A new method, enabling the computation of steady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations in globally unstable configurations, is presented. We show that it is possible to reach a steady state by damping the unstable (temporal) frequencies. This is achieved by adding a dissipative relaxation term proportional to the high-frequency content of the velocity fluctuations. Results are presented for cavity-driven boundary-layer separation and a separation bubble induced by an external pressure gradient. © 2006 American Institute of Physics

The global linear stability of the flat-plate boundary-layer flow to three-dimensional disturbances is studied by means of an optimization technique. We consider both the optimal initial condition leading to the largest growth at finite times and the optimal time-periodic forcing leading to the largest asymptotic response. Both optimization problems are solved using a Lagrange multiplier technique, where the objective function is the kinetic energy of the flow perturbations and the constraints involve the linearized Navier–Stokes equations. The approach proposed here is particularly suited to examine convectively unstable flows, where single global eigenmodes of the system do not capture the downstream growth of the disturbances. In addition, the use of matrix-free methods enables us to extend the present framework to any geometrical configuration. The optimal initial condition for spanwise wavelengths of the order of the boundary-layer thickness are finite-length streamwise vortices exploiting the lift-up mechanism to create streaks. For long spanwise wavelengths, it is the Orr mechanism combined with the amplification of oblique wave packets that is responsible for the disturbance growth. This mechanism is dominant for the long computational domain and thus for the relatively high Reynolds number considered here. Three-dimensional localized optimal initial conditions are also computed and the corresponding wave packets examined. For short optimization times, the optimal disturbances consist of streaky structures propagating and elongating in the downstream direction without significant spreading in the lateral direction. For long optimization times, we find the optimal disturbances with the largest energy amplification. These are wave packets of Tollmien–Schlichting waves with low streamwise propagation speed and faster spreading in the spanwise direction. The pseudo-spectrum of the system for real frequencies is also computed with matrix-free methods. The spatial structure of the optimal forcing is similar to that of the optimal initial condition, and the largest response to forcing is also associated with the Orr/oblique wave mechanism, however less so than in the case of the optimal initial condition. The lift-up mechanism is most efficient at zero frequency and degrades slowly for increasing frequencies. The response to localized upstream forcing is also discussed.

Two-dimensional global eigenmodes are used as a projection basis both for analysing the dynamics and building a reduced model for control in a prototype separated boundary-layer flow. In the present configuration, a high-aspect-ratio smooth cavity-like geometry confines the separation bubble. Optimal growth analysis using the reduced basis shows that the sum of the highly non-normal global eigenmodes is able to describe a localized disturbance. Subject to this worst-case initial condition, a large transient growth associated with the development of a wavepacket along the shear layer followed by a global cycle related to the two unstable global eigenmodes is found. The flow simulation procedure is coupled to a measurement feedback controller, which senses the wall shear stress at the downstream lip of the cavity and actuates at the upstream lip. A reduced model for the control optimization is obtained by a projection on the least stable global eigenmodes, and the resulting linear-quadratic-Gaussian controller is applied to the Navier–Stokes time integration. It is shown that the controller is able to damp out the global oscillations.

No abstract

This paper presents matrix-free methods for the stability analysis and control design of high-dimensional systems arising from the discretized linearized Navier-Stokes equations. The methods are applied to the twodimensional spatially developing Blasius boundary-layer. A critical step in the process of systematically investigating stability properties and designing feedback controllers is solving very large eigenvalue problems by storing only velocity fields at different times instead of large matrices. For stability analysis, where the entire dynamics of perturbations in space and time is of interest, iterative and adjoint-based optimization techniques are employed to compute the global eigenmodes and the optimal initial conditions. The latter are the initial conditions yielding the largest possible energy growth over a finite time interval. The leading global eigenmodes take the shape of Tollmien-Schlichting wavepackets located far downstream in streamwise direction, whereas the leading optimal disturbances are tilted structures located far upstream in the boundary layer. For control design on the other hand, the input-output behavior of the system is of interest and the snapshot-method is employed to compute balanced modes that correctly capture this behavior. The inputs are external disturbances and wall actuation and the outputs are sensors that extract wall shear stress. A lowdimensional model that capture the input-output behavior is constructed by projection onto balanced modes. The reduced-order model is then used