arXiv subjects

Jörn Sesterhenn

Publications and source records attributed to Jörn Sesterhenn.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Side-wall wetting and linear stability of falling films

We investigate the influence of side-wall wetting on the linear stability of falling liquid films confined in the spanwise direction. A biglobal stability framework is developed, capturing inertia, viscosity, gravity, capillarity, and geometric confinement. The base flow exhibits a curved meniscus and a streamwise velocity overshoot near the side walls. Linear stability analysis based on the Navier--Stokes equations is performed in two limiting regimes. In \textit{confined} channels, where spanwise confinement stabilizes moderate-wavenumber perturbations via side-wall boundary layers, wetting weakens this stabilization; as the contact angle decreases, the neutral curves shift towards the unconfined one-dimensional limit, thus wetting acts as a relative destabilizing mechanism. In contrast, in \textit{weakly-confined} channels where side-wall boundary layers do not provide confinement-induced stabilization, wetting produces a net long-wave stabilization ($k \rightarrow 0$), significantly increasing the critical Reynolds number. This effect strengthens as the contact angle decreases, indicating a competition between destabilizing inertia and stabilizing wetting-induced capillary forces. The predicted long-wave stabilization effect is compared quantitatively with available experimental measurements, showing consistent trends and comparable magnitudes within the accessible parameter range. Perturbation eigenmode structures show that, in confined channels, the relative destabilization is associated with near-wall vortical structures induced by the meniscus elevation and velocity overshoot, which reduce effective viscous damping. In contrast, in weakly-confined channels, stabilization is consistent with interface tensioning through strong anchoring of the perturbations at the side walls.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Detection of dominant large-scale coherent structures in turbulent pipe flow

Large-scale coherent structures are identified in turbulent pipe flow at $Re_τ=181$ by having long lifetimes, living on large scales and travelling with a certain group velocity. A Characteristic Dynamic Mode Decomposition (CDMD) is used to detect events which meet these criteria. To this end, a temporal sequence of state vectors from Direct Numerical Simulations are rotated in space-time such that persistent dynamical modes on a hyper-surface are found travelling along its normal in space-time, which serves as the new time-like coordinate. Reconstruction of the candidate modes in physical space gives the low rank model of the flow. The modes within this subspace are highly aligned, but are separated from the remaining modes by larger angles. We are able to capture the essential features of the flow like the spectral energy distribution and Reynolds stresses with a subspace consisting of about 10 modes. The remaining modes are collected in two further subspaces, which distinguish themselves by their axial length scale and degree of isotropy.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Coherent structure detection and the inverse cascade mechanism in two-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence

Coherent structures in two-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence are ubiquitously observed in nature, experiments and numerical simulations. The present study conducts a comparison between several structure detection schemes based on the Okubo-Weiss criterion, the vorticity magnitude, and Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs), focusing on the inverse cascade in two-dimensional hydrodynamic turbulence. A recently introduced vortex scaling phenomenology [B. H. Burgess, R. K. Scott, J. Fluid Mech., 811:742--756, 2017] allows the quantification of the respective thresholds required by these methods based on physical properties of the flow. The resulting improved comparability allows to identify characteristic relative differences in the detection sensitivity between the employed structure detection techniques. With respect to the inverse cascade of energy, coherent structures contribute, as expected, substantially less to the cross-scale flux than the residual incoherent parts of the flow although the energetically dominant coherent structures lead to an important large-scale deformation of the energy spectrum. This cascade inactivity can be understood by an increased misalignment of strain-rate and subgrid stress tensors within coherent structures. At the same time, the structures exhibit strong and localised nonlinear cross-scale interactions that appear to stabilize them. We quantify and interpret the resulting shape preservation of coherent structures in terms of a multi-scale gradient approach [G. L. Eyink, J. Fluid Mech., 549:191--214, 2006] as the depletion of strain rotation and vorticity gradient stretching while the dynamics of the residual fluctuations are consistent with the vortex thinning picture.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

A "DIY" data acquisition system for acoustic field measurements under harsh conditions

Monitoring active volcanos is an ongoing and important task helping to understand and predict volcanic eruptions. In recent years, analysing the acoustic properties of eruptions became more relevant. We present an inexpensive, lightweight, portable, easy to use and modular acoustic data acquisition system for field measurements that can record data with up to 100~kHz. The system is based on a Raspberry Pi 3 B running a custom build bare metal operating system. It connects to an external analog - digital converter with the microphone sensor. A GPS receiver allows the logging of the position and in addition the recording of a very accurate time signal synchronously to the acoustic data. With that, it is possible for multiple modules to effectively work as a single microphone array. The whole system can be build with low cost and demands only minimal technical infrastructure. We demonstrate a possible use of such a microphone array by deploying 20 modules on the active volcano \textit{Stromboli} in the Aeolian Islands by Sicily, Italy. We use the collected acoustic data to indentify the sound source position for all recorded eruptions.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2019

