Exact and Asymptotic Conditions on Traveling Wave Solutions of the Navier-Stokes Equations

We derive necessary conditions that traveling wave solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations must satisfy in the pipe, Couette, and channel flow geometries. Some conditions are exact and must hold for any traveling wave solution irrespective of the Reynolds number ($Re$). Other conditions are asymptotic in the limit $Re\to\infty$. The exact conditions are likely to be useful tools in the study of transitional structures. For the pipe flow geometry, we give computations up to $Re=100000$ showing the connection of our asymptotic conditions to critical layers that accompany vortex structures at high $Re$

Hopf bifurcations to quasi-periodic solutions for the two-dimensional plane Poiseuille flow

This paper studies various Hopf bifurcations in the two-dimensional plane Poiseuille problem. For several values of the wavenumber $\alpha$, we obtain the branch of periodic flows which are born at the Hopf bifurcation of the laminar flow. It is known that, taking $\alpha\approx1$, the branch of periodic solutions has several Hopf bifurcations to quasi-periodic orbits. For the first bifurcation, previous calculations seem to indicate that the bifurcating quasi-periodic flows are stable and go backwards with respect to the Reynolds number, $Re$. By improving the precision of previous works we find that the bifurcating flows are unstable and go forward with respect to $Re$. We have also analysed the second Hopf bifurcation of periodic orbits for several $\alpha$, to find again quasi-periodic solutions with increasing $Re$. In this case the bifurcated solutions are stable to superharmonic disturbances for $Re$ up to another new Hopf bifurcation to a family of stable 3-tori. The proposed numerical scheme is based on a full numerical integration of the Navier-Stokes equations, together with a division by 3 of their total dimension, and the use of a pseudo-Newton method on suitable Poincar\'e sections. The most intensive part of the computations has been performed in parallel. We believe that this methodology can also be applied to similar problems.Comment: 23 pages, 16 figure

Parametric resonant triad interactions in a free shear layer

We investigate the weakly nonlinear evolution of a triad of nearly-neutral modes superimposed on a mixing layer with velocity profile u bar equals Um + tanh y. The perturbation consists of a plane wave and a pair of oblique waves each inclined at approximately 60 degrees to the mean flow direction. Because the evolution occurs on a relatively fast time scale, the critical layer dynamics dominate the process and the amplitude evolution of the oblique waves is governed by an integro-differential equation. The long-time solution of this equation predicts very rapid (exponential of an exponential) amplification and we discuss the pertinence of this result to vortex pairing phenomena in mixing layers

Elliptical instability of the Moore–Saffman model for a trailing wingtip vortex

In this paper, we investigate the elliptical instability exhibited by two counter-rotating trailing vortices. This type of instability can be viewed as a resonance between two normal modes of a vortex and an external strain field. Recent numerical investigations have extended earlier results that ignored axial flow to include models with a simple wake-like axial flow such as the similarity solution found by Batchelor (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 20, 1964, pp. 645–658). We present herein growth rates of elliptical instability for a family of velocity profiles found by Moore &amp; Saffman (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, vol. 333, 1973, pp. 491–508). These profiles have a parameter $n$ that depends on the wing loading. As a result, unlike the Batchelor vortex, they are capable of modelling both the jet-like and the wake-like axial flow present in a trailing vortex at short and intermediate distances behind a wingtip. Direct numerical simulations of the linearized Navier–Stokes equations are performed using an efficient spectral method in cylindrical coordinates developed by Matsushima &amp; Marcus (J. Comput. Phys., vol. 53, 1997, pp. 321–345). We compare our results with those for the Batchelor vortex, whose velocity profiles are closely approximated as the wing loading parameter $n$ approaches 1. An important conclusion of our investigation is that the stability characteristics vary considerably with $n$ and $W_{0}$, a parameter measuring the strength of the mean axial velocity component. In the case of an elliptically loaded wing ($n=0.50$), we find that the instability growth rates are up to 50 % greater than those for the Batchelor vortex. Our results demonstrate the significant effect of the distribution and intensity of the axial flow on the elliptical instability of a trailing vortex.</jats:p