On a new by-pass transition mechanism in wall bounded flows
Résumé
A new mechanism by pass in a wall bounded internal flow is proposed and the proposal is checked by direct numerical simulations of high temporal and spatial resolution. The mechanism is based on the interactions of the localized perturbations, rather than the effect of a single perturbation investigated so far in the classical by pass transition process. It is first shown by theoretical considerations that two pairs of quasi-streamwise vortices can interact near the wall in such a manner that the compression (stretching) of the existing wall normal vorticity induced by one of the pairs can enhance a new streamwise vorticity zone that can lead to new coherent structures and enhance considerably the transition process. Direct numerical simulations confirm this hypothesis.