Scalar Increment Research Articles

Modelling the transport equation of the scalar structure function

A model for the third-order mixed velocity–scalar structure function $-\overline {(\delta u)( \delta \phi )^{2}}$ ( $\delta a$ represents the spatial increment of the quantity $a$ ; $u$ is the velocity and $\phi$ is a scalar) is proposed for closing the transport equation of the second-order moment of the scalar increment $\overline {( \delta \phi )^{2}}$ . The closure model is based on a gradient-type hypothesis with an eddy-viscosity model which exploits the analogy between the turbulent kinetic energy and a passive scalar when the Prandtl number, $Pr$ , is equal to 1. The solutions of the closed transport equation agree well with both measurements and numerical simulations, when $Pr$ is not too different from 1. However, the agreement deteriorates when $Pr$ differs significantly from 1. Nevertheless, the calculations capture the effect expected when $Pr$ varies. For example, as $Pr$ increases, a range of scales emerges where $\overline {( \delta \phi )^{2}}$ remains constant. This emerging scaling range should correspond to the $k^{-1}$ spectral range in the three-dimensional scalar spectrum commonly denoted the viscous–convective range. Also when $Pr$ decreases below 1, the calculations reproduce the emergence of an expected inertial–diffusive range for scales larger than the Kolmogorov length scale.

Steep Cliffs and Saturated Exponents in Three-Dimensional Scalar Turbulence.

The intermittency of a passive scalar advected by three-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence at a Taylor-scale Reynolds number of 650 is studied using direct numerical simulations on a 4096^{3} grid; the Schmidt number is unity. By measuring scalar increment moments of high orders, while ensuring statistical convergence, we provide unambiguous evidence that the scaling exponents saturate to 1.2 for moment orders beyond about 12, indicating that scalar intermittency is dominated by the most singular shocklike cliffs in the scalar field. We show that the fractal dimension of the spatial support of steep cliffs is about 1.8, whose sum with the saturation exponent value of 1.2 adds up to the space dimension of 3, thus demonstrating a deep connection between the geometry and statistics in turbulent scalar mixing. The anomaly for the fourth and sixth order moments is comparable to that in the Kraichnan model for the roughness exponent of 4/3.

High-order structure functions for passive scalar fed by a mean gradient

Transport equations for even-order structure functions are written for a passive scalar mixing fed by a mean scalar gradient, with a Schmidt number Sc=1. Direct numerical simulations (DNS), in a range of Reynolds numbers Rλ ∈ [88, 529] are used to assess the validity of these equations, for the particular cases of second-and fourth-order moments. The involved terms pertain to molecular diffusion, transport, production, and dissipative-fluxes. The latter term, present at all scales, is equal to: i) the mean scalar variance dissipation rate, ⟨χ⟩, for the second-order moments transport equation; ii) non-linear correlations between χ and second-order moments of the scalar increment, for the fourth-order moments transport equation.The equations are further analysed to show that the similarity scales (i.e., variables which allow for perfect collapse of the normalised terms in the equations) are, for second-order moments, fully consistent with Kolmogorov–Obukhov–Corrsin (KOC) theory. However, for higher-order moments, adequate similarity scales are built from ⟨χn⟩. The similarity is tenable for the dissipative range, and the beginning of the scaling range.

Scalar gradients in stirred mixtures and the deconstruction of random fields

A general theory for predicting the distribution of scalar gradients (or concentration differences) in heterogeneous flows is proposed. The evolution of scalar fields is quantified from the analysis of the evolution of elementary lamellar structures, which naturally form under the stretching action of the flows. Spatial correlations in scalar fields, and concentration gradients, hence develop through diffusive aggregation of stretched lamellae. Concentration levels at neighbouring spatial locations result from a history of lamella aggregation, which is partly common to the two locations. Concentration differences eliminate this common part, and thus depend only on lamellae that have aggregated independently. Using this principle, we propose a theory which envisions concentration increments as the result of a deconstruction of the basic lamella assemblage. This framework provides analytical expressions for concentration increment probability density functions (PDFs) over any spatial increments for a range of flow systems, including turbulent flows and low-Reynolds-number porous media flows, for confined and dispersing mixtures. Through this deconstruction principle, scalar increment distributions reveal the elementary stretching and aggregation mechanisms building scalar fields.

