Steady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations by selective frequency damping

A new method, enabling the computation of steady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations in globally unstable configurations, is presented. We show that it is possible to reach a steady state by damping the unstable (temporal) frequencies. This is achieved by adding a dissipative relaxation term proportional to the high-frequency content of the velocity fluctuations. Results are presented for cavity-driven boundary-layer separation and a separation bubble induced by an external pressure gradient. © 2006 American Institute of Physics

Steady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations by selective frequency damping

A new method, enabling the computation of steady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations in globally unstable configurations, is presented. We show that it is possible to reach a steady state by damping the unstable (temporal) frequencies. This is achieved by adding a dissipative relaxation term proportional to the high-frequency content of the velocity fluctuations. Results are presented for cavity-driven boundary-layer separation and a separation bubble induced by an external pressure gradient. © 2006 American Institute of Physics

Secondary optimal growth and subcritical transition in the plane Poiseuille flow

International audienceNonlinear optimal perturbations leading to subcritical transition with minimum threshold energy are searched in the plane Poiseuille flow at Re = 1500. To this end we proceed in two steps. First a family of optimally growing primary streaks U issued by the optimal vortices of the Poiseuille laminar solution is computed by direct numerical simulation for a set of finite amplitudes A(l) of the primary vortices. An adjoint technique is then used to compute the maximum growth and the finite time Lyapunov exponents of secondary perturbations growing on top of these primary base flows. The secondary optimals take into full account the non-normality and the local instabilities of the tangent operator all along the temporal evolution of the primary flows. The most amplified optimal perturbations are sinuous and realized in correspondence of streaks that are locally unstable. The combinations of primary and secondary perturbations optimal for transition are then explored using direct numerical simulations It is shown that the minimum initial energy is realized by a large set of these combinations, revealing new paths to transition. Surprisingly we find that transition can be efficiently obtained even using secondary perturbations alone, in the absence of primary optimal vortice

Input-output analysis and control design applied to a linear model of spatially developing flows

International audienceThis review presents a framework for the input-output analysis, model reduction, and control design for fluid dynamical systems using examples applied to the linear complex Ginzburg-Landau equation. Major advances in hydrodynamics stability, such as global modes in spatially inhomogeneous systems and transient growth of non-normal systems, are reviewed. Input-output analysis generalizes hydrodynamic stability analysis by considering a finite-time horizon over which energy amplification, driven by a specific input (disturbances/actuator) and measured at a specific output (sensor), is observed. In the control design the loop is closed between the output and the input through a feedback gain. Model reduction approximates the system with a low-order model, making modern control design computationally tractable for systems of large dimensions. Methods from control theory are reviewed and applied to the Ginzburg-Landau equation in a manner that is readily generalized to fluid mechanics problems, thus giving a fluid mechanics audience an accessible introduction to the subject. © 2009 by ASME