Some insights on turbulent plane mixing layers from extensive vortex-gas computations

Abstract eng:
We examine the extent of relevance of extensive point-vortex-gas simulations (of Suryanarayanan et al, 2014) to real world turbulent mixing layers. The vortex gas is a singular, 2D, inviscid method used in the 70s and 80s to understand some aspects of turbulent flows, but has since been relegated to the status of a toy model. We challenge this view, by revisiting the vortex gas using modern high performance computing enabling simulations involving much larger number of vortices (upto 32000) than earlier studies and more crucially, large (upto 103) member ensemble averages. The present vortex-gas results are shown to be highly relevant to the large scale dynamics of free shear layers, particularly on the central and controversial issue of universality of self-similar states. The present analysis provides new insights on understanding data from other simulations that seemingly point to non-universal self-preservation behaviour.

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