Power and nonpower laws of passive scalar moments convected by isotropic turbulence.

The scaling behavior of the moments of two passive scalars that are excited by two different methods and simultaneously convected by the same isotropic steady turbulence at R_{λ}=805 and Sc=0.72 is studied by using direct numerical simulation with N=4096^{3} grid points. The passive scalar θ is excited by a random source that is Gaussian and white in time, and the passive scalar q is excited by the mean uniform scalar gradient. In the inertial convective range, the nth-order moments of the scalar increment δθ(r) do not obey a simple power law, but have the local scaling exponents ξ_{n}^{θ}+β_{n}log(r/r_{*}) with β_{n}>0. In contrast, the local scaling exponents of q have well-developed plateaus and saturate with increasing order. The power law of passive scalar moments is not trivial. The universality of passive scalars is found not in the moments, but in the normalized moments.

Compressible turbulent mixing: Effects of Schmidt number.

We investigated by numerical simulations the effects of Schmidt number on passive scalar transport in forced compressible turbulence. The range of Schmidt number (Sc) was 1/25∼25. In the inertial-convective range the scalar spectrum seemed to obey the k(-5/3) power law. For Sc≫1, there appeared a k(-1) power law in the viscous-convective range, while for Sc≪1, a k(-17/3) power law was identified in the inertial-diffusive range. The scaling constant computed by the mixed third-order structure function of the velocity-scalar increment showed that it grew over Sc, and the effect of compressibility made it smaller than the 4/3 value from incompressible turbulence. At small amplitudes, the probability distribution function (PDF) of scalar fluctuations collapsed to the Gaussian distribution whereas, at large amplitudes, it decayed more quickly than Gaussian. At large scales, the PDF of scalar increment behaved similarly to that of scalar fluctuation. In contrast, at small scales it resembled the PDF of scalar gradient. Furthermore, the scalar dissipation occurring at large magnitudes was found to grow with Sc. Due to low molecular diffusivity, in the Sc≫1 flow the scalar field rolled up and got mixed sufficiently. However, in the Sc≪1 flow the scalar field lost the small-scale structures by high molecular diffusivity and retained only the large-scale, cloudlike structures. The spectral analysis found that the spectral densities of scalar advection and dissipation in both Sc≫1 and Sc≪1 flows probably followed the k(-5/3) scaling. This indicated that in compressible turbulence the processes of advection and dissipation except that of scalar-dilatation coupling might deferring to the Kolmogorov picture. It then showed that at high wave numbers, the magnitudes of spectral coherency in both Sc≫1 and Sc≪1 flows decayed faster than the theoretical prediction of k(-2/3) for incompressible flows. Finally, the comparison with incompressible results showed that the scalar in compressible turbulence with Sc=1 lacked a conspicuous bump structure in its spectrum, but was more intermittent in the dissipative range.

Generalised scale-by-scale energy-budget equations and large-eddy simulations of anisotropic scalar turbulence at various Schmidt numbers

A necessary condition for the accurate prediction of turbulent flows using large-eddy simulation (LES) is the correct representation of energy transfer between the different scales of turbulence in the LES. For scalar turbulence, transfer of energy between turbulent length scales is described by a transport equation for the second moment of the scalar increment. For homogeneous isotropic turbulence, the underlying equation is the well-known Yaglom equation. In the present work, we study the turbulent mixing of a passive scalar with an imposed mean gradient by homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Both direct numerical simulations (DNS) and LES are performed for this configuration at various Schmidt numbers, ranging from 0.11 to 5.56. As the assumptions made in the derivation of the Yaglom equation are violated for the case considered here, a generalised Yaglom equation accounting for anisotropic effects, induced by the mean gradient, is derived in this work. This equation can be interpreted as a scale-by-scale energy-budget equation, as it relates at a certain scale r terms representing the production, turbulent transport, diffusive transport and dissipation of scalar energy. The equation is evaluated for the conducted DNS, followed by a discussion of physical effects present at different scales for various Schmidt numbers. For an analysis of the energy transfer in LES, a generalised Yaglom equation for the second moment of the filtered scalar increment is derived. In this equation, new terms appear due to the interaction between resolved and unresolved scales. In an a-priori test, this filtered energy-budget equation is evaluated by means of explicitly filtered DNS data. In addition, LES calculations of the same configuration are performed, and the energy budget as well as the different terms are thereby analysed in an a-posteriori test. It is shown that LES using an eddy viscosity model is able to fulfil the generalised filtered Yaglom equation for the present configuration. Further, the dependence of the terms appearing in the filtered energy-budget equation on varying Schmidt numbers is discussed.

