Baroclinic Torque Research Articles

Baroclinic Effects on Wave-Driven Flows in a Microtidal Bay

Abstract A wave–current coupled numerical model with 3D radiation stress formalism is used to study baroclinic effects, specifically stratification and baroclinic pressure gradient force (BcPGF), on wind-wave-driven flows, separated as vertically sheared flows and vertically homogeneous flows. Numerical experiments are conducted under ideal offshore winds of 8 m s−1. Results show that stratification enhances the two-layer structure of the wave-driven sheared flow, while BcPGF has minimal impact. Stratification and BcPGF have limited influence on the direction of the wave-driven depth-averaged circulation, but they can enhance the total circulation by promoting the upper one. In the upper layer where form drag dominates, the competition between the vertical form drag divergence (FDD) and turbulent stress divergence (TSD) plays a critical role in shaping the wave-driven flow. Stratification reduces vertical eddy viscosity Km, suppressing the growth of TSD associated with the vertical shear of velocity, which facilitates the FDD driving the upper outflow. Likewise, stratification can enhance the effect of FDD curl on the upper horizontal circulation by limiting the growth of TSD curl related to the vertical shear of vorticity. Additionally, low Km reinforces geostrophic effect and therefore enhances the lateral circulation. Baroclinic torque contributes to reducing the vertical variation of vorticity and the growth of TSD curl, indirectly improving the effectiveness of FDD curl in driving the upper circulation. Stratification undergoes fortnightly adjustments due to the spring–neap cycle, leading to the synchronized variation in the strength of wave-driven flow, particularly its vertically sheared component. During neap tides with weak tidal forcing and well-developed stratification, wave-driven sheared flow, horizontal circulation, and lateral circulation are stronger. Significance Statement The aim of this study is to enhance our comprehension of the impact of baroclinic processes on wind-wave-driven flows in wind-dominated regimes. During summer, wave-driven flows exhibit noticeable vertical shearing, which differ from those observed in winter. This is particularly important because during summer, river runoffs generate strong stratification and introduce large quantities of terrigenous materials into coastal oceans. Consequently, wave-driven flows may play a crucial role in bay-shelf exchange, which has been given in few studies. Our findings highlight the influence of baroclinic processes on turbulent stress divergence, which can enhance wave-driven flows, both the vertically sheared and the vertically homogeneous components, especially during neap tides.

Numerical studies of hydrodynamic relativistic astrophysical jet: The modification of vorticity transport equation

In this Letter, we have carried out the two-dimensional numerical simulation of axisymmetric relativistic jet in cylindrical coordinates by employing higher order finite volume method in PLUTO [Mignone et al., “PLUTO: A numerical code for computational astrophysics,” Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 170, 228 (2007)] solver. The modified vorticity transport equation has been proposed for relativistic flow by taking the curl of the momentum equation, which shows significant change in the baroclinic vorticity production term due to relativistic effect. Both mathematical analysis and numerical results show that the vorticity production term due to baroclinic torque is heavily influenced due to the presence of specific enthalpy gradient and square of Lorentz factor gradient in a relativistic fluid flow.

Investigation of the Coupling Between the Dynamics of Vortical Structures and Flame Stability in Bluff-Body Premixed Combustion Using Extended Spectral Proper Orthogonal Decomposition

Abstract Large eddy simulation data of a bluff-body stabilized flame are analyzed using spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD) to investigate: (i) the role of flame-vortex interactions in the dominant flow dynamics, and (ii) how the proper choice of the cross-spectral density (CSD) defining SPOD can assist in identifying the underlying dynamics. Bluff-body flame holders aim to achieve stable flames under lean premixed conditions to minimize pollutant emissions. The recirculation region induced by the body promotes the mixing of hot combustion products with unburnt gases, preventing the global blowoff. However, the coupling between the shear layers and flame-induced vorticity sources can result in large flow structures that either contribute to increased flame stability or exhibit features typical of the early stages of flame blowout. SPOD is a data-driven technique remarkably powerful in extracting low-dimensional models. For each frequency, it computes a basis of orthogonal modes that maximizes the content of a predefined CSD in the leading modes. By choosing physically-relevant variables to construct the CSD, different physics can be explored, which is used here to investigate the coupled dynamics between the flame-induced baroclinic torque, vortical structures, and the temperature field. The results show that the vorticity and temperature fields exhibit low-dimensional dynamics characterized by a narrowband frequency and its harmonics; these dynamics are varicose oscillations of the flame region, governed by the baroclinic torque. Sinuous oscillations typical of wake instability for non-reactive flows are also present, suggesting a competition between them.

