Co-rotating Vortex Pair Research Articles

Application of Spectral Element Method Combining Dilatation Theory to Sound Generated by a Co-rotating Vortex Pair

Application of Spectral Element Method Combining Dilatation Theory to Sound Generated by a Co-rotating Vortex Pair

Transient interaction between a reaction control jet and a hypersonic crossflow

This paper presents a numerical study that focuses on the transient interaction between a reaction control jet and a hypersonic crossflow with a laminar boundary layer. The aim is to better understand the underlying physical mechanisms affecting the resulting surface pressure and control force. Implicit large-eddy simulations were performed with a round, sonic, perfect air jet issuing normal to a Mach 5 crossflow over a flat plate with a laminar boundary layer, at a jet-to-crossflow momentum ratio of 5.3 and a pressure ratio of 251. The pressure distribution induced on the flat plate is unsteady and is influenced by vortex structures that form around the jet. A horseshoe vortex structure forms upstream and consists of six vortices: two quasi-steady vortices and two co-rotating vortex pairs that periodically coalesce. Shear-layer vortices shed periodically and cause localised high pressure regions that convect downstream with constant velocity. A longitudinal counter-rotating vortex pair is present downstream of the jet and is formed from a series of trailing vortices which rotate about a common axis. Shear-layer vortex shedding causes periodic deformation of barrel and bow shocks. This changes the location of boundary layer separation which also affects the normal force on the plate.

Interactions of a co-rotating vortex pair at multiple offsets

Two NACA0012 vanes at various lateral offsets were investigated by wind tunnel testing to observe the interactions between the streamwise vortices. The vanes were separated by nine chord lengths in the streamwise direction to allow the upstream vortex to impact on the downstream geometry. These vanes were evaluated at an angle of incidence of 8° and a Reynolds number of 7×104 using particle image velocimetry. A helical motion of the vortices was observed, with rotational rate increasing as the offset was reduced to the point of vortex merging. Downstream meandering of the weaker vortex was found to increase in magnitude near the point of vortex merging. The merging process occurred more rapidly when the upstream vortex was passed on the pressure side of the vane, with the downstream vortex being produced with less circulation and consequently merging into the upstream vortex. The merging distance was found to be statistical rather than deterministic quantity, indicating that the meandering of the vortices affected their separations and energies. This resulted in a fluctuation of the merging location. A loss of circulation associated with the merging process was identified, with the process of achieving vortex circularity causing vorticity diffusion, however all merged cases maintained higher circulation than a single vortex condition. The presence of the upstream vortex was found to reduce the strength of the downstream vortex in all offsets evaluated.

A fully coupled hybrid computational aeroacoustics method on hierarchical Cartesian meshes

Abstract Hybrid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) – computational aeroacoustics (CAA) schemes are the standard method for aeroacoustics simulations. This approach requires the exchange of information between the CFD and the CAA step, which is usually accomplished by storing acoustic source data. This data exchange procedure, however, poses two problems when such hybrid methods are used for large-scale problems with O ( 10 9 ) degrees of freedom: On the one hand, the required disk space becomes large and reaches hundreds of terabytes for a single simulation. On the other hand, the parallel scalability of the overall numerical scheme is limited by the available I/O bandwidth, which typically peaks between 5,000 and 10,000 cores. To avoid these problems, a highly scalable direct-hybrid scheme is presented, in which both the flow and the acoustics simulations run simultaneously. That is, all data between the two solvers is transferred in-memory, avoiding the restrictions of the I/O subsystem. Both solvers operate on a joint hierarchical Cartesian grid, which enables efficient parallelization and dynamic load balancing and inherently supports local mesh refinement. To demonstrate the capabilities of the new scheme, the aeroacoustic field of a co-rotating vortex pair is computed. The results show that the direct-hybrid method is able to efficiently predict the acoustic pressure field and that it is suitable for highly parallel simulations. Furthermore, in comparison to the hybrid method with data exchange via disk I/O, the novel approach shows superior performance when scaling to thousands of cores.

