code. A Tore-Supra density scan is studied, which traverses through a linear (LOC) to saturated (SOC) ohmic confinement transition. The LOC and SOC phases are both simulated separately. In the LOC phase, where QCMs are observed, TEMs are robustly predicted unstable in linear studies. In the later SOC phase, where QCMs are no longer observed, ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) modes are identified. In nonlinear simulations, in the ITG (SOC) phase, a broadband spectrum is seen. In the TEM (LOC) phase, a clear emergence of a peak at the TEM frequencies is seen. This is due to reduced nonlinear frequency broadening of the underlying linear modes in the TEM regime compared with the ITG regime. A synthetic diagnostic of the nonlinearly simulated frequency spectra reproduces the features observed in the reflectometry measurements. These results support the identification of core QCMs as an experimental marker for TEM turbulence.

Large Eddy Simulations of the Tilted Rig Experiment: A Two-dimensional Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rollin, Bertrand; Denissen, Nicholas A.; Reisner, Jon M.; Andrews, Malcolm J.

2012-11-01

The tilted rig experiment is a derivative of the rocket rig experiment designed to investigate turbulent mixing induced by the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability. A tank containing two fluids of different densities is accelerated downwards between two parallel guiding rods by rocket motors. The acceleration is such that the pressure and density gradients face opposite directions at the fluids interface, creating a Rayleigh-Taylor unstable configuration. The rig is tilted such that the tank is initially at an angle and the acceleration is not perpendicular to the fluids interface when the rockets fire. This results in a two dimensional Rayleigh-Taylor instability case where the fluids experience RT mixing and a bulk overturning motion. The tilted rig is therefore a valuable experiment to help calibrating two-dimensional mixing models. Large Eddy Simulations of the tilted rig experiments will be compared to available experimental results. A study of the behavior of turbulence variables relevant to turbulence modeling will be presented. LA-UR 12-23829. This work was performed for the U.S. Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Laboratory under Contract No.DEAC52- 06NA2-5396.

Evolution of three-dimensional relativistic current sheets and development of self-generated turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takamoto, M.

2018-05-01

In this paper, the temporal evolution of three-dimensional relativistic current sheets in Poynting-dominated plasma is studied for the first time. Over the past few decades, a lot of efforts have been conducted on studying the evolution of current sheets in two-dimensional space, and concluded that sufficiently long current sheets always evolve into the so-called plasmoid chain, which provides a fast reconnection rate independent of its resistivity. However, it is suspected that plasmoid chain can exist only in the case of two-dimensional approximation, and would show transition to turbulence in three-dimensional space. We performed three-dimensional numerical simulation of relativistic current sheet using resistive relativistic magnetohydrodynamic approximation. The results showed that the three-dimensional current sheets evolve not into plasmoid chain but turbulence. The resulting reconnection rate is 0.004, which is much smaller than that of plasmoid chain. The energy conversion from magnetic field to kinetic energy of turbulence is just 0.01 per cent, which is much smaller than typical non-relativistic cases. Using the energy principle, we also showed that the plasmoid is always unstable for a displacement in the opposite direction to its acceleration, probably interchange-type instability, and this always results in seeds of turbulence behind the plasmoids. Finally, the temperature distribution along the sheet is discussed, and it is found that the sheet is less active than plasmoid chain. Our finding can be applied for many high-energy astrophysical phenomena, and can provide a basic model of the general current sheet in Poynting-dominated plasma.

Receptivity and Bypass Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lasseigne, D. G.; Criminale, W. O.; Joslin, R. D.; Jackson, T. L.

1999-01-01

Problems concerning laminar-turbulent transition are addressed by solving a series of initial value problems. Solutions to the temporal, initial-value problem .with an inhomogeneous forcing term imposed upon the flow are sought. It is shown that: (1) A transient disturbance lying located outside of the boundary layer can lead to the growth of an unstable Tollmein-Schlicting wave; (2) A resonance with the continuous spectrum may provide a mechanism for bypass transition; and (3) The continuum modes of a disturbance feed directly into the Tollmein-Schlicting wave downstream through non-parallel effects.

A large eddy lattice Boltzmann simulation of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flint, Christopher; Vahala, George

2018-02-01

Large eddy simulations (LES) of a lattice Boltzmann magnetohydrodynamic (LB-MHD) model are performed for the unstable magnetized Kelvin-Helmholtz jet instability. This algorithm is an extension of Ansumali et al. [1] to MHD in which one performs first an expansion in the filter width on the kinetic equations followed by the usual low Knudsen number expansion. These two perturbation operations do not commute. Closure is achieved by invoking the physical constraint that subgrid effects occur at transport time scales. The simulations are in very good agreement with direct numerical simulations.

Field Effects of Buoyancy on Lean Premixed Turbulent Flames

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheng, R. K.; Johnson, M. R.; Greenberg, P. S.; Wernet, M. P.

2003-01-01

The study of field effects of buoyancy on premixed turbulent flames is directed towards the advancement of turbulent combustion theory and the development of cleaner combustion technologies. Turbulent combustion is considered the most important unsolved problem in combustion science and laboratory studies of turbulence flame processes are vital to theoretical development. Although buoyancy is dominant in laboratory flames, most combustion models are not yet capable to consider buoyancy effects. This inconsistency has impeded the validation of theories and numerical simulations with experiments. Conversely, the understanding of buoyancy effects is far too limited to help develop buoyant flame models. Our research is also relevant to combustion technology because lean premixed combustion is a proven method to reduce the formation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). In industrial lean premixed combustion systems, their operating conditions make them susceptible to buoyancy thus affecting heat distribution, emissions, stability, flashback and blowoff. But little knowledge is available to guide combustion engineers as to how to avoid or overcome these problems. Our hypothesis is that through its influence on the mean pressure field, buoyancy has direct and indirect effects on local flame/turbulence interactions. Although buoyancy acts on the hot products in the farfield the effect is also felt in the nearfield region upstream of the flame. These changes also influence the generation and dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy inside the flame brush and throughout the flowfield. Moreover, the plume of an open flame is unstable and the periodic fluctuations make additional contributions to flame front dynamics in the farfield. Therefore, processes such as flame wrinkling, flow acceleration due to heat release and flame- generated vorticity are all affected. Other global flame properties (e.g. flame stabilization limits and flame speed) may all be coupled to buoyancy. This problem poses major challenges to combustion modeling due to its need for a computation domain extending into the farfield and full specifications of upstream, wall and downstream boundary conditions.

Zonal flows and turbulence in fluids and plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, Jeffrey Bok-Cheung

In geophysical and plasma contexts, zonal flows are well known to arise out of turbulence. We elucidate the transition from statistically homogeneous turbulence without zonal flows to statistically inhomogeneous turbulence with steady zonal flows. Starting from the Hasegawa--Mima equation, we employ both the quasilinear approximation and a statistical average, which retains a great deal of the qualitative behavior of the full system. Within the resulting framework known as CE2, we extend recent understanding of the symmetry-breaking 'zonostrophic instability'. Zonostrophic instability can be understood in a very general way as the instability of some turbulent background spectrum to a zonally symmetric coherent mode. As a special case, the background spectrum can consist of only a single mode. We find that in this case the dispersion relation of zonostrophic instability from the CE2 formalism reduces exactly to that of the 4-mode truncation of generalized modulational instability. We then show that zonal flows constitute pattern formation amid a turbulent bath. Zonostrophic instability is an example of a Type I s instability of pattern-forming systems. The broken symmetry is statistical homogeneity. Near the bifurcation point, the slow dynamics of CE2 are governed by a well-known amplitude equation, the real Ginzburg-Landau equation. The important features of this amplitude equation, and therefore of the CE2 system, are multiple. First, the zonal flow wavelength is not unique. In an idealized, infinite system, there is a continuous band of zonal flow wavelengths that allow a nonlinear equilibrium. Second, of these wavelengths, only those within a smaller subband are stable. Unstable wavelengths must evolve to reach a stable wavelength; this process manifests as merging jets. These behaviors are shown numerically to hold in the CE2 system, and we calculate a stability diagram. The stability diagram is in agreement with direct numerical simulations of the quasilinear system. The use of statistically-averaged equations and the pattern formation methodology provide a path forward for further systematic investigations of zonal flows and their interactions with turbulence.

Effects of slope on the dynamics of dilute pyroclastic density currents from May 18th, 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bendana, S.; Self, S.; Dufek, J.

2012-12-01

The infamous, May 18th, 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens in the state of Washington produced several episodes of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) including the initial lateral blast, which traveled nearly 30 km, and later PDCs, which filled in the area up to 8 km north of the volcano. The focus of this research is on the later PDCs, which differed from the lateral blast in that they have a higher particle concentration and filled in the topography up to 40 m. While the concentrated portions of the afternoon PDCs followed deep topographic drainages down the steep flanks of the volcano, the dilute overriding cloud partially decoupled to develop fully dilute, turbulent PDCs on the flanks of the volcano (Beeson, D.L. 1988. Proximal Flank Facies of the May 18, 1980 Ignimbrite: Mt. St. Helens, Washington.). The dilute PDCs deposited thin, cross-stratified and stratified pyroclastic deposits, known as the proximal bedded deposits, which differ greatly in depositional characteristics from the thick, massive, poorly-sorted, block-rich deposits associated with the more concentrated portions of the flow. We explore the influence of topography on the formation of these dilute currents and influence of slope on the currents transport and depositional mechanisms. The deposits on steeper slopes (>15°) are fines depleted relative to the proximal bedded deposits on shallower slopes (<15°). Bedform amplitude and wavelength increase with increasing slope, as does the occurrence of regressive dunes. Increasing slope causes an increase in flow velocity and thus an increase in flow turbulence. The fines depleted deposits suggest that fine ash elutriation is more efficient in flows with stronger turbulence. The longer wavelength and amplitudes suggest that bedform morphology is directly related to flow velocity, an important finding since the controls on bedform wavelength and amplitude in density stratified flows remains poorly constrained. The occurrence of regressive dunes, often interpreted as high flow-regime bedforms, on steeper slopes relative to progressive dunes on shallower slopes further attests to the control of velocity and flow regime on bedform morphology. Samples collected from recently exposed deposits and analyzed by grain size measurements, density analyses, and crystal morphoscopy studies further assess modes of origin and transport of dilute PDCs. The collected data will be used to validate numerical models that attempt to quantify the hazards of decoupled, dilute PDCs.

Local gyrokinetic study of electrostatic microinstabilities in dipole plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Hua-sheng; Zhang, Yi; Huang, Zi-cong; Ou, Wei-ke; Li, Bo

2017-12-01

A linear gyrokinetic particle-in-cell scheme, which is valid for an arbitrary perpendicular wavelength k⊥ρi and includes the parallel dynamic along the field line, is developed to study the local electrostatic drift modes in point and ring dipole plasmas. We find that the most unstable mode in this system can be either the electron mode or the ion mode. The properties and relations of these modes are studied in detail as a function of k⊥ρi , the density gradient κn, the temperature gradient κT, electron to ion temperature ratio τ=Te/Ti , and mass ratio mi/me . For conventional weak gradient parameters, the mode is on the ground state (with eigenstate number l = 0) and especially k∥˜0 for small k⊥ρi . Thus, the bounce averaged dispersion relation is also derived for comparison. For strong gradient and large k⊥ρi , most interestingly, higher order eigenstate modes with even (e.g., l = 2, 4) or odd (e.g., l = 1) parity can be most unstable, which is not expected in the previous studies. High order eigenstate can also easily be most unstable at weak gradient when τ>10 . This work can be particularly important to understand the turbulent transport in laboratory and space magnetosphere.

Convection due to an unstable density difference across a permeable membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puthenveettil, Baburaj A.; Arakeri, Jaywant H.

We study natural convection driven by unstable concentration differences of sodium chloride (NaCl) across a horizontal permeable membrane at Rayleigh numbers (Ra) of 1010 to 1011 and Schmidt number (Sc)=600. A layer of brine lies over a layer of distilled water, separated by the membrane, in square-cross-section tanks. The membrane is permeable enough to allow a small flow across it at higher driving potentials. Based on the predominant mode of transport across the membrane, three regimes of convection, namely an advection regime, a diffusion regime and a combined regime, are identified. The near-membrane flow in all the regimes consists of sheet plumes formed from the unstable layers of fluid near the membrane. In the advection regime observed at higher concentration differences (Bb) show a common log-normal probability density function at all Ra. We propose a phenomenology which predicts /line{lambda}_b sqrt{Z_w Z_{V_i}}, where Zw and Z_{V_i} are, respectively, the near-wall length scales in Rayleighnard convection (RBC) and due to the advection velocity. In the combined regime, which occurs at intermediate values of C/2)4/3. At lower driving potentials, in the diffusion regime, the flux scaling is similar to that in turbulent RBC.

In situ observations of the influence of a large onshore wind farm on near-surface temperature, turbulence intensity and wind speed profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Craig M.; Barthelmie, R. J.; Pryor, S. C.

2013-09-01

Observations of wakes from individual wind turbines and a multi-megawatt wind energy installation in the Midwestern US indicate that directly downstream of a turbine (at a distance of 190 m, or 2.4 rotor diameters (D)), there is a clear impact on wind speed and turbulence intensity (TI) throughout the rotor swept area. However, at a downwind distance of 2.1 km (26 D downstream of the closest wind turbine) the wake of the whole wind farm is not evident. There is no significant reduction of hub-height wind speed or increase in TI especially during daytime. Thus, in high turbulence regimes even very large wind installations may have only a modest impact on downstream flow fields. No impact is observable in daytime vertical potential temperature gradients at downwind distances of >2 km, but at night the presence of the wind farm does significantly decrease the vertical gradients of potential temperature (though the profile remains stably stratified), largely by increasing the temperature at 2 m.

Evaluation of a hybrid kinetics/mixing-controlled combustion model for turbulent premixed and diffusion combustion using KIVA-II

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, H. Lee; Wey, Ming-Jyh

1990-01-01

Two-dimensional calculations were made of spark ignited premixed-charge combustion and direct injection stratified-charge combustion in gasoline fueled piston engines. Results are obtained using kinetic-controlled combustion submodel governed by a four-step global chemical reaction or a hybrid laminar kinetics/mixing-controlled combustion submodel that accounts for laminar kinetics and turbulent mixing effects. The numerical solutions are obtained by using KIVA-2 computer code which uses a kinetic-controlled combustion submodel governed by a four-step global chemical reaction (i.e., it assumes that the mixing time is smaller than the chemistry). A hybrid laminar/mixing-controlled combustion submodel was implemented into KIVA-2. In this model, chemical species approach their thermodynamics equilibrium with a rate that is a combination of the turbulent-mixing time and the chemical-kinetics time. The combination is formed in such a way that the longer of the two times has more influence on the conversion rate and the energy release. An additional element of the model is that the laminar-flame kinetics strongly influence the early flame development following ignition.