Investigations on cavitation flow and vorticity transport in a jet pump cavitation reactor with variable area ratios

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) has emerged as a promising technology for water disinfection. Interestingly, when subjected to specific cavitation pressures, jet pump cavitation reactors (JPCRs) exhibit effective water treatment capabilities. This study investigated the cavitation flow and vorticty transport in a JPCR with various area ratios by utilizing computational fluid dynamics. The results reveal that cavitation is more likely to occur within the JPCR as the area ratio becomes smaller. While as the area ratio decreases, the limit flow ratio also decreases, leading to a reduced operational range for the JPCR. During the cavitation inception stage, only a few bubbles with limited travel distances are generated at the throat inlet. A stable cavitation layer developed between the throat and downstream wall during the limited cavitation stage. In this phase, the primary flow carried the bubbles towards the outlet. In addition, it was found that the vortex stretching, compression expansion, and baroclinic torque terms primarily influence the vorticity transport equation in this context. This work may provide a reference value to the design of JPCRs for water treatment.

Three-dimensional shock–flame interactions: effect of wall friction

Multi-dimensional numerical simulations were performed to study the interactions between shock wave and premixed flame. The three-dimensional (3D) fully-compressible, reactive Navier–Stokes equations were solved using a high-order numerical method on a dynamically adapting mesh. The effect of wall friction on the shock–flame interaction was examined by varying wall boundary condition on sidewall. The simulations agree with previous experiment in terms of flame perturbation and flame evolution. The results show two effects of wall friction on flame–shock interaction: (1) flame stretching and (2) damping of local flame perturbation very close to the no-slip wall. The stretch effect leads to non-uniform development of the perturbated flame and consequently a significantly higher growth rate in both global flame perturbation and averaged pressure in the no-slip case compared to the free-slip case. By contrast, the damping effect locally moderates the flame perturbation in close proximity to the no-slip wall because less vorticity is deposited on this part of flame during shock–flame interaction. Quantitative analysis of vortex dynamics suggests that vorticity generation that is produced by baroclinic torque and enhanced by the dilation term during shock–flame interaction causes a growth of flame perturbation via Richtmyer–Meshkov instability. Nevertheless, the vorticity generation is greatly weakened in close proximity to the no-slip wall by the viscous torque and viscous dissipation terms due to friction.

Numerical and experimental analysis of the cavitation and flow characteristics in liquid nitrogen submersible pump

In this paper, the cavitation and flow characteristics of the unsteady liquid nitrogen (LN2) cavitating flow in a submersible pump are investigated through both experimental and numerical approaches. The performance curve of the LN2 submersible pump is obtained via experimental measurement. Numerical simulations are performed using a modified shear stress transport k–ω turbulence model, incorporating corrections for rotation and thermal effects as per the Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model. The numerical framework is verified by comparing the cavitation morphology features with previously reported visual data of the LN2 inducer and aligning pump performance data with those obtained from experimental tests of the LN2 submersible pump. The results indicate that cavitation at the designed flow rate predominantly manifests as tip clearance vortex cavitation in the inducer. Increased flow rates exacerbate cavitation, potentially obstructing the flow passage of the impeller. The vortex identification method and the vorticity transport equation are employed to identify the vortex structures and analyze the interaction between cavitation and vortices in the unsteady LN2 cavitating flow. The vortex structures primarily concentrate at the outlet of the impeller flow passage, largely attributed to the vortex dilation term and baroclinic torque. The influence of thermal effects on the cavitation flow of submersible pumps is analyzed. An entropy production analysis model, comprehensively involving various contributing factors, is proposed and utilized to accurately predict the entropy production rate within the pump. This study not only offers an effective numerical approach but also provides valuable insight into the cavitation flow characteristics of the LN2 submersible pump.

