Streak instability in turbulent channel flow: the seeding mechanism of large-scale motions

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that large-scale motions in turbulent channel flow originate from an instability of amplified streaky structures in the outer region, revealing a key mechanism behind the formation of very-large-scale motions.

Contribution

The paper provides direct evidence that streak instability drives large-scale motions, using numerical experiments and linear theory to identify the sinuous-mode instability as a fundamental process.

Findings

Large-scale motions are generated by streak instability in the outer region.

An energetic vortical structure emerges at specific streamwise wavelengths.

The size of streak instability determines the scale of very-large-scale motions.

Abstract

It has often been proposed that the formation of large-scale motion (or bulges) is a consequence of successive mergers and/or growth of near-wall hairpin vortices. In the present study, we report our direct observation that large-scale motion is generated by an instability of an `amplified' streaky motion in the outer region (i.e. very-large-scale motion). We design a numerical experiment in turbulent channel flow up to $Re_\tau\simeq 2000$ where a streamwise-uniform streaky motion is artificially driven by body forcing in the outer region computed from the previous linear theory (Hwang \& Cossu, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 664, 2015, pp. 51--73). As the forcing amplitude is increased, it is found that an energetic streamwise vortical structure emerges at a streamwise wavelength of $\lambda_x/h\simeq 1-5$ ($h$ is the half-height of the channel). The application of dynamic mode decomposition and the examination of turbulence statistics reveal that this structure is a consequence of the sinuous-mode instability of the streak, a sub-process of the self-sustaining mechanism of the large-scale outer structures. It is also found that the statistical features of the vortical structure are remarkably similar to those of the large-scale motion in the outer region. Finally, it is proposed that the largest streamwise length of the streak instability determines the streamwise length scale of very-large-scale motion.