Evaluation of a hybrid kinetics/mixing-controlled combustion model for turbulent premixed and diffusion combustion using KIVA-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, H. Lee; Wey, Ming-Jyh

1990-01-01

Two dimensional calculations were made of spark ignited premixed-charge combustion and direct injection stratified-charge combustion in gasoline fueled piston engines. Results are obtained using kinetic-controlled combustion submodel governed by a four-step global chemical reaction or a hybrid laminar kinetics/mixing-controlled combustion submodel that accounts for laminar kinetics and turbulent mixing effects. The numerical solutions are obtained by using KIVA-2 computer code which uses a kinetic-controlled combustion submodel governed by a four-step global chemical reaction (i.e., it assumes that the mixing time is smaller than the chemistry). A hybrid laminar/mixing-controlled combustion submodel was implemented into KIVA-2. In this model, chemical species approach their thermodynamics equilibrium with a rate that is a combination of the turbulent-mixing time and the chemical-kinetics time. The combination is formed in such a way that the longer of the two times has more influence on the conversion rate and the energy release. An additional element of the model is that the laminar-flame kinetics strongly influence the early flame development following ignition.

Mechanism of unconfined dust explosions: Turbulent clustering and radiation-induced ignition.

PubMed

Liberman, Michael; Kleeorin, Nathan; Rogachevskii, Igor; Haugen, Nils Erland L

2017-05-01

It is known that unconfined dust explosions typically start off with a relatively weak primary flame followed by a severe secondary explosion. We show that clustering of dust particles in a temperature stratified turbulent flow ahead of the primary flame may give rise to a significant increase in the radiation penetration length. These particle clusters, even far ahead of the flame, are sufficiently exposed and heated by the radiation from the flame to become ignition kernels capable to ignite a large volume of fuel-air mixtures. This efficiently increases the total flame surface area and the effective combustion speed, defined as the rate of reactant consumption of a given volume. We show that this mechanism explains the high rate of combustion and overpressures required to account for the observed level of damage in unconfined dust explosions, e.g., at the 2005 Buncefield vapor-cloud explosion. The effect of the strong increase of radiation transparency due to turbulent clustering of particles goes beyond the state of the art of the application to dust explosions and has many implications in atmospheric physics and astrophysics.

Large-scale Density Structures in Magneto-rotational Disk Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Youdin, Andrew; Johansen, A.; Klahr, H.

2009-01-01

Turbulence generated by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) is a strong candidate to drive accretion flows in disks, including sufficiently ionized regions of protoplanetary disks. The MRI is often studied in local shearing boxes, which model a small section of the disk at high resolution. I will present simulations of large, stratified shearing boxes which extend up to 10 gas scale-heights across. These simulations are a useful bridge to fully global disk simulations. We find that MRI turbulence produces large-scale, axisymmetric density perturbations . These structures are part of a zonal flow --- analogous to the banded flow in Jupiter's atmosphere --- which survives in near geostrophic balance for tens of orbits. The launching mechanism is large-scale magnetic tension generated by an inverse cascade. We demonstrate the robustness of these results by careful study of various box sizes, grid resolutions, and microscopic diffusion parameterizations. These gas structures can trap solid material (in the form of large dust or ice particles) with important implications for planet formation. Resolved disk images at mm-wavelengths (e.g. from ALMA) will verify or constrain the existence of these structures.

Stratified Turbulence Measurements in Complex Terrain Using Hot-film Probes and a Collocated Sonic Anemometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hocut, C.; Kit, E.; Liberzon, D.; Fernando, H. J. S.; Materhorn Team

2014-11-01

In the fall of 2012 and spring 2013, the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations Program (MATERHORN) conducted extensive field experiments at the Granite Mountain Atmospheric Science Testbed (GMAST), US Army Dugway Proving Grounds (DPG), Utah. This provided a unique opportunity to deploy tower mounted three-dimensional hot-film combo probes, consisting of sonic anemometers collocated with hot-film anemometers able to respond to the wind direction. The combo probes follow mean winds using a feedback control loop and use a Neural Network to calibrate the hot-films in-situ. Once calibrated, these probes can handle a vast range of background flow conditions and scales from mesoscale flow down to the Kolmogorov scale. Of particular interest are the observed variation in velocity spectra during the evenings. Sometimes the velocity spectra shows the turbulence is Kolmogorov and is isotropic at small scales while in other spectra there is evidence of turbulence production at finer scales. An explanation on different spectral shapes will be presented as well as the relevant length/time scales of the production events. Funded by ONR Grant N00014-11-1-0709.

Large-eddy simulation of pollutant dispersion from a ground-level area source over urban street canyons with irreversible chemical reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, T. Z.; Liu, C.-H.; Zhao, Y. B.

2014-10-01

In this study, the dispersion of chemically reactive pollutants is calculated by large-eddy simulation (LES) in a neutrally stratified urban canopy layer (UCL) over urban areas. As a pilot attempt, idealized street canyons of unity building-height-to-street-width (aspect) ratio are used. Nitric oxide (NO) is emitted from the ground surface of the first street canyon into the domain doped with ozone (O3). In the absence of ultraviolet radiation, this irreversible chemistry produces nitrogen dioxide (NO2), developing a reactive plume over the rough urban surface. A range of timescales of turbulence and chemistry are utilized to examine the mechanism of turbulent mixing and chemical reactions in the UCL. The Damköhler number (Da) and the reaction rate (r) are analyzed along the vertical direction on the plane normal to the prevailing flow at 10 m after the source. The maximum reaction rate peaks at an elevation where Damköhler number Da is equal or close to unity. Hence, comparable timescales of turbulence and reaction could enhance the chemical reactions in the plume.

A New Approach to Satisfy Dynamic Similarity for Model Submarine Maneuvers

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-11-28

part of the Scaling Task of the FY07 6.1 Turbulence and Stratified Wakes Program (Program Element 0601153N). Introduction The Radio-Controlled Model (RCM...a smaller force and moment than a full scale rudder. This Reynolds scale effect is associated with the boundary layer velocity deficit . 0.300 0250...layer velocity deficit term, namely q = 1. It is further noted from unsteady experimental data that the flow angles associated with flow separation

A Non-Fickian Mixing Model for Stratified Turbulent Flows

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

lateral gradients in the mixed layer, indicative of surface fronts, and with the magnitude of mixed layer depth MLD. Direct testing with our results shows...both are induced by atmospheric forcing. In our case, atmospheric fluxes and wind forcing are still the cause of SM occurrence, but mostly through their...California upwelling simulations, where MLD did not change significantly between HR and LR simulations. As suggested by Capet et al. (2008b), this is likely

Reynolds Number Scaling and Parameterization of Stratified Turbulent Wakes

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-17

orbital shape remains repeatable from one wave cycle to the next. Depth- averaged values of the mean and rms IWB-mean Lagrangian drifts (not shown here...suggest that these drifts will be accompanied by average particle displacements of CJ = (10KxT)112 = 10- 1 .AJ = :::o:O(lOm). Our fmdings on Lagrangian ...of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching data sources, gathering and

The turbulence structure of katabatic flows below and above wind-speed maximum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grachev, Andrey; Leo, Laura; Di Sabatino, Silvana; Fernando, Harindra; Pardyjak, Eric; Fairall, Christopher

2015-04-01

Measurements of atmospheric small-scale turbulence made over the complex-terrain at the US Army Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah during the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) Program are used to describe the turbulence structure of katabatic flows. Turbulent and mean meteorological data were continuously measured at multiple levels (up to seven) on four towers deployed along East lower slope (2-4 degrees) of Granite Mountain. The multi-level, multi-tower observations obtained during a 30-day long MATERHORN-Fall field campaign in September-October 2102 allow studying temporal and spatial structure of nocturnal slope flows in detail. In this study, we focus on the various statistics (fluxes, variances, spectra, cospectra, etc.) of the small-scale turbulence of katabatic winds. Observed vertical profiles of velocity, turbulent fluxes, and other quantities show steep gradients near the surface but in the layer above the slope jet these variables vary with height more slowly than near the surface. It is found that vertical momentum flux and horizontal heat (buoyancy) flux in a slope-following coordinate system change their sign below and above the wind maximum of a katabatic flow. The vertical momentum flux is directed downward (upward) whereas the horizontal heat flux is downslope (upslope) below (above) the wind maximum. Our study, therefore, suggests that a position of the jet speed maximum can be derived from linear interpolation between positive and negative values of the momentum flux (or the horizontal heat flux) and determination of a height where a flux becomes zero. It is shown that the standard deviations of all wind speed components (and therefore the turbulent kinetic energy) and the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy have a local minimum, whereas the standard deviation of air temperature has an absolute maximum at the height of wind speed maximum. We report several cases when the destructive effect of vertical heat (buoyancy) flux is completely cancelled by the generation of turbulence due to the horizontal heat (buoyancy) flux. Turbulence in the layer above the wind-speed maximum is decoupled from the surface and it is consistent with the classical local z-less predictions for stably stratified boundary layer.

Diffusion of Magnetic Field and Removal of Magnetic Flux from Clouds Via Turbulent Reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos-Lima, R.; Lazarian, A.; de Gouveia Dal Pino, E. M.; Cho, J.

2010-05-01

The diffusion of astrophysical magnetic fields in conducting fluids in the presence of turbulence depends on whether magnetic fields can change their topology via reconnection in highly conducting media. Recent progress in understanding fast magnetic reconnection in the presence of turbulence reassures that the magnetic field behavior in computer simulations and turbulent astrophysical environments is similar, as far as magnetic reconnection is concerned. This makes it meaningful to perform MHD simulations of turbulent flows in order to understand the diffusion of magnetic field in astrophysical environments. Our studies of magnetic field diffusion in turbulent medium reveal interesting new phenomena. First of all, our three-dimensional MHD simulations initiated with anti-correlating magnetic field and gaseous density exhibit at later times a de-correlation of the magnetic field and density, which corresponds well to the observations of the interstellar media. While earlier studies stressed the role of either ambipolar diffusion or time-dependent turbulent fluctuations for de-correlating magnetic field and density, we get the effect of permanent de-correlation with one fluid code, i.e., without invoking ambipolar diffusion. In addition, in the presence of gravity and turbulence, our three-dimensional simulations show the decrease of the magnetic flux-to-mass ratio as the gaseous density at the center of the gravitational potential increases. We observe this effect both in the situations when we start with equilibrium distributions of gas and magnetic field and when we follow the evolution of collapsing dynamically unstable configurations. Thus, the process of turbulent magnetic field removal should be applicable both to quasi-static subcritical molecular clouds and cores and violently collapsing supercritical entities. The increase of the gravitational potential as well as the magnetization of the gas increases the segregation of the mass and magnetic flux in the saturated final state of the simulations, supporting the notion that the reconnection-enabled diffusivity relaxes the magnetic field + gas system in the gravitational field to its minimal energy state. This effect is expected to play an important role in star formation, from its initial stages of concentrating interstellar gas to the final stages of the accretion to the forming protostar. In addition, we benchmark our codes by studying the heat transfer in magnetized compressible fluids and confirm the high rates of turbulent advection of heat obtained in an earlier study.

Coupling of damped and growing modes in unstable shear flow

DOE PAGES

Fraser, A. E.; Terry, P. W.; Zweibel, E. G.; ...

2017-06-14

Analysis of the saturation of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is undertaken to determine the extent to which the conjugate linearly stable mode plays a role. For a piecewise-continuous mean flow profile with constant shear in a fixed layer, it is shown that the stable mode is nonlinearly excited, providing an injection-scale sink of the fluctuation energy similar to what has been found for gyroradius-scale drift-wave turbulence. Quantitative evaluation of the contribution of the stable mode to the energy balance at the onset of saturation shows that nonlinear energy transfer to the stable mode is as significant as energy transfer to smallmore » scales in balancing energy injected into the spectrum by the instability. The effect of the stable mode on momentum transport is quantified by expressing the Reynolds stress in terms of stable and unstable mode amplitudes at saturation, from which it is found that the stable mode can produce a sizable reduction in the momentum flux.« less

Coupling of damped and growing modes in unstable shear flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fraser, A. E.; Terry, P. W.; Zweibel, E. G.

Analysis of the saturation of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is undertaken to determine the extent to which the conjugate linearly stable mode plays a role. For a piecewise-continuous mean flow profile with constant shear in a fixed layer, it is shown that the stable mode is nonlinearly excited, providing an injection-scale sink of the fluctuation energy similar to what has been found for gyroradius-scale drift-wave turbulence. Quantitative evaluation of the contribution of the stable mode to the energy balance at the onset of saturation shows that nonlinear energy transfer to the stable mode is as significant as energy transfer to smallmore » scales in balancing energy injected into the spectrum by the instability. The effect of the stable mode on momentum transport is quantified by expressing the Reynolds stress in terms of stable and unstable mode amplitudes at saturation, from which it is found that the stable mode can produce a sizable reduction in the momentum flux.« less

Mixing and diffusion in intermittent overturning turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redondo, Jose M.; Mahjoub, Otman B.; Gonzalez-Nieto, Pilar L.; Lawry, Andrew