Numerical evaluation of the bubble dynamic influence on the characteristics of multiscale cavitating flow in the bluff body wake

Unsteady cavitating flow around the bluff body widely existed in practical engineering fields. This paper aims to investigate the physics involved in the multi-scale cavitating flow in the wake of a wedge-shaped bluff body, with special emphasis on the bubble effects. Numerical simulation is conducted using the traditional Eulerian-Eulerian (E-E) and newly developed Eulerian-Lagrangian (E-L) methods in OpenFOAM. It is found that, compared with the experimental results, the E-L method can predict more accurate cavitation characteristics than the E-E method due to the contribution of discrete bubbles. Bubbles can significantly influence the behaviors of the multi-scale cavitating flow. Specially, analysis of pressure fluctuations indicates that the bubbles induce a stronger power spectral density in the middle- and high-frequency regions. With the bubble effects considered, the vortex structure is stretched and more extensive in the near wake regions. The strength of time-averaged vorticity distribution decreases in the far wake region. Further analysis of the vortex transport equation shows that bubble dynamics significantly increase the intensity of the stretching term by enhancing the spanwise velocity fluctuations. The intensity of the baroclinic torque term predicted by the E-L method is higher than that by the E-E method near the center line due to the influence of bubbles. On the other hand, the analysis of turbulent kinetic energy distribution indicates that bubbles can induce turbulence by increasing cross-stream velocity fluctuations. The increment of the shear Reynold stress, u′xu′y‾, suggests that the bubbles intensify the coupling between the streamwise and cross-stream velocity fluctuations.

Large Eddy Simulation of the Effect of Hydrogen Ratio on the Flame Stabilization and Blow-Off Dynamics of a Lean CH4/H2/Air Bluff-Body Flame

This study investigated the flame structure and dynamics of a bluff-body flame when numerically close to blow-off conditions. This includes the impact of the hydrogen ratio on lean CH4/H2/air flame stabilization and blow-off characteristics. In this study, we assessed the impacts of four different hydrogen ratios: 0%, 30%, 60%, and 90%. Large eddy simulation (LES) was coupled with a thickened flame (TF) model to determine the turbulent combustion using a 30-species skeletal mechanism. The numerical results were progressively validated using OH-PLIF and PIV techniques. The results obtained from the numerical simulations showed minor differences with the experimental data on the velocity field and flame structure for all conditions. The presented results reveal that the flame is stabilized in higher-strain-rate spots more easily in the presence of high hydrogen ratios. Moreover, the flame location moves away from the concentrated vortex area with an increasing hydrogen ratio. The results of our blow-off investigation indicate that the blow-off sequence of a premixed bluff-body flame can be separated into two stages. The entire blow-off process becomes shorter with an increase in the hydrogen ratio. The primary reason for global extinction is a reduction in the heat release rate, and enstrophy analysis implies that blending hydrogen can reduce the enstrophy values of flames at the downstream locations. The dilatation and baroclinic torque terms decrease close to blow-off, but their decline is not significant in high-hydrogen-ratio conditions.

