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The interest towrds machine learning applied to turbulence has experienced a fast-paced growth in the last years. Thanks to deep-learning algorithms, flow-control stratigies have been designed, as well as tools to model and reproduce the most relevant turbulent features. In particular, the success of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) has been demonstrated in many recent studies and applications. The main objective of this project is to assess the capability of these networks to reproduce the temporal evolution of a minimal turbulent channel flow. We first obtain a data-driven model based on a modal decomposition in the Fourier domain (FFT-POD) on the time series sampled from the flow. This particular case of turbulent flow allows us to accurately simulate the most relevant coherent structures close to the wall. Long-short-term-memory (LSTM) networks and a Koopman-based framework (KNF) are trained to predict the temporal dynamics of the minimal channel flow modes. Tests with different configurations highlight the limits of the KNF method compared to the LSTM, given the complexity of the data-driven model. Long-term prediction for LSTM show excellent agreement from the statistical point of view, with errors below 2% for the best models. Furthermore, the analysis of the chaotic behaviour thorugh the use of the Lyapunov exponent and of the dynamic behaviour through Pointcaré maps emphasizes the ability of LSTM to reproduce the nature of turbulence. Alternative reduced-order models (ROMS), based on the identification of different turbulent structures, are explored and they continue to show a good potential in predicting the temporal dynamics of the minimal channel.

Les matériaux absorbants acoustiques, qui sont d’un intérêt stratégique en aéronautique pour la diminution passive du bruit des réacteurs d’avion, conduisent à une physique complexe où l’écoulement turbulent, des ondes acoustiques, et l’absorbant interagissent. Cette thèse porte sur la simulation de cette interaction dans le problème modèle d’un écoulement de canal turbulent avec des parois impédantes, par le biais de simulations numériques aux grandes échelles implicites, dans un contexte de calcul haute performance.Une étude est d’abord faite des grandes échelles dans un canal turbulent avec des parois rigides, en s’intéressant plus particulièrement à l’effet d’une faible compressibilité (Mach <3) sur les caractéristiques de ces échelles.Un canal turbulent avec une paroi de type impédance est ensuite simulé, avec une condition habituelle de périodicité dans le sens de l’écoulement. On observe que pour des faibles valeurs de la résistance et des fréquences de résonance basses, l’écoulement est instable, ce qui engendre une onde le long de l’absorbant, qui modifie la turbulence et augmente la trainée.Enfin, on se tourne vers une simulation de canal spatial en levant la condition de périodicité dans la direction de l’écoulement, ce qui permet d’introduire une onde acoustique en entrée de domaine. L’atténuation de l’onde dans l’écoulement turbulent est étudiée avec des parois rigides, puis un absorbant acoustique est introduit. Dans cette configuration plus réaliste, il est confirmé que l’écoulement peut devenir instable au bord amont de l’absorbant, ce qui empêche l’atténuation de l’onde acoustique incidente. / Acoustic liners are a key technology in aeronautics for the passive reduction of the noise generated by aircraft engines. They are employed in a complex flow scenario in which the acoustic waves, the turbulent flow, and the acoustic liner are interacting.During this thesis, in a context of high performance computing, a compressible Navier-Stokes solver has been developed to perform implicit large eddy simulations of a model problem of this interaction: a turbulent plane channel flow with one wall modeled as an impedance condition.As a preliminary step the wall-turbulence in rigid channel flows and associated large-scale motions are investigated. A straightforward algorithm to detect these flow features is developed and the effect of compressibility on the flow structures and their contribution to the drag are studied. Then, the interaction between the acoustic liner and turbulent flow is investigated assuming periodicity in the streamwise direction. It is shown that low resistance and low resonance frequency tend to trigger flow instability, which modifies the conventional wall-turbulence and also results in drag increase.Finally, the simulation of a spatial channel flow was addressed. In this case no periodicity is assumed and an acoustic wave can be injected at the inlet of the domain. The effect of turbulence on sound attenuation is studied without liner, before a liner is introduced on a part of the channel bottom wall. In this more realistic case, it is confirmed that low resistance acoustic liners trigger an instability at the leading edge of the liner, resulting in drag increase and excess noise generation.

Large-eddy simulation (LES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of different mathematical models for scalar variance and its dissipation rate as applied to both a non-reacting bluff-body turbulent flow and an extension to a reacting case. In the conserved scalar formalism, the mean value of a thermo-chemical variable is obtained through the PDF-weighted integration of the local description over the conserved scalar, the mixture fraction. The scalar variance, one of the key parameters for the determination of a presumed β-function PDF, is obtained by solving its own transport equation with the unclosed scalar dissipation rate modelled using either an algebraic expression or a transport equation. The proposed approach is first applied to URANS and then extended to LES. Velocity, length and time scales associated with the URANS modelling are determined using the standard two-equation k-ε transport model. In contrast, all three scales required by the LES modelling are based on the Smagorinsky subgrid scale (SGS) algebraic model. The present study proposes a new algebraic and a new transport LES model for the scalar dissipation rate required by the transport equation for scalar variance, with a time scale consistent with the Smagorinsky SGS model.

