B\'enard-von K\'arm\'an vortex street in an exciton-polariton superfluid

The dynamics of an exciton--polariton superfluid resonantly injected into a semiconductor microcavity are investigated numerically. The results reveal that a B\'enard--von K\'arm\'an vortex street is generated in the wake behind an obstacle potential, in addition to the generation of quantized vortex dipoles and dark solitons. The vortex street is shown to be robust against a disorder potential in a sample and it can be observed even in time-integrated measurements.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Slow dynamics in a turbulent von K\'arm\'an swirling flow

We present an experimental study of a turbulent von K\'arm\'an flow produced in a cylindrical container using two propellers. The mean flow is stationary up to $Re = 10^4$, where a bifurcation takes place. The new regime breaks some symmetries of the problem, and is time-dependent. The axisymmetry is broken by the presence of equatorial vortices with a precession movement, being the velocity of the vortices proportional to the Reynolds number. The reflection symmetry through the equatorial plane is broken, and the shear layer of the mean flow appears displaced from the equator. These two facts appear simultaneously. In the exact counterrotating case, a bistable regime appears between both mirrored solutions and spontaneous reversals of the azimuthal velocity are registered. This evolution can be explained using a three-well potential model with additive noise. A regime of forced periodic response is observed when a very weak input signal is applied.Comment: Improved model, additional results and figures, accepted in PR

Magnetized Ekman Layer and Stewartson Layer in a Magnetized Taylor-Couette Flow

In this paper we present axisymmetric nonlinear simulations of magnetized Ekman and Stewartson layers in a magnetized Taylor-Couette flow with a centrifugally stable angular-momemtum profile and with a magnetic Reynolds number below the threshold of magnetorotational instability. The magnetic field is found to inhibit the Ekman suction. The width of the Ekman layer is reduced with increased magnetic field normal to the end plate. A uniformly-rotating region forms near the outer cylinder. A strong magnetic field leads to a steady Stewartson layer emanating from the junction between differentially rotating rings at the endcaps. The Stewartson layer becomes thinner with larger Reynolds number and penetrates deeper into the bulk flow with stronger magnetic field and larger Reynolds number. However, at Reynolds number larger than a critical value $\sim 600$, axisymmetric, and perhaps also nonaxisymmetric, instabilities occur and result in a less prominent Stewartson layer that extends less far from the boundary.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, accepted by PRE, revision according to referee

Plunging Airfoil: Reynolds Number and Angle of Attack Effects

Natural flight has consistently been the wellspring of many creative minds, yet recreating the propulsive systems of natural flyers is quite hard and challenging. Regarding propulsive systems design, biomimetics offers a wide variety of solutions that can be applied at low Reynolds numbers, achieving high performance and maneuverability systems. The main goal of the current work is to computationally investigate the thrust-power intricacies while operating at different Reynolds numbers, reduced frequencies, nondimensional amplitudes, and mean angles of attack of the oscillatory motion of a NACA0012 airfoil. Simulations are performed utilizing a RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) approach for a Reynolds number between 8.5×10^3 and 3.4×10^4, reduced frequencies within 1 and 5, and Strouhal numbers from 0.1 to 0.4. The influence of the mean angle-of-attack is also studied in the range of 0º to 10º. The outcomes show ideal operational conditions for the diverse Reynolds numbers, and results regarding thrust-power correlations and the influence of the mean angle-of-attack on the aerodynamic coefficients and the propulsive efficiency are widely explored.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia e Santander-UBIinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Towards Precision LSST Weak-Lensing Measurement - I: Impacts of Atmospheric Turbulence and Optical Aberration

The weak-lensing science of the LSST project drives the need to carefully model and separate the instrumental artifacts from the intrinsic lensing signal. The dominant source of the systematics for all ground based telescopes is the spatial correlation of the PSF modulated by both atmospheric turbulence and optical aberrations. In this paper, we present a full FOV simulation of the LSST images by modeling both the atmosphere and the telescope optics with the most current data for the telescope specifications and the environment. To simulate the effects of atmospheric turbulence, we generated six-layer phase screens with the parameters estimated from the on-site measurements. For the optics, we combined the ray-tracing tool ZEMAX and our simulated focal plane data to introduce realistic aberrations and focal plane height fluctuations. Although this expected flatness deviation for LSST is small compared with that of other existing cameras, the fast f-ratio of the LSST optics makes this focal plane flatness variation and the resulting PSF discontinuities across the CCD boundaries significant challenges in our removal of the systematics. We resolve this complication by performing PCA CCD-by-CCD, and interpolating the basis functions using conventional polynomials. We demonstrate that this PSF correction scheme reduces the residual PSF ellipticity correlation below 10^-7 over the cosmologically interesting scale. From a null test using HST/UDF galaxy images without input shear, we verify that the amplitude of the galaxy ellipticity correlation function, after the PSF correction, is consistent with the shot noise set by the finite number of objects. Therefore, we conclude that the current optical design and specification for the accuracy in the focal plane assembly are sufficient to enable the control of the PSF systematics required for weak-lensing science with the LSST.Comment: Accepted to PASP. High-resolution version is available at http://dls.physics.ucdavis.edu/~mkjee/LSST_weak_lensing_simulation.pd