Numerical investigation of cavitation vortex dynamics in different cavitation patterns coupled implicit large eddy simulation and boundary data immersion method

The objective of this paper is to investigate the flow characteristics of different cavitation flow patterns around a NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 66 hydrofoil by applying the BDIM (boundary data immersion method) and ILES (implicit large eddy simulation) with an artificial code. Meanwhile, an artificial compressibility method is also employed to consider the effects of compressibility on cavitating flow. The results present that the numerical method can effectively capture different cavitation patterns, which agrees well with the previous experimental data. Subsequently, the detailed analysis of vortex structures and dynamics for the non-cavitation (σ = 3.0), sheet cavitation (σ = 2.0), and cloud cavitation (σ = 1.6) cases with the Liutex method and the vortex enstrophy transport equation have been investigated. When cavitation occurs, the degree of turbulence and the enstrophy in the flow field have been enhanced, due to the disturbance of the velocity field. For sheet cavitation, complex vortex structures appear in the attached cavity region with high-intensity enstrophy causing by the highly intense velocity and density gradient. As the cavitation pattern transits from the sheet cavitation to the cloud cavitation, more complex vortex structures can be observed in the cavitation region. Furthermore, the value and the fluctuation amplitude of enstrophy intensity increase significantly under the effect of reentrant jet. Analysis of the enstrophy transport equation indicates that the vortex stretching term and dilatation term for cloud cavitation increase relatively significantly with the movement of the reentrant flow and are highly dependent on the cavitation evolution. In addition, the region affected by the baroclinic torque also increases.

Vertical shear instability in two-moment radiation-hydrodynamical simulations of irradiated protoplanetary disks

Context. The vertical shear instability (VSI) is a hydrodynamical instability predicted to produce turbulence in magnetically inactive regions of protoplanetary disks. The regions in which this instability can occur and the physical phenomena leading to its saturation are a current matter of research. Aims. We explore the secondary instabilities triggered by the nonlinear evolution of the VSI and their role in its saturation. We also expand on previous investigations on stability regions by considering temperature stratifications enforced by stellar irradiation and radiative cooling, and including the effects of dust-gas collisions and molecular line emission. Methods. We modeled the gas-dust mixture in a circumstellar disk around a T Tauri star by means of high-resolution axisymmetric radiation-hydrodynamical simulations including stellar irradiation with frequency-dependent opacities, considering different degrees of depletion of small dust grains. Results. The flow pattern produced by the interplay of the axisymmetric VSI modes and the baroclinic torque forms bands of nearly uniform specific angular momentum. In the high-shear regions in between these bands, the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) is triggered. A third instability mechanism, consisting of an amplification of eddies by baroclinic torques, forms meridional vortices with Mach numbers up to ∼0.4. Our stability analysis suggests that protoplanetary disks can be VSI-unstable in surface layers up to tens of au for reasonably high gas emissivities. Conclusions. The significant transfer of kinetic energy to small-scale eddies produced by the KHI and possibly even the baroclinic acceleration of eddies limit the maximum energy of the VSI modes, likely leading to the saturation of the VSI. Depending on the gas molecular composition, the VSI can operate at surface layers even in regions where the midplane is stable. This picture is consistent with current observations of disks showing thin midplane millimeter-sized dust layers while appearing vertically extended in optical and near-infrared wavelengths.

Opposite effects of flame-generated potential and solenoidal velocity fluctuations on flame surface area in moderately intense turbulence

To explore the influence of dilatational and rotational motions on iso-scalar surface area within a premixed turbulent flame, three-dimensional compressible direct numerical simulation data obtained by Dave et al. (2018) from a lean, complex-chemistry, hydrogen-air flame propagating in intense small-scale turbulence (a ratio of laminar flame thickness to Kolmogorov length scale is about 20) in a box are analyzed using Helmholtz–Hodge decomposition of velocity field into solenoidal and potential components. The obtained results indicate that the flame surface area is created by potential velocity fluctuations generated due to combustion-induced thermal expansion, whereas the rotational motion acts to smooth wrinkles of iso-scalar surfaces within local preheat and reaction zones and, consequently, to reduce the flame surface area. The latter finding challenges the classical concept of flame-generated turbulence and is attributed to flame-generated solenoidal velocity fluctuations. Specifically, the incoming tangential (to the flame) vorticity is suppressed by baroclinic torque, which also generates vorticity in another tangential direction, with the latter (flame-generated) solenoidal velocity fluctuations working to smooth the flame surface. Thus, even under conditions of moderately intense turbulence, flame surface area can primarily be created by potential velocity perturbations caused by combustion-induced thermal expansion.