From the Proceedings of the 1975 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 11-12, 1975, Tempe, Arizona / The importance of water resources and an increasing interest on improvement of out environment have identified the urgent need for methods to predict river response due to various changes resulting from proposed water resource planning. Fluvial geomorphology and hydraulic elements that are related to the interpretation and modeling of response to the problem are presented. Interpretation of alluvial rivers should be preceded by a qualitative analysis and information is presented which should be adequate to carry this out in most cases. This should be followed by a quantitative evaluation of channel response and water sediment routing using theory supplemented by physical and mathematical model studies of the system.

Tidal bores are surge waves propagating upstream rivers as the tide rushes into estuaries. They induce large turbulences and mixing of the river and estuary flow of which effects remain scarcely studied. Herein, tidal bores are investigated experimentally and numerically with an idealised model of positive surges propagating upstream an initially steady flow. The experimental work estimated flow changes and typical turbulent length scale evolution induced by undular bores with and without breaking roller. The bore passage was associated with large free surface and flow velocity fluctuations, together with some variations of the integral turbulent scales. Coherent turbulent structures appeared in the wake of leading wave near the bed and moved upward into the water column during the bore propagation. The numerical simulations were based on previous experimental work on undular bores. Some test cases were realised to verify the accuracy of the numerical methods. The results gave access to the detailed flow evolution during the bore propagation. Large velocity reversals were observed close to the no-slip boundaries. In some configurations, coherent turbulent structures appeared against the walls in the wake of the bore front.

Large-eddy simulation (LES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of different mathematical models for scalar variance and its dissipation rate as applied to both a non-reacting bluff-body turbulent flow and an extension to a reacting case. In the conserved scalar formalism, the mean value of a thermo-chemical variable is obtained through the PDF-weighted integration of the local description over the conserved scalar, the mixture fraction. The scalar variance, one of the key parameters for the determination of a presumed β-function PDF, is obtained by solving its own transport equation with the unclosed scalar dissipation rate modelled using either an algebraic expression or a transport equation. The proposed approach is first applied to URANS and then extended to LES. Velocity, length and time scales associated with the URANS modelling are determined using the standard two-equation k-ε transport model. In contrast, all three scales required by the LES modelling are based on the Smagorinsky subgrid scale (SGS) algebraic model. The present study proposes a new algebraic and a new transport LES model for the scalar dissipation rate required by the transport equation for scalar variance, with a time scale consistent with the Smagorinsky SGS model.

L'approche de simulation numérique directe est utilisée pour la simulation d'un écoulement en canal pleinement turbulent afin d'étudier l'influence des grandes échelles de l'écoulement ainsi que la dynamique du transport des contraintes de Reynolds et de la vorticité. Les simulations sont réalisées sur un domaine de calcul de grande taille afin de pouvoir capturer l'intégralité des grandes structures de l'écoulement, et portent sur une gamme relativement étendue de nombres de Reynolds (Reτ =180, 395, 590 et 1100) allant des écoulements faiblement turbulents à des écoulements modérément turbulents. L'invariance remarquable des fluctuations de vorticité normale est expliquée à travers une analyse spectrale de la vorticité. L'étude des différents termes du transport de l'intensité turbulente de la vorticité révèle par ailleurs que le pic de production de la vorticité transverse est situé à proximité immédiate de la paroi et pourrait ouvrir la voie à des stratégies de réduction de la traînée basées sur la réduction de la vorticité transverse. Le transport des contraintes de Reynolds dans la couche interne et dans la couche de recouvrement est également étudié. A proximité des parois, la dépendance des termes de transport avec le nombre de Reynolds dans les échelles internes montre que ces dernières ne suffisent pas à caractériser la dynamique des contraintes de Reynolds dans cette zone. Cette insuffisance des échelles internes nous a amenés à nous intéresser plus particulièrement au processus de production à travers les statistiques de la production conditionnées par le passage par niveau des fluctuations de la vitesse normale ou longitudinale. Cette étude nous a permis d'identifier les fluctuations qui contribuent le plus à la production et celles qui sont à l'origine de la dépendance avec le nombre de Reynolds. / The direct numerical simulations of a fully turbulent channel flow are investigated to study the large scales effects on the flow quantities such as the Reynolds stresses and vorticity transport processes. Large computational domains are used so as to cover the largest scales of the flow. The simulations are performed in a wide range of Reynolds numbers (Reτ=180, 395, 590 and 1100) going from weakly to moderately high Reynolds number turbulent flows. The invariance of the wall-normal vorticity fluctuations scaled in wall variables in the inner layer versus the Reynolds number is analyzed using a spectral analysis. The vorticity transport equations are investigated in detail, presumably for the first time. The transport mechanism of the Reynolds shear stresses are subsequently analyzed in the inner layer and the overlapping zone. In the wall layer, different terms of the Reynolds stresses transport expressed in inner scales depend on the Reynolds number. This scaling failure lead us to focus on the statistics of the production when the streamwise or normal velocity fluctuations cross a given level, through the conditional Palm statistics. The main aim is to identify those amplitudes of the fluctuations that contribute more to the production and those which are responsible for the production Reynolds dependence.

