arXiv subjects

Shyam Sunder Gopalakrishnan

Publications and source records attributed to Shyam Sunder Gopalakrishnan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Transient growth in a flat plate boundary layer under a stream with uniform shear

One of the simplest problems involving external vorticity in boundary layer flows is the flow over a semi-infinite plate under a stream of uniform shear. We study the transient growth phenomenon in this flow to investigate the role of freestream shear on energy amplification, and analyse the differences with the Blasius flow. The initial optimal disturbance which triggers the maximum growth is found to be streamwise vortices, as in other shear flows. Compared to the Blasius boundary layer, higher optimum energy and larger spanwise wavelength of streamwise vortices have been observed. We provide scaling laws for the maximum optimal amplification, which is found to increase exponentially with the freestream shear gradient.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Experimental studies on the frequency selection in flat plate wakes: mean flow stability analyses and low dimensional modeling

We investigate the global frequency selection of two-dimensional vortex shedding in the flat plate wake. The analysis is based on the mean flow velocity profiles obtained from experimental measurements carried out for two values of Reynolds number, 1850 and 3350, which are based on the plate thickness and the free-stream velocity. Two different trailing edge geometries of the flat plate are considered in this study: blunt and circular. By performing local spatio-temporal analyses on the measured mean flow velocity profiles, we estimate the global shedding frequency of the flow. This is in excellent agreement with the shedding frequency measured experimentally. To complement the study, we carry out a low-dimensional modeling based on the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the flow fields which is novel for flat plate wakes. We observe that a model based on only two POD modes produces an accurate estimate of the global shedding frequency. Our results also highlight the role of the nonlinear interaction strength between the mean flow with the higher harmonics thereby experimentally supporting the theoretical criterion outlined in Sipp & Lebedev (JFM 2007).

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Dissipative light bullets in Kerr cavities: multi-stability, clustering, and rogue waves

We report the existence of stable dissipative light bullets in Kerr cavities. These three-dimensional (3D) localized structures consist of either an isolated light bullet (LB), or could occur in clusters forming well-defined 3D patterns. They can be seen as stationary states in the reference frame moving with the group velocity of light within the cavity. The number of LBs and their distribution in 3D settings are determined by the initial conditions while their maximum peak power remains constant for a fixed value of the system parameters. Their bifurcation diagram allows us to explain this phenomenon as a manifestation of homoclinic snaking for dissipative light bullets. However, when the strength of the injected beam is increased, LBs lose their stability and the cavity field exhibits giant, short living three-dimensional pulses. The statistical characterization of pulse amplitude reveals a long tail probability distribution indicating the occurrence of extreme events; often called rogue waves.

physics.optics↗