2014-05-01

The improvements in experimental methods and high resolution image analysis are nowadays able to detect subtle changes in the structure of the turbulence over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales [1], we compare the scaling shown by different mixing fronts driven by buoyancy that form a Rayleigh-Taylor mixing front. We use PIV and density front tracking in several experimental configurations akin to geophysical overturning [2-7]. We parametrize the role of unstable stratification by means of the Atwood number and compare both the scaling and the multifractal and the maximum local fractal structure functions of the different markers used to visualize the front. Both reactive and passive scalar tracers are used to investigate the mixing structure and the intermittency of the flow. Different initial conditions are compared and the mixing efficiency of the overal turbulent process evaluated [6-7]. An interesting approach, relating the Multi-Fractal dimension spectra, the intermittency and the spectral exponent is to find relationships that may be used to parameterise the sub-grid turbulence in terms of generalized diffusivities [4 ] that take into account the topology and the self-similarity of the Mixing RT and RM flows. As an example, a relationship between the diffusivity, the exponent β, the intermittency μ, and D(i), may be found for the volume fraction or the concentration, at the same time other locally measured parameters such as the enstrophy or the gradient alignment as well as their multi-fractal structures may turn out to be physically relevant indicators of the local turbulence and the mixing. Several methods of deriving local eddy diffusivity and local entrainment should give more realistic estimates of the spatial/temporal non-homogeneities (and intermittencies in the Kolmogorov 62 sense obtained as spatial correlations of the turbulent dissipation, or from structure functions) and these values may be used to parameterise turbulence at a variety of scales. The method involving the multi-fractal dimension measurements is much more elaborated and seems to have a better theoretical justification in the sense that it is possible that different concentrations showing different fractal dimensions may be due to different levels of intermittency (and thus different spectra, which are not generally in equilibrium as dscribed by[9,10]. Using topological descriptors we can establish now a theoretical baseline pattern for the turbulence behaviour that is reflected in the different structures (volume fraction, velocity, vorticity, helicity) we can thus obtain a classification relating D3 and the integral of the different fractal dimensions D2 for different levels of scalar (volume fraction reaction intensity or temperature). [5,8,11] Vorticity evolution is more smooth and quite different than that of volume fraction or density and these seem also different for the RT and RM instability driven mixing showing a wider range of even higher mixing efficiencies 0- 0.66 Thanks to European Union project ERBIC15-CT96-0111 Multi-scale complex fluid flows and interfacial phenomena (PITN-GA-2008-214919). ERCOFTAC and GenCat. grant 2001SGR00221. [1] Mahjoub O.B., Redondo J.M. and Babiano A. (2000) Hyerarchy flux in nonhomogeneous flows in Turbulent diffusion in the environment Eds. Redondo J.M. and Babiano A. 249-260. . [2] Dalziel, S. B.,(1994) Perturbations and coherent flow in Rayleigh-Taylor instability: in 4th International Workshop on the Physics of Compressible Turbulent Mixing, ed. P. F. Linden, D. L. Youngs, & S. B. Dalziel; 32-41. [3] Linden, P. F., Redondo, J. M., and Youngs, D. (1994) Molecular mixing in Rayleigh-Taylor instability, J. Fluid Mech. 265, 97-124 [4] Vindel, J.M., Yague, C. and Redondo, J.M. Nuovo Cimento (2008) 31, [5]Redondo J.M. (1993) Fractal models of density interfaces. Wavelets, Fractals and Fourier transforms. (Eds.) M. Farge, J.C.R. Hunt and J.C. Vassilicos. 353-370. IMA number 43, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993 [6] J.M Redondo, J.M. Grau, A. Platonov, G. Garzon, (2008) Rev. Int. Met. Num. Ing. 24, 23. [7] Fraunie P., Berreba S. Chashechkin Y., Velasco D. and Redondo J.M. (2008) LES and laboratory experiments on the decay of grid wakes in strongly stratified flows. Il Nuovo Cimento C 31, 909-930. [8] Redondo J.M. (2002) "Mixing efficiencies of different kinds of turbulent processes and instabilities, Applications to the environment in Turbulent mixing in geophysical flows". Eds. Linden P.F. and Redondo J.M. 131-157. [9] Redondo J.M. (1990). The structure of density interfaces, Ph. D. Thesis, DAMTP University of Cambridge. [10]Redondo J.M. (1987). Effects of ground proximity on dense gas entrainment, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 16, 381-393. [11] Lopez, P., Cano, J.L. and Redondo, J.M.(2008) An experimental model of mixing processes generated by an array of top-heavy turbulent plumes, Il Nuovo Cimento, 31C, 679-698.

Helicity dynamics in stratified turbulence in the absence of forcing.

PubMed

Rorai, C; Rosenberg, D; Pouquet, A; Mininni, P D

2013-06-01

A numerical study of decaying stably stratified flows is performed. Relatively high stratification (Froude number ≈10(-2)-10(-1)) and moderate Reynolds (Re) numbers (Re≈ 3-6×10(3)) are considered and a particular emphasis is placed on the role of helicity (velocity-vorticity correlations), which is not an invariant of the nondissipative equations. The problem is tackled by integrating the Boussinesq equations in a periodic cubical domain using different initial conditions: a nonhelical Taylor-Green (TG) flow, a fully helical Beltrami [Arnold-Beltrami-Childress (ABC)] flow, and random flows with a tunable helicity. We show that for stratified ABC flows helicity undergoes a substantially slower decay than for unstratified ABC flows. This fact is likely associated to the combined effect of stratification and large-scale coherent structures. Indeed, when the latter are missing, as in random flows, helicity is rapidly destroyed by the onset of gravitational waves. A type of large-scale dissipative "cyclostrophic" balance can be invoked to explain this behavior. No production of helicity is observed, contrary to the case of rotating and stratified flows. When helicity survives in the system, it strongly affects the temporal energy decay and the energy distribution among Fourier modes. We discover in fact that the decay rate of energy for stratified helical flows is much slower than for stratified nonhelical flows and can be considered with a phenomenological model in a way similar to what is done for unstratified rotating flows. We also show that helicity, when strong, has a measurable effect on the Fourier spectra, in particular at scales larger than the buoyancy scale, for which it displays a rather flat scaling associated with vertical shear, as observed in the planetary boundary layer.

On the construction of a direct numerical simulation of a breaking inertia-gravity wave in the upper mesosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fruman, Mark D.; Remmler, Sebastian; Achatz, Ulrich; Hickel, Stefan

2014-10-01

A systematic approach to the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of breaking upper mesospheric inertia-gravity waves of amplitude close to or above the threshold for static instability is presented. Normal mode or singular vector analysis applied in a frame of reference moving with the phase velocity of the wave (in which the wave is a steady solution) is used to determine the most likely scale and structure of the primary instability and to initialize nonlinear "2.5-D" simulations (with three-dimensional velocity and vorticity fields but depending only on two spatial coordinates). Singular vector analysis is then applied to the time-dependent 2.5-D solution to predict the transition of the breaking event to three-dimensional turbulence and to initialize three-dimensional DNS. The careful choice of the computational domain and the relatively low Reynolds numbers, on the order of 25,000, relevant to breaking waves in the upper mesosphere, makes the three-dimensional DNS tractable with present-day computing clusters. Three test cases are presented: a statically unstable low-frequency inertia-gravity wave, a statically and dynamically stable inertia-gravity wave, and a statically unstable high-frequency gravity wave. The three-dimensional DNS are compared to ensembles of 2.5-D simulations. In general, the decay of the wave and generation of turbulence is faster in three dimensions, but the results are otherwise qualitatively and quantitatively similar, suggesting that results of 2.5-D simulations are meaningful if the domain and initial condition are chosen properly.

Gravity Waves characteristics and their impact on turbulent transport above an Antarctic Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cava, Daniela; Giostra, Umberto; Katul, Gabriel

2016-04-01

Turbulence within the stable boundary layer (SBL) remains a ubiquitous feature of many geophysical flows, especially over glaciers and ice-sheets. Although numerous studies have investigated various aspects of the boundary layer motion during stable atmospheric conditions, a unified picture of turbulent transport within the SBL remains elusive. In a strongly stratified SBL, turbulence generation is frequently associated with interactions with sub-meso scale motions that are often a combination of gravity waves (GWs) and horizontal modes. While some progress has been made in the inclusion of GW parameterisation within global models, description and parameterisation of the turbulence-wave interaction remain an open question. The discrimination between waves and turbulence is a focal point needed to make progress as these two motions have different properties with regards to heat, moisture and pollutant transport. In fact, the occurrence of GWs can cause significant differences and ambiguities in the interpretation of turbulence statistics and fluxes if not a priori filtered from the analysis. In this work, the characteristics of GW and their impact on turbulent statistics were investigated using wind velocity components and scalars collected above an Antarctic Ice sheet during an Austral Summer. Antarctica is an ideal location for exploring the characteristics of GW because of persistent conditions of strongly stable atmospheric stability in the lower troposphere. Periods dominated by wavy motions have been identified by analysing time series measured by fast response instrumentation. The GWs nature and features have been investigated using Fourier cross-spectral indicators. The detected waves were frequently characterised by variable amplitude and period; moreover, they often produced non-stationarity and large intermittency in turbulent fluctuations that can significantly alter the estimation of turbulence statistics in general and fluxes in particular. A multi-resolution decomposition based on the Haar wavelet has been applied to separate gravity waves from turbulent fluctuations in case of a sufficiently defined spectral gap. Statistics computed after removing wavy disturbances highlight the large impact of gravity waves on second order turbulent quantities. One of the most impacted parameters is turbulent kinetic energy, in particular in the longitudinal and lateral components. The effect of wave activity on momentum and scalar fluxes is more complex because waves can produce large errors in sign and magnitude of computed turbulent fluxes or they themselves can contribute to intermittent turbulent mixing. The proposed filtering procedure based on the multi-resolution decomposition restored the correct sign in the turbulent sensible heat flux values. These findings highlight the significance of a correct evaluation of the impact of wave components when the goal is determining the turbulent transport component of mass and energy in the SBL.

Radiative Properties, Dynamics, and Chemical Evolution of the Smoke from the 1991 Kuwait Oil Fires.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herring, John Allan

The oil fields in Kuwait were the scene of a massive conflagration during much of 1991 that was started by Iraqi forces during the Gulf War. At this time, approximately 4 to 5 million barrels of oil were burning each day. The climatic impacts of the fires were limited by the fact that the smoke was generally confined to the lower 6 km of the atmosphere, where its removal by precipitation processes limited its lifetime. The optical properties of the smoke were such that it was an efficient absorber of solar radiation, with a single-scattering albedo of {~ }0.6. This led to rapid warming of the plume during the daytime. Instantaneous heating rates were calculated to be up to {~}90 K day ^{-1}. Because of the vertical distribution of the heating in the plume, the upper part of the plume became unstable and a turbulent mixed-layer developed. Conversely, the lower part of the plume became stably stratified due to the heating. This led to a general decoupling of the lower boundary layer, preventing the heating experienced by the plume from reaching the ground. The general warming of the plume led to mesoscale vertical transport of the plume as a whole. This mode of vertical transport was limited because of the large horizontal extent of the region of buoyant smoke. The mesoscale vertical transport occurred at roughly the same rate as the upward mixing of smoke due to smaller-scale turbulent motions. This vertical transport, however, did not occur rapidly enough to loft the smoke into the upper troposphere before it was dispersed by wind shear and the mixing caused by solar heating of the smoke. The chemical evolution of the plume was generally somewhat slow, due to the lack of ultraviolet radiation to initiate photochemistry within the smoke plume and to the generally low concentrations of nitrogen oxides, which act as catalysts for photochemical chain reactions. Heterogeneous chemical reactions between gases and black carbon particles produced by the fires were also not important. There was evidence, however, of rapid removal of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides through heterogeneous chemical reactions (typically {~}7% h ^{-1} and 10% h^ {-1}, respectively) on the surfaces of alkaline soil dust particles.

Effects of variable thermal diffusivity on the structure of convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shcheritsa, O. V.; Getling, A. V.; Mazhorova, O. S.

2018-03-01

The structure of multiscale convection in a thermally stratified plane horizontal fluid layer is investigated by means of numerical simulations. The thermal diffusivity is assumed to produce a thin boundary sublayer convectively much more unstable than the bulk of the layer. The simulated flow is a superposition of cellular structures with three different characteristic scales. In contrast to the largest convection cells, the smaller ones are localised in the upper portion of the layer. The smallest cells are advected by the larger-scale convective flows. The simulated flow pattern qualitatively resembles that observed on the Sun.

Current problems in applied mathematics and mathematical physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samarskii, A. A.

Papers are presented on such topics as mathematical models in immunology, mathematical problems of medical computer tomography, classical orthogonal polynomials depending on a discrete variable, and boundary layer methods for singular perturbation problems in partial derivatives. Consideration is also given to the computer simulation of supernova explosion, nonstationary internal waves in a stratified fluid, the description of turbulent flows by unsteady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations, and the reduced Galerkin method for external diffraction problems using the spline approximation of fields.

Wake meandering of a model wind turbine operating in two different regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foti, Daniel; Yang, Xiaolei; Campagnolo, Filippo; Maniaci, David; Sotiropoulos, Fotis

2018-05-01

The flow behind a model wind turbine under two different turbine operating regimes (region 2 for turbine operating at optimal condition with the maximum power coefficient and 1.4-deg pitch angle and region 3 for turbine operating at suboptimal condition with a lower power coefficient and 7-deg pitch angle) is investigated using wind tunnel experiments and numerical experiments using large-eddy simulation (LES) with actuator surface models for turbine blades and nacelle. Measurements from the model wind turbine experiment reveal that the power coefficient and turbine wake are affected by the operating regime. Simulations with and without a nacelle model are carried out for each operating condition to study the influence of the operating regime and nacelle on the formation of the hub vortex and wake meandering. Statistics and energy spectra of the simulated wakes are in good agreement with the measurements. For simulations with a nacelle model, the mean flow field is composed of an outer wake, caused by energy extraction by turbine blades, and an inner wake directly behind the nacelle, while for the simulations without a nacelle model, the central region of the wake is occupied by a jet. The simulations with the nacelle model reveal an unstable helical hub vortex expanding outward toward the outer wake, while the simulations without a nacelle model show a stable and columnar hub vortex. Because of the different interactions of the inner region of the wake with the outer region of the wake, a region with higher turbulence intensity is observed in the tip shear layer for the simulation with a nacelle model. The hub vortex for the turbine operating in region 3 remains in a tight helical spiral and intercepts the outer wake a few diameters further downstream than for the turbine operating in region 2. Wake meandering, a low-frequency large-scale motion of the wake, commences in the region of high turbulence intensity for all simulations with and without a nacelle model, indicating that neither a nacelle model nor an unstable hub vortex is a necessary requirement for the existence of wake meandering. However, further analysis of the wake meandering and instantaneous flow field using a filtering technique and dynamic mode decomposition show that the unstable hub vortex energizes the wake meandering. The turbine operating regime affects the shape and expansion of the hub vortex, altering the location of the onset of the wake meandering and wake meander oscillating intensity. Most important, the unstable hub vortex promotes a high-amplitude energetic meandering which cannot be predicted without a nacelle model.

On the Micrometeorology of the Southern Great Plains. 2: Turbulence Statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hicks, Bruce B.; Pendergrass, W. R.; Vogel, C. A.; Keener, R. N.; Leyton, S. M.

