Hyperbolic Stagnation Points Research Articles

On the inviscid instability of the 2-D Taylor–Green vortex

We consider Euler flows on two-dimensional (2-D) periodic domain and are interested in the stability, both linear and nonlinear, of a simple equilibrium given by the 2-D Taylor–Green vortex. As the first main result, numerical evidence is provided for the fact that such flows possess unstable eigenvalues embedded in the band of the essential spectrum of the linearized operator. However, the unstable eigenfunction is discontinuous at the hyperbolic stagnation points of the base flow and its regularity is consistent with the prediction of Lin (Intl Math. Res. Not., vol. 2004, issue 41, 2004, pp. 2147–2178). This eigenfunction gives rise to an exponential transient growth with the rate given by the real part of the eigenvalue followed by passage to a nonlinear instability. As the second main result, we illustrate a fundamentally different, non-modal, growth mechanism involving a continuous family of uncorrelated functions, instead of an eigenfunction of the linearized operator. Constructed by solving a suitable partial differential equation (PDE) optimization problem, the resulting flows saturate the known estimates on the growth of the semigroup related to the essential spectrum of the linearized Euler operator as the numerical resolution is refined. These findings are contrasted with the results of earlier studies of a similar problem conducted in a slightly viscous setting where only the modal growth of instabilities was observed. This highlights the special stability properties of equilibria in inviscid flows.

Numerical investigation of tangent hyperbolic stagnation point flow over a stretching cylinder subject to solutal and thermal stratified conditions

Numerical investigation of tangent hyperbolic stagnation point flow over a stretching cylinder subject to solutal and thermal stratified conditions

Stability of Stuart vortices in rotating stratified fluids

The linear stability of the Stuart vortices, which is a model of arrays of vortices often observed in the atmosphere and the oceans, in rotating stratified fluids is investigated by local and modal stability analysis. As in the case of the two-dimensional (2-D) Taylor–Green vortices, five types of instability appear in general: the pure-hyperbolic instability, the strato-hyperbolic instability, the rotational-hyperbolic instability, the centrifugal instability and the elliptic instability. The condition for each instability and the estimate of the growth rate derived by Hattori & Hirota (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 967, 2023, A32) are shown to also be useful for the Stuart vortices, which supports their applicability to general flows. The properties of each instability depend on stratification and rotation in a way similar to the case of the 2-D Taylor–Green vortices. For the Stuart vortices, however, the centrifugal instability and the elliptic instability become more dominant than the three hyperbolic instabilities in comparison to the 2-D Taylor–Green vortices; this is explained by the larger ratios of the maximum vorticity and the strain rate at the elliptic stagnation points to the strain rate at the hyperbolic stagnation points. Direct correspondence between the modal and local stability results is further established by comparing unstable modes to solutions to the local stability equations; this is useful for identifying the types of modes since the mechanism of instability is readily known in the local stability analysis. This helps us to discover the modes of the ring-type elliptic instability, which have been predicted only theoretically.

Boundary layer models of the Hou-Luo scenario

Finite time blow up vs global regularity question for 3D Euler equation of fluid mechanics is a major open problem. Several years ago, Luo and Hou [16] proposed a new finite time blow up scenario based on extensive numerical simulations. The scenario is axi-symmetric and features fast growth of vorticity near a ring of hyperbolic points of the flow located at the boundary of a cylinder containing the fluid. An important role is played by a small boundary layer where intense growth is observed. Several simplified models of the scenario have been considered, all leading to finite time blow up [3] , [2] , [9] , [13] , [11] , [15] . In this paper, we propose two models that are designed specifically to gain insight in the evolution of fluid near the hyperbolic stagnation point of the flow located at the boundary. One model focuses on analysis of the depletion of nonlinearity effect present in the problem. Solutions to this model are shown to be globally regular. The second model can be seen as an attempt to capture the velocity field near the boundary to the next order of accuracy compared with the one-dimensional models such as [3] , [2] . Solutions to this model blow up in finite time.

Tollmien-Schlichting route to elastoinertial turbulence in channel flow

Direct simulations of two-dimensional channel flow of a viscoelastic fluid have revealed the existence of a family of Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) attractors that is nonlinearly self-sustained by viscoelasticity [Shekar et al., J.Fluid Mech. 893, A3 (2020)]. Here, we describe the evolution of this branch in parameter space and its connections to the Newtonian TS attractor and to elastoinertial turbulence (EIT). At Reynolds number $Re=3000$, there is a solution branch with TS-wave structure but which is not connected to the Newtonian solution branch. At fixed Weissenberg number, $Wi$ and increasing Reynolds number from 3000-10000, this attractor goes from displaying a striation of weak polymer stretch localized at the critical layer to an extended sheet of very large polymer stretch. We show that this transition is directly tied to the strength of the TS critical layer fluctuations and can be attributed to a coil-stretch transition when the local Weissenberg number at the hyperbolic stagnation point of the Kelvin cat's eye structure of the TS wave exceeds $\frac{1}{2}$. At $Re=10000$, unlike $3000$, the Newtonian TS attractor evolves continuously into the EIT state as $Wi$ is increased from zero to about $13$. We describe how the structure of the flow and stress fields changes, highlighting in particular a "sheet-shedding" process by which the individual sheets associated with the critical layer structure break up to form the layered multisheet structure characteristic of EIT.

Comparing Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponents and Lagrangian Descriptors for identifying phase space structures in a simple two-dimensional, time-periodic double-gyre model

This paper compares the advantages, limitations, and computational considerations of using Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponents (FTLEs) and Descriptors (LDs) as tools for identifying barriers and mechanisms of fluid transport in two-dimensional time-periodic flows. These barriers and mechanisms of transport are often referred to as Lagrangian Coherent Structures, though this term often changes meaning depending on the author or context. This paper will specifically focus on using FTLEs and LDs to identify stable and unstable manifolds of hyperbolic stagnation points, and the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) tori associated with elliptic stagnation points. The background and theory behind both methods and their associated phase space structures will be presented, and then examples of FTLEs and LDs will be shown based on a simple, periodic, time-dependent double-gyre toy model with varying parameters.

Effects of Schmidt number on the short-wavelength instabilities in stratified vortices

We present a local stability analysis to investigate the effects of differential diffusion between momentum and density (quantified by the Schmidt number $Sc$) on the three-dimensional, short-wavelength instabilities in planar vortices with a uniform stable stratification along the vorticity axis. Assuming small diffusion in both momentum and density, but arbitrary values for $Sc$, we present a detailed analytical/numerical analysis for three different classes of base flows: (i) an axisymmetric vortex, (ii) an elliptical vortex and (iii) the flow in the neighbourhood of a hyperbolic stagnation point. While a centrifugally stable axisymmetric vortex remains stable for any $Sc$, it is shown that $Sc$ can have significant effects in a centrifugally unstable axisymmetric vortex: the range of unstable perturbations increases when $Sc$ is taken away from unity, with the extent of increase being larger for $Sc\ll 1$ than for $Sc\gg 1$. Additionally, for $Sc>1$, we report the possibility of oscillatory instability. In an elliptical vortex with a stable stratification, $Sc\neq 1$ is shown to non-trivially influence the three different inviscid instabilities (subharmonic, fundamental and superharmonic) that have been previously reported, and also introduce a new branch of oscillatory instability that is not present at $Sc=1$. The unstable parameter space for the subharmonic (instability IA) and fundamental (instability IB) inviscid instabilities are shown to be significantly increased for $Sc<1$ and $Sc>1$, respectively. Importantly, for sufficiently small and large $Sc$, respectively, the maximum growth rate for instabilities IA and IB occurs away from the inviscid limit. The new oscillatory instability (instability III) is shown to occur only for sufficiently small $Sc<1$, the signature of which is nevertheless present with zero growth rate in the inviscid limit. The Schmidt number is then shown to play no role in the evolution of transverse perturbations on the flow around a hyperbolic stagnation point with a stable stratification. We conclude by discussing the physical length scales associated with the $Sc\neq 1$ instabilities, and their potential relevance in various realistic settings.

Strato-hyperbolic instability: a new mechanism of instability in stably stratified vortices

The stability of stably stratified vortices is studied by local stability analysis. Three base flows that possess hyperbolic stagnation points are considered: the two-dimensional (2-D) Taylor–Green vortices, the Stuart vortices and the Lamb–Chaplygin dipole. It is shown that the elliptic instability is stabilized by stratification; it is completely stabilized for the 2-D Taylor–Green vortices, while it remains and merges into hyperbolic instability near the boundary or the heteroclinic streamlines connecting the hyperbolic stagnation points for the Stuart vortices and the Lamb–Chaplygin dipole. More importantly, a new instability caused by hyperbolic instability near the hyperbolic stagnation points and phase shift by the internal gravity waves is found; it is named the strato-hyperbolic instability; the underlying mechanism is parametric resonance as unstable band structures appear in contours of the growth rate. A simplified model explains the mechanism and the resonance curves. The growth rate of the strato-hyperbolic instability is comparable to that of the elliptic instability for the 2-D Taylor–Green vortices, while it is smaller for the Stuart vortices and the Lamb–Chaplygin dipole. For the Lamb–Chaplygin dipole, the tripolar instability is found to merge with the strato-hyperbolic instability as stratification becomes strong. The modal stability analysis is also performed for the 2-D Taylor–Green vortices. It is shown that global modes of the strato-hyperbolic instability exist; the structure of an unstable eigenmode is in good agreement with the results obtained by local stability analysis. The strato-hyperbolic mode becomes dominant depending on the parameter values.

