WAVELET ANALYSIS OF COHERENT STRUCTURES IN A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MIXING LAYER

Wavelet analysis is applied to the results obtained by the direct numerical simulation of a three-dimensional (3D) mixing layer in order to investigate coherent structures in dimension of scale. First, 3D orthonormal wavelet bases are constructed, and the corresponding decomposition algorithm is developed. Then the Navier-Stokes equations are transformed into the wavelet space and the architecture for multi-scale analysis is established. From this architecture, the coarse field images in different scales are obtained and some local statistical quantities are calculated. The results show that, with the development of a mixing layer, the energy spectrum densities for different wavenumbers increase and the energy is transferred from the average flow to vortex structures in different scales. Due to the non-linear interactions between different scales, cascade processes of energy are very complex. Because vortices always roll and pair at special areas, for a definite scale, the energy is obtained from other scales at some areas while it is transferred to other scales at other areas. In addition, energy dissipation and transfer always occur where an intense interaction between vortices exists.

The stress-microstructure relationship in an evolving mixing layer of fiber suspensions

The equations for fiber suspensions in an evolving mixing layer were solved by the spectral method, and the trajectory and orientation of fibers were calculated based on the slender body theory. The calculated spatial and orientation distributions of fibers are consistent with the experimental ones that were performed in this paper. The relationship between the microstructure of fibers and additional stress was examined. The results show that the spatial and orientation distributions of fibers are heterogeneous because of the influence of coherent vortices in the flow, which leads to the heterogeneity of the additional stress. The degree of heterogeneity increases with the increasing of St number and fiber aspect ratio. The fibers in the flow make the momentum loss thickness of the mixing layer thicker and accelerate the vorticity dispersion.

Numerical simulations of compressible mixing layers with a discontinuous Galerkin method

Discontinuous Galerkin（DG） method is known to have several advantages for flow simulations,in particular,in fiexible accuracy management and adaptability to mesh refinement. In the present work,the DG method is developed for numerical simulations of both temporally and spatially developing mixing layers. For the temporally developing mixing layer,both the instantaneous fiow field and time evolution of momentum thickness agree very well with the previous results. Shocklets are observed at higher convective Mach numbers and the vortex paring manner is changed for high compressibility. For the spatially developing mixing layer,large-scale coherent structures and self-similar behavior for mean profiles are investigated. The instantaneous fiow field for a three-dimensional compressible mixing layer is also reported,which shows the development of largescale coherent structures in the streamwise direction. All numerical results suggest that the DG method is effective in performing accurate numerical simulations for compressible shear fiows.

FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE STREAMWISE VORTICES IN MIXING LAYERS

The evolution of the three-dimensional time-developing mixing layer was simulated numerically using the pseudo-spectral method. The initial perturbations consisted of the two-dimensional fundamental wave and the streamwise-invariant three-dimensional disturbance. A comparison of the formations of the streamwise vortices with different amplitude functions for three-dimensional disturbances was made. In one case the results are similar to that of Rogers and Moser (1992), whereas a different way in which the quadrupole forms and sudden expansion of the rib were observed in another case. The simulation also confirms that stretching by the forming roller rather than Rayleigh centrifugal instability is responsible for the formation of the rib. Finally, numerical flow visualization results were presented. (Edited author abstract) 9 Refs.

Analysing the structure of the optical path length of a supersonic mixing layer by using wavelet methods

The nano-particle-based planar laser scattering （NPLS） technique is used to measure the density distribution in the supersonic mixing layer of the convective Mach number 0.12, and the optical path difference （OPL）, which is quite crucial for the study of aero-optics, is obtained by post processing. Based on the high spatiotemporal resolutions of the NPLS, the structure of the OPL is ana]ysed using wavelet methods. The coherent structures of the OPL are extracted using three methods, including the methods of thresholding the coefficients of the orthogonal wavelet transform and the wavelet packet transform, and preserving a number of wavelet packet coefficients with the largest amplitudes determined by the entropy dimension. Their performances are compared, and the method using the wavelet packet is the best. Based on the viewpoint of multifractals, we study the OPL by the wavelet transform maxima method （WTMM）, and the result indicates that its scaling behaviour is evident.