2015-03-01

Fast-response micrometeorological data obtained from an instrumented 32-m tower at an arid site near Ocotillo, Texas are used to examine the daily time evolution of the lower atmosphere. Correlation coefficients between turbulence properties (fast response wind-speed components and temperature) confirm that over this sparsely vegetated site the effects of convection are observed soon after sunrise, well ahead of the morning transition from stable to unstable stratification. Details of this kind are obscured when results are considered as functions of conventional stability parameters, since such standard analytical methods combine features of the morning and evening transitions into a single presentation. Partial correlation coefficients and semi-partials indicate that the local turbulent kinetic energy is mainly associated with local fluxes of heat and momentum near neutral and in most stable conditions, but decreases substantially during the times of strongest instability (possibly reflecting the scatter introduced by sampling infrequent convective episodes using a single tower). For many of the variables considered here, the standard deviations are about the same as the linear averages, indicating that the distributions are close to log-normal. The present data indicate that if the intent is to address some specific situation then 10 % error bounds on turbulence quantities (e.g. fluxes) correspond to averaging over a distance scale of the order of 10 km and a time scale of about 3 h. As the distance and time scales become smaller, the uncertainties due to factors external to the local surface increase.

Confined combustion of TNT explosion products in air

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chandler, J; Ferguson, R E; Forbes, J

1998-08-31

Effects of turbulent combustion induced by explosion of a 0.8 kg cylindrical charge of TNT in a 17 m 3 chamber filled with air, are investigated. The detonation wave in the charge transforms the solid explosive (C 7H 5N 3O 6) to gaseous products, rich (~20% each) in carbon dust and carbon monoxide. The detonation pressure (~210 kb) thereby engendered causes the products to expand rapidly, driving a blast wave into the surrounding air. The interface between the products and air, being essentially unstable as a consequence of strong acceleration to which it is subjected within the blast wave, evolvesmore » into a turbulent mixing layer-a process enhanced by shock reflections from the walls. Under such circumstances rapid combustion takes place where the expanded detonation products play the role of fuel. Its dynamic effect is manifested by the experimental measurement of ~3 bar pressure increase in the chamber, in contrast to ~1bar attained by a corresponding TNT explosion in nitrogen. The experiments were modeled as a turbulent combustion in an unmixed system at infinite Reynolds, Peclet and DamkGhler numbers. The CFD solution was obtained by a high-order Godunov scheme using an AMR (Adaptive Mesh Refinement) to trace the turbulent mixing on the computational grid in as much detail as possible. The evolution of the mass fraction of fuel consumed by combustion thus determined exhibited the properties of an exponential decay following a sharp initiation. The results reveal all the dynamic features of the exothermic process of combustion controlled by fluid mechanic transport in a highly turbulent field, in contrast to those elucidated by the conventional reaction-diffusion model.« less

Thermal Rayleigh-Marangoni convection in a three-layer liquid-metal-battery model.

PubMed

Köllner, Thomas; Boeck, Thomas; Schumacher, Jörg

2017-05-01

The combined effects of buoyancy-driven Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RC) and surface tension-driven Marangoni convection (MC) are studied in a triple-layer configuration which serves as a simplified model for a liquid metal battery (LMB). The three-layer model consists of a liquid metal alloy cathode, a molten salt separation layer, and a liquid metal anode at the top. Convection is triggered by the temperature gradient between the hot electrolyte and the colder electrodes, which is a consequence of the release of resistive heat during operation. We present a linear stability analysis of the state of pure thermal conduction in combination with three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the nonlinear turbulent evolution on the basis of a pseudospectral method. Five different modes of convection are identified in the configuration, which are partly coupled to each other: RC in the upper electrode, RC with internal heating in the molten salt layer, and MC at both interfaces between molten salt and electrode as well as anticonvection in the middle layer and lower electrode. The linear stability analysis confirms that the additional Marangoni effect in the present setup increases the growth rates of the linearly unstable modes, i.e., Marangoni and Rayleigh-Bénard instability act together in the molten salt layer. The critical Grashof and Marangoni numbers decrease with increasing middle layer thickness. The calculated thresholds for the onset of convection are found for realistic current densities of laboratory-sized LMBs. The global turbulent heat transfer follows scaling predictions for internally heated RC. The global turbulent momentum transfer is comparable with turbulent convection in the classical Rayleigh-Bénard case. In summary, our studies show that incorporating Marangoni effects generates smaller flow structures, alters the velocity magnitudes, and enhances the turbulent heat transfer across the triple-layer configuration.

Thermal Rayleigh-Marangoni convection in a three-layer liquid-metal-battery model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köllner, Thomas; Boeck, Thomas; Schumacher, Jörg

2017-05-01

The combined effects of buoyancy-driven Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RC) and surface tension-driven Marangoni convection (MC) are studied in a triple-layer configuration which serves as a simplified model for a liquid metal battery (LMB). The three-layer model consists of a liquid metal alloy cathode, a molten salt separation layer, and a liquid metal anode at the top. Convection is triggered by the temperature gradient between the hot electrolyte and the colder electrodes, which is a consequence of the release of resistive heat during operation. We present a linear stability analysis of the state of pure thermal conduction in combination with three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the nonlinear turbulent evolution on the basis of a pseudospectral method. Five different modes of convection are identified in the configuration, which are partly coupled to each other: RC in the upper electrode, RC with internal heating in the molten salt layer, and MC at both interfaces between molten salt and electrode as well as anticonvection in the middle layer and lower electrode. The linear stability analysis confirms that the additional Marangoni effect in the present setup increases the growth rates of the linearly unstable modes, i.e., Marangoni and Rayleigh-Bénard instability act together in the molten salt layer. The critical Grashof and Marangoni numbers decrease with increasing middle layer thickness. The calculated thresholds for the onset of convection are found for realistic current densities of laboratory-sized LMBs. The global turbulent heat transfer follows scaling predictions for internally heated RC. The global turbulent momentum transfer is comparable with turbulent convection in the classical Rayleigh-Bénard case. In summary, our studies show that incorporating Marangoni effects generates smaller flow structures, alters the velocity magnitudes, and enhances the turbulent heat transfer across the triple-layer configuration.

Characteristics of Turbulent Transfer during Episodes of Heavy Haze Pollution in Beijing in Winter 2016/17

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Yan; Zheng, Shuwen; Wei, Wei; Wu, Bingui; Zhang, Hongsheng; Cai, Xuhui; Song, Yu

2018-02-01

We analyzed the structure and evolution of turbulent transfer and the wind profile in the atmospheric boundary layer in relation to aerosol concentrations during an episode of heavy haze pollution from 6 December 2016 to 9 January 2017. The turbulence data were recorded at Peking University's atmospheric science and environment observation station. The results showed a negative correlation between the wind speed and the PM2.5 concentration. The turbulence kinetic energy was large and showed obvious diurnal variations during unpolluted (clean) weather, but was small during episodes of heavy haze pollution. Under both clean and heavy haze conditions, the relation between the non-dimensional wind components and the stability parameter z/ L followed a 1/3 power law, but the normalized standard deviations of the wind speed were smaller during heavy pollution events than during clean periods under near-neutral conditions. Under unstable conditions, the normalized standard deviation of the potential temperature σ θ /| θ *| was related to z/ L, roughly following a -1/3 power law, and the ratio during pollution days was greater than that during clean days. The three-dimensional turbulence energy spectra satisfied a -2/3 power exponent rate in the high-frequency band. In the low-frequency band, the wind velocity spectrum curve was related to the stability parameters under clear conditions, but was not related to atmospheric stratification under polluted conditions. In the dissipation stage of the heavy pollution episode, the horizontal wind speed first started to increase at high altitudes and then gradually decreased at lower altitudes. The strong upward motion during this stage was an important dynamic factor in the dissipation of the heavy haze.

Self-organized criticality: An interplay between stable and turbulent regimes of multiple anodic double layers in glow discharge plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alex, Prince; Carreras, Benjamin Andres; Arumugam, Saravanan; Sinha, Suraj Kumar

2018-05-01

The role of self-organized criticality (SOC) in the transformation of multiple anodic double layers (MADLs) from the stable to turbulent regime has been investigated experimentally as the system approaches towards critical behavior. The experiment was performed in a modified glow discharge plasma setup, and the initial stable state of MADL comprising three concentric perceptible layers was produced when the drift velocity of electrons towards the anode exceeds the electron thermal velocity (νd ≥ 1.3νte). The macroscopic arrangement of both positive and negative charges in opposite layers of MADL is attributed to the self-organization scenario. Beyond νd ≥ 3νte, MADL begins to collapse and approaches critical and supercritical states through layer reduction which continue till the last remaining layer of the double layer is transformed into a highly unstable radiant anode glow. The avalanche resulting from the collapse of MADL leads to the rise of turbulence in the system. Long-range correlations, a key signature of SOC, have been explored in the turbulent floating potential fluctuations using the rescaled-range analysis technique. The result shows that the existence of the self-similarity regime with self-similarity parameter H varies between 0.55 and 0.91 for time lags longer than the decorrelation time. The power law tail in the rank function, slowly decaying tail of the autocorrelation function, and 1/f behavior of the power spectra of the fluctuations are consistent with the fact that SOC plays a conclusive role in the transformation of MADL from the stable to turbulent regime. Since the existence of SOC gives a measure of complexity in the system, the result provides the condition under which complexity arises in cold plasma.

Radiation pressure in galactic discs: stability, turbulence, and winds in the single-scattering limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wibking, Benjamin D.; Thompson, Todd A.; Krumholz, Mark R.

2018-07-01

The radiation force on dust grains may be dynamically important in driving turbulence and outflows in rapidly star-forming galaxies. Recent studies focus on the highly optically thick limit relevant to the densest ultraluminous galaxies and super star clusters, where reprocessed infrared photons provide the dominant source of electromagnetic momentum. However, even among starburst galaxies, the great majority instead lie in the so-called `single-scattering' limit, where the system is optically thick to the incident starlight, but optically thin to the reradiated infrared. In this paper, we present a stability analysis and multidimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations exploring the stability and dynamics of isothermal dusty gas columns in this regime. We describe our algorithm for full angle-dependent radiation transport based on the discontinuous Galerkin finite element method. For a range of near-Eddington fluxes, we show that the medium is unstable, producing convective-like motions in a turbulent atmosphere with a scale height significantly inflated compared to the gas pressure scale height and mass-weighted turbulent energy densities of ˜0.01-0.1 of the mid-plane radiation energy density, corresponding to mass-weighted velocity dispersions of Mach number ˜0.5-2. Extrapolation of our results to optical depths of 103 implies maximum turbulent Mach numbers of ˜20. Comparing our results to galaxy-averaged observations, and subject to the approximations of our calculations, we find that radiation pressure does not contribute significantly to the effective supersonic pressure support in star-forming discs, which in general are substantially sub-Eddington. We further examine the time-averaged vertical density profiles in dynamical equilibrium and comment on implications for radiation-pressure-driven galactic winds.

Radiation pressure in galactic disks: stability, turbulence, and winds in the single-scattering limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wibking, Benjamin D.; Thompson, Todd A.; Krumholz, Mark R.

2018-04-01

The radiation force on dust grains may be dynamically important in driving turbulence and outflows in rapidly star-forming galaxies. Recent studies focus on the highly optically-thick limit relevant to the densest ultra-luminous galaxies and super star clusters, where reprocessed infrared photons provide the dominant source of electromagnetic momentum. However, even among starburst galaxies, the great majority instead lie in the so-called "single-scattering" limit, where the system is optically-thick to the incident starlight, but optically-thin to the re-radiated infrared. In this paper we present a stability analysis and multidimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations exploring the stability and dynamics of isothermal dusty gas columns in this regime. We describe our algorithm for full angle-dependent radiation transport based on the discontinuous Galerkin finite element method. For a range of near-Eddington fluxes, we show that the medium is unstable, producing convective-like motions in a turbulent atmosphere with a scale height significantly inflated compared to the gas pressure scale height and mass-weighted turbulent energy densities of ˜0.01 - 0.1 of the midplane radiation energy density, corresponding to mass-weighted velocity dispersions of Mach number ˜0.5 - 2. Extrapolation of our results to optical depths of 103 implies maximum turbulent Mach numbers of ˜20. Comparing our results to galaxy-averaged observations, and subject to the approximations of our calculations, we find that radiation pressure does not contribute significantly to the effective supersonic pressure support in star-forming disks, which in general are substantially sub-Eddington. We further examine the time-averaged vertical density profiles in dynamical equilibrium and comment on implications for radiation-pressure-driven galactic winds.

Influence from Surrounding Land on the Turbulence Measurements Above a Lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahlée, Erik; Rutgersson, Anna; Podgrajsek, Eva; Bergström, Hans

2014-02-01

Turbulence measurements taken at a Swedish lake are analyzed. Although the measurements took place over a relatively large lake with several km of undisturbed fetch, the turbulence structure was found to be highly influenced by the surrounding land during daytime. Variance spectra of both horizontal velocity and scalars during both unstable and stable stratification displayed a low frequency peak. The energy at lower frequencies showed a daily variation, increasing in the morning and decreasing in the afternoon. This behaviour is explained by spectral lag, where the low frequency energy due to large eddies that originate from the convective boundary layer above the surrounding land. When the air is advected over the lake the small eddies rapidly equilibrate with the new surface forcing. However, the large eddies remain for an appreciable distance and influence the turbulence in the developing lake boundary layer. The variances of the horizontal velocity and scalars are increased by these large eddies, while the turbulent fluxes are mainly unaffected. The drag coefficient, Stanton number and Dalton number used to parametrize the momentum flux, heat flux and latent heat flux respectively all compare well with current parametrizations developed for open sea conditions. The diurnal cycle of the partial pressure of methane, pCH4, observed at this site is closely related to the diurnal cycle of the lake-air methane flux. An idealized two-dimensional model simulation of the boundary layer at a lake site indicates that the strong response of pCH4 to the surface methane flux is due to the shallow internal boundary layer that develops above the lake, allowing methane to accumulate in a relatively small volume.

Laboratory Experiments On Continually Forced 2d Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, M. G.; Clercx, H. J. H.; Van Heijst, G. J. F.

