Direct numerical simulation of the amplification of a 2D temporal disturbance in plane Poiseuille flow

Abstract

A direct numerical scheme is developed to study the temporal amplification of a 2D disturbance in plane Poiseuille flow. The transient non-linear Navier–Stokes equations are applied in a region of wavelength moving with the wave propagation speed. The complex amplitude involved in the perturbation functions is considered as the initial input of the non-linear stability equations. In this study a fully implicit finite difference scheme with five points in the flow direction and three points in the normal direction is developed so that numerical simulation of the amplification of a two-dimensional temporal disturbance in plane Poiseuille flow can be investigated. The growth and decay of the disturbance with time are presented and neutral stability curves which are in good agreement with existing solutions can be determined. The critical conditions as a function of the amplitude A0 of the disturbance are presented. Fixing the wavelength, the Navier–Stokes equations are solved up to Re=10,000 a friction factor increasing with Reynolds number is observed. The 2D non-linear behaviour of the streamfunction, vorticity and velocity components at Re=10,000 are also exhibited. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.