Existence of Corotating and Counter-Rotating Vortex Pairs for Active Scalar Equations

In this paper, we study the existence of corotating and counter-rotating pairs of simply connected patches for Euler equations and the $(\hbox{SQG})_\alpha$ equations with $\alpha\in (0,1).$ From the numerical experiments implemented for Euler equations in \cite{DZ, humbert, S-Z} it is conjectured the existence of a curve of steady vortex pairs passing through the point vortex pairs. There are some analytical proofs based on variational principle \cite{keady, Tur}, however they do not give enough information about the pairs such as the uniqueness or the topological structure of each single vortex. We intend in this paper to give direct proofs confirming the numerical experiments and extend these results for the $(\hbox{SQG})_\alpha$ equation when $\alpha\in (0,1)$. The proofs rely on the contour dynamics equations combined with a desingularization of the point vortex pairs and the application of the implicit function theorem.

Role of thermal friction in relaxation of turbulent Bose-Einstein condensates

In recent experiments, the relaxation dynamics of highly oblate, turbulent Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) was investigated by measuring the vortex decay rates in various sample conditions [Phys. Rev. A $\bf 90$, 063627 (2014)] and, separately, the thermal friction coefficient $\alpha$ for vortex motion was measured from the long-time evolution of a corotating vortex pair in a BEC [Phys. Rev. A $\bf 92$, 051601(R) (2015)]. We present a comparative analysis of the experimental results, and find that the vortex decay rate $\Gamma$ is almost linearly proportional to $\alpha$. We perform numerical simulations of the time evolution of a turbulent BEC using a point-vortex model equipped with longitudinal friction and vortex-antivortex pair annihilation, and observe that the linear dependence of $\Gamma$ on $\alpha$ is quantitatively accounted for in the dissipative point-vortex model. The numerical simulations reveal that thermal friction in the experiment was too strong to allow for the emergence of a vortex-clustered state out of decaying turbulence.

Investigation of co-rotating vortex merger in ground proximity

The experiments were conducted in a water tunnel facility and were aimed at investigating the merging process of co-rotating wake vortices in ground effect. A corresponding two-dimensional analytical model was also introduced based on experimental results. The two like-sign vortices were generated with equal size and strength above the ground plane. The evolution of vortex pair was attained by using particle image velocimetry at a series of downstream locations. The main finding is that the ground effect promotes the merging process and accelerates the vortices' rotation around one another. Vertical movements, known as vortex rebound, and lateral movements are observed. The ground effect also leads to the emergence of a secondary vortex (SV), which adds to the complexity of the vortex system. Prediction of the modified potential model, which takes vortex decay, viscous drag and the evolution of the SV into account, is compared with the experimental data. The results show that the vortex merging and rebound of a co-rotating vortex pair is successfully predicted and the prediction of vortex orientation and lateral motion are also improved by this model.

Dynamics and Instabilities of Vortex Pairs

This article reviews the characteristics and behavior of counter-rotating and corotating vortex pairs, which are seemingly simple flow configurations yet immensely rich in phenomena. Since the reviews in this journal by Widnall (1975) and Spalart (1998) , who studied the fundamental structure and dynamics of vortices and airplane trailing vortices, respectively, there have been many analytical, computational, and experimental studies of vortex pair flows. We discuss two-dimensional dynamics, including the merging of same-sign vortices and the interaction with the mutually induced strain, as well as three-dimensional displacement and core instabilities resulting from this interaction. Flows subject to combined instabilities are also considered, in particular the impingement of opposite-sign vortices on a ground plane. We emphasize the physical mechanisms responsible for the flow phenomena and clearly present the key results that are useful to the reader for predicting the dynamics and instabilities of parallel vortices.

