ALBERT

Description: An energy criterion for conditional stability is proposed, based on the definition of generalized energies, obtained through a perturbation of the classical L2 (kinetic) energy. This perturbation is such that the contribution of the linear term in the perturbation equation to the generalized energy time derivative is negative definite. A critical amplitude threshold is then obtained by imposing the monotonic decay of the generalized energy. The capabilities of the procedure are appraised through the application to three different low-dimensional models. The effects of different choices in the construction of the generalized energy on the prediction of the critical amplitude threshold in the subcritical regime are also discussed. © 2007 Cambridge University Press.

Description: The laminar flow past a square cylinder symmetrically placed between two parallel walls is considered. A classical vortex wake is shed from the cylinder, but three-dimensional instabilities are present and they develop in complicated flow patterns. The possibility of extracting an accurate low-order model of this flow is explored. © 2006 Cambridge University Press.

Description: We describe the results of a numerical and experimental investigation aimed at assessing the performance of a control method to delay boundary layer separation consisting in the introduction in the surface of contoured transverse grooves, i.e. of small cavities with an appropriate shape orientated transverse to the incoming flow. The shape of the grooves and their depth - which must be significantly smaller than the thickness of the incoming boundary layer - Are chosen so that the flow recirculations present within the grooves are steady and stable. This passive control strategy is applied to an axisymmetric bluff body with various rear boat tails, which are characterized by different degrees of flow separation. Variational multiscale large eddy simulations and wind tunnel tests are carried out. The Reynolds number, for both experiments and simulations, is Re = u∞D/ν = 9.6 × 104; due to the different incoming flow turbulence level, the boundary layer conditions before the boat tails are fully developed turbulent in the experiments and transitional in the simulations. In all cases, the introduction of one single axisymmetric groove in the lateral surface of the boat tails produces significant delay of the boundary layer separation, with consequent reduction of the pressure drag. Nonetheless, the wake dynamical structure remains qualitatively similar to the one typical of a blunt-based axisymmetric body, with quantitative variations that are consistent with the reduction in wake width caused by boat tailing and by the grooves. A few supplementary simulations show that the effect of the grooves is also robust to the variation of the geometrical parameters defining their shape. All the obtained data support the interpretation that the relaxation of the no-slip boundary condition for the flow surrounding the recirculation regions, with an appreciable velocity along their borders, is the physical mechanism responsible for the effectiveness of the present separation control method.

Description: Inertial particles in turbulent flows are characterised by preferential concentration and segregation and, at sufficient mass loading, dense particle clusters may spontaneously arise due to momentum coupling between the phases. These clusters, in turn, can generate and sustain turbulence in the fluid phase, which we refer to as cluster-induced turbulence (CIT). In the present work, we tackle the problem of developing a framework for the stochastic modelling of moderately dense particle-laden flows, based on a Lagrangian probability-density-function formalism. This framework includes the Eulerian approach, and hence can be useful also for the development of two-fluid models. A rigorous formalism and a general model have been put forward focusing, in particular, on the two ingredients that are key in moderately dense flows, namely, two-way coupling in the carrier phase, and the decomposition of the particle-phase velocity into its spatially correlated and uncorrelated components. Specifically, this last contribution allows us to identify in the stochastic model the contributions due to the correlated fluctuating energy and to the granular temperature of the particle phase, which determine the time scale for particle-particle collisions. The model is then validated and assessed against direct-numerical-simulation data for homogeneous configurations of increasing difficulty: (i) homogeneous isotropic turbulence, (ii) decaying and shear turbulence and (iii) CIT. © 2019 Cambridge University Press.