An Investigation of Chaotic Kolmogorov Flows

Abstract

A two-dimensional flow governed by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with a steady spatially periodic forcing (known as the Kolmogorov flow) is numerically simulated. The behavior of the flow and its transition states as the Reynolds number Re varies is investigated in detail, as well as a number of the flow features. A sequency of bifurcations is shown to take place in the flow as Re varied. Two main regimes of the flow have been observed: small and large scale structures regimes corresponding to different ranges of Re. Each of the regimes includes a number of quasiperiodic, chaotic and relaminarization windows. In addition, each range contains a chaotic window with non-ergodic chaotic attractors. Spatially disordered, but temporally steady states have been discovered in large scale structure regime. Features of the diverse cases are displayed in terms of the temporal power spectrum, Poincare sections and, where possible, Lyapunov exponents and Kaplan-Yorke dimension. (JHD)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA227152

Entities

People

  • L. Sirovich
  • N. Fitzmaurice
  • N. Platt

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Differential Equations
  • Equations
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Lepidoptera
  • Mathematics
  • Navier Stokes Equations
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Power Spectra
  • Reynolds Number
  • Steady State
  • Turbulence
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Wave Propagation and Nonlinear Chaotic Dynamics.