Direct numerical simulation and linear stability analysis of circular waves in the stator boundary layer of rotor–stator cavity

The flow in a tightly packed array of spheres is important to various engineering fields. In nuclear engineering applications, for instance, researchers have proposed core geometries of the pebble bed reactor (PBR) type cooled by gas or molten salt. Proper core cooling, both at operation and during accident conditions, is a key issue that must be addressed in any reactor design; and the limited amount of data available for the complicated geometry of PBR cores makes this task even more complex. A detailed understanding of coolant flow patterns and properties must be developed in order to meet safety requirements and ensure core longevity. We address this issue by using the spectral-element computational fluid dynamics code Nek5000, developed at Argonne National Laboratory, to conduct both large eddy simulation (LES) and direct numerical simulation (DNS) of fluid flow through a single face-centered cubic sphere lattice with periodic boundary conditions. Moreover, a statistical analysis of the flow field and a global linear stability analysis of the laminar flow were performed in order to investigate the mechanism of laminar-turbulent transition in this geometry. One of the main objectives of the present study is, in fact, to determine how the Reynolds number affects the development of asymmetries within the flow patterns.

The stability properties of round variable-density low-Mach-number jets are studied by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis. Fully three-dimensional DNS of variable-density jets, with and without gravity, demonstrate that the presence of buoyancy causes a more abrupt transition to turbulence. This effect helps to explain differences between normal gravity and microgravity jet diffusion flames observed in the laboratory.The complete spectrum of spatial eigenmodes of the linearized low-Mach-number equations is calculated using a global matrix method. Also, an analytic form for the continuous portion of this spectrum is derived, and used to verify the numerical method. The absolute instability of variable-density jets is confirmed using Brigg's method, and a comprehensive parametric study of the strength and frequency of this instability is performed. Effects of Reynolds number, the density ratio of ambient-to-jet fluid (S1), shear-layer thickness and Froude number are considered. Finally, a region of local absolute instability is shown to exist in the near field of the jet by applying linear stability analysis to mean profiles measured from DNS.

Side jet formation in variable-density round jets is investigated by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis. From DNS, it is observed that a light jet with density ratio S =ρ0/ρj = 4 supports sustainedside jets which eject fluid from the center of the jet in a star-shaped pattern. These side jets persist over an axial distance of approximately 5 jet diameters before the jet transitions to turbulence, and do not precess around the jet. It is conjectured that this behavior can be explained by a change in the local properties of the secondary instability from convective to absolute in nature. This hypothesis is tested by examining the spatio-temporal development of the wavepacket resulting from a small impulse, taken about a non-diffusing periodic base state corresponding to the saturated primary instability.

Effects of longitudinal wall-oscillation on transition of a channel flow are investigated by Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis. Reynolds number defined by the mean flow and the distance of walls is fixed at 10000 in convenience. In the remaining parameters of wall frequency and amplitude, parametric study shows that the parameter space can roughly be divided on to three parts. In the first part, the transition occurs rapidly. It may relates the transient growth in the channel flow. In the other parts, the transition is accelerated or decelerated. From the visualization study based on the vorticity, we observed that the growth of streak like structures near the walls are suppressed in the accelerated case. For the linear stability analysis, the basic flow is given by a superimposition of the channel flow and the Stokes layer because both flow can be written as a solution of the linearized Navier-Stokes equation. Using this flow, the linear stability analysis shows that the effect of the parameters on the transition roughly corresponds to the results of DNS. Moreover, it seems that the rapid transition has correlation with the stability of the Stokes layer flow.

Using thermal convection in liquid metal, we show that strong spatial confinement not only delays the onset Rayleigh number $Ra_c$ of Rayleigh–Bénard instability but also postpones the various flow-state transitions. The $Ra_c$ and the transition to fully developed turbulence Rayleigh number $Ra_f$ depend on the aspect ratio $\varGamma$ with $Ra_c\sim \varGamma ^{-4.05}$ and $Ra_f\sim \varGamma ^{-3.01}$ , implying that the stabilization effects caused by the strong spatial confinement are weaker on the transition to fully developed turbulence when compared with that on the onset. When the flow state is characterized by the supercritical Rayleigh number $Ra/Ra_{c}$ ( $Ra$ is the Rayleigh number), our study shows that the transition to fully developed turbulence in strongly confined geometries is advanced. For example, while the flow becomes fully developed turbulence at $Ra\approx 200Ra_c$ in a $\varGamma =1$ cell, the same transition in a $\varGamma =1/20$ cell only requires $Ra\approx 3Ra_c$ . Direct numerical simulation and linear stability analysis show that in the strongly confined regime, multiple vertically stacked roll structures appear just above the onset of convection. With an increase of the driving strength, the flow switches between different-roll states stochastically, resulting in no well-defined large-scale coherent flow. Owing to this new mechanism that only exists in systems with $\varGamma <1$ , the flow becomes turbulent in a much earlier stage. These findings shed new light on how turbulence is generated in strongly confined geometries.