There has been much recent interest in the advection of tracers by 2D turbulence in geophysical flows. While there is a large body of literature on decaying 2D turbulence or forced 2D turbulence in unbounded domains, there have been very few studies of forced turbulence in bounded domains. In this study we present new experimental results from a continuously forced quasi 2D turbulent field. The experiments are performed in a square Perspex tank filled with water. The flow is made quasi 2D by a steady background rotation. The rotation rate of the tank has a small (<8 %) sinusoidal perturbation which leads to the periodic formation of eddies in the corners of the tank. When the oscillation period of the perturbation is greater than an eddy roll-up time-scale, dipole structures are observed to form. The dipoles can migrate away from the walls, and the interior of the tank is continually filled with vortexs. From experimental visualizations the length scale of the vortexs appears to be largely controlled by the initial formation mechanism and large scale structures are not observed to form at large times. Thus the experiments provide a simple way of cre- ating a continuously forced 2D turbulent field. The resulting structures are in contrast with most previous laboratory experiments on 2D turbulence which have investigated decaying turbulence and have observed the formations of large scale structure. In these experiments, decaying turbulence had been produced by a variety of methods such as the decaying turbulence in the wake of a comb of rods (Massen et al 1999), organiza- tion of vortices in thin conducting liquids (Cardoso et al 1994) or in rotating systems where there are sudden changes in angular rotation rate (Konijnenberg et al 1998). Results of dye visualizations, particle tracking experiments and a direct numerical simulation will be presented and discussed in terms of their oceanographic application. Bibliography Cardoso,O. Marteau, D. &Tabeling, P. Quantitative experimental study of the free decay of quasi-two-dimensional turbulence Phys. Rev. E 49, 454 (1994) Maassen, S.R., H.J.H. Clercx &G.J.F. van Heijst - Decaying quasi-2D turbulence in a stratified fluid with circular boundaries. Europhys. Lett. 46, 339-345 (1999). Konijnenberg, J.A. van de, J.B. Flor &G.J.F. van Heijst - Decaying quasi-two- dimensional viscous flow on a square domain. Phys. Fluids 10, 595-606 (1998).

Measurements of the near-surface flow over a hill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vosper, S. B.; Mobbs, S. D.; Gardiner, B. A.

2002-10-01

The near-surface flow over a hill with moderate slope and height comparable with the boundary-layer depth is investigated through field measurements of the mean flow (at 2 m), surface pressure, and turbulent momentum flux divergence between 8 and 15 m. The measurements were made along an east-west transect across the hill Tighvein (height 458 m, approximate width 8 km) on the Isle of Arran, south-west Scotland, during two separate periods, each of around three-weeks duration. Radiosonde ascents are used to determine the variation of a Froude number, FL = U/NL, where U is the wind speed at the middle-layer height, hm, N is the mean Brunt-Väisälä frequency below this height and L is a hill length-scale. Measurements show that for moderately stratified flows (for which FL 0.25) a minimum in the hill-induced surface-pressure perturbation occurs across the summit and this is accompanied by a maximum in the near-surface wind speed. In the more strongly stratified case (FL 0.25) the pressure field is more asymmetric and the lee-slope flow is generally stronger than on the windward slope. Such a flow pattern is qualitatively consistent with that predicted by stratified linear boundary-layer and gravity-wave theories. The near-surface momentum budget is analysed by evaluating the dominant terms in a Bernoulli equation suitable for turbulent flow. Measurements during periods of westerly flow are used to evaluate the dominant terms, and the equation is shown to hold to a reasonable approximation on the upwind slope of the hill and also on the downwind slope, away from the summit. Immediately downwind of the summit, however, the Bernoulli equation does not hold. Possible reasons for this, such as non-separated sheltering and flow separation, are discussed.

Mixing in a stratified shear flow: Energetics and sampling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivey, G. N.; Koseff, J. R.; Briggs, D. A.; Ferziger, J. H.

1993-01-01

Direct numerical simulations of the time evolution of homogeneous stably stratified shear flows have been performed for Richardson numbers from 0 to 1 and for Prandtl numbers between 0.1 and 2. The results indicate that mixing efficiency R(sub f) varies with turbulent Froude number in a manner consistent with laboratory experiments performed with Prandtl numbers of 0.7 and 700. However, unlike the laboratory results, for a particular Froude number, the simulations do not show a clear dependence on the magnitude of R(sub f) on Pr. The observed maximum value of R(sub f) is 0.25. When averaged over vertical length scales of an order of magnitude greater than either the overturning or Ozmidov scales of the flow, the simulations indicate that the dissipation rate epsilon is only weakly lognormally distributed with an intermittency of about 0.01 whereas estimated values in the ocean are 3 to 7.

Acoustic sounding of wind velocity profiles in a stratified moving atmosphere.

PubMed

Ostashev, V E; Georges, T M; Clifford, S F; Goedecke, G H

2001-06-01

The paper deals with analytical and numerical studies of the effects of atmospheric stratification on acoustic remote sensing of wind velocity profiles by sodars. Both bistatic and monostatic schemes are considered. Formulas for the Doppler shift of an acoustic echo signal scattered by atmospheric turbulence advected with the mean wind in a stratified moving atmosphere are derived. Numerical studies of these formulas show that errors in retrieving wind velocity can be of the order of 1 m/s if atmospheric stratification is ignored. Formulas for the height at which wind velocity is retrieved are also derived. Approaches are proposed which allow one to take into account the effects of atmospheric stratification when restoring the wind velocity profile from measured values of the Doppler shift and the time interval of acoustic impulse propagation from a sodar to the scattering volume and back to the ground.

Early stages of transition in viscosity-stratified channel flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Govindarajan, Rama; Jose, Sharath; Brandt, Luca

2013-11-01

In parallel shear flows, it is well known that transition to turbulence usually occurs through a subcritical process. In this work we consider a flow through a channel across which there is a linear temperature variation. The temperature gradient leads to a viscosity variation across the channel. A large body of work has been done in the linear regime for this problem, and it has been seen that viscosity stratification can lead to considerable changes in stability and transient growth characteristics. Moreover contradictory effects of introducing a non uniform viscosity in the system have been reported. We conduct a linear stability analysis and direct numerical simulations (DNS) for this system. We show that the optimal initial structures in the viscosity-stratified case, unlike in unstratified flow, do not span the width of the channel, but are focussed near one wall. The nonlinear consequences of the localisation of the structures will be discussed.

Rethinking the process of detrainment: jets in obstructed natural flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mossa, Michele; de Serio, Francesca

2016-12-01

A thorough understanding of the mixing and diffusion of turbulent jets released in porous obstructions is still lacking in literature. This issue is undoubtedly of interest because it is not strictly limited to vegetated flows, but also includes outflows which come from different sources and which spread among oyster or wind farms, as well as aerial pesticide treatments sprayed onto orchards. The aim of the present research is to analyze this process from a theoretical point of view. Specifically, by examining the entrainment coefficient, it is deduced that the presence of a canopy prevents a momentum jet from having an entrainment process, but rather promotes its detrainment. In nature, detrainment is usually associated with buoyancy-driven flows, such as plumes or density currents flowing in a stratified environment. The present study proves that detrainment occurs also when a momentum-driven jet is issued in a not-stratified obstructed current, such as a vegetated flow.

Return current instability driven by a temperature gradient in ICF plasmas

DOE PAGES

Rozmus, W.; Brantov, A. V.; Sherlock, M.; ...

2017-10-12

Here, hot plasmas with strong temperature gradients in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments are examined for ion acoustic instabilities produced by electron heat flow. The return current instability (RCI) due to a neutralizing current of cold electrons arising in response to a large electron heat flux has been considered. First, the linear threshold and growth rates are derived in the nonlocal regime of thermal transport. They are compared with the results of Vlasov-Fokker-Planck (VFP) simulations in one spatial dimension. Very good agreement has been found between kinetic VFP simulations and the linear theory of the RCI. A quasi-stationary state ofmore » ion acoustic turbulence produced by the RCI is achieved in the VFP simulations. Saturation of the RCI involves heating of ions in the tail of the ion distribution function and convection of the enhanced ion acoustic fluctuations from the unstable region of the plasma. Further evolution of the ion acoustic turbulence and its effects on absorption and transport are also discussed.« less

Dynamics of face and annular seals with two-phase flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, William F.; Basu, Prithwish; Beatty, Paul A.; Beeler, Richard M.; Lau, Stephen

1988-01-01

A detailed study was made of face and annular seals under conditions where boiling, i.e., phase change of the leaking fluid, occurs within the seal. Many seals operate in this mode because of flashing due to pressure drop and/or heat input from frictional heating. Some of the distinctive behavior characteristics of two phase seals are discussed, particularly their axial stability. The main conclusions are that seals with two phase flow may be unstable if improperly balanced. Detailed theoretical analyses of low (laminar) and high (turbulent) leakage seals are presented along with computer codes, parametric studies, and in particular a simplified PC based code that allows for rapid performance prediction: calculations of stiffness coefficients, temperature and pressure distributions, and leakage rates for parallel and coned face seals. A simplified combined computer code for the performance prediction over the laminar and turbulent ranges of a two phase flow is described and documented. The analyses, results, and computer codes are summarized.

Dual-mode E region plasma wave observations from Millstone Hill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

del Pozo, C. F.; Foster, J. C.; St.-Maurice, J.-P.

1993-04-01

Observations and analysis of the unstable auroral E region during local afternoon to early morning hours, and modified two-stream waves as well as two kinds of waves associated with the turbulence created by such waves are identified. One of these types exhibits properties similar to those of type II waves reported in the literature, whereas the second type has a broader spectrum, is detected in all directions, and appears to be new. The onset of turbulence corresponds to an electric field threshold of the order of 20 m/Vm. The presence of an azimuthal asymmetry in both the threshold field and the observed phase velocities with systematically greater values is detected; they are attributed to the presence of a 50-m/s E-W neutral wind at E region heights. The maximum observed volume reflectivity for type I wave ranges exceeded 10 exp -11, and that of the secondaries was of the order of 20 dB smaller.

Studies of planetary scale waves and instabilities in support of the geophysical fluid flow cell experiment on USML-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hart, J. E.

1995-01-01

High resolution numerical simulations of thermal convection in a rapidly rotating channel with gravity perpendicular to the rotation vector are described. The convecting columns are subject to a beta-effect resulting from cross-channel topographic vortex stretching. The symmetries of the problem allow many invariant wavenumber sets, and this property is associated with the existence of stable multiple-equilibria at modest supercriticality. The transition to chaotic behavior involves the production of intermittent unstable orbits off a two-torus in energy space. At very high Rayleigh number (of order 10(exp 6) to 10(exp 7)) the motion can be turbulent, depending on the size of beta. However, the turbulence is usually characterized by an almost-periodic formation of patches of small scale convection that cause regular pulsations in the accompanying strong zonal jets. The processes maintaining these flows may be related to those responsible for the zonal currents on Jupiter and for cyclic variability on the Sun.

Experimental studies on the stability and transition of 3-dimensional boundary layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nitschke-Kowsky, P.

1987-01-01

Three-dimensional unstable boundary layers were investigated as to their characteristic instabilities, leading to turbulence. Standing cross-flow instabilities and traveling waves preceding the transition were visualized with the hydrogen bubble technique in the boundary layer above the wall of a swept cylinder. With the sublimation method and hot film technique, a model consisting of a swept flat plate with a pressure-inducing displacement body in the 1 m wind tunnel was studied. Standing waves and traveling waves in a broad frequency are observed. The boundary layer of this model is close to the assumptions of the theory.

Prediction of nonlinear evolution character of energetic-particle-driven instabilities

DOE PAGES

Duarte, Vinicius N.; Berk, H. L.; Gorelenkov, N. N.; ...

2017-03-17

A general criterion is proposed and found to successfully predict the emergence of chirping oscillations of unstable Alfvénic eigenmodes in tokamak plasma experiments. The model includes realistic eigenfunction structure, detailed phase-space dependences of the instability drive, stochastic scattering and the Coulomb drag. The stochastic scattering combines the effects of collisional pitch angle scattering and micro-turbulence spatial diffusion. Furthermore, the latter mechanism is essential to accurately identify the transition between the fixed-frequency mode behavior and rapid chirping in tokamaks and to resolve the disparity with respect to chirping observation in spherical and conventional tokamaks.

Prediction of nonlinear evolution character of energetic-particle-driven instabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duarte, V. N.; Berk, H. L.; Gorelenkov, N. N.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Kramer, G. J.; Nazikian, R.; Pace, D. C.; Podestà, M.; Tobias, B. J.; Van Zeeland, M. A.

2017-05-01

A general criterion is proposed and found to successfully predict the emergence of chirping oscillations of unstable Alfvénic eigenmodes in tokamak plasma experiments. The model includes realistic eigenfunction structure, detailed phase-space dependences of the instability drive, stochastic scattering and the Coulomb drag. The stochastic scattering combines the effects of collisional pitch angle scattering and micro-turbulence spatial diffusion. The latter mechanism is essential to accurately identify the transition between the fixed-frequency mode behavior and rapid chirping in tokamaks and to resolve the disparity with respect to chirping observation in spherical and conventional tokamaks.

Stationkeeping of the First Earth-Moon Libration Orbiters: The ARTEMIS Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Folta, David; Woodard, Mark; Cosgrove, D.

2011-01-01

Libration point orbits near collinear locations are inherently unstable and must be controlled. For Acceleration Reconnection and Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) Earth-Moon Lissajous orbit operations, stationkeeping is challenging because of short time scales, large orbital eccentricity of the secondary, and solar gravitational and radiation pressure perturbations. ARTEMIS is the first NASA mission continuously controlled at both Earth-Moon L1 and L2 locations and uses a balance of optimization, spacecraft implementation and constraints, and multi-body dynamics. Stationkeeping results are compared to pre-mission research including mode directions.

A mathematical model of the structure and evolution of small-scale discrete auroral arcs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seyler, Charles E.

1990-01-01

A three-dimensional fluid model for the structure and evolution of small-scale discrete auroral arcs originating from Alfven waves is developed and used to study the nonlinear macroscopic plasma dynamics of these auroral arcs. The results of simulations show that stationary auroral arcs can be unstable to a collisionless tearing mode which may be responsible for the observed transverse structuring in the form of folds and curls. At late times, the plasma becomes turbulent having transverse electric field power spectra that tend toward a universal k exp -5/3 spectral form.

Mutual-friction induced instability of normal-fluid vortex tubes in superfluid helium-4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kivotides, Demosthenes

2018-06-01

It is shown that, as a result of its interactions with superfluid vorticity, a normal-fluid vortex tube in helium-4 becomes unstable and disintegrates. The superfluid vorticity acquires only a small (few percents of normal-fluid tube strength) polarization, whilst expanding in a front-like manner in the intervortex space of the normal-fluid, forming a dense, unstructured tangle in the process. The accompanied energy spectra scalings offer a structural explanation of analogous scalings in fully developed finite-temperature superfluid turbulence. A macroscopic mutual-friction model incorporating these findings is proposed.

3D Staggered-Grid Finite-Difference Simulation of Acoustic Waves in Turbulent Moving Media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Symons, N. P.; Aldridge, D. F.; Marlin, D.; Wilson, D. K.; Sullivan, P.; Ostashev, V.

