Vorticity dynamics of the three-dimensional Taylor-Green vortex problem

Abstract

The three-dimensional (3D) Taylor-Green Vortex (TGV) flow problem has been used to study turbulence from genesis to eventual decay governed by the 3D Navier-Stokes equation. The evolution of the TGV shows that the solution becomes unstable at very early times and eventually becomes turbulent, but a study of this transition has not been advanced so far. The computations are performed using a high accuracy compact scheme on a uniform grid, with the fourth-order Runge-Kutta time integration method. The vector potential-vorticity (Ψ→,ω→)-formulation of the governing equations is solved in a cubic periodic domain with one complete basic unit of a TGV cell in the interior of the domain at t = 0. The TGV problem allows one to study the vorticity dynamics using highly accurate formulation because of periodic boundary conditions. Simulations performed for different Reynolds numbers and grid resolutions reveal that numerical error in computations induce a period-doubling bifurcation, which leads to new spatial symmetries maintained up to intermediate times, followed by simultaneous stretching and fragmentation of vortices resulting in a decaying turbulent flow. The compensated energy spectrum of the 3D TGV flow displays inertial subrange at t = 9, after which the generated turbulence starts decaying. The power law for turbulent kinetic energy decay is analyzed, and the decay exponent is noted to approach unity as time increases.