No Arabic abstract
The transition to turbulence in many shear flows proceeds along two competing routes, one linked with finite-amplitude disturbances and the other one originating from a linear instability, as in e.g. boundary layer flows. The dynamical systems concept of edge manifold has been suggested in the subcritical case to explain the partition of the state space of the system. This investigation is devoted to the evolution of the edge manifold when a linear stability is added in such subcritical systems, a situation poorly studied despite its prevalence in realistic fluid flows. In particular the fate of the edge state as a mediator of transition is unclear. A deterministic three-dimensional model is suggested, parametrised by the linear instability growth rate. The edge manifold evolves topologically, via a global saddle-loop bifurcation, from the separatrix between two attraction basins to the mediator between two transition routes. For larger instability rates, the stable manifold of the saddle point increases in codimension from 1 to 2 after an additional local saddle node bifurcation, causing the collapse of the edge manifold. As the growth rate is increased, three different regimes of this model are identified, each one associated with a flow case from the recent hydrodynamic literature. A simple nonautonomous generalisation of the model is also suggested in order to capture the complexity of spatially developing flows.
Axisymmetric fountains in stratified environments rise until reaching a maximum height, where the vertical momentum vanishes, and then falls and spread radially as an annular plume following a well-known top-hat profile. Here, firstly, we generalize the model of Morton et al. (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A textbf{234}, 1, 1956), in order to correctly determine the dependence of the maximum height and the spreading height with the parameters involved. We obtain the critical conditions for the collapse of the fountain, textit i.e. when the jet falls up to the source level, and show that the spreading height must be expressed as a function of at least two parameters. To improve the quantitative agreement with the experiments we modify the criterion to take the mixing process in the down flow into account. Numerical simulations were implemented to estimate the parameter values that characterizes this merging. We show that our generalized model agrees very well with the experimental measurements.
Using complementary numerical approaches at high resolution, we study the late-time behaviour of an inviscid, incompressible two-dimensional flow on the surface of a sphere. Starting from a random initial vorticity field comprised of a small set of intermediate wavenumber spherical harmonics, we find that -- contrary to the predictions of equilibrium statistical mechanics -- the flow does not evolve into a large-scale steady state. Instead, significant unsteadiness persists, characterised by a population of persistent small-scale vortices interacting with a large-scale oscillating quadrupolar vorticity field. Moreover, the vorticity develops a stepped, staircase distribution, consisting of nearly homogeneous regions separated by sharp gradients. The persistence of unsteadiness is explained by a simple point vortex model characterising the interactions between the four main vortices which emerge.
In a recent paper (Trefry et al., 2019) we showed that the interplay of aquifer heterogeneity and poroelasticity can produce complex transport in tidally forced aquifers, with significant implications for solute transport, mixing and reaction. However, what was unknown was how broadly these transport dynamics can arise in natural groundwater systems, and how these dynamics depend upon the aquifer properties, tidal and regional flow characteristics. In this study we answer these questions through parametric studies of these governing properties. We uncover the mechanisms that govern complex transport dynamics and the bifurcations between transport structures with changes in the governing parameters, and we determine the propensity for complex dynamics to occur in natural aquifer systems. These results clearly demonstrate that complex transport structures and dynamics may arise in natural tidally forced aquifers around the world, producing solute transport and mixing behaviour that is very different to that of the conventional Darcy flow picture. Key Points: * Transient Darcy flows can generate complex transport dynamics in heterogeneous compressible aquifers. * This complex transport can trap dispersing solutes for many years. * Global tidal maps indicate widespread potential for complex transport dynamics in coastal zones.
Two-dimensional statistically stationary isotropic turbulence with an imposed uniform scalar gradient is investigated. Dimensional arguments are presented to predict the inertial range scaling of the turbulent scalar flux spectrum in both the inverse cascade range and the enstrophy cascade range for small and unity Schmidt numbers. The scaling predictions are checked by direct numerical simulations and good agreement is observed.
We obtain the von Karman-Howarth relation for the stochastically forced three-dimensional Hall-Vinen-Bekharvich-Khalatnikov (3D HVBK) model of superfluid turbulence in Helium ($^4$He) by using the generating-functional approach. We combine direct numerical simulations (DNSs) and analyitcal studies to show that, in the statistically steady state of homogeneous and isotropic superfluid turbulence, in the 3D HVBK model, the probability distribution function (PDF) $P(gamma)$, of the ratio $gamma$ of the magnitude of the normal fluid velocity and superfluid velocity, has power-law tails that scale as $P(gamma) sim gamma^3$, for $gamma ll 1$, and $P(gamma) sim gamma^{-3}$, for $gamma gg 1$. Furthermore, we show that the PDF $P(theta)$, of the angle $theta$ between the normal-fluid velocity and superfluid velocity exhibits the following power-law behaviors: $P(theta)sim theta$ for $theta ll theta_*$ and $P(theta)sim theta^{-4}$ for $theta_* ll theta ll 1$, where $theta_*$ is a crossover angle that we estimate. From our DNSs we obtain energy, energy-flux, and mutual-friction-transfer spectra, and the longitudinal-structure-function exponents for the normal fluid and the superfluid, as a function of the temperature $T$, by using the experimentally determined mutual-friction coefficients for superfluid Helium $^4$He, so our results are of direct relevance to superfluid turbulence in this system.