Vortex Tubes in Turbulent Flows: Identification, Representation, Reconstruction

Abstract

In many cases the structure of a fluid flow is well-characterized by its vortices, especially for the purpose of visualization. In this paper we present a new algorithm for identifying vortices in complex flows. The algorithm produces a skeleton line along the center of a vortex by using a two-step predictor-corrector scheme. The vorticity vector field serves as the predictor and the pressure gradient (in the perpendicular plane) serves as the corrector. We describe an economical description of the vortex tube's cross-section: a 5- term truncated Fourier series is generally sufficient, and it compresses the representation of the flow by a factor of 4000 or more. We reconstruct the vortex tubes as generalized cylinders, providing a polygonal mesh suitable for display on a graphics workstation. We show how the reconstructed geometry of vortex tubes can be enhanced to help visualize helical motion in a static image. Vortex, Visualization.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA280504

Entities

People

  • Bart A. Singer
  • David C. Banks

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Classification
  • Computers
  • Engineering
  • Flow
  • Flow Fields
  • Fluid Flow
  • Fourier Series
  • Geometry
  • Hilsch Tubes
  • Identification
  • Shear Flow
  • Simulations
  • Three Dimensional
  • Turbulent Flow
  • Visualizations

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Finite Element Method (FEM) for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs)