Optimal Perturbation Analysis Research Articles

Nonlinear transient disturbance growth analysis for the compressible external flow and application to a flow around circular cylinder

The property of nonlinear optimal perturbation (NLOP) analysis for the flow around the circular cylinder was investigated with a comparison with the linear optimal perturbation analysis (LOP). Our analysis revealed that NLOP is highly dependent on the initial disturbance norm and highlighted the limitation of linear prediction in triggering instability in the flow field. This NLOP shows an asymmetric and deformed vortex structure on the cylinder wall, with the angle of the maximum wall vorticity shifting in relation to the initial disturbance norm. We also observed that the circulation and disturbance vorticity at the shear layer in boundary layer efficiently contributed to larger disturbance growth of the separation vortex behind the cylinder compared with the LOP.

Numerical study of the hydrodynamic stability of a wind-turbine airfoil with a laminar separation bubble under free-stream turbulence

The interaction of several instabilities and the influence of free-stream turbulence on laminar-turbulent transition on a 20% thick wind-turbine blade section with a laminar separation bubble (LSB) are investigated with wall-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES). Turbulence intensities (TI) of 0%, 2.2%, 4.5%, 8.6%, and 15.6% at chord Reynolds number 105 are considered. Linear receptivity occurs for the most energetic disturbances; high-frequency perturbations are excited via non-linear mechanisms for TI≥8.6%. Unstable Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) waves appear in the inflectional flow region for TI≤4.5%, shifting to inviscid Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) modes upon separation and forming spanwise rolls. Sub-harmonic secondary instability occurs for TI=0%, with rolls intertwining before transition. Streaks spanwise modulate the rolls and increase their growth rates with TI for TI≤4.5%, reducing separation and shifting transition upstream. The TI=4.5% case presents the highest perturbations, leading to the smallest LSB and most upstream transition. Earlier inception of TS/KH modes occurs on low-speed streaks, inducing premature transition. However, for TI=8.6%, the effect of the streaks is to stabilize the attached mean flow and front part of the LSB. This occurs due to the near-wall momentum deficit alleviation, leading to the transition delay and larger LSB than TI=4.5%. This also suppresses separation and completely stabilizes TS/KH modes for TI=15.6%. Linear stability theory predicts well the modal evolution for TI≤8.6%. Optimal perturbation analysis accurately computes the streak development upstream of the inflectional flow region but indicates higher amplification than LES downstream due to the capture of low-frequency, oblique modal instabilities from the LSB. Only low-amplitude [O(1%)] streaks displayed exponential growth in the LES since non-linearity precludes the appearance of these modes.

Linear stability of a counter-rotating vortex pair approaching an inviscid wall

The influence of an inviscid planar wall on the temporal development of the long-wavelength instability of a trailing vortex pair is formulated analytically and studied numerically. The center positions and deformation perturbations of the trailing vortices are marched forward in time via the vortex filament method based on Biot–Savart induction. An optimal perturbation analysis of the vortex system determines the wavenumber and initial condition that yield maximum perturbation growth for any instant in time. Direct integration of the vortex system highlights its sensitivity to initial conditions and the time dependence of the optimal wavenumber, which are not features of the classical free vortex pair. As the counter-rotating vortex pair approaches the wall, the wavenumber for maximum growth shifts to a higher value than what is predicted for the Crow instability of vortices in an unbounded fluid. The present analysis demonstrates that the local suppression of the Crow instability near a planar wall may be described without recourse to viscous fluid arguments.Graphical abstract

Structured input–output analysis of transitional wall-bounded flows

Input–output analysis of transitional channel flows has proven to be a valuable analytical tool for identifying important flow structures and energetic motions. The traditional approach abstracts the nonlinear terms as forcing that is unstructured, in the sense that this forcing is not directly tied to the underlying nonlinearity in the dynamics. This paper instead employs a structured-singular-value-based approach that preserves certain input–output properties of the nonlinear forcing function in an effort to recover the larger range of key flow features identified through nonlinear analysis, experiments and direct numerical simulation (DNS) of transitional channel flows. Application of this method to transitional plane Couette and plane Poiseuille flows leads to not only the identification of the streamwise coherent structures predicted through traditional input–output approaches, but also the characterization of the oblique flow structures as those requiring the least energy to induce transition, in agreement with DNS studies, and nonlinear optimal perturbation analysis. The proposed approach also captures the recently observed oblique turbulent bands that have been linked to transition in experiments and DNS with very large channel size. The ability to identify the larger amplification of the streamwise varying structures predicted from DNS and nonlinear analysis in both flow regimes suggests that the structured approach allows one to maintain the nonlinear effects associated with weakening of the lift-up mechanism, which is known to dominate the linear operator. Capturing this key nonlinear effect enables the prediction of a wider range of known transitional flow structures within the analytical input–output modelling paradigm.