Assessment of a miniature four-roll mill and a cross-slot microchannel for high-strain-rate stagnation point flows

Stagnation point flows have been widely used to study the deformation and break-up of objects in two-dimensional pure straining flows. Here, we report a systematic study of the characterisation of stagnation point flows in two devices, a miniature Taylor’s four-roll mill and a cross-slot microchannel. The aim of the study is to find the best platform suitable for investigating the effect of strain rate on the mechanical properties of waterborne microorganisms. Using micro-PIV, the velocity field and the strain rates in both devices were measured at different flow rates and compared with an ideal hyperbolic stagnation point flow. The cross-slot microchannel was found to be a better experimental device than the miniature four-roll mill for the purpose of confining micron-sized objects in a controlled stagnation point flow. This is mainly due to the difficulty of maintaining a fixed location for the stagnation point within one micron in the miniature four-roll mill and achieving high strain rates beyond 10 . However, with no moving parts, the cross-slot microchannel was found to maintain a steady flow, with the stagnation point varying less than one micron at a cross-junction of , and was able to reach uniform strain rates up to 140 .

Statistical independence of the initial conditions in chaotic mixing.

Experimental evidence of the scalar convergence towards a global strange eigenmode independent of the scalar initial condition in chaotic mixing is provided. This convergence, underpinning the independent nature of chaotic mixing in any passive scalar, is presented by scalar fields with different initial conditions casting statistically similar shapes when advected by periodic unsteady flows. As the scalar patterns converge towards a global strange eigenmode, the scalar filaments, locally aligned with the direction of maximum stretching, as described by the Lagrangian stretching theory, stack together in an inhomogeneous pattern at distances smaller than their asymptotic minimum widths. The scalar variance decay becomes then exponential and independent of the scalar diffusivity or initial condition. In this work, mixing is achieved by advecting the scalar using a set of laminar flows with unsteady periodic topology. These flows, that resemble the tendril-whorl map, are obtained by morphing the forcing geometry in an electromagnetic free surface 2D mixing experiment. This forcing generates a velocity field which periodically switches between two concentric hyperbolic and elliptic stagnation points. In agreement with previous literature, the velocity fields obtained produce a chaotic mixer with two regions: a central mixing and an external extensional area. These two regions are interconnected through two pairs of fluid conduits which transfer clean and dyed fluid from the extensional area towards the mixing region and a homogenized mixture from the mixing area towards the extensional region.

Buckling transition of a semiflexible filament in extensional flow.

An analytical expression for the fluctuation-rounded stretch-coil transition of semiflexible polymers in extensional flows is derived. The competition between elasticity and tension is known to cause a buckling instability in filaments placed near hyperbolic stagnation points and the effect of thermal fluctuations on this transition has yet to receive full quantitative treatment. Motivated by the findings of recent experiments as well as our simulations, we solve for the amplitude of the first buckled mode near the onset of the instability. This reveals a stochastic supercritical bifurcation, which is in excellent agreement with full numerical simulations.

Transport and buckling dynamics of an elastic fibre in a viscous cellular flow

We study, using both experiment and theory, the coupling of transport and shape dynamics for elastomeric fibres moving through an inhomogeneous flow. The cellular flow, created electromagnetically in our experiment, comprises many identical cells of counter-rotating vortices, with a global flow geometry characterized by a backbone of stable and unstable manifolds connecting hyperbolic stagnation points. Our mathematical model is based upon slender-body theory for the Stokes equations, with the fibres modelled as inextensible elastica. Above a certain threshold of the control parameter, the elasto-viscous number, transport of fibres is mediated by their episodic buckling by compressive stagnation point flows, lending an effectively chaotic component to their dynamics. We use simulations of the model to construct phase diagrams of the fibre state (buckled or not) near stagnation points in terms of two variables that arise in characterizing the transport dynamics. We show that this reduced statistical description quantitatively captures our experimental observations. By carefully reproducing the experimental protocols and time scales of observation within our numerical simulations, we also quantitatively explain features of the measured buckling probability curve as a function of the effective flow forcing. Finally, we show within both experiment and simulation the existence of short and long time scales in the evolution of fibre conformation.