Theoretical analysis of perching and hovering maneuvers

Unsteady aerodynamic phenomena are encountered in a large number of modern aerospace and non-aerospace applications. Leading edge vortices (LEVs) are of particular interest because of their large impact on the forces and performance. In rotorcraft applications, they cause large vibrations and torsional loads (dynamic stall), affecting the performance adversely. In insect flight however, they contribute positively by enabling high-lift flight. Identifying the conditions that result in LEV formation and modeling their effects on the flow is an important ongoing challenge. Perching (airfoil decelerates to rest) and hovering (zero freestream velocity) maneuvers are of special interest. In earlier work by the authors, a Leading Edge Suction Parameter (LESP) was developed to predict LEV formation for airfoils undergoing arbitrary variation in pitch and plunge at a constant freestream velocity. In this research, the LESP criterion is extended to situations where the freestream velocity is varying or zero. A point-vortex model based on this criterion is developed and results from the model are compared against those from a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Abstractions of perching and hovering maneuvers are used to validate the low-order model's performance in highly unsteady vortex-dominated flows, where the time-varying freestream/translational velocity is small in magnitude compared to the other contributions to the velocity experienced by the leading edge region of the airfoil. Time instants of LEV formation, flow topologies and force coefficient histories for the various motion kinematics from the low-order model and CFD are obtained and compared. The LESP criterion is seen to be successful in predicting the start of LEV formation and the point-vortex method is effective in modeling the flow development and forces on the airfoil. Typical run-times for the low-order method are between 30-40 seconds, making it a potentially convenient tool for control/design applications

Crossflow instability of finite Bödewadt flows: transients and spiral waves

The flow in an enclosed rotating cylinder with a stationary lower end wall is investigated numerically. For fast rotation rates, the flow in the interior is primarily in the azimuthal direction, with an angular momentum distribution very close to that corresponding to solid-body rotation for about the inner-half radius. The differential rotation sets up a large-scale circulation that is primarily present in the boundary layers on the rotating top and sidewalls and the stationary bottom wall, with a very weak effusive component throughout the bulk interior providing a matching between the boundary layer flows on the top and bottom. The top end wall boundary layer has a profile that very closely matches the von Kármán solution for a rotating disk boundary layer; it is stable and very robust to finite disturbances for all rotation rates considered. The boundary layer on the stationary bottom end wall has a profile that agrees with the Bödewadt solution for a stationary disk with an ambient flow in solid-body rotation. This boundary layer is not robust, suffering crossflow instability to multiarmed spiral waves via a supercritical Hopf bifurcation, as well as being susceptible to axisymmetric circular waves that travel radially inward where the boundary layer profile is most inflectional. In the absence of any external forcing, the circular waves are transitory, but low amplitude forcing can sustain them indefinitely, whereas the spiral waves are essentially unaffected by the external forcing.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Cellular buckling from mode interaction in I-beams under uniform bending

Beams made from thin-walled elements, whilst very efficient in terms of the structural strength and stiffness to weight ratios, can be susceptible to highly complex instability phenomena. A nonlinear analytical formulation based on variational principles for the ubiquitous I-beam with thin flanges under uniform bending is presented. The resulting system of differential and integral equations are solved using numerical continuation techniques such that the response far into the post-buckling range can be portrayed. The interaction between global lateral-torsional buckling of the beam and local buckling of the flange plate is found to oblige the buckling deformation to localize initially at the beam midspan with subsequent cellular buckling (snaking) being predicted theoretically for the first time. Solutions from the model compare very favourably with a series of classic experiments and some newly conducted tests which also exhibit the predicted sequence of localized followed by cellular buckling.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures and 6 table