Vortices within vortices: hierarchical nature of vortex tubes in turbulence

Kai Bürger1,  Marc Treib1, Rüdiger Westermann1
Suzanne Werner2, Christian C. Lalescu2, Alexander Szalay2, Charles Meneveau2, Gregory L. Eyink2

1Technische Universität München, Germany.
2 The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Background

The JHU turbulence database was used with a state of the art visualisation tool to generate high quality fluid dynamics videos. In this work we investigate the classical idea that smaller structures in turbulent flows, while engaged in their own internal dynamics, are advected by the larger structures. They are not advected undistorted, however. We see instead that the small scale structures are sheared and twisted by the larger scales. This illuminates the basic mechanisms of the turbulent cascade.

Associated publications

Vortices within vortices: hierarchical nature of vortex tubes in turbulence
K. Bürger, M. Treib, R. Westermann, S. Werner, C. Lalescu, A. Szalay, C. Meneveau, G. Eyink
American Physical Society, 65th Annual DFD Meeting, Gallery of Fluid Motion, Video Submission