Nanoparticle nucleation and coagulation in a mixing layer

Numerical simulation of nanoparticle nucleation and coagulation in a mixing layer with sulfuric acid vapor binary system is performed using the large eddy simulation and the direct quadrature method of moment. The distributions of number concentration, volume concentration, and average diameter of nanoparticles are obtained. The results show that the coherent structures have an important effect on the distributions of number concentration, volume concentration and average diameter of nanoparticles via continuously transporting and diffusing the nanoparticles to the area of low particle concentration. In the streamwise direction, the number concentration of nanoparticles decreases, while the volume concentration and the average diameter increase. The distributions of number concentration, volume concentration and average diameter of nanoparticles are spatially inhomogeneous. The characteristic time of nucleation is shorter than that of coagulation. The nucleation takes place more easily in the area of low temperature because where the number concentration of nanoparticles is high, while the intensity of coagulation is mainly affected by the number concentration. Both nucleation and coagulation result in the variation of average diameter of nanoparticles.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SUPERSONIC REACTING MIXING LAYER

In this paper, the supersonic chemically reacting mixing layer is simulated with the third order ENN scheme, based on the Navier-Stokes equations, containing transport equations of all species. The numerical results show that the thickness of mixing layer increases gradually along the flow direction, and that the Kelvin-Helmholtz, instabilities may not exist in mixing layer flows.

Mode decomposition of a noise suppressed mixing layer

Noise is generated in a two-dimensional mixing layer due to the growing of instability waves and vortex pairings. The adjoint-based control methodology has shown to be a robust tool to suppress noise radiation. The mode decomposition algorithms such as the compressible version of proper orthogonal decomposition （POD） and dynamic mode decomposition （DMD） are employed to analyze the spatial/spatial-temporal coherent structures for a consecutive data sets of the controlled mixing layer and its uncontrolled counterpart. The analyses of POD indicate that the y-direction body force control mainly modify the most energetic spatial structures, and increase the uniformity of the flow. The analyses of DMD show us prevalent frequencies and corresponding mode structures, and the stability characteristics of each mode can be obtained from DMD-spectrum. The spectral signatures illustrate that a lot of neutral/slightly damping modes emerging in uncontrolled flow within the frequency range （w 〈 0.4） are suppressed due to control, relevant spatial-temporal structures are also varied, which is coincident with the change of far-field noise spectra. From the view of mode decomposition, the action of control redistribute the energy for frequency components of ~ 〈 0.4 by weakening nonlinearities and regularizing corresponding dynamic structures in streamwise direction, and thus suppress the noise radiation. Moreover, the POD- and DMD-analysis in this study demon- strate that DMD can serve as an important supplement for POD in analyzing a time-resolved physical process.

ON THE EVOLUTION OF LARGE SCALE STRUCTURES IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL MIXING LAYERS

In this paper, several mathematical models for the large scale structures in some special kinds of mixing layers, which might be practically useful for enhancing the mixing, are proposed. First, the linear growth rate of the large scale structures in the mixing layers was calculated. Then, using the much improved weakly non-linear theory, combined with the energy method, the non-linear evolution of large scale structures in two special mixing layer configurations is calculated. One of the mixing lavers has equal magnitudes of the upstream velocity vectors, while the angles between the velocity vectors and the trailing edge were pi /2 - phi and pi /2 + phi, respectively. The other mixing layer was generated by a splitter-plate with a 45-degree-sweep trailing edge.

NUMERICAL RESEARCH ON THE COHERENT STRUCTURE IN THE VISCOELASTIC SECOND-ORDER MIXING LAYERS

Numerical simulations have been performed in time-developing plane mixing layers of the viscoelastic second-order fluids with pseudo-spectral method. Roll-up, pairing and merging of large eddies were examined at high Reynolds numbers and low Deborah numbers. The effect of viscoelastics on the evolution of the large coherent structure was shown by making a comparison between the second-order and Newtonian fluids at the same Reynolds numbers.

EFFECT OF SUSPENDED SOLID PARTICLES ON UNSTABILITY OF TWO-DIMENSION MIXING LAYER

By considering the effect of suspended solid particles in the ordinary equations for two-dimension inviscid incompressible mixing layer, the Rayleigh equation and the modified Rayleigh equation are obtained. And then, by solving the corresponding eigen-value equations with numerical computational method, the relation curves between perturbation frequency and spacial growth rate of the mixing layer for the varying particle loading, ratio of particle velocity to fluid velocity and Stokes number are got. Sever al important conclusions on the effect of suspended solid particles on unstability of the mixing layer are presented in the end by analyzing all the relation curves.

Wavy structures in compressible mixing layers

Semi-periodic structures namely inclined wavy structures （IWS） are experimentally observed in compressible mixing layers at two convective Mach numbers （Mc = 0.11 and 0.47）. Flow structures are visualized by the laserinduced planar laser Mie scattering （PLMS） technique. Two methods are developed to investigate the spatial distribu- tion and geometry of IWS： （1） the dominant mode extrac- tion （DME） method, to extract the dominant modes of IWS from the streamwise gray-level fluctuation, and （2） the phase tracking （PT） method, to identify the shape of IWS. The re- sults suggest that pressure perturbations account for the for- marion of IWS in the initial mixing region and the joint effect of dilatation and coherent vortices enhances IWS in the well- developed region. The large transverse （cross-flow） scale of the IWS and their relation to coherent vortices （CV） indicate that the disturbance originated from CV in the mixing center propagates far into the free streams. The DME and the PT method are shown to be the effective tools to study the geometrical features of wavy structures in compressible shear flows.