Inertia-gravity wave radiation from the merging of two co-rotating vortices in the f-plane shallow water system

Inertia-gravity wave radiation from the merging of two co-rotating vortices is investigated numerically in a rotating shallow water system in order to focus on cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry at different values of the Rossby number (Ro). A numerical study is conducted on a model using a spectral method in an unbounded domain to estimate the gravity wave flux with high accuracy. Continuous gravity wave radiation is observed in three stages of vortical flows: co-rotating of the vortices, merging of the vortices, and unsteady motion of the merged vortex. A cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry appears at all stages at smaller Ro (≤20). Gravity waves from anticyclones are always larger than those from cyclones and have a local maximum at smaller Ro (∼2) compared with that for an idealized case of a co-rotating vortex pair with a constant rotation rate. The source originating in the Coriolis acceleration has a key role in cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry in gravity waves. An additional important factor is that at later stages, the merged axisymmetric anticyclone rotates faster than the elliptical cyclone due to the effect of the Rossby deformation radius, since a rotation rate higher than the inertial cutoff frequency is required to radiate gravity waves.

Thermal friction on quantum vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate the dissipative dynamics of a corotating vortex pair in a highly oblate axisymmetric Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a harmonic potential. The initial vortex state is prepared by creating a doubly charged vortex at the center of the condensate and letting it dissociate into two singly charged vortices. The separation of the vortex pair gradually increases over time and its increasing rate becomes higher with increasing the sample temperature $T$. The evolution of the vortex state is well described with a dissipative point vortex model including longitudinal friction on the vortex motion. For condensates of sodium atoms having a chemical potential of $\mu\approx k_B\times 120$ nK, we find that the dimensionless friction coefficient $\alpha$ increases from 0.01 to 0.03 over the temperature range of 200 nK $<T<$ 450 nK.

The dynamics of spanwise vorticity perturbations in homogeneous viscoelastic shear flow

The viscoelastic analogue to the Newtonian Orr amplification mechanism is examined using linear theory. A weak, two-dimensional Gaussian vortex is superposed onto a uniform viscoelastic shear flow. Whilst in the Newtonian solution the spanwise vorticity perturbations are simply advected, the viscoelastic behaviour is markedly different. When the polymer relaxation rate is much slower than the rate of deformation by the shear, the vortex splits into a new pair of co-rotating but counter-propagating vortices. Furthermore, the disturbance exhibits a significant amplification in its spanwise vorticity as it is tilted forward by the shear. Asymptotic solutions for an Oldroyd-B fluid in the limits of high and low elasticity isolate and explain these two effects. The splitting of the vortex is a manifestation of vorticity wave propagation along the tensioned mean-flow streamlines, while the spanwise vorticity growth is driven by the amplification of a polymer torque perturbation. The analysis explicitly demonstrates that the polymer torque amplifies as the disturbance becomes aligned with the shear. This behaviour is opposite to the Orr mechanism for energy amplification in Newtonian flows, and is therefore labelled a ‘reverse-Orr’ mechanism. Numerical evaluations of vortex evolutions using the more realistic FENE-P model, which takes into account the finite extensibility of the polymer chains, show the same qualitative behaviour. However, a new form of stress perturbation is established in regions where the polymer is significantly stretched, and results in an earlier onset of decay.

Cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry in gravity wave radiation from a co-rotating vortex pair in rotating shallow water

Cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry in spontaneous gravity wave radiation from a co-rotating vortex pair is investigated in an $f$-plane shallow water system. The far field of gravity waves is derived analytically by analogy with the theory of aeroacoustic sound wave radiation (Lighthill theory). In the derived form, the Earth’s rotation affects not only the propagation of gravity waves but also their source. While the results correspond to the theory of vortex sound in the limit of $f\rightarrow 0$, there is an asymmetry in gravity wave radiation between cyclone pairs and anticyclone pairs for finite values of $f$. Anticyclone pairs radiate gravity waves more intensely than cyclone pairs due to the effect of the Earth’s rotation. In addition, there is a local maximum of intensity of gravity waves from anticyclone pairs at an intermediate $f$. To verify the analytical solution, a numerical simulation is also performed with a newly developed spectral method in an unbounded domain. The novelty of this method is the absence of wave reflection at the boundary due to a conformal mapping and a pseudo-hyperviscosity that acts like a sponge layer in the far field of waves. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with the analytical results even for finite values of $f$ for both cyclone pairs and anticyclone pairs.