2003-12-01

Acoustic wave propagation in a three-dimensional heterogeneous moving atmosphere is accurately simulated with a numerical algorithm recently developed under the DOD Common High Performance Computing Software Support Initiative (CHSSI). Sound waves within such a dynamic environment are mathematically described by a set of four, coupled, first-order partial differential equations governing small-amplitude fluctuations in pressure and particle velocity. The system is rigorously derived from fundamental principles of continuum mechanics, ideal-fluid constitutive relations, and reasonable assumptions that the ambient atmospheric motion is adiabatic and divergence-free. An explicit, time-domain, finite-difference (FD) numerical scheme is used to solve the system for both pressure and particle velocity wavefields. The atmosphere is characterized by 3D gridded models of sound speed, mass density, and the three components of the wind velocity vector. Dependent variables are stored on staggered spatial and temporal grids, and centered FD operators possess 2nd-order and 4th-order space/time accuracy. Accurate sound wave simulation is achieved provided grid intervals are chosen appropriately. The gridding must be fine enough to reduce numerical dispersion artifacts to an acceptable level and maintain stability. The algorithm is designed to execute on parallel computational platforms by utilizing a spatial domain-decomposition strategy. Currently, the algorithm has been validated on four different computational platforms, and parallel scalability of approximately 85% has been demonstrated. Comparisons with analytic solutions for uniform and vertically stratified wind models indicate that the FD algorithm generates accurate results with either a vanishing pressure or vanishing vertical-particle velocity boundary condition. Simulations are performed using a kinematic turbulence wind profile developed with the quasi-wavelet method. In addition, preliminary results are presented using high-resolution 3D dynamic turbulent flowfields generated by a large-eddy simulation model of a stably stratified planetary boundary layer. Sandia National Laboratories is a operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the USDOE under contract 94-AL85000.

Numerical investigation of the entrainment and mixing processes in neutral and stably-stratified mixing layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cortesi, A. B.; Smith, B. L.; Yadigaroglu, G.; Banerjee, S.

1999-01-01

The direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a temporally-growing mixing layer has been carried out, for a variety of initial conditions at various Richardson and Prandtl numbers, by means of a pseudo-spectral technique; the main objective being to elucidate how the entrainment and mixing processes in mixing-layer turbulence are altered under the combined influence of stable stratification and thermal conductivity. Stratification is seen to significantly modify the way by which entrainment and mixing occur by introducing highly-localized, convective instabilities, which in turn cause a substantially different three-dimensionalization of the flow compared to the unstratified situation. Fluid which was able to cross the braid region mainly undisturbed (unmixed) in the unstratified case, pumped by the action of rib pairs and giving rise to well-formed mushroom structures, is not available with stratified flow. This is because of the large number of ribs which efficiently mix the fluid crossing the braid region. More efficient entrainment and mixing has been noticed for high Prandtl number computations, where vorticity is significantly reinforced by the baroclinic torque. In liquid sodium, however, for which the Prandtl number is very low, the generation of vorticity is very effectively suppressed by the large thermal conduction, since only small temperature gradients, and thus negligible baroclinic vorticity reinforcement, are then available to counterbalance the effects of buoyancy. This is then reflected in less efficient entrainment and mixing. The influence of the stratification and the thermal conductivity can also be clearly identified from the calculated entrainment coefficients and turbulent Prandtl numbers, which were seen to accurately match experimental data. The turbulent Prandtl number increases rapidly with increasing stratification in liquid sodium, whereas for air and water the stratification effect is less significant. A general law for the entrainment coefficient as a function of the Richardson and Prandtl numbers is proposed, and critically assessed against experimental data.

Acceleration of electrons and ions by strong lower-hybrid turbulence in solar flares

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spicer, D. S.; Bingham, R.; Su, J. J.; Shapiro, V. D.; Shevchenko, V.; Ma, S.; Dawson, J. M.; Mcclements, K. G.

1994-01-01

One of the outstanding problems in solar flare theory is how to explain the 10-20 keV and greater hard x-ray emissions by a thick target bremsstrahlung model. The model requires the acceleration mechanism to accelerate approximately 10(exp 35) electrons sec(exp -l) with comparable energies, without producing a large return current which persists for long time scales after the beam ceases to exist due to Lenz's law, thereby, producing a self-magnetic field of order a few mega-Gauss. In this paper, we investigate particle acceleration resulting from the relaxation of unstable ion ring distributions, producing strong wave activity at the lower hybrid frequency. It is shown that strong lower hybrid wave turbulence collapses in configuration space producing density cavities containing intense electrostatic lower hybrid wave activity. The collapse of these intense nonlinear wave packets saturate by particle acceleration producing energetic electron and ion tails. There are several mechanisms whereby unstable ion distributions could be formed in the solar atmosphere, including reflection at perpendicular shocks, tearing modes, and loss cone depletion. Numerical simulations of ion ring relaxation processes, obtained using a 2 1/2-D fully electromagnetic, relativistic particle in cell code are discussed. We apply the results to the problem of explaining energetic particle production in solar flares. The results show the simultaneous acceleration of both electrons and ions to very high energies: electrons are accelerated to energies in the range 10-500 keV, while ions are accelerated to energies of the order of MeVs, giving rise to x-ray emission and gamma-ray emission respectively. Our simulations also show wave generation at the electron cyclotron frequency. We suggest that these waves are the solar millisecond radio spikes. The strong turbulence collapse process leads to a highly filamented plasma producing many localized regions for particle acceleration and resulting in approximately 10(exp 17) electron 'beamlets' of width approximately equal to 10 lambda sub De which eliminates the production of large magnetic fields. In this paper, we demonstrate that the model produces an energetic electron spectrum with the right flux to account for the hard x-ray observations.

A HPC “Cyber Wind Facility” Incorporating Fully-Coupled CFD/CSD for Turbine-Platform-Wake Interactions with the Atmosphere and Ocean

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brasseur, James G.

The central aims of the DOE-supported “Cyber Wind Facility” project center on the recognition that wind turbines over land and ocean generate power from atmospheric winds that are inherently turbulent and strongly varying, both spatially over the rotor disk and in temporally as the rotating blades pass through atmospheric eddies embedded within the mean wind. The daytime unstable atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is particularly variable in space time as solar heating generates buoyancy-driven motions that interact with strong mean shear in the ABL “surface layer,” the lowest 200 - 300 m where wind turbines reside in farms. With the “Cybermore » Wind Facility” (CWF) program we initiate a research and technology direction in which “cyber data” are generated from “computational experiments” within a “facility” akin to a wind tunnel, but with true space-time atmospheric turbulence that drive utility-scale wind turbines at full-scale Reynolds numbers. With DOE support we generated the key “modules” within a computational framework to create a first generation Cyber Wind Facility (CWF) for single wind turbines in the daytime ABL---both over land where the ABL globally unstable and over water with closer-to-neutral atmospheric conditions but with time response strongly affected by wave-induced forcing of the wind turbine platform (here a buoy configuration). The CWF program has significantly improved the accuracy of actuator line models, evaluated with the Cyber Wind Facility in full blade-boundary-layer-resolved mode. The application of the CWF made in this program showed the existence of important ramp-like response events that likely contribute to bearing fatigue failure on the main shaft and that the advanced ALM method developed here captures the primary nonsteady response characteristics. Long-time analysis uncovered distinctive key dynamics that explain primary mechanisms that underlie potentially deleterious load transients. We also showed that blade bend-twist coupling plays a central role in the elastic responses of the blades to atmospheric turbulence, impacting turbine power.« less

Flare Energy Release: Internal Conflict, Contradiction with High Resolution Observations, Possible Solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pustilnik, L.

2017-06-01

All accepted paradigm of solar and stellar flares energy release based on 2 whales: 1. Source of energy is free energy of non-potential force free magnetic field in atmosphere above active region; 2. Process of ultrafast dissipation of magnetic fields is Reconnection in Thin Turbulent Current Sheet (RTTCS). Progress in observational techniques in last years provided ultra-high spatial resolution and in physics of turbulent plasma showed that real situation is much more complicated and standard approach is in contradiction both with observations and with problem of RTTCS stability. We present critical analysis of classic models of pre-flare energy accumulation and its dissipation during flare energy release from pioneer works Giovanelli (1939, 1947) up to topological reconnection. We show that all accepted description of global force-free fields as source of future flare cannot be agreed with discovered in last years fine and ultra-fine current-magnetic structure included numerouse arcs-threads with diameters up to 100 km with constant sequence from photosphere to corona. This magnetic skeleton of thin current magnetic threads with strong interaction between them is main source of reserved magnetic energy insolar atmosphere. Its dynamics will be controlled by percolation of magnetic stresses through network of current-magnetic threads with transition to flare state caused by critical value of global current. We show that thin turbulent current sheet is absolutely unstable configuration both caused by splitting to numerous linear currents by dissipative modes like to tearing, and as sequence of suppress of plasma turbulence caused by anomalous heating of turbulent plasma. In result of these factors primary RTTCS will be disrupted in numerous turbulent and normal plasma domains like to resistors network. Current propagation through this network will have percolation character with all accompanied properties of percolated systems: self-organization with formation power spectrum of distribution of flares and micro-flares, and possibility of phase transition to flare energy release with huge increasing of energy release.

A dynamically collapsing core and a precursor of a core in a filament supported by turbulent and magnetic pressures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Furuya, Ray S.; Kitamura, Yoshimi; Shinnaga, Hiroko, E-mail: rsf@tokushima-u.ac.jp, E-mail: kitamura@isas.jaxa.jp, E-mail: hiroko.shinnaga@nao.ac.jp

2014-10-01

To study physical properties of the natal filament gas around the cloud core harboring an exceptionally young low-mass protostar GF 9-2, we carried out J = 1-0 line observations of {sup 12}CO, {sup 13}CO, and C{sup 18}O molecules using the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. The mapping area covers ∼ one-fifth of the whole filament. Our {sup 13}CO and C{sup 18}O maps clearly demonstrate that the core formed at the local density maxima of the filament, and the internal motions of the filament gas are totally governed by turbulence with Mach number of ∼2. We estimated the scale height of themore » filament to be H = 0.3-0.7 pc, yielding the central density of n {sub c} = 800-4200 cm{sup –3}. Our analysis adopting an isothermal cylinder model shows that the filament is supported by the turbulent and magnetic pressures against the radial and axial collapse due to self-gravity. Since both the dissipation timescales of the turbulence and the transverse magnetic fields can be comparable to the free-fall time of the filament gas of 10{sup 6} yr, we conclude that the local decay of the supersonic turbulence and magnetic fields made the filament gas locally unstable, hence making the core collapse. Furthermore, we newly detected a gas condensation with velocity width enhancement to ∼0.3 pc southwest of the GF 9-2 core. The condensation has a radius of ∼0.15 pc and an LTE mass of ∼5 M {sub ☉}. Its internal motion is turbulent with Mach number of ∼3, suggesting a gravitationally unbound state. Considering the uncertainties in our estimates, however, we propose that the condensation is a precursor of a cloud core, which would have been produced by the collision of the two gas components identified in the filament.« less

Understanding thermal circulations and near-surface turbulence processes in a small mountain valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pardyjak, E.; Dupuy, F.; Durand, P.; Gunawardena, N.; Thierry, H.; Roubin, P.

2017-12-01

The interaction of turbulence and thermal circulations in complex terrain can be significantly different from idealized flat terrain. In particular, near-surface horizontal spatial and temporal variability of winds and thermodynamic variables can be significant event over very small spatial scales. The KASCADE (KAtabatic winds and Stability over CAdarache for Dispersion of Effluents) 2017 conducted from January through March 2017 was designed to address these issues and to ultimately improve prediction of dispersion in complex terrain, particularly during stable atmospheric conditions. We have used a relatively large number of sensors to improve our understanding of the spatial and temporal development, evolution and breakdown of topographically driven flows. KASCADE 2017 consisted of continuous observations and fourteen Intensive Observation Periods (IOPs) conducted in the Cadarache Valley located in southeastern France. The Cadarache Valley is a relatively small valley (5 km x 1 km) with modest slopes and relatively small elevation differences between the valley floor and nearby hilltops ( 100 m). During winter, winds in the valley are light and stably stratified at night leading to thermal circulations as well as complex near-surface atmospheric layering. In this presentation we present results quantifying spatial variability of thermodynamic and turbulence variables as a function of different large -scale forcing conditions (e.g., quiescent conditions, strong westerly flow, and Mistral flow). In addition, we attempt to characterize highly-regular nocturnal horizontal wind meandering and associated turbulence statistics.

Flow Phenomena in the Very Near Wake of a Flat Plate with a Circular Trailing Edge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rai, Man Mohan

2014-01-01

The very near wake of a flat plate with a circular trailing edge, exhibiting pronounced shedding of wake vortices, is investigated with data from a direct numerical simulation. The separating boundary layers are turbulent and statistically identical thus resulting in a wake that is symmetric in the mean. The focus here is on the instability of the detached shear layers, the evolution of rib-vortex induced localized regions of reverse flow that detach from the main body of reverse flow in the trailing edge region and convect downstream, and phaseaveraged velocity statistics in the very near wake. The detached shear layers are found to exhibit unstable behavior intermittently, including the development of shear layer vortices as in earlier cylinder flow investigations with laminar separating boundary layers. Only a small fraction of the separated turbulent boundary layers undergo this instability, and form the initial shed vortices. Pressure spectra within the shear layers show a broadband peak at a multiple of shedding frequency. Phase-averaged intensity and shear stress distributions of the randomly fluctuating component of velocity are compared with those obtained in the near wake. The distributions of the production terms in the transport equations for the turbulent stresses are also provided.

Ocean haline skin layer and turbulent surface convections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Zhang, X.

2012-04-01

The ocean haline skin layer is of great interest to oceanographic applications, while its attribute is still subject to considerable uncertainty due to observational difficulties. By introducing Batchelor micro-scale, a turbulent surface convection model is developed to determine the depths of various ocean skin layers with same model parameters. These parameters are derived from matching cool skin layer observations. Global distributions of salinity difference across ocean haline layers are then simulated, using surface forcing data mainly from OAFlux project and ISCCP. It is found that, even though both thickness of the haline layer and salinity increment across are greater than the early global simulations, the microwave remote sensing error caused by the haline microlayer effect is still smaller than that from other geophysical error sources. It is shown that forced convections due to sea surface wind stress are dominant over free convections driven by surface cooling in most regions of oceans. The free convection instability is largely controlled by cool skin effect for the thermal microlayer is much thicker and becomes unstable much earlier than the haline microlayer. The similarity of the global distributions of temperature difference and salinity difference across cool and haline skin layers is investigated by comparing their forcing fields of heat fluxes. The turbulent convection model is also found applicable to formulating gas transfer velocity at low wind.

