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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2002

Waves in Turbulent Stably Stratified Shear Flow

Two approaches for the identification of internal gravity waves in sheared and unsheared homogeneous stratified turbulence are investigated. First, the phase angle between the vertical velocity and density fluctuations is considered. It was found, however, that a continuous distribution of the phase angle is present in weakly and strongly stratified flow. Second, a projection onto the solution of the linearized inviscid equations of motion of unsheared stratified flow is investigated. It was found that a solution of the fully nonlinear viscous Navier-Stokes equations can be represented by the linearized inviscid solution. The projection yields a decomposition into vertical wave modes and horizontal vortical modes.

Jacobitz, F. G.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Waves in Turbulent Stably-Stratified Shear Flow

Two approaches for the identification of internal gravity waves in sheared and unsheared homogeneous stratified turbulence are investigated. First, the phase angle between the vertical velocity and density fluctuations is considered. It is found, however, that a continuous distribution of the phase angle is present in weakly and strongly stratified flow. Second, a projection onto the solution of the linearized inviscid equations of motion of unsheared stratified flow is investigated. It is found that a solution of the fully nonlinear viscous Navier-Stokes equations can be represented by the linearized inviscid solution. The projection yields a decomposition into vertical wave modes and horizontal vortical modes.

Jacobitz, F. G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Growth and decay of disturbances in stratified shear flow in a rotating frame

The stability of stratified plane Couette flow in a rotating frame is investigated for a case in which the gravitational force is parallel to the rotation vector. Partial differential equations describing the behavior of disturbances in the linear regime are derived. Unstratified flow is stable as long as the angular momentum gradient is positive. If the gradient is negative, nonaxisymmetric disturbances grow as a power law in time, if the gradient is sufficiently steep. In flow which is unstable to convection, all perturbations asymptotically grow at the rate given by the Brunt-Vaisala frequency. If heat diffusion is included, all nonaxisymmetric perturbations now eventually decay as t exp -2, even if the flow is unstable to convection. If heat diffusion and viscosity are weak, nonaxisymmetric disturbances in convectively unstable flow will undergo a large transient growth before their eventual decay.

Korycansky, D. G.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Wavenumber Vacillation in Weakly-Stratified Baroclinic Flows

The wavenumber selection in an unstable baroclinic flow has long been a subject of investigation in geophysical fluid dynamics. For a weakly unstable flow, the linearly most unstable wave is always the final realized wave. As the flow becomes more unstable, the dominant wave gradually shifts from the most unstable wave to a longer wave. However, when the supercriticality is reduced from the state with a dominant longwave, it may remain in that state even beyond the threshold where it first developed. Hysteresis in a quasigeostrophic system also displays a complex behavior: it occurs not only between the states of different dominant wavenumbers, but also between the states of identical dominant wavenumber but of different dynamic characteristics. In a recent numerical experiment using a high-resolution spectral Eady model with asymmetric Ekman dissipation, it is found that in a weakly stratified flow with strong meridional forcing the flow does not show a preference for any single wave. Instead, the dominant wave periodically varies among the linearly most unstable wave and the longer waves. The mechanism of wavenumber vacillation will be examined in terms of meridional heat flux, the wave PV gradient, and wave saturation. The importance of wave-wave and wave-mean flow interactions will also be investigated.

Chou, Shih-Hung↗
NASA NTRS1993

Interactions between gravity waves and cold air outflows in a stably stratified uniform flow

Interactions between gravity waves and cold air outflows in a stably stratified uniform flow forced by various combinations of prescribed heat sinks and sources are studied using a hydrostatic two-dimensional nonlinear numerical model. The formation time for the development of a stagnation point or reversed flow at the surface is not always directly proportional to the Froude number when wave reflections exist from upper levels. A density current is able to form by the wave-otuflow interaction, even though the Froude number is greater than a critical value. This is the result of the wave-outflow interaction shifting the flow response to a different location in the characteristic parameter space. A density current is able to form or be destroyed due to the wave-outflow interaction between a traveling gravity wave and cold air outflow. This is proved by performing experiments with a steady-state heat sink and an additional transient heat source. In a quiescent fluid, a region of cold air, convergence, and upward motion is formed after the collision between two outflows produced by two prescribed heat sinks. After the collision, the individual cold air outflows lose their own identity and merge into a single, stationary, cold air outflow region. Gravity waves tend to suppress this new stationary cold air outflow after the collision. The region of upward motion associated with the collision is confined to a very shallow layer. In a moving airstream, a density current produced by a heat sink may be suppressed or enhanced nonlinearly by an adjacent heat sink due to the wave-outflow interaction.

Lin, Yuh-Lang↗
NASA NTRS1979

Solitary waves in stratified shear flows

An analysis is described of long, finite-amplitude internal waves in a stratified shear flow. Both regular and singular modes are considered with a nonlinear critical layer employed in the latter case. A three-layer model is used to develop the theory and closed-form expressions are obtained relating the phase speed to the Richardson number, the latter quantity being taken as O(1). The amplitude evolution equation is found to be either the Korteweg-de Vries equation or the Benjamin-Davis-Ono equation depending upon the distance of the more remote boundary from the edge of the shear layer.