Computational investigation of chemical and non-equilibrium effects on the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability

In order to study the reactive Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) at a microscale, we have implemented a direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method which is recently developed for resolving thermal–chemical processes at the scale of molecular motions. The method allows efficient simulations of polyatomic reactions and non-equilibrium processes without violation of the detailed balance which is generically suffered by the conventional algorithms and leads to failure of local thermal equilibrium eventually. With attainment of essential accuracy, the effects of nonequilibrium and chemical reactions on the evolution of two-dimensional (2D) RMI at the microscale are investigated. The results show that the nonequilibrium effect slows down the heat release of chemical reactions and strengthens the viscous and diffusive effects for the mixture and shock conditions tested, which inhibit the growth of the RM instability. The heat release via combustion, however, can substantially increase the RMI growth due to induced baroclinic torque. Consequently, the intricate coupling of these effects nonlinearly dominates the development of RMI at the microscale. Therefore, the influence of nonequilibrium conditions where the translational energy is higher than that of the internal modes of polyatomic molecules, specifically the vibrational energy, in the post-shock region should be considered. The procedure provides a paradigm for further research in pursuit of accurate evaluation of microscopic processes and the resulted performance in supersonic combustion that plays a key role in the development of hypersonic vehicles.

Research on the Unsteady Flow and Vortex Characteristics of Cavitation at the Tongue in Centrifugal Pump

In order to study the unsteady flow and vortex characteristics of tongue cavitation, numerical calculation is carried out for the whole flow channel given different conditions. Then, the calculation results are verified experimentally. The results show that after the occurrence of tongue cavitation in the centrifugal pump, it deteriorates with the decrease of NPSHa. However, when NPSHa is reduced to 3.78 m, it does not change significantly anymore with the decrease of NPSHa. The extrusion of fluid by the vapor at the tongue promotes the formation of the separation vortex, and the re-jet flow caused by the separation vortex leads to vapor shedding. The frequency of cavitation shedding is consistent with the frequency of vortex shedding. In the vorticity transport equation, the relative vortex stretching term and the relative vortex dilatation term dominate the vapor shedding by controlling the change in vorticity. The baroclinic torque term mainly affects the change of vorticity at the vapor-liquid interface, but to a much lesser extent than the first two terms.

Numerical investigation of the tip-vortex-induced ventilation formation mechanism for a surface-piercing hydrofoil

Recent experiments have demonstrated that tip vortices can trigger the ventilation formation around a surface-piercing hydrofoil. However, the influence of this ventilation on transient flow structures and vortex evolution remains unresolved. This paper numerically investigates the tip-vortex-induced ventilation formation for a surface-piercing hydrofoil at a stalled yaw angle. The predicted unsteady ventilated cavities with tip vortices and pressure-side spray are in reasonable agreement with experimental observations. The ventilation formation process can be divided into three stages: base ventilation, tip-vortex ventilation, and suction-side ventilation. It is indicated that ventilation has a greater impact on the lift coefficient than the drag coefficient. The lift coefficient increases during the base ventilation and tip-vortex ventilation stages due to the expansion of the low-pressure stalled flow, but decreases in the suction-side ventilation stage because of the gradual replacement of this low-pressure region by an aerated cavity. Tip-leakage and tip-separation vortices initially exist independently at the hydrofoil tip, then expand and merge through air ventilation, ultimately forming a strongly stable tip vortex. Furthermore, ventilation promotes vortex generation, with the major contributors being the vortex stretching and baroclinic torque terms.

