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Experimental and numerical investigation of a forced circular shear layer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

J. M. Chomaz
Affiliation:
Groupe de Physique des Solides de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
M. Rabaud
Affiliation:
Groupe de Physique des Solides de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
C. Basdevant
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
Y. Couder
Affiliation:
Groupe de Physique des Solides de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France

Abstract

In a previous article we introduced a dissipative circular geometry in which stationary states of the shear flow instability were obtained. We show here that the dynamical behaviour of this flow depends strongly on the aspect ratio of the cell. In large cells, where the number of vortices is large, transitions from a mode with m vortices to a mode with (m−1) vortices occur through localized processes. In contrast to that situation, in small cells, transition takes place after a series of bifurcations which correspond to the successive breaking of all the symmetries of the flow.

We show that, provided an adequate forcing term is introduced, a two-dimensional numerical simulation of this flow is sufficient to recover all the dynamical processes which characterize the experimental flow.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1988 Cambridge University Press

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