Maslowe, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mixing in a stratified shear flow: Energetics and sampling

Direct numerical simulations of the time evolution of homogeneous stably stratified shear flows have been performed for Richardson numbers from 0 to 1 and for Prandtl numbers between 0.1 and 2. The results indicate that mixing efficiency R(sub f) varies with turbulent Froude number in a manner consistent with laboratory experiments performed with Prandtl numbers of 0.7 and 700. However, unlike the laboratory results, for a particular Froude number, the simulations do not show a clear dependence on the magnitude of R(sub f) on Pr. The observed maximum value of R(sub f) is 0.25. When averaged over vertical length scales of an order of magnitude greater than either the overturning or Ozmidov scales of the flow, the simulations indicate that the dissipation rate epsilon is only weakly lognormally distributed with an intermittency of about 0.01 whereas estimated values in the ocean are 3 to 7.

Ivey, G. N.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Linear viscous stability theory for stably stratified shear flow - A review.

In this paper the linear viscous stability theory for stably stratified parallel shear flow is reviewed and some new results are presented. Attention is focused on recent work on unbounded flows with emphasis placed on results which demonstrate apparent destabilizing effects of diffusivity which lie beyond the scope of inviscid theory. In particular it is shown that self-excited disturbances may exist with phase speeds lying outside the range of basic flow speed and that with strong thermal diffusivity, instability may occur even though the local Richardson number exceeds 0.25 throughout the flow.

Gage, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Inviscid vortex motions in weakly three-dimensional boundary layers and their relation with instabilities in stratified shear flows

We consider the inviscid instability of three-dimensional boundary-layer flows with a small crossflow over locally concave or convex walls, along with the inviscid instability of stratified shear flows. We show how these two problems are closely related through the forms of their governing equations. A proposed definition of a generalized Richardson number for the neutrally stable inviscid vortex motions is given. Implications of the similarity between the two problems are discussed.

Blackaby, Nicholas D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Numerical simulations of upstream blocking, columnar disturbances, and bores in stably stratified shear flows over an obstacle

A two-dimensional, nonhydrostatic, elastic numerical model has been used to study the generation of gravity waves for a stably stratified shear flow over an obstacle. When a low-level wind shear is included in the simulation, we find that the predictions for noticeable upstream effects based on Froude number for a uniform flow are no longer accurate. Upstream effects are encountered in the form of upstream propagating columnar disturbances and internal bores away from the obstacle. The limited parameter space studies conducted in this study suggest that the ratio of the shear depth to the obstacle heigh (d/H), the obstacle aspect ratio (H/L), and the Froude number (U/NH) are instrumental in determining the strength and the existence of these upstream disturbances. Thus, the present theoretical and empirical understanding of the importance of the Froude number for determining the nature of upstream effects should be modified substantially to include additional nondimensional parameters when shear is present.

Chen, Chaing↗
NASA NTRS1994

Transport phenomena in stratified multi-fluid flo w in the presence and absence of gravity

An experiment is being conducted to study the effects of buoyancy on planar stratified flows. A wind tunnel has been designed and constructed to generate planar flows with separate heating for the top and bottom planar air jets emerging from slot nozzles separated by an insulating splitter plate. The objective is to generate planar jet flows with well defined and well controlled velocity and temperature profiles. Magnitudes of velocity and temperature will be varied separately in each flow for both laminar and turbulent flow conditions. Both stably and unstably stratified flows will be studied by changing the temperature distributions in each air stream. This paper reports on the design of the apparatus and initial measurements of velocity and turbulence made by laser Doppler velocimetry.

Chigier, Norman↗
NASA NTRS1988

Hypersonic, stratified gas flows past an obstacle - Direct simulation Monte Carlo calculations

Monte Carlo particle dynamics are presently used to study the interaction of a stratified gas that impinges hypersonically on a solid body, whose size is comparable to the gas scale height. Attention is given to the results of these computations for two representative cases, where the obstacle adopted is a short, uniform cylindrical pipe whose upstream end is fully open, facing directly into the flow, while the downstream end is covered by a flat circular endplate containing an 'orifice' at its center. The cases are those of a completely closed and a fully open orifice; together, these bound the full range of obstructed hypersonic, stratified gas flows of interest.

Roberts, William W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Toward a Turbulence Constitutive Relation for Rotating Flows

In rapidly rotating turbulent flows the largest scales of the motion are in approximate geostrophic balance. Single-point turbulence closures, in general, cannot attain a geostrophic balance. This article addresses and resolves the possibility of constitutive relation procedures for single-point second order closures for a specific class of rotating or stratified flows. Physical situations in which the geostrophic balance is attained are described. Closely related issues of frame-indifference, horizontal nondivergence, Taylor-Proudman theorem and two-dimensionality are, in the context of both the instantaneous and averaged equations, discussed. It is shown, in the absence of vortex stretching along the axis of rotation, that turbulence is frame-indifferent. A derivation and discussion of a geostrophic constraint which the prognostic equations for second-order statistics must satisfy for turbulence approaching a frame-indifferent limit is given. These flow situations, which include rotating and nonrotating stratified flows, are slowly evolving flows in which the constitutive relation procedures are useful. A nonlinear non-constant coefficient representation for the rapid-pressure strain covariance appearing in the Reynolds stress and heat flux equations consistent with the geostrophic balance is described. The rapid-pressure strain model coefficients are not constants determined by numerical optimization but are functions of the state of the turbulence as parameterized by the Reynolds stresses and the turbulent heat fluxes. The functions are valid for all states of the turbulence attaining their limiting values only when a limit state is achieved. These issues are relevant to strongly vortical flows as well as flows such as the planetary boundary layers, in which there is a transition from a three-dimensional shear driven turbulence to a geostrophic or horizontal turbulence.

