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The coherent structure of the kinetic energy transfer in shear turbulence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2020

Siwei Dong Open the ORCID record for Siwei Dong [Opens in a new window] ,
Yongxiang Huang Open the ORCID record for Yongxiang Huang [Opens in a new window] ,
Xianxu Yuan  and
Adrián Lozano-Durán Open the ORCID record for Adrián Lozano-Durán [Opens in a new window]
Siwei Dong
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics R&D Center, 621000Mianyang, China
Yongxiang Huang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102Xiamen, China
Xianxu Yuan
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics R&D Center, 621000Mianyang, China
Adrián Lozano-Durán*
Affiliation:
Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: adrianld@stanford.edu
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Abstract

The cascade of energy in turbulent flows, i.e. the transfer of kinetic energy from large to small flow scales or vice versa (backward cascade), has been the cornerstone of most theories and models of turbulence since the 1940s. Yet, understanding the spatial organisation of kinetic energy transfer remains an outstanding challenge in fluid mechanics. Here, we unveil the three-dimensional structure of the energy cascade across the shear-dominated scales using numerical data of homogeneous shear turbulence. We show that the characteristic flow structure associated with the energy transfer is a vortex shaped as an inverted hairpin followed by an upright hairpin. The asymmetry between the forward and backward cascade arises from the opposite flow circulation within the hairpins, which triggers reversed patterns in the flow.

JFM classification

Turbulent Flows: Turbulent boundary layers Turbulent Flows: Shear layer turbulence Turbulent Flows: Turbulence simulation
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 892 , 10 June 2020 , A22
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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