Stochastic motion of a laminar/turbulent interface in a shear flow
Duguet Y, Schlatter P (2011)
Publication Type: Conference contribution
Publication year: 2011
Publisher: Institute of Physics Publishing
Book Volume: 318
Conference Proceedings Title: Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Event location: POL
DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/318/3/032026
Abstract
Plane Couette flow is a classical prototype of a shear flow where transition to turbulence is subcritical, i.e. happens despite linear stability of the base flow. In this study we are interested in the spatio-temporal competition between the (active) turbulent phase and the (absorbing) laminar. Our three-dimensional numerical simulations show that the delimiting interface, when parallel to the streamwise direction, moves in a stochastic manner which we model as a continuous-time random walk. Statistical analysis suggests a Gaussian diffusion process and allows us to determine the average speed of this interface as a function of the Reynolds number Re, as well as the threshold in Re above which turbulence contaminates the whole domain. For the lowest value of Re, this stochastic motion competes with another deterministic regime of growth of the localised perturbations. The latter, a rather unexpected regime, is shown to be linked to the recently found localised snaking solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. An extension of this thinking to more general orientations of the interfaces will be proposed.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
University of Paris 11 - Paris-Sud / Université Paris XI Paris-Sud
France (FR)
Royal Institute of Technology / Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH)
Sweden (SE)
France (FR)
Royal Institute of Technology / Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH)
Sweden (SE)
How to cite
APA:
Duguet, Y., & Schlatter, P. (2011). Stochastic motion of a laminar/turbulent interface in a shear flow. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series. POL: Institute of Physics Publishing.
MLA:
Duguet, Yohann, and Philipp Schlatter. "Stochastic motion of a laminar/turbulent interface in a shear flow." Proceedings of the 13th European Turbulence Conference, ETC13, POL Institute of Physics Publishing, 2011.
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