Transient energy growth of optimal streaks in parallel round jets

We present a linear optimal perturbation analysis of streamwise invariant disturbances evolving in parallel round jets. The potential for transient energy growth of perturbations with azimuthal wavenumber m≥1 is analyzed for different values of Reynolds number Re. Two families of steady (frozen) and unsteady (diffusing) base flow velocity profiles have been used, for different aspect ratios α = R/θ, where R is the jet radius and θ is the shear layer momentum thickness. Optimal initial conditions correspond to infinitesimal streamwise vortices, which evolve transiently to produce axial velocity streaks, whose spatial structure and intensity depend on base flow and perturbation parameters. Their dynamics can be characterized by a maximum optimal value of the energy gain Gopt, reached at an optimal time τopt after which the perturbations eventually decay. Optimal energy gain and time are shown to be, respectively, proportional to Re2 and Re, regardless of the frozen or diffusing nature of the base flow. Besides, it is found that the optimal gain scales like Gopt∝1/m3 for all m except m = 1. This quantitative difference for azimuthal wavenumber m = 1 is shown to be based on the nature of transient mechanisms. For m = 1 perturbations, the shift-up effect [J. I. Jiménez-González et al., “Modal and non-modal evolution of perturbations for parallel round jets,” Phys. Fluids 27, 044105-1–044105-19 (2015)] is active: an initial streamwise vorticity dipole induces a nearly uniform velocity flow in the jet core, which shifts the whole jet radially. By contrast, optimal perturbations with m≥2 are concentrated along the shear layer, in a way that resembles the classical lift-up mechanism in wall-shear flows. The m = 1 shift-up effect is more energetic than the m≥2 lift-up, but it is slower, with optimal times considerably shorter in the case of m≥2 disturbances. This suggests that these perturbations may emerge very quickly in the flow when injected as initial conditions. When the base flow diffuses, the large time scale for m = 1 disturbances allows the shear layer to spread and the jet core velocity to decrease substantially, thus lowering the values of corresponding optimal gain and time. For m≥2, results are less affected, since the shorter transient dynamics does not leave room for significant modifications of the base flow velocity profiles, and the scaling laws obtained in the frozen case are recovered. Nevertheless, base flow diffusion hinders the transient growth, as a consequence of a weaker component-wise non-normality and a smoother, radially spread structure of optimal disturbances.

Modal and non-modal evolution of perturbations for parallel round jets

The present work investigates the local modal and non-modal stability of round jets for varying aspect ratios α = R/θ, where R is the jet radius and θ the shear layer momentum thickness, for Reynolds numbers ranging from 10 to 10 000. The competition between axisymmetric (azimuthal wavenumber m = 0) and helical (m = 1) perturbations depending on the aspect ratio, α, is quantified at different time horizons. Three different techniques have been used, namely, a classical temporal stability analysis in order to characterize the unstable modes of the jet; an optimal excitation analysis, based on the resolution of the adjoint problem, to quantify the potential for non-modal perturbation dynamics; and finally an optimal perturbation analysis, focused on the very short time transient dynamics, to complement the adjoint-based study. Besides providing with the determination of the critical aspect ratio below which the most unstable perturbations switch from m = 0 to m = 1 depending on the Reynolds number, the study shows that perturbations can undergo a rapid transient growth. It is found that helical perturbations always experience the highest transient growth, although for large values of aspect ratio, this transient domination can be overcome by the eventual emergence of axisymmetric perturbation when more exponentially unstable. Furthermore, the adjoint mode, which excites optimally the most unstable mode of the flow, is found to coincide with the optimal perturbation even for short time horizons, and to drive the transient dynamics for finite times. Therefore, the adjoint-based analysis is found to characterize adequately the transient dynamics of jets, showing that a mechanism equivalent to the Orr one takes place for moderate to small wavelengths. However, in the long wavelength limit, a specific mechanism is found to shift the jet as a whole in a way that resembles the classical lift-up effect active in wall shear flows.

