10 results
On the interfacial instabilities of a ventilation cavity induced by gaseous injection into liquid crossflow
- Chengwang Xiong, Shengzhu Wang, Qianqian Dong, Shi-Ping Wang, A-Man Zhang
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 980 / 10 February 2024
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 06 February 2024, A44
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This study gives insights into the interfacial instabilities of a ventilation cavity by injecting gas vertically into the horizontal liquid crossflow through both numerical and experimental investigations. We identified four distinct regimes of the ventilation cavity based on their topological characteristics: (I) discrete bubble, (II) continuous cavity, (III) bifurcated cavity, and (IV) bubble plume. The boundaries for these regimes are delineated within the parameter space of crossflow velocity and jet speed. A comprehensive analysis of the flow characteristics associated with each regime is presented, encompassing the phase mixing properties, the dominant frequency of pulsation, and the time-averaged profile of the cavity. This study conducted a detailed investigation of the periodic pulsation at the leading-edge interface of the cavity, also known as the ‘puffing phenomenon’. The results of local spectral analysis and dynamic mode decomposition indicate that the high-frequency instability in the near-field region exhibits the most significant growth rate. In contrast, the low-frequency mode with the largest amplitude spans a broader region from the orifice to the cavity branches. A conceptual model has been proposed to elucidate the mechanism behind the pulsation phenomenon observed along the cavity interface: the pulsation results from the alternate intrusion of the crossflow and the cavity recovery at the leading edge, being governed mainly by the periodic oscillating imbalance between the static pressure of gas near the orifice and the stagnation pressure of crossflow at the leading edge.
Three-dimensional wake transitions of steady flow past two side-by-side cylinders
- Chengjiao Ren, Zinan Liu, Liang Cheng, Feifei Tong, Chengwang Xiong
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 972 / 10 October 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 29 September 2023, A17
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Three-dimensional (3-D) wake transitions of a steady flow past two side-by-side circular cylinders are investigated through Floquet analysis and direct numerical simulations (DNS) over the gap-to-diameter ratio $g^*$ up to 3.5 and Reynolds number ${\textit {Re}}$ up to 400. When the flows behind two cylinders form in-phase and anti-phase wakes at large $g^*$, the wake transition is similar to the isolated cylinder counterpart, with the critical ${\textit {Re}}$ for the onset of 3-D transition (${\textit {Re}}_{cr-1}$) happens at around 180. At small $g^*$, 3-D transition becomes interestingly complex due to the distinct characteristics formed in base flows. The ${\textit {Re}}_{cr-1}$ suddenly drops to around 60–100 and forms distinct variation trends with $g^*$. Precisely, the ${\textit {Re}}_{cr-1}$ of the single symmetric wake (SS, $g^*\lessapprox 0.25$) is more than half of the isolated cylinder counterpart due to the large length scale of the SS wake. Only mode A is detected in SS. In the asymmetric single wake (ASS, $g^* \approx 0.25\unicode{x2013}0.6$) and flip-flop wake (FF, $g^* \approx 0.6\unicode{x2013}1.8$), the 3-D transition develops at ${\textit {Re}} \approx 103\unicode{x2013}60$ and 75–60, respectively. The decrease in ${\textit {Re}}_{cr-1}$ with increasing $g^*$ is because of the increased level of wake asymmetry in ASS and irregular vortex shedding in FF. Floquet analysis predicts two new unstable modes, namely mode A$'$ and subharmonic mode C$'$, of ASS. Both modes are transient features in 3-D DNS and the flow eventually saturates into a new 3-D mode, mode ASS. The gap flow of mode ASS is distinctly characterised by its time-independent spanwise waviness structure that is deflected towards different transverse directions with a long wavelength of about $14$ cylinder diameters. The 3-D mode of the FF is irregular both temporally and spatially. Variations of ${\textit {Re}}_{cr-1}$ with $g^*$, the characteristics and the physical mechanisms of each 3-D mode are discussed in this study.