Fluctuations of a passive scalar in a turbulent mixing layer

The turbulent flow originating downstream of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a mixing layer has great relevance in many applications, ranging from atmospheric physics to combustion in technical devices. The mixing of a substance by the turbulent velocity field is usually involved. In this paper, a detailed statistical analysis of fluctuations of a passive scalar in the fully developed region of a turbulent mixing layer from a direct numerical simulation is presented. Passive scalar spectra show inertial ranges characterized by scaling exponents -4/3 and -3/2 in the streamwise and spanwise directions, in agreement with a recent theoretical analysis of passive scalar scaling in shear flows [Celani et al., J. Fluid Mech. 523, 99 (2005)]. Scaling exponents of high-order structure functions in the streamwise direction show saturation of intermittency with an asymptotic exponent ζ_{∞}=0.4 at large orders. Saturation of intermittency is confirmed by the self-similarity of the tails of the probability density functions of the scalar increments at different scales r with the scaling factor r^{-ζ_{∞}} and by the analysis of the cumulative probability of large fluctuations. Conversely, intermittency saturation is not observed for the spanwise increments and the relative scaling exponents agree with recent results for homogeneous isotropic turbulence with mean scalar gradient. Probability density functions of the scalar increments in the three directions are compared to assess anisotropy.

Experimental investigation of dissipation-element statistics in scalar fields of a jet flow

AbstractWe present a detailed experimental investigation of conditional statistics obtained from dissipation elements based on the passive scalar field$\theta $and its instantaneous scalar dissipation rate$\chi $. Using high-frequency planar Rayleigh scattering measurements of propane discharging as a round turbulent jet into coflowing carbon dioxide, we acquire with Taylor’s hypothesis a highly resolved three-dimensional field of the propane mass fraction$\theta $. The Reynolds number (based on nozzle diameter and jet exit velocity) varies between 3000 and 8600. The experimental results for the joint probability density of the scalar difference$ \mathrm{\Delta} \theta $and the length$l$of dissipation elements resembles those previously obtained from direct numerical simulations of Wang & Peters (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 554, 2006, pp. 457–475). In addition, the normalized marginal probability density function$\tilde {P} (\tilde {l} )$of the length of dissipation elements follows closely the theoretical model derived by Wang & Peters (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 608, 2008, pp. 113–138). We also find that the mean linear distance${l}_{m} $between two extreme points of an element is of the order of the scalar Taylor microscale${\lambda }_{u} $. Furthermore, the conditional mean$\langle \mathrm{\Delta} \theta \vert l\rangle $scales with Kolmogorov’s$1/ 3$power law. The investigation of the orientation of long dissipation elements in the jet flow reveals a preferential alignment, perpendicular to the streamwise direction for long elements, while the orientation of short elements is close to isotropic. Following an approach proposed by Kholmyansky & Tsinober (Phys. Lett. A, vol. 373, 2009, pp. 2364–2367), we finally investigate the probability density function of the scalar increment$\delta \theta $in the streamwise direction, when strong dissipative events are either retained in or excluded from the measurement volume. In the present study, however, these events are related to maximum points of the scalar dissipation rate$\chi $together with their local extent. When these regions are excluded from the scalar field, we observe a tendency of the probability density function$P(\delta \theta (r))$towards a Gaussian bell-shaped curve.