A Characteristic Dynamic Mode Decomposition

Temporal or spatial structures are readily extracted from complex data by modal decompositions like Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) or Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD). Subspaces of such decompositions serve as reduced order models and define either spatial structures in time or temporal structures in space. On the contrary, convecting phenomena pose a major problem to those decompositions. A structure traveling with a certain group velocity will be perceived as a plethora of modes in time or space respectively. This manifests itself for example in poorly decaying singular values when using a POD. The poor decay is counter-intuitive, since a single structure is expected to be represented by a few modes. The intuition proves to be correct and we show that in a properly chosen reference frame along the characteristics defined by the group velocity, a POD or DMD reduces moving structures to a few modes, as expected. Beyond serving as a reduced model, the resulting entity can be used to define a constant or minimally changing structure in turbulent flows. This can be interpreted as an empirical counterpart to exact coherent structures. We present the method and its application to a head vortex of a compressible starting jet.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

The impact of turbulence on flying insects in tethered and free flight: high-resolution numerical experiments

Flapping insects are remarkably agile fliers, adapted to a highly turbulent environment. We present a series of high resolution numerical simulations of a bumblebee interacting with turbulent inflow. We consider both tethered and free flight, the latter with all six degrees of freedom coupled to the Navier--Stokes equations. To this end we vary the characteristics of the turbulent inflow, either changing the turbulence intensity or the spectral distribution of turbulent kinetic energy. Active control is excluded in order to quantify the passive response real animals exhibit during their reaction time delay, before the wing beat can be adapted. Modifying the turbulence intensity shows no significant impact on the cycle-averaged aerodynamical forces, moments and power, compared to laminar inflow conditions. The fluctuations of aerodynamic observables, however, significantly grow with increasing turbulence intensity. Changing the integral scale of turbulent perturbations, while keeping the turbulence intensity fixed, shows that the fluctuation level of forces and moments is significantly reduced if the integral scale is smaller than the wing length. Our study shows that the scale-dependent energy distribution in the surrounding turbulent flow is a relevant factor conditioning how flying insects control their body orientation.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Mode-based derivation of adjoint equations - a lazy man's approach

A method to calculate the adjoint solution for a large class of partial differential equations is discussed. It differs from the known continuous and discrete adjoint, including automatic differentiation. Thus, it represents an alternative, third method. It is based on a modal representation of the linearized operator of the governing (primal) system. To approximate the operator an extended version of the Arnoldi factorization, the dynamical Arnoldi method (DAM) is introduced. The DAM allows to derive approximations for operators of non-symmetric coupled equations, which are inaccessible by the classical Arnoldi factorization. The approach is applied to the Burgers equation and to the Euler equations on periodic and non-periodic domains. Finally, it is tested on an optimization problem.

math.NA↗

arXiv2018

Time-series analysis of fissure-fed multi-vent activity: a snapshot from the July 2014 eruption of Etna volcano (Italy)

On 5 July 2014, an eruptive fissure opened on the eastern flank of Etna volcano (Italy) at ~3.000 m a.s.l. Strombolian activity and lava effusion occurred simultaneously at two neighbouring vents. In the following weeks, eruptive activity led to the build-up of two cones, tens of meters high, here named Crater N and Crater S. To characterize the short-term (days) dynamics of this multi-vent system, we performed a multi-parametric investigation by means of a dense instrumental network. The experimental setup, deployed on July 15-16th at ca. 300 m from the eruption site, comprised two broadband seismometers and three microphones as well as high speed video and thermal cameras. Thermal analyses enabled us to characterize the style of eruptive activity at each vent. In particular, explosive activity at Crater N featured higher thermal amplitudes and a lower explosion frequency than at Crater S. Several episodes of switching between puffing and Strombolian activity were noted at Crater S through both visual observation and thermal data; oppositely, Crater N exhibited a quasi-periodic activity. The quantification of the eruptive style of each vent enabled us to infer the geometry of the eruptive system: a branched conduit, prone to rapid changes of gas flux accommodated at the most inclined conduit (i.e. Crater S). Accordingly, we were able to correctly interpret acoustic data and thereby extend the characterization of this twovent system.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2018

The shifted proper orthogonal decomposition: A mode decomposition for multiple transport phenomena