Non-modal growth of finite-amplitude disturbances in oscillatory boundary layer
- Minjiang Gong, Chengwang Xiong, Xuerui Mao, Liang Cheng, Shi-Ping Wang, A-Man Zhang
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 943 / 25 July 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 June 2022, A45
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The essence of sub-critical transition of oscillatory boundary-layer flows is the non-modal growth of finite-amplitude disturbances. The current understanding of the mechanisms of the orderly and bypass transitions of oscillatory boundary-layer flows is limited. The present study adopts optimisation approaches to predict the maximum energy amplification of two- and three-dimensional perturbations in response to the optimal initial disturbance with or without external forcing. A series of direct numerical simulations are also performed to compare with the results obtained from the stability analyses. In particular, the optimal initial perturbation similar to a Tollmien–Schlichting (T–S) wave yields the largest transient growth under the combined effects of the Orr mechanism and inflectional point instability. With a considerable level of two-dimensional disturbance, the vortex tube nonlinearly develops from the T–S-like wave, and then either deforms into a $\varLambda$-vortex in the near-wall region or rolls up to the free shear region. The further burst of turbulence can follow the first pathway as K-type transition or the second one as vortex tube breakdown due to the elliptical instability. Additionally, non-modal growth can initiate the inception of streaky structures by favourable three-dimensional initial perturbations and/or forcing. The secondary instabilities responsible for the streak breakdown are classified as the varicose (symmetric) and sinuous (anti-symmetric) modes. Under a sufficiently high level of three-dimensional disturbance, the bypass transition is predominantly characterised by the formation of the sinuous mode and turbulent spots, which leads to the suppression of inflection point instability.
Bistabilities in two parallel Kármán wakes
- Chengjiao Ren, Liang Cheng, Chengwang Xiong, Feifei Tong, Tingguo Chen
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 929 / 25 December 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 19 October 2021, A5
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Bistabilities of two equilibrium states discovered in the coupled side-by-side Kármán wakes are investigated through Floquet analysis and direct numerical simulation (DNS) with different initial conditions over a range of gap-to-diameter ratio ($g^*= 0.2\text {--}3.5$) and Reynolds number ($Re = 47\text {--}100$). Two bistabilities are found in the transitional $g^*-Re$ regions from in-phase (IP) to anti-phase (AP) vortex shedding states. By initialising the flow in DNS with zero initial conditions, the flow in the first bistable region (i.e. bistable IP/FF$_C$ at $g^*= 1.4 \text {--} 2.0$, where FF$_C$ denotes the conditional flip-flop flow) attains flip-flop (FF) flow, it settles into the IP state by initialising the flow with an IP flow. The second bistability is observed between cylinder-scale IP and AP states at large $g^*$ ($=$ 2.0–3.5). The transition from the FF$_C$ to IP is dependent on initial conditions and irreversible over the parameter space, meaning that the flow cannot revert back to the FF$_C$ state once it jumps to the IP state irrespective of the direction of $Re$ variations. Its counterpart for the bistable IP/AP state is reversible. We also found that the FF$_C$ flow in the first bistable region is primarily bifurcated from synchronised AP with cluster-scale features, possibly because the cluster-scale AP flow is inherently unstable to FF flow instabilities. It is demonstrated that the irreversible bistability exists in other interacting wakes around multiple cylinders. A good understanding of flow bistabilities is pivotal to flow control applications and the interpretation of desynchronised flow features observed at high $Re$ values.
The bypass transition mechanism of the Stokes boundary layer in the intermittently turbulent regime
- Chengwang Xiong, Xiang Qi, Ankang Gao, Hui Xu, Chengjiao Ren, Liang Cheng
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 896 / 10 August 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 27 May 2020, A4
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This numerical study focuses on the coherent structures and bypass transition mechanism of the Stokes boundary layer in the intermittently turbulent regime. In particular, the initial disturbance is produced by a temporary roughness element that is removed immediately after triggering a two-dimensional vortex tube under an inflection-point instability. The present study reveals a complete scenario of self-induced motion of a vortex tube after rollup from the boundary layer. The trajectory of the vortex tube is reasonably described based on the Helmholtz point-vortex equation. The three-dimensional transition of the vortex tube is attributed to the Crow instability, which leads to a sinusoidal disturbance that eventually evolves into a ring-like structure, especially for the weaker vortex. Further investigation demonstrates that three-dimensional or quasi-three-dimensional vortex perturbations in the free stream play a critical role in the boundary layer transition through a bypass mechanism, which is featured by the non-modal and explosive transient growth of the subsequent boundary layer instabilities. This transition scenario is found to be analogous to the oblique transition in the steady boundary layer, both of which are characterised by the formation of streaks, rollup of hairpin-like vortices and burst into turbulent spots. In addition, the streamwise propagation of turbulent spots is discussed in detail. To shed more light on the nature of the intermittently turbulent Stokes boundary layer, a conceptual model is proposed for the periodically self-sustaining mechanism of the turbulent spots based on the present numerical results and experimental evidence reported in the literature.