Dynamics of the corotating vortices in dipolar Bose–Einstein condensates in the presence of dissipation

We study the dynamics of a single and a corotating vortex pair in a dipolar Bose–Einstein condensate in the framework of a dissipative Gross–Pitaevskii equation. This simple model enables us to simulate the effect of finite temperature on the vortex dynamics. We study the effect of dipolar interactions on the dynamics of a single vortex in the presence of phenomenological dissipation. In the case of a corotating vortex pair, initial asymmetry in the locations of the vortices can lead to different decay rates for the constituent vortices, as is the case for the condensates interacting via pure contact interactions. We observe that the anisotropic interaction between the component vortices manifests itself as the perceptible difference in the trajectories traversed by the vortices in the condensate at finite temperatures.

Stabilisation of subcritical bypass transition in the leading-edge boundary layer by suction

This work investigates the subcritical spatial transition in the swept Hiemenz boundary layer by means of direct numerical simulations (DNS). A pair of steady co-rotating vortices located at the attachment line is enforced as a primary disturbance leading to streaks which are stable. A small secondary, time-dependent disturbance interacts with these streaks such that instability and breakdown to turbulence may occur. The instability only occurs for a certain band of secondary disturbance frequencies. Positive secondary instability growth rates could be observed for Reynolds numbers as low as , whereas the linear critical Reynolds number is.Uniform wall suction is shown to stabilise this transition mechanism, analogously to results from linear stability theory. The effects of suction on the formation of primary streaks and on the secondary growth rate are decoupled. For streaks of different suction whose amplitude is held constant by adjusting the Reynolds number, the suction is shown to increase the growth rate of the secondary instability. The stabilising influence of wall suction consists in decreasing the streak amplitude only.Depending on the Reynolds number and the suction strength, breakdown may either occur locally and may be convected along the far-field streamlines, or occur globally and cover broad regions in the downstream direction.

Non-normal dynamics of time-evolving co-rotating vortex pairs

AbstractTransient energy growth of disturbances to co-rotating pairs of vortices with axial core flows is investigated in an analysis where vortex core expansion and vortex merging are included by adopting a time-evolving base flow. The dynamics of pairs are compared with those of individual vortices in order to highlight the effect of vortex interaction. Three typical vortex pair cases are studied, with the pairs comprised respectively of individually inviscidly unstable vortices at the streamwise wavenumber that maximizes the individual instabilities, viscously unstable vortices also at the streamwise wavenumber maximizing the individual instabilities and asymptotically stable vortices at streamwise wavenumber zero. For the inviscidly unstable case, the optimal perturbation takes the form of a superposition of two individual helical unstable modes and the optimal energy growth is similar to that predicted for an individual inviscid unstable vortex, while where the individual vortices are viscously unstable, the optimal disturbances within each core have similar spatial distributions to the individually stable case. For both of these cases, time horizons considered are much lower than those required for the merger of the undisturbed vortices. However, for the asymptotically stable case, large linear transient energy growth of optimal perturbations occurs for time horizons corresponding to vortex merging. Linear transient disturbance energy growth exhibited by pairs in this stable case is two to three orders of magnitude larger than that for a corresponding individual vortex. The superposition of the perturbation and the base flow shows that the perturbation has a displacement effect on the vortices in the base flow. Direct numerical simulations of stable pairs seeded by optimal initial perturbations have been carried out and acceleration/delay of vortex merging associated with a dual vortex meandering and vortex breakup related to axially periodic acceleration and delay of vortex merging are observed. For axially invariant cases, the sign of perturbation has an effect, as well as magnitude; the sign dependence relates to whether or not the perturbation adds to or subtracts from the swirl of the base flow. For a two-dimensional perturbation that adds to the swirl of the base flow, seeding with the linear optimal disturbance at a relative energy level $1\ensuremath{\times} 1{0}^{\ensuremath{-} 4} $ induces the pair to move towards each other and approximately halves the time required for merger. Direct numerical simulation shows that the optimal three-dimensional perturbation can induce the vortex system to break up before merging occurs, since the two-dimensional nature of vortex merging is broken by the development of axially periodic perturbations.

