arXiv subjects

M. Obligado

Publications and source records attributed to M. Obligado.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Dynamical hysteresis in the dissipation in turbulent flows

We present evidence of the dynamical hysteretic nature of dissipation in unsteady turbulent flows. Wind tunnel experiments and direct numerical simulations in oscillating flows show that, at stationary mean Reynolds number, the dissipation constant is larger for decelerating flows. Consequently, a periodic behavior of the flow produces a hysteresis cycle, whose area scales with a parameter combining the Strouhal number and the relative amplitude of the forcing. This phenomenon can be explained and quantified through the influence of the unsteady term in the Karman-Howarth equation, with implications for a wide range of out-of-equilibrium systems.

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arXiv2024

A universal relation between intermittency and dissipation within and beyond homogeneous isotropic turbulence

Fundamental quantities of turbulent flows, such as the dissipation \Vsix{parameter} $C_\varepsilon$ and the intermittency \Vsix{parameter} $\mu$, are examined in relation to each other for a broad class of inhomogeneous turbulent flows. In the context of the energy cascade, it is known that $C_\varepsilon$ reflects its basic overall properties, while $\mu$ quantifies the intermittency \Vsix{of} the cascade. Using an extensive hot-wire dataset of turbulent wakes, grid-generated turbulence, and an axisymmetric jet, we individually analyze these quantities as one-dimensional surrogates of the energy cascade, considering only data that exhibit consistent scaling behavior. We find that $\mu$ is inversely proportional to $C_\varepsilon$, offering a new empirical principle that bridges the gap between large and small scales in arbitrary turbulent flows. The generalized framework presented here recovers the established values and trends reported for homogeneous isotropic turbulence, and expands them to cover inhomogeneous situations.

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arXiv2023

Aerodynamics of the square-back Ahmed body under rainfall conditions

We report an experimental investigation about the aerodynamics of a simplified road vehicle, the so-called square-back Ahmed body, under rainfall conditions. A particular emphasis is put on the evolution of the body base pressure distribution with respect to the operating conditions. It is found that rainfall significantly damps both mean base pressure drag and wake dynamics in comparison to dry conditions.

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arXiv2022

Buoyancy driven bubbly flows: scaling of velocities in bubble columns operated in the heterogeneous regime

The hydrodynamics of bubble columns in the heterogeneous regime is revisited. Focusing on air-water systems at large aspect ratio, we show from dimensional analysis that buoyancy equilibrates inertia, and that velocities scale as $(gD\varepsilon)^{1/2}$, where $D$ is the bubble column diameter, $\varepsilon$ the void fraction and $g$ the gravitational acceleration. From new experiments in a $0.4$m diameter column with ${\cal{O}}(10^3)$ particle Reynolds number bubbles and from a detailed analysis of published data, we confirm the self-organization prevailing in the heterogeneous regime, and that the liquid flow rate is only set by the column diameter $D$. Besides, direct liquid and gas velocity measurements demonstrate that the relative velocity increases above the terminal velocity $U_T$ in the heterogeneous regime, and that it tends to $\sim 2.4 U_T$ at very large gas superficial velocities $V_{sg}$. The proposed velocity scaling is shown to hold for liquid and gas mean velocities and for their standard deviations. Furthermore, it is found to be valid over a wide range of conditions, corresponding to Froude numbers $Fr=V_{sg}/(gD)^{1/2}$ from 0.02 to 0.5. Then, the relevance of this scaling for coalescing media is discussed. Moreover, following the successful prediction of the void fraction with a Zuber \& Findlay approach at the beginning of the heterogeneous regime, we show how the void fraction is correlated with $Fr$. Further investigations are finally suggested to connect the increase in relative velocity with meso-scale structures known to exist in the heterogeneous regime.

