Publication Date
2016
Journal or Book Title
Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Abstract
we present a new robust method for identifying three dynamically distinct regions in a stratified turbulent flow, which we characterise as quiescent flow, intermittent layers, and turbulent patches. The method uses the cumulative filtered distribution function of the local density gradient to identify each region. We apply it to data from direct numerical simulations of homogeneous stratified turbulence, with unity Prandtl number, resolved on up to 8192x8192x4092 grid points. In addition to classifying regions consistently with contour plots of potential enstropy, our method identifies quiescent regions as regions where ∊ ⁄ νΝ2 ~ Ο(1), layers as regions where ∊ ⁄ νΝ2 ~ Ο(10), and patches as regions where ∊ ⁄ νΝ2 ~ Ο(100). Here ∊ is the dissipation rate of turbulence kinetic energy, ν is the kinematic viscosity, and Ν is the (overall) buoyancy frequency. By far the highest local dissipation and mixing rates, and the majority of dissipation and mixing, occur in patch regions, even when patch regions occupy only 5% of the flow volume. we conjecture that treating stratified turbulence as an instantaneous assemblage of these different regions in varying proportions may explain some of the apparently high scattered flow dynamics and statistics previously reported in the literature.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2016.617
Volume
807
Recommended Citation
Portwood, Gavin D.; de Bruyn Kops, Stephen M.; Taylor, J. R.; Salehipour, H.; and Caulfield, C. P., "Robust Identification of Dynamically Distinct Regions in Stratified Turbulence" (2016). Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 615.
https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2016.617