A mathematical model of 2P and 2C vortex wakes

We present a mathematical model of the vortex wake modes that appear behind neighboring and/or oscillating, flapping, and swimming bodies in which there are four vortices generated in an anti-symmetric pattern during each shedding cycle. The two-dimensional potential flow model consists of four point vortices with strengths ± Γ in a spatially periodic domain. The relative vortex positions are restricted by a discrete symmetry that is motivated by the spatial symmetry observed in experimental wakes. The strength restriction and the imposed symmetry result in the model system being an integrable Hamiltonian dynamical system. We find that the point vortex motion can be one of four distinct types based on the values of linear impulse and Hamiltonian. Two of these types correspond to 2P wakes and consist of two oppositely signed, counter-rotating vortex pairs. One of these types corresponds to 2C wakes and consists of two like-signed, co-rotating vortex pairs. The fourth type is an exchanging mode in which the two vortices near the wake centerline translate faster than the outer two vortices. Scaled comparisons of the model with both a 2P and a 2C experimental wake show good representation of the experimentally observed vortex dynamics and lead to estimates of the experimental vortex strengths.

A Numerical Method for Predicting Acoustical Wave Propagation in Open Spaces

We present a numerical methodology for evaluating wave propagation phenomena in two dimensions in the time domain with focus on the linear acoustic second-order wave equation. An outline of the higher-order compact discretization schemes followed by the time discretization technique is first presented. The method is completed with the addition of spatial filtering based on the same compact schemes' principles. The important role of boundary conditions is subsequently addressed. Two popular ways to truncate the computational domain in the near field are presented and compared here: first the formulation of “absorbing conditions” in the form of partial differential equations especially for the origin and second the construction of an absorbing layer surrounding the domain, in which waves (after they have exited the domain) are attenuated and decayed exponentially. Subsequently, the method is assessed by recalling three benchmark problems. In the first where a Gaussian pulse is generated and propagated in a 2D rectangular domain, the accuracy and absorbability of the boundary conditions are compared. In the second, a similar situation is investigated but under curvilinear coordinates and under the presence of a solid body which scatters the pulse. Finally the sound field inducted by the flow of corotating vortex pair is calculated and compared with the corresponding analytical solution.

An Experimental Investigation into the Influence of Ramp-Mounted Vortex Generators on the Performance of a Flush Waterjet Inlet

The use of ramp-mounted vortex generators for reduction of pump face flow distortion within a generic flush type waterjet inlet has been investigated experimentally. Tests were performed in a cavitation tunnel with the model inlet fitted to the ceiling of the test section and an upstream boundary layer artificially thickened to 30° of the inlet duct diameter. A group of four delta-shaped vortex generators on the inlet ramp mounted symmetrically about the vertical center plane were tested at six streamwise locations and at two incidences. The vortex generators were oriented each side of the centerplane to produce corotating vortex pairs opposing the effects of the dominant secondary flow within the curved duct. The model inlet was fitted with a range of instrumentation to investigate the ramp pressure distribution, lip incidence, and pump face flow properties. Lip cavitation inception, and vortex generator cavitation inception and occurrence were also investigated. Pump face flow distortion within the bare duct flow, which was dominated by a total pressure/velocity deficit at the top of the disc, was significantly reduced by the addition of the vortex generators. Circumferential distortion improvements were assessed using a distortion parameter, harmonics of the velocity variation, and considerations of rotor blade incidence variation. The vortex generators were found to have little effect on local lip pressures and consequently lip cavitation inception; they also had a negligible effect on the duct pressure recovery. Cavitation occurrence on the vortex generators was found to present potential performance limitations at low cavitation numbers.

