Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T14:40:01.820Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Noisy transitional flows in imperfect channels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2015

C. Lissandrello ,
L. Li ,
K. L. Ekinci  and
V. Yakhot
C. Lissandrello
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Photonics Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
L. Li
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Photonics Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
K. L. Ekinci*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Photonics Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
V. Yakhot
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Photonics Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: ekinci@bu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Here, we study noisy transitional flows in imperfect millimetre-scale channels. For probing the flows, we use microcantilever sensors embedded in the channel walls. We perform experiments in two nominally identical channels. The different sets of imperfections in the two channels result in two random flows in which the high-order moments of the near-wall fluctuations differ by orders of magnitude. Surprisingly, however, the lowest-order statistics in both cases appear to be qualitatively similar and can be described by a proposed noisy Landau equation for a slow mode. The noise, regardless of its origin, regularizes the Landau singularity of the relaxation time and makes transitions driven by different noise sources appear similar.

JFM classification

Turbulent Flows: Turbulent Flows Turbulent Flows: Turbulent transition
Type
Rapids
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 778 , 10 September 2015 , R3
Check for updates
Copyright
© 2015 Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Darbyshire, A. G. & Mullin, T. 1995 Transition to turbulence in constant-mass-flux pipe flow. J. Fluid Mech. 289, 83–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hof, B., Westerweel, J., Schneider, T. M. & Eckhardt, B. 2006 Finite lifetime of turbulence in shear flows. Nature 443, 59–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, O. C. 1976 An improvement in the calculation of turbulent friction in rectangular ducts. Trans. ASME J. Fluids Engng 98, 173–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landau, L. D. & Lifshitz, E. M. 1987 Fluid Mechanics, 2nd edn. Butterworth-Heinemann.Google Scholar
Lee, C., Yeo, K. & Choi, J. I. 2004 Intermittent nature of acceleration in near wall turbulence. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 144502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McComb, W. D., Linkmann, M. F., Berera, A., Yoffe, S. R. & Jankauskas, B. 2015 Self-organization and transition to turbulence in isotropic fluid motion driven by negative damping at low wavenumbers. J. Phys. A 48, 25FT01.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, G. & Amer, N. M. 1988 Novel optical approach to atomic force microscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett. 53, 1045–1047.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pausch, M. & Eckhardt, B. 2015 Direct and noisy transitions in a model shear flow. Theor. Appl. Mech. Lett. doi:10.1016/j.taml.2015.04.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfenninger, W. 1961 Boundary layer suction experiments with laminar flow at high Reynolds numbers in the inlet length of a tube by various suction methods. In Boundary Layer and Flow Control (ed. Lachman, G. V.), pp. 961–980. Pergamon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, O. 1883 An experimental investigation of the circumstances which determine whether the motion of water shall be direct or sinuous, and of the law of resistance in parallel channels. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 174, 935.Google Scholar
Sreenivasan, K. R., Strykowski, P. J. & Olinger, D. J. 1987 Hopf bifurcation, Landau equation, and vortex shedding behind circular cylinders. In Forum on Unsteady Flow Separation (ed. Ghia, K. N.), vol. 52, pp. 1–13. American Society for Mechanical Engineers, Fluids Engineering Division.Google Scholar
Stuart, J. T. 1971 Nonlinear stability theory. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 3, 347–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yaglom, A. M. 2012 Hydrodynamic Instability and Transition to Turbulence (ed. Frisch, U.), Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yakhot, V., Bailey, S. C. C. & Smits, A. J. 2010 Scaling of global properties of turbulence and skin friction in pipe and channel flows. J. Fluid Mech. 652, 65–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zagarola, M. V. & Smits, A. J. 1998 Mean-flow scaling of turbulent pipe flow. J. Fluid Mech. 373, 33–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar