Numerical study of rotating turbulence with external forcing

Abstract

Direct numerical simulations at 2563 resolution have been carried out to study the response of isotropic turbulence to the concurrent effects of solid-body rotation and stochastic, isotropic forcing at the large scales. Because spectral transfer to the smaller scales is weakened by rotation, energy input from forcing gradually builds up at the large scales, causing the overall kinetic energy to increase. At intermediate wave numbers the energy spectrum undergoes a transition from a limited k-5/3 inertial range to k-2 scaling recently predicted in the literature. Although the Reynolds stress tensor remains approximately isotropic and three-component, evidence for anisotropy and quasi-two-dimensionality in length scales and spectra in different velocity components and directions is strong. The small scales are found to deviate from local isotropy, primarily as a result of anisotropic transfer from the large scales. To understand the spectral dynamics of this flow, we study the detailed behavior of nonlinear triadic interactions in wave number space. Spectral transfer in the velocity component parallel to the axis of rotation is qualitatively similar to that in nonrotating turbulence; however, the perpendicular component is characterized by a much weakened energy cascade at high wave numbers and a local reverse transfer at the largest scales. The broader implications of this work are briefly addressed. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.