Modal and non-modal stability of two-dimensional Taylor–Green vortices

The linear stability of the two-dimensional Taylor–Green vortices at moderate Reynolds number Re = 2500 is studied by modal and non-modal stability analysis. The properties of modal stability depend on the symmetry type of the disturbances. The stability of penetrating disturbances depends weakly on the axial wavenumber, while non-penetrating disturbances are subjected to the elliptic instability which depends crucially on the wavenumber. The features of transient growth are revealed by non-modal stability analysis. Its mechanism for small optimization time is the stretching near the hyperbolic stagnation points; it does not depend strongly on the symmetry type and the wavenumber. For large optimization time, however, the transient growth is controlled by the strain field around the elliptic stagnation points as the amplified state is similar to unstable modes of elliptic instability. The optimization time at which the properties of the transient growth change is smaller than that of a vortex pair studied by Donnadieu et al (2009 Phys. Fluids 21 094102).

Dispersion in the large-deviation regime. Part 2. Cellular flow at large Péclet number

AbstractA standard model for the study of scalar dispersion through the combined effect of advection and molecular diffusion is a two-dimensional periodic flow with closed streamlines inside periodic cells. Over long time scales, the dispersion of a scalar released in this flow can be characterized by an effective diffusivity that is a factor$\mathit{Pe}^{1/2}$larger than molecular diffusivity when the Péclet number$\mathit{Pe}$is large. Here we provide a more complete description of dispersion in this regime by applying the large-deviation theory developed in Part 1 of this paper. Specifically, we derive approximations to the rate function governing the scalar concentration at large time$t$by carrying out an asymptotic analysis of the relevant family of eigenvalue problems. We identify two asymptotic regimes and, for each, make predictions for the rate function and spatial structure of the scalar. Regime I applies to distances$|\boldsymbol {x}|$from the scalar release point that satisfy$|\boldsymbol {x}|= O(\mathit{Pe}^{1/4} t)$. The concentration in this regime is isotropic at large scales, is uniform along streamlines within each cell, and varies rapidly in boundary layers surrounding the separatrices between adjacent cells. The results of homogenization theory, yielding the$O(\mathit{Pe}^{1/2})$effective diffusivity, are recovered from our analysis in the limit$|\boldsymbol {x}|\ll \mathit{Pe}^{1/4} t$. Regime II applies when$|\boldsymbol {x}|=O(\mathit{Pe}\, t/{\rm log}\, \mathit{Pe})$and is characterized by an anisotropic concentration distribution that is localized around the separatrices. A novel feature of this regime is the crucial role played by the dynamics near the hyperbolic stagnation points. A consequence is that in part of the regime the dispersion can be interpreted as resulting from a random walk on the lattice of stagnation points. The two regimes overlap so that our asymptotic results describe the scalar concentration over a large range of distances$|\boldsymbol {x}|$. They are verified against numerical solutions of the family of eigenvalue problems yielding the rate function.

Oscillations of a layer of viscoelastic fluid under steady forcing

We study the dynamics of a layer of viscoelastic fluid, in the Stokesian regime, that is driven from below by a 4×4 checkerboard pattern of rotating and counter-rotating disks. At low disk rotation rate (low Weissenberg number) the fluid flow response is slaved to the geometry of this forcing and divides into many steadily rotating cells, each contained within invariant manifolds issuing from hyperbolic stagnation points. As the rotation rate increases these fluid cells begin to oscillate periodically in a synchronized fashion. At a yet higher rotation rate, this temporally periodic flow disappears and is replaced by a richer, “turbulent” dynamics where the flow is delocalized from the forcing and has fluid cells that are continuously destroyed and reformed.

Fluctuations, Dynamics, and the Stretch-Coil Transition of Single Actin Filaments in Extensional Flows

Semiflexible polymers subject to hydrodynamic forcing play an important role in cytoskeletal motions in the cell, particularly when filaments guide molecular motors whose motions create flows. Near hyperbolic stagnation points, filaments experience a competition between bending elasticity and tension and are predicted to display suppressed thermal fluctuations in the extensional regime and a buckling instability under compression. Using a microfluidic cross-flow geometry, we verify these predictions in detail, including a fluctuation-rounded stretch-coil transition of actin filaments.