Oscillatory flow regimes around four cylinders in a diamond arrangement
- Chengjiao Ren, Liang Cheng, Feifei Tong, Chengwang Xiong, Tingguo Chen
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 877 / 25 October 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 September 2019, pp. 955-1006
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Oscillatory flow around a cluster of four circular cylinders in a diamond arrangement is investigated using two-dimensional direct numerical simulation over Keulegan–Carpenter numbers (KC) ranging from 4 to 12 and Reynolds numbers (Re) from 40 to 230 at four gap-to-diameter ratios (G) of 0.5, 1, 2 and 4. Three types of flows, namely synchronous, quasi-periodic and desynchronized flows (along with 14 flow regimes) are mapped out in the (G, KC, Re)-parameter space. The observed flow characteristics around four cylinders in a diamond arrangement show a few unique features that are absent in the flow around four cylinders in a square arrangement reported by Tong et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 769, 2015, pp. 298–336). These include (i) the dominance of flow around the cluster-scale structure at $G=0.5$ and 1, (ii) a substantial reduction of regime D flows in the regime maps, (iii) new quasi-periodic (phase trapping) $\text{D}^{\prime }$ (at $G=0.5$ and 1) and period-doubling $\text{A}^{\prime }$ flows (at $G=1$) and most noteworthily (iv) abnormal behaviours at ($G\leqslant 2$) (referred to as holes hereafter) such as the appearance of spatio-temporal synchronized flows in an area surrounded by a single type of synchronized flow in the regime map ($G=0.5$). The mode competition between the cluster-scale and cylinder-scale flows is identified as the key flow mechanism responsible for those unique flow features, with the support of evidence derived from quantitative analysis. Phase dynamics is introduced for the first time in bluff-body flows, to the best knowledge of the authors, to quantitatively interpret the flow response (e.g. quasi-periodic flow features) around the cluster. It is instrumental in revealing the nature of regime $\text{D}^{\prime }$ flows where the cluster-scale flow features are largely synchronized with the forcing of incoming oscillatory flow (phase trapping) but are modulated by localized flow features.
Influence of plane boundary proximity on the Honji instability
- Chengwang Xiong, Liang Cheng, Feifei Tong, Hongwei An
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 852 / 10 October 2018
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- 03 August 2018, pp. 226-256
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This paper presents a numerical investigation of oscillatory flow around a circular cylinder that is placed in proximity to a plane boundary that is parallel to the cylinder axis. The onset and development of the Honji instability are studied over a range of Stokes numbers ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$) and gap-to-diameter ratios ($e/D$) at a fixed Keulegan–Carpenter number ($KC=2$). Four flow regimes are identified in the ($e/D,\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$)-plane: (I) featureless two-dimensional flow, (II) stable Honji vortex, (III) unstable Honji vortex and (IV) chaotic flow. As $e/D$ increases from $-0.5$ (embedment) to $1$, the critical Stokes number $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{cr}$ for the onset of the Honji instability follows two side-by-side convex functions, peaking at the connection point of $e/D=0.125$ and reaching troughs at $e/D=0$ and 0.375. The Honji instability is always initiated on the gap side of the cylinder surface for $0.375\leqslant e/D\leqslant 2$ and occurs only on the top side for $-0.5\leqslant e/D<0.125$. The location for the initiation of the Honji instability switches from the gap side to the top side of the cylinder surface for $0.125<e/D<0.375$. No Honji instability is observed at $e/D=0.125$, where the flow three-dimensionality is developed through a different flow mechanism. Consistently, the three-dimensional kinetic energy of the flow, which represents a measure of the strength of flow three-dimensionality, varies with $e/D$ in a trend opposite to that of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{cr}$. Three physical mechanisms are identified as being responsible for the observed variation trend of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{cr}$ with $e/D$ and for various flow phenomena, which are the blockage effect induced by the geometry setting, the existence of the Stokes layer on the plane boundary and the favourable pressure gradient in the flow direction over the gap between the cylinder and the plane surface.
