Self-adaptation and viscous selection in concentrated two-dimensional vortex dipoles

International audienceIn this Letter we deal with 2D direct numerical simulations of concentrated vortex dipoles. We show that various initial dipolar vorticity distributions evolve towards a specific family of dipoles parametrized by the dipole aspect ratio a/b, where a is the radius of the vortices based on the vorticity polar moment in half a plane and b is the separation between the vortex centroids. This convergence is achieved through viscous effects. The considered Reynolds numbers Re= G/v are Re= 3000 and Re= 15000. Moreover, all the dipoles of this family are quasi-steady solutions of the Euler equations. Their scatter plots and drift velocities are given for a/b<03. © 2000 American Institute of Physics

Spatio-temporal development of the long and short-wave vortex-pair instabilities

International audienceWe consider the spatio-temporal development of the long-wave and short-wave instabilities in a pair of counter-rotating vortices in the presence of a uniform axial advection velocity. The stability properties depend upon the aspect ratio a/b of the vortex pair, where a is the core radius of the vortices and b their separation, and upon W0/U0 the ratio between the self-induced velocity of the pair and the axial advection velocity. For sufficiently small W0/U0, the instabilities are convective, but an increase of W0/U0 may lead to an absolute instability. Near the absolute instability threshold, spatial growth rates are larger than those predicted by temporal stability theory. Considering aeronautical applications, it is shown that instabilities of the type considered in this communication cannot become absolute in farfield wakes of high aspect ratio wings. © 2000 American Institute of Physics

Amplifier and resonator dynamics of a low-Reynolds-number recirculation bubble in a global framework

International audienceThe stability behaviour of a low-Reynolds-number recirculation flow developing in a curved channel is investigated using a global formulation of hydrodynamic stability theory. Both the resonator and amplifier dynamics are investigated. The resonator dynamics, which results from the ability of the flow to self-sustain perturbations, is studied through a modal stability analysis. In agreement with the literature, the flow becomes globally unstable via a three-dimensional stationary mode. The amplifier dynamics, which is characterized by the ability of the flow to exhibit large transient amplifications of initial perturbations, is studied by looking for the two- and three-dimensional initial perturbations that maximize the energy gain over a given time horizon. The optimal initial two-dimensional perturbations have the form of wave packets localized in the upstream part of the recirculation bubble. It is shown that they are first amplified while travelling downstream along the shear layer of the recirculation bubble and then decay when leaving the recirculation bubble. Maximal energy gain is thus achieved for a time horizon approximately corresponding to the propagation of the wave packet along the whole recirculation bubble. The resonator and amplifier dynamics are associated with different types of structures in the flow: three-dimensional steady structures for the resonator dynamics and nearly two-dimensional unsteady structures for the amplifier dynamics. A comparison of the strength of the two dynamics is proposed. The transient energetic growth of the two-dimensional unsteady perturbations is large at moderate time, compared to the very weak exponential growth of the three-dimensional stationary mode. This suggests that, as soon as there is noise in the system, the amplifier dynamics dominates the resonator dynamics, thus explaining the appearance of unsteadiness rather than the emergence of stationary structures in similar experimental flows. © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Direct and adjoint global modes of a recirculation bubble: Lift-up and convective non-normalities

International audienceThe stability of the recirculation bubble behind a smoothed backward-facing step is numerically computed. Destabilization occurs first through a stationary three-dimensional mode. Analysis of the direct global mode shows that the instability corresponds to a deformation of the recirculation bubble in which streamwise vortices induce low- and high-speed streaks as in the classical lift-up mechanism. Formulation of the adjoint problem and computation of the adjoint global mode show that both the lift-up mechanism associated with the transport of the base flow by the perturbation and the convective non-normality associated with the transport of the perturbation by the base flow explain the properties of the flow. The lift-up non-normality differentiates the direct and adjoint modes by their component: the direct is dominated by the streamwise component and the adjoint by the cross-stream component. The convective non-normality results in a different localization of the direct and adjoint global modes, respectively downstream and upstream. The implications of these properties for the control problem are considered. Passive control, to be most efficient, should modify the flow inside the recirculation bubble where direct and adjoint global modes overlap, whereas active control, by for example blowing and suction at the wall, should be placed just upstream of the separation point where the pressure of the adjoint global mode is maximum. © 2009 Cambridge University Press