Scalar Turbulence in Convective Boundary Layers by Changing the Entrainment Flux

Abstract A large-eddy simulation model is adopted to investigate the evolution of scalars transported by atmospheric cloud-free convective boundary layer flows. Temperature fluctuations due to the ground release of sensible heat and concentration fluctuations of a trace gas emitted at the homogeneous surface are mixed by turbulence within the unstable boundary layer. On the top, the entrainment zone is varied to obtain two distinct situations: (i) the temperature inversion is strong and the trace gas increment across the entrainment region is small, yielding to a small top flux with respect to the surface emission; (ii) the temperature inversion at the top of the convective boundary layer is weak, and the scalar increment large enough to achieve a concentration flux toward the free atmosphere that overwhelms the surface flux. In both cases, an estimation of the entrainment flux is obtained within a simple model, and it is tested against numerical data. The evolution of the scalar profiles is discussed in terms of the different entrainment–surface flux ratios. Results show that, when entrainment at the top of the boundary layer is weak, temperature and trace gas scalar fields are strongly correlated, particularly in the lower part of the boundary layer. This means that they exhibit similar behavior from the largest down to the smallest spatial scales. However, when entrainment is strong, as moving from the surface, differences in the transport of the two scalars arise. Finally, it is shown that, independently of the scalar regime, the temperature field exhibits more intermittent fluctuations than the trace gas.

Statistics of active and passive scalars in one-dimensional compressible turbulence

Statistics of the active temperature and passive concentration advected by the one-dimensional stationary compressible turbulence at Re_{λ}=2.56×10^{6} and M_{t}=1.0 is investigated by using direct numerical simulation with all-scale forcing. It is observed that the signal of velocity, as well as the two scalars, is full of small-scale sawtooth structures. The temperature spectrum corresponds to G(k)∝k^{-5/3}, whereas the concentration spectrum acts as a double power law of H(k)∝k^{-5/3} and H(k)∝k^{-7/3}. The probability distribution functions (PDFs) for the two scalar increments show that both δT and δC are strongly intermittent at small separation distance r and gradually approach the Gaussian distribution as r increases. Simultaneously, the exponent values of the PDF tails for the large negative scalar gradients are q_{θ}=-4.0 and q_{ζ}=-3.0, respectively. A single power-law region of finite width is identified in the structure function (SF) of δT; however, in the SF of δC, there are two regions with the exponents taken as a local minimum and a local maximum. As for the scalings of the two SFs, they are close to the Burgers and Obukhov-Corrsin scalings, respectively. Moreover, the negative filtered flux at large scales and the time-increasing total variance give evidences to the existence of an inverse cascade of the passive concentration, which is induced by the implosive collapse in the Lagrangian trajectories.

Synthetic three-dimensional turbulent passive scalar fields via the minimal Lagrangian map

A method for simple but realistic generation of three-dimensional synthetic turbulent passive scalar fields is presented. The method is an extension of the minimal turnover Lagrangian map approach (MTLM) [C. Rosales and C. Meneveau, Phys. Rev. E 78, 016313 (2008)] formulated for the generation of synthetic turbulent velocity fields. In this development, the minimal Lagrangian map is applied to deform simultaneously a vector field and an advected scalar field. This deformation takes place over a hierarchy of spatial scales encompassing a range from integral to dissipative scales. For each scale, fluid particles are mapped transporting the scalar property, without interaction or diffusional effects, from their initial configuration to new positions determined only by their velocity at the beginning of the motion and a parameter chosen to accumulate deformation for the equivalent of the phenomenological “turn-over” time scale. The procedure is studied for the case of inertial-convective regime. It is found that many features of passive scalar turbulence are well reproduced by this simple kinematical construction. Fundamental statistics of the resulting synthetic scalar fields, evaluated through the flatness and probability density functions of the scalar gradient and scalar increments, reproduce quite well the known statistical characteristics of passive scalars in turbulent fields. High-order statistics are also consistent with those observed in real hydrodynamic turbulence. The anomalous scaling of real turbulence is well reproduced for different kind of structure functions, with good quantitative agreement in general, for the scaling exponents. The spatial structure of the scalar field is also quite realistic, as well as several characteristics of the dissipation fields for the scalar variance and kinetic energy. Similarly, the statistical geometry at dissipative scales that ensues from the coupling of velocity and scalar gradients behaves in agreement with what is already known for real scalar turbulence in the considered regime. The results indicate that the multiscale self-distortion of the velocity field is an important factor to capture realistically turbulent scalar features beyond low-order statistics.

