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Rotating turbulent flow is routinely encountered in geophysical environment, such as in cyclones and tornadoes. The number of investigations on inhomogeneous rotating turbulence is relatively sparse as compared to its homogeneous counterpart although they are more common in nature. The present study involves Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of a ‘cloud’ of turbulence with quiescent fluid on either side, under background rotation. The motivation behind the study is to understand the role of inertial waves in inhomogeneous rotating turbulence. In the results obtained, helicity - a quantity representative of the degree of entanglement of the vortices, is found to propagate in a way typical of inertial waves. The thickness of the growing cloud is found to scale linearly with time.
Author(s):
Avishek Ranjan
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
Peter A Davidson
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
United Kingdom