La recherche expérimentale en aérodynamique à l’ONERA – L’exemple du buffet transsonique

International audienceThe paper reviews research conducted at ONERA over the last thirty years on the transonic buffet. We first present the transonic buffet phenomenon and we explain its importance for aeronautical applications. Then, a distinction is made between the 2D buffet produced by an airfoil and the 3D buffet that characterizes swept wings of finite span. The 2D buffet amounts to a pure oscillation of the shock phase-locked with the detachment and reattachment of the boundary layer downstream, whereas the 3D buffet takes the form of a pocket of broadband perturbations located in a limitedportion of the wing. We recall that these mechanisms were first studied in the 1980s through a series of tests conducted in the transonic wind tunnel ONERA T2 at Toulouse and in the large transonic wind tunnel ONERA S2Ma at Modane. Since this pioneering work, progress in the measurement techniques has led to the constitution of a comprehensive database of the 2D buffet that we describe. This database, obtained in the wind tunnel ONERA S3Ch at Meudon, has been extensively used to validate various CFD tools, with the latter being used in turn to investigate the buffet physics. We illustrate this collaboration between simulation and physics by recalling that a linear stability analysis of accurate Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions made it possible to prove that the buffet on a 2D airfoil stems from a global instability mechanism.We also review more recent tests done in the case of a laminar airfoil, which reveal very distinct behaviors of the buffet flow. This illustrates how sensitive the buffet is to the nature of the boundary layer. The last section of the paper gives a short overview of advanced simulations for these different test cases. In the conclusion, we list research perspectives, which include some more general topics such as data assimilation.L'article passe en revue les recherches menées à l'ONERA au cours des trente dernières années sur le buffet transsonique. Nous présentons d'abord le phénomène du buffet transsonique et nous expliquons son importance pour les applications aéronautiques. On distingue ensuite le buffet 2D produit par une aile bidimensionnelle et le buffet 3D qui caractérise les ailes en flèches d’envergure finie. Le buffet 2D se présente sous la forme d’une oscillation d’ensemble de tout l’écoulement couplant un déplacement de l’onde de choc et le décollement de la couche limite en aval de ce choc. Le buffet 3D prend quant à lui la forme d'une poche de perturbations localisées dans une portion limitée de l'aile. Nous rappelons que ces mécanismes ont d'abord été étudiés à l’ONERA dans les années 80 à travers une série de tests réalisés dans la soufflerie transsonique T2 à Toulouse et dans la grande soufflerie transsonique S2 de Modane. Ces travaux pionniers ont ensuite été approfondis dans la soufflerie S3Ch de Meudon de manière à élaborer une base de données complète du buffet 2D sur une aile 2D en régime turbulent, que nous décrivons. Cette base de données a été utilisée de façon extensive, à l’ONERA et dans d’autres institutions pour valider différents outils de simulation, ces derniers étant alors utilisés à leur tour pour étudier la physique du buffet. Nous illustrons cette collaboration entre la simulation et la physique en rappelant qu'une analyse de stabilité linéaire de solutions précises des équations de Navier-Stokes moyennées au sens de Reynolds (RANS) a permis de prouver que le buffet 2D provient d'un mécanisme d'instabilité globale. Nous passons également en revue des essais plus récents réalisés dans la soufflerie S3Ch sur le cas d'une aile 2D laminaire qui révèlent des comportements très distincts par rapport au cas turbulent. Cela illustre la sensibilité du buffet à la nature de la couche limite. Le dernier paragraphe du document donne un bref aperçu des simulations avancées de ces différents cas tests. Dans la conclusion, nous énumérons les perspectives de recherche sur le sujet, qui incluent aussi des thématiques méthodologiques plus générales telles que l'assimilation de données