Eulerian-Lagranigan simulation of aerosol evolution in turbulent mixing layer

The formation and evolution of aerosol in turbulent flows are ubiquitous in both industrial processes and nature. The intricate interaction of turbulent mixing and aerosol evolution in a canonical turbulent mixing layer was investigated by a direct numerical simulation （DNS） in a recent study （Zhou, K., Attili, A., Alshaarawi, A., and Bisetti, F. Simulation of aerosol nucleation and growth in a turbulent mixing layer. Physics of Fluids, 26, 065106 （2014））. In this work, Monte Carlo （MC） simulation of aerosol evolution is carried out along Lagrangian trajectories obtained in the previous simulation, in order to quantify the error of the moment method used in the previous simulation. Moreover, the particle size distribution （PSD）, not available in the previous works, is also investigated. Along a fluid parcel moving through the turbulent flow, temperature and vapor concentration exhibit complex fluctuations, triggering complicate aerosol processes and rendering complex PSD. However, the mean PSD is found to be bi-modal in most of the mixing layer except that a tri-modal distribution is found in the turbulent transition region. The simulated PSDs agree with the experiment observations available in the literature. A different explanation on the formation of such PSDs is provided.

Vortex structure simulation for supersonic mixing layers using nonlinear PSE method

The method of nonlinear parabolized stability equations（PSE） is applied in the simulation of vortex structures in compressible mixing layer.The spatially-evolving unstable waves,which dominate the vortex structure,are investigated through spatial marching method.The instantaneous flow field is obtained by adding the harmonic waves to basic flow.The results show that T-S waves do not keep growing exponentially as the linear evolution,the energy transfer to high order harmonic modes,and that finally all harmonic modes get saturated due to nonlinear interaction.The mean flow distortion induced by the nonlinear interaction between the harmonic modes and their conjugate harmonic ones,makes great change of the average flow and increases the thickness of mixing layer. PSE methods can well capture the two- and three-dimensional large scale nonlinear vortex structures in mixing layers such as vortex roll-up,vortex pairing,and A vortex.

Impacts of a wind stress and a buoyancy flux on the seasonal variation of mixing layer depth in the South China Sea

The seasonal variation of mixing layer depth （MLD） in the ocean is determined by a wind stress and a buoy- ance flux. A South China Sea （SCS） ocean data assimilation system is used to analyze the seasonal cycle of its MLD. It is found that the variability of MLD in the SCS is shallow in summer and deep in winter, as is the case in general. Owing to local atmosphere forcing and ocean dynamics, the seasonal variability shows a regional characteristic in the SCS. In the northern SCS, the MLD is shallow in summer and deep in winter, affected coherently by the wind stress and the buoyance flux. The variation of MLD in the west is close to that in the central SCS, influenced by the advection of strong western boundary currents. The eastern SCS presents an annual cycle, which is deep in summer and shallow in winter, primarily impacted by a heat flux on the air-sea interface. So regional characteristic needs to be cared in the analysis about the MLD of SCS.

Inhibition of the aero-optical effects of supersonic mixing layers based on the RVGAs'control

The infrared imaging windows of the hyper/supersonic optical dome are encountering severe aero-optical effects[AOEs],so a flow control device,the ramp vortex generator array[RVGA]is proposed based on the ramp vortex generator to inhibit the supersonic mixing layers’AOE,which is done by the nanotracer-based planar laser scattering technique and ray-tracing method.The experiments prove that under different pressure conditions,RVGA can reduce the mean and standard deviation of the root mean square of the optical path difference[OPDrms]and reduce the supersonic mixing layers’thickness and mixture a great deal.The AOE of the pressure-matched mixing layer is the weakest.Higher RVGA results in better optical performance.RVGA has the potential to be applied to supersonic film cooling to reduce aero-optical aberrations.