Two-dimensional global low-frequency oscillations in a separating boundary-layer flow

A separated boundary-layer flow at the rear of a bump is considered. Two-dimensional equilibrium stationary states of the Navier–Stokes equations are determined using a nonlinear continuation procedure varying the bump height as well as the Reynolds number. A global instability analysis of the steady states is performed by computing two-dimensional temporal modes. The onset of instability is shown to be characterized by a family of modes with localized structures around the reattachment point becoming almost simultaneously unstable. The optimal perturbation analysis, by projecting the initial disturbance on the set of temporal eigenmodes, reveals that the non-normal modes are able to describe localized initial perturbations associated with the large transient energy growth. At larger time a global low-frequency oscillation is found, accompanied by a periodic regeneration of the flow perturbation inside the bubble, as the consequence of non-normal cancellation of modes. The initial condition provided by the optimal perturbation analysis is applied to Navier–Stokes time integration and is shown to trigger the nonlinear ‘flapping’ typical of separation bubbles. It is possible to follow the stationary equilibrium state on increasing the Reynolds number far beyond instability, ruling out for the present flow case the hypothesis of some authors that topological flow changes are responsible for the ‘flapping’.

The use of global modes to understand transition and perform flow control

The stability of nonparallel flows is considered using superposition of global modes. When perturbed by the worst case initial condition, these flows often exhibit a large transient growth associated with the development of wave packets. The global modes of the systems also provide a good starting point for the design of reduced order models used to control the growing disturbances. Three recent investigations are reviewed. The first example is the growth of a wave packet on a falling liquid sheet. The optimal perturbation analysis shows that the worst case initial condition is a localized disturbance that creates a propagating wave packet that hits the downstream end, regenerating a wave packet upstream through a global pressure pulse. Second, we consider two-dimensional disturbances in the Blasius boundary layer. It is found that a wave packet is optimally excited by an initial condition consisting of localized backward leaning Orr structures. Finally, the control of a globally unstable boundary-layer flow along a shallow cavity is considered. The disturbance propagation is associated with the development of a wave packet along the cavity shear layer, unstable to the Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism, followed by a global cycle related to the two unstable global modes. Direct numerical simulations of this flow are coupled to a measurement feedback controller, which senses the wall shear stress at the downstream lip of the cavity and provides the actuation at the upstream lip. A reduced order model for the control is obtained by a projection on the least stable global eigenmodes. The linear-quadratic-Gaussian controller is run in parallel to the Navier–Stokes time integration and it is shown to damp out the global oscillations.

On vortex rings around vortices: an optimal mechanism

Stable columnar vortices subject to hydrodynamic noise (e.g. turbulence) present recurrent behaviours, such as the systematic development of vortex rings at the periphery of the vortex core. This phenomenon lacks a comprehensive explanation, partly because it is not associated with an instability stricto sensu. The aim of the present paper is to identify the physical mechanism triggering this intrinsic feature of vortices using an optimal perturbation analysis as a tool of investigation. We find that the generation of vortex rings is linked to the intense and rapid amplification of specific disturbances in the form of azimuthal velocity streaks that eventually evolve into azimuthal vorticity rolls generated by the rotational part of the local Coriolis force. This evolution thus appears to follow a scenario opposite to the classical lift-up view, where rolls give rise to streaks.

Transient energy growth for the Lamb–Oseen vortex

The transient evolution of infinitesimal flow disturbances which optimally induce algebraic growth in the Lamb–Oseen (Gaussian) vortex is studied using a direct-adjoint technique. This optimal perturbation analysis reveals that the Lamb–Oseen vortex allows for intense amplification of kinetic energy for two-dimensional and three-dimensional perturbations of azimuthal wavenumber m=1. In both cases, the disturbances experiencing the most growth initially take the form of concentrated spirals at the outer periphery of the vortex which rapidly excite bending waves within the vortex core. In the limit of large wavelengths, the optimal perturbation leads to arbitrarily large growths via an original scenario combining the Orr mechanism with vortex induction.

Optimal perturbations in a four-vortex aircraft wake in counter-rotating configuration

We consider the instability of two vortex pairs in a counter-rotating configuration. Such configurations model vortex wakes observed behind aircraft with inboard vortices produced at the inboard flap edges and at the tips of the horizontal tail. The instability potential is characterized by an optimal perturbation analysis. This extends the analysis of Fabre & Jacquin (2000) which was restricted to particular stationary configurations, and that of Crouch (1997) which considered co-rotating configurations. A complete mapping of the optimal perturbations is presented. The optimal perturbations grow faster than the Crow (1970) instability. However, they correspond to short-wavelength perturbations mainly affecting the weaker inboard vortices. A possible strategy which consists of forcing a long wavelength is then investigated. Application of both the optimal and the long-wave optimal perturbations to reduction of vortex wake danger is discussed.