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arXiv2022

Buoyancy driven bubbly flows: role of meso-scale structures on the relative motion between phases in bubble columns operated in the heterogeneous regime

The hydrodynamics of bubble columns in the heterogeneous regime is investigated from experiments with bubbles at large particle Reynolds numbers and without coalescence. The void fraction field $\varepsilon$ at small scales, analyzed with Voronoï tessellations, corresponds to a Random Poisson Process (RPP) in homogeneous conditions but it significantly differs from a RPP in the heterogeneous regime. The distance to a RPP allows identifying meso-scale structures, namely clusters, void regions and intermediate regions. A series of arguments demonstrate that the bubble motion is driven by the dynamics of these structures. Notably, bubbles in clusters (respectively in intermediate regions) are moving up faster, up to 3.5 (respectively 2) times the terminal velocity, than bubbles in void regions those absolute velocity equals the mean liquid velocity. Besides, the mean unconditional relative velocity of bubbles is recovered from mean relative velocities conditional to meso-scale structures, weighted by the proportion of bubbles in each structure. Assuming buoyancy-inertia equilibrium for each structure, the relative velocity is related with the characteristic size and concentration of meso-scale structures. By taking the latter quantities values at large gas superficial velocities, a cartoon of the internal flow structure is proposed. Arguments are put forward to help understanding why the relative velocity scales as $(gD\varepsilon)^{1/2}$ (with $D$ the column's diameter and $g$ gravity's acceleration). The proposed cartoon seems consistent with a fast-track mechanism that, for the moderate Rouse numbers studied, leads to liquid velocity fluctuations proportional to the relative velocity. The potential impact of coalescence on the above analysis is also commented.

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arXiv2022

Markov property of Lagrangian turbulence

Based on direct numerical simulations with point-like inertial particles, with Stokes numbers, $\textrm{St}=0, 0.5$, $3$, and $6$, transported by homogeneous and isotropic turbulent flows, we present in this letter for the first time evidence for the existence of Markov property in Lagrangian turbulence. We show that the Markov property is valid for a finite step size larger than a Stokes number-dependent Einstein-Markov coherence time scale. This enables the description of multi-scale statistics of Lagrangian particles by Fokker-Planck equations, which can be embedded in an interdisciplinary approach linking the statistical description of turbulence with fluctuation theorems of non-equilibrium stochastic thermodynamics and local flow structures. The formalism allows estimation of the stochastic thermodynamics entropy exchange associated with the particles' Lagrangian trajectories. Entropy consuming trajectories of the particles are related to specific evolution of velocity increments through scales and may be seen as intermittent structures. Statistical features of Lagrangian paths and entropy values are thus fixed by the fluctuation theorems.

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arXiv2021

Interaction of two high Reynolds number axisymmetric turbulent wakes

The interaction between turbulent axisymmetric wakes plays an important role in many industrial applications, notably in the modelling of wind farms. While the non-equilibrium high Reynolds number scalings present in the wake of axisymmetric plates has been shown to modify the averaged streamwise scalings of individual wakes, little attention has been paid to their consequences in terms of wake interactions. We propose an experimental setup that tests the presence of non-equilibrium turbulence using the streamwise variation of velocity fluctuations between two bluff bodies facing a laminar flow. We have studied two different sets of plates (one with regular and another with irregular peripheries) with hot-wire anemometry in a wind tunnel. By acquiring streamwise profiles for different plate separations and identifying the wake interaction length for each separation it is possible to show that the interaction between them is consistent with non-equilibrium scalings. This work also generalises previous studies concerned with the interaction of plane wakes to include axisymmetric wakes. We find that a simple mathematical expression for the wake interaction length based on non-equilibrium turbulence scalings can be used to collapse the streamwise developments of the second, third and fourth moments of the streamwise fluctuating velocity.

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arXiv2021

Clustering of vector nulls in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

We analyze the vector nulls of velocity, Lagrangian acceleration, and vorticity, coming from direct numerical simulations of forced homogeneous isotropic turbulence at $Re_λ\in [40-610]$. We show that the clustering of velocity nulls is much stronger than those of acceleration and vorticity nulls. These acceleration and vorticity nulls, however, are denser than the velocity nulls. We study the scaling of clusters of these null points with $Re_λ$ and with characteristic turbulence lengthscales. We also analyze datasets of point inertial particles with Stokes numbers $St = 0.5$, 3, and 6, at $Re_λ= 240$. Inertial particles display preferential concentration with a degree of clustering that resembles some properties of the clustering of the Lagrangian acceleration nulls, in agreement with the proposed sweep-stick mechanism of clustering formation.