Zigzag instability of vortex pairs in stratified and rotating fluids. Part 2. Analytical and numerical analyses.

The three-dimensional stability of vertical vortex pairs in stratified and rotating fluids is investigated using the analytical approach established in Part 1 and the predictions are compared to the results of previous direct numerical stability analyses for pairs of co-rotating equal-strength Lamb–Oseen vortices and to new numerical analyses for equal-strength counter-rotating vortex pairs. A very good agreement between theoretical and numerical results is generally found, thereby providing a comprehensive description of the zigzag instability. Co-rotating and counter-rotating vortex pairs are most unstable to the zigzag instability when the Froude number Fh = Γ/(2πR2N) (where Γ is the vortex circulation, R the vortex radius and N the Brunt–Väisälä frequency) is lower than unity independently of the Rossby number Ro = Γ/(4πR2Ωb) (Ωb is the planetary rotation rate). In this range, the maximum growth rate is proportional to the strain Γ/(2πb2) (b is the separation distance between the vortices) and is almost independent of Fh and Ro. The most amplified wavelength scales like Fhb when the Rossby number is large and like Fhb/|Ro| when |Ro| ≪ 1, in agreement with previous results. While the zigzag instability always bends equal-strength co-rotating vortex pairs in a symmetric way, the instability is only quasi-antisymmetric for finite Ro for equal-strength counter-rotating vortex pairs because the cyclonic vortex is less bent than the anticyclonic vortex. The theory is less accurate for co-rotating vortex pairs around Ro ≈ −2 because the bending waves rotate very slowly for long wavelength. The discrepancy can be fully resolved by taking into account higher-order three-dimensional effects.When Fh is increased above unity, the growth rate of the zigzag instability is strongly reduced because the bending waves of each vortex are damped by a critical layer at the radius where the angular velocity of the vortex is equal to the Brunt–Väisälä frequency. The zigzag instability, however, continues to exist and is dominant up to a critical Froude number, which mostly depends on the Rossby number. Above this threshold, equal-strength co-rotating vortex pairs are stable with respect to long-wavelength bending disturbances whereas equal-strength counter-rotating vortex pairs become unstable to a quasi-symmetric instability resembling the Crow instability in homogeneous fluids. However, its growth rate is lower than in homogeneous fluids because of the damping by the critical layer. The structure of the critical layer obtained in the computations is in excellent agreement with the theoretical solution.Physically, the different stability properties of vortex pairs in stratified and rotating fluids compared to homogeneous fluids are shown to come from the reversal of the direction of the self-induced motion of bent vortices.

Numerical simulation of flow‐induced noise using LES/SAS and Lighthill's acoustic analogy

AbstractWe present a finite element (FE) formulation of Lighthill's acoustic analogy for the hybrid computation of noise generated by turbulent flows. In the present approach, the flow field is computed using large eddy simulation and scale adaptive simulation turbulence models. The acoustic propagation is obtained by solving the variational formulation of Lighthill's acoustic analogy with the FE method. In order to preserve the acoustic energy, we compute the inhomogeneous part of Lighthill's wave equation by applying the FE formulation on the fine flow grid. The resulting acoustic nodal loads are then conservatively interpolated to the coarser acoustic grid. Subsequently, the radiated acoustic field can be solved in both time and frequency domains. In the latter case, an enhanced perfectly matched layer technique is employed, allowing one to truncate the computational domain in the acoustic near field, without compromising the numerical solution. Our hybrid approach is validated by comparing the numerical results of the acoustic field induced by a corotating vortex pair with the corresponding analytical solution. To demonstrate the applicability of our scheme, we present full 3D numerical results for the computed acoustic field generated by the turbulent flow around square cylinder geometries. The sound pressure levels obtained compare well with measured values. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.