Transport-dominated phenomena provide a challenge for common mode-based model reduction approaches. We present a model reduction method, which is suited for these kind of systems. It extends the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) by introducing time-dependent shifts of the snapshot matrix. The approach, called shifted proper orthogonal decomposition (sPOD), features a determination of the {\it multiple} transport velocities and a separation of these. One- and two-dimensional test examples reveal the good performance of the sPOD for transport-dominated phenomena and its superiority in comparison to the POD.

math.NA↗

arXiv2016

Added costs of insect-scale flapping flight in unsteady airflows

The aerial environment in the operating domain of small-scale natural and artificial flapping wing fliers is highly complex, unsteady and generally turbulent. Considering flapping flight in an unsteady wind environment with a periodically varying lateral velocity component, we show that body rotations experienced by flapping wing fliers result in the reorientation of the aerodynamic force vector that can render a substantial cumulative deficit in the vertical force. We derive quantitative estimates of the body roll amplitude and the related energetic requirements to maintain the weight support in free flight under such conditions. We conduct force measurements of a miniature hummingbird-inspired robotic flapper and numerical simulations of a bumblebee. In both cases, we demonstrate the loss of weight support due to body roll rotations. Using semi-restrained flight measurements, we demonstrate the increased power requirements to maintain altitude in unsteady winds, achieved by increasing the flapping frequency. Flapping fliers may increase their flapping frequency as well as the stroke amplitude to produce the required increase in aerodynamic force, both of these two types of compensatory control requiring additional energetic cost. We analyze the existing data from experiments on animals flying in von Kármán streets and find reasonable agreement with the proposed theoretical model.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2016

Statistics of fully turbulent impinging jets

Direct numerical simulations of sub- and supersonic impinging jets with Reynolds numbers of 3300 and 8000 are carried out to analyse their statistical properties. The influence of the parameters Mach number, Reynolds number and ambient temperature on the mean velocity and temperature fields are studied. For the compressible subsonic cold impinging jets into a heated environment, different Reynolds analogies are assesses. It is shown, that the (original) Reynolds analogy as well as the Chilton Colburn analogy are in good agreement with the DNS data outside the impinging area. The generalised Reynolds analogy (GRA) and the Crocco-Busemann relation are not suited for the estimation of the mean temperature field based on the mean velocity field of impinging jets. Furthermore, the prediction of fluctuating temperatures according to the GRA fails. On the contrary, the linear relation between thermodynamic fluctuations of entropy, density and temperature as suggested by Lechner et al. (2001) can be confirmed for the entire wall jet. The turbulent heat flux and Reynolds stress tensor are analysed and brought into coherence with the primary and secondary ring vortices of the wall jet. Budget terms of the Reynolds stress tensor are given as data base for the improvement of turbulence models.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2016

On the origin of impinging tones at low supersonic flow

Impinging compressible jets may cause deafness and material fatigue due to immensely loud tonal noise. It is generally accepted that a feedback mechanism similar to the screech feedback loop is responsible for impinging tones. The close of the loop remained unclear. One hypothesis hold up in the literature explains the emanated sound with the direct interaction of vortices and the wall. Other explanations name the standoff shock oscillations as the origin of the tones. Using direct numerical simulations (DNS) we were able to identify the source mechanism for under-expanded impinging jets with a nozzle pressure ratio (NPR) of 2.15 and a plate distance of 5 diameters. We found two different types of interactions between vortices and shocks to be responsible for the generation of the impinging tones. They are not related to screech.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2015

FluSI: A novel parallel simulation tool for flapping insect flight using a Fourier method with volume penalization

FluSI, a fully parallel open source software for pseudo-spectral simulations of three-dimensional flapping flight in viscous flows, is presented. It is freely available for non-commercial use under [https://github.com/pseudospectators/FLUSI]. The computational framework runs on high performance computers with distributed memory architectures. The discretization of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier--Stokes equations is based on a Fourier pseudo-spectral method with adaptive time stepping. The complex time varying geometry of insects with rigid flapping wings is handled with the volume penalization method. The modules characterizing the insect geometry, the flight mechanics and the wing kinematics are described. Validation tests for different benchmarks illustrate the efficiency and precision of the approach. Finally, computations of a model insect in the turbulent regime demonstrate the versatility of the software.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2013

A conservative, skew-symmetric Finite Difference Scheme for the compressible Navier--Stokes Equations

We present a fully conservative, skew-symmetric finite difference scheme on transformed grids. The skew-symmetry preserves the kinetic energy by first principles, simultaneously avoiding a central instability mechanism and numerical damping. In contrast to other skew-symmetric schemes no special averaging procedures are needed. Instead, the scheme builds purely on point-wise operations and derivatives. Any explicit and central derivative can be used, permitting high order and great freedom to optimize the scheme otherwise. This also allows the simple adaption of existing finite difference schemes to improve their stability and damping properties.

physics.flu-dyn↗