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Stability analysis and large-eddy simulation of rotating turbulence with organized eddies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2006
Abstract
Rotation strongly affects the stability of turbulent flows in the presence of large eddies. In this paper, we examine the applicability of the classic Bradshaw-Richardson criterion to flows more general than a simple combination of rotation and pure shear. Two approaches are used. Firstly the linearized theory is applied to a class of rotating two-dimensional flows having arbitrary rates of strain and vorticity and streamfunctions that are quadratic. This class includes simple shear and elliptic flows as special cases. Secondly, we describe a large-eddy simulation of initially quasi-homogeneous three-dimensional turbulence superimposed on a periodic array of two-dimensional Taylor-Green vortices in a rotating frame.
The results of both approaches indicate that, for a large structure of vorticity W and subject to rotation Ω, maximum destabilization is obtained for zero tilting vorticity (½W + 2Ω = 0) whereas stability occurs for zero absolute vorticity (2Ω = 0) These results are consistent with the Bradshaw-Richardson criterion; however the numerical results show that in other cases the Bradshaw-Richardson number $B=2\Omega(W+2\Omega)/W^2$ is not always a good indicator of the flow stability.
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- © 1994 Cambridge University Press
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