The transition to turbulence in the rotating disk boundary layer is investigated in a closed cylindrical rotor–stator cavity via direct numerical simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis (LSA). The mean flow in the rotor boundary layer is qualitatively similar to the von Kármán self-similarity solution. The mean velocity profiles, however, slightly depart from theory as the rotor edge is approached. Shear and centrifugal effects lead to a locally more unstable mean flow than the self-similarity solution, which acts as a strong source of perturbations. Fluctuations start rising there, as the Reynolds number is increased, eventually leading to an edge-driven global mode, characterized by spiral arms rotating counter-clockwise with respect to the rotor. At larger Reynolds numbers, fluctuations form a steep front, no longer driven by the edge, and followed downstream by a saturated spiral wave, eventually leading to incipient turbulence. Numerical results show that this front results from the superposition of several elephant front-forming global modes, corresponding to unstable azimuthal wavenumbers $m$, in the range $m\in [32,78]$. The spatial growth along the radial direction of the energy of these fluctuations is quantitatively similar to that observed experimentally. This superposition of elephant modes could thus provide an explanation for the discrepancy observed in the single disk configuration, between the corresponding spatial growth rates values measured by experiments on the one hand, and predicted by LSA and DNS performed in an azimuthal sector, on the other hand.

The flow-induced vibrations (FIVs) of two identical tandem square cylinders with mass ratio m* = 3.5 at Reynolds number Re = 150 are investigated through two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis over a parameter range of spacing ratio 1.5 ≤ L* ≤ 5 and reduced velocity 3 ≤ Ur ≤ 34. Three kinds of FIV responses, namely vortex-induced vibration (VIV), biased oscillation (BO) and galloping (GA), are identified. The FIVs are then further classified into the branches of initial VIV (IV), resonant VIV (RV and RV′), flutter-induced VIV (FV), desynchronized VIV (DV), VIV developing from GA (GV), transitional state between VIV and GA (TR), BO and GA based on the characteristics of the vibration responses. The transitions among different FIV branches are examined by combining the DNS with linear stability analysis, where the transition boundaries among the VIV, BO and GA branches over the concerned parameters are identified on the branch maps. The transition from IV to RV or RV′ is found to be related to the unstable wake mode, while the FV, transiting from RV or RV′, is induced by the unstable structural factor in the wake-structure mode. The structural instability is considered as the physical origin of GA, whereas the mode competition between unstable wake and structure leads to DV, GV and TR, and thus delays the appearance of GA. The transition from DV to BO with biased equilibrium position, accompanied by the even-order harmonic frequencies, is essentially induced by the symmetry breaking bifurcation.

The stability and dynamics of an axisymmetric lifted flame are studied by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis of the reacting low-Mach-number equations. For light fuels (such as non-premixed methane/air flames), the non-reacting premixing zone upstream of the lifted flame base contains a pocket of absolute instability supporting self-sustaining oscillations, causing flame flicker even in the absence of gravity. The liftoff heights of the unsteady flames are lower than their steady counterparts (obtained by the method of selective frequency damping (SFD)), owing to premixed flame propagation during a portion of each cycle. From local stability analysis, the lifted flame is found to have a significant stabilizing influence at and just upstream of the flame base, which can truncate the pocket of absolute instability. For sufficiently low liftoff heights, the truncated pocket of absolute instability can no longer support self-sustaining oscillations, and the flow is rendered globally stable.

Three-dimensional doubly diffusive convection in a closed vertically extended container driven by competing horizontal temperature and concentration gradients is studied by a combination of direct numerical simulation and linear stability analysis. No-slip boundary conditions are imposed on all six container walls. The buoyancy number $N$ is taken to be $-1$ to ensure the presence of a conduction state. The primary instability is subcritical and generates two families of spatially localized steady states known as convectons. The convectons bifurcate directly from the conduction state and are organized in a pair of primary branches that snake within a well-defined range of Rayleigh numbers as the convectons grow in length. Secondary instabilities generating twist result in secondary snaking branches of twisted convectons. These destabilize the primary convectons and are responsible for the absence of stable steady states, localized or otherwise, in the subcritical regime. Thus all initial conditions in this regime collapse to the conduction state. As a result, once the Rayleigh number for the primary instability of the conduction state is exceeded, the system exhibits an abrupt transition to large-amplitude relaxation oscillations resembling bursts with no hysteresis. These numerical results are confirmed here by determining the stability properties of both convecton types as well as the domain-filling states. The number of unstable modes of both primary and secondary convectons of different lengths follows a pattern that allows the prediction of their stability properties based on their length alone. The instability of the convectons also results in a dramatic change in the dynamics of the system outside the snaking region that arises when the twist instability operates on a time scale faster than the time scale on which new rolls are nucleated. The results obtained are expected to be applicable in various pattern-forming systems exhibiting localized structures, including convection and shear flows.

Linear optimal gains are computed for the subcritical two-dimensional separated boundary-layer flow past a bump. Very large optimal gain values are found, making it possible for small-amplitude noise to be strongly amplified and to destabilize the flow. The optimal forcing is located close to the summit of the bump, while the optimal response is the largest in the shear layer. The largest amplification occurs at frequencies corresponding to eigenvalues which first become unstable at higher Reynolds number. Nonlinear direct numerical simulations show that a low level of noise is indeed sufficient to trigger random flow unsteadiness, characterized here by large-scale vortex shedding. Next, a variational technique is used to compute efficiently the sensitivity of optimal gains to steady control (through source of momentum in the flow, or blowing/suction at the wall). A systematic analysis at several frequencies identifies the bump summit as the most sensitive region for control with wall actuation. Based on these results, a simple open-loop control strategy is designed, with steady wall suction at the bump summit. Linear calculations on controlled base flows confirm that optimal gains can be drastically reduced at all frequencies. Nonlinear direct numerical simulations also show that this control allows the flow to withstand a higher level of stochastic noise without becoming nonlinearly unstable, thereby postponing bypass transition. In the supercritical regime, sensitivity analysis of eigenvalues supports the choice of this control design. Full restabilization of the flow is obtained, as evidenced by direct numerical simulations and linear stability analysis.

We demonstrate self-trapping of singly-charged vortices at the surface of an optically induced two-dimensional photonic lattice. Under appropriate conditions of self-focusing nonlinearity, a singly-charged vortex beam can self-trap into a stable semi-infinite gap surface vortex soliton through a four-site excitation. However, a single-site excitation leads to a quasi-localized state in the first photonic gap, and our theoretical analysis illustrates that such a bandgap surface vortex soliton is always unstable. Our experimental results of stable and unstable topological surface solitons are corroborated by direct numerical simulations and linear stability analysis.

Mixed convection in a horizontal duct with imposed transverse horizontal magnetic field is studied using direct numerical simulations (DNS) and linear stability analysis. The duct’s walls are electrically insulated and thermally insulated with the exception of the bottom wall, at which constant-rate heating is applied. The focus of the study is on flows at high Hartmann ($\def \xmlpi #1{}\def \mathsfbi #1{\boldsymbol {\mathsf {#1}}}\let \le =\leqslant \let \leq =\leqslant \let \ge =\geqslant \let \geq =\geqslant \def \Pr {\mathit {Pr}}\def \Fr {\mathit {Fr}}\def \Rey {\mathit {Re}}\mathit{Ha}\le 800$) and Grashof ($\mathit{Gr}\le 10^9$) numbers. It is found that, while conventional turbulence is fully suppressed, the natural convection mechanism leads to the development of large-scale coherent structures. Two types of flows are found. One is the ‘low-$\mathit{Gr}$’ regime, in which the structures are rolls aligned with the magnetic field and velocity and temperature fields are nearly uniform along the magnetic field lines outside of the boundary layers. Another is the ‘high-$\mathit{Gr}$’ regime, in which the convection appears as a combination of similar rolls oriented along the magnetic field lines and streamwise-oriented rolls. In this case, velocity and temperature distributions are anisotropic, but three-dimensional.

Evolution of cubic–quintic complex Ginzburg–Landau erupting solitons under the effect of third-order dispersion and intrapulse Raman scattering

We investigate the existence and stability of localized gap states at a non-linear interface of non-linear fractional systems in a one-dimensional photonic lattice. By using the direct numerical simulations and linear stability analysis, we obtain the stability of the asymmetric localized gap states in the first and second finite gaps. Our theoretical results show that the power of the localized gap states decrease gradually as the increase of propagation constant and the non-linear landscape (non-linear coefficient ratio between the left and right interface), providing insights into soliton physics in non-linear periodic systems with fractional-order diffraction.

Direct numerical simulations and linear stability analysis are carried out to study mixed convection in a horizontal duct with constant-rate heating applied at the bottom and an imposed transverse horizontal magnetic field. A two-dimensional approximation corresponding to the asymptotic limit of a very strong magnetic field effect is validated and applied, together with full three-dimensional analysis, to investigate the flow's behaviour in the previously unexplored range of control parameters corresponding to typical conditions of a liquid metal blanket of a nuclear fusion reactor (Hartmann numbers up to $10^4$ and Grashof numbers up to $10^{10}$ ). It is found that the instability to quasi-two-dimensional rolls parallel to the magnetic field discovered at smaller Hartmann and Grashof numbers in earlier studies also occurs in this parameter range. Transport of the rolls by the mean flow leads to magnetoconvective temperature fluctuations of exceptionally high amplitudes. It is also demonstrated that quasi-two-dimensional structure of flows at very high Hartmann numbers does not guarantee accuracy of the classical two-dimensional approximation. The accuracy deteriorates at the highest Grashof numbers considered in the study.