Anomalous scaling of passive scalars in rotating flows

We present results of direct numerical simulations of passive scalar advection and diffusion in turbulent rotating flows. Scaling laws and the development of anisotropy are studied in spectral space, and in real space using an axisymmetric decomposition of velocity and passive scalar structure functions. The passive scalar is more anisotropic than the velocity field, and its power spectrum follows a spectral law consistent with ~ k[Please see text](-3/2). This scaling is explained with phenomenological arguments that consider the effect of rotation. Intermittency is characterized using scaling exponents and probability density functions of velocity and passive scalar increments. In the presence of rotation, intermittency in the velocity field decreases more noticeably than in the passive scalar. The scaling exponents show good agreement with Kraichnan's prediction for passive scalar intermittency in two dimensions, after correcting for the observed scaling of the second-order exponent.

Universality and anisotropy in passive scalar fluctuations in turbulence with uniform mean gradient

Passive scalar and velocity fluctuations in homogeneous isotropic turbulence with or without mean scalar gradient are studied by using high-resolution direct numerical simulation (DNS). The local scaling exponents of the velocity structure functions are newly computed at larger Reynolds number, and the values at their plateau in the inertial range are found to be consistent with the previous DNS and experimental data. The 4/3 law for the velocity–scalar mixed correlation and the high-order structure functions of the passive scalar increment are analyzed in terms of the Legendre polynomial expansion. It is shown theoretically that the contributions from the second order in the expansion can be removed by taking the average over three directions parallel and perpendicular to the mean gradient, and it is found numerically that the contributions higher than the fourth order are negligible. The scaling exponents of the isotropic part of the scalar structure functions under the mean gradient are found to have the well-developed scaling range and are smaller than those in the isotropic case. The different behavior in the local scaling exponents with or without the mean gradient is examined and the universality of the scaling exponents is discussed.

Mixing of passive tracers in the decay Batchelor regime of a channel flow

We report detailed quantitative studies of passive scalar mixing in a curvilinear channel flow, where elastic turbulence in a dilute polymer solution of high molecular weight polyacrylamide in a high viscosity water-sugar solvent was achieved. For quantitative investigation of mixing, a detailed study of the profiles of mean longitudinal and radial components of the velocity in the channel as a function of Wi was carried out. Besides, a maximum of the average value as well as a rms of the longitudinal velocity was used to determine the threshold of the elastic instability in the channel flow. The rms of the radial derivatives of the longitudinal and radial velocity components was utilized to define the control parameters of the problem, the Weissenberg Wiloc and the Péclet Pe numbers. The main result of these studies is the quantitative test of the theoretical prediction about the value of the mixing length in the decay Batchelor regime. The experiment shows large quantitative discrepancy, more than 200 times in the value of the coefficient C, which appears in the theoretical expression for the mixing length, but with the predicted scaling relation. There are two possible reasons to this discrepancy. First is the assumption made in the theory about the δ-correlated velocity field, which is in odds with the experimental observations. Second, and probably a more relevant suggestion for the significantly increased mixing length and thus reduced mixing efficiency, is the observed jets, the rare, localized, and vigorous ejection of the scalar trapped near the wall, which protrudes into the peripheral region as well as the bulk. They are first found in the recent numerical calculations and then observed in the experiment reported. The jets definitely strongly reduce the mixing efficiency in particular in the peripheral region and so can lead to considerable increase of the mixing length. We hope that this result will initiate further numerical calculations of the mixing length. Finally, we analyze statistical properties of the mixing in the decay Batchelor regime by studying the power spectra, the decay exponents scaling, the structure functions of a tracer and moments of PDF of passive scalar increments, and the temporal and spatial correlation functions and find rather satisfactory agreement with theory.

Reynolds-number effects and anisotropy in transverse-jet mixing

Experiments are described which measured concentration fields in liquid-phase strong transverse jets over the Reynolds-number range 1.0×10^3 ≤ Rej ≤ 20×10^3. Laser-induced-fluorescence measurements were made of the jet-fluid-concentration fields at a jet-to-freestream velocity ratio of Vr =10. The concentration-field data for far-field (x/dj =50) slices of the jet show that turbulent mixing in the transverse jet is Reynolds number dependent over the range investigated, with a scalar-field PDF that evolves with Reynolds number. A growing peak in the PDF, indicating enhanced spatial homogenization of the jet-fluid concentration field, is found with increasing Reynolds number. Comparisons between transverse jets and jets discharging into quiescent reservoirs show that the transverse jet is an efficient mixer in that it entrains more fluid than the ordinary jet, yet is able to effectively mix and homogenize the additional entrained fluid. Analysis of the structure of the scalar field using distributions of scalar increments shows evidence for well-mixed plateaux separated by sharp cliffs in the jet-fluid concentration field, as previously shown in other flows. Furthermore, the scalar field is found to be anisotropic, even at small length scales. Evidence for local anisotropy is seen in the scalar power spectra, scalar microscales, and PDFs of scalar increments in different directions. The scalar-field anisotropy is shown to be correlated to the vortex-induced large-scale strain field of the transverse jet. These experiments add to the existing evidence that the large and small scales of high-Schmidt-number turbulent mixing flows can be linked, with attendant consequences for the universality of small scales of the scalar field for Reynolds numbers up to at least Re=20×10^4.