Dynamics of Turbulence Suppression in a Helicon Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayes, Tiffany; Gilmore, Mark

2012-10-01

Experiments are currently being conducted in the the Helicon-Cathode Device (HelCat) at the University of New Mexico. The goal is to the study in detail the transition from a turbulent to a non-turbulent state in the presence of flow shear. HelCat has intrinsic fluctuations that have been identified as drift-waves. Using simple electrode biasing, it has been found that these fluctuations can be completely suppressed. In some extreme cases, a different instability, possibly the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, can be excited. Detailed studies are underway in order to understand the characteristics of each mode, and to elucidate the underlying physics that cause the change between an unstable plasma, and an instability-free plasma. Dynamics being observed include changes in flow profiles, both azimuthal and parallel, as well as changes in potential and temperature gradients. Further understanding is being sought using several computer codes developed at EPFL: a linear stability solver (LSS,footnotetextP. Ricci and B.N. Rogers (2009). Phys Plasmas 16, 062303. a one-dimensional PIC code/sheath solver, ODISEE,footnotetextJ. Loizu, P. Ricci, and C. Theiler (2011). Phys Rev E 83, 016406 and a global, 3D Braginski code, GBS.footnotetextRicci, Rogers (2009) A basic overview of results will be presented.

Application of Self-Similarity Constrained Reynolds-Averaged Turbulence Models to Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov Unstable Turbulent Mixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartland, Tucker A.; Schilling, Oleg

2016-11-01

Analytical self-similar solutions corresponding to Rayleigh-Taylor, Richtmyer-Meshkov and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability are combined with observed values of the growth parameters in these instabilities to derive coefficient sets for K- ɛ and K- L- a Reynolds-averaged turbulence models. It is shown that full numerical solutions of the model equations give mixing layer widths, fields, and budgets in good agreement with the corresponding self-similar quantities for small Atwood number. Both models are then applied to Rayleigh-Taylor instability with increasing density contrasts to estimate the Atwood number above which the self-similar solutions become invalid. The models are also applied to a reshocked Richtmyer-Meshkov instability, and the predictions are compared with data. The expressions for the growth parameters obtained from the similarity analysis are used to develop estimates for the sensitivity of their values to changes in important model coefficients. Numerical simulations using these modified coefficient values are then performed to provide bounds on the model predictions associated with uncertainties in these coefficient values. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. This work was supported by the 2016 LLNL High-Energy-Density Physics Summer Student Program.

Dynamic Confinement of ITER Plasma by O-Mode Driver at Electron Cyclotron Frequency Range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefan, V. Alexander

2009-05-01

A low B-field side launched electron cyclotron O-Mode driver leads to the dynamic rf confinement, in addition to rf turbulent heating, of ITER plasma. The scaling law for the local energy confinement time τE is evaluated (τE ˜ 3neTe/2Q, where (3/2) neTe is the local plasma thermal energy density and Q is the local rf turbulent heating rate). The dynamics of unstable dissipative trapped particle modes (DTPM) strongly coupled to Trivelpiece-Gould (T-G) modes is studied for gyrotron frequency 170GHz; power˜24 MW CW; and on-axis B-field ˜ 10T. In the case of dynamic stabilization of DTPM turbulence and for the heavily damped T-G modes, the energy confinement time scales as τE˜(I0)-2, whereby I0(W/m^2) is the O-Mode driver irradiance. R. Prater et. al., Nucl. Fusion 48, No 3 (March 2008). E. P. Velikhov, History of the Russian Tokamak and the Tokamak Thermonuclear Fusion Research Worldwide That Led to ITER (Documentary movie; Stefan Studios Int'l, La Jolla, CA, 2008; E. P. Velikhov, V. Stefan.) M N Rosenbluth, Phys. Scr. T2A 104-109 1982 B. B. Kadomtsev and O. P. Pogutse, Nucl. Fusion 11, 67 (1971).

High-resolution time-resolved experiments on mixing and entrainment of buoyant jets in stratified environments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Manera, Annalisa; Bardet, Philippe; Petrov, Victor

Fluid jets interacting with a stratified layer play an important role in the safety of several reactor designs. In the containment of nuclear power plants, fluid jets dominate the transport and mixing of gaseous species and consequent hydrogen distribution in case of a severe accident. The mixing phenomena in the containment are driven by buoyant high-momentum injections (jets) and low momentum injection plumes. Mixing near the postulated break is initially dominated by high flow velocities. Plumes with moderate flow velocities are instead relevant in the break compartment during the long-term pressurization phase, or in any of the apertures between twomore » connected compartments if the mass flows are sufficiently high and the density differences between efflux and ambient are sufficiently low. Phenomena of interest include free plumes (as produced by the efflux from the break compartment in a larger room or directly from a break flow), wall plumes (such those produced by low mass flows through inter-compartment apertures), and propagating stratification fronts in the ambient (for any stably stratified conditions). These phenomena have been highly ranked about nuclear reactor design, especially regarding of safety protocols. During a Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) scenario, the interaction between the cold ECCS injection plume and the stratified fluid present in the cold (or hot) leg is important in order to determine the temperature at the time-dependent temperature at the inlet of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and the potential to cause a thermal shock on the RPV wall. In sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), core channels are typically hydro-dynamically isolated so that there exists a considerable temperature variation at the exit of adjacent fuel assemblies. All the above phenomena are characterized by the interaction of buoyant jets with the stratified flow. In stratified layers baroclinic forces create significant redistribution of turbulent kinetic energy and scales, which leads to anisotropy. This important physical phenomenon is highly three dimensional and is challenging to capture even with high-fidelity CFD simulations, due in part to lack of sufficiently resolved validation data. Furthermore, the experimental data available in the open literature do not feature the level of fidelity needed for an extensive validation of turbulence models in lower order CFD. To shed new lights into the crucial phenomena object of the present research project, it was proposed to conduct coordinated experiments and simulations at the University of Michigan and the George Washington University. The project has resulted in an experimental database of high-resolution time-resolved measurements of jets in uniform and stratified environments. The novel experimental data will be used to validate computational fluid dynamic (CFD) codes, including both Large Eddy Simulations (LES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (URANS) methodologies. In the Experimental and Multiphase flow (ECMF) laboratory at Univerisity of Michigan, we built two experimental facilities to investigate also the effect of scaling. The first facility, DESTROJER (DEnsity Stratified Turbulent ROund free Jet ExpeRiment), featuring a contoured jet nozzle with a diameter of D=12.7mm and a 1m×1m×1m cubic tank, which is made of acrylic glass for optical access. The ratio between the tank width and the nozzle diameter is equal to 78, which ensures that there is no direct interaction between the jet and the side walls. A second, modular experimental facility, features three different tank sizes of size 10×10×30, 20×20×30, 30×30×30 cm3 respectively (all tanks have the same height of 30 cm), and a jet diameter of 2mm. For the modular facility, tank-to-nozzle ratio of 50, 100, and 150 are obtained respectively. Experiments with different-density jet impactions and sharp interface with a density difference of 3.16% In the Laboratory at George Washington University, complementary experiments have been carried out at a facility featuring the same dimensions as DESTROYER. Experiments with different jet diameters have been carried out as well. High-resolution time-resolved measurements have been performed at all facilities using high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) and planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). In this way, simultaneous measurements of velocity and density fields have been carried out. At the University of Michigan, wire-mesh sensors have been designed and built to gather high-resolution, time-dependent data of the stratified front in the tank. These measurements are important to provide accurate initial conditions for the CFD simulations. An important outcome of the project has been the development of novel techniques to achieve refractive index matching (RIM) of acqueous solutions with high density differences. RIM is crucial if optical techniques such as PIV are used to measure velocity fields. Previous to this project, experiments up to 3% density difference had been reported in the literature. With the methodology developed in this project, we have been able to push the envelop to density differences up to 9%. The experiments have been used to validate Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models and Large Eddy Simulations (LES) models. Both NEK5000 and the commercial CFD code STAR-CCM+ have been used. The experimental data will be made available to the community through the NE-KAMS databasehave been successfully conducted in the scaled facility.« less

An Eulerian two-phase model for steady sheet flow using large-eddy simulation methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Zhen; Hsu, Tian-Jian; Chauchat, Julien

2018-01-01

A three-dimensional Eulerian two-phase flow model for sediment transport in sheet flow conditions is presented. To resolve turbulence and turbulence-sediment interactions, the large-eddy simulation approach is adopted. Specifically, a dynamic Smagorinsky closure is used for the subgrid fluid and sediment stresses, while the subgrid contribution to the drag force is included using a drift velocity model with a similar dynamic procedure. The contribution of sediment stresses due to intergranular interactions is modeled by the kinetic theory of granular flow at low to intermediate sediment concentration, while at high sediment concentration of enduring contact, a phenomenological closure for particle pressure and frictional viscosity is used. The model is validated with a comprehensive high-resolution dataset of unidirectional steady sheet flow (Revil-Baudard et al., 2015, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 767, 1-30). At a particle Stokes number of about 10, simulation results indicate a reduced von Kármán coefficient of κ ≈ 0.215 obtained from the fluid velocity profile. A fluid turbulence kinetic energy budget analysis further indicates that the drag-induced turbulence dissipation rate is significant in the sheet flow layer, while in the dilute transport layer, the pressure work plays a similar role as the buoyancy dissipation, which is typically used in the single-phase stratified flow formulation. The present model also reproduces the sheet layer thickness and mobile bed roughness similar to measured data. However, the resulting mobile bed roughness is more than two times larger than that predicted by the empirical formulae. Further analysis suggests that through intermittent turbulent motions near the bed, the resolved sediment Reynolds stress plays a major role in the enhancement of mobile bed roughness. Our analysis on near-bed intermittency also suggests that the turbulent ejection motions are highly correlated with the upward sediment suspension flux, while the turbulent sweep events are mostly associated with the downward sediment deposition flux.

Why turbulence sustains in supercritically stratified free atmosphere?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zilitinkevich, Sergej

2016-04-01

It is widely believed that in very stable stratifications, at Richardson numbers (Ri) exceeding critical value Ric ˜ 0.25 turbulence decays and flow becomes laminar. This is so at low Reynolds numbers (Re), e.g., in lab experiments; but this is not true in very-high-Re geophysical flows. Free atmosphere and deep ocean are turbulent in spite of strongly supercritical stratifications: 1 << Ri < 103. Until recently, this paradox remained unexplained. The Energy- and Flux-Budget (EFB) turbulence-closure (Zilitinkevich et al., 2013) has disclosed the following turbulence self-control mechanisms. Until recently, the role of negative buoyancy flux, Fb > 0, in turbulence energetics was treated in terms of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget equation and understood as just consumption of TKE by the buoyancy forces. This has led to the conclusion that sufficiently strong static stability causes the negative buoyancy flux sufficiently strong to exceed the TKE generation rate and thus to kill turbulence. However, considering TKE equation together with budget equation for turbulent potential energy (TPE proportional to the squared buoyancy fluctuations) shows that the role of Fb in turbulence energetics is nothing but conversion of TKE into TPE (Fb just quantifies the rate of this conversion); so that Fb does not affect total turbulent energy (TTE = TKE + TPE). Moreover, as follows from the buoyancy-flux budget equation, TPE generates positive (directed upward) buoyancy flux irrespective of the sign of the buoyancy gradient. Indeed, the warmer fluid particles (with positive buoyancy fluctuation) rise up, whereas the cooler particles sink down, so that both contribute to the positive buoyancy flux opposing to the usual, negative flux generated by mean buoyancy gradient. In this context, strengthening the negative buoyancy flux leads to decreasing TKE and increasing TPE. The latter enhances the counter-gradient share of the total flux, thus reduces |Fb| and, eventually, increases TKE. The above negative feedback was disregarded in the conventional concept of down-gradient turbulent transport. This mechanism imposes a limit on the maximal (independent of the buoyancy gradient) value of |Fb| and thus prevents degeneration of turbulence. The EFB theory has predicted that the critical Richardson number, Ric ˜ 0.25, characterising the hydrodynamic instability limit and the turbulent-laminar flow threshold at low Reynolds numbers, remains a principal threshold also in the very-high-Re turbulence; but here it separates the two turbulent regimes of dramatically different nature: Ri < Ric: the familiar "strong-mixing turbulence" typical of boundary-layer flows, wherein turbulent Prandtl number remaines practically constant: PrT ˜ 1 (the so-called "Reynolds analogy"); Ri > Ric: the newly revealed "wave-like turbulence" typical of the free atmosphere and deep ocean, wherein sharply increases with increasing Ri (asymptotically as PrT ≈ 5 Ri). This theoretical finding fits well with experimental evidence. Modellers long ago knew that turbulent heat transfer in the free atmosphere should be taken much weaker than the momentum transfer. The EFB theory gives authentic formulation for this rule and provides physically grounded method for modelling turbulence up to very stable startifications.

Vertically migrating swimmers generate aggregation-scale eddies in a stratified column.

PubMed

Houghton, Isabel A; Koseff, Jeffrey R; Monismith, Stephen G; Dabiri, John O

2018-04-01

Biologically generated turbulence has been proposed as an important contributor to nutrient transport and ocean mixing 1-3 . However, to produce non-negligible transport and mixing, such turbulence must produce eddies at scales comparable to the length scales of stratification in the ocean. It has previously been argued that biologically generated turbulence is limited to the scale of the individual animals involved 4 , which would make turbulence created by highly abundant centimetre-scale zooplankton such as krill irrelevant to ocean mixing. Their small size notwithstanding, zooplankton form dense aggregations tens of metres in vertical extent as they undergo diurnal vertical migration over hundreds of metres 3,5,6 . This behaviour potentially introduces additional length scales-such as the scale of the aggregation-that are of relevance to animal interactions with the surrounding water column. Here we show that the collective vertical migration of centimetre-scale swimmers-as represented by the brine shrimp Artemia salina-generates aggregation-scale eddies that mix a stable density stratification, resulting in an effective turbulent diffusivity up to three orders of magnitude larger than the molecular diffusivity of salt. These observed large-scale mixing eddies are the result of flow in the wakes of the individual organisms coalescing to form a large-scale downward jet during upward swimming, even in the presence of a strong density stratification relative to typical values observed in the ocean. The results illustrate the potential for marine zooplankton to considerably alter the physical and biogeochemical structure of the water column, with potentially widespread effects owing to their high abundance in climatically important regions of the ocean 7 .