Three-dimensional instabilities and transient growth of a counter-rotating vortex pair

This paper investigates the three-dimensional instabilities and the transient growth of perturbations on a counter-rotating vortex pair. The two dimensional base flow is obtained by a direct numerical simulation initialized by two Lamb–Oseen vortices that quickly adjust to a flow with elliptic vortices. In the present study, the Reynolds number, ReΓ=Γ/ν, with Γ the circulation of one vortex and ν the kinematic viscosity, is taken large enough for the quasi steady assumption to be valid. Both the direct linearized Navier–Stokes equation and its adjoint are solved numerically and used to investigate transient and long time dynamics. The transient dynamics is led by different regions of the flow, depending on the optimal time considered. At very short times compared to the advection time of the dipole, the dynamics is concentrated on the points of maximal strain of the base flow, located at the periphery of the vortex core. At intermediate times, depending on the symmetry of the perturbation, one of the hyperbolic stagnation points provides the optimal amplification by stretching of the perturbation vorticity as in the classical hyperbolic instability. The growth of both short time and intermediate time transient perturbations are non- or weakly dependent of the axial wavenumber whereas the long time behavior strongly selects narrow bands of wavenumbers. We show that, for all unstable spanwise wavenumbers, the transient dynamics last until the nondimensional time t=2, during which the dipole has traveled twice the separation distance between vortices b. During that time, all the wavenumbers exhibit a transient growth of energy by a factor of 50, for the Reynolds number ReΓ=2000. For time larger than t=2, energy starts growing at a rate given by the standard temporal stability theory. For all wavenumbers and two Reynolds numbers, ReΓ=2000 and ReΓ=105, different instability branches have been computed using a high resolution Krylov method. At large Reynolds number, the computed Crow and elliptic instability branches are in excellent agreement with the inviscid theory [S. C. Crow, AIAA J. 8, 2172 (1970); S. Le Dizes and F. Laporte, J. Fluid Mech. 471, 120 (2002)] and numerical analysis [D. Sipp and L. Jacquin, Phys. Fluids 15, 1861 (2003)]. A novel oscillatory elliptic instability involving Kelvin waves with azimuthal wavenumbers m=0 and |m|=2, that was missed in previous numerical analysis [D. Sipp and L. Jacquin, Phys. Fluids 15, 1861 (2003)] is found. For the stationary elliptic instability, we show that viscous effect may be estimated using the large Reynolds number direct and adjoint eigenmodes. This asymptotically exact estimate of the viscous damping of elliptic instability mode agrees with our direct numerical computation of instability branches at moderate Reynolds number and demonstrates that formula proposed by Le Dizes and Laporte [J. Fluid Mech. 471, 120 (2002)] strongly over estimated the viscous correction.

Emergence of singular structures in Oldroyd-B fluids

Numerical simulations reveal the formation of singular structures in the polymer stress field of a viscoelastic fluid modeled by the Oldroyd-B equations driven by a simple body force. These singularities emerge exponentially in time at hyperbolic stagnation points in the flow and their algebraic structure depends critically on the Weissenberg number. Beyond a first critical Weissenberg number the stress field approaches a cusp singularity, and beyond a second critical Weissenberg number the stress becomes unbounded exponentially in time. A local approximation to the solution at the hyperbolic point is derived from a simple ansatz, and there is excellent agreement between the local solution and the simulations. Although the stress field becomes unbounded for a sufficiently large Weissenberg number, the resultant forces of stress grow subexponentially. Enforcing finite polymer chain lengths via a FENE-P penalization appears to keep the stress bounded, but a cusp singularity is still approached exponentially in time.

Stretch-Coil Transition and Transport of Fibers in Cellular Flows

It is shown that a slender elastic fiber moving in a Stokesian fluid can be susceptible to a buckling instability--termed the "stretch-coil" instability--when moving in the neighborhood of a hyperbolic stagnation point of the flow. When the stagnation point is part of an extended cellular flow, it is found that immersed fibers can move as random walkers across time-independent closed-streamline flow. It is also found that the flow is segregated into transport regions around hyperbolic stagnation points and their manifolds, and closed entrapment regions around elliptic points.

Multiscale Laminar Flows with Turbulentlike Properties

By applying fractal electromagnetic force fields on a thin layer of brine, we generate steady quasi-two-dimensional laminar flows with multiscale stagnation point topology. This topology is shown to control the evolution of pair separation (Delta) statistics by imposing a turbulentlike locality based on the sizes and strain rates of hyperbolic stagnation points when the flows are fast enough, in which case Delta(2) approximately t(gamma) is a good approximation with gamma close to 3. Spatially multiscale laminar flows with turbulentlike spectral and stirring properties are a new concept with potential applications in efficient and microfluidic mixing.