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arXiv2019

The non-equilibrium part of the inertial range in decaying homogeneous turbulence

We use two related non-stationarity functions as measures of the degree of scale-by-scale non-equilibrium in homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The values of these functions indicate significant non-equilibrium at the upper end of the inertial range. Wind tunnel data confirm Lundgren's (2002, 2003) prediction that the two-point separation $r$ where the second and third order structure functions are closest to their Kolmogorov scalings is proportional to the Taylor length scale $λ$, and that both structure functions increasingly distance themselves from their Kolmogorov equilibrium form as $r$ increases away from $λ$ throughout the inertial range. With the upper end of the inertial range in non-equilibrium irrespective of Reynolds number, it is not possible to justify the Taylor-Kolmogorov turbulence dissipation scaling on the basis of Kolmogorov equilibrium.

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arXiv2019

Energy cascades in active-grid-generated turbulent flows

The energy cascade and diverse turbulence properties of active-grid-generated turbulence were studied in a wind tunnel via hot-wire anemometry. To this aim, two active grid protocols were considered. The first protocol is the standard triple-random mode, where the grid motors are driven with random rotation rates and directions, which are changed randomly in time. This protocol has been extensively used due to its capacity to produce higher values of $Re_λ$ than its passive counter part, with good statistical homogeneity and isotropy. The second protocol was a static or open grid mode, where all grid blades were completely open, yielding the minimum blockage attainable with our grid. Centreline streamwise profiles were measured for both protocols and several inlet velocities. It was found that the turbulent flow generated with the triple-random protocol evolved in the streamwise direction consistently with an energy dissipation scaling of the form $\varepsilon=C_\varepsilon u^{\prime3}/L$, with $C_\varepsilon$ being a constant, $L$ the longitudinal integral length-scale, and $u^\prime$ the rms of the longitudinal velocity fluctuations. Conversely for the open-static grid, the energy dissipation followed a non-equilibrium turbulence scaling, namely, $C_\varepsilon \sim Re_G/Re_L$, where $Re_G$ is a global Reynolds number based on the inlet conditions of the flow, and $Re_L$ is based on the local properties of the flow downstream the grid. Furthermore, this open-static grid mode scaling exhibits important differences with other grids, as the downstream location of the peak of turbulence intensity is a function of the inlet velocity. It was also found that a rather simple theoretical model can predict the value of $C_\varepsilon$ based on the number density of zero-crossings of the longitudinal velocity fluctuations. This theory is valid for both active grid operating protocols.

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arXiv2019

Study on preferential concentration of inertial particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence via Big-Data techniques

We present an experimental study of the preferential concentration of sub-Kolmogorov inertial particles in active-grid-generated homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, characterized via Voronoï tessellations. We show that the detection and quantification of clusters and voids is influenced by the intensity of the laser and high values of particles volume fraction $ϕ_v$. Different biases on the statistics of Voronoï cells are analyzed to improve the reliability of the detection and the robustness in the characterization of clusters and voids. We do this by adapting Big-Data techniques that allow to process the particle images up to 10 times faster than standard algorithms. Finally, as preferential concentration is known to depend on multiple parameters, we performed experiments where one parameter was varied and all others were kept constant ($ϕ_v$, Reynolds number based on the Taylor length scale $Re_λ$, and residence time of the particles interacting with the turbulence). Our results confirm, in agreement with published work, that clustering increases with both $ϕ_v$ and $Re_λ$. On the other hand, we find new evidence that the mean size of clusters increases with $Re_λ$ but decreases with $ϕ_v$ and that the cluster settling velocity is strongly affected by $Re_λ$ up to the maximum value studied here, $Re_λ= 250$.

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