Vortex structures under dimples and scars in turbulent free-surface flows

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Aarnes, Jørgen R., Babiker, Omer, Xuan, Anqing, Shen, Lian, Ellingsen, Simen Å.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Aarnes, Jørgen R.
Babiker, Omer
Xuan, Anqing
Shen, Lian
Ellingsen, Simen Å.
author_facet Aarnes, Jørgen R.
Babiker, Omer
Xuan, Anqing
Shen, Lian
Ellingsen, Simen Å.
contents Turbulence beneath a free surface leaves characteristic long-lived signatures on the surface, such as upwelling 'boils', near-circular 'dimples' and elongated 'scars', easily identifiable by eye, e.g., in riverine flows. In this paper, we use Direct Numerical Simulations to explore the connection between these surface signatures and the underlying vortical structures. We investigate dimples, known to be imprints of surface-attached vortices, and scars, which have yet to be extensively studied, by analysing the conditional probabilities that a point beneath a signature is within a vortex core as well as the inclination angles of sub-signature vorticity. The analysis shows that the likelihood of vortex presence beneath a dimple decreases from the surface down through the viscous and blockage layers in a near-Gaussian manner, influenced by the dimple's size and the bulk turbulence. When expressed as a function of depth over the Taylor microscale $λ_T$, this probability is independent of Reynolds and Weber number. Conversely, the probability of finding a vortex beneath a scar increases sharply from the surface to a peak at the edge of the viscous layer, at a depth of approximately $λ_T/4$. Distributions of vortical orientation also show a clear pattern: a strong preference for vertical alignment below dimples and an equally strong preference for horizontal alignment below scars. Our findings suggest that scars can be defined as imprints of horizontal vortices approximately a quarter of the Taylor microscale beneath the surface, analogous to how dimples can be defined as imprints of surface-attached vertical vortex tubes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_05409
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Vortex structures under dimples and scars in turbulent free-surface flows
Aarnes, Jørgen R.
Babiker, Omer
Xuan, Anqing
Shen, Lian
Ellingsen, Simen Å.
Fluid Dynamics
Geophysics
Turbulence beneath a free surface leaves characteristic long-lived signatures on the surface, such as upwelling 'boils', near-circular 'dimples' and elongated 'scars', easily identifiable by eye, e.g., in riverine flows. In this paper, we use Direct Numerical Simulations to explore the connection between these surface signatures and the underlying vortical structures. We investigate dimples, known to be imprints of surface-attached vortices, and scars, which have yet to be extensively studied, by analysing the conditional probabilities that a point beneath a signature is within a vortex core as well as the inclination angles of sub-signature vorticity. The analysis shows that the likelihood of vortex presence beneath a dimple decreases from the surface down through the viscous and blockage layers in a near-Gaussian manner, influenced by the dimple's size and the bulk turbulence. When expressed as a function of depth over the Taylor microscale $λ_T$, this probability is independent of Reynolds and Weber number. Conversely, the probability of finding a vortex beneath a scar increases sharply from the surface to a peak at the edge of the viscous layer, at a depth of approximately $λ_T/4$. Distributions of vortical orientation also show a clear pattern: a strong preference for vertical alignment below dimples and an equally strong preference for horizontal alignment below scars. Our findings suggest that scars can be defined as imprints of horizontal vortices approximately a quarter of the Taylor microscale beneath the surface, analogous to how dimples can be defined as imprints of surface-attached vertical vortex tubes.
title Vortex structures under dimples and scars in turbulent free-surface flows
topic Fluid Dynamics
Geophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.05409