Shear-layer dynamics at the interface of parallel Couette flows

Abstract

This article aims to make a detailed analysis of co-flowing plane Couette flows. Particularly, the variation of flow quantities from the turbulent to non-turbulent region is studied. While the enstrophy exhibits a sharp jump, the other quantities (e.g., mean velocity, Reynolds normal stress, and kinetic energy) show a continuous variation across the interface. The budget analysis of Reynolds normal stresses reveals that the terms playing a key role in turbulence transportation vary depending on the Reynolds normal stress under study. The terms production, diffusion, and redistribution play an important role in streamwise Reynolds stress (u′u′¯). In the spanwise Reynolds stress (v′v′¯), the diffusion terms play a significant role. In the wall-normal Reynolds stress (w′w′¯), only the redistribution term is significant. The influence of one flow over another in the co-flow state was observed through the additional mean velocity and Reynolds normal stress found in the system compared to a standard plane Couette flow (pCf). Comparing the co-flow system with a conventional pCf system, the former exhibits greater vorticity, vortex stretching, and kinetic energy. A detailed analysis on the geometry and topology of flow structures was studied using flow invariants.