Recently, a new kind of turbulence has been discovered in the flow of concentrated polymer melts and solutions. These flows, known as purely elastic flows, become unstable when the elastic forces are stronger than the viscous forces. This contrasts with Newtonian turbulence, a more familiar regime where the fluid inertia dominates. While there is little understanding of purely elastic turbulence, there is a well-established dynamical systems approach to the transition from laminar flow to Newtonian turbulence. In this project, I apply this approach to purely elastic flows. Laminar flows are characterised by ordered, locally-parallel streamlines of fluid, with only diffusive mixing perpendicular to the flow direction. In contrast, turbulent flows are in a state of continuous instability: tiny differences in the location of fluid elements upstream make a large difference to their later locations downstream. The emerging understanding of the transition from a laminar to turbulent flow is in terms of exact coherent structures (ECS) — patterns of the flow that occur near to the transition to turbulence. The problem I address in this thesis is how to predict when a purely elastic flow will become unstable and when it will transition to turbulence. I consider a variety of flows and examine the purely elastic instabilities that arise. This prepares the ground for the identification of a three-dimensional steady state solution to the equations, corresponding to an exact coherent structure. I have organised my research primarily around obtaining a purely elastic exact coherent structure, however, solving this problem requires a very accurate prediction of the exact solution to the equations of motion. In Chapter 2 I start from a Newtonian ECS (travelling wave solutions in two-dimensional flow) and attempt to connect it to the purely elastic regime. Although I found no such connection, the results corroborate other evidence on the effect of elasticity on travelling waves in Poiseuille flow. The Newtonian plane Couette ECS is sustained by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. I discover a purely elastic counterpart of this mechanism in Chapter 3, and explore the non-linear evolution of this instability in Chapter 4. In Chapter 5 I turn to a slightly different problem, a (previously unexplained) instability in a purely elastic oscillatory shear flow. My numerical analysis supports the experimental evidence for instability of this flow, and relates it to the instability described in Chapter 3. In Chapter 6 I discover a self-sustaining flow, and discuss how it may lead to a purely elastic 3D exact coherent structure.

Dans les centrales solaires à tour, le flux solaire est concentré vers un récepteur solaire où son énergie est transférée à un fluide caloporteur. L'écoulement au sein du récepteur solaire est turbulent, fortement anisotherme et à bas nombre de Mach. L'optimisation du récepteur solaire exige une meilleure compréhension et modélisation de l'interaction entre la température et la turbulence. Cette thèse cherche à y contribuer selon deux approches. Tout d'abord, on étudie les échanges énergétiques entre les différentes parties de l'énergie totale. On propose pour cela une nouvelle représentation des échanges énergétiques, fondée sur la moyenne de Reynolds. Cette représentation permet la caractérisation, à partir de simulations numériques directes d'un canal plan bipériodique anisotherme, de l'effet du gradient de température sur les échanges énergétiques associées à l'énergie cinétique turbulente dans les domaines spatial et spectral. Ensuite, on étudie la simulation des grandes échelles des équations de bas nombre de Mach. En utilisant les résultats de simulations numériques directes, on identifie les termes sous-mailles spécifiques à modéliser lorsque l'on utilise le filtre classique, non pondéré, et lorsque l'on utilise le filtre de Favre, pondéré par la masse volumique. Dans les deux cas, on évalue a priori la performance de différents modèles sous-mailles. La pertinence des modèles est vérifiée a posteriori par la réalisation de simulation des grandes échelles. / In solar power towers, the solar flux is concentrated towards a solar receiver, wherethrough its energy is transferred to a heat transfer fluid. The flow in the solar receiver is turbulent, strongly anisothermal and at low Mach number. The optimisation of the solar receiver requires a better understanding and modelling of the interaction between temperature and turbulence. In this thesis, this is investigated following two approaches. First, we study the energy exchanges between the different parts of total energy. To this end, a new representation of the energy exchanges, based on the Reynolds averaging, is established. The representation allows the characterisation, from direct numerical simulations of a strongly anisothermal channel flow, of the effect of the temperature gradient on the energy exchanges associated with turbulence kinetic energy in the spatial and spectral domains. Second, we study the large-eddy simulation of the low Mach number equations. Using the results of direct numerical simulations, we identify the specific subgrid terms to model when the unweighted classical filter is used and when the density-weighted Favre filter is used. In both cases, the performance of different subgrid-scale models is assessed a priori. The relevance of the subgrid-scale models is then verified a posteriori by carrying out large-eddy simulations.