Pan-Africanism: a contorted delirium or a pseudonationalist paradigm? Revivalist critique

This essaic-article goes against established conventions that there is anything ethno-cultural (and hence national) about the so-called African tribes. Drawing largely from the culture history of precolonial/prepolitical Africans—that is, the Bantu/Cushitic-Ethiopians (Azanians)—the author has demonstrated vividly that far from being distinct ethno-culture national communities, the so-called tribes of African states are better considered subculture groups, whose regional culture practices erstwhile paid tribute to their nation’s main culture center in Karnak. For example, using the culture symbols and practices of some local groups and linking them to the predynastic and dynastic Pharaonic periods, I argued that there is compelling evidence against qualifying Africa’s tribes as distinct ethno-culture national entities. In genuine culture context, I stressed that the Ritual of Resurrection and its twin culture process of the mummification of deceased indigenous Pharaohs tend to suggest that the object of the Bantu/Cushitic-Ethiopians national culture was life (in its eternal manifestation) and then resurrection later, and that there are recurring (culturally sanctioned) ethical examples among the culture custodians of these subculture groups that generally pay tribute to the overarching culture norm. Furthermore, the fact that the Ritual of Resurrection began in the Delta region and ended at the Sources of the Nile, where the spirit of the deceased indigenous Pharaohs was introduced into the spiritual world of their ancestors, contradicts conventional perceptions that ancient Egypt was a distinct national community isolated from precolonial/prepolitical Africa/Azania

Phase Behavior of Polyelectrolyte Block Copolymers in Mixed Solvents

We have studied the phase behavior of the poly(n-butyl acrylate)-b-poly(acrylic acid) block copolymer in a mixture of two miscible solvents, water and tetrahydrofuran (THF). The techniques used to examine the different polymers, structures and phases formed in mixed solvents were static and dynamic light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence microscopy. By lowering the water/THF mixing ratio X, the sequence unimers, micron-sized droplets, polymeric micelles was observed. The transition between unimers and the micron-sized droplets occurred at X = 0.75, whereas the microstructuration into core-shell polymeric micelles was effective below X = 0.4. At intermediate mixing ratios, a coexistence between the micron-sized droplets and the polymeric micelles was observed. Combining the different aforementioned techniques, it was concluded that the droplet dispersion resulted from a solvent partitioning that was induced by the hydrophobic blocks. Comparison of poly(n-butyl acrylate) homopolymers and poly(n-butyl acrylate)-b-poly(acrylic acid) block copolymers suggested that the droplets were rich in THF and concentrated in copolymers and that they were stabilized by the hydrophilic poly(acrylic acid) moieties.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Macromolecule

Reaction ⁶Li(p, Δ⁺⁺)⁶He At 1.04 GeV And The Δ−N Interaction

The reaction ⁶Li(p, Δ⁺⁺)⁶He has been studied at 1.04 GeV for transferred momenta ranging from 0.11 to 0.35 (GeV/c)2. An exponential decrease of the cross section is observed. A Glauber-type calculation is presented. The possibility of extracting information on σ(ΔN) and α(ΔN) is discussed

The motor function measure to study limitation of activity in children and adults with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

AbstractObjectiveTo study the applicability and responsiveness of the motor function measure (total score and sub-scores D1, D2 and D3) in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.Patients and methodsTwo hundred and thirty-three patients aged 4–86 years were included in the descriptive study. Scores and sub-scores were analyzed by age and by disease subtypes. Sensitivity to change (responsiveness) was estimated in patients having had at least two evaluations with at least six months between the first and the second.ResultsMotor function measure scores decrease with age, especially sub-scores D1 and D3. There were no significant differences between the scores according to type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The scores were significantly higher for ambulatory than for non-ambulatory patients. Significant responsiveness was demonstrated only in type 2 Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.Discussion/conclusionsOur results suggest that, especially for D1 and D3 sub-scores, the motor function measure is a reliable and valid outcome measure that can be usefully applied in longitudinal follow-up. Studies of longer duration could demonstrate its responsiveness in other Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease subtypes