Entrainment and bulk flow characteristics of heated and unheated transient plumes using direct numerical simulations

An off-source volumetrically heated turbulent transient plume, known as transient diabatic plume (TDP), is compared with an unheated transient plume (TP). Both the TDP and TP are simulated using direct numerical simulations at a source Reynolds number (Re) of 2000. The flow is sufficiently resolved till the Kolmogorov (η) scale. The radius of the TP shows a self-similar behavior of linear increase with height after about five diameters from the source hot-patch. However, the velocity does not show a self-similar behavior. The addition of off-source buoyancy in the TDP triples the vertical velocity and also causes an order of magnitude increase in the vorticity magnitude (ω) due to the effect of the baroclinic torque. Compared to the TP, the entrainment coefficient and radius of the TDP increase and this shows enhanced entrainment due to heating. The transient flows fields are analyzed using local scales based on integral quantities of volume, momentum, and buoyancy. Normalizing the vorticity with these integral scales results in a more uniform scaled ωl for both flows. Hence, for both TP and TDP, we use the same values of ωl to quantify the inner and outer boundaries of the turbulent non-turbulent layer (TNTL). The width of the TNTL (δTNTL) decreases by ∼25% due to heating. The conditionally averaged velocity profiles suggest that very close to the outer irrotational boundary (IB) of the TNTL, the TDP exhibits stronger updrafts and downdrafts in comparison to the TP. Entrainment is studied using the mean relative velocity (⟨vn⟩) defined at the IB. The analysis of the components of ⟨vn⟩ reveal that the viscous diffusion component, which is of the order of the Kolmogorov velocity (uη), is balanced by the baroclinic and viscous dissipation components, while the inviscid term is negligible in comparison.

Rotating convective turbulence in moderate to high Prandtl number fluids

Rotating convective turbulence is ubiquitously found across geophysical settings, such as surface and subsurface oceans, planetary atmospheres, molten metal planetary cores, magma chambers, magma oceans, and basal magma oceans. Depending on the thermal and material properties of the system, buoyant convection can be driven thermally or compositionally, where a Prandtl number ( Pr = ν / κ i ) defines the characteristic diffusion properties of the system, with κ i = κ T representing thermal diffusion and κ i = κ C representing chemical diffusion. These numbers vary widely for geophysical systems; for example, the liquid iron undergoing thermal-compositional convection in Earth's core is defined by P r T ≈ 0.1 and P r C ≈ 100 , while a thermally-driven liquid silicate magma ocean is defined by P r T ≈ 100 . Currently, most numerical and laboratory data for rotating convective turbulent flows exists at Pr = O ( 1 ) ; high Pr rotating convection relevant to compositionally-driven core flow and other systems is less commonly studied. Here, we address this deficit by carrying out a broad suite of rotating convection experiments made over a range of Pr values, employing water and three different silicone oils as our working fluids ( Pr = 6, 41, 206, and 993). Using measurements of flow velocities (Reynolds, Re) and heat transfer efficiency (Nusselt, Nu), a baroclinic torque balance is found to describe the turbulence regardless of Prandtl number so long as Re is sufficiently large ( Re ≳ 10 ). Estimated turbulent scales are found to remain close to onset scales in all experiments, a result that may extrapolate to planetary settings. Lastly, we use our data to build Pr-dependent predictive nondimensional and dimensional scaling relations for rotating convective velocities that can be applied across a broad range of geophysical fluid dynamical settings.

Large Eddy Simulation of Hydrogen/Natural Gas/Air Premixed Swirling Flames and CIVB Flashback Risks

The desire to develop gas turbines (GTs) that can utilise natural gas (NG) blended with hydrogen (H2) often encounters operability challenges related to combustion-induced vortex breakdown (CIVB) flashback issues. Hence, a detailed Large Eddy Simulation (LES) was employed in this study to examine the impact of H2-NG co-firing on central recirculation zones (CRZs), combustion properties, and the risk of CIVB flashback in a pilot-scale swirl burner facility. The LES model successfully replicated the swirling component of the flame observed in the experiment with reasonable accuracy. The findings revealed that the introduction of H2 into the burner increased the velocity and temperature of the burned gases. The higher reactivity of H2 resulted in faster burning rates and a shift in the reaction zone, indicating that NG-H2 firing burns more rapidly than pure NG firing. Additionally, H2 was found to enhance the velocity gradient, pushing the CRZ upstream. Changes in the location of the CRZ can disrupt density and velocity gradients, affecting the generation of vorticity by the baroclinic torque and potentially increasing negative axial velocity, thereby increasing the risk of CIVB flashback. Further research is necessary to comprehensively assess the CIVB flashback risk, particularly when the proportion of H2 exceeds 30 %.