On regime C flow around an oscillating circular cylinder
- Chengwang Xiong, Liang Cheng, Feifei Tong, Hongwei An
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 849 / 25 August 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 26 June 2018, pp. 968-1008
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This paper focuses on the characteristics of the regime C flow (Tatsuno & Bearman, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 211, 1990, pp. 157–182) around an oscillating circular cylinder in still water. The regime C flow is characterised by the formation of large-scale vortex cores arranged as opposed von Kármán vortex streets, resulting from a regular switching of vortex shedding directions with respect to the axis of oscillation. Both Floquet analysis and direct numerical simulations (DNS) are performed to investigate the two- (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) instabilities. The present study reveals that the low-wavenumber 3-D instability can emerge slightly before the 2-D instability in regime C. In total, five spanwise vortex modes were identified: (i) standing-wave pattern, S-mode; (ii) travelling-wave pattern, T-mode; (iii) mixed ST-mode; (iv) X-type vortex pattern, X-mode; and (v) U-type vortex pattern, U-mode. The modal analysis conducted in this study demonstrates that the vortex patterns and the corresponding spatial and temporal modulations of the dynamic loads of the S-, T- and mixed ST-modes are mainly induced by the 3-D instability of a single wavenumber. The characteristics of the X-mode are due to the superposition of the 3-D instabilities of multiple wavenumbers. The U-mode is dominated by a 2-D instability and its interaction with 3-D instabilities. The domain size dependence study demonstrates that the regime C flow is very sensitive to the spanwise length of the computational domain. The subcritical nature of the regime C flow is responsible for the discrepancy in the marginal stability curves obtained by independent Floquet stability analysis, DNS and physical experiments.
Oscillatory flow regimes for a circular cylinder near a plane boundary
- Chengwang Xiong, Liang Cheng, Feifei Tong, Hongwei An
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 844 / 10 June 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 04 April 2018, pp. 127-161
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Oscillatory flow around a circular cylinder close to a plane boundary is numerically investigated at low-to-intermediate Keulegan–Carpenter ($KC$) and Stokes numbers ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$) for different gap-to-diameter ratios ($e/D$). A set of unique flow regimes is observed and classified based on the established nomenclature in the ($KC,\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$)-space. It is found that the flow is not only influenced by $e/D$ but also by the ratio of the thickness of the Stokes boundary layer ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}$) to the gap size (e). At relatively large $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}/e$ values, vortex shedding through the gap is suppressed and vortices are only shed from the top of the cylinder. At intermediate values of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}/e$, flow through the gap is enhanced, resulting in horizontal gap vortex shedding. As $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}/e$ is further reduced below a critical value, the influence of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}/e$ becomes negligible and the flow is largely dependent on $e/D$. A hysteresis phenomenon is observed for the transitions in the flow regime. The physical mechanisms responsible for the hysteresis and the variation of marginal stability curves with $e/D$ are explored at $KC=6$ through specifically designed numerical simulations. The Stokes boundary layer over the plane boundary is found to be responsible for the relatively large hysteresis range over $0.25<e/D<1.0$. Three mechanisms have been identified to the change of the marginal stability curve over $e/D$, which are the blockage effect due to the geometry setting, the favourable pressure gradient over the gap and the location of the leading eigenmode relative to the cylinder.
Flow regimes for a square cross-section cylinder in oscillatory flow
- Feifei Tong, Liang Cheng, Chengwang Xiong, Scott Draper, Hongwei An, Xiaofan Lou
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- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 813 / 25 February 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 17 January 2017, pp. 85-109
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Two-dimensional direct numerical simulation and Floquet stability analysis have been performed at moderate Keulegan–Carpenter number ($KC$) and low Reynolds number ($Re$) for a square cross-section cylinder with its face normal to the oscillatory flow. Based on the numerical simulations a map of flow regimes is formed and compared to the map of flow around an oscillating circular cylinder by Tatsuno & Bearman (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 211, 1990, pp. 157–182). Two new flow regimes have been observed, namely A$^{\prime }$ and F$^{\prime }$. The regime A$^{\prime }$ found at low $KC$ is characterised by the transverse convection of fluid particles perpendicular to the motion; and the regime F$^{\prime }$ found at high $KC$ shows a quasi-periodic feature with a well-defined secondary period, which is larger than the oscillation period. The Floquet analysis demonstrates that when the two-dimensional flow breaks the reflection symmetry about the axis of oscillation, the quasi-periodic instability and the synchronous instability with the imposed oscillation occur alternately for the square cylinder along the curve of marginal stability. This alternate pattern in instabilities leads to four distinct flow regimes. When compared to the vortex shedding in otherwise unidirectional flow, the two quasi-periodic flow regimes are observed when the oscillation frequency is close to the Strouhal frequency (or to half of it). Both the flow regimes and marginal stability curve shift in the $(Re,KC)$-space compared to the oscillatory flow around a circular cylinder and this shift appears to be consistent with the change in vortex formation time associated with the lower Strouhal frequency of the square cylinder.