Intermittency trends and Lagrangian evolution of non-Gaussian statistics in turbulent flow and scalar transport

The Lagrangian evolution of two-point velocity and scalar increments in turbulence is considered, based on the ‘advected delta-vee system’ (Li & Meneveau 2005). This system has already been used to show that ubiquitous trends of three-dimensional turbulence such as exponential or stretched exponential tails in the probability density functions of transverse velocity increments, as well as negatively skewed longitudinal velocity increments, emerge quite rapidly and naturally from initially Gaussian ensembles. In this paper, the approach is extended to provide simple explanations for other known intermittency trends in turbulence: (i) that transverse velocity increments tend to be more intermittent than longitudinal ones, (ii) that in two dimensions, vorticity increments are intermittent while velocity increments are not, (iii) that scalar increments typically become more intermittent than velocity increments and, finally, (iv) that velocity increments in four-dimensional turbulence are more intermittent than in three dimensions. While the origin of these important trends can thus be elucidated qualitatively, predicting quantitatively the statistically steady-state levels and dependence on scale remains an open problem that would require including the neglected effects of pressure, inter-scale interactions and viscosity.

Intermittency in passive scalar turbulence under the uniform mean scalar gradient

Small scale statistics of a passive scalar convected by turbulence under the uniform mean scalar gradient is studied by high-resolution direct numerical simulation. It is found that the scaling exponents of the structure functions of scalar increments in parallel and perpendicular directions to the mean gradient are the same and saturate approximately 1.3 at large order, and that they are dependent on scalar injection scheme at large scales within the Reynolds numbers studied. Tails of the probability density functions for the scalar increment in the inertial convective range are well fitted by a scaling form inferred from the saturation and the tail of the one point scalar probability density function.

Batchelor Scaling in Fast-Flowing Soap Films

The dynamics of a passive scalar such as a dye in the far dissipative range of fluid turbulence is a central problem in nonlinear physics. An important prediction for this problem was made by Batchelor over 40 years ago and is known as Batchelor's scaling law. We here present strong evidence in favor of this law for the thickness fluctuations in the flow of a soap film past a flat plate. The results also capture the dissipative range of the scalar which turns out to have universal features. The probability density function of the scalar increments and their structure functions come out in nice agreement with theoretical predictions.

Markovian properties of passive scalar increments in grid-generated turbulence

Recent research (Renner, Peinke and Friedrich 2001 J. Fluid Mech. 433 383) has shown that the statistics of velocity increments in a turbulent jet exhibit Markovian properties for scales of size greater than the Taylor microscale, λ. In addition, it was shown that the probability density functions (PDFs) of the velocity increments, v (r), were governed by a Fokker–Planck equation. Such properties for passive scalar increments have never been tested. The present work studies the (velocity and) temperature field in grid-generated wind tunnel turbulence for Taylor-microscale-based Reynolds numbers in the range 140⩽Rλ⩽582. Increments of longitudinal velocity were found to (i) exhibit Markovian properties for separations r⪆λ and (ii) be describable by a Fokker–Planck equation because terms in the Kramers–Moyal expansion of order >2 were small. Although the passive scalar increments, δ(r), also exhibited Markovian properties for a similar range of scales as the velocity field, the higher-order terms in the Kramers–Moyal expansion were found to be non-negligible at all Reynolds numbers, thus precluding the PDFs of δ(r) from being described by a Fokker–Planck equation. Such a result indicates that the scalar field is less Markovian than the velocity field—an attribute presumably related to the higher level of internal intermittency associated with passive scalars.