Ristorcelli, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Long nonlinear waves in stratified shear flows

The propagation of finite-amplitude internal waves in a shear flow is considered for wavelengths that are long compared to the shear-layer thickness. Both singular and regular modes are investigated, and the equation governing the amplitude evolution is derived. The theory is generalized to allow for a radiation condition when the region outside the stratified shear layer is unbounded and weakly stratified. In this case, the evolution equation contains a damping term describing energy loss by radiation which can be used to estimate the persistence of solitary waves or nonlinear wave packets in realistic environments. A continuous three-layer model is studied in detail and closed-form expressions are obtained for the phase speed and the coefficients of the nonlinear and dispersive terms in the amplitude equation as a function of Richardson number.

Maslowe, S. A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Comparison of System Analysis Module 1D Mixing Model for Cold Shock Transients in the Gallium Thermal-Hydraulic Mixing Facility

Abstract Liquid metals are being investigated as coolants in many advanced reactor designs because of their high thermal conductivity and effectiveness at high temperatures. However, they often pose challenges to reactor operation and safety because of the complex thermal mixing and stratification in the plenum of pool-type reactor designs. The advanced system analysis code System Analysis Module (SAM) currently under development at Argonne National Laboratory aims to develop and implement thermal mixing models to accurately capture these complex thermal fluid behaviors. In this study, the SAM thermal mixing model was compared against experimental data from the Gallium Thermal-Hydraulic Experiment facility, a scaled liquid metal test facility that uses gallium as a surrogate fluid to investigate the stratification and thermal mixing of low-Prandtl-number fluids in the upper plenum of a liquid metal-cooled reactor. Two cold shock transient cases were used: one with stable stratified flow (Ri = 32) and one with stronger thermal mixing (Ri = 0.5). The resultant temperatures were then compared with the experimental temperatures over the entire plenum to assess the ability of the mixing models to capture the thermal behavior and to better correspond mixing parameters to various flow scenarios. Generally, the zero-dimensional mixing model was more capable of capturing the bulk temperature of the component modeled assuming that an accurate mass flow rate was provided, but it was inherently unable to capture thermal gradients in space. The one-dimensional mixing model was capable of capturing that the thermal gradients provided accurate selection of the mixing coefficients. Further, the temperature at the outlet junction was compared over time for each of the mixing models with the recorded experimental temperature. The implemented mixing models demonstrated the ability to effectively capture the overall thermal behavior for stronger mixing scenarios but struggled with more stably stratified flows. It was found that a system analysis code's covering of the entire range of different operating conditions still remains a challenging task, and it is suggested that further model and closure improvements are necessary to accurately capture complex thermal mixing and stratification phenomena.

stratification↗
NASA NTRS1990

Flow boiling with enhancement devices for cold plate coolant channel design

The use of flow boiling for thermal energy transport is intended to provide an alternative for accommodating higher heat fluxes in commercial space systems. The objectives are to: (1) examine the variations in both the mean and local (axial and circumferential) heat transfer coefficients for a circular coolant channel with either smooth walls, spiral fins, or both spiral fins and a twisted tape; (2) examine the effects of channel diameter and subcooling; and (3) develop an improved reduction analysis and/or suggest possible heat transfer correlation of the present data. Freon-11 is the working fluid. Two-dimensional (circumferential and axial) wall temperature distributions were measured for coolant channels with the above noted internal geometries. The flow regimes which are being studied are: (1) single phase; (2) subcooled flow boiling; and (3) stratified flow boiling. The inside diameter of all test sections is near 1.0 cm. Cicumferentially averaged heat transfer coefficients at several axial locations were obtained for selected coolant channels for a mass velocity of 210 kg/sq m s, an exit pressure of 0.19 MPa (absolute), and an inlet subcooling of 20.8 C. Overall (averaged over the entire channel) heat transfer coefficients were compared for the above channel geometries. This comparison showed that the channel with large pitch spiral fins had higher heat transfer coefficients at all power levels.

Boyd, Ronald D., Sr.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Stability of the stratifield cylindrical annulus flow

The linear stability analysis for the stratified flow between two rotating circular cylinders is formulated. Two approaches for the stability analysis are presented. The first approach results in an algebraic eigenvalue problem, while the second results in an initial value problem for the perturbation function. The advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are discussed and a preferable numerical solution technique is outlined.

Antar, B. N.↗