Large eddy simulations of a turbulent mixing layer periodically excited with fundamental and third harmonic frequency

A better understanding of the mixing behavior of excited turbulent mixing layers is critical to a number of aerospace applications.Previous studies of excited turbulent mixing layers focused on single frequency excitation or the excitation with fundamental and its second harmonic frequency.There is a lack of detailed studies on applying low and higher frequency excitation.In this study,we have performed large-eddy simulations of periodically excited turbulent mixing layers.The excitation consists of a fundamental frequency and its third harmonic.We have used phase-averaging to identify the vortex structure and strength in the mixing layer,and we have studied the vortex dynamics.Two different vortex paring mechanisms are observed depending on the phase shift between the two excitation frequencies.The influence of these two mechanisms on the mixing of a passive scalar is also studied.It is found that exciting the mixing layer with these low and high frequencies has initially an adverse influence on the mixing process;however,it improves the mixing further downstream of the splitter plate with the excitation using a phase shift ofΔφ=πshowing the best mixing performance.The present works shed lights on the fundamental vortex dynamics,and has great potential for aeronautical,automotive and combustion engineering applications.

Persistent mixing bursts in the equatorial Pacific thermocline induced by persistent equatorial waves

A recent study by Liu et al.(2020)suggested that due to the saturation of equatorially trapped planetary waves with different dynamical types,temporal periods,meridional and baroclinic modes,complex layer structures of vertical velocity shear and hence turbulent mixing could frequently occur in the thermocline of the eastern equatorial Pacific.We investigated the occurrence of the interior turbulent mixing as indicated by shear instabilities,above the Equatorial Undercurrent(EUC)core at three equatorial sites along 140°W,170°W,and 165°E,respectively,based mainly on data from the Tropical Atmosphere and Ocean(TAO)mooring array.We found that turbulent mixing bursts persisted in the thermocline of all three sites.Specifically,the interior turbulent mixing layers(ITMLs)could occur in probability of approximately 68%,53%,and 48%at the three sites,respectively.The overall occurrence probability shows obvious and similar biannual variations at 140°W and 170°W,which is higher in boreal from late summer to winter and lower in spring.Vertically,the ITMLs are primarily located above the EUC core and prevail in deeper(shallower)layers from late summer to winter(spring).Most ITMLs(70%)lasted for hours to 3 days,and a few of them(15%)for more than 7 days.The thicknesses of ITMLs were concentrated between 15 and 55 m.At 165°E,the vertical distribution of ITML occurrence probability was different from that at 140°W and 170°W,as it did not show a preference for depths;the durations of ITMLs are short(also from hours to several days)and their thicknesses were between 5 and 25 m.These properties,particularly the high occurrence probability,and short durations demonstrated the persistence of thermocline mixing in the western to eastern equatorial Pacific thermocline and confirmed the generation mechanism by persistent equatorial waves as well.

Evaluation of Nonbreaking Wave-Induced Mixing Parameterization Schemes Based on a One-Dimensional Ocean Model

Surface waves have a considerable effect on vertical mixing in the upper ocean.In the past two decades,the vertical mixing induced through nonbreaking surface waves has been used in ocean and climate models to improve the simulation of the upper ocean.Thus far,several nonbreaking wave-induced mixing parameterization schemes have been proposed;however,no quantitative comparison has been performed among them.In this paper,a one-dimensional ocean model was used to compare the performances of five schemes,including those of Qiao et al.(Q),Hu and Wang(HW),Huang and Qiao(HQ),Pleskachevsky et al.(P),and Ghantous and Babanin(GB).Similar to previous studies,all of these schemes can decrease the simulated sea surface temperature(SST),increase the subsurface temperature,and deepen the mixed layer,thereby alleviating the common thermal deviation problem of the ocean model for upper ocean simulation.Among these schemes,the HQ scheme exhibited the weakest wave-induced mixing effect,and the HW scheme exhibited the strongest effect;the other three schemes exhibited roughly the same effect.In particular,the Q and P schemes exhibited nearly the same effect.In the simulation based on observations from the Ocean Weather Station Papa,the HQ scheme exhibited the best performance,followed by the Q scheme.In the experiment with the HQ scheme,the root-mean-square deviation of the simulated SST from the observations was 0.43℃,and the mixed layer depth(MLD)was 2.0 m.As a contrast,the deviations of the SST and MLD reached 1.25℃ and 8.4 m,respectively,in the experiment without wave-induced mixing.

What induced the trend shift of mixed-layer depths in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current region in the mid-1980s?

An obvious trend shift in the annual mean and winter mixed layer depth(MLD)in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current(ACC)region was detected during the 1960–2021 period.Shallowing trends stopped in mid-1980s,followed by a period of weak trends.The MLD deepening trend difference between the two periods were mainly distributed in the western areas in the Drake Passage,the areas north to Victoria Land and Wilkes Land,and the central parts of the South Indian sector.The newly formed ocean current shear due to the meridional shift of the ACC flow axis between the two periods is the dominant driver for the MLD trends shift distributed in the western areas in the Drake Passage and the central parts of the South Indian sector.The saltier trends in the regions north to Victoria Land and Wilkes Land could be responsible for the strengthening mixing processes in this region.