Numerical studies of shock–vortex interaction over a wedge during shock-wave diffraction—A new approach

In this study, shock wave diffraction has been investigated through a numerical simulation of a moving normal shock incident on a sharp-edged wedge. Schardin's problem is revisited using some existing and new mathematical tools. Two-dimensional compressible Navier–Stokes equation is solved using a higher-order version of the rhoCentralFoam solver in the OpenFOAM platform. Overall flow structures are captured with high efficacy. The divergence of the Lamb vector is used to probe the interaction between vorticity bearing and fluid straining motion, which increases dramatically inside the primary vortex after collision with the reflected Mach stem and increases the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). In the separated shear layer that emerges from the wedge tip, there is a reduction of TKE after the collision between the lambda shock and accelerated shock. The vorticity pumping into the mean flow by the baroclinic torque is dominant in the separated shear layer before the above collision, whereas after collision it is only dominant inside the primary vortex. A new vector M is introduced here, which is the cross product of the vorticity vector and the pressure gradient vector. The divergence of M shows the interaction between the pressure gradient and the vorticity gradient. This interaction affects the separation bubble formed over the base wall of the wedge due to the shock-wave/boundary layer interaction induced by the lambda shock. Dynamic mode decomposition shows a dominant mode at a frequency of 125.7 Hz, which is due to low-frequency shock oscillation.

Mechanism of a transverse jet mixing enhanced by high-frequency plasma energy deposition

The mixing mechanism of a transverse jet enhanced by high-frequency plasma energy deposition is investigated at Ma = 6.13 using both experimental measurements and improved delayed detached eddy simulation. The test configuration is a flat plate with argon gas injected vertically at its center. The plasma actuator driven by 20 and 50 kHz pulsed discharge is used as a mixing enhancement device, which is located upstream of the jet. The schlieren and planar laser scattering visualization show that the interaction between the hot bubbles induced by the plasma energy deposition and the bow shock caused by the jet generates large scale vortices that diffuse the jet components, and improve the penetration depth of the jet. These large-scale vortices augment the vorticity and turbulence intensity, thus enhancing the jet component mixing. The vortex analysis indicated that the jet vorticity increases due to the stronger baroclinic torque induced by Richtmyer–Meshkov (R–M) instability around the bubble/shock interaction region, which promotes the turbulent kinetic energy and the production of the large-scale vortex structures. The baroclinic torque and the resulting large-scale vortices are the physical origin of the enhanced mixing of the transverse jet.

Numerical Investigation on Cavitation Vortex Dynamics of a Centrifugal Pump Based on Vorticity Transport Method

Cavitation is one of the most important aspects of the stable and safe operation of a centrifugal pump. To examine the dynamics of cavitation vortex in a centrifugal pump, the cavitating flow is investigated by using the modified shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model with the Zwart cavitation model. The numerical results are confirmed by comparing them with those obtained from experimental tests. The results show that there is a critical cavitation number of σc at each flow rate condition. As the cavitation number σ exceeds σc, the pump head remains stable. Conversely, the head rapidly decreases when the σ falls below σc. As the σ decreases, the pump experiences successively incipient cavitation, slight cavitation, and severe cavitation. At the stage of severe cavitation conditions, the vortex structures are generated at the tail of cavitation in the flow passage. The vorticity transport method is employed to analyze the vortex dynamics, and it is found that the vortex area contains high vorticity. The dominant contribution to the generation of vorticity comes from the vortex stretching and dilation terms acting in different directions. The contribution of the baroclinic torque to vorticity generation at the vapor-liquid interface is significant. The Coriolis force has a negligible impact on vorticity transport.