Cascade of circulicity in compressible turbulence

TL;DR

This paper investigates the cascade process of circulicity in compressible turbulence, demonstrating an effective cascade driven by solenoidal forcing and analyzing transfer and production effects through coarse-graining.

Contribution

It derives a Monin-Yaglom relation for circulicity and shows an effective cascade exists in compressible turbulence independent of the equation of state.

Findings

Effective cascade of circulicity exists with solenoidal forcing

Coarse-graining separates transfer and production contributions

Results are independent of the flow's equation of state

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to investigate whether a cascading process can be associated with the rotational motions of compressible three-dimensional turbulence. This question is examined through the lens of circulicity, a concept related to the angular momentum carried by large turbulent scales. By deriving a Monin-Yaglom relation for circulicity, we show that an ``effective'' cascade of this quantity exists, provided the flow is stirred with a force having a solenoidal component. This outcome is obtained independently from the expression of the equation of state. To supplement these results, a coarse-graining analysis of the flow is performed. This approach allows to separate the contributions of the transfer and production terms of circulicity and to discuss their respective effects in the inertial range.