A Theoretical Probe for Excitation Mechanisms of Sun-like and Mira-like Oscillations of Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Da-run; Deng, Li-cai

2013-01-01

The linear nonadiabatic oscillations for evolutionary models of 0.6- 3M8 stars are calculated by using a nonlocal and time-dependent convection theory. The results show that in the HR diagram the pulsation-unstable low- temperature stars on the right side of instability strip can be divided into two groups. One group indicates the Sun-like oscillation stars composed of the main- sequence dwarfs, sub-giants and red giants (RGs) of low and intermediate lu- minosities, which are unstable in the intermediate- and high-order (n ≥ 12) p- modes, and stable in the low-order (n ≤ 5) p-modes. Another group indicates the Mira-like stars composed of the bright RGs and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, which are just contrary to Sun-like stars, unstable in low-order (n ≤ 5) p-modes and stable in the intermediate- and high-order (n ≥ 12) p-modes. The oscillations for the red edge of Cepheid (δ Scuti) instability strip, Sun-like and Mira-like stars can be explained uniformly by the coupling between convection and oscillation (CCO). For the low-temperature stars on the right side of in- stability strip, CCO is the dominant excitation and damping mechanism of the oscillations of low- and intermediate-order p-modes, and the turbulent stochas- tic excitation becomes important only for the high-order p-modes of Sun-like oscillations.

Energy and water vapor transport across a simplified cloud-clear air interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallana, L.; Di Savino, S.; De Santi, F.; Iovieno, M.; Tordella, D.

2014-11-01

We consider a simplified physics of the could interface where condensation, evaporation and radiation are neglected and momentum, thermal energy and water vapor transport is represented in terms of the Boussinesq model coupled to a passive scalar transport equation for the vapor. The interface is modeled as a layer separating two isotropic turbulent regions with different kinetic energy and vapor concentration. In particular, we focus on the small scale part of the inertial range of the atmospheric boundary layer as well as on the dissipative range of scales which are important to the micro-physics of warm clouds. We have numerically investigated stably stratified interfaces by locally perturbing at an initial instant the standard temperature lapse rate at the cloud interface and then observing the temporal evolution of the system. When the buoyancy term becomes of the same order of the inertial one, we observe a spatial redistribution of the kinetic energy which produce a concomitant pit of kinetic energy within the mixing layer. In this situation, the mixing layer contains two interfacial regions with opposite kinetic energy gradient, which in turn produces two intermittent sublayers in the velocity fluctuations field. This changes the structure of the field with respect to the corresponding non-stratified shearless mixing: the communication between the two turbulent region is weak, and the growth of the mixing layer stops. These results are discussed with respect to Large Eddy Simulations data for the Planetary Boundary Layers.

Studying the Afternoon Transition of the Planetary Boundary Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lothon, Marie; Lenschow, Donald H.

2010-07-01

The planetary boundary layer is the part of the atmosphere that interacts directly with the Earth's surface on a time scale of a few hours or less. In daytime, solar heating of the surface can generate buoyant turbulent eddies that efficiently mix the air through a depth of more than a kilometer. This convective boundary layer (CBL) is a conduit for trace gases such as water vapor and carbon dioxide that are emitted or absorbed by the surface (and surface vegetation) to be transported into or out of the layer nearest the surface. The CBL has been extensively observed and relatively successfully modeled. But the early morning transition—when the CBL emerges from the nocturnal boundary layer—and the late afternoon transition—when the CBL decays to an intermittently turbulent “residual layer” overlying a shallower, stably stratified boundary layer—are difficult to observe and model due to turbulence intermittency and anisotropy, horizontal heterogeneity, and rapid time changes. Even the definition of the boundary layer during these transitional periods is fuzzy; there is no consensus on what criteria to use and no simple scaling laws, as there are for the CBL, that apply during these transitions.

Similarity theory of the buoyantly interactive planetary boundary layer with entrainment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffert, M. I.; Sud, Y. C.

1976-01-01

A similarity model is developed for the vertical profiles of turbulent flow variables in an entraining turbulent boundary layer of arbitrary buoyant stability. In the general formulation the vertical profiles, internal rotation of the velocity vector, discontinuities or jumps at a capping inversion and bulk aerodynamic coefficients of the boundary layer are given by solutions to a system of ordinary differential equations in the similarity variable. To close the system, a formulation for buoyantly interactive eddy diffusivity in the boundary layer is introduced which recovers Monin-Obukhov similarity near the surface and incorporates a hypothesis accounting for the observed variation of mixing length throughout the boundary layer. The model is tested in simplified versions which depend only on roughness, surface buoyancy, and Coriolis effects by comparison with planetary-boundary-layer wind- and temperature-profile observations, measurements of flat-plate boundary layers in a thermally stratified wind tunnel and observations of profiles of terms in the turbulent kinetic-energy budget of convective planetary boundary layers. On balance, the simplified model reproduced the trend of these various observations and experiments reasonably well, suggesting that the full similarity formulation be pursued further.

Testing the high turbulence level breakdown of low-frequency gyrokinetics against high-frequency cyclokinetic simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Deng, Zhao, E-mail: zhao.deng@foxmail.com; Waltz, R. E.

2015-05-15

This paper presents numerical simulations of the nonlinear cyclokinetic equations in the cyclotron harmonic representation [R. E. Waltz and Zhao Deng, Phys. Plasmas 20, 012507 (2013)]. Simulations are done with a local flux-tube geometry and with the parallel motion and variation suppressed using a newly developed rCYCLO code. Cyclokinetic simulations dynamically follow the high-frequency ion gyro-phase motion which is nonlinearly coupled into the low-frequency drift-waves possibly interrupting and suppressing gyro-averaging and increasing the transport over gyrokinetic levels. By comparing the more fundamental cyclokinetic simulations with the corresponding gyrokinetic simulations, the breakdown of gyrokinetics at high turbulence levels is quantitatively testedmore » over a range of relative ion cyclotron frequency 10 < Ω*{sup  }< 100 where Ω*{sup  }= 1/ρ*, and ρ* is the relative ion gyroradius. The gyrokinetic linear mode rates closely match the cyclokinetic low-frequency rates for Ω*{sup  }> 5. Gyrokinetic transport recovers cyclokinetic transport at high relative ion cyclotron frequency (Ω*{sup  }≥ 50) and low turbulence level as required. Cyclokinetic transport is found to be lower than gyrokinetic transport at high turbulence levels and low-Ω* values with stable ion cyclotron (IC) modes. The gyrokinetic approximation is found to break down when the density perturbations exceed 20%. For cyclokinetic simulations with sufficiently unstable IC modes and sufficiently low Ω*{sup  }∼ 10, the high-frequency component of cyclokinetic transport level can exceed the gyrokinetic transport level. However, the low-frequency component of the cyclokinetic transport and turbulence level does not exceed that of gyrokinetics. At higher and more physically relevant Ω*{sup  }≥ 50 values and physically realistic IC driving rates, the low-frequency component of the cyclokinetic transport and turbulence level is still smaller than that of gyrokinetics. Thus, the cyclokinetic simulations do not account for the so-called “L-mode near edge short fall” seen in some low-frequency gyrokinetic transport and turbulence simulations.« less

A Mechanism for Bulk Energization in the Impulsive Phase of Solar Flares: MHD Turbulent Cascade

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaRosa, T. N.; Moore, R. L.

1993-01-01

We propose that the large production rate (approximately 10(exp 36)/s) of energetic electrons (greater than or approximately equal to 25 keV) required to account for the impulsive-phase hard X-ray burst in large flares is achieved through MHD turbulent cascade of the bulk kinetic energy of the outflows from many separate reconnection events. Focusing on large two- ribbon eruptive flares as representative of most large flares, we envision the reconnection events to be the driven reconnection of oppositely directed elementary flux tubes pressing into the flare-length current-sheet interface that forms in the wake of the eruption of the sheared core of the preflare bipolar field configuration. We point out that, because the outflows from these driven reconnection events have speeds of order the Alfven speed and because the magnetic field reduces the shear viscosity of the plasma, it is reasonable that the outflows are unstable and turbulent, so that the kinetic energy of an outflow is rapidly dissipated through turbulent cascade. If the largest eddies in the turbulence have diameters of order the expected widths of the outflows (10(exp 7)-10(exp 8)cm), then the cascade dissipation of each of these eddies could produce approximately 10(exp 26) erg burst of energized electrons (approximately 3 x (10(exp 33) 25 keV electrons) in approximately 0.3 s, which agrees well with hard X-ray and radio sub-bursts commonly observed during the impulsive phase. Of order 10(exp 2) simultaneous reconnection events with turbulent outflow would produce the observed rate of impulsive-phase plasma energization in the most powerful flares (approximately 10(exp 36) 25 keV electrons/ s); this number of reconnection sites can easily fit within the estimated 3 x 10(exp 9) cm span of the overall current-sheet dissipation region formed in these large flares. We therefore conclude that MHD turbulent cascade is a promising mechanism for the plasma energization observed in the impulsive phase of solar flares.

Zonal Flows and Turbulence in Fluids and Plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parker, Jeffrey

2014-09-01

In geophysical and plasma contexts, zonal flows are well known to arise out of turbulence. We elucidate the transition from statistically homogeneous turbulence without zonal flows to statistically inhomogeneous turbulence with steady zonal flows. Starting from the Hasegawa--Mima equation, we employ both the quasilinear approximation and a statistical average, which retains a great deal of the qualitative behavior of the full system. Within the resulting framework known as CE2, we extend recent understanding of the symmetry-breaking `zonostrophic instability'. Zonostrophic instability can be understood in a very general way as the instability of some turbulent background spectrum to a zonally symmetricmore » coherent mode. As a special case, the background spectrum can consist of only a single mode. We find that in this case the dispersion relation of zonostrophic instability from the CE2 formalism reduces exactly to that of the 4-mode truncation of generalized modulational instability. We then show that zonal flows constitute pattern formation amid a turbulent bath. Zonostrophic instability is an example of a Type Is instability of pattern-forming systems. The broken symmetry is statistical homogeneity. Near the bifurcation point, the slow dynamics of CE2 are governed by a well-known amplitude equation, the real Ginzburg-Landau equation. The important features of this amplitude equation, and therefore of the CE2 system, are multiple. First, the zonal flow wavelength is not unique. In an idealized, infinite system, there is a continuous band of zonal flow wavelengths that allow a nonlinear equilibrium. Second, of these wavelengths, only those within a smaller subband are stable. Unstable wavelengths must evolve to reach a stable wavelength; this process manifests as merging jets. These behaviors are shown numerically to hold in the CE2 system, and we calculate a stability diagram. The stability diagram is in agreement with direct numerical simulations of the quasilinear system. The use of statistically-averaged equations and the pattern formation methodology provide a path forward for further systematic investigations of zonal flows and their interactions with turbulence.« less

Magnetic Flux Concentrations in Stratified Turbulent Plasma Due to Negative Effective Magnetic Pressure Instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabbari, Sarah

2015-08-01

We study a system of a highly stratified turbulent plasma. In such a system, when the magnetic Reynolds number is large enough and there is a background field of suitable strength, a new effect will play role in con- centrating magnetic fields such that it leads to the formation of magnetic spots and bipolar regions. This effect is due to the fact that the turbu- lent pressure is suppressed by the large-scale magnetic field, which adds a negative term to the total mean-field (effective) pressure. This leads to an instability, which is known as the negative effective magnetic pressure instability (NEMPI). Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of isothermally forced turbulence have shown that NEMPI leads to the formation of spots in the presence of an imposed field. Our main aim now is to use NEMPI to explain the formation of active regions and sunspots. To achieve this goal, we need to move progressively to more realistic models. Here we extend our model by allowing the magnetic field to be generated by a dy- namo. A dynamo plays an important role in solar activity. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate NEMPI in the presence of dynamo-generated magnetic fields. Mean-field simulations (MFS) of such systems in spheri- cal geometry have shown how these two instabilities work in concert. In fact NEMPI will be activated as long as the strength of the magnetic field generated by the dynamo is in a proper range (for more detail see Jab- bari et al. 2013). In our new study, we use DNS to investigate a similar system. The turbulence is forced in the entire spherical shell, but the forc- ing is made helical in the lower 30% of the shell, similar to the model of Mitra et al. (2014). We perform simulations using the Pencil Code for different density contrasts and other input parameters. We applied ver- tical field boundary conditions in the r direction. The results show that, when the stratification is high enough, intense bipolar regions form and as time passes, they expand, merge and create giant structures. At the same time, the new structures appear at different latitudes. By extending in φ direction, the size of the bipolar regions decreases. When the helical zone is thinner, the structures appear at a later time.

Rossby and drift wave turbulence and zonal flows: The Charney-Hasegawa-Mima model and its extensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connaughton, Colm; Nazarenko, Sergey; Quinn, Brenda

2015-12-01

A detailed study of the Charney-Hasegawa-Mima model and its extensions is presented. These simple nonlinear partial differential equations suggested for both Rossby waves in the atmosphere and drift waves in a magnetically-confined plasma, exhibit some remarkable and nontrivial properties, which in their qualitative form, survive in more realistic and complicated models. As such, they form a conceptual basis for understanding the turbulence and zonal flow dynamics in real plasma and geophysical systems. Two idealised scenarios of generation of zonal flows by small-scale turbulence are explored: a modulational instability and turbulent cascades. A detailed study of the generation of zonal flows by the modulational instability reveals that the dynamics of this zonal flow generation mechanism differ widely depending on the initial degree of nonlinearity. The jets in the strongly nonlinear case further roll up into vortex streets and saturate, while for the weaker nonlinearities, the growth of the unstable mode reverses and the system oscillates between a dominant jet, which is slightly inclined to the zonal direction, and a dominant primary wave. A numerical proof is provided for the extra invariant in Rossby and drift wave turbulence-zonostrophy. While the theoretical derivations of this invariant stem from the wave kinetic equation which assumes weak wave amplitudes, it is shown to be relatively well-conserved for higher nonlinearities also. Together with the energy and enstrophy, these three invariants cascade into anisotropic sectors in the k-space as predicted by the Fjørtoft argument. The cascades are characterised by the zonostrophy pushing the energy to the zonal scales. A small scale instability forcing applied to the model has demonstrated the well-known drift wave-zonal flow feedback loop. The drift wave turbulence is generated from this primary instability. The zonal flows are then excited by either one of the generation mechanisms, extracting energy from the drift waves as they grow. Eventually the turbulence is completely suppressed and the zonal flows saturate. The turbulence spectrum is shown to diffuse in a manner which has been mathematically predicted. The insights gained from this simple model could provide a basis for equivalent studies in more sophisticated plasma and geophysical fluid dynamics models in an effort to fully understand the zonal flow generation, the turbulent transport suppression and the zonal flow saturation processes in both the plasma and geophysical contexts as well as other wave and turbulence systems where order evolves from chaos.